The BBC have released a new promotional image for the 50th Anniversary Special, The Day Of The Doctor, which is once again presented in the style of a movie poster:



A full press release of the run-up to the anniversary episode has now been published:

The news of Peter Capaldi becoming the Twelfth Doctor made the front pages of several Monday editions of British Newspapers, including the Times, Guardian, i, Telegraph, Express, Mirror, Sun and Daily Mail (with the latter two focussing on the betting patterns over the last week).


Mark Lawson of the Guardian said:
Serena Davies of the Telegraph:
Jon Cooper of the Mirror:
James Legge of the Independent:

Other general media coverage includes the BBC, Independent, Telegraph, Metro, Independent, Guardian, Mirror, Belfast Telegraph, Daily Mail, WalesOnline, NME, MTV, Herald Scotland, The Sun (paywall), USA Today, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Entertainment Weekly, Empire, CBC, TVNZ.

On Twitter:

A selection of comments on Capaldi's casting from Doctor Who names and celebrity fans.

• Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor): "Delighted to hear Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor, very good choice. Another Scot eh? Nice to have a more mature Doctor too. Bring it on!!"
• Sophie Aldred (Ace): "Fantastic to have another fan on board as the Dr. I think he will be ace!"
• Bonnie Langford (Mel): "Have to break my #twittersilence to congratulate Peter Capaldi on his new role. Xx"
• Karen Gillan (Amy): "CAPALDI! Superb choice. Swear I've seen him in Pompeii..."
• John Hurt ("The Doctor"): "Congratulations, Peter Capaldi. I'm suboth and we will have a lot of fun."
• Richard E Grant (Dr Simeon): "Bravo on the brilliant BBC choice to Tardis the talents of Peter Capaldi as the 12th Dr Who!!"
• Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices): "Well I'm over the bloody moon. Worked with him in Torchwood and he was brilliant and a lovely man. He will be brilliant!"
• Mark Gatiss (writer/actor): "Thrilling, moving, beyond exciting. Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Peter Capaldi is the PERFECT choice. Welcome, Doctor!"
• Andy Pryor (casting director): "I broke #twittersilence but it had to be done after a night like this. New Doctor is very happy and dealt with his unveiling with class"
• Stephen Fry (actor/fan): "Well, at least they’ve chosen a wonderful actor..."
• Craig Ferguson (presenter/fan): "Great news that Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor. A spectacular talent and a beautiful man."
• Armando Ianucci (writer of The Thick of It): "There can't be a funnier, wiser, more exciting Time Lord than Peter Capaldi. The universe is in great hands."
• Ben Daniels (in the booking odds): "Peter Capaldi will ROCK!! Fab fab choice!"
• Aneurin Barnard (in the booking odds): "Huge great congratulations to master Peter Capaldi he's going to be a wonderful #DoctorWho"

Peter Capaldi - the one and only:

Steven Moffat has revealed that Peter Capaldi was always his choice in mind for the Twelfth Doctor.

Speaking to Sky News after last night's show, the executive producer said:
The Radio Times added:
During Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor Moffat had commented on the then unknown actor's eligibility when casting for the Twelfth Doctor:

Earlier this week, Doctor Who was the subject of an opinion poll conducted by YouGov, one of the UK's main opinion polling agencies, frequently quoted by the media in relation to political polling. The survey (results here), conducted on Monday and Tuesday, quizzed 1974 British adults on whether or not they were interested in the series. The 31% who expressed an interest were then asked various questions about their favourite Doctors, their political opinions and what sort of actor they would like to see cast as the Twelfth Doctor.

David Tennant was the favourite Doctor of the survey, by some considerable margin - 43% of those who expressed an interest in the series choosing him as their favourite, with Tom Baker in second place with 16%. Tennant was also the most popular choice with supporters of the four political parties noted in the survey - Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party.

On the subject of who should be the Twelfth Doctor, YouGov's own summary article on their website points out that over half of those who said they were interested in the series felt that the next Doctor should be played by a male actor. "British" and "character actor" were also traits which were strongly supported by those surveyed by YouGov.

The poll and its results have been picked up in various places online, with articles relating to it from sites such as Wales Today and the New Statesman.

The BBC have announced that Matt Smith is to relinquish the role of the Doctor at the end of the year, once filming has completed on the Christmas Special.

