Peter Jackson: I'm Serious About Doing Who

Peter Jackson has confirmed that he still hopes to direct an episode of Doctor Who.

Speaking to a gathering of journalists, the director explained that discussions about his involvement are "actually kind of serious".

"I would be very happy to," Jackson said. "I'd love to try my hand at television, because I've never had the discipline of having to shoot for those impossibly tiny schedules. I think I could do it okay now."

The director went on to joke that the prospective episode might be shot on location, given his own reluctance to work outside of his native New Zealand.

"I did suggest that they did a New Zealand story - something to do with the All Blacks versus the Daleks. There's a good story in there, although obviously the All Blacks would have to win!"

It has long been hinted that the Who team have been courting Jackson for an episode, and the director recently made a cameo appearance in the utterly superd Five(ish) Doctors: Reboot as a part of the show's fiftieth anniversary celebrations.

This is exciting news - Who has long had a tradition of snapping up great actors and writers for guest spots, so it's great to see them going for the directors now. Ben Wheatley has already been confirmed to be directing two episodes for Series Eight.

The Doctor returns on Christmas Day for The Time Of The Doctor.

X-Men: Apocalypse To Focus On Fist Class Crew

The first info has been released about the upcoming X-Men Apocalypse.

According to Vulture, X-Men: Apocalypse will not feature the senior members of the franchise's cast - including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry - many of whom will appear in next summer's Days of Future Past.

Well... they say that, but I think you'd be a fool to bet against at least a Jackman cameo...

The blockbuster will instead return to focus on the younger incarnations of the characters, led by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

And as I predicted at the weeked, it seems that Apocalypse (the character, not the film) will be set up in the post-credits sting for Days of Future Past, at least according to First Showing.

X-Men: Apocalypse is out in May 2016.

Moffat: Molly Broke Our First Rule

Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss have been speaking to the press ahead of the New Year's Day premiere of the third season of the fantastic Sherlock.

And their attention, surprisingly, was on breakout star Louise Brealey, who plays Molly on the show.

"She's really interesting, Molly, because she was an absolute one-scene character for the pilot but Loo Brealy was just so fantastic," Moffat said.

"We went against our first decision which was 'We will not add a regular that's not from Doyle'. The first thing we did was add a regular character that's not from Doyle!"

He continued: "I think she's fascinating because over time, certainly by the time you get to the second series, she wins every encounter with Sherlock.

"All the time, always. And by being honest and truthful with him. He's so on the back foot now with Molly, I think it's hilarious.

"In a way that John can never put Sherlock on the back foot, Molly really, really does. She sort of wins every single conversation."

Gatiss added: "It's a fascinating thing because it's a new idea. We were doing the pilot and I said, 'What if she has a boyfriend and Sherlock says he's gay?'.

"That rolled on to the whole thing with Jim and it massively expanded. It's so much to do with Loo's interpretation making it so heartwarming."

Moffat agreed: "It's extraordinary. What you don't get a lot of in the original stories is, 'What do women think of him?'.

"They don't talk much in the original stories. It doesn't happen much. There's Irene Adler who he barely meets in the original. There's Mrs Hudson who just brings tea in.

"It was fun to have that perspective on him, what would a modern young woman make of this vulnerable monster."

Sherlock returns to BBC One and BBC One HD on New Year's Day, and also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss, Una Stubbs and Rupert Graves. And it's a good thing it's back. Apparently there was quite the cliffhanger...?

Boardwalk Empire To Have Reduced Final Season?

Do you have your salt handy, because you may be needing a pinch.

But Screen Crush are reporting that Boardwalk Empire's fifth season may be its last - and that it may only stretch for eight episodes.

Before you panic too much, Screen Crush are claiming that this comes from "a reliable source at 4Chan" [a contradiction in terms if ever there was one...], so it's not official, although apparently the leaker has been bang on the money with HBO scoops before.

According to the report, showrunner Terence Winter’s interest in moving on to his Mick Jagger-produced, Bobby Cannavale-starring record executive drama could take Winter off ‘Boardwalk Empire’ after the fifth season, while HBO works internally to set a number of episodes for the likely final season.

