The Friday Docback Mulls The Approach Of DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 7!! + Goodbye Mary Tamm, 50th Anniversary/ Season 8 News, Entertainment Weekly, And More!!

And I think that sucks.

I've nothing against seeing him in the show, but I'm not sure it would add anything to it. The Torchwood series took him in weird new directions, which don't necessarily reflect how the character is or was handled in Doctor Who. As such, it might work best if there was a cameo, or if it was set before the Torchwood debacle. Long term viewers might remember that there was a 2 year period of Jacks life, which he doesn't remember from when he was Time Agent. Wouldn't it be funny if those 2 years were planned by the Moff to be featured in some far future Doctor related story? That sort of thing, I could totally get behind.

I have to confess, I'm not a big fan of the Daleks. Nothing to do with their recent colourful reboot, into iDaleks. I've just never been a fan of them post-Time-War. They are xenophobic, racist, big on purity, and want to extinguish all life in the universe except themselves. Okay. And? A villain with such simple motivations and such a one track mind, just isn't very compelling to me. The Dream Lord, now he seemed fascinating. Hell, even the Nimon knock-off was more interesting with his grunts as far as I was concerned. I think the Daleks need a seriously good rethink and a new approach. Because they have already been stale for the better part of 50 years.

I like it, it`s watchable. The characters are better than the stories at the moment, I think they may always have been. Moffat though seems to think we`ll hang on until infinity for 5 minutes of (according to him) awesome reveals etc (summing up his big talk in generality). I may watch it when it`s on but when it goes away for large portions, it`s increasingly hard to generate any interest when it returns. I`ve grown up with UK shows being shorter but making them even more so, deliberately, seems like a bad move. There`s a reason why every celeb makes sure to get there name in the paper every day, it`s because people have increasingly bad memories and can move on fast.

We were told, "Don't worry about 2012, it is all setting up for a big 2013." Now we are told, "Don't look for a normal series, just some specials." That's not more -- as promised. I think the best thing for 2013 would be a normal series, and a series of specials which bring back old Doctors and companions, with the 50th anniversary series would crossover in the end, bringing back many companions and Doctors. But I am underwhelmed with what I hear so far.

I know Matt Smith ran with the torch for a bit, and that and ''Fear Her'' make googling anything about Doctor Who and the Olympics rather difficult. But I've heard that British pop culture characters may be running around in the opening ceremony tonight. Has anyone heard that the Doctor, or a Dalek or something, might be a part of that?

I think we're going to see the Ponds over the course of their remaining years in the first 5 episodes. As the Doctor flits in and out of their lives, he'll see them at various crisis points in their life together. And ultimately, like the Brigadier, if he comes across a 60 year old Amelia Pond who says I haven't seen you in 40 years, then he can't exactly cross his timeline and go back and meet her at an earlier point in her life. So I think even if the Ponds don't die, they'll be essentially sealed off from the Doctors travels, because he can't cross his own timeline. River might be around - but where will that be relative to the Doctors life? She's already popped up in various places where they are not always linear and moving in different directions. So we can't say for certain that she'll crop up at an earlier point in her own life. In fact, it would make more sense for her to appear post-Demons Run. Maybe even post Byzantium. The big story has to be the new Companion. I still thought it was going to be Jenny, the daughter character, after regenerating. But I guess that's shot. So who will it be, and how will she be a fresh take on the companions role?

...the duplicate (Ten2?) that was created at the end of Series Four. My perfect Doctor Who 50th anniversary story would start with Ten2 on the parallel Earth with Rose Tyler. Although they started out having a relationship, they've since drifted apart as Ten2 became increasingly agitated at his lack of regenerations - his Time Lord half wants him to be immortal, but his human half is limiting him to only one life, trapped in a subset dimension. Rose notices her Mum's gone missing and discovers that Ten2 has been using her cross-dimensional radiation (as a time/dimension hopper) to power experiments to get back to the "prime" universe and get back in contact with the Doctor. In her horror at his abduction of her Mum, Rose rails at him, calling him an imperfect and unworthy clone of the original. Unable to check his human rages, Ten2 actually ends up killing Rose, an act that releases a tremendous amount of the time-travelling particles and powers a one-use TARDIS enabling him to cross into the "prime" universe. Grief-stricken at what he's done, Ten2 turns his rage toward the Doctor. He wants his regenerations back, he wants to cross his own timestream and rescue Rose before his own madness killed her... I just think the possibilities are mouth-watering for a multi-episodic arc. There could easily be a reason found for the return of past Doctors - a sort of Time Lord "limbo", perhaps, where regenerations go to live out their lives to old age once discarded in favour of a new body, and which Ten2 breaks into in a bid to try and become fully Time Lord. His rage at discovering how his "original" seemingly forgot about Rose so quickly and actually ended up MARRYING someone - River. Matt Smith's Doctor's devastation at seeing someone who is in many ways the dark half of himself merged with the qualities of his favourite race. And of course the chance to see Smith vs Tennant...

On 2013, we still really don't know how it will be handled. If we get the rest of S7 (8 episodes), plus 3 double-length specials (as I've heard is being considered) AND a Christmas special, that actually is MORE Who (slightly) than normal. So...let's wait until we actually find out how it's being done before we panic.

I mean the prophets who seem to spring up every season predicting death and doom. I thought that would have ended in the last series when The Doctor cheated death, but then the big blue head in a box mentions more of them. How?

We get 5 episodes airing in 2012, sometime between August and November. We get the Christmas day special. Then the remainder of the commissioned 14 episodes for Season 7 (that's 8 episodes in total) will air *some* *time* in 2013. So in the best of all possible worlds, we'd have 8 episodes in early 2013, and then later in 2013, we'd kick off Season 8 with some episodes, culminating in something memorable on November 23rd. However... BBC has not renewed the show for an 8th season yet. Look when they renewed it for the 7th Season. 2011, early June. It's been more than 13 months since then and the BBC haven't renewed the show for another year. Now, you can argue that that is because the show hasn't been on the air, and all that jazz. My point is simply to say that in order to have episodes broadcast-ready by the second half of 2013, they'd need to have been renewed by now, so work could start. All of which leads me to believe, in a roundabout kind of way, that the remaining 8 episodes of Season 7, will be the episodes for the 50th anniversary. And the BBC will have fucked the show, much in the way that the fans feared they would, and the moff swore they wouldn't.

...a mental asylum, filled with Daleks from across the entire series, all thinking they're human patients and that the asylum was set up by The Doctor in the faint hope of changing the Daleks somehow. All you see is human patients at first, with dreams and hallucinations of Daleks (they don't know what they are). But then things start to go wrong as one 'human patient' realizes what he is, despite the orderlies and doctors saying he's having delusions, and convinces the others that they are Daleks too.

Then a Magnificent Seven epi to top it all off.

