Having the advantage of already reviewing the series from 2005 onwards, these new reviews will offer a new look at the classic episodes, unspoiled by the reputations that many had earned since the 1980s.

Starting with 100,000 BC later today, Kasterborous editor Christian Cawley will kickstart the series of reviews and will be joined by a huge selection of names that will be both familiar and unfamiliar to regular readers. (We’re running at a rate of two or three per week, so expect to see The Daleks following shortly behind.)

Christian will also be review Survival, as well as a handful of serials in between. By collecting together a range of interesting voices, however, we hope to present a unique look at the history of Doctor Who as a celebration of this wonderful, crazy, mad, mad show.

Stay tuned…

Welcome to the Dark Day. It happened hundreds of years ago in 1780 and according to records:

“Halfway through the morning the sky turns yellow. Animals run for cover and darkness descends, causing people to light candles and start to pray. By lunchtime night has fallen. Is it the end of the world?”

Well obviously it wasn’t. We’re still all here to tell the tale but nevertheless it seems like a a tale that has more to it. Could it have been the apocalypse? Could it have been aliens? Several experts have commented on it since the happening: could it have been a volcano or a meteor strike? People back in the day would have had little or no knowledge of what was going on and it could be written off (in the modern era) as something quite explainable… yet it’s not.

A solar eclipse or volcano have been ruled out; it seems that forest fire is the likeliest explanation as one that happened as recently as 1950 yielded similar outcomes. Whatever it was, it must have been quite a scare for all involved.

Waiting in the wings is a Doctor Who episode that explains this bizarre event. It could be Daleks, Cybermen or Zygons. It could be the Doctor with a malfunctioning TARDIS.

It’s just waiting to be answered!

Since learning that the show would appear in the autumn – hopefully on dark nights – fans have expressed relief and satisfaction, but a recent interview with Steven Moffat has suggested that there is in fact more to it than moving the show to be in a more seasonally suitable time slot.

With five episodes due before Christmas, a sixth – introducing Jenna-Louise Coleman – for Christmas itself and then another 8 in 2013, the shape of Series 7 continues to fascinate and befuddle Whovians. And now it seems that the Moff wasn’t responsible for the decision…

“I don’t know, on this occasion, that the thinking particularly came from me, actually. I’ve always been open to anything that shakes [the series] up. I think that decision actually came from the BBC.

“But I’ve been well up for anything that we can do to shake up the transmission pattern, the way we deliver it to the audience and how long we make the audience wait, simply because that makes Doctor Who an event piece.”

Interesting words. Could this be tacit confirmation that the 50th anniversary episode will in fact form part of the Series 7 recording?

Or is it more about keeping the viewing public on its toes?

“The more Doctor Who becomes a perennial, the faster it starts to die. You’ve got to shake it up, you’ve got to keep people on edge and wondering when it will come back.

“So keeping Doctor Who as an event, and never making people feel, ‘Oh, it’s lovely, reliable old Doctor Who – it’ll be on about this time, at that time of year’. Once you start to do that, just slowly, it becomes like any much-loved ornament in your house – ultimately invisible. And I don’t want that to ever be the case.”

We’re not sure that this is exactly true – viewing figures certainly don’t back this idea up, which seems to be a case of creating facts to fit an agenda.

Of course, with competition from nominees such as Captain America: The First Avenger and Source Code, the chances of success were loaded heavily in Hollywood’s – and feature-length presentations’ – favour.

So obviously Neil Gaiman won!

To be honest, we reckoned The Doctor’s Wife was always in with a shout – after all, it was nominated – but to knock some Hollywood biggies and even Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese out of the park is quite an achievement for a little old TV show from Britain. This is Doctor Who’s first Nebula award, but hopefully it won’t be the last…

Huge congratulations to Neil, Richard, Steven Moffat and everyone involved with the production of an outstanding and highly memorable episode of Doctor Who!

And, now, just so you believe it:

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation Winner: Doctor Who: “The Doctor’s Wife,” Neil Gaiman (writer), Richard Clark (director) (BBC Wales)

Other Nominees

• Attack the Block, Joe Cornish (writer/director) (Optimum Releasing; Screen Gems)
• Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (writers), Joe Johnston (director) (Paramount)
• Hugo, John Logan (writer), Martin Scorsese (director) (Paramount)
• Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen (writer/director) (Sony)
• Source Code, Ben Ripley (writer), Duncan Jones (director) (Summit)
• The Adjustment Bureau, George Nolfi (writer/director) (Universal)

WOW!

Will Amy Pond be yours?

What with Amy Pond leaving Doctor Who this year, you’ll probably want a memento to remember The Girl Who Waitedin fitting style.

