Misquotes and Misunderstandings?

The recent news regarding Doctor Who are causing quite a fuss, mostly because there seem to be only a few people who know what is going on, but they are not too willing to share their news with us...

But before opening a new round of speculations about Doctor Who's future I just want to mention, that we should not believe everything out there, even if they claim to base their assumptions on reliable sources.
A textbook example for this is the latest BBC article dealing with this topic, however, the Whoniverse's very own Big Moff sees things a bit differently. His twitter statement reads:

"The scheduling of Dr Who has got NOTHING to with Sherlock. On the plus side THE BBC SPELLED MY NAME RIGHT!!!!"

So I don't know whom the BBC article does quote, but Steven Moffat seems to have different sources, and I have the feeling that he knows best what is going on ATM.

Another question fans are asking themselves is what has caused this fuss?
Yes, ratings could have been better this season, but I think the BBC knows better than butchering its cash-cow. Another option is that Moffat has a small problem with being in charge of Sherlock and Doctor Who at the same time. Or is it that Moffat wants to keep the current spring and autumn schedule for the forthcoming seasons, maybe not only for the sake of budget or ratings, but also because Doctor Who was originally meant to be aired in the cold months. Well, it would work for me. Or is it all of these points? Still, no matter how things will turn out to be, I'm willing to trust Moffat saying (or rather twittering):

"Dr Who: misquotes and misunderstandings. But I'm not being bounced into announcing the cool stuff before we're ready. Hush, and patience."

And somehow I rather take his word over the BBC's. So there is some 'cool stuff' on its way. We'll wait and see...

Demons Run...

... when a good Man goes to war.

Finales are special. And season mid finals are no exception. And there are two things all of them usually have in common: a, the Doctor loses someone in the end, and b, the plot is on the edge of being dull when watched as a single story and could be roughly summed up in less than 14o's twitter characters, well, almost: Demons run when a good man goes to war, but they are not fast enough. But, the afore mentioned good man and his allies still lose the main cause which they where fighting for, even though in the end this does not seem to matter that much. You see what I mean? Then again Moffat knows how to distract his audience form the main plot by what I like to refer to as the story's wrapping: We have Headless Monks, scenes which would have fitted into any Star Wars-ode and we find out about River's identity, for which we've been waiting for more than 2 season. However, let's not forget that there is just one part of that original question answered which the Doctor asked her in the Library. We are still waiting for the 'Who are you to me?'-bit.

And here we are, at the one of the many problems of the story: River Song's identity. There aren't many people who can't claim their brownies for something they predicted, said, wanted to say but thought it to be too obvious to say, or something along those lines. So, River is a Time Lord, well, Lady; she is Melody Pond; the Ponds are her parents. Did I forgot anything? To quote Dan Martin's not improvable words 'It feels as if every possible theory anyone has posited has turned out to be correct. That's either totally genius or horribly foolish.' This may be the reason for why watching it for the 2nd time does improve people's opinion on it: There are no expectations left.

The second problem about "A Good Man Goes to War" is the war bit. The Doctor simply does not go to war. Not after the Great Time War. Never again. He knows a war's side effects, and he doesn't want to be the one responsible for them. Yes, maybe he isn't counting on things going wrong (which they do), but my overall impression is still that Moffat should have considered the past Doctors' personalities a bit more when coming up with the plot. Yes, it's made clear that he hates doing it. But considering the Doctor's remarkable history on sorting unpleasant stuff out without using violence but his wits (and many, many words), I have the feeling that there should have been another solution. I mean, that's the most attractive thing about 'Who': it's not those with the biggest weapons who win a war, but those making the best use of their brains. Which is usually the Doctor. So, I'm simply not buying this stuff. It's not real 'Who', it's one which could maybe work in a parallel universe, but not in this one.

Still, as already mentioned, thanks to the Big Moff we are only too willing to ignore these disturbing aspects, for the story's wrapping is more than just breath-taking at certain points, not to mention the cracking dialogues. And the cherry on this cake is that although 'A Good Man Goes to War' will be famous as the episode in which River Song's identity was revealed, it also gives us a few hints at the Doctor's past. Because the man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name is right, 'Good men don't need rules'. And maybe one day if we are lucky, we'll indeed learn while he has so many. But before that, let's try and make the best of the upcoming involuntary summer-break.