In a press release, the actor reflected:

Head writer Steven Moffat said:

Some tributes to Matt's tenure as the Doctor on Twitter include: Nicola Bryant (Peri) - "I'm sad that Matt Smith is leaving. I've loved his Doctor. I wish him and thank him for his time. :)"; Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee) - "YeeJeeTso for the next Doctor!” Ha! It'd be fun... but I'd never be able to fill those shoes!"; Caitlin Blackwood (Amelia) - "Oh my Gosh. I'm a little upset that Matt smith is leaving doctor who..."; Mark Gatiss (writer) - "Desperately sorry to see Matt Smith go. A truly wonderful Doctor Who, a gifted actor & a lovely man. It's the end. But ( altogether now!)..."; Neil Gaiman (writer) - "thank you, Matt Smith. It was an honour and a delight to write scripts for you: you never did what I expected."; James Moran (writer) - "Anyway. End of an era. Start of a new one. It's why we love the show- laughs, tears, surprises. Also: explosions!"; Gareth Roberts (writer) - "Very sad Matt Smith will depart from Doctor Who. A brilliant actor and a good man."; Nicholas Pegg (actor) - "Matt Smith is a terrific actor, and a lovely, kind, funny, generous, considerate man. Always a pleasure to threaten him with extermination."; Barnaby Edwards (actor) - "Farewell, Matt. You were a joy to work with and a wonder to watch. Thanks for all the good times."; Tom Spilsbury (DWM editor) - "I am very sad to see Matt Smith leave. He has been a brilliant Doctor Who, as well as being a kind and generous man. Thanks from all at DWM."; Edward Russell (brand manager) - "It feels impossible to think that anyone could be as good as Matt. Still, I thought that when David left."


The news will of course generate a lot of media interest, with many of the Sunday newspapers commencing their speculation as to who the next person to play the Doctor will be (with front pages coverage by the Times, Mail and Star). It is also expected that bookmakers will begin offering odds for Smith's replacement imminently!

Lizo Mzimba presented an item on Matt's tenure during BBC One's news bulletin at 10:30pm (available in the UK via the BBC News site), whilst BBC Breakfast is expected to have an item on the news in the morning, with Doctor Who Magazine's editor Tom Spilsbury reporting on Twitter that he will appear on the programme.

A roundup of selected quotes from the media for the premiere of The Name of The Doctor last night - links to the full review can be found via the author's name. You can also read our own review here.

Please note that as these are reviews, spoilers may be present within the text!

Independent:

Overall, The Name of the Doctor has everything that you could possibly want from a good episode of Doctor Who. It was an utterly brilliant instalment, from the performances to the aesthetics. The archive footage was a big surprise but a welcome one. Those who say that Moffat has forgotten the classic series or suggest that the show is not what it used to be should watch this episode; it is a wonderful precursor to the 50th anniversary.
(Neela Debnath)

Telegraph:

This has been a patchy series, to put it kindly, but thankfully it has finished on a high. The last two episodes – the Victorian romp, then the return of the Cybermen – have been a return to form. This climactic episode was even better. It was momentous, moving and thrilling, yet somehow still found time to be very funny in flashes (mainly thanks to the highly quotable Strax).

The only downsides? A tad too much clunking exposition, the odd spot of creaky CGI and some unconvincing metaphors about soufflés and leaves. However, the biggest catch of all is that it’s now a six-month wait for November’s 50th anniversary special. Still, that should be just enough time to digest this breathless, brilliant finale.
(Michael Hogan)

Guardian:

And so the mystery of Clara is finally resolved. Your demented theories as to her true nature have been fantastic, but I always thought it would be something much more simple than her being Susan or Romana or The Rani. She chases the Great Intelligence into the grave, fracturing herself through time and space, in endless copies and versions: sometimes Clara the governess, sometimes Oswin, usually souffle girl. The Clara we meet now is the real one, with different facets of her saving the Doctor in different eras. The pre-credits sequence, with all the Doctors, actually made me fall over.

The solution is both straightforward and mindbending. But that doesn't quite get over any of the question marks about what Clara is like as a person. I still don't feel I know her. Now this is all over with and we know Jenna is back for the 50th, hopefully that can change.
(Dan Martin)

The Mirror:

We know pretty much from the start (in fact, we've known since the end of last season) that The Doctor will inevitably end up on Trenzalore, so why on Jupiter's moons does it take him so bleedin' long to get there? The first half of the episode (if not more) is tense and occasionally effective, but boy, does it feel like padding.