You may recall that we featured this stunning item a few months ago – but with an imminent June 10th release, now is the time to get your orders in for this £149.99 item.

Sure, you could choose a poster, or display Series 5 and 6 of Doctor Who on a DVD loop so that guests to your home could think of interesting Doctor Who/Amy Pond related questions to ask you (if not, then why are they coming over?) to commemorate Karen Gillan’s loveliness… or you could choose to go to Forbidden Planet’s website and get yourself this rather fine looking Amy Pond figurine from Big Chief Studios.

Scaled at 1:6 and officially licensed by the good old BBC, specs for the piece are as follows:

1 x Amy Pond Head Portrait with Styled Rooted Hair featuring an Authentic Likeness of Karen Gillan
1 x Newly Developed Fully Articulated Female Figure Body with Soft Skin Torso and Arms
1 x Faux Leather Jacket
1 x Checkered (Plaid) Shirt
1 x Skirt
1 x Pair of Tights
1 x Pair of Boots
6 x Interchangeable Hands
1 x TARDIS Floor Base with Stand

It also comes with a wide range of accessories such as a (to scale) mobile phone, an invitation letter from The Impossible Astronaut and a website exclusive Raggedy Doctor Doll. The item will begin shipping from 10th June 2012.

The perfect way to remember Mrs Pond forever!

This week the crew is looking a bit thin on the ground, however, with only Brian and Christian taking up podKasting duties. Fear not, however, as their is plenty to get through!

Remember, we love to hear from our listeners so you have anything to say, please leave your comments below and we’ll discuss them next time. Alternatively, drop us a line via the Contact Us page.

You can subscribe to our RSS feed (the popular way of keeping track of podcasts) which will automatically download the latest edition to your PC or MP3 player; and you can find this podKast listed on iTunes!

To recognise this, the Academy is rightfully sending Bafta’s Special Award in Moffat’s direction, allowing the writer to join an illustrious list that includes Paul Abbott, Alan Plater, Lynda La Plante and of course Russell T Davies.

As Tim Corrie, Chairman of BAFTA, remarked:

“Steven has had an outstanding year with Doctor Who and Sherlock, not to mention the feature film The Adventures of Tintin, and we are delighted to honour his contribution to television and the arts at the BAFTA ceremony on 27 May.

“He is one of the finest exponents of his craft and his Award, presented in honour of the late, great Dennis Potter, is very well deserved indeed.”

Digital Spy recently caught up with the writer – who’s pre-Doctor Who career largely consisted of Press Gang, Joking Apart, Chalk, Coupling and Jekyll – to gauge his reaction…

How does it feel to win this BAFTA Special Award?
“Well, I don’t know, it’s a bit like being shown your mausoleum! No, it’s great, it’s really exciting, of course. It fends off the insecurity for 10 or 15 minutes more a day, I suppose! It’s absolutely lovely, absolutely thrilling.”

You’ve had a varied career – do you take a different approach to writing something like Doctor Who than you did with Coupling or Joking Apart?
“It may look as though I take a different approach, but I don’t think any writer ever does. I think you just write it, with the same anxieties – you want it to be interesting, you want it to be funny and full of incident… I don’t think there is a different way to write. Just keep being interesting, keep people from turning over…

You’ll find a lot more of interest in the full interview, including a reference to the moment a fan pilloried Moffat for revealing the departure of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.

The film, written by and starring Sally Philips, sees the Time Lord Victorious take on the role of James – fiancé to mega celebrity Lara Tyler (Alice Eve) – who becomes the object of affection of the recently jilted at the alter Katie (Kelly MacDonald) – just as the A List couple plan to tie the knot on the remote Scottish Island she calls home.

With the press breathing down their necks Lara’s management concoct a scheme to divert attention away from the couple by using (that’s right!) a decoy bride who, in the kind of coincidence the Doctor might want to investigate, ends up being Katie!

Needless to say, love ensues.

While critics have been less than kind at least there’s a lot of beautifully shot Scottish scenery to…what… ?! It was shot on the Isle of Man? A decoy island! Everything in this film is a lie!

The Decoy Bride is available to buy now from Amazon for just £9.49.

Appearing online in the past few days is a full list of the in-game trophies you can achieve by playing Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock!

Set for release via the PlayStation Network on May 23rd for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita (with a physical PS3 release two days later) the time-spanning adventure game puts the player in charge of the Doctor and River Song as they attempt to overcome Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians and The Silence in their quest to safeguard the Eternity Clock.