Alex Kingston and Moffat's Anti-Teaser Policy...

... may or may not be in conflict. Just make up your own mind.

Today this blog has a premier, for as far as I know I've never posted an interview with Alex Kingston before. So this is an 'London Evening Standard' interview with the woman playing the Doctor's love-interest.

Somehow, she manages to drag that wild sweetness she seems to occupy on screen to that questioning, when talking about her family situation, her age 'troubles' and her wish of playing Shakespeare's Cleopatra. Although, strictly speaking she already did that, well it was not exactly Shakespeare's, rather Moffat's, but after all, the name was identical.

Of course she also mentions a few things Doctor Who, and mostly nice ones... Then again, most of us may not care too much about it being "the closest thing to theatre" on television. However, something we do care about is her way of 'explaining' the obvious age difference between her and Matt Smith, and the fact that they are still playing some sort of a ... couple, which is not the precise word, I know. She says, and this is a (longish) quote

'It plays with the notion of an older woman being in love with a younger man, who in his own funny, confused way loves her but doesn't quite know why, because it's a love in his future, in a different body. I'm not sure you'd get that kind of dynamic in America. At first I thought, my goodness, children aren't really going to understand or respond to River Song because of the age difference. But it seems they don't notice that.'

And in fact, they are not noticing it, because while Matt Smith may be younger than Mrs. Kingston, the character he is playing is not. And this is all the explanation fans and children need to cope with it. Sometimes I think it's remarkable how much adults forget what kind of explanations they were willing to believe when they were kids. As I already mentioned in an older post, Doctor Who makes much more sense when you forget about having grown up and try to watch it with the eyes of the child you are somewhere deep inside. Anyway, this is not what I planned to write about...

So, back to the quote. There is also something else pretty remarkable about it. Namely, I'm not sure whether she was supposed to give us a teaser regarding something we've been wondering about since the very first time she appeared on our screens, or not, even though latter one is much more likely; thus, the question of 'just who is her Doctor?' And when saying that 'it's a love in his [the Doctor's] future, in a different body' we kind of get the answer... Season 6 and 7 are according to this not the last ones she seems to be in. At least if looking at the canonical side of it. Knowing Moffat's love-hate relationship he has with spoilers, our Big Moff is maybe not amused by her spilling the beans, or should I say jelly-babies...

Shenanigans...

This was the best proper double-Doctor episode I've seen so far, and I'm glad that there wasn't a regeneration, even though only because this proofs the Daily Star wrong, if it was the Daily Star which claimed that. And it looks that Doctor 11b won't turn up at that lake in the US. It would have been a too easy way to solve that problem anyway, even though that problem will be solved. I'm sure.

So, what is there to love about these 4o-odd minutes? First, seeing the Doctors finishing each others sentences was one of the best moments in Double-Who history. It was also more than just logical that the Doctor had an 'identity-crisis' for a few seconds. All in all, he already had (at least) 11 different personalities, so creating a real double may be a bit complicated. And the way they said good-bye to each other was bitter-sweet: 'If I turn up to nick all your
biscuits, you'll know you were right'. Sadly, he will be wrong. At least most likely. At least as long as the Big Moff ..., anyway that guy has already too much power. Come on, he can destroy the universe at his will. How do you want to top this?

I could write a book on why the Doctor(s) was (were) especially adorable in this episode, but let's move on to the more important bits. Amy. And to this I just want to say the words every single scriptwriter longs to hear, even though this time it's rather the Big Moff than Graham who should be given credit: What a cliffhanger. No one did see that coming. That we have a flesh Amy from episode 2-something onwards was the most astonishing point of the whole story. Now also the whole 'TARDIS-is-not-sure-whether-she-is-pregnant-or-not' thing makes sense. And of course the Doctor knows what is going on. In fact, I can't think off another way of how this could have been explained away.

What I don't really get is why the Doctor sonics Amy number two, when he was so keen on letting anyone else live... but this is just a side-remark.
Somehow it was amusing that also the Doctor has his problems with these small things getting into his way when he wants to say something important, like Amy being pregnant. Well, some parents maybe had to explain the Doctor's 'Birds and Bees' comment to their offspring.

