Tennant on Coming Back for the Aniversary

Naturally, with the anniversary special being a bit more than three months away, and the recent interview-frenzy being on the brim of developing a life of its own, it was only a question of time for the first David Tennant interview to show up. This time it's 'SFX' is giving us the honour. 

 

Admittedly, some of the questions are pretty predictable, and none of the answers will stir up the fanbase;  like was he surprised to be asked to come back (nope) and they chat about what it was like to share the role of the Doctor on screen.

Of course, also the 'what about a female Doctor'-question comes up and I love his answer:

You are not going to get a quote from me on that. It will come back and bite me on the arse whatever I say!

Refreshingly, that's the least diplomatic answer I've read the past months. 

Neil Gaiman Talks 'Who'

Maybe our expectations for Neil's "Nightmare in Silver" have become so high that it's physically not possible to live up to them any more. For one, it's not helping that last year's "The Doctor's Wife" originated from his mind, and this interview SFX did with him is not helping either. Because he really knows what freaks people out (Silent Cybermen? And it took almost 5o years to come up with that idea? Even though realising it seems to take even longer.) And I can't help but love his way of thinking and the explanation behind the 'new' Cybermen design.

The one bad thing about that interview is that Neil Gaiman seems to be pretty certain about not become the next showrunner of 'Who'.

Interview Round-Up Volume 2

This is a Moffat interview by SFX with the eye-caching title 'The Acceptance Interview You Never Read' It does not mention anything new, especially as we've already seen the mid-season final, but it's nice to read how Moffat sees the Whoniverse and the Doctor, like 'his superpower is just that he’s a really good improviser'. Furthermore, it's also lovely that Moffat thinks that Sherlock Holmes is more alien than the Doctor, which is more than just a bit ironic when you think about it.

Then, I guess ATM there are not many Doctor Who blogs which manage not to mention Fright Night. So fulfilling my pleasant duties, here is a Collider interview with David Tennant on guess which topic... He talks about how it was to do a remake of something attracting people who already learnt to love the original (as if he would not have already some experience with that) and other stuff. And here is a 2nd one, this time by Shock Till You Drop (erm, right) and he is answering more or less the same questions but also talks a bit about Doctor Who.

I've seldom seen...

... someone declaring their love to Doctor Who in a more beautiful way.

While the Whoniverse is 'melting the internet' due to Neil Gaiman having his Who debut this week DenOfGeek published an interview with the newest addition to the big club of Who writers, and here is the result of the inquisition.

It is one of those classical must-read-interviews with a lot of interesting points mentioned, however, the most relevant ones are about Doctor Who's complicate-ish heritage, and why fans should be appreciating plot holes, or the mythos of Who as Neil Gaiman puts it. While he promises that his own episode is settling a number of things, he also mentions that it is these missing bits which keep Doctor Who alive. And if you are honest with yourself you know he is right. If we knew why the Doctor was living with his granddaughter on Earth, if we knew every single detail about his family, Galilfrey, the Timewar and so on, things would stop being interesting. Luckily we do get some answers now and then, but we have to face it that a few big chunks are never going to be reviled, at least if forth-coming script-writers know what is good for Doctor Who...

So, if you feel like reading an interview with maybe the happiest Who fan on this planet ATM, go for it.

The Big Moff Talks 'Who'

This is a longish (I'm not complaining) SFX interview with the Big Moff himself. And I do appologise for the length of this post, me commenting on a few things the Moff says.

Well, I guess there are not many Whovians who don't like and appreciate what Steven Moffat has done for Doctor Who, and I usually don't make a secret of me being a fan of him. Reading Steven Moffat interviews comes 2nd on my imaginary Doctor Who-related hobbies list. Still, there is one thing I'll never get about him: why he just can't leave the 'online fandom' of Doctor Who alone. Or at least live in peace with them. Still, he says: 'these are the people in the whole world who understand Doctor Who the least. They’ve stared at it so long, and invested so much in it that they no longer understand what it is. They can’t see it for what it is. Everyone else in the whole world gets it better than they do.' I can't help it, but I don't agree with that statement. After all, we are a big part of those 6.5 million people who are regularly watching the programme, who are madly in love with it, who are willing to spend their spare-time analysing it... I guess I don't need to go on to clarify my point. Maybe he is not fond of us pointing out a number of paradoxes which could have been easily avoided if script writers would stick to their own rules (and a small set introduced by others): But we are those who try to find explanations for them... which should have been actually their job. I agree that it's easier to write for the 2nd half of the 12 million people, those who do not watch this show regularly, who won't notice that the Doctor could not have given Rory the sonic-screwdriver while being locked in the Pandorica... and stuff like that. But it's possible to explain them, and as long as we are successful he can go on and write whatever he pleases to. In real life companies employ people to point out mistake to them. We are making it for free, and as a small bonus we even do our best to get them out of the way...

