The Cyberman in DOCTOR WHO - Series 7B - "Nightmare in Silver" | ©2013 BBCAmerica

This Saturday May 11 on BBCAmerica, the Cyberman return on DOCTOR WHO for an episode entitled “Nightmare in Silver” written by author and sometime WHO scribe Neil Gaiman.

Gaiman spoke to the press today about his latest gig and revealed some cool things about his forthcoming episode.

The big mandate, according to Gaiman, was making the Cyberman scary again.

“[Executive Producer Stephen Moffat] said if I could find the time, he would love it if I could make the Cyberman scary again,” says Gaiman. “When I was a kid, I was a huge Patrick Troughton fan and he was my Doctor. I remember ‘The Moonbase,’ the second outing of the Cyberman. I was terrified of them. I was much more scared of them than the Daleks. They were quiet and slipped in and out of rooms and were oft-putting. I loved the design of the clanky, clanky steampunk Cyberman. So I knew their time was coming up and wouldn’t it be fun if I could make them more scary.”

While previous incarnations of the Cyberman were slow, the new incarnation have made them fast and Gaiman says it’s all due to technology upgrades.

“My phone doesn’t look like what it did five years ago, let alone ten years ago,” says Gaiman. “My computer looks nothing like 15 years ago. They talk about upgrading, so what would an upgraded Cyberman look like? It would move pretty fast and if you found one on your planet, it’s going to be very hard to destroy and incredibly dangerous.”

If Gaiman ever gets the chance to revisit the Cyberman, he says he still has more he’d like to do with them.

“If I ever get back to another, I would probably do much more of what it’s like to deal with a Cyberman and why you blow them up,” says Gaiman. “We only had 42 minutes and there’s huge chunks of what I wrote that didn’t get shot and didn’t make it onto the screen. We had so much we had to do and so little time.”

And now that Gaiman has tackled the Daleks and the Cyberman, is there anything else he would like to revisit in the WHO universe?

“I would love to create a monster and have it be one that is interesting enough or fun enough to be written by someone else or turn up reinvented,” says Gaiman. “I like the feeling you’ve left something behind. I also miss the Yetis. The trouble with everything these days is time. There are ridiculous amounts of demand of my time and so many thigns I’m trying to do. I think they like me at DOCTOR WHO, I like them too, and I think they’ll have me back.”

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special – Series 7 – “The Snowmen”

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: Interview with writer Neil Gaiman on DOCTOR WHO – “Nightmare in Silver” episode

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

Freema Agyeman in DOCTOR WHO | ©BBC

THE CARRIE DIARIES, on the CW Monday nights at 8 PM, is a prequel to SEX AND THE CITY. It’s 1984 and our heroine Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb, playing the younger self of the character first portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker) is still in high school as she begins to have early adventures in Manhattan. Teen Carrie’s mentor in fashion is Interview Magazine style editor, English expatriate Larissa Loughlin, played by Freema Agyeman.

Agyeman, who was raised in North London, is probably best known for playing Doctor’s Companion Martha Jones on DOCTOR WHO opposite David Tennant, reprising the character on TORCHWOOD, and for her dedicated prosecutor Alesha Phillips on LAW & ORDER: U.K. 2009-2011. At a Television Critics Association press event, Agyeman talks about being and playing an Englishwoman in Manhattan.

ASSIGNMENT X: What brought you to the U.S.?

FREEMA AGYEMAN: I was working on LAW & ORDER: U.K. for three years, and my contract came to an end, and I just decided to come and give pilot season a go. I didn’t anticipate getting anything; I didn’t anticipate this. I feel like the whirlwind is still occurring. And I just auditioned for various things and got tested for various things and when this came up, I just thought, “Could it be possible to be part of that?” You don’t dare hope when you’re going through the processes, and as I got further and further, I thought, “Oh, God, maybe I can believe.”

AX: Had you watched SEX AND THE CITY before becoming involved with THE CARRIE DIARIES?

AGYEMAN: Strangely enough, I loved SEX AND THE CITY, but I didn’t watch it when the world watched it. I got the boxed set, reduced [price], much later on and I started to go through it. I got up to Season 3, loved it so much, but realized it was a finite amount of them. If you were watching it live at the time, you didn’t know when it was going to end. Now I know when it’s going to end, I’m rationing them. So I only watch them as and when, because I never want it to end. So I still don’t know how it ends.

AX: In DOCTOR WHO and TORCHWOOD, you’re trying to save the universe, and in LAW & ORDER: U.K., you’re trying to save British justice, and here you’re –

AGYEMAN: [laughs] Just having a good time?

AX: Well, you’re trying to save fashion, presumably, but nobody’s going to die if you don’t.

AGYEMAN: Right.

AX: So were you looking for a role that was a little bit lighter than what you’d been doing?

