This is a spoiler-free review meaning that I won't spoil this season, but everything before it is fair game for spoilers. Hang in there for a detailed spoiler-filled best and worst review of the episodes.
World-Building: Great-Awesome
Characterization: Decent - some 2D characters
Plot: Episode plots are excellent, season arc not so much
This season had a lot of new things that viewers had to get used to, the new Doctor and companion being the biggest examples, and of course, there was a new showrunner at the helm,: Steven Moffat. Overall, the season was a good one with some great stories in it and nothing as embarrassingly stupid as some of the stories we've seen before. I was quite glad to be rid of the "lonely god" nonsense that we had in the Davies era. Another good change is that in this series children actually have a role in several episodes.
However, there were two aspects that I feel didn't meet my expectations for Moffat: the overall season arc, and the characterization, especially of the companion Amy Pond. They weren't bad, just not as good as I expected Moffat to be able to give us.
First of all, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor is much better than I had expected. He's still no Tennant, and to be honest, I also still prefer Christopher Eccleston, but he does give a great performance. The Eleventh doctor is quite strange and you definitely get an alien vibe from him, but I wish he had been slightly more brilliant. Compared to Nine and Ten he just didn't give me the feeling that this was a very brilliant man and that he'd think of something awesome to save the day. Also, at some points/in some episodes I felt as if his performance was trying to be the Tennant. What I loved most about the transition between Nine and Ten was that they were completely different men, but here the separation didn't feel as well done. He eventually grew on me, I just feel like it took longer in this case.
Amy Pond, the new companion, is a Mary Sue. Beyond parts of the first episode she just became a completely 2 dimensional mess. I didn't hate her, I just didn't like her as much as any of the previous characters, which is a shame because last season ended giving us some hope that Wilf might make a reappearance... or maybe that was just me dreaming? Overall, she was too clever and too cool about being thrown into this new world and all these new experiences.
Moffat gives the whole season a new feel and many of the episodes are quite strong, making great use of the concept of time travel and also showing us some quite interesting new places. What I really wish for is a season with Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Moffat as show-runner. That would be perfect. Hey, I can dream, right?
Finally, I will say that you should not miss this season, despite its flaws. I wouldn't recommend starting here, but you shouldn't miss it. Start, as I said earlier, with Season 1 (2005) or Season 3 (2007).
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