The writers for the next set of episodes have been confirmed. The good news? Neil Gaiman is definitely writing one. The (arguably) bad news is that Mark Gatiss is writing two, and his episodes have generally been amongst the worst of Moffat's run (Victory of the Daleks, and the Fear Her-esque one about the kid turning people into dolls).

 

I'm holding my breath for Neil Cross' two scripts. Doctor Who is a pretty significant leap from Luther in terms of tone and theme.

 

Doctor Who: The Great Detective (Christmas Special Prequel).

The trailer is coming up today too.

EDIT: The trailer.

 

So they pulled a Freema/Karen again, but this time they did it within the same season? And here I was actually looking forward to having a pseudo-dalek as a companion.

I hope they come up with some timey-wimey shenanigans to make her the same character.

 

So, Moffat is trying to make kids afraid of snow now? Cool...I can't get terribly excited about carnivorous snowmen in all honesty, but Richard Grant should guarantee some Christmas afternoon ham to enjoy, the Sontaran butler looked amusing, and Madame Vastra was awesome last series, so...yeah, could be fun.

 

I gotta say, it didn't make me that excited...

 

The Snowmen Prequel: Vastra Investigates.

 

A new TARDIS Interior (three different photos joined into one):



I need to see it in action before deciding what to think about it, but at the moment I like it a lot less than the previous one.

 

Here's a short preview clip that has the Doctor talking with Commander Strax, and apparently there's going to be a revamped theme and opening sequence that debuts with the special.

 

Jenna Louise Coleman is sexy as.

Spoiler

Loved that episode, the chemistry between Matt and Jenna was great. I was in a busy and loud living room but I though that the black chick (Wtf, was that Martha..?) called Clara "Doctor". Am I right or was that a mishearing?

 

I actually quite like the new theme. Very old-school. Also, I think

Spoiler

Clara

should die every episode: it be quite a fun twist, what with her dying and the Doctor having to chase her through the timelines.

 

That was awesome, also reminds me very much of The Sirens of Time episode from the Big Finish Audioplays.

Spoiler

I wouldn't be surprised if Clara does turn out to be a Siren. They're a species that feeds on chaos created from changes in time and can exist at multiple points in the timestream at once. Could be some inspiration being taken from there.

 

While a nice idea, I think it would get a bit old and predictable after the first few times.

 

Just you bringing BF up made my heart grow two sizes this day.

 

I'm getting through them, but it's slow progress since I only really listen to them at work (when the bosses aren't around). They're good fun though.

 

A very interesting episode. Much better than the previous Christmas Special.

Coleman is awesome and has a great chemistry with Smith. The new TARDIS is not bad, but definitely lacking something to make me like it just as much as the previous one.

Also, it's a shame that we are getting less and less episodes of Doctor Who. Sure, the seventh series seems to be as long as the previous ones, but with its long break in the middle we sure don't get thirteen episodes a year like usually.

 

Spoiler

That was Clara saying "shortcut" in response to "Where are you going?" Her accent made it sound similar to Doctor.

 

Didn't see the episode yet, but I did see the intro. And I saw the Doctor's face, like the intros for Doctor's #2 through #7.

I really shouldn't have laughed as hard as I did when I noticed it.

 

Something done by one of the fans.

The Augmented Reality Tardis: It's Bigger On The Inside.

Awesome.

 

Better than last years, not as good as A Christmas Carol. I'm still in two minds about Jenna Louise Coleman; on the one hand, she gave a very good performance, and there's great chemistry between her and Smith. On the other hand,

Spoiler

I'm disappointed that she's not actually going to be a 19th century girl travelling with him, and the big mystery points to another few episodes that are going to be largely about the companion. I don't mind it as much as some, but it would be nice to have something a little different for a while

Also, I'd kill to have Strax as the companion for a while. Because that would be insanely awesome.

As for the episode itself...it was ok. Some wonderful moments - the new TARDIS, Clara climbing the stairs, everything with Vastra and co, the WORM - but the plot itself was extremely thin. Possibly better if you're a longstanding fan, up to speed on Classic Who (I believe the Great Intelligence was a classic enemy in a couple of episodes), but that went right over my head. Richard E. Grant was decent but underused.

I don't love the new TARDIS design yet, but I quite like it. I did love the new theme tune.

So, maybe a three, three and a half out of five.