Some of it is clearly there to bring the dozier viewers up to speed, but it also highlights another of the episode's failings. The idea of the Doctor's tomb and the vast web of timelines it contains is a good one, but it feels like everything's written around it, a game of distractions until we get to that point.

There's not an awful lot of story here, and the big ideas don't get pulled off as interestingly or satisfyingly as the hyperbole surrounding them suggested. There's also some niggling questions from the last couple of seasons that (as far as I'm aware) still don't get resolved.
(Jon Cooper)

Radio Times:

The Doctor’s name was obviously going to be a red herring. Did anyone really imagine that it would be revealed? Me neither. It is key to the story, however, as well as a key River uses to unlock the Tardis-tomb. So – phew! – the Doctor can safely remain Doctor Who into his golden anniversary. But his darkest secret tumbles out...
(Patrick Mulkern)

SFX:

Arguably this story started last autumn with “The Asylum Of The Daleks” (arguably, because you could say it started in winter 1963) and it’ll (probably) end this autumn with the 50th anniversary. So, “The Name Of The Doctor” is just a lot of middle. A stepping stone. A mere cog in a massive continuity machine.

To be honest, who cares? Who cares when the cog is so gorgeously crafted it transcends mere function and dazzles in its own right? It may make no sense outside of the machine but that doesn’t make it any less striking. Viewers without a degree in Who-ology might miss out on some of the more esoteric references, and certain plot beats may not make a lot of sense to them, but they’re still going to love the broad strokes. Those of us who can spot a line from “Castrovalva” or a sound bite from the First Doctor or a reference to the Doctor’s penultimate incarnation, well… we’re simply being rewarded that little bit more.
(Dave Golder)

Den of Geek:

The Name Of The Doctor was then, for our money, the most satisfying, brilliant finale in Steven Moffat's run on Doctor Who, the kind of episode you rewatch for fun, as much as to solve mysteries (and we'll be hunting for clues). Much better than The Wedding Of River Song and a real rival to The Big Bang, this was, for large parts, really gripping stuff, surrounded by an air of mystery, and a real sense that something big was going to be revealed. Fortunately, on this occasion, that was very much the case. And while series seven, in both parts, has been a bumpy ride (with Jenna-Louise Coleman's Clara our highlight), Steven Moffat and his team pulled quite a rabbit out at the end. Just brilliant.
(Simon Brew)

Digital Spy:

So 'The Name of the Doctor' has ingredients that 'the casual viewer' can enjoy - great monsters, some genuinely scary scenes, zippy dialogue and fantastic performances from the cast, particularly our two leads.

But despite Steven Moffat's protestations, this finale is unashamedly a fanfest and it might run the risk of alienating any viewer who doesn't know their Tom Baker from their Colin. Still, in this 50th anniversary year, just this once, I think it's okay for Doctor Who to get its geek on.
(Morgan Jeffery)

Entertainment Weekly:

After half a season of standalone episodes, all strung together by the question of what cosmic force kept bringing companion Clara back to life in different times and on different planets, the finale circled back to some of larger themes that Moffat has been tinkering with since season 5: The lasting impact of previous companions Amy and Rory; the lasting love between the Doctor and Professor River Song; the goodness of the Doctor’s friends; the havoc (both momentous and random) that time travel can wreak. Also: Trenzalore! We saw the Doctor and Clara forced to head to that long-talked-about place, which we learn is the Doctor’s future grave, in order to save their friends. Trenzalore is also the resting place of the Doctor’s greatest secret (and was apparently the site of a giant battle). Do we learn much more than that? Not really!
(Adam Carlson)

Other reviews:

Other reviews: TV.com; TV Fanatic; Huffington Post; Slate Magazine; Seattle Post Intelligencer; The Examiner; Hollywood; What's On TV; Buddy TV; Lez Get Real; Bleeding Cool; SeenIt; TV Equals; Screen Rant

Hot on the heels of the one earlier in the evening, a new publicity photo for the 50th Anniversary Special's read-through has been released, this time featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant, plus Jenna-Louise Coleman and guest star Joanna Page:

The BBC have released the first publicity photo for the 50th Anniversary Special, featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant together at the episode read-through that took place today:


Filming for the special takes place over the next few weeks.

A roundup of selected quotes from the media for the premiere of The Bells of Saint John last night - links to the full review can be found via the author's name. You can also read our own review here.

