Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor - Mini Review

We said goodbye to Matt Smith's 11th (?) Doctor on Christmas Day. (The parenthetical question mark is due to the fact that Stephen Moffat has messed up the numbering of the Doctors regenerations.) My main question after seeing the episode is "why can't we get a new showrunner with the new Doctor?"

I wanted to like this episode - so much. I want to like Doctor Who still - so much. But Stephen Moffat is slowly ruining the show for me - so much.

*sigh*

Stephen wrote some of my favorite Doctor Who episodes during Russell T. Davies time as the head writer. ("Blink," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead"). He writes Sherlock, which I love. So I don't understand how he's missed the mark so many times during Matt's time as the Doctor.

Regardless of my many frustrations with Matt's farewell episode, I am sad to see Matt go. I have really enjoyed him as the Doctor. However, I am looking forward to Peter Capaldi's Doctor, and I hope that we get some classic traveling to new places, seeing the Doctor's joy at introducing his companion to new worlds and new adventures. That is Doctor Who to me - adventures in time and space!

Doctor Who: The Snowmen are Coming

I cannot tell you how excited I am for the Doctor Who Christmas special. The episode, "The Snowmen," will introduce Clara, the Doctor's new companion, and a new villain played by Richard E. Grant. The episode, like many other Doctor Who episodes before it, is set in Victorian England. I think the Doctor has a thing for the Victorian era.

The BBC interviewed the main actors from the episode as well as head writer, Stephen Moffat, regarding the "The Snowmen."

Matt Smith says that the Doctor is struggling over the departure of Amy and Rory. However, he says that "it is important to show [the grief] and then propel back into adventure!" After he meets Clara, a young governess, "you get to see a different side to him," Matt said. "She is very different to Amy Pond."  And what about the villain? Matt says of Richard E. Grant, "He was a delight and brilliant at being villainous. Some actors are just made for the show and he was one of them."

Jenna-Louise Coleman, who plays the new companion says about Clara, "She is from the Victorian era and a mysterious one. Very down to earth, but feisty and curious too with numerous jobs." Jenna-Louise says that Clara "isn't intimidated by the Doctor. Instead she finds him amazing and ridiculous." Jenna-Louise also says that Karen Gillen (Amy Pond) has been great, and that Karen has sent her texts.

Richard E. Grant, who plays Doctor Simeon says, "I have been told that on pain of death I am not allowed to reveal anything about my role in the Christmas special, other than that this character has never been in Doctor Who before." Richard isn't new to Doctor Who. He played the Doctor in the cartoon digital version and in a Comic Relief spoof some years ago, before the franchise was rebooted.

Stephen Moffat, who wrote the episode, says that this Christmas special will be "epic." He says that "this is a cold and withdrawn Time Lord, wanting no part of the world around him. It's going to take a lot of Christmas spirit to get him back out those TARDIS doors."

For more of the interviews, go to Blogtor Who.

More Doctor Who Goodness!

On December 21st, the Friday before Christmas, The Brit List on BBC America will count down "The Doctor Who Ultimate List of Lists." The lists will include, the top five companions, the top five scariest moments, the top five best monsters, the top five guest stars, and the the five things you'll only see on Doctor Who. John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) will guest star on the special.

Downton Abbey: Season 3 Preview

What's in store in season 3 of Downton Abbey? Just watch. The preview is about nine minutes in.



Thanks to Ruth for posting the video on her blog, Booktalk & More .

Sidenote: And for those who aren't yet convinced they should watch Sherlock. There is a there's a season one and two recap of the genius show about three minutes into the video.

A New Companion for Doctor Who

Doctor Who’s new companion has finally been revealed. She is 25 year old Jenna-Louise Coleman. She was previously on the British soap Emmerdale and the school drama Waterloo Road. She also appeared in the film, Captain America: The First Avenger. And she will be seen in Jullian Fellowes miniseries, Titanic.

Stephen Moffat describes her as being more talkative than the current doctor.

According to Moffat, "It's not often the Doctor meets someone who can talk even faster than he does, but it's about to happen. Jenna is going to lead him his merriest dance yet. Who she's playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her, are all part of one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters. Even by the Doctor's standards, this isn't your usual boy meets girl."

Jenna will make her Doctor Who debut in the Christmas special at the end of the year. There will be six episodes before that, beginning at the end of the fall, and who knows how many of those episodes will feature Amy and Rory. Well, Who knows (I had to say it, sorry folks). There will be eight episodes after the Christmas special, and it seems strange to have the Christmas special in the middle of a season instead of before it.

It’s exciting to finally know who the Doctor’s new companion will be. It’s too bad we have to wait so long to find out who her character is and how she meets the Doctor, but it's nice to have something to look forward to. I hope I like her. It took me a while to warm up to Amy Gillan’s Amy Pond. Jenna looks very likable.

Holmes, Sherlock Holmes

I am going to argue that the best thing on television today is an import from across the pond. It's a small show (only three episodes each in the first and second seasons) called Sherlock.

The premise is very simple: take Sherlock Holmes and John Watson out of 19th century London and drop them into 21st century London with cell phones (or as they call them "mobiles"), texting, and blogs. Sherlock has nicotine patches instead of smoking a pipe. He is not an action hero. Sherlock is an socially awkward genius who itches to find a good mystery and solve it. There may have been one explosion, but this version of Sherlock Holmes is all about solving the mystery. And he still plays the violin.

I've never been a big Sherlock Holmes fan. I've seen a few movies with Basil Rathbone, I saw the first Guy Ritchie movie with Robert Downey, Jr as Sherlock, and I've seen a few plays based on Doyle's books. However, I still haven't read any of the books or short stories (they are in my queue of books to read, but there are so many more ahead of them). 

But then I saw Sherlock. Benedick Cumberbatch's Sherlock is more detached from the world than most Sherlocks I've seen. He seems to only be interested in the case he is trying to solve at the moment, and is the definition of cerebral. Martin Freeman is a wonderful Watson, and plays off of Cumberbatch's Sherlock so well and so seamlessly.

The acting is wonderful. It's subtle, understated, not in-your-face. Each episode is based on one or more of Doyle's books or stories. The direction is clever and imaginative, the cinematography is exquisite, and the scripts are almost flawless.

I have to thank Blogtor Who for making me aware of the series before the first season even aired in Britain. The series was co-created by the head writer of Doctor Who, and, even though I am a big Doctor Who fan, script-wise think Sherlock is better than Doctor Who; and for me, that's saying a lot. Please don't tell anyone.

If you haven't checked out the first season yet, I would recommend that you do. If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, I'm sure you'll be hooked. And if you're not a Holmes fan, and you just like smart television, you will be a fan of Sherlock very quickly.