AGYEMAN: Strangely enough, I’ve never done comedy. I wasn’t necessarily looking for that. A lot of my things have been more dramatic, drama-based. [When] pilot season came, I was just looking for projects that interested me and they did vary, but when this one did come along, and I read the script once, it was the only one through pilot season that I read willingly twice. I’m not the fastest reader and they give you no time to prepare to go for your audition, but I remember reading it twice. I just felt like I could see Larissa. I knew what she was and who she was, and I went in with my representation [of who she was], and I’m really pleased the producers [agreed]. Do you know what someone said to me one day after we did a read-through, an American? She said, “Gosh, Larissa represents Manhattan, 1984Manhattan, so much.” And I was relieved, because I don’t know what 1984 actually means. I wasn’t here. So I just thought, she’s into all things life. She’s into the good, the bad, the ugly, the beauty, the art, the enjoyment – just life. She’s this force of nature. And I could just see all that on the page. I just thought, “Just go and enjoy it.” And it’s easy to tell yourself that for an audition, but I thoroughly enjoyed every process of the audition round with her, because I felt like I was reeling my friend out whenever I could put the Larissa hat on and become her. It felt like an old friend.

AX: Are there aspects of yourself that you see in Larissa?

AGYEMAN: Larissa is, other than being this bright girl, which I’m not either, an authority on New York City, she is an authority on fashion. I am neither. I hope to one day progress in both of those and maybe close the gap between us and play her as my alter ego, but right now, she is the woman I wish I could be [laughs]. Other than the shoplifting.

AX: Given that you played Martha Jones on DOCTOR WHO and TORCHWOOD, are you encountering any Whovians in your travels?

AGYEMAN: I am so overwhelmed and so honored and pleased. I walk down the street here and there are DOCTOR WHO fans coming up to me, and I can’t believe it. I can’t believe how it has just exploded over here. When I was doing the show, we didn’t get to come over to America and do any of the promotion. The new lot [of DOCTOR WHO actors] did, but my agent said, “Don’t worry, whatever happens with them, it kind of ripples outwards and the whole family reaps the benefit of that,” so it’s been great for my career [laughs].

AX: With the way Larissa dresses, when you’re in costume for the character, do you ever feel like a DOCTOR WHO alien?

AGYEMAN: [laughs] When I got the part and I dressed up for the pilot, I did say, “It feels a bit otherworldly.” Especially because I am so different from all the other cast members – she’s presented so differently as well. And I do feel a bit otherworldly in that, so actually, why not? Let’s combine the two and say, “It’s DOCTOR WHO meets THE CARRIE DIARIES.”

AX: Some of your costumes are the Eighties at their most outrageous. How much is your character Larissa defined by her wardrobe?

AGYEMAN: Larissa is so liberating to play. I mean, in this program, where all these teenagers are on the cusp of adulthood, you’ve got Larissa, who is this perpetual child, reliving her youth. She never talks about her age – as far as she’s concerned, she’s just beginning and living the dream herself. I feel like I’m putting on armor and war paint when I go into costume. I can’t tell you how confident and comfortable it makes me feel. I feel like I’ve found my comfort zone with that, because with contemporary shows, if the character allows it, you mostly want to be pretty. You go to costume, and they make you pretty. And I’m not saying that this doesn’t have its own beauty to it, the way I’m designed, but it’s more about the wild and the wacky and the more outrageous, the better.

AX: Have you ever gotten into one of your CARRIE DIARIES outfits and said, “No …”?

AGYEMAN: Never. I had a pair of trousers on, the MC Hammer pants with the crotch practically mid-calf, sky-high heels, a cerise top and a blue waistcoat. It looked like an explosion in a fabric factory and I couldn’t get enough of it [laughs]. Honestly, I wanted more crazy stuff, because she’s very editorial. I asked [series costume designer] Eric Daman would I be getting leg warmers and he was like, “She’s editorial, darling. So it’s high, high fashion of the Eighties that she represents.”

AX: Have there been any of Larissa’s costumes you’d like to wear in real life?

AGYEMAN: Yes, a lot. Leopard-print trousers – I literally put them on and I can’t tell you what it does for my self-esteem [laughs]. I feel fierce. Eric knows my shape now, that’s the important thing as well. When you start working with a costume stylist, they pull things that they think are going to fit, and then as time goes on, they really get how things sit on you, so he’ll go and shop for trousers, because I need them to go wider at my hips and bum, and then nipped in at the waist, and he’s got an eye for what would work on my shape. So I want to go shopping with him one day – I’ve asked if he’ll take me shopping and he can pick things out [for real-life wear] that I wouldn’t have the confidence to, but he would know would suit me.

AX: How do you like working and living in New York?

AGYEMAN:New York is super-culture. There are endless artistic and intellectual pursuits, and the glamour and the magic is like the stuff of movies. But at the same time, it’s so new to me, I find it can be somewhat overwhelming. The fast pace to it, the angsty sort of attitude that you can get sometimes, you kind of have to learn how to navigate it all, and I kind of feel like I’m in between being a tourist and actually trying to say I’m anywhere near being a New Yorker and I’m kind of in a bit of hybrid no man’s land at the moment, but I’m really honored to be working there. [There are still difficulties in] just little things like getting around, little things like that. When you know your city – I’ve lived inLondon my whole life, and I can get from A to B any way I need to. I feel more like a wide-eyed Carrie Bradshaw myself. I think all of us that are not fromNew York do. We’re here – suddenly, we’re just freaks and you stand still on the spot a little bit and go, “I don’t know where to go and what to do!”

AX: Did you know anything about the Eighties fashion scene before you got involved with THE CARRIE DIARIES?

AGYEMAN: I’m kind of in the hands of the producers on that front. I mean, I was around in the Eighties – I was between one and ten, variously, through that decade – but whatever I do know about fashion is very London-based. It’s quite a different culture. I thinkNew York was on the forefront of the art and the fashion and all that. I mean,London was the music scene and stuff. So to be honest, I bow to a higher authority when it comes to certain aspects of the character. They pretty much put Larissa’s career in place and I follow that.