However, I guess we just can't stop adoring him for everything else he thinks and does.It seems to be so Moffat-like going on about Doctor Who's ratings. It is certainly the most important issue to a show. It's not only the money the BBC and he and everyone else earns by it, but also some sort of a cultural heritage. And let's not forget about all the streaming-services, if I may call them that way, which also play an important role nowadays, even if the BBC is not earning a penny, at least not directly, by it. However, it is great advertisement and I guess there is quite a number of fans who bought something Doctor Who-related on their trip to the UK. They would have never made that money otherwise. Now it's me rambling, sry for that...

The next point he talks about is that he can't imagine an American network doing Doctor Who or something comparable to it. I fully understand that. Over there people would not get the idea of a horror-show for children. Not the sort of horror of The Adams Family but a more realistic one. I know this sounds dull, because Doctor Who is sci-fi after all, but it manages to feel realer than Frankenstein-servants... When watching it it seems to be possible, somehow. In a very un-scientific way.

Altogether, Moffat is certainly one of those people who have a unique and astonishing passion for Doctor Who, but he does not seem to understand that there are also other people loving it, maybe in a slightly different way. Ironically, with being head of Doctor Who it should be him knowing that differences and conflicts are what keep things fresh and going.

Let's Not Jump to Conclusions...

...even though the title of Neil Gaiman's episode has been revealed.

It is... 'The Doctor's Wife' and I know what you're thinking, moreover Moffat knows what we are thinking and that approxy 1o1% of us are not amused by this choice.

But before starting an anti-Moffat/Gaiman demonstration, let's remember the last time we had to deal with such a... less favourable episode title e.g. 'The Doctor's Daughter' or 'The Next Doctor'. And, it wasn't what we expected it to be.Furthermore, during Moffat's reign the number of misleading episode titles has been increasing. E.g. I'm still wondering what 'The 11th Hour' has to do with the actual episode being named that way (11th'S Hour would have made more sense to me; or 'VAMPIRES of Venice' (which has, strictly speaking, a certain lack of actual Vampires in it), not to forget about Flesh and Stone' (yes, everyone besides the angels are not made of stone, at least when observed by others, but when I 1st heard the title it was a bloody ritual coming to my mind). And I bet Moffat has plans to keep up this rather new-ish tradition. After all, misleading titles are certainly not bad for getting some extra attention. So let's hope for the best.

EDIT: Giving it another thought 'The Doctor's Wife' might turn out to be an episode about River Song without her being actually in it. At least this is the most sensible thing I can come up with ATM.

The Big Moffs's Perfect Christmas & Other Stuff

According to SFX or rather a Steven Moffat interview to be found in The Brilliant Book about which SFX happened to drop a few lines, the next Christmas-special is going to be the one the Big Moff himself would 'like to see.' Actually, I liked Doctor Who's former Christmas-specials for giving me a break from those cheesy Christmas-y and consume-advertising films and episodes. Although I'm pretty sure that as a fan Moffat doesn't need much advise... And even if he spoiled it, at least we would get to know his definition of 'the perfect Christmas'.

Another point the Big Moff mentions (and SFX is so nice to write about) is the quite big 'Silence-Will-Fall'-story arch. So finally he tells us that Silence is a 'they'... (which is at least grammatically speaking also the politically correct term for referring to a female or male being alike. BTW.)

Last but not least there are also a few sentences about River Song. Well, I guess it's not really necessary to mention that Moffat has come up with a very clever story for her, but fans are always grateful for letting them know. And thank you so much for not making her an android... That's something we can put off our immensely long list then.