'The Star Is The Show.'

The Guardian is using an interview it made with Jenna Coleman as an introduction to Doctor Who. Or are they just trying to give a summary of the past events? 

Maybe the most humorous part  is them stating that the announcement of Peter Capaldi

"shared a hysteria in common with the announcement of a new pope, ended in August when Peter Capaldi was unveiled on primetime television as the new pontiff – sorry, 12th Doctor."

But the actual interview is rather lovely. The most quoted bit has to be 

"I just read the script the other night. I'd been putting it off for ages and ages, because once you read the last page, that's it, the story is over. So I read 10 pages on the tube and I stopped, and then I picked it up again the other day and finished it. I was an absolute mess, an absolute wreck. But it's good; it's sad, but it's what needs to happen. It's perfect."

 And Jenna Coleman also mentions a few things about her past, how she ended up acting and being cast for Who, her personal experiences Who's frantic fandom, and what other things she is involved with ATM. 

Tom Baker and Peter Davison on 'Who's Past

One of the most significant signs of Who's 5oth anniversary being not too far away anymore is that the papers have started conducting interviews with some of the actors who left their mark on this show.

This is The Guardian featuring Tom Baker commenting on his time on Who. Leaving those fan-ish debates on 'who is the best Doctor' aside, to many people Doctor Who would not be the same show if at one point in time Tom Baker didn't have played the mad man in the blue box. Just in case you don't believe me, take a look at the final of DoctorWhoTV's recent poll on the most popular Doctor and decide for yourself. A hint, it's not Matt Smith vs David Tennant.

And if you've ever been interested into Peter Davison's take on the show, on its past and its future,  then make sure not to miss this interview by the Telegraph. Maybe the most interesting question he gets asked is his opinion on a female Doctor:

It’s not as if genders are interchangeable on Gallifrey [...] I don’t like the idea of the Doctor having a sex change - it’s not as if you would have a female James Bond.

And I know a rather big number of Whovians who'd wholeheartedly agree. 

The only thing about which I have to disagree with him is that I don't think Rose was the first companion which the writers got right. Sarah Jane Smith has always felt like a proper companion to me. In a way, she felt much rounder than Rose, because Rose hardly ever seemed to doubt the Doctor's decisions.

The Cost of Living in This Brave New World

And yet another, long overdue post dealing with the real world. Blame the world for being this busy and the BBC for being not. 

If by now you the name Edward Snowden does not ring a bell for you then you are either my spell-checker, or you have been living on a different planet for the past 5 months. After all, the coverage it got on the news has been overwhelming, to say the least. 

And while those nice people on the news tried their best to say what happened, somehow they didn't manage to inform the even nicer citizens of the world what Snoweden's revelations mean to us. 

Luckily, one of the recent articles in The Guardian makes a great job in provide answers in this matter. It's a rather longish one, but I have seldom seen a this easily comprehensive summary of how the publication of those top secret documents affects us. Give it a try.

So, what does it tell us? Mostly, that the world's secret services are an enormous and powerful organisation, and as such, you really do not want to mess with them. Because if there's stuff they do not know about, they'll soon have the technology to change this.

The only thing regarding the Sonowden documents which hasn't failed to take me by surprise is the fuss it stirred. Because, we do not really need those documents to learn that people, and therefore anything operated by people, lie. And most of us have suspected even before anno Snoweden that every step you make on the internet can be reconstructed, somehow; that for us mere mortals there is no such thing as a bug-proof 'line'; that your mobile is basically a device developed by the government to check the position and activities of its citizens 24/7. Giving information to the government is the cost we pay for living in this brave, new, even though constantly monitored, world. So, tap the 'connect to Wi-Fi' button and be nice. You may be watched.

The Coolest, Sexiest, Smartest Most Stylish Thing ...

on Television.

Is that Doctor Who he is writing about??? I just found this Guardian article and if after reading it you still think it does not matter when you get to see this years opening episode you should go and get a check-up. After having read the closing paragraph (Doctor Who might now be one of the coolest, sexiest, smartest most stylish things on television.) I could not stop grinning. In fact I still can't. I've no idea what Steven Moffat is about to do to our all time favourite series, but it seems to be something new and something everyone thinks that we are going to love. I hope they are right. Luckily, we have only 2 more days till we find out...

Good-Bye Our Sarah Jane...

I wish I wasn't writing this post... but sadly Elisabeth Sladen passed away. I just read the news and I never saw this coming. And the general public does not seem to have either.

She was one of those people who will always be associated with Doctor Who, maybe stronger than anyone else ever will be. Without her the Whoniverse will never be the same again, she will have always a part in our hearts. She was deeply loved and will be deeply missed. At least she did what she loved and was happy doing it.
Well, I suppose everybody knows that everybody dies, but we just can't accept it. And never will. Stories like this never fail to cath us off-guard.

If you happen to doubt the whole story here is an official article by a proper newspaper, and with time going by there wil be certainly more.

EDIT: DoctorWhoTV.co.uk's article has got a few statements most notably from Russel T Davies and Steven Moffat. Just in case you're interested... EDIT: DigitalsSpy has collected a number of other actors' and producers' reactions Elisabeth Sladen has worked with.
And this is Matt Smith paying his tribute, also published by DigitalsSpy.
EDIT: And to make the round complete, this is David Tennant expressing his sadness at the loss of Elisabeth Sladen.