Please note that as these are reviews, spoilers may be present within the text!

The Guardian:

Moffat's writing is always hurtingly cutting-edge. This one was as if he'd sat in a dark pub for a while with Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker and analysed the Woefulness of Modern Stuff, yet somehow (as he ever is) been given a spoonful of kind honey on his way out. Oh, there were sillinesses. The other baddies were called Spoonheads because the backs of their heads look like … well, you have a guess. The great team of baddies was hiding out somewhere in London, which had been shot with many looming shots of the Shard, in somewhere which was obviously going to be high and rich with self-aggrandising uglyhood. But the complexity, the willingness to trust young brains, the actorly chemistry, and the team of writers coming up – Neil Gaiman, Mark Gatiss, the brilliant Neil Cross – prove that, eight years after it was reborn, it's a fine year to celebrate Doctor Who, possibly with a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster but certainly with a nod to brilliant young children who grow up while still not forgetting what brilliant young children want.

(Euan Ferguson)

The Guardian:

The Bells of Saint John is an episode defined by such little disappointments. Maybe it's because the scheduling this series has cranked things up to the point where everything is expected to be a showstopper. The Bells of Saint John makes a hearty meal of its iconic London locations – and some of them, like the sequence on the doomed aircraft, are fantastic. But after the tour de force that was The Snowmen, it feels as though this handsome episode constantly just misses the mark.

(Dan Martin)

Radio Times:

The Bells of Saint John shows Steven Moffat at his confident, playful best – a hugely entertaining episode that revels in its modern London setting. He’s turned wi-fi and the worldwide web into targets of fear – tapping into contemporary anxieties and following in the Doctor Who tradition of mining menace from the mundane (shop-window dummies, gas masks, statues, our own body fat...).

The fast-paced action and quieter interludes are nicely judged by Colm McCarthy, directing his first Who. Murray Gold’s score is palpitating but unobtrusive. Moffat’s flights of fantasy (a diving airplane, the swivelling Spoonheads, the Doctor zooming up the Shard) are spotlessly realised by The Mill. In Cardiff they must be reeling at the news that the special effects house is closing down.

But most important is the chemistry between Jenna-Louise Coleman and Matt Smith. They look good together, they spark off each other, and let’s not forget this isn’t the first episode they filmed. Coleman is a natural: warm, sympathetic, gutsy, and surely destined to become one of the most popular companions. And Smith remains a joy to watch – note-perfect, nailing every scene, every moment.

(Patrick Mulkern)

The Independent:

The Bells of Saint John felt unfulfilling as a standalone episode but perhaps I’m wrong to judge it so harshly. Perhaps this is only the beginning of the Doctor’s battle with the Great Intelligence yet as a self-contained episode I ended up feeling empty and cheated. In terms of functionality the story had to reintroduce Clara to the Doctor and create a bond between the pair anew which the audience has already witnessed twice before, so by the third time it felt rather tedious. For those keeping a death count, it appeared that soufflé girl briefly popped her clogs again this week when she was being uploaded.

Yet it wasn’t all doom and gloom, visually it was a great spectacle on a cinematic scale. The shots of London were a sight to behold as were the scenes inside the Shard between the Doctor and Miss Kizlet (Celia Imrie). It was just superb to see the Capital’s skyline in the background with the gherkin et al. on the horizon.

Overall the episode did not live up to the hype and left me feeling quite dismayed. I’m hoping that this is just a blip and that the rest of the series will be better. In fact I’m really looking forward to Hide, the ghost story episode set in a scary house starring Dougray Scott, because the one thing that Moffat does flawlessly is horror. The Weeping Angels, the clockwork droids in The Girl in the Fireplace and the people in gas masks asking ‘Are you my mummy?’ all came from the mind of Moffat. There is also a new villain ‘on par’ with the Weeping Angels that will be making its debut this year which has me intrigued.

(Neela Debnath)

The Independent:

The story was curiously unambitious: a sinister plot to upload human souls via the internet to a virtual cloud. At one point, Matt Smith squared up to a humanoid with a satellite dish where the back of its head should have been, took a deep breath and said: "It's a walking Wi-Fi base station, hoovering up people!" Here and there, citizens were shown logging on and dropping off on trains, in bedrooms, sitting rooms like ... well, like the glass-eyed fictional viewers in the BBC's own recent promotional campaign promoting the virtues of watching its iPlayer device on the hoof.

