Been meaning to start a thread on this for years and never have for some reason. Big fan of both the original (what I've seen/remember of it...) and the rebooted series.
Doctor Who: Jenna-Louise Coleman on the Oswin/Clara mystery
News Louisa Mellor Nov 30, 2012
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The Doctor’s new companion has been chatting about the “soft mystery” of her character…
Contains spoilers for Asylum of the Daleks.
Since Asylum of the Daleks, the relationship between Clara, the Doctor’s new companion, and that episode’s Oswin (also played by Jenna-Louise Coleman), has been something of a head-scratcher. Entertainment Weekly’s latest interview with the actress may not solve the mystery, but it does provide a little more context as to how Coleman came to play what seem to be two separate characters in the same series:
“It’s interesting actually — I think I can tell you this — that that was never the initial plan either, to have me be Oswin. That was part of a genius plan that Steven came up with half-way through the audition process. That was already written but not written for what was to be the new companion. I was auditioning for the companion and then I got all these sides and I was like, “Who’s Oswin? They clearly don’t know what they want, they obviously don’t know what they’re looking for. They just want people to show them different things and see.” This is what I assumed when I was auditioning, not realizing that it’s basically Steven’s mad genius again.”
Asked whether the Oswin/Clara question is going to be addressed by this year’s Christmas Special, Coleman revealed, somewhat frustratingly, “Uh… mmm… no. We’re going to have what has been referred to as a ‘soft mystery’. For me, filming, I’ve been totally oblivious to Oswin and the Asylum of the Daleks. I really have had to erase it from my memory. Yeah, Christmas is its own episode.”
Can she tell us if Clara is human? Not yet. “That’s why it’s so difficult [to talk about]. Because of the way it started with Oswin, it’s really difficult to say much: where she’s from, what period she’s from, what planet she’s from, even.”
To sum up then, we won't find out the answer in the Christmas Special, which is "its own episode", and once again, it's all down to Steven Moffat's mad genius... [Reply]
Thinking about giving this series a whirl -is y'all had to sum it up essentially, what is it about? I know it's Sci-Fi which I'm cool with. I just need a new series to get into on my flights. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pushead2:
Thinking about giving this series a whirl -is y'all had to sum it up essentially, what is it about? I know it's Sci-Fi which I'm cool with. I just need a new series to get into on my flights.
There is a mini marathon on today starting at 2pm central to 7pm on BBC America. Should be able to find it online as well. [Reply]
There are always moments of cheese, I mean it's british, but it does get much better. I know there are people out there who think the eccelston season was awesome, but the show was so much better with Tennant and now with Smith. [Reply]
I just recently started watching again, after a long break. Just finished the premier of season 4.
I got a big kick out of the reveal about Harkness in the previous episode.
Spoiler!
"Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid, living in the Bo-shang peninsula... tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency, they were so proud of me. The Face of Bo they called me."
The second half of Doctor Who's current series is due back on the BBC in April 2013...
It's the news we've all been waiting to hear since [redacted] waved a final goodbye to [redacted] in The Angels Take Manhattan: Doctor Who is returning to the BBC! Not, however, until April.
It's been confirmed in the new edition of Doctor Who Magazine that the concluding eight episodes of series seven (including one penned by Neil Gaiman), are due to air next April. Coincidentally, that's the very month that the fiftieth anniversary special, described as "a love letter to fans" by producer Marcus Wilson, will start filming.
In other Who news, Matt Smith was recently heard to say that he hoped to be part of the 2013 Christmas Special, due to air after the anniversary celebration episode. Talking to The List, Smith said, "We've got Doctor Who's 50th anniversary coming up in November 2013, and one assumes there'll be another Christmas special after that, and I'd hope to be part of it."
What about his plans after that point? "I take each year as it comes. All good things come to an end, but my mum is aghast at the thought of me ever not being the Doctor. The show is the star and will continue without me. I'm committed to it next year and will sit down with Steven Moffat and see where we go from there. I've no immediate plans to leave. I'm around for a whole year and that's a long time." [Reply]
Here's our spoiler-free look at the Doctor Who Christmas special, starring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman
There are no plot spoilers in this review. Nor any hints hiding in here. It's just our reaction to the episode, without giving story away.
Since the show was revived back in 2005, the Doctor Who Christmas special has featured, to varying degrees, lots of Yuletide staples, and no shortage of festivities. Granted, these have tended to be subverted to various degrees – we had dangerous Christmas trees the one year, remember – but there’s been no shortage of upbeat seasonal spirit in there too. Christmas songs, crackers, a big nosh-up: the traditions have been very much observed.
Here? Not so much. There’s not even a tap with a drop of lemonade in it this year.
Meet, then, the first Christmas special in the modern era to push festive celebrations pretty much to the sidelines. The word Christmas is barely even spoken, and while The Snowmen is set on and around December 24th, it’s a subtle, important background feature, rather than a particular focus for much of the running time.
Furthermore, The Snowmen is also the most sombre of the festive episodes to date. It’d be wrong to call it outright dark, as there’s a skilful tonal juggling act at work here. But the one year the Doctor Who Christmas special gets moved to an earlier time slot – it’s on at 5.15pm – is the one when it least seems to suit it. This is, though, the catch-up TV era. No longer does the Yuletide Who have to take into account the fact that everyone’s eaten or drunk too much. The Snowmen certainly doesn’t.
