So we are now counting down to the conclusion of the 2011 season, which will apparently return in both the UK & US on the unusual date of 27 August, rather than 3 September which most had expected. A fair bit was out of the bag for the occasion of Comic-Con. As well as TWO trailers (oddly one for just "The God Complex" episode) there was a lovely cast promo, see below which teases us with a pyramid and Rory's pert bottom. It also marks the official unveiling of the Doctor's new overcoat, mostly brought in to keep Matt warm during winter filming.
The trailer also reveals some weird and wonderful things - with the one I've pictured last causing the most fan chatter. All of our regulars look to be given moments of greatness.
After all the recent acrimony over future production plans for 2012 and the 50th anniversary in 2013 seeming to be pared back and reports of fueds between Steven Moffat and new BBC One controller Danny Cohen, just as both of Moffat's fellow producers leave the show, I have trust in the show and suspect this will all blow over. Even cast concerns have allayed when considered alongside the new working pattern, though I was a bit alarmed to hear everyone was recently dragged back for a day's filming on "Let's Kill Hitler" despite having otherwise wrapped at the end of April. Karen Gillan confirmed at the weekend she will return for series 7, probably arriving late in 2012, despite TV and theatre commitments. Arthur Darvill has yet to voice a similar confirmation, but we may find out in September when this year's Christmas special is to be filmed. It seems unlikely to me that one would continue without their spouse on board, though Arthur is tied to playing Mephistopheles at London's Globe theatre into early October. We know of course already the Matt Smith has signed up to play the Doctor until at least the anniversary, something he always seems very keen on being a part of.
The trailer for the hotel-bound episode "The God Complex" is here
Of course, in terms of ingredients it had a lot going for it even on paper. Location shoot in the Utah desert, another return for River Song, a really hugely scary new alien, more cinematic direction from Toby Haynes (his 4th consecutive story!) and SOMEONE DIES. Having had Doctor Who Magazine already whittle that down to either The Doctor, Amy, Rory or River Song even though strictly speaking three of them have already 'died' last series.
(spoilers from here on in)
And indeed they didn't lie, underlining it with a cremation and going for the most audacious of those options by killing off the Doctor himself! Though this is already not 'our' Doctor - this one is around 200 years older and appears to know his murderer (though we do not as it is the specesuited & helmeted astronaut of the title) and be somewhat expecting it. Presumably this version already knows what is about to unfold and has somehow come up with this 'solution' having invited his friends to witness it. This does not just spark off this year's story arc, but continues with The Silents/The Silence, who (unseen) seemed to be main suspects for last year's crack. And yet we don't know the meaning of 'The Silence Will Fall" and whether that is good or bad, but these skulls in suits don't seem a nice bunch at all. And of course there is the continuing mystery of River Song's identity and who she might have killed - and do we suspect we just saw that happen? And yet it appears at the climax of the episode that inside the spacesuit is a little girl, or is it? And has Amy just shot her dead? And will it turn out to be her child, and will that child also be River Song? And why did Amy have to reveal she was pregnant at that specific point? And why is the not-quite TARDIS console from "The Lodger" connected? And how much does 'our' younger Doctor already know, despite Amy, Rory and River vowing not to tell him they've already seen him die? And is/was anyone telling a big fat lie?
Rory, Amy, 2011 Canton & River observe the Doctor's funeral pyre
As usual this asks more questions than it answers (especially with the inclusion of the 9th/10th Doctor TARDIS interior) but looking very good - watch out for it on the telly!
With the release of this supernumery 'prequel' (yes it's technically not a prequel if it appears first) to the 2 part series opener the official countdown is on. Though it has been confirmed that episode one, entitled "The Impossible Astronaut", airs here and in the USA on Easter Saturday (23 April) the rumour that episode two follows on Easter Sunday has not.
This 'prequel' is a very glossy, very spooky sequence featuring what appears to be a young girl ring up President Nixon in the Whitehouse in 1969 with a warning ...
It's looking like this spring's slot will be a 6-something PM one again, preceding the current run of "So You Think You Can Dance" which kicks off tonight for 12 weeks.
