The Big Moff at his Best...

...so far.

It shouldn't be hard to notice that this time it was the Big Moff's pen which brought 'Time of the Angels' to paper.

I have to say I don't know whether he has planned this all along (good, I guess it is safe to say we know he hasn't) but this was a great combination of Moffat's best creations, River Song and the Weeping Angels. Additionally, Moffat lives up to our expectations by writing a great story with an awesome cliffhanger. Fans can't wish for more, can they? (Hold on a sec, whichsing for more is our  number one privilege, so yes we can...)

Anyway, I guess I don't need to point out that IMHO this was very likely the best proper episode so far. I like the way River is teasing (and at the same time not-teasing) him about his future. Plus, whatever she has told him when they were , it was surely not very romantic and the Doctor seem to have reasons not to trust her with his life, unlike her, as she isn't missing a chance to point this out. Further, she says she has pictures of all his faces and although we don't really know how far that really goes, we have good old Doctor Who school-book reasons to assume that all in all there can't be more than 3 portraits of the Doctor in that diary.

BTW, I think this was the first time the Doctor has bit a companion of him. I hope Timelords aren't venomous (lol).

Ok, I bet that it's not only me who want to find out what that incredibly stupid and dangerous idea is going to be...

We are all stories in the end...

The Doctor is famous for giving the universe a hard time to vanish into thin air, but now the odds were more than just bad. However, the Doctor wouldn't be the Doctor if being imprisoned inside the Pandorica could stop him from fulfilling his duties, and yes, guaranteeing Amy to get her finale fairytale-y happy ending. Hurray.

These last 11o minutes didn't only topped any other of Russel T Davies' (if you happen to remember that name) so-called finales, but they also ended a season during which the Big Moff proved to be very much capable of doing his job in a really fantastic way. The only things people might criticise is that this two-parter was really for the fans (to occasional viewers the story might have been a bit complicated), and that Moffat doesn't care about paradoxes as the Doctor couldn't give Rory his screwdriver before he got out of the Pandorica in the first place. Although, when the universe and time are collapsing it can be supposed that nothing ( time included) behaves the way it used to. So, at least Moffat made sure that we get some sort of an explanation.

Then he also made sure to serve RTD-fans by making the end one of the most dramatical ones ever. For to my mind the Doctor never ever had to face the possibility of vanishing out of existence in such a complex manner. Although to be honest we knew it all along. Come on, the name of this show is Doctor Who after all. However, he did it in a very clever way... Now there is a whole generation to whom "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" has a completely different meaning. Well, I'm not complaining.

All in all, this was a great deep ending and I can't wait for the Christmas Special and for the next season to find out about River Song's view of the story.

How to do a proper cliffhanger...

Let the universe end just after reaching half of the time you have to go. That's it.

And basically that's the plot of this week's The Pandorica Opens. For the currant situation is: Auton-Rory killed Amy after a really heart breaking and love-revealing scene, the Doctor is locked up inside the Pandorica, which was actually created for... a nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies, the most feared being in all the cosmos. And, River Song is about to die for being inside the very soon exploding TARDIS which is causing the cracks in time and the end of the whole universe. Well, actually things has been already better than this.

Although I have to admit this is how I would imagine the perfect end of the very last Doctor Who episode ever, Moffat has still 55 minutes to go and to turn this into the perfect happy end of Amy Pond's fairytale. And we know that's exactly what he is going to do.

I Was Not Expecting This....

I seem to be one of those few ones who weren't that fond of this week's episode, but it might be just its teasers which got me too excited... I.Just.Don't.Know.

Anway, to my mind The Lodger is walking the really narrow line between a soap-opera-ish comedy and something which might have been originally some sort of sci-fi, well, maybe before it was turned into an episode. And even back then it was rather bad sci-fi than good one, for although this show has very obviously the label sci-fi on it, this isn't an excuse for not explaining important plot elements. Like, how or through which mechanism were those humans (and also the Doctor) pulled to the machine, or why would a machine explode only because it has a really clever pilot? Or how can a not properly working time-machine keep the TARDIS from landing? Well, maybe it's just me missing something...

