Doctor Who Anniversaries and Season 7 continued

[Perpetual Man]

There are a few months to go until the good Doctor returns to our screens, but it is also a big year for him, as the show celebrates it's 50th Anniversary!

But not only this but we have a few milestones across the course of the year, including 100 episodes since the show returned with Rose in 2005 and we will hit the 800 complete stories (or it might be broadcast episodes) since the show began in 1963.

It also means that there are some major events planned for the show across the course of the year, including of course, the second part of the seventh series starting in the spring, and whatever they line up for the 23rd November.

So this is the place to talk about the upcoming things for Who this year, speculation and rumours and things more solid until they actually happen.

 

[Perpetual Man]

So far on the Anniversary front we have the Royal Mail announcing that there will be a set of stamps to commemorate the birthday, and the BBC giving us a drama based on the creation of the series.

As to the actual show there have been a lot of 'I could not possibly comment' quotes from actors old and new, and according to SFX Moffatt eats a lot of crisps, because any time he is asked a question he does not want to answer he starts eating.

There have been a few interesting things pointed out in the kids magazine that Perp Jr. gets, but I forget what they are at the moment, but shall get back to it - one is a theme of eggs running through the first five episodes... but I'll look it up and add it later

We also, of course, have a lot of speculation revolving around just what the anniversary show is going to be about, and the far too many hints that it is going to be a revelation concerning the Doctor's name:

Doctor Who?

 

[Perpetual Man]

As for forthcoming episodes we have the return of the Cybermen - with a redesign, which might be considered good enough, but then the episode is written by Neil Gaiman so it raises the stakes a little more.

And one episode called Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS which will show us more of the TARDIS interior than we have ever seen before

 

[Perpetual Man]

And finally of course we have the prophecy that had driven the Silents/Silence and will probably be at the heart of what is to come:

On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a Question will be asked, a question that must never, ever be answered.

But what it means or how it all fits together...?

 

[Lenny]

There have been a few interesting things pointed out in the kids magazine that Perp Jr. gets, but I forget what they are at the moment, but shall get back to it - one is a theme of eggs running through the first five episodes... but I'll look it up and add it later

Eggs and lightbulbs were what I got from the first half of the series - every episode has clear shots (often close-ups) of lightbulbs, many of which flickered, and I think eggs were mentioned or seen in every episode (soufflé girl with always fresh eggs, dinosaur eggs, a spaceship that looks like an egg, Brian thinking the cubes might be alien eggs, I forget the fifth).

The lightbulb theme could simply have been foreshadowing the weeping angels, however.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I hope they don't dick about with his name.

Unsure about the new look cybermen. They seem to be a little more like the proper, Mondas versions, but with added pregnancy modules.

And I hope they don't get killed by emotions. Again.

 

[Perpetual Man]

As far as the cybermen go, the fact that they are being written by Neil Gaiman puts my mind at rest. I agree that they look like the older models, and my guess would be that we are getting the originals back, not the alternate universe cyberdine versions versions we have had up until now.

As for the things that we could have spotted, Lenny was dead on the mark with his eggs - but the also mentioned that the wooden king from last years Christmas special harched from a bauble - a bit egg like.

Lenny gets another gold star for the lights - there are a couple of incidents where they flicker, but the biggest is on the TARDIS, early in the run the Doctor is seen changing the bulb on the Police Box, in Angels it flickers and River comments that it needs changing...

The other clues all relate to Oswin, but the Christmas episode dealt with them. Sort of.

 

[IanK]

Only thing frustrating me about this year is that series 7 has been 5 episodes so far (+ Christmas) and is set to restart in April. That is when series 8 WOULD have started. now I am happier that Who is on in the dark nights, but I have a sinking feeling that we will eventually be missing some episodes overall. I will wait & see.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Hi Ian and welcome to the Chrons.

I know what you mean about the spit season, but it looks like the way the show is going to be transmitted from now on. Ultimately we'll still get the same amount of episodes a year, just that moment when they actually made the change we had the gap, so technically we'll always half a season behind

That being said, we have a confirmed extra episode this year for the Anniversary and a drama based on the show so I don't think we can complain to much!

Oh, and a set of postage stamps!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Which reminds me as part of the anniversary, and annoyingly IDW comics are published a twelve part limited series across the year, each part of which features a different Doctor, creating a whole story over the year.

That is the good news, but for copyright reasons, as with the other DW comic series from IDW, the stories are not allowed to be sold in the UK.

(You can find someone in the US to buy them, or order them from comic shops online, but they sell really quickly!)

 

[AnyaKimlin]

There is also no Captain Jack. Just hoping they don't dig the Ponds up.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I wouldn't count anything out Anya, including Captain Jack. They are sending out misinformation left right and centre in a bid to hide what actually is going to happen.

David Tennant was interviewed by Jonathan Ross recently, and it was highly entertaining trying to see him pin Tennant down on whether he was doing anything in or around November.

He never got a straight answer, but my favourite bit was when he asked him out of the blue, "And your father in law, is he doing anything in November?"

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Sounds like a fun interview . I just know having signed up to John Barrowman alerts I cannot turn off (believe me when the Krankies were revealed as swingers I tried - talk about tmi) he says he has taken the time off from Arrow but has not been asked. My inbox has been full of interviews on Captain Jack not coming back.

 

[Perpetual Man]

David Tennant's continued response was, "Well of course I'll be working in or around November, but what I'll be working on I could not possibly say."

Which can be taken so many ways.

(It's also similar to what a number of previous Doctor's have said.)