The Time Of The Doctor Has Come...

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe's deadliest species gather,drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars. And amongst them – the Doctor.
Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

The BBC have unveiled the first official artwork from Matt Smith's final outing as The Doctor, as well as confirming that it shall be called The Time Of The Doctor.

The poster focuses on Matt and companion Jenna Coleman, and features returning foes The Cybermen and The Silence, while the clock ominously reaches Twelve.

But the more eagled-eyed amongst you may notice incoming Doctor Peter Capalid in the mix, too...

Meanwhile, I revealed back in September that Orla Brady will be in the episode, and now the BBC have confirmed that, as well.

While they have not confirmed who she will be playing, they have said that she is "a key character from The Doctor's past", and that she will be central to the episode.

As if Who fans didn't need an excuse to wildly claim that she was going to be The Rani or Romana...

The Time Of The Doctor airs on Christmas Day on BBC One and BBC One HD.

Family Guy Kills Off Character

It was revealed a while back that Family Guy was to kill off one of the members of the Griffin family, and the death occured in the episode that aired in the US on November 24th.

Spoilerphobes may want to look away now...







 


 

Brian Griffin, the family dog, was killed after being hit by a car.

In all fairness, this probably surprised very few people. For starters, Seth MacFarlane had made it public that the family would be getting a new dog (described as "edgier" without any sense of irony - Poochie anyone?), voiced by The Sopranos' Tony Sirico.

And also, it was known for a long time that this would be the death episode, and it was called The Life Of Brian.

Stewie Griffin could have used his time machine to change Brian's fate, but dismantled it earlier in the episode and was unable to find replacement parts.

Sirico's character, Vinnie, was introduced later in the episode.

Family guy has not previously been scared to kill off characters or make big changes - famously every character that was killed off in the Agatha Christie parody episode remained dead.

However, given the sense of humour the show has, coupled with the media fanfare this has caused, it wouldn't be a surprise if the next episode opened with Brian back, Vinnie gone, and no mention ever made of this again...

The episode will air on BBC Three at a later date.

Moffat Talks Regeneration Limit

In the wake of the events of The Day Of The Doctor, Steven Moffat has been talking to fans about which Doctor is which, and how many more there can be to come.

First off, he insisted that if we want to carry on calling Matt Smith Eleven we're welcome to do so:

"He has no more ever called himself the 11th Doctor than he would call himself Matt Smith. The Doctor doesn't know off the top of his head [what number he is].

"If you worry about such things, and I do, then I specifically said John Hurt's Doctor doesn't use the title. [Matt Smith's Doctor] is in his 12th body but he's the 11th Doctor, however there is no such character as the 11th Doctor - he's just The Doctor, that's what he calls himself.

"The numbering doesn't matter, except for those lists that you and I have been making for many years. So I've given you the option of not counting John Hurt numerically - he's the War Doctor."

Moffat went on to address the regeneration limit. If Matt Smith is now the twelfth Doctor, then Capaldi is set to be the last Doctor by the show's current rules.

"Paul McGann turns into John Hurt so they're not the same incarnation. He used up another regeneration and I expect he'll be in trouble shortly - you can't break rules laid down in 'The Deadly Assassin'," Moffat teased.

Doctor Who returns at Christmas. The Day Of The Doctor was watched live on BBC One by 10.2m viewers.

Review: The Day Of The Doctor

"You were The Doctor on the day it was impossible to get it right..."

It's Saturday night. It's the 23rd of November. It's cold and dark out, but across the country families are gathering in the warmth of their living rooms to watch a bit of telly.

There's an eerie howl of music as black and white images swirl across the screen. Then we see a policeman patrolling past a sign for the junkyard owned by I.M. Foreman on Totters Lane. The action cuts to Coal Hill school, and we are introduced to one of the teachers.

This isn't 1963, and we're not watching An Unearthly Child. It's 2013, and we're watching The Day Of The Doctor.

That this very special episode opens with the original intro sequence, and a near-recreation of the first few scenes is just one of many wonderful nods to the past in the seventy-five minutes that are to follow (did you catch the names on the board outside the school? Of course you did!), and in just these first few minutes we are left in no doubt that Mr. Moffat is absolutely the right man to pen this half-centennial outing for our favourite Time Lord.