Five further "Doctor Who" episodes follow on after before the series as produced gets split in two and goes off early on a "game-changing"* cliffhanger for the summer. My calculations surmise the return date to be Saturday 3 September for the remaining six episodes. Also by my reckoning that would follow the previous night's conclusion of "Torchwood: Miracle Day" which looks to be running from early July on both sides of the Atlantic.
Trivia fans - this will be the first series of "Doctor Who" produced under a non-Labour government since 1989.
* as the production crew have managed to swap episode 3 (pre-cliffhanger) with episode 9 (post cliffhangher) for purely tonal reasons you may want to be sceptical about that.
As was doubly confirmed this week, both by an official BBC news release and the above next DWM cover (out 10 March), there will be a six-minute special "Doctor Who" sketch for this year's Comic Relief which appears to feature two Amy Ponds. That should be part of the main TV show on Friday, 18th March. Though the main show has done several contributions to Children In Need over the years, most notably "Time Crash" in 2007 and the Eastenders crossover "Dimensions In Time" in 1993, I don't think anything has been done for Comic Relief. There was a Ronnie Corbett-as-a Slitheen skit last time with the "Sarah Jane Adventures" gang though. The canonicity of all of these will be hotly debated.
In what seems to be a general trend for this biennual charity, much of the activity happens in the runup, working as a slow-burn PR strategy. This year we also have the cast of the Inbetweeners travelling to Britain's rudest sounding places, a celebrity Kazoo orchestra for Radio 3, comedian flavour crisp contest (losers get body waxed), presenters/DJs from all the BBC radio stations attempting stand-up slots, and the traditional Comic Relief single, this time by boyband The Wanted (below). And much more as they say!
This is the epic trail for the feast of BBC upcoming drama over the darker months, officially unveiled yesterday.
As well as including the ninth, tenth and eleventh Doctor Who actors in non-Whoniverse roles we also get the first glimpses of the 2010 Christmas special with Matt Smith, Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins.
Matt Smith was the first Doctor Who to make the cover of a gay magazine back in the Spring, now he becomes possibly the only person to cover GT magazine twice in one year. This time it's for "Christopher and His Kind", which I presume from this is on BBC Two in October? Also nipple flashing is co-star Douglas Booth.
Meanwhile the confirmed artwork for the season 5 DVD box set has been revealed. It's an improvement on the latter Tennant box sets.
(Pics courtesy of recommended website Blogtor Who)
Steven Moffat chose his spot at the Edinburgh International Television Festival yesterday to reveal that the 13 episodes of the 2011 series will be broadcast in two blocks, one from Easter and another from September. The Moff also tells us these shall consecutively be known as series six and seven (which is likely to prove as contentious as his initial claim that the 2010 series was to be known as series one). Just to confuse matters further series six will be seven episodes while series seven will be six episodes.
At first my feeling was dismay, but, certainly for next year, it makes sense. Not only do we have a particularly late Easter but it was officially announced the same weekend that a second series of "Sherlock" will be broadcast in Autumn 2011 and this will ease Moffat's shared commitments and deadlines. I suspect the proximity of these announcements is not a coincidence. I don't know what the future holds for "Merlin" if it goes to a fourth series - I presume they won't be ready to go out in spring or summer 2011 instead - more likely they will spill into January/February 2012.
So anyway, I worked out this will be the "Doctor Who" schedule for next year:
"Series Six" - 7 episodes starting 23 April (Easter Saturday) until 4 June
"Series Seven" - 6 episodes starting 4 September until 9 October
then the Christmas special in December.
I would fancy that this will still not satisfy the 'winter fetishists', especially if it's being broadcast before 7pm as it regularly was this year. If "Strictly Come Dancing" hasn't committed suicide this year, then series seven of "Doctor Who" will be the warm-up so 7pm starts would seem unlikely.
And, of course they're talking the Chippendales who frankly exploded on a visit to the UK, taking up residency in a West End theatre and completely milking the chat show circuit and the resurrected "Generation Game" (clip included in that last YT). I swear they were even on "Blue Peter", but that might have been a mad dream. In turn this lead to the creation of lots of home-grown copycat troupes, of varying quality (many were better than the Chips).
In July 1991 though, a less than fun but just as notorious chapter began for the Chippendales:
"the FBI was approached by a man called Lynn Bressler, who was offering his services as an informant. Bressler told the agency he had been hired as a 'hitman' by an individual named Ray Colon in Los Angeles. Colon had asked him to travel to Britain and kill two members of Adonis, who were performing at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool."