AX: Are you commuting back and forth between New York and England?

AGYEMAN: I went back at Christmas and New Year, but I don’t go back in between, because it’s still a six-hour flight. Once I’m here I want to immerse and just stay involved in all of that, but I do feel like I’m living two lives. So when anybody says to me, “Do you live here?”, I pause, because I’m like, “Well, I’m working here – I still have my flat in the U.K., so I’m jumping the pond at the moment and enjoying every minute of doing that.”

AX: Not that you’re tremendously old, but you’re one of the older people in the CARRIE DIARIES cast. Do you have any kind of feeling like responsibility for the younger cast members?

AGYEMAN: Actually, you would have to ask them what they think of me. I think it might vary, but it is interesting. I am a good ten years older than the majority of them, and so Matt Lescher [who plays Carrie’s father] and I have a lot of things to talk about, because in some ways, we are closer in age. But I think what’s funny is, I probably showed my age – not my age, it’s more my personality – when the kids – I call them “the kids,” too – they’ll be like, “Should we go out? Should we go here? Should we do that?” And I’m like, “Oh, honey, I’m going home.” [laughs] I do hang out with them and we do do things, but I am at a very different stage in my life to where they are.

AX: Is there anything else you’d like to say about THE CARRIE DIARIES right now?

AGYEMAN: I would just like to say, which people have touched on in regards to the whole [question of] who are the audience who watched SEX AND THE CITY itself, I do think that SEX AND THE CITY and THE CARRIE DIARIES do feel like two slightly different products, because this is essentially a period piece, and SEX AND THE CITY traded on being contemporary. This is for a younger audience and it is a coming of age story, but I encourage SEX AND THE CITY fans to tune in, because there are enough stylistic similarities that it will be familiar for them. You’ve got the city as the backdrop. You’ve got voiceover, that amazing convention. You’ve got even the window shots, as Carrie’s sitting there writing. I think they’ll recognize things. And if they’re interested in Carrie’s back story, they’ll be able to relate as well. And having said it’s for a younger audience, actually, these guys root it in such suitable realism, it’s actually quite sincere and genuine in its tone and I absolutely think that we compete across the board.

LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Related: TV Review: THE CARRIE DIARIES – Season 1 – “Lie With Me”

Related: TV Review: THE CARRIE DIARIES – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

Related:AnnaSophia Robb gives the scoop on THE CARRIE DIARIES

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: Exclusive Interview with FREEMA AGYEMAN on THE CARRIE DIARIES and DOCTOR WHO

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

Jenna-Louise Coleman and Matt Smith in DOCTOR WHO - Series 7 - "The Snowmen" | ©2012 BBC/BBC Worldwide/Adrian Rogers| ©2012 BBC/BBC Worldwide/Adrian Rogers

Stars: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Richard E. Grant, Dan Starkey, Catrin Stewart, Neve McIntosh, Tom Ward, Liz White, Joseph Darcey-Aiden, Ellie Darcey-Aiden, Sir Ian McKellen, Juliet Cadzow, Jim Conway, Cameron Strefford, Annabelle Dowler, Ben Addis, Daniel Hyde, Sophie Miller-Sheen 
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director:   Saul Metzstein
Network: BBC America, airs Saturday night 
Original Telecast: December 25, 2012

In this year’s DOCTOR WHO Christmas special, “The Snowmen,” the Doctor (Matt Smith) has more or less retired to Victorian London and just wants to be left alone. Friends like Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny (Catrin Stewart), and Strax (Dan Starkey) try to draw out the formerly proactive Time Lord, but it takes a mystery involving deadly, living snowmen to bring back his characteristic curiosity and desire to save people from lethal monsters. There’s also a familiar foe behind this chilling gambit, and a face from the show’s recent past when new companion Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) shows up. Hey, wait a minute – wasn’t she just whipping up soufflés as Oswin in “Asylum of the Daleks?” Hmm…

DOCTOR WHO has become less a thrilling adventure in time and space and more an endless cycle of the same tired clichés that show runner Moffat rolls out ad infinitum to the exclusion of character, story, or anything resembling entertainment. Creature that keeps repeating a phrase (the Ice Governess made out of CGI circa early ‘90s)? Check. A Sontaran warrior reduced to a series of unfunny jokes that renders a member of the once proud warrior race that could threaten the Doctor in stories of their own into nothing but a comical sidekick? Check. A fast-talking, quipping girl that immediately wants to get into the Time Lord’s pants? Check. Add to that an obsession with spending more time talking about Moffat’s other big TV project – Sherlock Holmes – and it seems he doesn’t even really want to be working on the show he supposedly loved as a kid. Things that are supposed to be oh-so-clever – the “one word test” – are also insane when you think about the stakes. Threats to a planet, perhaps an entire race, but the lizard is going to play word games?

