Amy and Rory are gone, the Doctor is considering retirement, the new companion bears an uncanny resemblance to a dead Dalek, and evil snowmen are on the loose — now what? With less than a week until the Doctor Who Christmas special (airing December 25 at 9 on BBC America, sans Ponds, sniff), Vulture rang up series boss Steven Moffat with all our burning questions, and boy did he oblige. He spills on what’s next (the Doctor on a submarine!), why he doesn’t believe his version of Who is all that complicated, and how it would be “intolerable” for David Yates to bring the Tardis to the big-screen. Of course, we threw in a question about the delay to Sherlock. Read on to see why he pretty much told us to keep calm.
If you want to know about Jenna’s backstory, this interview is the one to read. It’s also just an awesome trip to the set through the eyes of a Whovian:
It’s a very odd thing, going to the set of Doctor Who in Cardiff. For a start the BBC is so secretive about the programme’s storylines that virtually no one is allowed access, and I have to sign various forms in advance stating that I will not reveal a single thing about any of the plot I am going to witness.
I am not even sure if I am allowed to mention anything at all, but I think it’s fair to say the TARDIS is bigger than I thought it would be and the sets are more wobbly. Also, it’s freezing cold and it takes an inordinate amount of time for anything to happen. Matt Smith, aka the Doctor, leaps in and out of the TARDIS about 20 times before the action moves on. It must be, I think, an utterly exhausting programme to work on.
In fact, as soon as a new Doctor is announced, people start wondering who will be his successor. The same goes for his companion.It is also, without doubt, phenomenally successful. The doctor and his ‘companion’ may change but as the years pass the essence of Doctor Who remains the same. It is the key to the programme’s success, the madcap secret storylines and the fact that somehow, within all the mayhem, the viewer is taken on an emotional rollercoaster. We become invested in the Doctor and in his crazy adventures.
This ‘Must Read’ is as must ready as it gets.
Matt was obsessed with the Gummi Bears cartoon. That is all.
Video here.
(Source: isntthatwizard, via isntthatwizard)
Although she is only the latest of companions, Coleman’s debut comes during a unique moment during “Doctor Who.” Gracing the covers of TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly as a fan favorite, garnering a cover mention in “Rolling Stone” as a best fall show, ranking as iTunes’ most downloaded TV show in the U.S., packing the house at San Diego Comic-Con International, Coleman arrives as the global brand has become a bona fide hit in America — and immediately following the death of popular predecessors Amy Pond and Rory (played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill), Smith’s first companions.
SPOILER WARNING: there are a couple of spoilers in there so we’d recommend liking this post and then reading it later. Otherwise, proceed with caution.
AT LAST, our Doctor Who special edition Instagrim!!
This is a fun interview. Watch a video clip here or listen to the entire show here (Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman come in around 1:36:00.)
Apologies for the unavoidable autoplay.
The above is just a clip. We highly suggest listening to the entire show here (Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman come in around 1:36:00.)
Super mildly spoilerish but really good interview with Steven Moffat from BBC Radio 2. The interview begins at the 13:00 mark.
The audio file won’t be up for long so be sure to listen to it soon or grab the direct mp3 download here.
For those who don’t want to know anything about anything ever: SPOILER WARNING!!!
We’re back at the movie posters thing,” the Who supremo tells us, confirming that the next eight episodes will share the sense of widescreen ambition that powered this year’s run. “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…”
So what sort of tales will we see as the show builds to its milestone anniversary?
“We have Doctor Who taking on the modern urban thriller, which is not very much like anyone else’s modern urban thriller!
“We’ve got your base-under-siege story in a new way.
“We’ve gone all-out to give you a fantastic alien planet, which is looking absolutely amazing.
“We’ve got a cracking ghost story, a really cracking ghost story.”
And that’s not all…
“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.
“You’re going to see “Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS”, with more of the TARDIS than you’ve ever seen before.
“We’ve got 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?’
“And then there’s the finale, which has got some serious fan-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…”
Doctor Who returns to BBC One at 5.15pm, Christmas Day in the spectacular adventure, The Snowmen. We’ve seen the trailer and various shots from it but they’ve just made us more intrigued! So we recently caught up with Steven Moffat and the cast in order to find out more about this year’s seasonal special…
Jenna-Louise Coleman talks about working on Doctor Who and her plans for Christmas!
Be sure to check out the rest of the Doctor Who Adventure Calendar here!