But it's not all about nostalgia, and we are immediately left in no doubt that this is a very modern Doctor Who, as Clara hops onto a motorbike (passing a clock that reads 5:16 - the exact time that the first episode went out) and drives straight into the TARDIS for a crazy aerial ride over Trafalgar Square. Before the cast list has even finished rolling, The Doctor has been thrown from the TARDIS, left literally hanging on the telephone, and partaken in one of the boldest stunts that the show has ever attempted.

The mission statement is clear - this is going to be an episode that marries nostalgia with the most modern take on Who yet.

And - for the most part - it succeeds.

There are two distinct storylines at play during this episode. The framing narrative consists of the last days of the Time War, as The Doctor that nobody wants to talk about [John Hurt] witnesses the previously-mentioned Fall Of Arcadia and decides "no more", stealing superweapon The Moment and preparing to end the war once and for all. This is an incredible moment - more epic in scope and visuals than anything that Doctor Who has ever managed before. The constant "this will look cool in 3D" moments distract a little when watched on a normal telly, but other than that mild quibble the Fall Of Arcadia is stunning. The fiftieth had to be huge, but Moffat and co. go above and beyond here, with special credit having to go to director Nick Hurran.

But for the first forty-five minutes or so, the focus is on a team-up between Matt Smith and David Tennant's Doctors to stop a Zygon invasion that is taking place both in Elizabethan England and the present day (meaning, for those keeping score at home, that this episode takes place hundreds of years before, hundreds of years after, or just moments before The End Of Time depending on which Doctor you count from... and at the exact same time as that episode from the perspective of the Time Lords). To be honest, this Zygon storyline is the weakest part of the episode.

The interplay between The Doctors is fantastic - especially when John Hurt's Doctor is thrown into the mix by the spirit of The Moment (Billie Piper, in a role that to be honest you can't help but feel could have been filled by far more worthy companions... Carole Ann Ford anyone?) to see what sort of a man he would become should he activate the weapon. David and Matt have a great time comparing sonics and insulting each other's clothing, while John Hurt is a delight as the grumpier, older Doctor who is slightly dismayed at how young his replacements are. When Smith refers to something as "timey-wimey", Hurt is appalled, and asks why Smith can't be "more adult". With an awkward look, Tennant claims that he has "no idea where [Smith] gets it from". Later on, they enter Hurt's TARDIS, and Hurt looks on wearily as the later two Doctors geek out at the fact that he still has "the round things" on the console room wall. It's a true joy to watch. What's intriguing about these scenes is the way in which Tennant and Smith seem surprised at how likable and... well... Doctorly Hurt is. This is the man they have demonised and denounced, in the moments leading up to, well, the Moment that will forever damn him in their eyes, and they are forced to accept just how like them he is. Hurt, meanwhile, is faced with the proof of the fact that he will have to live with his actions ("the cost" of pressing the button, as The Moment puts it). It sets in motion a sequence of events that will see Hurt's reputation not only redeemed in the eyes of his successors, but also see him acknowledged as a true Doctor by them, and as possibly the bravest Doctor of all by us at home.

Hurt is an absolute revelation in this episode. Playful, crotchety, sad, sarcastic, worldweary but with a magical twinkle in his eye. Events would imply that this is going to be the only time we see his take on The Doctor (unless Big Finish step up - are you reading this guys?), and that is a true shame, as he makes for a truly brilliant Doctor. Make no mistake, this episode absolutely belongs to John Hurt. He has well and truly stamped his impression on Who lore with this performance.

The rest of the Zygon section, though, is a tad underwhelming. For a start, the Zygons actually look worse than they did in their first appearance nearly forty years ago. Gone is the organic, somewhat greasy and slimy look, replaced (as with the Ice Warrior in Cold War earlier this year) with a disappointingly plastic-looking suit. And, sadly, Joanna Page gives a less-than-impressive performance as Queen Elizabeth. It's all good fun, but the teasing glimpses of The Moment that we have been given serve as a distraction during this phase of the story. We've seen the Fall Of Arcadia, we've seen Hurt at the button, and anything else feels like Moffat stalling for time a bit.

Thankfully, The Time War returns with a vengeance in the last twenty minutes, as difficult decisions must be made, realisations about Hurt's circumstances are made, and The Doctors come to a stunning "third option" that calls for one of the most remarkably surprising moments ever in the show. There could have been a cheap retcon here, but history is not rewritten (not one line), but instead expanded upon in glorious style. There are nine cameos that we were all hoping for, one we could never have expected, and a truly satisfying resolution that - true to Moffat's word - sets up the next phase of the show in majestic style. In more ways than one we get a look at where the show is going. And it's in safe hands.