Perhaps Steven Moffat and his team should focus their creative talents on the show itself. The pairing of an intellectually bright but emotionally dim male with a techno-illiterate but wised up female is a tired old trope of much drama and comedy, not just Doctor Who. It has been pointed out that there are no female writers of the show. There have also been rumours that Smith's days at the controls of the Tardis are numbered. Cue a female Doctor? About time.

(Mike Higgins)

The Telegraph:

Viewers in search of thrills will certainly have relished The Bells of Saint John. Set in modern-day London, the plot concerned internet users who, if they clicked on the wrong wi-fi provider, found their souls being uploaded and their minds being harvested by a malevolent force. It was a witty, cautionary tale for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by the internet. This was Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror for kids, a terrifying tale of information overload but without the grown-up, Dystopian despair.

Big-budget effects, a rapid pace, a sense of fun – there was much in The Bells of Saint John to enthral a 21st-century child. Yet, looking back over the 50 years of Doctor Who that led up to last night’s return, it’s hard to imagine children thrilling in quite the same way to some of the “vintage” episodes. Budgetary constraints aside, they would probably be left bemused by the theatrical configuration of scenes, the slow, even turgid plotting and the proliferation of technical dialogue.

(Ben Lawrence)

The Mirror:

While The Bells of Saint John certainly had its moments, as a whole it didn't reach the heights of previous episodes. Arguably the two biggest set pieces of the episode (concerning a crashing plane and the Doctor driving up the side of the Shard on a motorbike) were impressive enough – you could even say Hollywood impressive. The only problem is that isn't much of compliment.

Yes, they were big and bold and doubtless expensive, but they felt shoe-horned in. Showy and a bit spectacle for spectacle's sake. Let's face it – Doctor Who has never been about Hollywood special effects, big bangs and crashing planes. From its humble beginnings to the present day, Who is at its most charming when it is at its most creaky, when its creativity is fully on show.

Who is the TV equivalent of comfort food. Apple crumble, onion gravy... a nice hunk of tangy, crumbling cheddar. The Bells of Saint John was more like nouvelle cuisine – flashy, expensive, but ultimately you needed a few more nibbles. Maybe some heartiness as well as a bit more heart would do the trick.

(Jon Cooper)

SFX:

Surprisingly few Who stories locate their chills in the very place the audience interfaces with the programme but Moffat’s determined to mine the shiver-potential of mundane suburbia, tripping all its traditional mouse-traps for the imagination: the unexplained sounds from upstairs, the stranger at the door, the faceless figure beneath the streetlights. But there’s also a topical charge to this tale of something distinctly maggoty at the heart of our Apple-worshipping world. You can detect a definite touch of Black Mirror here, and while Moffat may not share Charlie Brooker’s culture-punching anger there are still some swift, stinging jabs at modern life, delicious pops at everything from surveillance cams to social networks to the ethics of the fast food industry (the show has rarely delivered as skewering a line as “The abbatoir [sic] is not a contradiction – no one loves cattle more than Burger King.” Now that’s taking names…).

(Nick Setchfield)

Digital Spy:

The slick, striking opening to Doctor Who's 2013 debut 'The Bells of Saint John' immediately brings two things to mind - one, how far this show has come visually since its first big comeback in 2005. 'Bells' is expertly helmed by Who newbie Colm McCarthy, who's utilised time spent on location in London to impressive effect. It's all very well dressing up a street in Cardiff, but when you see those London landmarks, you just know where you are.

Packed full of action, intrigue and even a sort-of romance, 'The Bells of Saint John' sweeps the viewer along on a thrilling ride - 42 minutes has never shot by so quickly - and also provides plenty of juicy hints at what's to come in future weeks.

(Morgan Jeffery)

Los Angeles Times:

I am perhaps not the most exacting critic of "Doctor Who." I watch it with a fan's desire to love everything and a willingness to blink when something I don't rears its head, or heads. I don't ask too many questions, even when they occur to me.

I might, for instance, wonder why the Doctor, when last seen, was sulkily holed up on top of a cloud in Victorian London, spurning all human requests for help. He had forever lost companions Amy and Rory Williams (collectively, the Ponds) at the end of the previous episode, it is true, but that is nothing new for him, being a thousand years old.

