Musings: The Eleventh Hour

This new series of Doctor Who is very confusing, and every episode seems to leave a lot of unanswered questions.  Stephen Moffat himself has stated that when we see the series finale, we will look back at all the episodes and see a lot of things clicking into place, like a jigsaw puzzle, and view many things in a different light.  Here is my episode by episode guide to things that I feel may be important later on.

THE ELEVENTH HOUR

• Why is the swing in Amelia Pond’s garden moving?  There is no-one there and everything else is calm.
• Why is she praying to Santa Claus, rather than God or another deity?  It’s not Christmas time, is this just the first example of Amy being somehow anachronistic?
• The swimming pool in the library seems to be important, somehow.  It’s mentioned three times.  First as being in the library, secondly because it’s not there anymore and thirdly the Doctor says it could be in the wardrobe.
• To me, Amelia asking the Doctor why he has a police box when he’s a doctor is a bit like the Doctor asking Amy why the duck pond is called a duck pond when there’s no ducks in it.
• I seem to notice a prisoner theme in the series: Prisoner Zero, of course, then the Star Whale, River Song is also a prisoner and Madam Calvierri takes the Venetian girls prisoner to turn them into Saturnynians.
• There is also an aquatic theme:  the swimming pool again, the duck pond, star whale, Amy Pond, River Song, the Saturnynians, Prisoner Zero also looks vaguely like a creature of the deep.
• When Amelia is outside waiting for the 5 minutes to pass, a human shaped shadow is seen I her kitchen.  Who could this be?  Not Prisoner Zero, who wouldn’t have had the time to forge the psychic link needed to shape shift.
• Also, why are the coma patients calling out “Doctor”?  Are they only calling for their own hospital doctor?  Surely, while under the influence of Prisoner Zero, they would not be calling for our Doctor; what would be the point? Prisoner Zero knows of the Doctor’s existence, but it makes no sense for him to call to him.
• The Doctor genuinely seems very surprised that he has been gone for twelve years as opposed to just 5mins.  Is it just that he and the TARDIS are still regenerating, or is it because Amy’s timelines are messed up?
• Also, I find it very suspicious that the Doctor just happened to land in the garden of someone who had evidence of a space/time crack.  There has to be a reason for this!
• Is it just me or should Amy have known about the sixth room on the second floor?  She was living in that house before Prisoner Zero came through the crack and added the perception filter; is this another example of her just not remembering important events?
• The Doctor’s screwdriver ends up on a table in Prisoner Zero’s room after Amy knocked him out.  It may have simply rolled under the door to be found by Prisoner Zero, but Zero doesn’t seem to have done it any harm.  Was he planning to use it, and if so, for what?
• Rory’s ID says it was issued on November 30^th, 1990.  If his and Amy’s wedding is to take place in 2010 (as evidenced in Vampires of Venice), this does not add up. Rory is plainly in his early 20s.  I know that statements have been issued saying that the date is an error, but I doubt that.  There is a very deliberate close up of the ID.  Also, the number plates on the cars indicate that they are all mid 90s models, when it’s supposed to be 2008.  Again, timelines are getting messed up around Amy.
• One big mystery, to me, is Prisoner Zero himself.  He came through the crack and did nothing for 12 years except create psychic links.  Presumably these were so he could hide if the Atraxi ever came looking for him, but apart from that, he seems to have done nothing.  He hasn’t committed any crimes.  He’s left Amy alone.  He wanders about in his disguises and doesn’t cause any trouble.  Presumably if the Doctor hadn’t come back with the Atraxi on his tail he would have gone on living quietly.  We are never told what his crime is, either.  The only time he seems ready to attack anyone is when Rory and Amy discover him trying to escape at the hospital.  Even back in Amy’s house, with the Doctor, he just seems to be sizing them up, rather than seriously attack.
• The first mention of the Pandorica is here made by Prisoner Zero, who tells the Doctor that “Silence will fall” when it is opened.
• In a series where the re-writing of time seems to be a theme, is the Doctor resetting all the clocks a symbol of this?
• We are shown a clip of Amelia still sitting on her suitcase in the morning, accompanied by the sound of the TARDIS materialising.  We are given to understand that this is a dream that Amy is having, but is it actually the Doctor going back in time to give little Amelia an important message?
• The Doctor seems to be lying to Amy when explaining why he wants her to travel with him.  He says he’s lonely, but we can see him nervously eying an image of the crack in the TARDIS.  Has he started to realise that something is off about the way time moves with Amy?
• His last words also seem to be important: Amy’s life may one day depend on the fact that he is definitely a mad man with a box.