Sunday 30 September 2012

Review - "The Angels Take Manhattan"



There are always milestones and momentous episodes in "Doctor Who" - stories which are described as "the one where Sarah-Jane leaves", "the one where Adric dies" etc.   It's taken a while for one of these types of stories to happen in the Eleventh Doctor era and they definitely pull out all the stops.  Let me ask a question.  Do you watch "The Hand of Fear" and pick at plot holes?  Of course not.  You watch it with emotion not logic and eat up all the scenes with Sarah-Jane and the Doctor, knowing it's their last ones.  It should be the same with "The Angels Take Manhattan".  You cannot watch this dispassionately.  You cannot deliberately turn off your emotions and watch this from a logical standpoint.  As Matt Smith said: "Never apply logic to Who".  This was the swansong of two beloved characters - the only family that Eleven has known - and it was glorious.

This wasn't a story cluttered with an incomprehensible plot or multiple, unnecessary characters. In fact, the plot itself was relatively straightforward but I'm not going to recap it because of two reasons: firstly. it's not hugely vital and secondly you need to watch this story yourselves.  Basically, it was a lovely, typically Moffat story where Time is important and full focus is given to those characters we've grown to know and love:  The Doctor, River, Amy and Rory.  The relationships between them came to the forefront - we'd seen the bond between the Doctor, Amy and Rory in "The Power of Three" and in "The Angels Take Manhattan" we saw the strength of the bonds between Amy and Rory, Amy and River, River and the Doctor and, of course, Amy and her "raggedy man".


It really was a beautiful end to the Pond era - and, whilst we were promised tragedy, we did slightly misunderstand what that meant.  We all took it to mean a tragic end for the Ponds...but was it?  Amy and Rory wanted and needed to be together - and that's what they got.  They grew old together - and if you cast your minds back to last year's "The Girl Who Waited", that's what Rory wanted more than anything and, in this story, that's what Amy chose.  Choices were important here - Rory chose to jump off the building and create a paradox.  Amy chose to join him - "together or not at all".  It was a truly superb scene that really highlighted the strength, love and connection that Amy and Rory have.  We had hope then - hope that was cruelly ripped away by the graveyard scene.  Another choice.  Amy chose to be with Rory.  Wherever Rory was, that was home to Amy.  Her "raggedy man" was her friend...but Rory was her life.  They were together - the tragedy would have been if they weren't.

"The Angels Take Manhattan" - Overnight Viewing Figures


"The Angels Take Manhattan" achieved an overnight rating of 5.9million which was a 26.9% share of the total tv audience.  The audience peaked at 6.4million as the episode progressed.  Obviously, "The Angels Take Manhattan" was the highest rated BBC1 programme of the day.

If you look at last season, the fifth episode in the Autumn run was "Closing Time" which achieved 5.3million on the overnights.  The Season 6 finale, "The Wedding of River Song" achieved 6.1million on the overnights.

The rating for "The Angels Take Manhattan" is expected to increase considerably when the consolidated ratings are released next week.

You can find the updated Season 7 Viewing Figures chart here:  Season 7 Viewing Figures




Saturday 29 September 2012

Video - The Doctor Who team discuss Angels and the Doctor

The Doctor Who team - comprising the Moff, Caroline Skinner, Nick Hurran and Michael Pickwoad - discuss the Weeping Angels and what's in store for the Doctor:




Video - Christmas Special Trailer

Here's the short "next time" trailer that aired after "The Angels Take Manhattan":


Video - "The Last Days of the Ponds"

The BBC have now posted their "Last Days of the Ponds" video.  Beware spoilers if you haven't seen "The Angels Take Manhattan" and prepare the tissues:


Thursday 27 September 2012

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Tuesday 25 September 2012

The "Last Days of the Ponds"



The BBC have announced that, just after "The Angels Take Manhattan" has aired on BBC1 on Saturday, they will be uploading a new video to the Official Doctor Who site called "Last Days of the Ponds".  The press release states:

Saturday will be a historic day for Doctor Who and an emotional one for its viewers as we bid a heart-breaking farewell to Amy and Rory, played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. To celebrate their time on the show and to mark the end of an era, we’ll have special programme, The Last Days of the Ponds, available straight after The Angels Take Manhattan finishes.
The Last Days of the Ponds is a touching, 12 minute video that features Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, head writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat and Executive Producer Caro Skinner. Poignant and insightful it tells their story, from the very start to the teary goodbyes.
With exclusive backstage material from their early days together right up to behind-the-scenes footage of their final shots, The Last Days of the Ponds gives you unprecedented access to an era of Doctor Who, but more than this, it reveals how the people involved feel about their characters and their friends, their time on the show, what they’ll miss and remember and how Amy and Rory’s swansong moved them all.
Karen, Arthur and Matt recall meeting each other for the first time and share anecdotes about their friendship. What did they think of each other at first and what did Arthur consider to be a nightmare? Which days does Karen call the craziest of all, and how was Matt feeling when it came to shooting the Ponds’ departure?   
The laughter, tears, heart-break and joy are all captured forever in The Last Days of the Ponds.

Video - Arthur Darvill on BBC Breakfast - 24 September 2012

Arthur Darvill appeared on BBC Breakfast on 24 September 2012 to talk about his new play "Our Boys".  Obviously, "Doctor Who" is touched on and there's a new clip from "The Angels Take Manhattan" (scroll to 4.38 in the video below for the clip):




Thanks to DoctorWhoDom for uploading this.


Monday 24 September 2012

"The Power of Three" - Yet More Promos...

And they just keep coming - here are some more promo images from last Saturday's episode, "The Power of Three" - as ever, right click and open in new tab/window for the large versions:











Source - thanks to farfarawaysite.com

"The Power of Three" - AI Score


"The Power of Three" achieved an AI score of 87 - putting it very firmly in the "excellent" category.  This equals the AI for "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" and is higher than "A Town Called Mercy".

The full chart of Season 7 Viewing Figures can be found at:

Season 7 Viewing Figures

Matt Smith to Appear at MCM London Comic Con


BBC Worldwide have announced that Matt Smith will be appearing at the MCM London Comic Con in October.  The press release reads:


To mark the launch of the DVD of Doctor Who Series 7 Part 1 on Friday 26th October Matt Smith will attend MCM’s London Comic Con. The hugely popular British actor who plays the eleventh incarnation of the Time Lord will participate in a panel discussion with the show’s Executive Producer, Caroline Skinner. For a chance to hear the inside gossip on their favourite show, fans will need to head to the event’s MCM Theatre.

The panel discussion will also be freely available online so all Doctor Who fans can tune in. Matt Smith will also sign 100 copies of the new DVD. The first 100 people to purchase the new series’ DVD at the Doctor Who stand will receive a wristband for the signing at the venue’s Signing Hall.

Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, Doctor Who Series 7 Part 1 features five big, blockbuster-movie episodes – each a brand new epic adventure showcasing new monsters and some familiar foes as you’ve never seen them before. This brand new DVD will see the last days of the Ponds returning for their final, rollercoaster voyage with the Doctor.Released on DVD October 29th, this must have release features incredible monsters from Daleks to Dinosaurs and an alien with a grudge. A host of guest stars include David Bradley, Rupert Graves, Stephen Berkoff, Mike McShane, Ben Browder, Adrian Scarbourgh and Anamaria Marinca.
For full details on tickets and attending the Comic Con, please visit: London MCM Comic Con Website

"A Town Called Mercy" - Consolidated Viewing Figure



The Broadcasters Audience Research Board have released the consolidated viewing figures for week ending 16 September 2012.  These show that "A Town Called Mercy" achieved a final consolidated rating of 8.42million - which is a substantial increase from the overnights of 6.6million.

This is the highest rated episode of the season so far - and doesn't include any iplayer figures (which we are hoping to obtain shortly).

The full chart of Season 7 Viewing Figures is available at:

Season 7 Viewing Figures

Sunday 23 September 2012

Review - "The Power of Three"


I'll be blunt.  I loved this episode - absolutely adored it.  In the lead-up to this episode, the impression given was that it would be more low key than the rest of Season 7 so far - after all...the Doctor staying with the Ponds for a while?  Nothing much was going to happen, right?  Wrong.  This episode had comedy and drama.  It had lovely nods to Classic Who.  It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.  All-in-all, it was a perfect set-up for what promises to be an utter sobfest next week with the Ponds' final story: "The Angels Take Manhattan".