Though Elisabeth Sladen (RIP) is still my favorite Doctor Who companion by a long chalk and one that I had a huge crush on since first seeing her in Ark in Space with Tom Baker on a local PBS station back in the '80s, I must say Mary Tamm was a true knock-out as Romana I and probably the most classically BEAUTIFUL of all the vintage Who companions. 62 is far too young to be taken from us. RIP Mary Tamm and my sympathies to her family and friends.

So, we are getting an idea that episodes in 2013 might air as specials, instead of being aired properly. I think that a series 8 will not happen for a few years. The reason being is the proposed Doctor Who movie that David Years is working on. I am thinking that the BBC would want to leave fans without Who for a couple of years to build anticipation for the motion picture. The "Fall of the Eleventh" would take place right before the hiatus, revealing the "movie Doctor", and thus building the hype for the movie. Or, Eleven falls at the beginning of the movie instead. After the movie, then series 8 would take place. There are more, and more rumblings that the movie WILL be a continuation of the show, and not a reboot. I am curious to see how all this turns out.

He's not working on ANYTHING. There's no movie that's been greenlit, nor is there one even close. BBC Worldwide posted their financial results not long ago, and Doctor Who was a HUGE part of its numbers. Doctor Who is generating more revenue than ever before. The show has just become the first British show to end up on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. It's not going anywhere, and we're certainly not going to get a couple of years of no Who while waiting for some imaginary movie. WORST CASE: We'll get the remaining 8 episodes of S7 in 2013, followed by an anniversary special, with S8 coming in 2014. BEST CASE: We'll get the remaining 8 episodes of S7 in 2013, followed by 3 double-length specials (so the equivalent of another 6 episodes). Yeates has no idea what he's burbling about.

They have to be very careful because of the charter. You can't have the film be "required viewing" for Doctor Who's TV continuity as that would be a violation of the BBC's charter.\ It CAN be a continuation in the sense that it can be a standalone story of the current Doctor, but it can't advance any kind of arc related to the TV show.

I guess the question will be broadcast only in late 2013, or if they will also be in early 2014. I suspect the latter, but would hope otherwise. I'm also curious if this is going to be the chance for the production crew to change after the specials are done.

I guess the question will be broadcast only in late 2013, or if they will also be in early 2014. I suspect the latter, but would hope otherwise. I'm also curious if this is going to be the chance for the production crew to change after the specials are done.

Will the BBC use the opportunity of having a season of specials to stealthily shoot a feature length Doctor Who film with the current production crew, and disguise initially that they're doing the movie by passing it off as being for the television series until it's closer to when the movie would premiere.

The Moff, cast and crew will do everything in their creative power to bring us nothing but awesomeness! They can spread out specials and episodes however they want. As long as we have this team, I'm happy, and excited to see what they bring to the series next.

more hats. There's certainly plenty of opportunity - stetsons for the Western episode, bowlers or deerstalkers for the Victorian episode where Madame Vastra's back and there's a Sontaran butler (I really want to see the Sontaran with a bowler too). Maybe we can get an episode set at Tunguska where the Doctor gets to wear a Russian hat. For some reason, though, I can't see even the Doctor putting on one of those baseball hats which have the 2 beer can carriers mounted on them.

(I mentioned this late in last week's thread, but thinking about it, it could be it's own miniepisode). Weeping Angels on Ice. We see the Weeping Angel at the edge of the ice, the lights flicker, and we see the Angel sprawled on her butt partway across the ice.

I'd love to see the theme for the new series start off with the original theme and transition into a new arrangement. Or maybe a pastiche of the different arrangements. And reintroduce the glorious middle 8.

First off, I've always loved Tom Baker's first theme and titles. To me that is the definitive. Something has to be said for Peter Davison's theme, mainly the attack of it is really great, but it's horribly dated now. As for Jack Harkness coming back, can I make one point that no one seems to make? Why does he, ever since Torchwood started, always wear the same clothes? Back when he was first introduced and became a companion, he changed his clothes all the time. But in Torchwood, supposedly the more "adult and sophisticated" show, he wears the exact same clothes over and over. I get the coat, that's his silhouette, his fan touchstone, etc. But, jeez, even the modern Doctors have multiple shirts and jackets and stuff. Weird. Can't the guy put on a different pair of pants and maybe a shirt now and then? As for the 50th, well I'd be open to seeing a past character or two return. But it would have to be part of a good story. You know Sarah Jane's return worked? It was grounded in a solid story, examining a solid premise. But to just shoehorn in old Doctor's and whatnot would just be tacky. That said, we should really try and find a way to give Paul McGann a few more innings, right?

They can't stealth shoot a feature. First of all, the BBC simply doesn't have the money to shoot a true theatrical film. They also would be forbidden by the charter; the BBC proper can only spend money on making BBC television programs. Any feature would be a co-production between BBC Worldwide and...someone. That takes time to set up, and it hasn't been done yet. You can't keep that secret, either; it would be all over Variety. Once a co-production deal is set up, you then need to get a major studio distribution deal set up to get your green light. We're years away from a film, folks.

Theme: I've always a version I like by Orbital which emphasises a slow, low, pounding beat, especially in the intro. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByOU5CwuZjU ). I'm always fascinated by themes that can be played at different speeds and different pitches to convey different moods. Daleks: at their core they represent that WW2 fear of losing, that war will spiral out control until nothing is left but pure hate steamrolling your civilization. I think they need to get back to that - don't use them directly, use them as something that can hang over the story as a ominous threat "Daleks are coming". I'd like to see a story or two set in the ruins of a civilization that the Daleks destroyed. Season Hopes: for the last couple of years I've been watching with the expection (real or delusional) that there is a more complex story lying behind all these scattered threads: prisoner zero, why the Tardis blew up, the anti-Tardis, the Silence and the importance of the Doctor's name. I feel like I've reached the limit on how far my anticipation and curiosity can stretch without seeing some proof of payoff (River's story didn't feel like payoff because it spawned more questions than it answered in the process of doing her reveal). Captain Jack: I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of the character - he's the quintessential extravert in a room full of introverts. But given that he does appear to have fans, I think I can probably handle an appearance. 50th anniversary: I like the idea of the Doctor interacting with past incarnations in some way for big anniversaries, but I recognize there are a lot of complexities (both on and off the screen), so rather than setting my imagination ablaze from River's "that's a whole different birthday" line, as a fan of the show, I'm just trying to focus on getting myself into a state of mind where I can be happy with whatever is provided. Mary Tamm: I realize that, like for many of the actors we fondly remember in these Docbacks, the show represented only one year of her life and career, but I do have a fond memory of her first episode on the show being my first episode watching, getting to see her calmly dismantle the Doctor's ego with excerpts of his academic record. Her character was a textbook example of the difference between the old and new show: her Romana I started strong and slowly seemed to weaken in the Doctor's presence, while the modern show takes companions as flawed individuals and builds them into heroes by the time they leave.