The answer, of course, is it gives the character somewhere to come back from, makes things feel more crucial — just as taking the Ponds to the edge of divorce (suddenly, if you didn't watch the Web mini-sodes that "explained" this, and pretty suddenly even if you did) made their love all the more palpable in the end. It also added poignancy to the Doctor's awakening interest in Clara, to whom he offered a key to his time machine before she was pulled from a cloud by a governess made of alien snowflakes and, for the time being, died.

(Robert Lloyd)

Other reports::

Further reading: The Express, The Examiner, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Anglotopia, EntertainmentWise, Den of Geek, Daily Mail

The Amazon-based LOVEFiLM streaming service will be making episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures available to watch, as a new deal has been struck with BBC Worldwide. The package will include shows like The Story of Tracy Beaker, Balamory and Teletubbies.

Chris Bird, Director of Film Strategy at LOVEFiLM, said:

Lisa Rousseau, BBC Worldwide's Head of UK, Ireland and Pan European Television Sales, added:

A roundup of recent media "clippings" for Doctor Who in the run-up to the series return tomorrow.

Matt Smith (The Doctor):

On his new co-star: "You’ll see on screen she’s absolutely brilliant and it’s been a joy. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done and I think it’s exciting for the character, he’s got a new lease of life somehow. Jenna’s inventive, she works tirelessly hard. I like her, which is good because you’ve got to get on. And I’m really proud of what she’s achieved and I’m pleased that it’s gone so well for her because I think she’s brilliant in it." [Yorkshire Evening Post, 27 Mar 2013]

On how they get along: "Really well. We’re good friends, actually, which is nice. It would be really rubbish if we weren’t! I guess you guys are the critics of this, but I think she has started really well. She’s immediately likeable and popular, which is a stroke of fortune. It was always going to be difficult coming in after Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill [who played Amy and Rory] because they became really loved and admired. I think she’s made it her own and she’s been inventive and brave. It’s not an easy show to waltz into. It moves at such a pace. And there’s such a fervent following and people have such clear opinions on it." [TV Choice, 30 Mar 2013]

On riding a bike around London: "It was very exciting. I am innately very clumsy, and my mother has always forbidden me from getting a motorbike. I’ve driven mopeds before, abroad and stuff, without her knowing – well, now she knows. But that’s like a big old Harley looking bike, and I wouldn’t know where to begin… It was amazing filming those scenes. It was on a rig, and we got to sort of travel round London. Car rigs are different because you’re in a car, but being on a bike it’s like you’re on a sort of fairground ride. It was a really crisp, sunny day and we kept going around Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge and it was just one of those days where you think ‘This is a very privileged place to be for a day at work." [SFX, 25 Mar 2013]

On the 50th Anniversary script: It sort of does what it says on the tin. You won't be disappointed. It's my cryptic way of going ... no, the thing is, much as we'd love to tell you everything, I read it and I clapped at the end. I think it's hilarious and I think it's epic and I think it's vast. I'm telling you nothing more. But you will not be disappointed. I think it's going to be the biggest, the best, the most inventive, the most exciting year for the show. And I think this script, it delivers on all those points that you want it to for where the show is at this time. It's brilliant. It somehow manages to pay homage to everything and look forward. And I think that's the mark, the genius of it." [This is Local London, 25 Mar 2013]

Matt also spoke to BBC News about the 'vast and epic' series. [BBC News (video), 18 Mar 2013]

Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara):

On the re-appearance of Clara: "You'll see an essence in the same way there was an essence of Oswin in Christmas Clara, there was a similar essence running through them, a similar spirit. We'll see that again with this Clara." RedEye Chicago, 27 Mar 2013]

Her take on The Bells of Saint John: "I saw it at the London screening that we did last week. It just looks brilliant because it’s such a ... from shooting the show there’s so much that happens afterwards from the CGI and the music and to make the episodes kind of as epic as they are so it’s gonna be great for me to sit there as a viewer and watch them as well. I was able to just enjoy all of the pieces of like the jigsaw coming together, and also you just realize how clever Steven Moffat is and the setup of the story that we have going through, arcing through the series, of the mystery of Clara Oswald and the Doctor trying to figure out who she is. It’s set up so brilliantly from everything that we’ve done so far through Steven. So, it’s exciting." [Access Hollywood, 26 Mar 2013]

