"The Eleventh Hour" is the first episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010. The episode, written by then-new head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, saw a complete change in cast and production crew.
In the episode, the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) crashes the TARDIS into the small English village of Leadworth, where he meets a young Scottish girl named Amelia Pond (Caitlin Blackwood). The Doctor is forced to leave in order to repair damage to the TARDIS caused during his recent regeneration and crash, but promises Amelia he will return in five minutes. However, he arrives twelve years late and is confronted by the grown-up Amelia, now known as Amy (Karen Gillan), who does not trust him. He attempts to regain her trust to help return the shape-shifting alien Prisoner Zero[b] to the galactic police, the Atraxi, before they destroy the Earth for harbouring Prisoner Zero.
The episode is the first to be led by Moffat, alongside executive producer Piers Wenger, after Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner stepped down after David Tennant's final two-part Christmas episode, "The End of Time". It is also the starring appearances of Smith as the Doctor, Gillan as his new companion and Arthur Darvill as Amy's boyfriend Rory Williams, who would later become a main cast member. The show's tradition is for the Doctor to rest after he regenerates, but Moffat decided to have him save the world instead. The episode sets up the main story arc of the series by introducing the cracks in the universe. "The Eleventh Hour" was seen by 10.08 million viewers in the UK, the highest rated premiere since "Rose". It also achieved popularity on the online BBC iPlayer and on BBC America in the United States. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who welcomed Smith, Gillan and Darvill into the series.
The newly regenerated Eleventh Doctor crash-lands his TARDIS in the English village of Leadworth. The Doctor leaves the TARDIS to self-repair while the Scottish girl Amelia Pond helps him recover. She shows him a crack in her bedroom wall that he recognises as a tear in space-time, leading to an Atraxi prison. The Atraxi alert him to the escape of Prisoner Zero. Before he can respond, he must take the TARDIS for a short trip to help its repairs, and promises Amelia he will be back in five minutes. She packs a suitcase and waits for him.
The Doctor returns twelve years later. He is accosted by an adult Amelia, now going by Amy, who has been ridiculed by the townsfolk for her fascination with her "raggedy doctor". The Doctor sees a door hidden by a perception filter in Amy's home, and finds Prisoner Zero inside. They flee before it attacks. The Atraxi arrive in Earth's orbit and, speaking through all communication devices, demand they turn over Zero or they will destroy the Earth.
Searching for Zero, which is able to take the form of any unconscious being that it has telepathically linked to, they run across Amy's boyfriend Rory, who helps spot Zero posing as one of the coma patients in his care. The Doctor directs Amy and Rory to the hospital, while he gate-crashes an online meeting of experts discussing the Atraxi warning to give them instructions. Amy and Rory corner Zero at the hospital, and the Doctor arrives as the experts execute his plan, broadcasting "zero" to the Atraxi, who trace the origin of the message to a mobile phone in the hospital. To hide from the Atraxi, Zero knocks out Amy and takes the form of Amelia. The Doctor speaks to Amy's subconscious to force Zero to take its native form, allowing the Atraxi to recapture it. Zero warns the Doctor as it is taken away "silence will fall". As the Atraxi leave Earth, the Doctor declares that he is Earth's protector and cautions them not to threaten the planet again.
Intending to take the repaired TARDIS for a short test run, the Doctor returns to Amy's house two years later. While Amy is still bitter over the Doctor's original disappearance and suspicious of his offer to travel with her, she agrees to his offer, so long as the time machine can return tomorrow morning.