From the off, it’s an episode that sets the scene really very well. It's Victorian times, 1892 to be precise, and so there’s snow, horse-drawn carriages and dimly lit streets. Even before the credits have rolled, the story introduces moments of horror too. They’re new credits too, incidentally, which we’ll leave you to discover for yourself, short of to say they’ve got more nods to Who of old now.
Back to the episode, though, and there are slightly creepy moments (as opposed to outright jumps), that feel more effective because the tone of the story supports them immensely well. We also get a strong and very tempered performance from Richard E Grant.
Furthermore, it’s a linear tale that’s being told here. The Snowmen doesn’t zip around in time, and in the style of many classic Doctor Who period stories, it tells an interesting, chronological tale really very well (we perhaps take for granted the excellent craft behind the scenes of the show, but it’s firmly evident again here). It also fuses Steven Moffat’s evident love of literature with his even bigger appreciation for Doctor Who history. But perhaps most importantly, it’s also a very, very impressive (second) introduction for the show’s latest companion.
This is a spoiler-free review, so if you’re after specific details, you won’t get them from this review. But we can give you our thoughts, and immediately, it’s looking as though Jenna-Louise Coleman’s character, Clara, is a very different companion to the ones we’ve been used to of late.
Coleman puts in an excellent, not easy performance here, but credit too to Steven Moffat, who’s written an immediately intriguing character. Again, without spoiling anything, Clara’s the opposite of the Doctor in The Snowmen. She’s upbeat and energetic, without being bubbly. When we meet the Doctor himself though, he’s not in a good way. There’s no clarification as to how much time has passed between The Angels Take Manhattan and The Snowmen, but there’s a sense that it’s quite a lot (that’s guesswork, to be clear). He’s a seemingly-broken Doctor, one who’s taken a backseat from the world following the loss of Amy and Rory from his life. It's not a factor that dominates the episode, rather one that underpins it.
The Doctor has been at a low ebb before, of course. However, Matt Smith puts in quietly impressive work here, that reflects the tone of the material, and the changes in his character. How does his relationship work with Clara? Let’s put it this way: it’s got us really intrigued to see what Steven Moffat has in mind. It's best we leave that question there.
For all our talk of quiet, darkness, and a downbeat lead character, that doesn’t mean that The Snowmen is without its joyous moments. It may be less on the jovial side than you may be expecting (to its benefit here, we’d argue), but Moffat’s flair for comedy and one liners is still very much present and correct. Without breaking the fourth wall, he’s clearly having a lot of fun playing with his audience too. There’s a moment involving Smith in the middle of it all that’ll bring down whatever house you happen to be watching the episode in.
Most intriguingly, though, The Snowmen feels like a little bit of a shift in Doctor Who, as it enters a prestigious anniversary year for the show. Things seem to have been shaken up quite quietly, and with Coleman on board, we have high hopes for the Doctor’s adventures throughout 2013. It already feels just a little different.
The Snowmen certainly bodes very well for the year ahead. It’s a lower key story on the surface, perhaps, albeit an episode that proves once again Moffat’s skill for introducing major new characters. It’s also an excellent Christmas special, and quite a serious one. And
whereas seasonal outings for Doctor Who have proven quite divisive in recent years, we suspect this one is going to have a lot more people on its side. It's very much worth your time.
We'll have the spoiler-filled take on the episode after it airs. As always, do try and see it without finding anything out first. It's worth it. [Reply]
The Doctor Who showrunner has teased a few details about the forthcoming eight episodes of series seven, airing in April 2013...
Picture the scene. It's 6.15pm on Christmas day, you're plump with Quality Street and turkey (or indeed, a Mycoprotein substitute of your choice), and the credits are rolling on The Snowmen, this year's Doctor Who festive special. All of a sudden, a wave of bereftness sweeps over you. Once again, after months of waiting, there's a Who-shaped gap in your life. What to do, what to do...
Begin the countdown of course. April 2013 is the appointment to keep for the remaining eight episodes of series seven, and the grand tease master himself, Steven Moffat, has scattered a few crumbs about the new stories for us to peck at.
Speaking to our chums at SFX, Moffat confirmed, “We’re back at the movie posters thing". There are to be "no two-parters, so they’re all standalone stories. And they are all huge – there isn’t the budget-saver episode. I don’t know how we’ve done this. Possibly we’ll find out at the end when we’ll have no money left and will have to go to prison…”
Having covered prehistoric adventure, western and noir in the first half of the series, which genres are left for episodes seven to fourteen? A "modern urban thriller", a "base-under-siege story", "a fantastic alien planet, which is looking absolutely amazing", and "a cracking ghost story", says Moffat.
There's also going to be a “Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS”, with more of the TARDIS than you’ve ever seen before." As well as “Diana Rigg and junior Diana Rigg in an absolutely mental story by Mark Gatiss – all period drama will pale next to this monstrosity of nonsense! It’s absolutely glorious. You’ll watch other period dramas and say ‘When are they going to do the scary bit?’
“We’ve got Neil Gaiman doing the Cybermen – part of the impulse there was to say “Have we fully exploited the creepy factor of the Cybermen yet?” I thought Neil would be a good match for that.
“And then there’s the finale, which has got some serious fanboy-pleasing going on in it. My aim for it – which I’m about to humiliate myself at the tone meeting by saying – is to have slightly more than you think could possibly happen in one episode. Slightly more treats than you think you could be allowed…” [Reply]
