DWO’s Spoiler-Free preview of Episode 8.8: Mummy on the Orient Express:

“An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express, in space.”

Fans have been wondering for four years if we might get to see the Doctor catch up on his phone calls and finally head off to the Orient Express in Space to ward of an Egyptian goddess. While this episode doesn’t contain a goddess, it does provide us with an ancient legend, an Egyptian mummy, and the Orient Express. In space.

Let’s start on the design for this serial, because it really is one of the strongest of the season so far. The various production departments have really gone all-out to recreate the look and feel of the Orient Express in the 1920s, from costumes to the train carriages themselves. There was always a risk that a story set in such a confined location as a train would end up lacking the visual impact of something like Robot of Sherwood, or Kill the Moon, but Mummy on the Orient Express really holds its own. Director Paul Wilmshurst returns for a second outing on Doctor Who - having made his debut last week - and again proves himself to be one of the programme’s strongest current directors. I’d wager that there’ll be a few kids having nightmares about the mummy stalking towards them, one foot dragging along the floor…

Making his debut in the series this week is writer Jamie Mathieson, who makes a strong start for his first outing in the Who world. Mathieson’s script manages to blend humour with darker moments, and this work perfectly for Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, who has perhaps never struck that balance as effectively as he does here. There’s something almost joyous about watching him piece together the mystery of the mummy, and lie awake at night, talking to himself in the absence of a companion. The episode deals somewhat with this incarnation’s coldness, but we get to see him enjoying himself again, too, showing off to a carriage of people, or waxing lyrical about the area of space they’re flying through.

Stepping in to a temporary companion role this week is Frank Skinner, a self-proclaimed Doctor Who fan. In the announcement of his casting, Skinner made reference to (1964 serial) The Sensorites, and he’s spoken on chat shows in the past about his desire to appear in the series. You can really sense how much Skinner is loving being on the set, getting to work with the Doctor to save people’s lives, but you never get the impression that he’s there simply to appease his wish to be part of the programme - he’s perfectly cast in the role of Perkins, and by the end, you almost want him to tag along in the TARDIS full-time!

Five things to look out for:

1) Would you like a Jelly Baby?
2) “Goodbye to the good times…"
3) “The real wonderful is through here…”
4) Don’t stop me now…
5) “I’m not a passenger. I’m your worst nightmare.”

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

DWO’s Spoiler-free preview of episode 8.7: Kill the Moon:

This year’s season of Doctor Who has really showcased the way that the programme can change and adapt its style each week. We’ve had comedy with Robot of Sherwood, action with Into the Dalek and even a bank job in Time Heist. What do we get with *Kill the Moon, then? Well… a feeling of dread, mostly.

That’s not a negative comment - it’s not a feeling of dread that the episode isn’t good - it is - but large swathes of this episode are imbued with that ‘pit of your stomach’ feeling that makes you a little bit uncomfortable. It could be the spider-creatures lurking in the shadows, or a moon base filled with cobwebs, it could be the mystery of the moon’s real purpose, and it could even be the way that the Twelfth Doctor behaves.

Peter Capaldi’s Doctor has been quite unlike his immediate predecessors. He’s not the cuddly, human-loving Doctor we’ve come to know over the last ten years or so, and he’s stopped pretending to be our best friend. That’s perhaps never highlighted better than in this episode, in which he decides that it’s simply not his place to get involved. With each week, you can see Capaldi finding new facets of the character, and this week we get to swing between him being cold and uncaring, to excitement as he figures out what’s really going on.

