Doctor Who

You know it's getting close to the new series of Doctor Who when major interviews with its stars start appearing in the press. This weekend, The Guardian published its interview with new Doctor, Matt Smith.

To be very cruel, it's essentially a puff piece, profiling Smith for people who probably haven't already researched him. I mean, one entire paragraph is dedicated to his dead cat, Timmy! In other places, it gives the impression that Smith is a vibrant and energetic character himself, and possibly addicted to Mini Eggs. If that gets out, he'll have more Mini Eggs sent to him than he could eat in a lifetime.

Things get interesting when Smith finally gets talking about The Doctor, his approach to playin the character and about Karen Gillan, the Doctor's latest companion. On the subject of the eleventh Doctor:

The BBC has released a new trailer for the fifth series of Doctor Who. It features The Doctor and his newest companion, Amy Pond gaxing up at the stars when the ground beneath them gives way, pitching the pair into a vortex.

It's a little step closer to seeing the 11th Doctor in his first full episode - and another glimpse of what to expect from Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as they take over the lead roles in one of our favourite TV series! Something I found funny is that many Who fans are still looking for reasons to despise Smith as The Doctor. Here's a cracking comment from Screen Rant:

Yeah it is, and the trailer is in 3D at uk cinemas. It might make more sense in 3D but like this it just looks like cheesey rubbish. And Smith's voice seems so weak, there's no confidence or command there at all.

Karen Gillan looks hot though, so she gets a thumbs up.

Yes! The internet is buzzing this morning with rumours that the fifth series of Doctor Who will end on an epic note - filming of the finale is taking place at Pagan Central, Stonehenge, the Neolithic monument that stands in the middle of the Wiltshire countryside.

Rumour has it that not only were 11th Doctor Matt Smith and his companion Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan) in attendance, ER actress Alex Kingston has been spotted on set. This implies that the enigmatic Professor River Song is involved in this episode. River Song, for those of you who don't know, first appeared in the two part Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead as a human who claimed to be The Doctor's companion from some point in the future. Better still, she reveals his true name to him, which further adds to her mystery - she knows something we don't know!

Anyway, via Gallifrey News Base, there's a great eyewitness account of the filming from that night. Here's an extract:

I've had a bit of time to think about this now - and I figure I've worked out how The End Of Time could have been better.

First off, I would have cut out that hugely indulgent scene where The Doctor 'appeared' to his companions one last time. Yes, it was emotional, but what would have been the absolute best way to bring a new incarnation of The Doctor into existance?

Bring Back The Time Lords!

But they did bring back the Time Lords, I hear you cry! Yeah, but instead of having them appear as a hackneyed plot device, they should have been the star attraction and cause of the Tenth Doctor's demise.

David Tennant's final adventure as Doctor Who wrapped up last night, and what a mixed bag it was. We had the return of the Time Lords, and their subsequent vanquishing about five minutes later at the hands of The Master. There was The Doctor and Wilf stuck aboard the Vinvocci ship, then turning it into a proper battleship with Wilf in the gun turrets!

The whole of humanity got restored in about five seconds flat with one blast from Rasillon's big glove, and Gallifrey appeared above the Earth, freaking out the newly human-again population. The Time Lords have all gone crazy from the Time War and now want to destroy time itself, but the breach of the Time Lock is bringing back everything from the end of the Time War. Confused? I'm gonna have to watch that part again, but it seems like Russell T Davies was hell-bent on bringing the Time Lords back, even if he didn't have a brilliant story to give them.

After tonight's final part of The End Of Time, we got our first glimpse of the all-new 11th Doctor, Matt Smith. And within nanoseconds, there was an uproar on Twitter about him.

Jokes about being the first Doctor with acne, obvious cracks about his age, moaning that "Geronimo!" might be his catchphrase. There were even some nasty remarks about Smith's looks - one Twitter commenter said he looks "like a distorted, melted Gordon Ramsay in a Hall of Mirrors!"

First off - it's hard to judge the guy's potential in the role on the basis of about 2 minutes of footage. Especially in the wake of quite an emotional departure for David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. Here are a few reasons why I think Smith will be a great Doctor...

While bollocking about the Internet this evening, I came across the blog of an old-series Doctor Who novel writer, Lawrence Miles. I don't know if you guys have heard of him, but he's got some very definite (and outspoken) views on the new series of Doctor Who.

He's clearly not a fan of Russell T Davies, or of much of the post-2005 version of the series, but rightly or wrongly, he makes a damned fine point in much of his writing. Whether you agree with it or not.

I must have spent three hours reading his blog posts - on Who-related topics like the heirarchy of cult fans, his views on Torchwood, some stunning deconstructions exposing the weaknesses of the current series. And the blog must have one of the funniest sidebars I've ever read, especially the Doctor Who gadget catalogue, including this gem...

Due to being excessively drunk yesterday, I had to catch up with the Doctor Who 'Christmas' episode earlier today. But then, I'd already seen the preview last Thursday, so I already knew what was going to happen. Part 2 of The End Of Time is the one that holds all the mystery for me now. And yes, there will be spoilers.

After taking a brief look around the web, the verdict for this first part is quite dire. After seeing the preview last week, my biggest complaint was at how The Master managed to fairly easily transform the entire population of Earth into copies of himself. Seemed like an overly complicated set-up to work in a "Master Race" gag.

I think it's fair to say that Part 1 is a bit of a mess - nice to see the resurrection of The Master by a cult of Harry Saxon's disciples in Broadfell prison. But are we really expected to believe that Lucy Saxon would be wearing lipstick in jail?

There are no complaints about The Master in the first part of the episode - John Simm returns as the manic, insane, rogue Time Lord. He's got new abilities - an energy beam that he shoots from his hands, amazing jumping capabilities and a flash of an electric blue skull every now and again. However, by the time he's captured by a billionnaire and made to repair an "Immortality Gate", he inadvertently chooses to hack it and remake the world in his own image.

Last week, I went along to the screening of part one of Doctor Who's The End Of Time, the beginning of the end for David Tennant's tenth Doctor.

I was expecting a small gathering of jounos, like the Waters Of Mars screening, but this was a much larger affair. It was held at BBC Television Centre in London and aside from a gaggle of tabloid journalists, there were a selected group of children and parents. Probably the most famous that I recognized was Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley and her children.

The best bit was the sheer number of actors and Doctor Who crew present - there was Russell T Davies (naturally), but Bernard Cribbins, John Simm, Catherine Tate and David Harewood were all present. Sadly, the Doctor himself, Mr David Tennant was not present, due to filming that pilot in America.

Great news for Doctor Who fanatics - Time Out magazine are releasing a special collector's edition of their magazine tomorrow, with ten different covers, each with one of the ten incarnations of The Doctor on them!

While the magazine goes on sale on 8th December 2009, fans looking for a collectors set can buy online via the Time Out website. It's about £21 for all ten editions.