Anyway. Next week is the beginning of the end, or the Grand Finale, well, mid Grand Finale, to be most precise. Looking forward to it.

A Real Phonie...

IMHO it's not fair to judge a two-parter by its first 4o-something minutes, so I won't. Nevertheless, what you can, is comment on them. For that, here are my 'comments':

* This time even I noticed that Amy is not wearing a skirt.

* The Doctor does not tell Amy about the TARDIS not being sure about her being or not being pregnant...

* Matthew Graham is up to a double-Doctor story. And while some of us may be less amused by this, this has potential. I just can't wait to see the Doctor dealing with his own selves.

* Having said this, I'm sure that Doctor Number 11b is going to die sooner or later.

*Talking about dying... I'm glad that Rory has not yet and I hope he won't. That is starting to be ridiculous.

* What reminds me of the best line so far 'I think I died' - 'Welcome to my world.' And it's hard to top that.

* BTW, why is that guy keeping sneezing??? Is it important?

Anyway, let's hope that part 2 'The Almost People' will breath some new, preferable less artificial life into the story.

'But this was when we talked...'

This week Gaiman brought the only love-story involving the Doctor to screen about which not a single fan is ever going to complain. And you can't beat this one. Giving the TARDIS a human body, showing the relationship the Doctor and 'his old girl' have and wrapping this up into a genuine story; these are the secret ingredients for writing the perfect episode. The only down-side is that you can use them just once; but a great once.

Maybe the most interesting part of the whole thing was to see the story out of the TARDIS' point of view. According to her it was she who chose the Doctor because he was 'the only one mad enough' to show the universe to her. So indeed, the Doctor is a mad man with a box, or vice versa.

We also learn finally that it is not only the Doctor's navigation-skills which are to blame when he does not end up where he originally wants to, even after having spent 7oo years fiddling with her consoles. 'But I always took you where you needed to go.' She could not have put it in better words.
And there is also the bit about Time Lords being able to change sex when regenerating, even though I think that we should not get there. But talking about 'sex issues'; Amy and Rory 'complaining' about their sleeping-arrangements is the latest addition to our Doctor Who-related in-jokes list. Loved it, almost as much as seeing the old control-room for a change...
Oh, and the Ponds and the Doctor talking about the Timewar was just excellent. It more than just made sense.

Furthermore those of you who are reading this blog regularly, know that usually I'm not one of those to whom hankies belong to the standard equipment when watching finals, or heart-breaking story-lines, but the scene in which the Doctor was about to say 'goodbye' to Idris some kind of got me. There was something bitter-sweet about it. They won't be separated, but the scene in which he asks her whether she can still hear him in the very end was simply touching. Because she can, she will never stop being there for him, but she will never be able to talk/kiss/bite 'her' Doctor ever again.

All in all, this may be the best episode I've ever seen. And in spite of running the risk to say something stupid, it almost seems that Gaiman is what Moffat has been during RTD's era. So I really hope this is not the last bit we've seen of his genius.

The Partners in Crime...

... talk Shakespeare.

I guess if you are a David Tennant and/or Catherine Tate fan you do not need a longer introduction to read this Telegraph interview in which the two of them are speaking about their upcoming Shakespeare-production Much Ado about Nothing. In fact it is the sweetest thing I've come across during the past months. Loved the way David said Catherine has been the perfect Beatrice in his head. Now that's a compliment. And it was just sweet how Catherine's commented as his 'publicist' that he won't answer the question of how he is going to cope with doing Shakespeare and being a newly minted dad at the same time. But knowing some of his interviews I guess we did not seriously expect him to answer that question anyway.

So, I really hope someone will adapt Much Ado about Nothing for film for those of us to whom London is not just round the corner... And until then we'll have to wait for some reviews.

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.

Welcome Back...

...to the ghasty RTD era.

Do I need to say more? Even though I have to admit that I did enjoy 'The Curse of the Black Spot' slightly more than the opening line of this really short review-ish something might indicate. In fact, up to the 'twist' everybody was teasing us about, it was even enjoyable and I dare to say that I've seldom come across better lines in a non-Moffat episode than in this one; just pick any of those which the Doctor said, really. And while these points alone should be more than enough to write a good episode, Stephen Thomson screws up things really badly towards the end...