If our Doctor is on fine form again in this episode, then the same is certainly true for Jenna Coleman in the role of the companion. Clara has been through a lot with the Doctor since his regeneration, and the cracks in their relationship are beginning to show. Coleman gives it full throttle in this episode, at times proving her best performance to date. Clara might struggle to get along with the Doctor after this adventure, and it’s not hard to see why…

It’s also time for our annual trip abroad, this time returning to Lanzerote (previously used for location sequences in 1984’s Planet of Fire), which is doubling up as the surface of the moon. It’s a very striking location, and it’s hard not to fall in love with it a little - perfectly representing our closest neighbour in the stars, while also transforming it in to something creepy and dangerous. Director Paul Wilmshurst has crafted a beautiful pallette for the episode, and his work here only serves to add to the tension, keeping you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next little bit of terror…

Five things to look out for:

1) There’s shades of 1968’s Seeds of Death in here… beyond it being set on the moon…
2) A description of how the Doctor senses ‘fixed points’ in time.
3) “What’s wrong with my yo-yo?”
4) Two rules: “No being Sick. No Hanky-Panky.”
5) “The future is no more malleable than the past.”

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

DWO’s spoiler-free preview of episode 8.5 - Time Heist:

One of the greatest strengths Doctor Who has, is its ability to tell wildly different stories from week to week. Right back to the very earliest episodes, it’s a programme that can show us the stone age, before whisking us off to a dead city in the far future, or trapping us in the time machine. Season Eight is showing this ability off wonderfully, and Time Heist is as different to last week’s Listen as that episode was to Robot of Sherwood the week before, or Into the Dalek before that.

This episode takes The Doctor and Clara, and drops them in to a bank heist movie. Everything you’d want from such a tale is present here, and it’s always good fun to see how our characters react in scenarios we all know from an entire genre of film and television. 

It also presents us with Peter Capaldi’s Doctor slightly out of his depth, having to put his trust in others, and work it out along with the rest of us pudding brains. There’s enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing right up until the end. Why are they breaking in to the bank? Who sent them here? Where’s the TARDIS? And why do they have to go about the break-in like this?

Time Heist may come as a disappointment to people going in expecting something as deep and creepy as last week’s story, because it’s not in the same style at all. That’s not to say that this isn’t an entertaining episode, but it’s a story to be enjoyed more simply expecting an entertaining 45 minutes.

There’s plenty of visual spectacle on display, with director Douglas MacKinnon returning for his second story of the season, and a great monster design in the Teller - a creature able to detect your guilt and remove it from your mind. As prosthetics go, it’s one of the strongest that Doctor Who has seen in a while.

On the whole, Time Heist serves its purpose as a good episode for the middle of the season. It’s never going to grace the top of ‘best story’ polls, but it’s sure to win over fans and warrant a repeat, to watch everything unfold once you know what’s been going on behind the scenes of the adventure…

Five things to look out for:

1) “Are you ready for your close up?”

2) Soup

3) “Have you got to reach a high shelf?”

4) Characters from The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip!

5) “Time to run”

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

DWO’s spoiler-free review of Episode 8.3: Robot of Sherwood:

In the build-up to Season Eight, Robot of Sherwood has often been touted as the ‘comedy’ episode of the year. The premise in itself - the Doctor meets Robin Hood! - is somewhat amusing, and automatically suggests that this is going to be something a bit special. Well, the fact is that, yes, Robot of Sherwood is a funny episode, and it works wonderfully because of that.

Back in The Rings of Akhaten, the Doctor offered Clara the opportunity to go anywhere and see anything… and her mind went blank. The sheer enormity of choice offered by the TARDIS was far too great to choose one single moment in all of time and space. Eighteen months on, though, she’s gotten the hang of this time-travel lark, and she knows exactly who she wants to meet.

The ‘celebrity historical’ episodes have been a staple of Doctor Who since its 2005 return, taking us to meet the likes of Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie. In Season Seven we saw the format shaken up with an historical figure - Queen Nefertiti - being brought into the future. Robot of Sherwood shakes the format up once again, taking the TARDIS and dropping it directly into the legend of Robin Hood.

