Big news regarding Doctor Who's 50th. anniversary.

[jwl]

Let's Kill Hitler.

Wait...what?

I mean, I haven't been watching Doctor Who since SyFy stopped airing it...but...really?


As for the main topic...this is either going to suck badly, or be decent. I highly doubt it will be all that great. Though it would be nice to see all the Doctors.

Hitler had a few minutes screen time at the beginning of the episode then got locked in a cupboard. Yes, really.

[DaveJB]

Some more big news regarding the special. Apparently they weren't going to announce this for another month, but I have a feeling they're announcing it now to try and distract from the sex scandal regarding the 1980s production team that's been hitting the headlines over the last week:

David Tennant and Billie Piper will appear in the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, the BBC has confirmed.

Tennant was the 10th Doctor and Piper played his on-screen companion Rose Tyler in the BBC One show.

Filming on the show, which will also star John Hurt, will start next week.

Tennant's successor, Matt Smith - also in the special with his new assistant played by Jenna-Louise Coleman - says fans "will not be disappointed" by the 3D show, due to air on 23 November.

Tennant and Piper have long been rumoured to be making a return for the special, which is being written by the show's executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat.

In January, Piper, appearing on the Graham Norton show, denied she would be appearing.

"I wasn't asked, no," she said.

"I think Matt Smith may have said, in passing or in jest, it would be nice.

"I think maybe he said that and then it became something quite different, but no."

Smith has said the show "manages to pay homage to everything - and look forward".

"I read it and I clapped at the end. I think it's hilarious, it's epic and it's vast," he said.

Moffat, meanwhile, has said he took special care to protect the secrets of the story.

"One length I've gone to which is a really good security measure - I make sure I don't get a script, because I will lose it," he said.

"I forbid people to hand me one. It's on my computer under lock and key."

The first story of Doctor Who's 2013 run, The Bells of Saint John - described by Moffat as a "proper London thriller" - will be screened later.

Viewers will see the Doctor and new companion, Clara, played by Coleman, battling an evil entity in the world's wi-fi networks.

Future episodes see the return of the Cybermen and old enemy the Ice Warriors, who last appeared during the Jon Pertwee era in 1974.

The first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, starring William Hartnell as the Timelord, was broadcast on 23 November 1963.

As part of the anniversary events, the BBC will also broadcast An Adventure in Space and Time - a one-off drama looking at how the sci-fi show came to be made.

[DaveJB]

Ghetto edit: Somehow I forgot to link to the story. It's worth noting that they haven't confirmed that Tennant is the ONLY returning Doctor, so I'm kind of still holding out hope that McGann will appear (not holding my breath on Eccleston, though).

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm glad Tenant is coming back, but since Rose is involved it might be as the Tenth Doctor's look-alike in the other universe, not the Tenth Doctor. And that's bad because the episodes involving him should probably be non-canon.

[Crazedwraith]

Or you know just feature the tenth doctor and rose circa season 2.

[The Romulan Republic]

Perhaps they'll do that. But I still don't like this. Rose isn't my favourite companion and if they bring her back its going to mean either including that alternate universe and dredging up the dreck of Journey's End or time travel that will probably fuck up continuity.

[The Imperator]

Perhaps they'll do that. But I still don't like this. Rose isn't my favourite companion and if they bring her back its going to mean either including that alternate universe and dredging up the dreck of Journey's End or time travel that will probably fuck up continuity.

Meh, it didn't screw up continuity with the other multi-Doctor stories, and if they play it right it'll be fine.

Personally, I don't have any expectation of true sci-fi or amazing, perfect writing anymore, other than the Neil Gaiman episode coming up, he hasn't disappointed me yet, and if I really want good writing for a Doctor Who thing, I'll grab one of the old series episodes (a good one), or one of the EU books by a good author, such as Stephen Baxter. So, I am ready for the season, can't wait to see it, but it isn't like I expect to be blown out of my chair or anything by the scripts.

[TOSDOC]

They're bringing back another classic monster from the older series for the 50th. I njoyed that one, even if the special effects were cheesy.
Spoiler

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/ar ... ry-Special

[DaveJB]

Meh, it didn't screw up continuity with the other multi-Doctor stories

It did in The Two Doctors - so badly, in fact, that they had to come up with that whole "Season 6B" thing to explain away just how badly they buttfucked the Second Doctor's continuity in that story.