While the broad strokes of the story are by-and-large very satisfying, it wouldn't be Doctor Who without all the little moments. And in The Day Of The Doctor the long-term fans are in for a treat, with continuity references aplenty (there's even a UNIT tech character called Osgood, and a brief [albeit photographic] appearance of most the past companions - even the woeful Kamelion gets a look in). But where Moffat excels is in the way that he never gives in to gratuity. Unlike in previous celebratory episode The Five Doctors, plot is never once sacrificed in favour of nostalgia - anyone who has never seen the Classic series would never feel left out by the referencing going on here.

Where Moffat is perhaps slightly less successful is in making this episode accessible to the more casual viewers. While the fiftieth anniversary should be written primarily with the fans in mind (it's our celebration, after all), one has to expect that this is an episode that will have been watched by millions more than would usually tune in to Who, and it will be interesting to see their reaction come Monday morning's papers. Anyone not well-versed in at least the new seasons of Doctor Who must have found this whole thing rather baffling.

But even though some of the references may be lost on some of the viewers, the power of the final scene will have been apparent to everyone. If you've not watched it yet, turn away now.

As the Eleventh (well, twelfth now...) Doctor sits alone after the adventure, he is greeted by the curator of the gallery. And it's Tom Baker.

What follows is an achingly beautiful scene, as Baker's character implies that he may be a Doctor from the far future (he mentions to Smith that in time he may find himself revisiting familiar faces - "but only the absolute favourites" he adds with a wink), and the two share a lovely little conversation.

It's fanservice of the highest order, adding nothing to the plot or the grand scheme of the episode in general. But at the same time, it's so much more than that. It, in essence, is the grand scheme of the episode. The meeting of old and new. The passing of the torch to a new era. The looking back with wonderful nostalgia at the old era. The celebration of The Doctor, whoever he may be.

That was what The Day Of The Doctor set out to be.

And it managed it very well.

...Fantastic.

Geekin' Out Verdict: 8.5/10

Doctor Who Live: The Five Most Batshit Brilliant Moments From The Afterparty

 Forget The Day Of The Doctor, there was just one show out there worth talking about for Doctor Who fans last night, and that was the hotly anticipated jewel in the schedule that was Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty, a magnificent triumph that celebrated the show in style, and was a warm, reverent and highly polished piece of entertainment that all involved can be proud of.

That was sarcasm.

But The Afterparty truly was brilliant, for all the wrong reasons. The kindest thing that can be said about it is that in many ways it truly did manage to capture the seat-of-the-pants coping-with-tecnical-adversity and getting-by-on-a-wing-and-a-prayer spirit of the Classic series. A more accurate thing to say, though, was that it was a shambles.

A glorious, uproariously funny shambles.

Forget The Twin Dilemma, forget Dimensions Of Time, The Afterparty has taken the much-coveted crown of becoming the Star Wars Holiday Special of the Whoniverse.

In many ways it's hard to pick a highlight when every scene was car crash telly at its finest, and hosts Zoe Ball and Rick Edwards were reduced to knocking back the hard spirits on-screen to get through it all.

But here are the five craziest moments in one of the craziest hours of television ever.

5: Rick Edwards Is Accidentally Racist!

The show gets off to a great start when Rick Edwards decides to dive into a crowd of "dedicated fans" to get their opinion on The Day Of The Doctor.

Now, the BBC may well be celebrating the show, but this is BBC Three, home of lowbrow "laddish" entertainment and "banter", so nobody involved is really comfortable with the thought of shaking off the image of grown fans as socially-maladjusted weirdos, so this group is a peculiar looking bunch, all dressed like refugees who's only means of clothing themselves was to pick through the wreckage of a burned-out charity shop.

You can smell the Lynx deoderant and copious amounts of cats through your screen.

Rather than trying to do the decent thing and try to pick somebody to speak to who doesn't look like a complete piss-take of the entire target audience of this little show, Edwards heads straight for the weirdest looking one of all, a strange Japanese fellow who is grinning like a psychopath at a combat-knife convention.

"What did you think of the episode?" asks Rick.

To which the lad replies with something along the lines of "It was very moving."

Unable to understand the concept of "accents", Edwards repeats what he thinks the chap said, in shock and disbelief. Unfortunately, he thinks the lad said "DIRTY MOVIE!!"

The poor fan finds this both baffling and hilarious, so he just nods, then bursts into some admittedly rather sinister giggles that in no way makes things any better. Rick looks scared. The fan looks legitimately insane. The audience seem confused. And we're only five minutes in...