All the elements that you could want are here - the band of Merry Men, the Evil Sheriff, and the oppressed villagers. And then, of course, there’s the man himself, complete with a little green hat. If the story can be really compared to an earlier ‘celebrity historical’, then it’s closest in style to 2007’s The Shakespeare Code, with our resident celebrity being a little bit too full of himself - he is the Robin Hood, after all. Tom Riley shines in the part, and watching him spar with the Twelfth Doctor is fantastic.

Where the episode really sings, though, is in the direction. Paul Murphy makes his Doctor Who debut here, and he certainly arrives in style, keeping you hooked throughout. Right from the start, and the way he chooses to shoot the TARDIS set, you know you’re in for something rather special, and that doesn’t stop as the story goes on.

All the talk of comedy in the script can threaten to under-sell the drama in the story, and there’s plenty of that here. Three episodes in, Clara and the new Doctor are getting more used to each other now, and this episode is perhaps the first time that the pair have really felt comfortable travelling together. This is still an incarnation who can be a bit more aloof and alien than some of his more recent predecessors, but here he feels closer to the Doctor that we’ve come to know and love, and pitting the legend of the Doctor against the legend of Robin Hood is a great way to examine his quest to find himself… 

Five things to look out for:

1) "It’s not a competition to see who can die slower."

2) There’s references to First and Third Doctor stories, and a more oblique reference to the Second Doctor…

3) "Old fashioned heroes only exist in old fashioned story books."

4) "Always carry a spoon!"

5) "Usefulness expired."

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

DWO’s spoiler free preview of Episode 8.2: Into the Dalek:

The Daleks have been locked in a constant battle with the Doctor ever since the second story way back in 1963, and every incarnation of the Time Lord has faced off against them at some time in some form. The Twelfth Doctor wastes no time in coming face-to-eye-stalk with his greatest foes - as they turn up in his very own second story, Into The Dalek.

The episode is very much Fantastic Voyage - a 1966 movie, in which a group of scientists are miniaturised and injected into a person’s bloodstream - meets a war film, and there’s plenty of spectacle to be seen with Daleks being blown up left right and centre. It’s in this element that Into The Dalek is most successful, and at times it’s one of the nicest looking episodes of Doctor Who ever. Director Ben Wheatley, who also helmed last week’s Deep Breath, has clearly revelled in the chance to destroy the Doctor’s greatest enemies, and it’s easy to see why new Doctor Peter Capaldi turned up to set on his day off just to watch.

We get to see the Daleks in a slightly different light here. They’ve not got some big, season-ending scheme for universal conquest, but rather are just tearing their way through the galaxy, making sure to wipe out anything that stands in their way. It doesn’t feel as though they’re plotting and planning at all, but rather just getting on with what they do best - exterminating. The absence of any master plan for the creatures means that we’ve got more time to explore the way that the Doctor feels about them, and though the explosions may look lovely, they’re just window dressing to a story that looks into a Dalek’s - and the Doctor’s - soul.

The Twelfth Doctor hasn’t lightened up here from the last episode - he’s still a colder character than we would expect from either of his immediate predecessors, but it’s nice to see him face up to his greatest foe so early on. It feels as though we’ve ticked a box, and you can clearly see why it’s an important step on this incarnation’s journey to ‘find himself’.

It’s also a chance for Clara (Jenna Coleman) to continue getting used to this very different man in her life, and she serves as a nice moral compass for him. There’s an introduction for the character of Danny Pink, welcoming Samuel Anderson to the programme, too, which feels as though we’re setting up all the pieces for the next stage of the programme’s life.

There’s little else to say without spoiling the episode for you, so we’ll leave it there, but if you’re a fan of the Daleks, or have been following the Doctor’s conflict with them for a long time, you’ll not be disappointed… 

Five things to look out for:

1) You can always find something to distract you.

2) Is he mad, or is he right?

3) Clara doesn’t know… and neither does the Doctor.

4) It’s a roller-coaster with you lot…

5) Don’t be lasagne.
 