On how the relationship between the Doctor and Clara develops: "I'm sure audiences will be looking out for it, and they have an advantage, over the two characters even, because they have experienced the Christmas special, but this series is a whole new beginning again. That sounds like such an unsatisfying answer, but one of the things that is explored in this series is that there is nothing the Doctor dislikes more than something he can't solve, something he can't explain, and that's exactly what Clara is. He can't figure her out. They are drawn together, and really like each other, but there's always this underlying feeling of them both trying to figure each other out. It's not plain sailing between them both." [New Zealand Herald, 28 Mar 2013]

On how her family keeps her grounded: "My brother is a joiner, like my dad, and they came to the Doctor Who set to see me at work. He’d never been much impressed by my acting stuff before but he watched filming and said: 'You’ve got the coolest job in the world – fighting the Cybermen.' I think he’s right." [Metro, 28 Mar 2013]

On her gran's plans for Matt Smith during filming for the 50th Anniversary: "I think she's gonna come on set when we're filming the 50th, which she's very excited about. She's gonna be patting Matt a lot. Matt's her favourite Doctor." [Access Hollywood via STV, 27 Mar 2013]

Steven Moffat (lead writer):

On the role of the companion: "We never see how the Doctor began his journey. We'll probably never see how he ends it. We'll probably never know why he embarked on it, but we know all those companions, who they were before they met the Doctor, why they ran away with him, and where they ended up. Those stories are complete. The Doctor is the enigma that enters their lives and changes them. The story is always about the person who changes the most." [Examiner, 27 Mar 2013]

On Jenna-Louise Coleman: "Well, she’s terrific! The most obvious answer is that she’s a terribly good actress. I know that’s a dull thing to say, but it’s the truth. You can be as beautiful and charming as you’d like, but if you’re not terrific at acting, it will mean nothing on the screen. She’s a terrific actress. She looks great. She has great comic timing. She looks like she belongs, somehow, next to Matt Smith. When the two stand together, they look like an instant team. They have enough in common, and yet have enough sharp contrasts, that it’s an instant poster when you stand them together." [Collider, 27 Mar 2013]

Other Media Items:

Entertainment Weekly has been published with two different covers as it celebrates the return of Doctor Who this weekend. The magazine's cover story looks at how the show will celebrate its 50th Anniversary, and includes a touching tribute to the Time Lord from director Peter Jackson, who still has his eye on the Doctor: "They don’t even have to pay me! But I have got my eye on one of those nice new gold-colored Daleks. They must have a spare one (hint, hint)." [Entertainment Weekly, 21 Mar 2013]

Two associated videos have also been released, with the first featuring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman discussing fans, whilst the second features Matt, Jenna and costume designer Howard Burden discussing the Doctor's new look. Burden commented: "When I first came into the series [on Asylum of the Daleks], we had an established look for the Doctor. As subsequent episodes came in, I was told that we could actually change the look. It was quite an intense process to actually make sure everyone was happy." [Entertainment Weekly, 22 Mar 2013]

Amongst its pages was a comment from Steven Moffat in which he said that statistically he was nearer the end than the beginning of his time on the show: "I just take it a year at a time. I think the feeling of it being done for you is quite unambiguous when it suddenly arrives.".

One name that cropped up as a potential replacement for Moffat earlier this month was that of Being Human showrunner Toby Whithouse: "I have heard the rumours. I've been hearing them for years now. In terms of my future on Doctor Who, this kind of speculation only takes place in the heads of the fans. No-one from the BBC has said anything to me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by the idea, but also it would be terrifying. It's definitely something I'd be really tempted by but I'm genuinely not in any hurry to do it." [SFX via Metro, 11 Mar 2013]

The Sun reported that they believed Matt Smith would be leaving the show at Christmas, with their 'sources' suggesting the BBC already had someone in mind to replace him. However, the BBC have stated: "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." [The Sun, 22 Mar 2013]

The report came after Matt's appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, where he said: "Doctor Who is one of of those jobs that you have to take year by year, it's ten months a year, it's all-consuming, so I don’t think you can plan five or six years ahead, or even two years ahead. It's a year by year thing, and at the moment it’s 2013 and we’ll see what 2014 holds."

The BBC statement didn't stop the Sun from polling readers for who they'd like to see next as the Doctor, with their results citing Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch as the favourite; the runners up were previous Doctor David Tennant, and comedy actor James Corden (who played Craig in the series). [The Sun, 24 Mar 2013]

Other Magazine Covers:

Some other covers prominently featuring the series return: