Just a quick note:

Yes, there is a snippet of the Ninth/Tenth Doctors’ coral TARDIS theme and console in the trailer for Series 6.

However, the guy on the right is NOT David Tennant, it’s Rory (with Amy). You can tell by his facial structure and clothes (and her flaming red hair).

Although I have absolutely no bloody idea HOW that TARDIS theme is going to come back, and how the companions, and perhaps the Doctor end up in there—no, I don’t think either David Tennant or Christopher Eccleston will be back. AND IT’S BETTER THAT WAY. Rory, Amy, and Eleven might end up in the old TARDIS while whatever Doctor’s responsible for it at the time is out, saving the universe. And perhaps he wouldn’t even notice they were there–no damage done, probably, and the TARDIS doesn’t always tell him everything, which could be why Eleven doesn’t know this is going to happen; and we certainly don’t know, because this is one of “the bits in between.”

The strands of golden light might be regeneration energy, they might be a force field, they might be strands of the Time Vortex… could be many things. And I think that that’s a Dalek right slap-bang in the middle of it, but I can’t be sure.

“I Heard a Big Bang.” – Doctor Who: The Lodger

Previous episode: Vincent and The Doctor.

“Have some rent!”

He’s been manipulating ATMs again, hasn’t he?

 

Craig and his new lodger

 

Yes, the football scene was slightly cringe-worthy. But it was, one, a nice reference to a fit Fifth Doctor playing cricket and, two, important for establishing the Doctor’s maddening superiority and thus setting up the tension between the Doctor and Craig. It also highlights, as favourite fellow weirdo M. pointed out, how utterly strange the Doctor can be with, as she called it, “human interaction.” The Doctor sees all the sub-textual signs of Craig and Sophie being in love with each other and even manages to drop, well, “subtle” hints (which they still don’t notice, but nevermind), and when it comes to meddling, he uses every opportunity available to make things worse — in order to make them realize what’s wrong. Well. I’m not sure whether he planned it to the point at which he had to share a psychic link with Craig and show him that absolutely awesome, adorable, incredible non-technology technological… thing-to-detect-what’s-wrong-upstairs to make him understand.

“He’s Drunk, He’s Mad, and He Never Pays His Bills” — Doctor Who: Vincent and The Doctor.

The lovely Vincent Van Gogh, ladies and gentlemen!

Previous episode: Cold Blood.

Oh, this is LOVELY. Written by Richard Curtis (must I say it? Blackadder I-IV, Notting Hill, what have you), directed by Johnny Campbell, guest starring Bill Nighy and Tony Curran. It’s another quite alien-lite episode this week, there’s no great conspiracy to uncover or anything; just one lonely, blind Krafayis having been abandoned by its people. But that’s not what the story is really about (as in the end the alien is not that vicious, it’s really just a pitiable creature that’s afraid to die), it’s about the gift of sight. The Krafayis is blind, but the Doctor and Amy cannot see it either — the only one who can see it is Vincent Van Gogh. And that’s not the only thing Vincent can see: he can see so much, he can see the universe, the stars as they burn. The directors have used that for a wonderful sequence of the sky turning into Van Gogh’s famous painting of the Starry Night. Just that moment alone, with the Doctor, Amy and Vincent lying in the grass, holding each other’s hands, and the stars transforming before our eyes makes the episode so much more than just awesome Doctor Who, it makes it a dream.

Did he do the thing? — Doctor Who & “The Beast Below”: So very, very kind.

Amy, The Doctor, and Liz Ten

Previous episode: The Eleventh Hour.

“In bed above, we’re deep asleep, / While greater love lies further deep. / This dream must end, / This world must know: / We all depend on the beast below.”

Another Sunday, another episode of Doctor Who to distract me from my plight (A-Levels, starting on Tuesday, requiring immediate attention, but who cares)! And what an episode it was — creepy, disgusting, with many funny but far more lump-in-your-throat moments, with a discernible shift in mood in contrast to The Eleventh Hour. Where the first episode of the new series was light and revelling in its all-new glory, this one touched a few of the never-ending dilemmas and conflicts of heart, interest and thinking the Doctor encounters everywhere on his travels, never forgetting anything no matter how much he may want to (Time War again); with his companions always landing smack-bang in the middle of it without some extra time to wrap their minds around it. As usual, the companion in question, Amy Pond, recovers quickly and proves to be made of awesome.