"Rollercoaster ride" is an unlucky cliché. Most cliches are lifeless, but "rollercoaster ride" has had its meaning so watered down by X Factor contestants and celebrities in jungles, that if your friend ever describes an experience as a "rollercoaster ride", you don't really get a sense of unpredictability and shock, but more an overwhelming naffness that wafts over you like a bad smell. It's unfortunate for journalists and bloggers trying to sum up the Eleventh Doctor's time in the TARDIS, because not many expressions, phrases or idioms encapsulate the laughter, the sadness, the caprice and the plot twists that we've seen on Doctor Who since 2010. There have been ups, downs, and often no age restrictions for the Doctor, and whilst all incarnations of the character go on journeys through their tenures, Eleven has been on the most twisty-turney, timey-wimey journey of them all. And if there's one thing Doctor Who fans like to do, it's criticise Steven Moffat for his twisty-turney, timey-wimey writing. Were the Silence good or bad in the end, Steven? Didn't the Doctor close all the cracks? Is the River story over? And did the Doctor actually invent the Yorkshire pudding? Well, let's go back to the start and have a good look at everything that happened in the Matt Smith era, explained everything in a linear, hopefully easy-to-understand manner, from an objective point of view.