4: William Russell Has A Snot Problem!

William Russell. Dear, sweet, lovely William Russell. This isn't your fault, man.

But during one of the interview segments, when a star is on the sofa, William Russell gets a runny nose. No big deal, he's in the background after all, not being interviewed himself. Like any sane man of manners would do, he whips out his hanky and has a bit of a blow and a wipe.

Unfortunately, the cameraman has noticed this, and the camera shifts ever-so-slightly so that Russell is in the centre of the frame.

Quite what the cameraman's obsession with nasal hygeine is it's best not to ask. But it leads to a wonderful moment where for a very long time, everyone at home is sat spellbound by the sight of Ian Chesterton giving his nose a very extensive clean-up.

I know that Who fans have a reputation for being interested in the minutest details of their favourite show, but this is something that we don't need to see.

3: Sarah Sutton Hates Doctor Who!

Okay, so picture this - we're into the second half of the show, and so far everyone has - just about - survived.

We've not yet reached the point where Rick and Zoe will turn to the alchohol to get through things (at least on-screen).

But the horde of companions who have been sat around with nothing to do but look like haggard, aged versions of their former glory clearly have been drinking all night.

So Rick Edwards decides that the time is right to go for a chat with some of the stars gone by. As a child of the Eighties, he obviously flocks towards Sarah Sutton, because there can't be a lad his age who doesn't remember the bit in Terminus where she randomly took her dress off for no reason.

"So why do you think that Doctor Who has lasted so long?" he asks her.

To which Sutton gives a wonderfully scornful laugh, and drunkenly shouts "I have no idea!" in a tone that leaves no doubt that she thinks the show should've been binned off years ago.

Mark Strickson tries to jump in and save the day with some sort of rehearsed patter about what a magical show it is, but nothing can hide the look of bewilderment on Edwards' face.

So he does the only logical thing in the face of such an awkward moment, and cuts off Strickson's valiant attempt at game-saving in favour of awkwardly thrusting his crotch in Janet Fielding's face instead, while making some weird comments that essentially amount to "I used to masturbate to you."

That's one way to divert attention from Sarah Sutton at least.


2: Mark Gatiss Heckles The Hosts!

Perhaps sensing that it was a bad idea to fill the studio with nearly every living companion (some of whom, like Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso, will have had to travel a hell of a way to get there) only to not involve them at all was a bad move, Zoe Ball decides to play a game.

And so, like the commendant of some godawful corporate training retreat, she orders them all on their feet for something that some shit-headed executive no-doubt referred to in the planning stages - without any sense of irony or shame - as an "energiser".

The goal is to find out the ultimate companion. Zoe Ball will pluckily shout out some scenarios, and if the scenario applied to a companion they had to take a seat. The last one standing would be the "ultimate companion". Simple, right?

Wrong.

"Sit down if you never ran down a corridor!!" demands Zoe. And the companions all look baffled as they try to remember episodes that they filmed perhaps as long as fifty years ago. Some of them nervously sit. Others try to confer amongst themselves. Bernard Cribbins looks at the camera and smiles like a dotty old grandad.

This goes on for a while. Bernard Cribbins gets bored and announces he's sitting down anyway. Sophie Aldred is struck out but then visibly cheats and sneaks back to her feet, perhaps forgetting that she's on camera. Yee Jee Tso and Daphne Ashbrook contemplate just how much a return flight from the States to be here has cost them, and get sad. The guy who played Jake in Age Of Steel looks around nervously, hoping that nobody will notice that he was never a companion.

Then a hero comes along. Mark Gatiss steps into shot, and irritably announces that everyone should just be allowed to sit already.

It is the only thing he does in the whole show.

Zoe arbitrarily declares K9 the winner because fuck it, and the show continues.

1: One Direction Become The Voice Of Reason!

So you have Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and the legendary John Hurt on the sofa. So what do you do? You go to a live link-up with two-fifths of One Direction, of course! As soon as the two lads turn up on the screen, Matt Smith is caught on camera flipping them the v-sign. This is the smoothest part of the section.

First of all, Zoe Ball tries to talk to Not Harry Styles and The One Who's Shagging Little Mix. They stand in awkward silence for a painful fifteen seconds before Ball's words are heard on their end. Through the television set they have - on screen - showing The Afterparty. Most people would immediately spot the problem that is about to come, but not our Zoe. After introductions are made, she asks them what they thought of the show. Then the loop of terror begins... On the TV set in the boys' studio, the fifteen second delay is up, and Zoe's introduction again can be heard. As well as the question she has just asked. As well as the question she is currently asking in the main studio.

