Giant Freakin Robot

With Doctor Who celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, there have been no shortage of rumors surrounding the series, from which past actors might be returning, to speculation on the true nature of new companion Clara Oswin Oswald. With the show celebrating such a monumental birthday, there have also been rumblings about whether showrunner Steven Moffat and/or Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith will depart the series. There’s still nothing official on that front, but we’ve got the latest buzz on the love-them-or-hate-them pair.

First up is Smith, who’s been a very divisive lead since taking over from the much-beloved Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. Many fans have grown to love him, but all you have to do is check out comments section anytime we mention him to learn that many Who fans out there likely have voodoo dolls in his likeness. Now the British paper The Sun is claiming that Smith will be leaving after this year’s Christmas episode, with the Doctor regenerating into his twelfth incarnation. Citing unnamed insider sources, the Sun says that Smith is keen to focus on making movies, and that the Powers That Be already have an idea of who they want to replace Smith.

The BBC isn’t taking the bait, denying the rumors in the following statement:

Sorry folks but even we don’t know what’s going to happen at Christmas. It’s not been written yet! But Matt loves the show and is to start filming the unmissable 50th anniversary, and the new series starting on Easter Saturday.

Even growing up as a science fiction-obsessed kid, Doctor Who somehow never made it onto my adolescent radar. I knew about the show, I ever watched a few episodes, but I never really “got” it until much later. In my defense, it was a show that in my area aired on our PBS affiliate at odd hours, so it’s not like it was, say, a certified pop culture phenomenon that was gracing the cover of Entertainment Weekly.

So if you’re a fan of Doctor Who, you might have heard by now that the show is returning with new episodes on March 30th. And if you’re a fan of Doctor Who, you’re almost certainly aware that 2013 marks the show’s 50th anniversary, and that an anniversary special is in the works. Now the two chaps most associated with Doctor Who at the moment — actor Matt Smith and showrunner Steven Moffat — have provided a few hint as to what the rest of 2013 has in store for the Doctor, and for us.

First up, Smith provided a teeny, tiny hint about the super-secret 50th anniversary special. How teeny? One word without context, that’s how teeny. That word is “paintings.”

Appearing on the Jonathan Ross show, Smith said he has read the script and of course said nice things about it. The host kept badgering him to drop some hints about what we’ll see in the anniversary special, and Smith eventually said, “You might see London. The thing is with Who, you will understand it more when you have seen it, but ‘paintings’ – that is all I am saying. Steven is gonna whup me tomorrow.”

Smith was more open about the contents of the upcoming seventh season episodes. Most of this we’ve heard in one form or another already, but Smith’s comments do provide a few new angles on the new eps:

We’re just a week and a half away from the return of Doctor Who. The first half of season seven was weak, but the intriguing mystery of the Doctor’s new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald, looks to provide a strong througline for the rest of the season’s run. Or at least I hope so. Showrunner Steven Moffat is going to have to earn back some of my good graces after thoroughly wasting the considerable talents of Farscape actor Ben Browder. At any rate: new Doctor Who!

We shared four very snazzy posters for the first four new episodes yesterday, but today we’re focusing on the first new episode, premiering March 30th. Here’s a synopsis of “The Bells of St. John,” followed by a short clip featuring the Doctor and Clara parking the TARDIS in a very memorable place. Still not enough to sate your Who lust? Well then scroll on down and check out a gallery of pictures from the episode as well, including the return of the Doctor’s fez.

Episode 706: The Bells of St. John

Described by Moffat as an ‘urban thriller.’ The 2013 opener is set on present day Earth with the main plot centred around ‘something living in the wifi’ which is feeding on humans. This ‘sentient Twitter’ as the Doctor puts it, harvests human minds and also has the power to project an image from your subconscious.