This was a Pond story - it always had to be, especially considering how little the pair had to do in last week's episode, "A Town Called Mercy".  We saw their lives - their "non-Doctor" lives - and saw the consequences that travelling with the Doctor can have.  When you've travelled with the Doctor, how can you possibly return to a normal life?  You can't.  And it was Brian Williams who pointed this out when he told them to go with the Doctor - but you could feel millions around the country cringing when he told the Doctor to "bring them back safely".  Yeah....that's REALLY going to happen, Brian.

In a nutshell, the plot - which really wasn't the important thing here - concerns billions of small cubes that appear overnight on Earth.  They don't do anything - they just sit there.  Humans being what they are, the cubes are soon taken into homes and offices and become part of everyday life.  They're observing, of course - the cubes are scanning and examining humanity - before their real purpose becomes know.  The Shakri (a race that are mythological even to Time Lords) will use them to wipe out humanity by means of electrical impulses that will stop hearts.



I would agree that the ending was rushed - the sonic being used as the convenient plot device once more - and also it did appear as though the Doctor left a few seemingly unconscious people on the spaceship when it exploded.  I would liked to have had one line of explanation regarding those people - in my head, the Doctor couldn't save them because they were linked to the Earth portals and "unhooking" them would have caused the Earth portals to explode.  That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.  Again, one line of dialogue could have changed all that.

"The Power of Three" - Overnight Ratings



"The Power of Three" achieved an overnight rating of 5.49million with a 25.6% audience share - suffering slightly from not having "Strictly Come Dancing" as a lead in.  "The Power of Three" was the second highest rated programme of the day after "The X Factor".

However, this is still up on last year's fourth episode of the Autumn run.  "The God Complex" achieved 5.2million.

Consolidated figures should be released next week.

For all Season 7 Viewing Figures please see our Season 7 Viewing Figures Chart

Saturday 22 September 2012

Video - Trailers - "The Angels Take Manhattan"

The BBC have uploaded 2 new trailers for next week's episode, "The Angels Take Manhattan":









Video - Behind the Scenes - "The Power of Three"

The BBC have uploaded a new behind the scenes video - this time it's called "A Writers Tale" and looks behind the scenes of "The Power of Three":





Screencaps - Matt Smith on Alan Carr's "Chatty Man"

I've uploaded a number of screencaps from Matt's appearance on "Alan Carr's Chatty Man"  to the Flickr Gallery.  Some examples are below but please head on over to the Flickr Gallery for the full set.  Feel free to download and use.










Video - Spoilery Trailer - "The Angels Take Manhattan"

I'm serious - this is a pretty spoilery trailer from Canadian channel, Space.   If you don't mind spoilers then go ahead - but if you have any doubts then I'd suggest you don't watch it:




Video courtesy of doctorwhotvcouk

National Television Awards - Voting Open


Voting is now open for the 2013 National Television Awards.  "Doctor Who" is nominated in Best Drama, whilst Matt Smith is nominated in Best Drama Performance: Male and Karen Gillan is nominated in Best Drama Performance: Female.

You can vote at National Television Awards

Video - Matt Smith on Alan Carr's "Chatty Man" - 21 September 2012

Below you'll find the full interview with Matt on Alan Carr's "Chatty Man" - this includes the teaser clip from "The Power of Three":




Okay, this youtube version has been blocked for the UK - however, the one below is uploaded to facebook and should be okay to view in the UK:


Friday 21 September 2012

"The Power of Three" - Even More Promos

Just when you thought it was safe, even more promos make their way into the blogosphere.  The drill is the same - right click and open in new tab/window for large versions:













More Promos - "The Power of Three"

More promos for "The Power of Three" have been released - including one rather good behind the scenes pic.  Usual drill - right click and open in new tab/window for large versions:








Source - thanks to dwimage2005.co.uk