But starting at the very beginning, I have to admit, if we cut The Lodger into really short sequences and if we watched them separately, we would get a really entertaining..., ehm, something. Because the only parts of this  episode which worked were it's non sci-fi elements, and, I have to admit that they were outstandingly well done. Indeed, there aren't many not-Moffat episodes having such amazingly well written dialogues and one-liners.

Furthermore, its timing couldn't have been more perfect. Come on, this was maybe the only episode in which the Doctor actually plays football and it was aired just before England faced the USA in the World Cup. Additionally, let's not forget Matt Smith's original plans for the future... Can this be sheer coincidence? Yes it can! Oddly enough, there is even evince that this was *really* not planned. For the whole story is based on a comic strip published somewhen around David Tennant's era, and despite of him not being famous for his football abilities, that original story also features a football-match. So to those who think that these 43 minutes were exclusively written for Matt Smith's Doctor, I recommend to do some research.

However, apart from this and its good conversations there isn't much positive to say about The Lodger. And I'm not absolutely sure whether a football playing Doctor is something positive in the first place. I'm sorry, but it takes more than some witty dialogues to write a good Doctor Who episode. If a good storyline is too obviously not there, there isn't much to save it. And to me this was actually the most pointless and awkward plot I've ever seen in Doctor Who.

In addition, I wasn't exactly comfortable with seeing the Doctor only wrapped into a towel as a result of being in a hurry to save his friend. Sorry, but there is something utterly wrong with that. And yes please, never do that "let's smash our heads against each other to see the world from your perspective" again. Thank you.

Maybe there are a few people claiming that the story was quite funny as a whole, but I think it's already the situation alone guaranteeing that. I mean, the Doctor being forced to act as a human being for a week (or wasn't it rather 4-5 days?) automatically leads to some comical elements. Nevertheless, it's the job of a good scriptwriter to take these good elements and to turn them into an even better and coherent story.

I hope next week's finale-opener will show how it's done in a proper way.

The Differences between Cwmtaff and Rio....

... should be definitely made more obvious.

This is not a proper review for Hungry Earth because I think what Chris Chibnall did was only stretching the usual 5 minute intro of an average Doctor Who story to a sometimes not pretty fast going nor really interesting episode. If you want me to say something positive about it, I absolutely liked the costume of the Sillurians. And I loved the Doctor's meringue comment. Good for him that preparing decent desserts is not an obligatory skill to save the universe .
Anyway, all in all this was an interesting 45 minute opener for part 2. So let's wait and see.

Got my Spaceship, Got my Boys...

... Well, the Doctor maybe doesn't agree with her that much about whose TARDIS she travels in...

To be frank, this is my 2nd version of this review. The first's title went something like "Is it just me thinking this was... stupid", because Vampires of Venice had a bit too many not necessary scenes and elements of former episodes in it (more about this in a moment). But after noticing that SFX's review writer gave it 4 stars (out of 5) through what it ended up having the same rating as Flesh and Stone which was magnificent IMHO, I started wondering whether we are trying to write about the same episode... Because of this I re-watched it today (those who are still searching desperately for a link as YouTube is having some issues with the BBC: here it is) And I have to say I changed my opinion about it... a bit.

Alright then, let's start with the very obvious bad things about Vampires of Venice. For a start, what was the scene with the Doctor being electroshocked all about? Those fish-aliens weren't exactly electric eels, so how did they do that in the first place? Talking about the Saturnynians. Right after watching it I couldn't help myself thinking that somehow the whole concept (apparently human beings turn out to be deadly man-killing aliens) looked like a remake of School Reunion, so I wasn't surprised to find out that it was Toby Whithouse, known for being the writer of the said episode, being also in charge for this one. However, interestingly enough he didn't only add a few things out of his own episode, but I bet it was not only me thinking that this wasn't the first time we saw the Doctor climbing to the top of a tower while it's storming around him (Daleks in Manhattan 2-parter, anyone?). Furthermore, having some recently really overused vampires in a show like this for the 2nd time (old Who) doesn't show of having too much creativity.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't be fair not to mention Vampires of Venice's good parts. I can't deny that some scenes were just fun, or let's say, they were so out of place that they managed to "be in place" after all. Who didn't smile about Rory discussing Amy kissing the Doctor while they are going through pitch black catacombs and there might be other things to have on their minds. Or his attempt of fighting with Francesco just to impress his fiancée? Further, seeing the Doctor showing his old (and by this I mean really old) library card instead of the psychic paper was just a laugh. And I really loved the scene where the Doctor is disappointed by Rory not saying "It's bigger on the inside". I almost felt a bit sorry for him... Additionally, some of those dialogues, especially the Doctor's (which were rather monologues though) were really cleverly done and I dare to say they were the best bits of the whole episode in general. Although I bet tomorrow there will be people complaining about the whole "love/getting married/children" references. Well, I as an adult fan think that today's children are used to worse stuff than this.