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

DWO’s spoiler free preview of Episode 8.1: Deep Breath:

It’s an exciting time for Doctor Who right now, isn’t it? Last year saw the programme celebrate 50 years of adventures in time and space with real flare and style - taking this little show that went out on a Saturday tea time in 1963 and catapulting it into the television schedules around the world. Just a month later, and we watched on as Matt Smith faced down legions of the Doctor’s greatest enemies on the fields of Trenzalore, bursting with regeneration energy, before rushing back to the TARDIS to make his farewells, and setting the wheel in motion all over again.

When Peter Capaldi was announced as the new Doctor a year ago this month, the reaction was almost entirely positive. There were a few cries of anguish that he was going to be considered simply ‘too old’ to be the Doctor… but these cries largely seemed to come from Doctor Who fans who were convinced that the general public simply wouldn’t take to a Doctor in his fifties in this day and age. But on Thursday of last week, Doctor Who Online’s Will Brooks and Nick Mellish were lucky enough to attend the world premiere of Season Eight in Cardiff and we can confirm that the reaction is overwhelmingly positive.

Oh, the crowds! Hoards of screaming fans simply thrilled to see the new Doctor and Clara as they made their way down the red carpet towards the screening. Crowds made up of - yes! - children. And teens. And adults from thirty, through forty, and fifty, and right up to their eighties. Even those who’d clearly been dragged along to the event by a younger relative couldn’t help getting caught up in the thrill and magic of the event. The new Doctor had arrived, and the reaction has never been better.

But enough about all of that! You want to know about the episode itself! I can quite honestly say that sitting in that hall, I have never enjoyed an episode of Doctor Who more. Some of that has to be put down to the sheer atmosphere of the event - a crowd of people who were simply loving this new instalment in their favourite show, and who laughed, and cheered, and cried, and clapped, all at the right moments. I’ll forever associate one particular moment of the episode (and when you watch it, I’m sure you’ll be able to guess which one) with the sound of a packed auditorium simply bursting into cries of elation.

There’s been a lot of talk over the last few months about Series Eight being a ‘darker’ year of Doctor Who, with much more ‘serious’ drama and less comedy involved. I can confirm that the programme certainly has a darker edge to it, often brought in by the reactions of the new Doctor himself, but it doesn’t come at the expense of the lighter moments. Keeping the Paternoster Gang of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, means that they’re able to help inject some well executed comedy into a story that could otherwise feel a little bit bleak. In the same way that The Christmas Invasion takes the Doctor out of action for a while, allowing the focus to be squarely on Rose and her family, here it’s the Paternosters and Clara who we really want to focus on. They’re one big support group to oversee the arrival of a very different Doctor.

The story itself, while engaging, is really secondary to the characters here. We’re watching to see how each and every one of them reacts to the regeneration, and I came away feeling like everyone had reached a decent point of acceptance about events. Although I say that people accept the change, though, that doesn’t mean that they entirely like it. Having come away from the screening someone asked me what Peter Capaldi was like as the Doctor, and the only answer I could think to give was that “He’s brilliant… but I don’t know if I like him”. That’s clearly the intention here - the Doctor’s not playing at being your best friend, or your boyfriend, or the wacky madman with a box any more. He’s a man who’s spent a long, long, time travelling the stars, and he’s done pretending. I think he’s going to be the incarnation that we all love to hate. But fear not - while I don’t like this Doctor, I do absolutely love him, and Capaldi is clearly born to play the role.

Kick-starting the era with a story directed by a name director like Ben Wheatley really does seem to be setting out stall for what the programme wants to achieve. Doctor Who has never looked more cinematic than this, and if you’ve got the chance, then I’d certainly recommend making the trip to see this story when it’s screened in a cinema. It’s a character piece nicely suited to the small screen, but with beautiful visual sequences simply made to be seen projected onto a cinema screen.

