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The BBC have released three clips from this Saturday's Confidential.
In the first, Tom MacRae, writer of Season 6 Episode 10 "The Girl Who Waited", gets to check out the Handbots. In the second, Arthur Darvill (sporting a full beard) prepares to dive with sharks. And in the final clip, Matt wears the Doctor's new coat for the first time.
Sylvester McCoy (Seventh Doctor) was a guest at the recent Dragon*Con. Addressing a question about the past criticism of his era of the program, that he would have been better served with more polished scripts, Sylv does a reading of Matt Smith's "Hello, Stonehenge!" speech from The Pandorica Opens. For a cold reading, it's quite good, and proves that McCoy is possibly the only other Doctor who could really pull off the speech.
As for the old tired criticism of McCoy's tenure, all I have to say is if some people don't recognize Remembrance of the Daleks, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric, and Survival as five of the best Doctor Who stories *ever*... then who needs 'em.
So, some off-the-cuff thoughts about tonight's new Doctor Who, "Let's Kill Hitler".
(Note: I must have typed the word Hitler more times in the last few months then in my entire life.)
SPOILERS FOLLOW
First of all, I did not see that coming at all. I thought it would take til the end of the season for us to actually see a genuine physical connection between Melody and River, but I guess Moffat thought it best to barrel on ahead.
I loved the stuff with young Amelia and Rory. Poor Rory, he's been a buttmonkey for so many years. And Amy thinking he was gay. XP Then there was Amy and Rory's 'crop circle' to get the Doctor's attention. And then Moffat's joke about the TARDIS being in a state of 'temporal grace'. This is a throwback to a line in an old Tom Baker story, but since then a lot of guns have been fired in the TARDIS, kind of rendering it invalid. I love when Moff plays with little bits of the classic series. And the TARDIS voice interface scrolling through Rose and Martha and Donna ("There's got to be someone in the universe I haven't screwed up yet!").
I thought it was amusing that Hitler, whom I assumed would be a significant part of the story, ended up being no more than a cameo before he got locked in the cupboard. And if Rory wasn't already one of the greatest human beings ever, he gets to punch Hitler, tell him to shut up, and lock him in the cupboard, all in less than five minutes.
I'm glad we've been given a bit more information on the Silence. I always thought it had to be more than just one alien race. I often wondered how Prisoner Zero, at the start of Season 5, knew about the Silence. Perhaps it was a member? Of course, as usual with Moffat, we have more questions wrapped up with the few answers. Will River still kill the Doctor? Is she the person in the astronaut suit? How will the Doctor manage to escape his death if its a fixed point in time?
This was certainly a big and bold episode to return on. Just five more weeks before all will be revealed... (Or at least 90%, I'm sure Moffat will want to hold back something to get next season's ball rolling).
The one disappointment of Doctor Who on American television has been the lack of Doctor Who Confidential, the behind-the-scene program that has followed the series since its revival in 2005.
Well if you plan to watch the Season 6 Part 1 marathon tonight on BBC America, get ready for a pleasant surprise. Between each episode will air a 15 minute cut down of Confidential.
The marathon begins at 8 PM Eastern time.
And don't forget, Season 6 Part 2 premieres Saturday at 9 with "Let's Kill Hitler", followed by the special Best of the Companions.
AUDIO:
Titles have been revealed for most of the stories comprising the first Fourth Doctor season from Big Finish, which sees Tom Baker finally reprise his iconic role for brand new, full-cast audio dramas.
Stories include Destination Nerva, The Renaissance Man, The Wrath of the Iceni, Energy of the Daleks, Trail of the White Worm, and an as yet untitled final story.
Guest stars will include Geoffrey Beevers reprising his role as the Master (The Keeper of Traken, Dust Breeding, Master) and Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill in Victory of the Daleks).
BOOK:
The pre-order date for the book Memoirs of an Edwardian Adventurer has been pushed forward to August 26 to keep the planned release date as October 10.
Written by Will Brooks and Nick Mellish, the two took on the task of listening to the entire catalog of Eighth Doctor audios, one episode a day, every day, in an attempt to experience the true 'Eighth Doctor Era'. They examine the literary origins of the stories, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and praise (or otherwise) performances from the cast.