So overall, what we got was a well written but still a bit "recycled" episode with a few potholes which managed to look like a big portion of fun, somehow.

Time Can Be Rewritten...

So that's how Moffat deals with the very ambiguous past of Doctor Who: by inventing a crack in time which absorbs and un-writes history. We are used to a few things but I'm sure not each further main editor will get away this easily with this series' more than just difficult "heritage".

Anyway. All in all I think 'Flesh And Stone' as such doesn't live up to Time of the Angles' quality, but if we watch it as a single episode the result is far from being disappointing. Especially because we can put a few more things on our River-speculation list. And as this is the most interesting part of the whole episode anyway, I hope you'll forgive me for skipping the other bits.

First things first. A question. What is scarier than the weeping Angels or a crack in the universe tearing reality apart? River. Maybe. Now we know that River is in prison for murder; she has killed the best man she ever knew who is maybe the same one who has taught her flying the TARDIS. But while I'm quite sure that the latter one has to be the Doctor I just can't imagine that she has killed him, at least not on purpose. Then again, if she killed him the whole Silence in the Library - stuff would get another completely new and deep meaning, and we know that's exactly what Moffat is fond of. Still, I think Moffat's big picture is surely not River killing the Doctor. Come on, the Big Moff loves fooling us. But then again, no matter whether she did it or not, to quote the Doctor: history can be rewritten so Moffat doesn't need to stick to his own 'fairy tale'-ly rules (in my humble opinion, he starts to gain too much power.) I for my part am looking forward to the next time River will show up.

Further I like how Moffat manges to add a Silence in the Library reference to the plot. River's "You, me, handcuffs... must it always end this way?" was more than just a hint to her own death. I have to admit maybe it is not only sheer coincidence that that scene is there. It could be a reference to 11th death after all, but I have still a few doubts.

Oh, and before I forget it, especially as the official reviews and their comments will be full of it: first, Amy, you bad girl. Loved the Doctor's reaction though. That's exactly what we expected and waited for... for 3 years.

And 2nd, I can't help thinking that we were actually supposed to notice the Doctor wearing his 'lost' jacket and a different watch in the 'you must remember' scene. Come on, they made him wearing a different wristwatch, that's like adding flashing lights and a 'This is IMPORTANT'-sign to it, and yes, the 'important' standing in capital letters.

So next week Rory joins the team and they are going to Venice. No idea how that should help fixing the crack but although I think there are too many vampires on TV ATM, just watching Rory and Amy dealing with each other and/or with the Doctor has the potential of making the story more interesting than it might appear to be at first sight.

Pimp My Dalek*

This seems to be quite a "controversial" episode, meaning that fans aren't sure whether to love it or to hate it, but after considering its good and bad sides I have to say actually I liked it.

Sure, I'm also starting to be tired of Amy getting too much attention, but apart from that it wasn't a really bad one. Well, an episode with Churchill and the Daleks in it can't be bad, can it?

Further I don't think that technicoloured Daleks are something bad. If I had a say I would have rather gone for the "iron-side" version, for the coloured ones look like some pepper-pots from the 6o's and 7o's standing on the shelf of a fast-food restaurant. And I loved the "All right, it's a Jammy Dodger,but I was promised tea!"-bit just as the tea-references in general.

It was strange to see that no-one believed the Doctor in the beginning, not even his own companion, bad girl. Now, that's how nightmares feel like (and I guess that's how Amy felt like about the crack when she was a child; only that hitting it with an oversized spanner wouldn't have had such an effect; but why was that necessary in the first place?) Still, I'm looking forward to finding out why and how those Journey's End Daleks could have been erased out of her mind.