The Snowmen in DOCTOR WHO - Series 7 - "The Snowmen" | ©2012 BBC/BBC Worldwide/Adrian Rogers

Richard E. Grant might be said to be wasted in his role as Dr. Simeon, but then again all he has to do is stand around, look like he’s falling asleep, and then lurch around in a manner that suggests he studied up by viewing Richard Briers’ groundbreaking performance as The Chief Caretaker in the abysmal 1987 story, “Paradise Towers.” Sir Ian Mckellen lends his voice to the Great Intelligence, which clearly hasn’t lent any of this gift to the script. And although Matt Smith has usually been the most reliable actor in any episode of the show, good or bad, here he seems to go off the rails, making the Doctor far more erratic and unlikeable than usual, and even resorting to the incredibly irritating action movie cliché of cricking one’s neck before heading into battle. And then there’s Clara, another high-concept companion with a mystery. Sounds like a shallow Pond we once knew, and nothing compels me to wonder what her story will be because the likelihood it will make any sense by its end is virtually nil. So now we have “The Girl Who Died Twice” instead of “The Girl Who Waited.” Remember when people just traveled with the Doctor for a while because it was fun?

So why a C- and not the F it so richly deserves? Because the new title sequence, the new TARDIS interior, and the Doctor’s fetching Victorian gear – as well as the wonderful Victorian lab that serves as the Great Intelligence’s base of operations – are all triumphs of set and costume design. It’s the only thing this episode gets right, and it’s a shame that some stunning visual work is wasted on a wafting snowflake of a tale that melts at first touch and is as quickly forgotten.

Series 7 of DOCTOR WHO returns next year, which as any fan knows is a pretty important one. It’s not often a television institution celebrates 50 years of entertaining viewers around the globe, but 2013 is the half-century mark for DOCTOR WHO. With the reinvigorating boost some of the most recent run of episodes has given the show – the last two notwithstanding – and with so many excellent design tweaks as we head into the new year, who knows what’s in store when the TARDIS materializes on our screens again? Let’s just hope it has a story and some characters we can care about that offer more than rapid patter and flat vaudeville routines, or else we might be longing for the bite of a memory worm ourselves.

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special – Series 7 – “The Snowmen”

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections.

Movies:

BRAVE | (c) 2012 Walt Disney

BRAVE – As much as Disney gets flak for being a super corporation and installing all sorts of consumerism in our children, they do know how to deliver the goods when it comes to great storytelling that the whole family can enjoy. BRAVE is the wonderful story of a rebellious daughter that will do anything not to get married to one of the neighboring lords and goes so far as to make a deal with a strange witch. Unfortunately, this deal to change her mother has negative effects as it changes her into a bear as well as her triplet brothers and Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) must race to save them before the townsfolk hunt them down. Add to this a real bear that’s none too happy to share his territory and you have another great tale from Pixar and company.

The really cool thing about BRAVE is the animation, which is really top notch. It is amazing they can create such lifelike characters with long flowing hair and all sorts of mannerisms that only people should be able to make. Makes the entire viewing experience that much more. I recommend getting the five disc version that includes not only the Blu-ray version, but the 3-D Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy so you can literally watch it on anything you have.

SAVAGES | (c) 2012 Universal Home Entertainment

SAVAGES – Oliver Stone commands attention whenever he slaps himself to any project and SAVAGES is a pretty good action flick but it won’t be something that probably people will look back on in his career as one of the highlights. The story centers around a pair of drug dealing friends (Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson) that share everything – a house, a business, even a woman (Blake Lively) – that get propositioned by a Mexican cartel to become a partner. They really don’t like being partners so they decline the offer. But when the cartel kidnaps Lively, the two must fight to get her back by killing numerous henchmen, stealing money and even kidnapping the cartel boss’ (Salma Hayek) daughter. Bencio Del Toro also puts in a great performance as the head henchmen to Hayek’s cartel. Worth checking out on Netflix for sure, especially for action aficionados.

ASTONISHING X-MEN | (c) 2012 Shout! Factory

ASTONISHING X-MEN: BLU-RAY COLLECTION – From famous director Joss Whedon comes a stop-motion comic based on his work on the comic of the same name. Now it is collected for the first time on Blu-ray featuring GIFTED, DANGEROUS, TORN and UNSTOPPABLE. All four ASTONISHING X-MEN animated series are collected in high definition. While it won’t win any awards for the best animation, it is the storylines that are most interesting including the Hellfire Club, Danger and Breakworld.

Television:

FRIENDS THE COMPLETE SERIES | (c) 2012 Warner Home Video

FRIENDS: THE COMPLETE SERIES – Here’s an early preview to a gift guide. The first release of FRIENDS onto Blu-ray in the complete set. Yes, all 236 episodes of the show are all available in one fell swoop in this great collection from the classic sitcom and the first time the show has been available in high definition. The box set includes 21 Blu-ray discs, an extensive 32-page episode guide, all kinds of unaired footage and some never-before-released cast appearances either promoting the show or talking about their characters. Also included is a new documentary that looks back on the show with interviews from the cast and crew. A must have for anyone that was a fan of the show and wants to convert to high def.

DOCTOR WHO Series 7 Part 1 | (c) 2012 BBC Warner

DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 7 – PART 1 – I’m not a fan of splitting a season of a show into two parts. But sometimes I understand why they do it and why it benefits some of the fans out there. This is definitely the case with DOCTOR WHO as not everyone gets BBC America and still want to watch the show and don’t want to wait an awful long time before actually viewing the episodes. With the series returning next year for the completion of Series 7, it makes sense to give the fans the first half of the season now. Of course, the build up here is to the end of the run for Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) as companions to the Doctor (Matt Smith). We get some pretty good episodes with the Daleks, the wild west, a really good space episode with dinosaurs and the return of the weeping angels that brings about the end of Amy and Rory’s time with the Doctor. Also the Christmas episode is included introducing a new companion, Jenna Louise-Coleman.