Full story here, though it was written before Banerjee's apparent suicide in prison in 1994.
Anyhow, much as I was pleased at the Chips for making male strippers so very mainstream, they weren't really to my taste, as I'd had three and a half years of living in London and checking out the superior solo acts on the gay scene. Those acts were doing the full monty years before the GBP cottoned on to that term. That summer was probably a peak of activity. I was living in Tooting Bec (Mantilla Road if you're interested) and was in easy reach of two fairly short lived strip venues. One was "The Bridge" in Putney, which was actually on my usual route to work in Earls Court. More amazingly, the other was a Parisian themed showbar called "Cafe de Piaf" which was on Waterloo station! I once took my mum there which mortified the management there as they had an, erm, 'duo' performance on that afternoon (they'd only had solos and go-go troupes on before). We all survived that and Mum got free drinks!
Other venues I frequented at the time were Islington's The Regent and the legendary White Swan in Limehouse. That month (it may even have been this weekend) I attended an underwear party at Heaven under Charing Cross station. Most risky in those days when so many people had a lit fag on the go, even on the dance-floor!
Returning to the male strippers, my faves in 1991 would have included Troy Passion, Willy the Kid, The Stag and Rebel Red (as pictured below) who was also in the London Knight troupe. A recommended little guide to this golden era at this site:
In these days before I was introduced to Wetherspoons, I mostly only went to gay pubs and clubs though I remember having a big thing for Ed's Easy Diner at the time.
I also think I went for a job as membership secretary for the Doctor Who Appreciation Society this month - all us candidates had to troop down to Southfields one very hot Sunday to get interviewed one by one. I didn't get it, but I continued to contribute the odd review for the Celestial Toyroom (I certainly did ones for the VHS releases of "The Three Doctors" and "City of Death").
Now "Doctor Who" was off air by now, all of us fans somewhat resigned to it after 18 months absence. But a new era began in the summer of 1991 - the launch of the Virgin New Adventures. In the 70s and 80s we'd had the Target novelisations of the classic TV stories, but these were the first proper stab at original novels. Though they featured the 7th Doctor and Ace and continued on from "Survival", they soon established a rather adult tangent on the franchise. Rather fittingly in the first story arc of four books - published every other month between June and December - included classic Who writer Terrance Dicks and nu-Who writer Paul Cornell.
The Doctor might have left the building for a while, but continuing on was "Eastenders" with some of this month's episodes directed by the late Barry Letts. A key storyline was Ricky Butcher eloping to Gretna Green with Sam Mitchell, with families including the first incarnation of Peggy in hot pursuit.
Over on ITV, the first series of "Soldier, Soldier" was nearing its end, featuring future chart-toppers Robson & Jerome but also David Haig, Holly Aird and Denise Welch. Like the Doctor Who New Adventures it would stick around until 1997.
Hitting the newsstands was another naked American import - Demi Moore's famous pregnant cover shot for Vanity Fair.
What was in cinemas was also in the charts - I'm not putting up the YouTubes of these two, but one was a new entry at #3 while the other had just this week knocked Jason Donovan from the singles chart and was not removed (by U2) until late October!
Cher was topping the UK album chart with "Love Hurts" while ...
her "Love and Understanding"was a new entry at #36
This is the Boy George vehicle Jesus Loves You with the Paul Oakenfield mix of "Generations of Love" - this week up to #35. Look out for Troy Passion in the film within the film (there is a more explicit version of this promo with more of the fake nurse/patient porno flick)
And even Billy Bragg was talking "Sexuality" - up to #27
Based on a true story, here's OMD and Louise Brooks in "Pandora's Box" - up to #26
Lastly, Cola Boy - 7 Ways to Love - up to #8. If you recognise the vocalist, she's Janey Lee Grace, now a regular on Steve Wright's afternoon Radio 2 show (and occasionally "The Wright Stuff"). If you think the music sounds a bit like St Etienne, that's because it almost is, but it was too fluffy and lyrically banal to associate formally with the brand.
I'd promised myself I'd return to a bit of a review at the close of the current series, having kept quiet since "The Eleventh Hour" back in April, so here I am.