Well, I guess no matter what fans are thinking about The Victory of the Daleks, it won't stop them watching the next episode because it is going to deal with one of the most discussed phenomenons in Doctor Who history: Who is Prof. River Song? I'm not saying we'll surely get that question fixed, but... let's wait and see.

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*yes, those who have read the Guardian review know these lines are not mine; but I wish they were....

This was different...

... but I'm not entirely sure whether that's good or bad.

So, Lawrence Miles is looking for "in betweens" (as mentioned here)? I really hope he stayed tuned in.

Right now, I'm going to do something which hopefully won't happen quite often: Considering The Best Below's plot it is very likely the worst Steven Moffat has written (yet?, that hurt).

I have nothing against star-whales, are surely lovely animals, and I liked the ending (letting Amy to save the day was a really nice twist), but the Big Moff's former stories used to be easy-going and light-hearted and this one seems to be a bit forced. Come on, what was the "being inside a star-whale" scene all about, or the Smilers?

Still, it could have been worse, especially because if you don't concentrate on the actual plot of the episode but on the in-betweens (should I put that in capital letters?) then it was great.

Well, let's say, this one wasn't about the story, but about character development. For it really was, especially, if we take in account that we have 2 strangers flying around in a tiny police box (or being in the mouth of a whale, I know, nice options) then we should have known that this is going to be an "in-betweens" one. But to be honest, I expected Moffat to do it a bit better. Nevertheless, the in-betweens we got were really good. I'm about to say that Amy has the potential of being a part of my "best companion" list (but sorry, she just can't be 21 years old, or am I missing something?). Further, I love Moffat for writing the Doctor less dramatic and more "alien-like". I have nothing against drama, but RTD overdid that constantly the last 5 years, so I'm quite enjoying the recent (although luckily not complete) lack of it.

So, next week the Daleks are back and it's Churchill having an appointment with the Doctor? We'll see...

Fishfingers And Custard

Moffat IS a genius, no news there, but even I wasn't quite prepared for the awesomeness of this story and the really quotable dialogues. Additionally, it was fast going, I for my part had quite long no idea how a computer virus should save planet earth from being incinerated. But it worked.

Further I loved how Moffat created a great mixture between a fairytale and a sci-fi story. Doctor Who starts to become something for "never going to be adult" grown-ups and children alike. Well, maybe the "trying food and spitting it out" scene was a bit... too childish, and Amy's job could have been something else but apart from that I really liked it. And that guy should get a BAFTA for the way he introduced Amy. People might point out that we already had a Moffat-story in which the Doctor becomes some sort of someone's imaginary friend , but even those have to admit that it's the first time that that someone knocks their imaginary friend down with a cricket bat.

Talking about Amy. She seems to be a bit random and she has definitely been a nice child. But in my opinion we don't really know a lot about her real character at the moment.

Then again, talking about randomness, I haven't mentioned Matt Smith yet, who had very likely the most difficult job of the three people I have mentioned above. And I have to say his interpretation of the Doctor was brilliant. There are certain Tennant-like features in his acting, I mean I could imagine the last Doctor talking in the way he does, but then again he also adds his own freshness, clumsiness and enthusiasm (or maybe more some kind of a fascination) to it. I just have to agree with Moffat who said "Matt's Doctor is bonkers." That sums it up pretty well.
Nice TARDIS - interior by the way, I liked the old colour of its outside more, but the interior outweighs it again.

So, that was a really nice start. Looking forward to next week.

Oh, am I the only one wondering what the title and the actual story had to do with each other? The only possible connection I can see is that the episode was about 6o minutes long, but apart from that - no idea. But shouldn't it rather say Eleventh's Hour then?

@ Mr. Mile's "In-Between Days"

... which, as I don't really need to mention, might disappear.

Sensible people know that Steven Moffar is actually one of the best script writers Doctor Who might have got to do the job of a main editor, and I guess it's not only me loving his episodes we have seen so far. And even if I have to admit that yes, I disliked the promised 6o second bit of the new episode (I know time is relative, but without the long trailer there are only about 2o seconds left) and yes, Blink wasn't Moffat's masterpiece, Lawrence Miles seems to forget that Blink was THE lowbudget episode of that season (s3), nevertheless it scooped a BAFTA, somehow. (Well, considering season 3's other episodes, that wasn't such a big surprise.)