Says the 4Chan source: "It’s not official yet. It’s just rumblings I’ve heard throughout the office. First it was 10 episodes, then maybe 9 and now I believe they’ve settled on 8. This probably won’t be announced for some time until HBO figures out their schedule and budgets I’m sure but I’ve been told that 5 will be the last season." He probably then went on to show everyone the drawing he'd done of Fluttershy being gang-raped by a horde of mutant octopi.

The source may be dubious to say the least, but the scenario itself is actually pretty damn plausible, worryingly enough.

I'm a firm believer that no show should go on longer than the creators want, and I hate things to get dragged beyond their sell-by date, but seriously...

...Is eight episodes really enough to wrap all this up in?

New Time Of The Doctor Pictures

Some new images have been released from Matt Smith's farewell episode The Time Of The Doctor.

The images show Matt wearing a Pertwee-esque cape and brandishing a Dalek eyestalk. There's also another glimpse at Handles, the Cyberman head who - if rumour is to be believed - takes on a Wilson-in-Castaway role, and a first glimpse at Orla Brady's character Tasha Lem. It appears that she's leading a group of Clerics - could she be the Papal Mainframe mentioned in A Good Man Goes To War?

Elsewhere in Who news, the Doctor Who Archives are claiming that they have a big missing episode scoop to report tomorrow. DWA have been all over the missing episode rumours for months now, although (and I'm aware of the irony in mentinoing this) all they seem to do is collate the various different rumours circulating the web - often reporting two conflicting stories (they currently claim that Web 3 is both still missing and due to be released on the DVD).

Still, they've been pretty hot on the missing episode front, taking in all the rumours to a greater extent than perhaps any other site, so who knows, maybe they are on to something.

Speaking of missing episode rumours, while the Marco Polo rumblings refuse to go away, many sites have claimed that a secret screening of Pat Troughton's debut adventure The Power Of The Daleks was held recently. Whether this is true or not (and I'm gonna go with "not"), DWA claim that their announcement has nothing to do with this.

Watch this space.

The Time Of The Doctor stars Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Orla Brady and Peter Capaldi, and airs on BBC One and BBC One HD on Christmas Day at 7:30pm.

Brian Set To Return Sooner Than You'd Think?

Ever since the Family Guy team made a big deal about Brian's death being a permanent thing that they would not go back on, fans have assumed that it was only a matter of time before the dog came back.

Not making the death stick (and presumably subsequently killing off replacement character Vinny) fits in perfectly with the Family Guy style of humour. Plus, well, there's also the fact that upcoming episodes in the back end of this season include “Brian’s a Bad Father” and “Brian’s Got Back”, as well as an episode planned for the next aumtumn that features Brian falling for a runner played by guest star Maya Rudolph. Oh, and there's the sneaky little spoiler that the team accidentally let slip themselves, when they showed a ComicCon trailer featuring Brian in clips that had yet to make it to the screen before he died.

But most fans at least thought that the death may stick for at least a short while.

However, Entertainment Weekly are now reporting that the character could be resurrected as early as next week, in the episode due to air on December 15th.

There is no word as yet as to just how Brian will be brought back from the dead. But knowing Family Guy, there's every chance that he'll just show up again without explanation.

At least The Simpsons keeps its pets dead...

Whedon Talks Serenity Follow-Up

Zack Whedon has been talking about his follow-up comic to the Firefly universe.

Serenity: Leaves On The Wind is set nine months after the events of the Serenity movie that closed the screen adventures of Mal and co.

"A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same," Whedon told Comic Book Resources.

"The discovery that Mal and his crew shared with the 'verse - that the inhabitants of the planet Miranda were killed or driven mad by an Alliance experiment - has opened some eyes and created some new allies, but it hasn't deterred any of their pursuers. If anything, it has made them more relentless.

"Serenity is hiding out in lesser-known corners of the 'verse, trying to keep a low profile. As you will see early on, that's easier said than done. Mal and his crew will be forced to face their enemies head on - some familiar, some new."

When we rejoin our old friends, Zoe is grieving for the loss of Wash and trying to come to terms with the baby she is about to give birth to.

Conversely, the troubled River has found more balance and peace since the revelations about the disaster on Miranda.

Whedon said that the ship is "less bustling" since events "took a dark turn" during Serenity.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight and Season Nine artist George Jeanty has been collaborating with Joss Whedon's brother on the title.

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind's first issue will be released on January 29.

Shiny.