That first episode turned out to be one of the best of the run, but there have been few duds in my opinion. I rather liked the Silurian two-parter, which appears to have been an acquired taste for many. And I was on the side of Richard Curtis'"Vincent and the Doctor" which people appear to have really loved or really loathed (loathed the lazy title though - should have been something like "Starry Starry Night"). And James Corden in "The Lodger" did a Catherine Tate and won us all over.
However I do have some reservations. If I had to pick 'worst episode' then that has to be "Victory of the Daleks" which was a mixture of WW2-fetish indulgence and the most blatant example of merchandise opportunity trumping plot acceptance I've seen since the Quarks. Even then, all the business with the jammie dodger bluff and Bracewell not accepting he wasn't a real human (foreshadowing Auton-Rory in the finale) mean I can't hate it.
(My second 'worst' episode is "The Vampires of Venice")
Equally, when the lurid Daleks reappeared in the penultimate episode, at the head of a fanwanky alliance of all the Whoniverse's handiest monster props, the line-up includes races who really aren't enemies of the Doctor (the Judoon) or just shouldn't be there in 102 AD (Silurians, Weevils). Apparently it's because the Daleks are the senior partner and they have time-travel (presumably where they were headed at the end of VotD). This aside though, "The Pandorica Opens" just edges it as my favourite episode. Moffat otherwise shows us 'less is more' if you do it properly. Here, a severed Cyberman head and arm prove very dangerous quite independently and it's just one particular Auton that does for Amy at point blank range because it is Auton-Rory. Even in the following episode, much of the peril comes from a crusty lone Dalek that has, like Auton-Rory, survived into 1996 AD.
One of the real developments this season has been River Song, a character we saw die on TV two years ago. Though only appearing in four episodes, they were possibly four of the five key episodes and each appearance ratcheted up how fascinating and mysterious a character she was. So fascinating that, like Captain Jack, she can't really be a regular (though a River & Jack spin-off must be tempting). It's very Moff-like that she basically represents the embodiment of 'spoilers', having encountered the Doctor's life in the wrong order - both for him and for us as viewers. This series though, a dark murderous side was hinted at too but left unexplained. I expect to see River in 2011, possibly even as the 'big bad' of the story arc. She's also been supremely camp this time round (witness the 1940s femme fatale entrance, the hallucinogenic lipstick and the turn as Cleopatra), which is always good.
There is actually a bit of an old-fashioned romantic vibe about the series, something not really seen since the Letts and Hinchcliffe eras of the 1970s. This time it owes a fair bit to the mid 20th century mixes of strong professional women, screwball comedy and unlikely romantic heroes. Although Moffat has failed to nail the 'identify with minor character' magic that RTD was a master at, he has re-focussed the humanity into a soppy old romantic plot, so no shock that Richard Curtis fitted in so well. The 2010 series counterpoints the central Amy/Rory romance in a world of internet porn, strippers and casual sex - all of which were acknowledged within the first six episodes. Of course this context only makes the eventual triumph of the relationship even more classically romantic.This also contrasts with the alternately comic-strip/soap-opera critique often applied to the RTD era.
And the future is bright, if a little uncertain.
Last night we ended with not only Amy being married to Rory, but both of them opting to travel further in the TARDIS with the Doctor (so keen that all three are still in their wedding outfits - see above). Thus we have the first married companions, who must at least last into the Christmas special.
Something that wasn't entirely clear was the nature of Rory, because although Auton-Rory now never existed, real-Rory appears to have the 1894 years of memories and experiences as 'the lone centurion' because of the way Amy restored the universe to rights. This makes him older than the Doctor for starters, but sets up fantastic character potential.
Then there's the matter of the Christmas special, which is now less than six months away from broadcast and 15 days away from starting filming. It would appear we are being primed to expect an adventure with 'an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express ... in space', but are we? Unusually, no title was proffered in the closing titles. I'm hoping we get that, even if it was just a Moff in-joke (Orient Express/Titanic anyone?) as I think they're all dressed for the occasion and it just may be that Christmas starts off a new Egyptian story arc (apparently Steven has said the next series climax is in Egypt) and that we might expect some overseas location filming again.
Anyway, I'll be happy with whatever on the strength of the last 13 weeks.