Just out of curiosity... are they going to kill Rory every time when a story needs a bit of tension? And what is the point in Toby and his father being stranded with the pirate crew on a star-ship/whatever? How can they steer it anyway? It's not like steering an 18th century pirate ship would be so much the same. And are the strange, cryptic, spooky abilities of the Siren going to be explained in a *never-going-to-be-screened* part 2? There are more than just a few explanations missing.

All in all, although this one started off really promising, it ends up being one of this year's fillers, and one of the worse ones by definition. Which is a pity, because doing a pirate episode in Doctor Who could have worked so well...

Anyway, next weeks' story looks more than just promising, so let's hope for getting some compensation for this weeks rather ghastly masterpiece.

Lots of Questions and Some Answers

You watched 'The Day of the Moon' to find answers? Well, Moffat gives us more questions first.

It is fascinating that the internet is still up and working, instead of exploding with speculations after yesterday's episode.
Those 45 minutes started with Moffat invents the pre-titles-cliffhanger. Well, sort of. Some of the scenes were pretty fun but incredibly needless, come on, River jumping from the sky-scrapper and landing in the famous TARDIS swimming-pool, even if going by the scene it seems to be rather set into one of the walls of the library, than on the ground... And let's not get into details of why the water is staying at its place. But that is just a side-remark.

Anyway. There are a number of more serious points to speak about. Like, the really creepy Silence. But are they able to control time somehow? I mean, just before Amy went inside 'her' child's room (more about this later) there was this woman looking outside the small window on the door. Who is she? Where did she went and why did the door look different afterwards? Moreover, apparently Amy spent several months, if not years being a prisoner of the Silence. She seems to have forgotten everything about it. But how did they do that? And why does she not seem to have been missing for such a long time. Maybe the fact that the TARDIS can't make up her mind whether Amy is pregnant or not (it does show both) is a hint at this. Time also may be a bit more bumpy than usual, what could be an indication for them having changed something in the past after all (and I'm thinking at the picnic at the lake in the desert in 2o11...)

So, there was also that little girl with a bunch of timelord-genes whom the whole season seems to be about in the first place.
Funnily enough, the Doctor is out of question. We all remember why he got Rory on board of the TARDIS; I'm quite sure there is nothing left for interpretation there. It seems that either Rory or Amy is a Timelord (or a Timelady) then, however, I think that Rory is the more possible options. This is because we do know a few things about Amy's parents and her aunt, and they appear to be quite human. at least to me. On the contrary Rory's relatives are pretty much a mystery. I don't even know for sure whether they have been at the wedding of their own son... Additionally, he waited 2ooo years for Amy, and although he was 'plastic' during that time, he still remembers it and he is dealing with it the same way as the Doctor is dealing with his past. Which is a bit odd in my humble opinion, but maybe I am reading too much into it.

Another point is River Song. Who is she? We still don't know for sure (or at all) but at least we got another bit supporting our 'wife' theory. The kissing-scene was somehow intentionally unintentionally funny. And if her last comment did not make you said go and get a heart. Nevertheless, this was not the last kiss for her. She mentioned in 'Silence of the Library' (what a introspectively spooky title) that before she left he turned up on her doorstep with a bunch of flowers and so on... There is a touch of tragedy about her character. I'm really looking forward to the next time she turns up.

But first Amy, Rory and the Doctor are having an adventure with pirates and an optically not unattractive monster, for a change.

Summer of 69

Heaving read some of the reviews (The Guardian, SFX, DenOfGeek

, The Guardian again) I was wondering whether it was the same 'The Impossible Astronaut' we are writing about. Because frankly, I don't understand the overwhelming positive opinions people seem to have about it.

Some of the above mentioned reviews claim that the first ten minutes of the episode were genuinely shocking, however, couldn't they have added some more tension to it? I mean, let's say they would have cut that bit and this season would start with River, Amy and Rory entering the fast-food restaurant. Maybe River mentions that the cards are numbered, see the Doctor's blue envelope lying on one of the tables and a few seconds later they bump into him. They are even more irritated and we are doing our best to figure out what had happened. Just imagine how astounded we would have been to find out about the whole stuff when the three of them are talking in the 'basement' of the TARDIS. After all, it's well known that everything we have to imagine ourselves ends up to be a lot more scary than what we are shown.