I'm not smart enough to suggest which way the theme should go; Murray Gold has proven (to me anyway) time and again that he knows what he's doing. I'm sure I'll love whatever he does. I know I'm very, very, VERY much in the minority here, but my favorite theme of the classic series was unquestionably Peter Howell's. To me it's the Grainer/Derbyshire version that feels dated, though I admire it a great deal nonetheless. I do have ONE thing I'd like them to do: MIX THE NEW THEME PROPERLY! Good grief, the Doctor Who theme (in most all of its versions) has one of the coolest bass lines ever. So WHY, in the 5.1 mixes, does my subwoofer sit almost idle? At least the Howell version booms out a bit (in glorious mono), but I really, really want a Who theme that rumbles that bass. As for the anniversary...the squeeing fanboy in me wants multidoc, but the more mature side that understands storytelling just wants something special. Yes, it has to tie in with the history of the show, or else why do it, but please let's go story first. I love rewatching The Five Doctors from time to time, but the story is very weak. (Understandably, given not only trying to fit all those lead actors but that it was a quick job by Uncle Terrance after Robert Holmes backed out, but even so.) nerdlinger pretty much nails it: School Reunion worked because it was a cracking story WITH Sarah Jane. That's what we need.

The whole silence / Pandorica motif was brought in pretty much within 15 minutes of Smiths arrival, and was crashed together in quite a messily way in the Series 5 finale. The silence / astronaut / doctors death was brought in within 15 minutes of Series 6, was crashed together in a messily unsatisfactory way for the series 6 finale which also pretty much said 'yeah, the fall of eleven is coming soon kids'.

There's been many bits in between for S5 and 6 which are genuinely good classic Who but Moffs insistence on trying to pile layers and layers upon each other just leaves me very cold. River Song doesnt work for me in the slightest and whilst I like both Amy and Rory (as actors and characters), I think they were let down by the insistence of the ganger / baby / River heavy focus. Now thats resolved...they're pretty much gone. It just feels so...insubstantial.

Ooo, I like your thoughts on the Daleks. In fact, you've inspired me; here's what I'd do if I were showrunner: I'd do a season-long arc that builds to the Daleks. But not like S1 or S2, where it's a surprise. Instead, I'd have the Doctor encounter worlds that have been ravaged by the Daleks. Let's finally show (in the new series) what Dalek domination really results in. As the season progresses, I'd build the threat. Sometimes an episode would be full of references, others might just hint, but it would be obvious to the Doctor (and viewers) that the Daleks were spreading across the Universe, and that sooner or later he knew he was going to have a big showdown. You could use each story of the season to sow as little or as much apprehension and tension as you like, but what you want is the viewers all saying, "Damn, they are all in bad trouble. The finale is going to be insane." Of course, then you have to pay it off. I agree with whoever above said that it's time we really get payoff, as the lingering threads leave the viewer unsatisfied. And no quick resolution; however the Doctor defeats the Daleks, it has to have substance to it. It has to be something that could be figured out by very, very alert viewers. No love conquers all, no magic console that blows them all up, etc. A tall order, to be sure, but imagine if it works! To me what made Dalek so awesome is that it took the Daleks -- which had gotten a bit silly beginning with Destiny of the Daleks -- and made them a real threat. The Doctor's conversation with van Statten ("What's the nearest town?" "Salt Lake City." "Population?" "One million." "All dead.") was chilling. I had NO trouble believing that that Dalek could wipe everyone out in the complex and then proceed to exterminate all of Utah (and beyond). And I think they survived that in Parting of the Ways, because we viewed it as a one-off. I mean, OK, sure Rose blew them all up because she had the Time Vortex running through her (or whatever), but that could never happen again, right? Then they show up in Doomsday, and again I really believed four of them could wipe the floors with 5 million Cybermen. Oh sure, the ending was a bit easy, but in a technobabble sense it worked. Not the most satisfying conclusion, but I accepted it. The biggest problem I had is that we ended up with the largest Dalek force ever seen ("millions" according to the Doctor), and yet it's wrapped up in a few minutes. A bit less terrifying, those Daleks. Then came the S3 two-parter and that...that was unfortunate. It's not as bad a story as most of us think it is; a recent rewatch convinced me that it's actually decent, but the terrible voice of the actor playing Sek combined with the ridiculous prosthetics (seriously, did nobody think it looked like a guy with penises on his face?) didn't help. But it didn't feel much like a Dalek story, and the Daleks were just a bit less terrifying. Plus, now there's only one left. Then came Stolen Earth/Journey's End. And while I loved that two-parter overall, the resolution was horsecrap. Not the least bit satisfying, and worse, scenes of Donna just PLAYING with them made them a laughing stock. Then we get the Playskool Daleks. I don't hate the designs like some do, but the story...more than once the Daleks could've just exterminated the Doctor, but didn't because...I dunno, they were easily distracted. And then their bomb is defused through the power of love. Blech. So I want the scary ones back. The ones that would wipe out Utah. (Not that I'd miss it much.) In S1, Dalek made us think of them as incredibly powerful and dangerous, which set up the "oh shit" moment in the finale when we find out who the Big Bad is. We need another Dalek-type episode.

Agreed, to an extent. I think Moffat is an excellent plotter -- one of the best to ever work on the series, in fact. But I do think that both the S5 and S6 arcs were a bit messy. Some of that may be because he (deliberately) hasn't finished with them. I don't know whether prisoner zero is supposed to be significant (it always makes me think of The Zero Imperative -- how many Who fans remember that one?), but the missing ducks, Rory's badge, why the TARDIS blew up, etc. are all still points to be (hopefully) addressed. I honestly am not convinced that arcing things over multiple seasons is a great idea for a show like Doctor Who. This isn't Lost. Younger viewers may not grab on to this stuff, and us older impatient viewers might get grouchy. I like that Moffat has made the arcs about more than just a word or whatever, but I think I'd prefer more payoff. Also, I don't think character stuff is Moffat's strong point, which is why Amy and Rory feel a bit insubstantial. For all of his faults, I thought RTD was far better at this. I know some did not like his approach, but I thought having extended families, backstories, etc. around the companions made them feel a lot more real. YMMV and all that.

Your idea inspired a slightly different take on it for me: The Daleks are war machines, created for a nuclear trench war. They've since expanded out across time and space - but they never really seem to be threatening to actually take over. What if, like psychic paper picking up signals across the universe, the Daleks were able to detect hate and were drawn to it, putting themselves into the middle of wars and obliterating all sides? On some level, they are still stuck fighting their original war, just driven to repeatedly act out going to the front, manipulating the tactical situation and laying waste to everything. This would also position the Daleks to be a more direct foil to the Doctor. Whereas he is drawn to trouble driven by a desire to solve mysteries, resolve tensions and make people better, the Daleks would be drawn to similar situations, but driven by a desire to just nuke everything to make the drumming stop. It would also create a different victory condition - rather than needing to destroy all Daleks present (which might just escalate the situation and summon more Daleks), you would just need to de-escalate the hate so that the Daleks get bored and leave you alone.

RTD did the crass, he did the bombastically OTT almost cringey moments, but he also did some introduced some great character moments. Despite not being the best actors, Rose and Roses mum were quite quirky without being entirely unconventional or emotionally unstable.