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Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: BRAVE Highlights this week in Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

Matt Smith in the DOCTOR WHO SERIES 7 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2102 | ©2012 BBC/BBC WORLDWIDE/Adrian Rogers

The BBC has released a new publicity photograph of Matt Smith as the Doctor sporting a considerably darker (and perhaps even more ‘Doctorish?’) outfit. The picture provides a sneak peek of this year’s DOCTOR WHO Christmas special. A prequel to the special will air as part of this Friday’s CHILDREN IN NEED live charity event on BBC One sometime around the 8:30-9:00pm slot. A trailer for the special itself, which will see the Doctor meeting his new companion played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, will accompany the prequel.

Ah, but wait, you say: Didn’t Coleman already appear in this year’s Series 7 debut episode, “Asylum of the Daleks?” Indeed she did, and the nature of her return to the show, her companion character, and any possible connection to her role as Oswin in “Asylum” is a mystery for now.

The 2012 DOCTOR WHO Christmas special, written by show runner Steven Moffat and also featuring the return of fan-favorite characters, Silurian adventuress Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) and sidekick Jenny (Catrin Stewart), as well as actor Richard E. Grant (once the Doctor himself…twice) in a pivotal role, airs at 9:00pm on December 25 on BBC America.

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Fan us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENTX

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Click on Link: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “The Wedding of River Song” – Review #2

Click on Link: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “Closing Time” – Review #1
Click on Link: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “Closing Time” – Review #2

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “The God Complex” – Review #1

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “The Girl Who Waited” – Review #1

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “The Girl Who Waited” – Review #2

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “Night Terrors” – Review #1

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “Night Terrors” – Review #2

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “Let’s Kill Hitler” – Review #1 (negative review)

Click on link: AX’s DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “Let’s Kill Hitler” – Review #2 (positive review)

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: First look photo of Matt Smith from the DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special 2012

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - "The Angels Take Manhattan" poster | ©2012 BBC

Stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
Writer: Steven Moffat 
Director:  Nick Hurran   
Network: BBC America, airs Saturday nights
Original Telecast: September 22, 2012

“The Angels Take Manhattan” is a tough episode of DOCTOR WHO -  in fact it might be the toughest since Matt Smith took over as the Eleventh Doctor. This episode is the big farewell to Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill), and since Amy has been the Doctor’s companion since his first episode in this newer incarnation, this has been a good run for the two of them.

There’s also been a lot of change and evolution for the Ponds over the last couple of seasons. Amy has gone from a child to a girl in love with the idea of the Doctor, to a married woman, to a mother, and finally to a woman in her mid-thirties trying to make the normal and the action packed parts of her life work with each other. Rory has pretty much been the same loveable, bumbling guy who has been killed off a few times, been a plastic Roman centurion and waited outside of a giant box Amy was lock in for two thousand years, a dad, and again a mid-thirties guy trying to find balance between normal life and life with the Doctor. I do like the fact that in the end Amy chooses Rory over a life with the Doctor. It is important to me that she does that and it makes her more real, instead of just being a tag along sidekick.

I admit I was skeptical that this episode could make me cry. I was quite certain that nothing can top Rose (Billie Piper) being sealed off in a parallel world at the end of Series 2, Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) getting wiped out of existence at the end of Series 4, and the 10^th Doctor (David Tennant) regenerating alone in the TARDIS after saying farewell to many of his companions. I was wrong. The exit of the Ponds was both bittersweet and wrenching. No one likes to see the Doctor unable to save people, especially when it’s people he cares the most about, so his pain at the end of this episode was really raw.

Now reading further you will encounter spoilers sweetie, so be warned.

I like the fact that River Song (Alex Kingston) came back for the farewell to her parents. She didn’t seem at all phased by what befell the Ponds, and I would assume she can use her vortex manipulator to visit them, even if the Doctor can’t. I love the fact that she is now allowed to age, that she is a professor, and that she has been acquitted of killing the Doctor (there is no record of him ever existing now). Plus the somewhat uncomfortable “cougar” aspects of their relationship are discussed in this episode and I summed up by River’s line, “When one is in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve-year-old, one does one’s best to hide the damage.”

The Angels themselves were pretty awesome as always. I love that whenever Steven Moffat revisits his creations, they always get new aspects. I like the introduction of baby Angels, and the fact that the Statue of Liberty is an Angel is pretty much one of the creepiest things ever, and also one of the BEST visuals of this new Series.

Timey Wimey Wibbly Wobbly is at the heart of this tale, as is so often with Moffat, and he’s not afraid to make you really have to think about the hows and whys of the plot. So because of the Angels, the Ponds are stuck in fixed points in time; those being when they got zapped to the past, and when they died in the past. But, why can’t the Doctor go see them in the 1940’s, or 50’s, or 60’s? Someone is going to have to explain that to me. I get that he can’t go back to 1938 New York, but what’s to stop him from seeing them further down the timeline? Plus lets take into consideration the events that may or may not be changed in “Asylum of the Daleks.”

The Doctor obviously doesn’t have a Dalek for a companion so that episode is completely changed and re-writes everything. Doesn’t it? So does this mean Amy and Rory never reconciled and she is still a model and they got divorced, since the Daleks wouldn’t have kidnapped all of them to go to the asylum if the musical signal was never there to be broadcast? Is this how the Doctor saves the Ponds as well? Maybe I’m making too much of this, only Steven Moffat knows and he’s not saying until Christmas.

So that’s it for WHO for now. Waiting with the rest of the Whovians for the Christmas Special! Until then, it’s re-watching episodes, listening to Big Finish and maybe replaying the new game on PS3.

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #2

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

Karen Gillan, Matt Smith, and Arthur Darvill in DOCTOR WHO - Series 7 - "The Angels Take Manhattan" | ©2012 BBC America

Stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, Mike McShane, Rob David, Ozzie Yue, Bentley Kalu, Burnell Tucker  
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director:   Nick Hurran
Network: BBC America, airs Saturday night 
Original Telecast: September 22, 2012

In the fifth episode of DOCTOR WHO Series 7, “The Angels Take Manhattan,” the Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan), and Rory (Arthur Darvill) are in New York when a massive incursion of Weeping Angels introduce a host of problems, including the possible death – again – of Rory. When River Song (Alex Kingston), Amy and Rory’s daughter and psychopath, turns up to help out, you know things won’t end well. Or will they? Perhaps true love will triumph after all, either here and now or somewhere back in the past…

I suppose it was almost inevitable that given my opinion of the storyline that has been an intrinsic part of Amy’s involvement in the series, this would be the one potential misfire in the very short run of new episodes this year. At long last the Williamses are gone (supposedly), and I for one am glad to close the book on that story. But let’s not forget something important – for a group of people watching the show now, Amelia Pond and her long-suffering (and often-dying) husband Rory Williams will always be “their” companions, and the departure of these characters is a sad time after which nothing will ever be the same again. So for all those fans, here’s hoping this departure provided at least a partially satisfying finale to their tale.

And yes, there are plot holes galore in the latest scheme of the Weeping Angels, not least the inexplicable way the Statue of Liberty can just stroll around with no one noticing its presence in the city or absence from its pedestal, and there are also massive inconsistencies in the way in which DOCTOR WHO has dealt with time, fixed points, and so on. In this era, rewriting the entire universe has been on the table at least once, but now we’re back to not tampering with things again, only because it’s time to write out some cast members. Still, there are a few nice moments, a bit of a return to the Angels seeming creepy and effective, genuinely moving performances by the entire main cast that almost manage to transcend the uneven material, and a stunning use of New York locations.

Now – one last time – let’s talk about the baby that’s not in the room. Here was one last chance, especially given how much time keeps getting rewritten during this era, to resolve one of the most aggravating and (arguably) offensive elements of the last several years’ storytelling. Knowing there’s a young toddler Melody/River in old New York from episodes past, why not reunite the family, unwrite the River we know, and instead leave a happy couple with a baby that will now be raised by her true parents and not by aliens hell bent on programming her into a lethal killer? Even when Amy tells the Doctor at the end to go back and tell little Amelia about all the things she has to look forward to (hey, doesn’t that rewrite history? Oh, never mind…), she doesn’t even mention having a child that grows up to be the very same crazy adventurer that just shared their final journey with the Doctor. Slips her mind easily, that whole having a daughter thing. Alas, it seems Melody is forever lost and years of child abuse by Kovarian and her minions will remain part of the Moffat-era canon. Family entertainment indeed.

Although it’s nice to know Amy and Rory live a happy life together, even that revelation feels misjudged at the end by leaving it off camera. We only have Amy’s voice over to tell us rather than provide one single shot of the two of them reunited in the past and at long last freed from the Doctor’s meddling (which is definitely how it felt in the last several stories – remember when traveling with the Doctor was supposed to be exciting and make you into a better person?). Even in trying to provide some sort of conclusion to one of the series’ most convoluted stories, this episode manages to miss the little touches that would have made it better. For my part, I’d just like to move on now.

Well, that’s all the new DOCTOR WHO we get until Christmas, and with the 50th anniversary looming ahead as well, all I can think is: remember when we used to get 13 episodes of new WHO in a row? Whatever they wind up doing in 2013, let’s just hope it is special…and not “Planet of the Dead” or “The Waters of Mars” special either. Ho ho ho!

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - "The Power of Three" poster | ©2012 BBC

Stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
Writer: Chris Chibnall
Director:  Douglas Mackinnon  
Network: BBC America, airs Saturday nights
Original Telecast: September 22, 2012

Not every episode of DOCTOR WHO can be absolute gold. There have to be slow episodes, talking heads episodes, and yes even somewhat dull episodes. “The Power of Three” is not the best episode in the new run, but it’s not the worst since the series restarted in 2005. It’s just kind of a yawn episode with some amusing moments here and there. I really feel that since the Ponds are leaving next episode that this was a bit of a love letter and resolution to allow fans to let them go. Plus we find out they’ve been traveling in the TARDIS on and off for 10 years!