It’s now less than two weeks until Doctor Who returns to the saturday night schedules, for its longest continuous run since 2011. We’ve a fantastic new lead actor, a supporting cast of characters who are turning in stellar performances, and a programme that feels like it’s been given a real shot of adrenaline. Hold on tight - we’re in for a heck of a ride…

Five things to look out for:

1) The Doctor is Scottish now - that means he can complain about things.

2) That’s not a hat… that’s hair. 

3) Where do the Doctor's new faces come from?

4) We don’t get a ‘choosing the new costume’ scene here, but the Doctor does get to test drive several outfits before finding his ‘look’.

5) How long can you hold your breath?

[Sources: DWO, Will Brooks]

Forbidden Planet have teamed up with Character Options for another Exclusive Doctor Who Toy.

'The Impossible Set' features The Doctor from 'The Snowmen' and Clara from 'Asylum Of The Daleks'.

Product Details:

Clara and the Doctor: Linked through time in the most impossible way!

Clara 'Oswin' Oswald: The Impossible Girl. She and the Doctor first met on the Dalek Asylum planet where she claimed to have been fending off Dalek attacks for a year, making soufflés - where did she get the milk and eggs? Oswin agreed to deactivate the forcefield around the planet, but when human the Doctor went to rescue her, he discovered the terrible truth. Oswin wasn't a girl any longer, but actually an insane Dalek who, unable to cope with her conversion, had retreated into a fantasy world. Oswin fulfilled her promise of helping the Doctor, telling him to "Run. Run, you clever boy, and remember..." They will meet again... and again.

The Doctor, appalled by his inability to save Amy and Rory from the Weeping Angels, retreated to Earth and hid himself and the TARDIS away from the Universe. Another chance but ill-fated meeting with Clara Oswald in snowy Victorian London pulled him out of his solitude and set him back on a new adventure.... to find the Impossible Girl!

Set details:

Presented here in the Impossible Set, together but apart, are the Eleventh Doctor in his iconic Victorian frock coat from The Snowmen, and Oswin Oswald, the Impossible Girl, in her iconic red dress from Asylum of the Daleks. The Doctor's outfit features his top hat and jacket with fur and brocade detailing. Oswin's outfit is a one piece red dress with her soufflé-making accessory belt. The set is presented in a unique double sided foil embellished SDCC collector pack with 'peephole' Dalek eye window on one side and a Victorian winter vista on the other.

Contents:

•  The 11th Doctor in Victorian Frock Coat Action Figure.
•  Oswin Oswald Action Figure.
•  Souffle Accessory.

** Previously available as a San Diego Comic Con 2014 Exclusive, this set is now available exclusively through Forbidden Planet! 

+  'The Impossible Set' is released in August 2014, priced £29.99.
+  Order Now from Forbidden Planet!

[Source: Forbidden Planet]

 DWO's Senior Art Editor and Editorial Team Member, Will Brooks has put together a rather nifty infographic explaining River Song's (rather complicated) time line. Click on the image below for a larger version.

DWO's Senior Art Editor and Editorial Team Member, Will Brooks has put together a rather nifty infographic explaining River Song's (rather complicated) time line. Click the image below for a larger version, or click HERE to open a super high-res copy.

The character of River Song (played by Alex Kingston) first appeared in the 2008 two-part story Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, opposite David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. At the time, she was played as a somewhat mysterious character from the Doctor’s own future, with a battered diary styled to resemble the TARDIS. Following her first appearance, there was a great deal of speculation as to just who River Song may be. In his book The Writer’s Tale, then-current showrunner Russell T Davies even commented that;

“I’ve read [Silence in the Library], and it has a character in it who I’m just sure is the Doctor’s wife (!!!)...”

Since then, River has returned to Doctor Who on several occasions, opposite Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. She’s faced off Weeping Angels (twice!), Daleks, the Silence, and even gets to take the credit for being ‘the woman who killed the Doctor’. Oh, and they get married, of course. 

While River Song’s story has been more closely tied to the most recent few seasons of the programme (and specifically to the Doctors former companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams), we’ve not always encountered her in the same order that she experiences events. 