Furthermore, in my opinion Doctor Who is still one of those TV shows where I actually do have the feeling that it lives of these "in between" parts (as Mr. Miles calls them). E.g. remembering Partners in Crime I for my part was much more enthusiastic about having Donna in it than about those extraordinary cute fat-chunks called Adiposes. And talking about Moffat's Girl in the Fireplace, it was all about those parts "in between". Now I won't quarrel about David Tennant's interpretation of the Doctor, I guess I couldn't be enough objective for that, although I really didn't liked a few things RTD wrote his Doctor into (I'm still trying to forget a few things about End of Time), but I have to say that some of the best Doctor Who stories I've seen so far belong to the 1oth Doctor's era.

Anyway, at least thanks for keeping those terms straight. I hate reading Doctor Who related articles not having their vocabulary right. Come on, I have just spotted the word "Tardis" in the rADIO tIMES, now how does that look like?

We could spend Avatar's budget and still ask for more

Now that's a statement, and I bet the Beeb isn't amused to hear it.

This article by the BBC includes some bits of a Steven Moffat interview about how the team deals with money issues for Doctor Who.

We know that producing such a science-fiction show isn't exactly cheap. So I love the fact that Moffat thinks of budge-cuts as a challenge instead of just saying that they are bad. At the same time he also adds that they "could spend Avatar's budget and still ask for more [...]" and that he wasn't considering the budget when writing episodes. Now that's true. Do you remember one of the most amazing stuff the Mighty Moff wrote? I'm referring to the sequence in Girl in the Fireplace" where the Doctor crashes through a mirror into a ballroom on a horse. IMO it's very likely that RTD wouldn't have done that, simply because it seems to be such a big and expensive effort to film (and after watching its confidential I have to say, indeed, that scene wasn't an easy one).

Further, Steven Moffat says that the TARDIS, maybe the best idea in sci-fi history ever, came into existence because of the then team having budget problems.
I like his point of view.

That Looks Awesome...

A few days ago the very first episode of the next season (5 or 31, just chose a number) had its premier and critics are not bad.* You can read here what The Guardian thinks it has to say about it, not much if you ask me. And this is SFX's opinion, which is worth reading. It's not giving away too much, but in a good way, although I have to admit I haven't highlighted that major spoiler. This is the BBC's statement, but somehow the writer doesn't seem to have been informed of the difference between "the Doctor" and "Doctor Who". I whish at least the BBC would get it right...

Furthermore, we have 2 new trailers (trailer 1, trailer 2, and that's the American version trailer 3). Additionally, there was a "The 11th Hour" Karen Gillan/Matt Smith interview, after which this short extract of the next episode was shown.

Somehow it's becoming hard to wait, good to know that in less than 2 weeks we are going to know how to spend our Saturday afternoons.
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*This is very obviously an understatement.

Voila - the Trailer

First things first, here is the link.

Honestly, it looks slightly too 3D-ish for my taste and that's not exactly a compliment. And does it have a plot?

I mean a proper one.

Well, I have to admit the fist and last seconds (the Doctor and Amy are lying on the ground and having a chat about the universe) are good, even excellent, but the parts in between are only, and exclusively trying to show off. Remembering Steven Moffat's "back to the roots" campaign; — that didn't come close to it. I'm glad that Doctor Who isn't done in wiggly studious anymore (with the oldest police box which happens to be available), but I hope that the Beeb remembers the reason why that show was and (trusting Moffat) still is successful, and by this I mean the stories and not only David Tennant's amazing acting abilities, although I quite admire him for what he did.

Anyway, back to the trailer, I guess it looks good on a big screen and if the audience happens to wear 3D-glasses, but in my world trailers which are not teasing things are a tiny bit pointless.

The Big Moff speaks and the Whoniverse listens

When I finished reading this (that's the DWM 418 Steven Moffat interview, BTW) almost 2 weeks ago (sry, I have been busy) I couldn't help loving it.

Well, I think there is no need in pointing out that Moffat is a genius, and I have to admit he used every single trick I could (and couldn't) think of to get us on his side. Additionally, he knows in what fans are interested, or at least why fans are reading interviews in the first place. And he made sure we get served.

I loved the story about how Matt Smith's (and Karen Gillan's) Doctor Who-Casting was like, how they finally found his costume (fans LOVE last-second decisions) and I guess Moffat is also very aware of the effect the words "conservative" and "2nd Doctor" have on fans. So all in all, he knows that he managed to do a quite nice combination: He gives us a pretty young Doctor who gets the job of bringing back some of the good "old" Doctor Who magic a few fans missed during the RTD era.

Furthermore, Moffat also destroys at least one not entirely uninteresting rumour about the show's rather recent past.
I guess there isn't a fan to whom the date "29th Oct. 2oo9" doesn't ring a rather sad bell, when David Tennant won that particular BAFTA award during which's thank-you speech he announced that in the next season there will be a different actor doing the "best job in the word", as he liked to call it. For this many optimistic fans couldn't help themselves speculating about what would have happened if he hadn't won that one. Thanks to Moffat we do know now: it wouldn't have changed a thing. David Tennant had to make up his mind about this somwhen after the "library 2 parter" shootings got finished, so this wasn't such a spontaneous decision as it may have seemed to a few fans out there.*

Moreover, this also tells us that Moffat had more than just "a lot of time" to think about his first "main editor" episode and season.

And he seems to be also very aware of what his audience expect of him or of a good series, maybe more than RTD ever did, (I guess Moffat's "Tim Burton"-ishness isn't just a fancy of him) and there is evidence that he will combine this brilliantly (I'm very sorry to use that word) with the show's heritage. Firstly, he knows this show has a history on its own and secondly, he does so as a fan. Maybe I'm repeating myself, but I can't possibly think of someone whom I would have rather liked to do this job than him.

Finally, I guess I'm not the only one who starts being a bit enthusiastic, or at least curious about, what Moffat's heritage is going to be.

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*Well, there had been also more unpleasant ones... E.g. looking back, it seems obvious that around then the Beeb knew that it won't be able to spend as much money on its "flag-ship"- show as it did in the past, so a few people said that maybe that decision was also about money... but now that has been busted. Hurray.

All in all, the future doesn't look that bad...

The whoniverse is still busy mourning the 1oth Doctor and/or it is going on about Russel T Davies incompetency of writing proper scripts*, however the world does what it does best, it keeps on spinning.

The most recent evidence for this is that in a few days the new Doctor Who Magazine is going to be available , featuring a few remarkable interviews. But ATM there isn't even a lot from last month's issue on the net, still, I have found this. That's the complete DWM 417 Matt Smith Karen Gillan interview (from last month, sry poeple, I have been busy) which's middle part has made it to YT a few weeks ago.

If you haven't read it yet then give it a read-through, it deserves it.

After reading it I think Matt Smith will do a good job. He seems to be, let's say, less enthusiastic about the show, but he respects it. And in this case "less enthusiastic" isn't equal with "not enthusiastic at all". But I guess it's impossible to be more enthusiastic about Doctor Who than David Tennant was during his time.
So, it looks like Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are having a lot of fun while standing in front of the camera, what isn't bad for a start.

Karen Gillan also solves Amy Pond's job - mystery, she tells us that it was she who asked for the short skirt. Moffat originally wanted her in trousers, so it's likely that in his scripts she is referred to as a police-woman after all.

I also like that the big Moff is not tapping into the "love-story" trap, at least Matt Smith describes the Doctor as "conservative" and that sounds good to me. Additionally, he says he (and not his Doctor) is clumsy, but that's something Moffat may add to the next Doctor's character. Well, I would like it.

Another bit we, at least I , liked was Matt Smith announcing that there will be a "Tim Burton-ish" touch about the new show. Doctor Who is a bit like a fairytale, and I guess Moffat won't overdo this aspect.

Good, that interview did its job, we are looking forward to the next season... although maybe still with somewhat mixed feelings.
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*BTW, you can read Mr. Miles' opinion about Doctor Who's future (I'm referring to the show!) here, it's the column on the right... In my opinion he has made a few points, but I trust Moffat with Doctor Who. I think the show couldn't possibly be in better hands.