However, apart from these things I really enjoyed the episode. The Doctor is back and wittier than ever. I just adore Moffat for having written that scene in the oval office. Loved the bit that by saying his standard line the Doctor can keep Daleks and Cybermen from shooting him, but that it does not work for Americans. Maybe this is supposed to tell us something about mankind...

A thing which keeps me thinking is why Amy, who is supposed to be pregnant, is drinking some wine at the lake. Well, DoctorWhoTv.co.uk have already published their 1o Teasers for next week, and one of their point is that she is not pregnant after all. Is she thinking that the Silence are making her feeling sick. But what was the thing she wanted to tell the Doctor in 'Time and Space' then all about? Nevertheless, let's not forget about River also having similar 'symptoms' but blaming the prison food for it. So apparently, the cause of the whole mess is Big Moff's latest addition to the Whoniverse, which are, by the way, really scary monsters with extraordinarily terrifying abilities.

Speaking of River... We still don't know who she is, but it seems she won't end up killing the Doctor. Or will she? The last time he meets her (before his death) he seems to be on pretty good terms with her.

I'm confused, but I can't help feeling that this is exactly what Moffat wanted to achieve when writing this year's opening episode.

Why the Doctor Won't Die In 2o11...

... in spite of that's what Moffat gave us yesterday on screen.

Let's skip the boring introduction bit and let's start with the interesting part, the 3 most obvious reasons why the Doctor being killed by an Astronaut-like creature is not his final and ultimate cause of death.

Firstly, Matt Smith won't be the last actor playing that role. For, and this leads me to point two, the BBC just can't afford to drop their flag-ship show only because the script writer in charge has come up with a rather unusual, not to say crazy, idea.

I guess there are no news here, but what does this mean on a story level...

...which is point three on my list. Looking at the story the Doctor basically recruited his younger self and the rest of team TARDIS to change something in his past. And why would he do that for? It seems that he was not able to do that himself. Otherwise he would not had to recruit them. They would have just shown up at the right time and place without his interfering. So, whatever is about to happen it will change his first timeline, and if it gets altered enough he won't end up dying at the lake, which actually was the starting-point for the whole incident. I know, this is a paradox. That's also what River said and why she objected to Amy saying Time can be rewritten. But think about it, we had already more or less the same situation in The Lodger, the only other episode that TARDIS-like travel-machine or however you want to call it, showed up; when the Doctor told Amy to put a slice of paper into a window, but without it he would not have ended up at Craig's place, so the whole stuff could not have happened, through what he could not have told Amy to put the piece of paper there... So the act of passing on information seems to have its own timy-whimey-rules. At least in Moffat's Whoniverse.

After all, there is really no need for us to worry about a thing. Not even the first minutes of this otherwise pretty awesome episode.

The BBC News' United Report

I don't know how I missed this BBC report about United but I did somehow. If you want to have some backgroundinfo regarding the drama, which is going to be on in a bit more than 24 hours, then that article is certainly nothing bad to start with. It's really nicely done. I for my part enjoyed it, even if it does not reveal any world-shocking news or insights.

Graham Norton's Steven Moffat Interview

Just as the title says.

I tried to track down a complete version of this, but DoctorWhoTV was the one who managed to do it first. So, here it is. And it's great. I guess Moffat just can't do a bad interview, and the live ones are even better.

It's the children's program that adults adore.

With this being the nth interview I link to this page, I'm running out of introductions...

Steven Moffat is talking about Doctor Who and Sherlock and this time it's gothamist scripting it for us. I think if you like Moffat's stuff then you're going to enjoy reading those lines.

Among other things it's about how it is to be responsible for maybe the two most innovative and successful series on television, why the similarities between the leading characters of Doctor Who and Sherlock only last at first sight and how writing for such a complex show as Doctor Who is like. Although, it is a bit scary to know that the Big Moff used to have nightmares about flying sharks. I guess there are not many people having the power of making their nightmare come true... luckily.