Yesterday marked the 14th (!?) anniversary of Matt Smith’s debut story - notable for the fact that 14 years is the time between Eleven meeting Little Amy and coming back for our Amy.
Safe to say, this one is really making me feel old. I was 13 when this episode aired and I remember it vivdly, the fish custard, the fairytale, the lonely girl and the madman in the box. Series 5 resonated with me so strongly in 2010 (!?!?!) and it still does now - I had obsessively loved DW before then, but something about s5 was just so special to me and always will be.
Do you remember watching fish custard for the first time?
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13…
THIRTEEN!!!
And you think that makes you old.
Youngsters, never knew they had it so good.
My eldest was nearly 3 years old when this aired.
(And I loved this episode. The beginning of my falling in love with Matt Smith’s Doctor).
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I was not yet a fan when The Eleventh Hour aired, but I did first jump on during 11’s era, so despite him and his era never being my favorite (which is not to say that I don’t still love him), his era is still the one that I feel the most nostalgia for in some way. And as so many people are constantly saying, The Eleventh Hour is one of, if not the, best introductory episodes for any doctor.
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I am old.
I was 14 at the time, and a couple of years away from becoming a Whovian. Doctor Who didn’t air in Finland at the time and I wasn’t aware of the show, so I can’t say I remember how it felt.
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14
FOURTEEN!
And now someone is going to come along and say they weren’t even born…
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I was 9 when this episode aired…
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I think @deltaandthebannermen is having a bit of a crisis! You youngsters making us feel old.
I was 25 at the time. And I feel very old now!
How old were you, Delta? 
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And yes I remember it, I remember being very excited that Moffat was taking over as he was my favourite writer, and remember being blown away at the High Def resolution and the fairytale-like introduction.
I was a very happy fan!!
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I would have been… drum roll…
39
and rapidly approaching 40.
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Now I feel better about my 23 years 
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I can’t do maths! I’d have been 34 not 39!
And I’m a teacher!
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Let’s hope you’re not a maths teacher then!
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I’m primary (5-11) trained but have exclusively worked in what we call junior schools (7-11). So I teach everything. Maths isn’t my strength…
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This was where I jumped on. Dad happened across it on BBC America and recalled the occasional Tom Baker story on PBS (daleks being trash cans with rubber arms). I think he saw at least part of Invasion of Time because he remembers the running around the TARDIS interior. Anyway, Eleventh Hour. This is still one of my favorites, and definitely a good jumping on point. The Doctor’s speech at the end, “Basically, Run”, is great. I absolutely love I Am The Doctor as a piece of music. This and the Series 5 Angels two-parter are some of my favorite episodes.
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The first Doctor Who episode I ever watched, live with my family! I was 7, nearly 8 years old, and entirely enraptured by it. It immediately became my favorite show. That first season of Smith to this day is one of my favorite things to exist. Genuinely part of who I am today. As soon as the season ended, I ended up watching all New Who from 2005 onwards and catching up on what I hadn’t seen while waiting for Season 6- or perhaps it was during Season 6. Either way, it sent me down a spiral I never once regretted going down- and I’ve still got much deeper to go!
The Matt Smith era truly is emblematic of Doctor Who to me. Of course I’m biased. But to me, no other TARDIS team has felt more alive and at home than the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River always dropping in. No others have quite captured that feeling of family, that they give me.
The Eleventh Hour itself, was such an amazing episode to start on. Even though I knew nothing about Doctor Who nor had I even heard of it, I was immediately taken away by the magic of it. I fell in love so quickly, and it became an irreplaceable part of my childhood, and my life to this day.
Here’s to fish fingers and custard, and that wonderful, mad show we all know and love 
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And oh wow. It really would be the day that he came back. Had I been that small child, almost exactly the same age, he’d just now show back up… After years of me obsessing over him, just as she did.
I made it here too. The long way 'round.
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Lol I was nearly 30 when this aired, and like everything since 1980-something I watched it as it aired. It’s a brilliant introduction to a new Doctor. Probably the best of the modern era for my liking!
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Yet another youngen - I was 8 when this episode came out. It was the first episode to air after I was fully caught up with the show (though there might have been a few specials before) and for that it will always have a special place in my heart. Eleven is my doctor. I have more nostalgia for earlier seasons (I used to be able to name all of them - episode numbers and titles and all! - as a kid), and I’ve definitely grown more critical of this season as I got older, but it’s still very special to me.
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