Like some sort of TARDIS-within-a-TARDIS recurssive Logopolitan paradox, every fifteen seconds from this point on a new Zoe Ball voice will chime out from the link-up, and every question that she asks is added into the mix, to the point that every word she and they have said during this whole debacle is being said at once.

Zoe finally manages to ask again what the lads thought of the episode. Turns out that they haven't watched it.

Moffat sticks his head in his hands in despair. Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman can't contain their giggles. John Hurt is visibly trying to calculate the exact moment in his career that lead him to this.

And Zoe Ball carries on regardless.

Eventuall, shockingly, it is up to One Fucking Direction to sum up the whole experience by saying "This isn't really working, is it..." and just casually wandering off.

Behind them, Zoe Ball's first question echoes out for the umpteenth time...

So there you have it - a cornocopia of crap and terrible moments, of spectacular failures and unbelievable awkwardness.

And I didn't even mention Matthew Waterhouse desperately trying to get Moff to bring Adric back live on air, the bit where Edwards happily announces "And now we go to Zoe, who is live with Matt Smith" only for the camera to cut to Zoe Ball, who is very much not live with Matt Smith, Tom Baker denying that he is in the episode after we've just seen him in the episode (the secret's out now, Tom), or the delightful Bernard Cribbins joyfully explaining that he didn't understand a moment of The Day Of The Doctor.

Honestly, the biggest testament to just how insane The Afterparty really was is that when the end credits rolled over live footage of Sylvester McCoy playing the spoons on Cribbins' arse, it didn't seem remotely surprising. In fact, it kinda made sense...

If they don't do one of these shows after every episode of Who from now on, I'm cancelling my license fee.

Norman Reedus For The Crow?

The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus is reportedly in consideration for a part in the upcoming Crow reboot.

According to Schmoes Knows, Reedus is in line for "the lead role" of James.

This is a bit confusing, to be honest, because the lead character in the movie is Eric Draven, and Luke Evans is already confirmed to have been cast as that role, so either Evans is out and Draven has had a change of name (or James is being used as a code name), or whether James will just be a major supporting player is unclear at this point.

The report also indicates that Kristen Stewart was originally planned to play Shelley, but the producers passed on her. It is unclear who they have opted for in return.

To be fair, she does look too much like The Crow as it is, don't wanna confuse people...

F Javier Gutierrez will direct the new version of the movie, based on James O'Barr's hit comic book.

Depp And Wasikowska Confirmed For Alice 2

Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska have officially joined Disney's Alice In Wonderland 2.

The pair have signed up to reprise their 2010 roles as The Mad Hatter and Alice respectively in the sequel to the billion-dollar-grossing original, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

There is no word yet as to which other stars - if any - may be returning.

One person not returning, though, is director Tim Burton. The director's chair will instead be filled by James Bobin, who helmed 2011's marvellous The Muppets. What this will mean for the tone of the movie compared to the first is anyone's guess.

Alice In Wonderland 2 is expected to release in late May 2016.

Six Talks Friday Night Lights Movie

Scott Porter has joined Kyle Chandler in expressing doubt over the need for a Friday Night Lights movie.

"It's tricky for me because Jason [Street, Scott's character]'s story ended so well," Porter explained to Parade. "At first, it was a kick in the gut to know that I'd be leaving the show in season three, but once I realised how they allowed Jason to leave the show, I understood.

"Out of every character on that show, you could almost fight to say that Jason won. He won at life and overcame so much. I think his future is pretty set in stone. That being said, of course if they did a film, I'd love to go back and inhabit that character once again.

"But I think there's a little bit of trepidation for all of us as to taking one more step because I feel like we all did such special and great work on the show that we just don't want to sully it."

Kyle Chandler had previously said that he didn't think the long-rumoured movie was necessary.

Porter did conclude on a cautiously optimistic note, though:

"If there's anybody that could take a book to a movie to a television show and back to the movies, it's Peter Berg and Jason Katims and all those people. If that core team is involved, then the sky is the limit."

Friday Night Lights has already been a movie, of course, so if there were to be a big screen outing for the team it would be a movie-of-a-show-of-a-movie-of-a-book-of-a-true-story.

Which, to my mind, is as good a reason as any to go ahead.