I am – Hercules!!

Kindly contribute to the BBC’s Children In Need here.

Done? Now watch this:

Here’s “DimensionsPlural” (likely a Britisher) with what to expect during season four:

Hi Herc,

Us brits have just been partaking in the annual fund-raiser Children In Need, an event where celebrities, singers and stars of various tv series get together and try and raise some cash for, you know, the children. The whole caboodle is televised live on the BBC, to an audience of around 11m (big ratings winner, decimated the opposition). And why am I telling you this? Because, like 2 years ago, the ratings peaked twixt 8.15 and 8.30 when they showed a special mini episode of Doctor Who.

The previous mini basically served as an RTD-scripted quickie intro to David Tennant’s 10th Doctor, bridging the gap between the end of The Parting of the Ways and the start of the Christmas Invasion. This time, the fan’s favourite writer (and rumoured show fore-runner for Series 5+) Steven Moffat has written a delightful paean to the show’s past. Entitled Time Crash, it sees the return of Peter Davison as the 5th Doctor, coming face-to-slightly-chubby face with the 10th. The coat might have been a bit tight, and the hairline has definitely receded, but it was great to see the return of the man whom I grew up knowing as my Doctor (as did Moffat and Tennant, judging by the obvious love for the man). The plot (such as it was for a 7 minute short) concerned the current doctor forgetting to raise the TARDIS shields, causing a collision in the time stream of the two TARDISES, a breach in the continuum and an imminent explosion/implosion. The actual story takes a back seat to the dialogue, which is fantastic. Some of the one-liners are really funny, from comments about wearing vegetables, to changing the desktop theme of the current console room (“Is this ‘coral’?”), even a sly gay quip at the Master’s expense (“Does he still have a beard?” “No. Well, he’s got a wife…”). Davison and Tennant are both actors who work well at speed, which means the 7 minutes fly by, leaving you wishing they could have saved the idea for one of the mooted hour-long specials that will fill the gap between Series 4 and 5. Chronologically, Time Crash takes place for the 10th Doctor right at the end of The Last of the Time Lords, ending with the spaceship Titanic crashing through the console wall again (the shields still being down). It isn’t specified where it takes place for the 5th, but Nyssa, Tegan and the Mara (from The Awakening) are mentioned, so around the start of Season 21 would be a good estimate.

Time Crash leads directly into this year’s Christmas special Voyage of the Damned, starring Kylie Minogue as Astrid (ooh! Anagram of TARDIS! Coincidence?), which in turn kicks off Series 4. Rumoured to be altogether lighter in tone than Series 3, this is what we can expect:

1) Unspecified aliens on modern-day Earth, which leads a certain Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) tracking down the man who saved her on her wedding day…

2) Planet of the Ood.

3) Pompeii/Vesuvius eruption episode – can the Doctor and Donna stand by and watch the destruction without warning the inhabitants of the doomed town?

4) Return of the Sontarons, as well as Martha Jones (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/gallery/sontarans/) part one of two

5) Sontarons, part two of two

6) The team meet Agatha Christie, this series’ historical figure

7) Not confirmed, maybe return of the daleks?

8) Part 1 of a new two-parter, maybe the return of the Master?

9) Part 2 of a new two-parter

10) Doctor-lite episode, hopefully more Blink than Love & Monsters

11) Not confirmed, maybe build-up to grand finale like Utopia

12) Grand finale part one, rumoured to feature the return of Davros (possibly played by Ben Kingsley), as well as returns from Captain Jack, Sarah-Jane and K9. And the kitchen sink, presumably.

13) Grand finale part two

So, all is looking rosy for the future of Doctor Who, a good mix of new and old enemies as usual. See you at Christmas!

If you use any of this, call me DimensionsPlural.

SMALLVILLE: SEASONS ONE THROUGH FIVE!!
The Pre-Black Friday Warner Bros. TV Sale!!
$14.99 Smallville 1.x-5.x (75% OFF!!)
$14.99 Veronica Mars 1.x-2.x (75% OFF!!)
$14.99 The West Wing 2.x/4.x/5.x (75% OFF!!)
$19.99 Carnivale 1.x (67% OFF!!)
$19.99 ER 6.x 7.x (60% OFF!!)
$19.99 From The Earth To The Moon (67% OFF!!)
$19.99 Six Feet Under q.x-3.x (65% OFF!!)
$23.99 Carnivale 2.x (60% OFF!!)
$23.99 Gilmore Girls 1.x-6.x (60% OFF!!)
$23.99 Six Feet Under 4.x-5.x (60% OFF!!)
$99.49 Oz: The Complete Series (58% OFF!!)

(The discount presumably celebrates the release of the “Twilight Zone” movie in HD, so don’t expect it to last ...)