Throughout the game, a number of status-improving achievements can be unlocked, such as collecting 20 pages from River’s diary, or defeating the Silence and destroying their time capsule. The list of Trophies in full:

• Time Lord: Collect all Trophies
• Diarist: Collect all the Diary Pages
• Mad Hatter: Collect all the Hats
• Beg for Mercy: Power-shoot 5 Daleks
• Deleted: Finish the Cyberfactory in 20 minutes
• Elementary: Finish return to Victorian London in 15 minutes
• Exterminated: Finish time-locked London in 20 minutes
• Flying Doctor: Complete the game in 300 minutes
• Hat’s off to you: Collect 20 Hats
• High IQ: Complete the game on puzzle hard
• Long story: Collect 20 Diary pages
• Pucker Up: Kiss 6 Stormcage Guards
• Quick Getaway: Escape Stormcage in 8 minutes
• The Stormcage Redemption: Escape the Stormcage without being detected
• Timey Wimey: Complete a Time Corridor in 2 minutes
• Universal Destruction Avoided: Complete the game
• A Plumb Job: Re-route the gas pipe plans in Victorian London
• A steal: Defeat the Silence and steal their time capsule
• Brimming with enthusiasm: Collect 10 Hats
• Clear Vision: Complete Mind Map puzzle on Medium or Hard in 60 seconds
• Clever clogs: Complete Data Link puzzle in 60 seconds
• Crate work: Use the gold bullion crate to smash your way out of the Bank of England
• Fast on your feet: Beat the Cybermen to the Underground refugee camp
• Geronimo!: Defeat the Emperor of the Daleks
• Goodbye Blue Boy: Outwit the Strategist Dalek
• Hack Job: Open the security door in the office block
• Head scratcher: Collect 5 Hats
• Hello Sexy: Find the TARDIS in the Dalek time lock
• Hello Sweetie: Wake up River in the tomb
• No time to hang around: Collect the Stasis Field Generator in the Silence Base
• On the right tracks: Defeat the Cybermen in the Underground refugee camp
• One in the eye for the good guy: Shoot the Emperor Dalek in the eyestalk
• Paper trail: Collect 5 Diary pages
• Puzzler: Complete the game on puzzle medium difficulty
• Sent packing: Send the Dalek Supreme to Antarctica
• Short story: Collect 10 Diary pages
• Silently Silencing the Silence: Outwit The Silence without being checkpointed
• Smart Cookie: Complete Re-router puzzle in 60 seconds
• Smooth Operator: Press 10 TARDIS console buttons
• Soundly Beaten: Sonic disarm 5 Silurians
• Stunning work: Stun 5 Cybermen
• Tested to Destruction: Re-route the thermionic consoles in the Cyberfactory
• The Eyes have it: Quick-shoot 5 Daleks
• The Open Road: Lower the drawbridge on Old London Bridge
• Thorough: Scan 10 objects
• Toxic Relationship: Defeat Vekkis
• Winch Way Next: Activate the crane winch in Old St. Pauls
• Ye Doctor: Discover the statue in the Elizabethan quadrangle

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock is on May 23rd on the PlayStation Network and you can purchase the PlayStation 3 version in physical from all good retail shops from the 25th. The PS3 version is currently listed on Amazon, while a Windows version will follow later in the year.

In her first interview since she departed Gillan admitted that she cried buckets as they filmed their last scenes together:

“We don’t film in chronological order so the last shot we filmed was me, Matt and Arthur going into the TARDIS. Then Matt closed the door for the last time and we were in darkness. We hugged and started crying. It was kind of tears of happiness. It was a feeling of ‘look what we’ve done’. It was lovely.”

While she’ll always have the memories Gillan wanted something else as a reminder of her adventures in time and space – although she couldn’t get her hands on any of the key props and costumes before they were assigned to various exhibitions – resulting in an unusual memento, ripped straight from the TARDIS console:

“A pair of binoculars. They look really weird in my house, just sitting there.”

Gillan was in France to publicise her first movie – Not Another Happy Ending – a romantic comedy directed by John McKay (We’ll Take Manhattan) which is set to film in Glasgow this July.

Karen plays Jane Lockhart, a headstrong author of miserable fiction suffering from writer’s block on her second novel. To get her motivated again her publisher Tom Welles embarks on a campaign to get her working again – by making her unhappy.

The film affords Karen the opportunity to spend some time back in her native Scotland.

“I’m looking forward to immersing myself in Glasgow life because I’ve only ever been there for short periods of time. There is this cool, happening movement going on. The art school is amazing. I want to get into that side of Glasgow and the film will show that side of the city. It’s a hub of creativity.”

To read Karen’s thoughts on the future, her time onboard the TARDIS and just what she thinks about being voted Scotland’s (just Scotland?! – Ed) sexiest Woman by FHM head to the Daily Record.