The above timeline tracks her movements through the Doctor’s life, taking in all their adventures from her birth (in 2011’s A Good Man Goes to War) through to her death in the Library (during her very first appearance in the series). It charts all of her televised adventures with the Doctor, plus the 2012 video game story The Eternity Clock, and scenes made exclusively for the Series Six DVD/Blu-Ray release, plus several unseen adventures that River has recorded in her little blue book.

River’s timeline in relation to the Doctor’s may not be the most straightforward in the programme’s history, but it’s kept us guessing over and over again. The Name of the Doctor sees her finally being able to let go of the man she loves, but not before she promises him that there’s still a few more ‘spoilers’ to come... 

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

BBC Books have sent DWO the cover and details for the upcoming Doctor Who book title; Summer Falls.

Synopsis:

“When summer falls, the Lord of Winter will arise...”

In the seaside village of Watchcombe, young Kate is determined to make the most of her last week of summer holiday. But when she discovers a mysterious painting entitled ‘The Lord of Winter’ in a charity shop, it leads her on an adventure she never could have planned. Kate soon realises the old seacape, painted long ago by an eccentric local artist, is actually a puzzle. And with the help of some bizarre new acquaintances – including a museum curator's magical cat, a miserable neighbour, and a lonely boy – she plans on solving it. 

And then, one morning Kate wakes up to a world changed forever. For the Lord of Winter is coming – and Kate has a very important decision to make. 

‘Summer Falls’, a book written by Amelia Williams, is featured at the beginning of episode (The Bells of Saint John) of the new series of Doctor Who. It is being read by Artie, one of the children taken care of by Clara (as played by Jenna-Louise Coleman).

+  Summer Falls is released on 4th April 2013, Priced £1.99.

+  Preorder details will be available here soon.

[Source: BBC Books]

The BBC have released a full reveal image for the new TARDIS interior which will debut this Christmas.

The new set (pictured right), was designed by Michael Pickwoad, the show’s production designer, and will be home to The Doctor and Clara as they travel through space and time when the adventure continues in spring 2013 with eight epic episodes.

+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on BBC One at 5:15pm in the UK.
+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on BBC America at 9/8c in the USA.
+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on Space at 9e/6p in Canada.
+  The Snowmen will air on Proclamation Day (26th December) on ABC1 at 7:30pm in Australia. 
+  The Snowmen will air on Boxing Day (26th December) on Prime at Time TBC in New Zealand. 

[Source: BBC Pictures]

The BBC have released a sneak preview for the new TARDIS interior which will debut this Christmas, together with some more promotional pictures.

The new set (pictured right), was designed by Michael Pickwoad, the show’s production designer, and will be home to The Doctor and Clara as they travel through space and time when the adventure continues in spring 2013 with eight epic episodes.

+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on BBC One at 5:15pm in the UK.
+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on BBC America at 9/8c in the USA.
+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on Space at 9e/6p in Canada.
+  The Snowmen will air on Proclamation Day (26th December) on ABC1 at 7:30pm in Australia. 
+  The Snowmen will air on Boxing Day (26th December) on Prime at Time TBC in New Zealand. 

[Source: BBC Pictures]

The BBC have released a some more promotional pictures for the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas Special; 7.6X: The Snowmen.

+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on BBC One at 5:15pm in the UK.
+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on BBC America at 9/8c in the USA.
+  The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day on Space at 9e/6p in Canada.
+  The Snowmen will air on Proclamation Day (26th December) on ABC1 at 7:30pm in Australia. 
+  The Snowmen will air on Boxing Day (26th December) on Prime at Time TBC in New Zealand. 

[Source: BBC Pictures]

The BBC have released a number of promotional pictures and a synopsis for the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas Special; 7.6X: The Snowmen.

+  7.6X: The Snowmen will air on Christmas Day at 5:15pm on BBC One.

[Source: BBC Pictures]