If you compare the finale of nu-who S1 against S6, it's considerably more linear, emotionally it made the stakes easier to get rooting behind whilst still having had the build up through the comparatively subtle 'Bad Wolf' motif. The bit where Eccleston says something like 'You need a Doctor', whilst perhaps cheesy to some, was one of those soaring moments where it paid off wonderfully. I can't think of such payoffs for S5 or S6 and you need it if you've spent 13 episodes stuffed with references leading to it. I can only think of the Doctor somehow coming back into existence because Amy remembers him with or without the Tardis blowing up (again not clear here), and a bit where the Doctor seems happy that he hid inside a robot doppleganger when they spent half a year implying 'Time would destroy itself unless the Doctor died'. I'm sorry but 'The Moff lies' is a crappy defence as an audience member for the older viewer and for the younger viewer, you need that bombastic emotional moment that is tangible.

I digress. Again I say this in thinking theres probably six episodes in S5 & S6 combined that rank up amongst my favourite ever Who. Its just that it's just getting to the point now where the cast and crew can't just 'be' in Who. It either has to be introducing a new Doctor, dealing with season long prophecies, or dealing with the prospect of new companions or ultimately (With the 'Your song is coming to an end Tenant' or 'the fall of the eleven') new Doctors. And now with the concept of split / staggered / special seasons, at what point can they just deal with contained adventures. Thats when S5 and S6 have shone for me. Moff previously said S7 would be more like this, so I'm hopeful.

I don't like the current version or the opening titles, The eccelston/Tennant era music and titles were perfect The new ones should portray as sense of forboding, ominous and then branch into epic and spectacular And the visuals should be a beautiful vast, colourful and bizarre space-scape or time tunnel, not just some clouds.

...scheduling. We are at the mercy of the Beeb. No amount of petitoning will change their minds. The fans ofcourse will be the ones who are robbed, and asked to double dip for boxsets and whatnot. Not good.

Ok -- Captain Jack back on Who? Yes. I agree that he's always been better there than on Torchwood. Plus, maybe it would wash the taste of Miracle Day out of my mouth ... Daleks: The trouble with the Daleks now is there's too many. When new Who first returned, and the Dr. flipped out over a single Dalek, after his huge sacrifices during the time war, it was tragic. Now the time lords are all still dead and there are Daleks everywhere again. So how does the Dr. feel about his sacrifice now? On multiple drs - Do it! But spread it out and milk it for all it's worth. The dr. could be his own companion and the dynamics could keep shifting. But make whatever they're dealing with personal so it's interesting. And embrace the age issue head on. Maybe his former elves are dying or dead? Or something.

dreamfasting: I like your idea a lot. That's rather clever, actually, and it makes the Daleks a more manageable foe. Imagine: character growth for the Daleks! The mind boggles. tomdolan04: I pretty much agree with everything you say. Yes, RTD had his excesses, and we all know what those were. He also had a tendency to occasionally do low-brow humor, of which I am not fond. (Rose (the episode) almost turned me off the series, with the trash can "burping" after consuming Mickey, and let's not even start on the Slitheen.) But he's so good at character stuff that I usually forgave him. (And that's why I think his best script was Midnight, which was pretty much ALL character stuff.) And I agree about your payoff comment. I expect some did find that moment in Parting of the Ways cheesy, but I thought it worked very well. And while you can say what you like from a story/plot standpoint about RTD's finales, for me there was always an emotional payoff (S2: Rose and the Doctor; S3: the Master and Francine; S4: Donna and her family). I don't think we've gotten that from Moffat yet, or at least I haven't felt it. And I'm not trying to bash on Moffat. I love much of what he's done, and I'm enjoying his tenure as show runner. But just as I acknowledged RTD's weaknesses, I also acknowledge Moff's.

What's to explain? She was his granddaughter. Seems simple enough.

My guess is that S8 will be it for Moff, and for Smith as well. Whether that happens in '13 or '14 remains to be seen, but I do think that will be it. Now the question is...who will replace him? If I had to guess, I'd go with Mark Gatiss or Gareth Roberts (though do either have actual showrunner experience?). If it were my choice, I'd give it to Paul Cornell. We may dislike each other personally (long story), but I think he's insanely talented, and I think his Who scripts have been some of the best. I wish Moff would get him to write some more. Paul in charge of the show? Oh hell yes. I'd kill for a Cornell-written finale. No cheap endings there, that's for sure.

BBC have confirmed that the official S7 trailer will debut on Thursday, Aug 2 around 8 PM on BBC1. Schedule your lives accordingly.

Good to see you around! I have a suspicion you're right about the winding down for Moffat. Based on earlier comments, though, I think he knows who he's handing production over to when he goes, though, whether it's after the specials, or sometime a few seasons after that. (Gatiss seems too obvious a choice, but will probably stick with Sherlock and his other stuff. I think it will be most likely Gareth Roberts, with an off chance for Toby Whithouse if he can work it in along with Being Human. Of course, we could find out that it's Chibnall, Cornell, or someone else. )

Chibnall, I mean. He's a competent writer, but I'm not at all cool with the idea of him as show runner. Toby Whithouse would be awesome, though. His stories are almost always gold.

This is Hurndall as opposed to Hartnell isn't it ? http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20598265_20615578_recirc,00.html

He needs to be brought back to new Who

Pretty sure that was a publicity still for The Three Doctors. It's probably why he doesn't look quite right, as he was fairly ill by this point.

Please. I really don't understand how so many people like his representation of the Doctor. I've been a huge fan of Dr. Who since Tom Baker and enjoyed not only the ongoing story but each subsequent actor who has portrayed the Dr. since, except Smiths. I have nothing against him personally, I just can't engulf him playing this character. The only reason I continue to watch is to keep up with the story line. Perhaps with the 50th anniversary they will introduce a new Dr. I only wish that date was sooner then later.

Go back and watch some Patrick Troughton. Matt Smith's Doctor clearly draws inspiration from him. Personally I rather like Smith's take on the role.

Shame that she lost her fight with cancer. I took my 11 year old son to see Destiny of the Daleks at an independent thater and he loved it. (me too). He's only seen the new stuff up until now. It would be nice to see some character growth for the Daleks but make them scary again, not easily distracted by shiny objects. And I would also like to know if all the Movellans (sp?) were reprogrammed or got beat.

Well, since you only read posts that mention your name, I had to do that. Take Sam Jackson's Wig's advice and read the code of conduct posted above. You're obviously trolling. If you don't want to follow the code here, just wait until Hercules opens a Doctor Who thread. You're just asking for the banhammer to come down on you.

Cracks in time making things disappear from history, but leaving holes in history (not a perfect ripple effect). The missing ducks were a hint at what we learned about the cracks a few episodes later. Mystery solved in "Flesh and Stone."

the Children in Need short, "Timecrash," already established why any previous Doctors would look older than they were when the regenerated. Essentially, the mini-episode explained that when they are pulled into the current timeline they appear as if they would if they never regenerated. Simple fix that is already in canon! Bring on all surviving Doctors who want to take part! At the very least we need to see more 8th Doctor. Paul McGann was an inspired choice to play the Doctor, and I really wish he would have had the opportunity to do more with the character.

That he names after Susan and Barbara. He spends decades of his human life building his own Tardis, grows a mustache and becomes THE PETER CUSHING DOCTOR. At least that's how I always thought they could make the Cushing Doctor canon.

Aside from the "current timestream in the narrative (which places Matt Smith Doc + Picard TNG era), you get a parallel "backstory" showing the Tom Baker Doc meeting Kirk, Spock & Bones! Not heavy stuff, but fun: http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/05/doctor-whostar-trek-tng-comic-preview-the-first-seven-pages/2/

I'd be over the moon to see BC decked out in scarf & curls, tripping out of danger. Maybe Ejiofor could be a "later" (or last - who knows?) Doctor, just passing through the story. I really think that guy would make an utterly BRILLIANT Doctor Maybe multiple Docs teaming up to pass through the events of a classic tale? Maybe the return of Omega, Rassilon (though we got that w/ Dalton, so maybe not...), or even - MORBIUS (!)

What is all this nonsense about the Doctor never having been Ginger? That's not what he's worried about. He's worried he'll be Colin Baker again. And to tell the truth I think all of us worry about that, just a little bit.

If the story of the Doctor's name is going to be told (to be honest I kinda hope it remains a mystery but if it's ever going to be done, the 50th seems fitting) then it kinda has to involve the First Doctor. The thing is, the First Doctor is relatively old (in human terms) when we first meet him in An UnEarthly Child. He has lived long enough to have a wife, children and grandchildren by the time we first meet him. Over the years we discover a little more about his backstory but much of it remains a mystery. There's a lot of story to tell. How did Susan and The Doctor end up in London in the 1960's? What happened to the rest of his family? We know there's a tragedy, in the RTD era it's suggested that his name is "a sad story" and there's more than one story that could be told with The First Doctor. So I say get Cumberbatch in to play the role. We get to see him play The Doctor, it doesn't contradict the Hartnell era and Cumberbatch can do one or two episodes/specials without having to commit to a full series. It would also allow the First Doctor to appear in a multi-Doctor story. As for what the First Doctor story would be, I've always had this notion in my head that when he first left Gallifrey, he ended up in London during the Blitz and while exploring a hospital he gets mistake for a doctor and has to treat those injured in a bombing raid and that's pretty much how he gets his name. I'm not sure where this idea came from. For some reason I always felt that the First Doctor would have been in London during WWII and he would see both the best and worst of humanity.

Half a season is 2012, the second half of 2012's season in 2013, and a small handful of specials following. So much for the promises of the biggest Who year ever, for 2012-2013 we won't even get as much as we ordinarily would have over a two year period. And personally, call me greedy but I think that kind of sucks. The only thing that sucks more is the great Mary Tamm's sad passing, way too young, taken by the bastard that is cancer. With her and Caroline John both gone recently, it feels like bit by bit my childhood heroes are being stolen away. It's been a rough couple of years for Who fans, and sadly as the years continue to wind on I don't suppose it will get any better. Regardless my thoughts go out to Mary Tamm's family and friends at this time, as well as my hope that Mary Tamm, along with those in the Who family like Caroline John, Nicolas Courtney, Liz Sladen and Barry Letts, that have been taken from us in recent times, all at least knew how much they meant to fans everywhere, how much enjoyment they contributed to our lives, and how much their spark will be missed.

He had every English rock band, mary poppins, harry potter (yes, they were "literary") and he also included James Bond with the Queen. Has Boyle ever heard of The Doctor? Seems a shame.

Did you not hear the Tardis sound in the audio track ? It was one of those ' blink and you'll miss it moments ' but it was there.

At the very least feels like the wind down of Matt Smith

am I the only one who thinks we need another Eccelston type doctor after Smith, someone amazing, maybe a big name who sticks around for one season at most It would be great to have a version of the doctor who is introduced and then 6-7 episodes in regenerates really unexpectedly with the BBC able to keep the twist underwraps. It shakes things up and makes it seem like any of them could go at any moment

As someone who came to classic Who relatively late, I only saw her key to time season a couple of years ago, but as a viewer I fell for her in a big way. There are plenty of hot actresses, and a few really good actresses to. There are very very few leading ladies who carry themselves with the grace, and elegance, and class, and luminous beauty that Tamm did during her run with Tom Baker. I will be watching the Ribos operation this weekend in honor of her. A truly classy lady, and I agree with all who have said so ahead of me, far far too young.

I've been rooting for him as the doctor ever since Tennant's departure was announced, I think he would be smashing. Can we rope in Idris Elba to be the newest Master to face off against him? I can perfectly picture a newly regenerated Chiwetel doctor throwing on a dapper suit and a bowler hat then turning to a mirror and saying, 'let's see how the new me looks... Not. Too. Shabby' then strutting out of the Tardis to get into some new intergalactic mischief. I'd also be cool with Rupert Grint, just so a season could end with the doctor clutching his new scarlet locks and proclaiming 'GINGER!' in triumph

Simon Pegg.

Did you mean it was vastly more popular and healty UNDER RTD, or UNTIL (the latter is what you said), but doesn't really make a lot of sense, unless you just mean it should just have been the classic series with no new stuff. But I don't think it could be argued that the show was more popular then. It's reached insane levels of popularity now. Personally I never would have guessed that being a doctor who fan would help me swoop into the beds of many a hot college girl. I was a teen in the 1990s, when being a doctor who fan (or any kind of geek) ensured that girls would avoid you like the plague. Anyways, off topic. The point I was going to make is that I think overall Moff is a better writer than RTD, but RTD was a much better showrunner. I like both their eras, but I prefer the RTD one because we got the best of both worlds, solid RTD seasons, each with 1-2 great (underline GREAT) moffat scripted episodes. Where as I feel like Moffats talents get diluted when spread over a full season. I've liked both seasons 5 and 6, but there aren't any single specific episodes that I would single out as being anywhere in the realm of greatness as some of the Tennant episodes were, especially the Moff/Tennant ones.

The Eleventh Hour Amy's Choice Vincent and the Doctor The Doctor's Wife The Girl Who Waited All single episodes I'd put on par with anything from the Tennant era. (The best of which are Moffat's 6 episodes, and The Family of Blood 2 parter) I've also personally enjoyed most of Moffatt's 13 episodes in seasons 5 and 6 quite a bit, but most of them are two parters, or so heavily tied into other episodes they're basically big 5 or 6 parters in the course of the season, so they're a little odd to judge on their own, and a couple of them have been on the weaker end.

We already knew 2012 was going to be a light year. In 2013, we were either going to get the equivalent of 1 season (remainder of 7, start of 8), or the remainder of 7 plus specials. Or a combination thereof. Now, if they're serious about it being more Who than we've had, they would just have to do the remainder of 7, start of 8, plus a single special. OR, do the remainder of 7 plus 3 double-length specials and a Christmas special. OR...well, you get the idea. I still don't understand why people are freaking out WHEN THE SCHEDULE HASN'T EVEN BEEN ANNOUNCED. We don't know what we're going to get. If we get shortchanged, then sure, complain; I certainly will. But 2012 being weak is something we've known about for a rather long time now; I fail to see what it has to do with 2013.

they haven't even renewed the show for an eighth year yet. And they should have renewed it by now, if they were going to have an 8th season coming to air for the second half of 2013.

I get what you're saying, but BBC Worldwide just announced a week or two ago their financial results, and specifically trumpeted Doctor Who (along with a few others) as a property that contributed significantly to their excellent results. The BBC isn't going to cancel the show. Could we get another specials-only year like we did after S4? Sure, but no way will it be the 50th anniversary year. But hey, people will freak.

Sadly, it was probably during the 2 whole minutes I missed of the thing. It was pretty spectacular. When things started going all social-media-ey, I got a little bored. But it is fantastic, really. Nice job , everyone involved. Impressive.

I would love that on a shirt.

Brilliant idea. It would be exciting to sort of have a few years when real danger was in the air at every turn and we feel as though we could lose the current Doctor at any moment. Shake things up indeed.

I just found some of my photos from the day I met the guy who provided the sea-plane for the beginning of Raiders of The Lost Ark. And I got to sit in what was left of one. I hope to come across that picture. So far I have only found a picture with the guy... and a picture of myself wearing one of the Raiders crew hats. We sat in his office for a while and he showed me pictures from a photo album with tons of shots on location (would love to see those now), even shots with he and Spielberg. Exciting find. Had to share.

I know the Moff might leave after 2014, but I don't want to think about it yet! Chris Chibnail's Doctor Who scripts have been okay (I liked 42 A LOT, but wasn't a big fan of the Silurian episodes) and Countrycide was a great Torchwood episode but End of Days was not. I haven't watched Camelot yet, but I've got the first four episodes queued up on my media server to check out. He's good, but uneven so far. He might develop though, into something awesome. I love Mark Gatiss, but his DW scripts haven't matched up to the promise he showed with the first one he wrote (Dickens and The Doctor!) Toby Whithouse wrote Greeks Bearing Gifts... but The God Complex and School Reunion were excellent. I think Being Human is okay, it's imaginative, but I never got excited about it. I'd like to see more of what James Moran can do. Sleeper was fantastic Torchwood and The Fires of Pompeii was great too. And of course, Children of Earth was incredible. Tom MacRae gave us the Cybermen two-parter, but he also gave us "The Girl Who Waited", which was really badass. I dunno, there's nobody out there right now who makes me pump my fist in the air like the good ol' Moff, so I'm not excited to think about anybody new yet.

I agree with most of what you said. To be honest, I was a much bigger fan of Gatiss' and Roberts' Virgin books than their Who scripts, although I did like Unquiet Dead (Gatiss) and Shakespeare Code (Roberts). Toby Whithouse would be a better choice, if only because I really like all of his Who scripts. I hadn't thought of Moran. I'd definitely like to see more of his work. McRae would be a definite NO for me; I'm the one talkbacker who couldn't stand The Girl Who Waited. I still think Cornell might be my first choice. God, I hope he never reads this.

The Tardis sound was very briefly there, but it was almost like an accidental random noise ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=993puhW1Vs8 ). The opening ceremony was much more focused on pop-culture than I was expecting so I can't help but wonder if there was something more intended that was in the half-hour that was cut. If so, it might find its way into the closing ceremonies?

I like Smith ... a great deal. Everything else ... Just no.

Rumour is that a chunk was cut including a Doctor Who reference... I heard 2 Tardis noises... Trying to get a response as to whether it was cut...

That was the promise, or at least the excuse, for shortchanging us this year. If that doesn't pan out though then it was all a lie and we were shortchanged this year for nothing at all...other than to perhaps save the BBC some money. If you take something from this year and put it into next year so that you don't make as many new shows during next years block then that is less Doctor Who made and broadcast, no matter what clever spin you try to put on it. That's the problem, and why some fans are understandably disappointed.

And I still think some fans are not appreciating how much lead time is required for even specials to be filmed. We have heard *nothing* official about anything regarding specials or an 8th season. So far, the only thing that has been announced, budgeted and paid for, is the second half of Season 7. A mere 8 episodes, to air sometime in 2013.

Last week I was thrilled to see the number of Emmy Award categories that "Sherlock" was in the running for - inarguably much bigger news that The Doctor's magazine cover. And now this. I wonder if the BBC has decided to switch Moff's priorities to "Sherlock," and has, in their mind, justified "Sherlock-ing" The Doc into that limited format...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHIJ4or1nCc&feature=player_embedded

I like the 8th Doctor theme, actually. Arranging it as a march and prominently featuring the middle eighth is a nice departure.

I suppose at this point it comes down to personal tastes, personally of the ones you mentioned the only really standout one for me is Vincent and the Doctor. Some of my top episodes from the Moffat era (a few I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on): -Vincent and the doctor -The beast below -The Rebel Flesh/The almost people I also quite enjoyed: -The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang -Impossible Astronaut/Day of the moon But big season opener/finales sort of jive different from the average episode My issue with episodes like The Doctor's wife, The God Complex & The Girl Who waited, isn't that they aren't full of great stuff, it's the pacing. I find Moff creates such complicated and interesting set ups, that the 'beginning' of the episode ends up being about 75% of the running time, and just when I'm starting to get really invested in the intricate premise, when the 'middle' of the story should be taking over, suddenly we're already in the climax, which feels rushed and overly simplistic given the setup. Maybe switching to an all 2parter format would work better, I'm not sure. Pacing for me is also an issue in with The Wedding of River Song. It's a great episode overall, but it moves along so quickly nothing is milked to proper effect. They should have nixed Curse of the Black Spot & Night Terrors and made The finale a 3 part episode, one focusing on the weird 'no-time' reality, one focusing on the pyramid/battle against the Silents, and one resolving the Doctors death at lake silencio and the wedding itself. It's not that that episode is bad, it's pretty wonderful actually, I just always feel like I'm watching a great episode in fast forward. What I love about the Gangers 2parter is it feels like classic Who, it takes its time to set up its characters, premise, location and dilemma, then milks it all to the hilt.

And does anyone besides me think that that 'sometime' is most likely SEPTEMBER 2013? Especially since they made such a fuss about the new schedule to move the show to the Autumn, which does mean that we are only getting one seasons worth of episodes spread across 2 years.

The lame one from last Winter, forget the name but the Narnia one plus whatever they air this christmans (2012) midway through season 7

That's awesome! thanks for the link I knew he was open to TV since he did the shadowline, but that was just a miniseries, and I wasn't sure if with all his movie work he was one of those actors who felt doing Dr Who was beneath him. I'm glad he isn't!

Ever since I saw "Midnight," I've wanted to see David Troughton (Patrick Troughton's son) play the Second Doctor. The resemblance is startling -- just slap a Moe wig on him and he'd be perfect.

Yes, they did make a big thing about moving to the autumn. I don't think they'll hold back the 2nd half of season 7 though. I think it's more likely that we'll get it in January or February, when the conditions for it are like Moffat described as being the best time to watch Doctor Who.

I rewatched The Girl In the Fireplace last night, and got struck by one part in it. When he does the "Vulcan Mind Meld" bit with Reinette, after she mentions a lonely boy who grows up and is still lonely, she says "Doctor Who?". Tennant gets all panicked when she says that and replies "WHAT did you see?" It seems like Moffat's had the idea of doing something with "Doctor Who?" for quite a long time, and now he's finally going to be tackling it. I was amazed that he had actually had some preparation for this beforehand, long before he became a showrunner for the show (my guess is that he was thinking at the time that maybe he'd eventually get to address the question in a story he'd write for RTD or another producer, not that he'd be taking over the show and get to build the whole thing up himself).

Around the 2-min mark you get her standing w/ Lalla Ward, then at the 3-min mark, you get some great dialogue from "The Ribos Operation", where the Doctor debates the wisdom of Romana's overly-long name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gonkXFwwRSI

Agreed, I've had the same thought Jon Pertwee's actor son Sean Pertwee also has a startling resemblence to his late father. Both are also at the ideal ages respectively to portray their fathers too

I'm with you 100% on dropping the Curse of the Black Spot and Night Terrors and turning the final part of the Doctor Dies arc into a three-parter like Utopia/Sound of Drums/LotTL (except no pop music or shrunken Doctor!) The Wedding episode was creative and exciting and had lots of possibilities and I didn't feel cheated at all by the Tesselecta ending (I totally thought I might after the payoffs of LotTL and Parting of the Ways.) Anyway, I would have loved to see more!

Love that moment, and I was one of the few who called that being the question way back at lets kill hitler, but it is such a deeply satisfying way to close off. So by no means am I meaning to slag on tWoRS or any of the Moff stuff in general, just that the rapid fire pacing is a bit of a turn off for me. Again just my personal taste.

The story I've read is that they had a montage of all 11 doctors that was supposed to air along with the theme music just after the band (Arctic Monkeys) played. Unfortunately the march of nations ran long (and honestly I thought it was the quickest march I'd ever seen in an opening ceremony) and they cut both that and a short Monty Python segment out. (Bummer!) Regarding the theme music: I trust Murray Gold, he's done fine with the three arrangements so far. I would like some more bass as well. It doesn't have to get more frantic. Maybe deeper/more mysterious/dramatic. And I'll add my "me too" to the list of people who will be upset if all we get is the rest of S7 plus a few specials - no matter how awesome the specials. That certainly does not sound like "the biggest season ever."

There you go mam, I promised you I'd get you back to your seat in time for the opening ceremony. Hmm? Yes, I'm sure this is the Olympics, the London Olympics, of 1948 ... uh ... oops. Princess Elizabeth, allow me to introduce you to Queen Elizabeth

Rumor has been going around since Comic Con that the end of the duo's run on Who may not be the end after all. Much like Rose, they will get a tragic ending followed much later, as part of the 50th, a much better sendoff. Again, just rumor...

Get the aged Tom Baker to reprise his role, and defend his choice to not destroy the Daleks at their inception (Genesis of the Daleks) to Doctors 9, 10, and 11. Matt Smith seems to have settled down a fair bit with respect to the Daleks in comparison to Eccleston and Tennant's portrayals.

Not only is genesis one of the best all time Who stories anyway, its also got some of the longest lasting reprecussions. And since the doctor HAS tried (and thought he suceeded) at wiping out ALL the Daleks several times since then... yeah, that would be an interesting way to go. Certainly a good use of the oldest remaining doctor.

Don't forget about the part where he talked about the unification of other species that wouldn't have happened if not for the Daleks. He did delay them some, though (I think he estimated 1000 years). Actually, if there's any justifications that should go on, it should be the Doctor being brought up before the Shadow Proclamation on war crimes - attempted genocide of at least one or two races (the Daleks and the Time Lords). It would be even more interesting if the Daleks brought the charges before the Shadow Proclamation, and managed to get out of any charges of crimes against them by showing that all their actions are due to the Time Lords trying to interfere with them in the first place, and them only trying to defend themselves against the Time Lords. (Of course the Daleks would have to have some ulterior motive for doing this - maybe maneuvering the right people into the right place for one of their other plans, or maybe just to hobble the Doctor's freedom some more.)

The right hemisphere's jumping for joy, while the left is screaming "Trail of a Timelord" retread...still sifting!

My favorite Hartnell story, and he's a great baddie (you'd need to find somebody formidable to fill Michael Gough's shoes as the CT, though)

part of me goes "we haven't had a good old-fashioned trial yet since 2005" and another part that goes "there's a very good reason for that".

part of me goes "we haven't had a good old-fashioned trial yet since 2005" and another part that goes "there's a very good reason for that".

I think there's shenanigans going on.

And I was under the impression, that someone was intented to represent the white guardian in "The End of Time", though it looks like she was just credited as "the woman". The fourth and fifth incarnations spent a fair bit of time and energy trying to stay a step ahead and as well away from the Black Guardian as possible, Turlough notwithstanding.

It isn't so much that the Fourth would need to convincing he had done things correctly, but I can easily see the 9th in particular, and 10th as well, railing away at him for not having done differently. "Time can be re-written" - so the 11th Doctor attempts to rewrite some of his greatest mistakes, and in particular the time war and events that allowed it to happen. An unintended consequence is the fractioning of his own self, leading to his encountering his previous incarnations as they undo this machination, and time isn't rewritten at the end. It's all fan service to me anyway, 4th Doctor was great at railing at people who thought there were in charge or should be in charge... which describes pretty well some his other incarnations.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Woman

The woman in The End of Time wasn't ever supposed to be the White Guardian - she was supposed to be the Doctor's mother. They didn't say it straight out, but they gave enough subtext in different scenes to establish that. I don't see the White Guardian as standing around with the rest of the Time Lords, being derided as one of the two dissenters.

If they bring the Guardians back, I hope they remember that the White and Black Guardians are more a Moorcockian representation of order vs. chaos instead of just good vs. evil. The White Guardian isn't a nice guy - remember how he threatened the Doctor at the beginning of The Ribos Operation with doing what he wants or nothing, "nothing at all" will happen to the Doctor. I suspect that if the Guardians come back, they'll be newly incarnated Guardians. I would have thought that the Guardians would have been two of the main people covered by the Doctor's statement that all the higher order beings had been wiped out in the Time War. Of course, if they come back with a new incarnation (possibly doing a riff on how Gaiman had the Endless having different incarnations), it will help get around Valentine Dyall having passed away and therefore not able to play the Black Guardian any more. It would be very interesting that, if they bring the Black Guardian back, they make the same choice that Big Finish did and have David Troughton play the Black Guardian. I think the role would call for a bit of understatement now and then - which would eliminate getting someone like Bryan Blessed for the part. (Now, getting Blessed to play the part of the White Guardian would definitely be a bold casting choice - "do what I say, Doctor, or I'll get even more bombastic". Maybe not as bold as getting Vinnie Jones channelling his Big Chris from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as the White Guardian. I'd like to see the White Guardian calmly headbutt someone who disagreed with him and was messing up his precious order, but that might be just me.)