The whole episode is really from the point of view of Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill), and it is a year of their life balancing their Earth life (real life) and their travels with the Doctor (Matt Smith). I do like the fact that we see just exactly what goes on in companions’ lives when the Doctor is not around, and how everything bends and shift when he is. I sincerely hope that they don’t kill off the Ponds in the next episode. I like when companions are still around to encounter new regenerations of the Doctor, and to help tie the different eras of the series together. I mean can anyone say they regretted seeing Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) return? Or what about Jo Grant (Katy Manning) turning up on the SARAH JANE ADVENTURES? The fact that these companions were still out there to encounter the Doctor decades later just makes it kind of magical.  All of these people who have shared an amazing traveling experience in the TARDIS still have a special place in their hearts for the man that changed their lives.

Speaking of tying decades of this show together, did anyone else get just a wee bit misty when we find out that Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) is Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart’s (Nicholas Courtney) daughter? What a lovely way to tie the classic U.N.I.T. years into the modern storylines. We’ve seen them in action before, but this is a flesh and blood tie to the past, and she was really quite perfect.

We also got a reappearance of Rory’s dad Brian (Mark Williams); who just brings a whole other level of charm with him. He’s such an endearing character, and of course we lose him when we lose the Ponds, so I’m going to be sad to see him go after such a brief period on the show.

And now the naughty bits. I kind of love the fact that Rory ends up being ushered downstairs in his ‘pants’ or boxer brief underwear to the rest of us. As far as I’m concerned he can wander his adorable rear around in those as much as he wants. Yes. I’ve had a thing for Rory pretty much since day one. Geeky, unconventionally handsome men are a weakness and DOCTOR WHO has had more than it’s fair share.

The black boxes in this episode are interesting, and I’m wondering if Character Options is already working on several versions for the toy market that do different things. I can only imagine that they are. Plus I’m willing to bet Shakri (Steven Berkoff) will get an action figure.

So onto to the biggest mystery of this episode. On IMDB the night it aired there was a woman listed in the credits as “The Rani”. Did I blink? Did I miss the return of a WHO villain? The interesting thing is that this woman has now been removed from the IMDB page, so was it a mistake or did they goof and put up a potential spoiler for the rest of the season waaaay too soon? Anyone else out there hear about the Rani making a come back?

Meet back here same time next week with your box of tissues to bid farewell to the Ponds and thrill to the dangers of “The Angels Take Manhattan.”

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

Arthur Darvill, Matt Smith, and Karen Gillan in DOCTOR WHO - Series 7 - "The Power of Three" | ©2012 BBC America

Stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Mark Williams, Steven Berkoff, Stephen Blything, Jemma Redgrave, Selva Rasalingham, Alice O’Connell, Lord Sugar, Brian Cox  
Writer: Chris Chibnall
Director:   Douglas Mackinnon
Network: BBC America, airs Saturday night 
Original Telecast: September 22, 2012

In the fourth episode of DOCTOR WHO Series 7, “The Power of Three,” the Doctor (Matt Smith) faces one his most unusual adventures: living at home with Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill). Mysterious black cubes have turned up all over the world, people have collected them and taken them to work and to their homes, and the Doctor and UNIT are concerned that this may be the slowest extraterrestrial invasion in human history. The Time Lord elects to stay for a while to see what happens, but meanwhile his married companions contemplate the struggle they face in balancing an existence of chaotic time travel with an even greater challenge – the daily routine of a normal life.

What could have been a far more satisfying two-parter is instead presented as a single episode that, while still entertaining and having more than its share of nice moments, feels less like another great episode in a solid recent run and more like this mini-season’s first true missed opportunity. Probably the biggest problem is the introduction of what should have been a fantastic character that then wasn’t really given enough chance to breathe. Jemma Redgrave brings all the dignity and emotion – as well as an almost uncanny family resemblance – to her role as the late Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart’s daughter Kate, now heading a version of UNIT that she has somehow skewed more toward a greater reliance on science, due in no small part to the Doctor’s long-term influence on her father. It’s a beautiful nod to the past and a great opportunity to examine UNIT from a new perspective…and then it really just amounts to a few guys with guns dressed in black and a nameless tech guy in glasses watching monitors. Kate only turns up in a few scenes, is great in all of them, but you can’t help but feel that a two-part structure would have seriously improved this strand of the story and given her a chance to feel more like a character and less like a placeholder.

The other issue is the story itself, particularly the resolution, which builds up suspense all the way through only for the Doctor to resolve the entire “slow invasion” with a literal wave of his magic wand/sonic screwdriver. Some reviewers are already saying “ah, but the story isn’t the point, it’s a character piece.” Perhaps…but can’t we have both? Must we really sacrifice one for the other? Again, two episodes would have enabled the pacing of the cube story to open up and build to a more satisfying conclusion. As for Steven Berkoff in his wonderful but extremely abbreviated appearance, he’s sadly wasted although does very well with what he’s given.

Still, although this isn’t as good as the show has been in the last three weeks, it still has more than its share of satisfying elements, like continuing strong performances from the main cast and Mark Williams back again as Rory’s dad Brian. As with Chibnall’s previous script, some of the strongest elements are the amazing lines of dialogue that sum up entire themes in a single sentence, such as Rory’s “What you do isn’t all there is” and the Doctor’s “I’m not running away from things, I am running to them, before they flare and fade forever.” Smith even gets a very Tom Baker-esque speech about the indomitability of the human race and a touching bit about having lost companions in the past.