My over-riding impression after watching this episode is that "Doctor Who" is in the very safe hands of Smith and Moffat, and that we may even be at the dawn of a golden era.
We've got new TARDIS, new sonic, new titles, new logo and new music too. The titles aren't radically different from the previous ones, merely a slightly different representation of the vortex. I did notice that both the titles and new arrangement seem deliberately less portentious, almost knockabout as the TARDIS dodges forks of lightning against a real "boom-tish" version of the familiar theme.
I'm sure all of us harboured some level of doubt that the youngest ever actor to play the title role (someone born when the next youngest was the incumbent) could pull off the Doctor-ness convincingly. Matt Smith did it effortlessly and owned the screen in all his scenes, which is what the Doctor should do. As I've noted before, perhaps not here, Matt's not classically photogenic but comes over very attractively, as someone you'd be simultaneously comfortable with and excited by.
And Matt also has the comic timing and awkward physicality to play Steven Moffat's quirky humour. This was most notable in the food craving sequence early in the episode - a scene which gets better with each viewing but could have been a disaster if played wrong. And he is equally commanding when necessary, as he did standing up to the Atraxi on the hospital roof - something Tennant occasionally lapsed into obnoxious with. There's a sense that Moffat is moving the characterisation very slightly, but that remains to be seen I think.
To the episode itself. Though I think this is probably in the top 3 of new Doctor debut' stories, I've given it a less-than-perfect 9. There's one major reason for that - the special effects were 'special' in the derogatory sense of the word. and I hope they improve for the rest of this series. The true form of "Prisoner Zero' was suitably scary but really didn't look to be in the same room as anything else, and the Atraxi was bad in concept and realisation - a giant eyeball in a snowflake! It was as convincing as 70s CSO! I can cope with that level of effect in "The Sarah Jane Adventures" but not in the daddy show.
I'd also have a slight quibble that in a 65 minute episode a little more screen time and purpose could have been given to guest stars Annette Crosbie, Nina Wadia and Olivia Colman, thought the latter did get to be the villain briefly.
And some things were a bit rushed or unexplained such as Jeff and his gran's relationship to Amy (was his gran her Aunt?), what happened to Amy's parents and what year it was at any one time - I'm going for 1996, 2008 and 2010 and ignoring the 1990 date on Rory's ID card.
Amy was a completely new sort of companion - off the scale fiesty and unpredictable, though I'm slightly wary/worried of how she sees the Doctor. Her insisting on watching her 'raggedy Doctor' strip off struck me as a bit odd on second viewing. Nearest comparison I can get is Ace mixed with Donna.
In this though we also got Amelia, the young Amy, Have to say Caitlin Blackwood was every bit as good as if not better than her real-life cousin Karen Gillan, and even managed creepy when Prisoner Zero took her form. Moffat is very strong with giving children unusual roles of course ("are you my mummy?").
The other star of the show for me was director Adam Smith, the first of the completely new hands in that role this year where none of the directors have worked on the show before. He brought magic and colour and slight mischief to bear. He also has the honour of being the director on both the first broadcast episode as well as the first produced ones, which actually follow as episodes 4 and 5. The clips from them look assured as well, as they need to be for the return of the Weeping Angels and River Song.
The trailer also reveals some weird and wonderful things - with the one I've pictured last causing the most fan chatter. All of our regulars look to be given moments of greatness.
After all the recent acrimony over future production plans for 2012 and the 50th anniversary in 2013 seeming to be pared back and reports of fueds between Steven Moffat and new BBC One controller Danny Cohen, just as both of Moffat's fellow producers leave the show, I have trust in the show and suspect this will all blow over. Even cast concerns have allayed when considered alongside the new working pattern, though I was a bit alarmed to hear everyone was recently dragged back for a day's filming on "Let's Kill Hitler" despite having otherwise wrapped at the end of April. Karen Gillan confirmed at the weekend she will return for series 7, probably arriving late in 2012, despite TV and theatre commitments. Arthur Darvill has yet to voice a similar confirmation, but we may find out in September when this year's Christmas special is to be filmed. It seems unlikely to me that one would continue without their spouse on board, though Arthur is tied to playing Mephistopheles at London's Globe theatre into early October. We know of course already the Matt Smith has signed up to play the Doctor until at least the anniversary, something he always seems very keen on being a part of.