I realize that few are reading the Docback by this point, but even so I wanted to post the following snippet from Moffat, which hopefully puts to rest all of the David Yates/movie nonsense: http://bit.ly/M7HRXJ Brief quote: STEVEN MOFFAT: "There isn’t a film. That was all some weird fantasy going on somewhere. Look, we hopefully will do a Doctor Who film someday. It will be absolutely run by the Doctor Who production office in Cardiff. It will feature the same Doctor as on television. It will not be a rebooted continuity. All of that would be insane. So that whole proposal was not true, did not happen. I can say that with authority because, as far as the BBC is concerned, I’m the voice of Doctor Who. So if I say it, it’s true. The BBC own Doctor Who and, for the moment, I run it for them. So I can assure you definitively that was all nonsense — not the idea of making a film, we’d love to make a film, but the idea of a rebooted continuity, a different Doctor. That’s writing the book on how to destroy a franchise. You don’t behave like that with it. Not ever."

Been a while since I last saw the End of Time, but I seem to recall in the Ribos Operation that part of that initial discussion was also getting the Doctor to believe that the guardians weren't myth. Extend that to the generally more hide-bound Time Lords which would seem to be the rest of Gallifrey - they could easily dismiss her and not understand her true position in things. If the guardians were to return, I do agree with the order and chaos, Moorcockian and less straightforward interpretation. Imagine if you will, the White Guardian being wholly vexed with the Doctor and the damage he had done with the Time War, and the Doctor being sickened with himself if the Black Guardian was more approving of this actions ... and still irritated at the fallout of the Key of Time.

OK - so the latest hubbub is that, during the angels episode that finishes the Ponds, there's going to be one HUMUNGUS weeping Angel. ... ... That the Damn Dirty Apes know just a little about...

That rumor came from one of the UK tabloids, and (like most of their rumors) is basically just reporting fan speculation from OG and the like. I would consider it a worthless rumor.

~Grin~

Though I could easily see it being something Moffat might try. It still doesn't explain why she stayed there on foggy nights when nobody could see her, though. So, how much DOES Moffat want to do a Godzilla movie equivalent in Doctor Who?

I can't believe you lot thought the dw tribute was cut. Too much for HMTQ and Bond I think. Scared the winnies out of me.

Warren Ellis shows what he tweeted during it. Sometimes risque, usually amusing. It's at www.warrenellis.com I'd really like to see Warren get to write a Doctor Who episode. Somehow I suspect though that Moffat wouldn't let him refer to the companion as a "filthy assistant".

mod dalek-loompas

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4162395/transmetropolitan-1-3

Captain Jack, however, would have loads of fun using one. So would River.

Well, they probably couldn't have it be the Queen doing it, but someone else doing it and the Doctor needing to stop it.

And I'm thinking more Season 2/ Children of Earth type Torchwood thing, not Miracle Whip Torchwood.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/olympictakeover.html

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/isite-static/doctorwho/wallpapers/s07/s07_wall_01_16x9.jpg

You'd give Sherlock a run for his money, that's for sure. If anyone spots it tomorrow (Thursday 2nd Aug - approx 8pm - as stated in the article) post a comment please!

Around about here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/The-Doctor-Daleks-Danger

Get me into this ? http://www.mgeitf.co.uk/home/MGEITF/programme/2012-programme.aspx Saturday 25th - An advance screening of Asylum of the Daleks and a Q&A by the Moff - I live in Edinburgh so would be happy to do the biz... The cost to attend is a little pricey though !

but if you don't ask...

Well spotted DJ 'avin THAT for me desktop

is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/At-Long-Last-Here-It-Is Looks Cool !

August has been the rumor but I don't think it's been officially announced anywhere. Since they're doing a publicity screening on 8/14 (I think) and another on 8/25, I expect Sept 1 is now the more likely date.

unlike much of the video content that the BBC puts up on the Doctor Who website. Obijuanmartinez - the "returns in autumn" was used last year also for the start of the 2nd half of season 6 (even though BBC America was saying late summer). Some of the British Docbackers can let me know if this is true, but I'm guessing that in the UK they treat the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August as the start of autumn. If it's the 25th or the week after (Labor day weekend in the US) it could be called autumn. It looks like BBC America's saying "fall" now for the premiere of season 7 (they also have the trailer now, too). They're doing 4 Doctor Who specials starting this Saturday, so that would go through the 25th. I don't see them leaving a gap between the specials and the new season, so I'm expecting it now to be September 1. Given DJ Bollocks' statement of an advance sceening of Asylum of the Daleks and a Q&A on Saturday the 25th, the September 1st date looks more likely. I doubt they'll be doing a premiere and Q&A just a few hours before BBC 1 airs the episode; 1 week before though would make sense.

if it were August 25, it should have been listed amongst the August premiere dates in the other thread in Coaxial. We know it won't be that much later than the special premieres they're setting up, though, so early September makes sense.

Well, at least he isn't swimming in the GI Joe pool again. I guess this means though that he won't be coming back as this character in any sequels to Thor: The Dark World

It wasn't in the coaxial thread because the BBC hasn't announced -- Herc can't include a date he doesn't have yet. But yeah, I think 9/1 in the UK is more likely. BBCA will be either 9/1 or 9/8 (if they want to avoid the holiday weekend).

They did that in the first half of season 6 with Memorial day weekend. They didn't do it with the second half of season 6 with Labor Day. They realized that it was a mistake delaying Doctor Who.

Fortunately, there are alternate means of viewing the episodes, but I would prefer that BBCA just keep up. On another note, something needs to be done about BBC America HD availability. It's on Dish, Time Warner, and some small cablecos, and that's it. Dammit, we need it on DirecTV, U-Verse, FIOS, Comcast...

Looked even better in HD on the big screen ( well bigger than my PC monitor anyway ) Seems to be a bit of a spoiler having all the Daleks from history destroyed already. My middle son aged 7 cried out with glee when he saw Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and also the cross robots. I recently watched all Star trek epsiodes back to back, took almost 3 years. From TOS to Enterprise and one thing I noticed is that new bad guys are introduced as complete badass, almost indestructable killing machines and in the span of a series or two can be defeated in a fist fight with the good guys. So it's hardly surprising the Doctor looks quite confident when surround by thousands of Daleks and seemingly destroys the lot of them. Oh..and weeping angels can blow now ? How does that work ?

On Comcast, even though they don't have the HD channel, when BBCA puts stuff in their On Demand, they put the HD versions in as well as standard definition. No, you can't watch HD the same day, but they're usually good about putting the episodes up in the On Demand the next day or the day after.