As for the general style of the episode: in this media-saturated era where the cycle of nostalgia has grown increasingly short – the ’90s and even the early ’00s are already back with a vengeance (whither last month?) – can it be that on the eve of celebrating DOCTOR WHO’s 50th anniversary, the show is already demonstrating a loving interest in something as recent as Russell T. Davies’ 2005-2010 stewardship of the series? If so, this reviewer has no problem with it, since the results are a nice blend of that period’s focus on earthbound invasion tales with a twist unique to the Eleventh Doctor era. Real world physicist Brian Cox pops up to expound on the cubes, newscasts keep us abreast of developments, and there are even other references to that era via cube-mouthed creatures (how did they fit into this anyway, we never really get a satisfactory explanation for them or the little girl robot sent to observe) that evoke memories of gas mask zombies, and a bit about the Doctor getting a left heart jumpstart that sees Smith channeling his inner Tennant. Brian also asks for the couple to come home safe like Jackie and other parents often did back then. As for that rushed resolution, didn’t some folks say that too was an element of the RTD era (not one I agreed with that often, but still…)?

“The Power of Three” is strong on character, light on story, and just doesn’t seem like it should have to choose one over the other. Tonal shifting makes for an uneven experience, but there are some nice statements about Amy and Rory choosing stability over uncertainty, and the ways in which humans can be such indiscriminate magpies and “early adopters” (maybe you’ll rethink getting in line for that next iPhone one day), beautiful design from the deceptively simple cubes to the ship lurking above the planet, and a clever adaptation of the “ant bait” approach to pest control applied to more intelligent creatures…namely, us. There’s a silly comedy montage that doesn’t work too well, a very bitter line reading of “Twitter” that works very well indeed, and a quick gag about Zygons in the 1800s that might make you feel as if there was a better episode that we just missed. In the final scene, we’re told that “the power of three” was the key to triumph, which must make all the previous Doctor/single companion teams feel pretty slighted now.

Next time, we’re already at the end of this short little mini half-season prior to the year’s Christmas special. It’s New York City and Weeping Angels and a tearful goodbye to the Williamses…for anyone that still has a tear to shed for them. Myself, I’m throwing a party with balloons. Oops, “spoilers!”

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “The Power of Three” – Review #1

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology

DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - "A Town Called Mercy" poster | ©2012 BBC

Stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
Writer: Toby Whithouse
Director:  Saul Metzstein 
Network: BBC America, airs Saturday nights
Original Telecast: September 15, 2012

DOCTOR WHO returns to the Wild, Wild West with “A Town Called Mercy” this week, and this is a considerable step up from “The Gunfighters.” Sure the 1960’s adventure had famous western names to boast, but this new episode has a really nifty cyborg and some fun moments here and there, plus a new Stetson for the Doctor.

I realize as I am writing this review that Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) have started to overstay their welcome with me. It’s always the same story, tagging along after the Doctor (Matt Smith); with Amy being domineering and getting into situations she probably shouldn’t. Then you have loveable, bumbling Rory who just seems clueless and caught up in events that he’s just along for the ride for the most part. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Ponds and I will be sad to see them go, but it seems like the WHO writers have fallen into a predictable pattern of what a person can and can not do with this married couple in any given story. Last series was all over the map with the Ponds, thanks largely in part to the River Song (Alex Kingston) storyline, but this series it’s just more of the same ho hum.

I love DOCTOR WHO, but does anyone else out there sit and watch episodes, see certain characters, and think “action figure” or “playset” or “boxed set”? I can’t help myself! Take this episode for example; from the very first few minutes of seeing The Gunslinger (Andrew Brooke) I immediately thought, “OOOOOO that will be a really nifty toy!”

Speaking of the cyborg Gunslinger, I thought the design was quite top notch. He looks like something that has been haphazardly put together during a war, and he’s also got elements of FRANKENSTIEN about him. Plus, the fact that he is haunting this town, waiting to kill his creator for turning him into a monster is straight out of Mary Shelley.

Again with this episode we are faced with the darker Doctor who is willing to kill to save others. I commented on this in the last episode, but this time it is even more overt and we have the Doctor waving a gun in Kahler-Jex’s (Adrian Scarborough) face to keep him from crossing back into Mercy. When did the Doctor get so comfortable with guns? Anyone else remember the strong anti-gun sentiments of “The Doctor’s Daughter” back during the 10^th Doctor’s (David Tennant) run? I’m not sure I buy into the Doctor going back on his own beliefs just because he’s been travelling alone again for too long.

Which also reminds me to ask, exactly how old is the Doctor at this point? Clearly, without a normal day-in and day-out companion, we are missing seeing just how the Doctor is aging, but in this episode he claims that he is twelve hundred years old. That would put him about another 100 years older than the end of the last series. Is Steven Moffat purposely aging the Doctor to get to a certain year for the 50^th? Or are we leaving huge gaps in the Doctor’s documented timeline so that they can return to them at a later date and time?

Next episode is once again about the Ponds, but this time it’s from their point of view. This should be interesting. Oh yeah, and Rory’s dad returns as well!

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – Review #2

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #1

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “Asylum of the Daleks” – Review #2

Related: First Look Images of DOCTOR WHO Season 7 episode posters

Related: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 Prequel Web Series – “Pond Life”

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 1

Click on link: AX’s exclusive interview with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat – Part 2

Article Source: Assignment X 
Article: TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 7 – “A Town Called Mercy” – Review #2

Assignment X - The Pop Culture Entertainment Magazine for Movies, TV, DVD, Blu-ray, Video Games, Books, Comics and Technology