Back to Basic

It's a well known secret that today at 8am the new season 5 Doctor Who logo has been introduced to the audience. The first reactions differ from "Brilliant" (lol) or "it could be worse" to "we want to keep the old one". I suggest you make up your own mind. Here you find a copy of it. And here is a part of the new intro.

IMO it's better than the old one, the one we had for the last 4 seasons. Sure, it's new and at the first glimpse everything new is bad, but after giving it another thought... we'll get used to it, and I was never really fond of the old one. And I'm really fond of its retro style. It works for me, I hope it also works for you as the BBC doesn't care about our opinion.

Does Sir Blackadder and sci-fi match?

Richard Curtis is going to write a story for Doctor Who (here is the official statement of the BBC, and here is a nice blog review by the guardian, with an even nicer comment). Although fans are already speculating weather Sir Edmund Blackadder will meet the Doctor or not, I think it's rather unlikely as Rowan Atkinson won't agree to play that famous character (again), and I'm quite sure that Curtis won't want anybody else to play that role. It's more possible that the Doctor will come across a "demon headmaster" ( Terrence Hardiman has already been spotted on set) than with Sir Blackadder.

But apart form this there aren't any news, but speculations. Rose seem to have been seen on set too, but as we know she is supposed to be living a happy life with "her" Doctor in a parallel universe. And come on, Moffat can do a lot better than that. I really wasn't too fond of Doctor Who's last season's final, nevertheless, its (only) positive aspect was that we got rid of Rose, forever. So, thanks to RTD, we can put Rose on the "never going to happen" list.

About old & new Friends and upcoming Mysteries

It has been a while since my last post, and not because of lack of news, but - I just wasn't here... I hope you'll accept this imperfect apology.

Anyway, the whonivers kept spinning, right, what did I expect, the whoniverse wont' keep still just because I'm abroad for about three weeks, maybe it would have kept still if I had stayed at home... So, what are these so called news. We know Karen Gillan's character's name: Amy. I read somewhere*, I have to apologise for being this unspecific, that Mighty Moff's going to turn the whole story in a Doctor - Rose, pardon, Amy relation ship a la Rose, and I really hope this will never come true. Anyway, here 's a nice wallpaper, yes, it's the OLD wallpaper of the two smiling not directly into the camera. You can find an analisation of it here. I'm glad Moffat hasn't completely changed the Doctor's look, although we weren't exactly expecting that the 10th Doctor's legendary brown coat was allowed to stay on set, were we? But why they changed the TARDIS's outside (here, I won't post the original one, we all know how it used to look like) is a secret to me. On the other hand, this might be a hint of what happened in the specials. Who knows. Filming for the next season has already started and - Alex Kingston (River Song) has been spotted on set (pics and source here) and according to Scooty: "she isn't unknown to the Doctor. He clearly recognises her as friendly and they have a chat." I think this isn't her "first" encounter with the Doctor. Still, there's the possibility of twisted timelines: River Song meets Matt's Doctor first, and then she comes across David's Doctor. This could be the reason why they are "doing diaries". Combom has another interesting post about her here. Plus, She's wearing hand-cuffs. Doesn't that ring a bell? Well, if it doesn't then I suggest re-watching the Library 2 parter... And - last but not least (I'm not wanting this post to get too long): Moffat seems to have a freer spoiler policy than RTD ever had. You want proof? Here. "The Crash of Byzantium", as mentioned in s4e8, could be a possible title of Matt's 1st (?) episode. But giving it another thought, "Crash of Byzantium" should be placed before Matt's era, because when River Song meets the Doctor in "Silence of the Library" she thinks that she has been there with David's Doctor... However, I hope Moffat hasn't ignored this fact. So, maybe it is not THE "Crash of Byzantium" but A "Crash of Byzantium" and maybe the whole story is just made up, or the BBC wants us to speculate about "unreal" spoilers while hiding the real ones. To quote Combom: "It's odd that we can deduce this, even the Byzantium sticker, its as if it was put here for us to find!" It is odd, too odd, for what I suggest that it can't be sheer coincidence.

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*Those who are really that keen on copyright infringements, go to Combom's blog and read through his entries of the last 2 weeks. It should be there, somewhere.