Name of the Doctor – Spoiler pix? Maybe…

Okay so you`ve probably all seen the two “spoiler” pix put out by the Beeb today, but if you haven’t they’re not really that spoiler-y, I think. Well, one of `em probably is and one of `em isn`t really, it`s just confirmation of my theory on what happens to Clara in the Tardis…

Okay, here’s the first one… ready?

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Given that this is on the Beeb`s official Facebook Page, I doubt that the revelation that we get a Gallifrey Flashback really counts as a spoiler. Unless you`re one of those strange people who don’t even look at Next Time trailers, in which case you`re not likely to be here anyway…

So, there are two possibilities. One, we’ll see the Doctor as a baby getting baptised, or whatever the Timelord equivalent is for naming their kids. Maybe Claire Bloom will be back as his mum…

Or it’ll be a flashback to the Doctor and Susan escaping for the very first time. I doubt this will be what it`s for, they would need a Hartnell lookalike for a start and where would they get one of those from…

I reckon this scene will be the Doctor getting named by his parents.

Or something else entirely!

Next, this one is a real corker and confirms what I thought was going on in my previous speculations on the story. Remember how Clara steps into the energy column to rescue the Doctor and sees Bessie drive past…

Just after this last one, guess what happens next. somebody walks past in the corridor behind Clara… and look Who it is!

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It`s Sixie!

Now, that confirms what I thought about her having brief encounters with previous Doctors, moments in his lives. We had a similar thing in Journey a few eps back if you remember. So we’ve got a Colin Baker lookalike, in his costume, out of focus and in the background in a dimly lit corridor… I reckon he walks past the junction, with a genuine Colin line from the Classic Series as a voice over, and vanishes just as Clara turns round.

Nice idea, to have “ghosts” of previous Doctors “haunting” the Tardis due to whatever timey-wimey thing is going on. A nice idea and a neat way of getting the previous docs involved in anniversary year.

I reckon this is exactly what they’ll do for the other Old Doctors, with lookalikes for some and voice overs for others.

Excited for Saturday yet? I am, and it`s only Tuesday!

The Impossible Girl – solved? [Speculation, no spoilers]

Okay, having looked at the trailers closely and having put me thinking head on [see what I did there?] I reckon I know what the answer to Clara’s mystery is. Now this is just speculation, I haven’t seen the ep, I`m just going by what everyone else has seen in the trailers. If you look closely at them and put together the clues we’ve been given so far, then it starts to make sense. Sort of.

Anyway, here’s what I reckon…

Something happens during the story to the Tardis, resulting in this column of energy…

River is there with Clara, and if you look, so is Vastra [no sign of Strax & Jenny though]

Now look what happens next, after River says to Clara not to do what she’s thinking of doing…

CLARA STEPS INTO THE ENERGY COLUMN AND VANISHES!

So where does she go? Answer – she’s somewhere in the Tardis, having very brief encounters with previous moments in the Doctor`s past lives, like this one with the Third Doctor and Bessie…

I reckon Clara somehow undergoes some sort of Temporal Fission type thing while trying to rescue the Doctor, spreading multiple copies of her through time and space – we’ve met the Snowmen one and the Dalek Asylum one so far but I reckon there are others.

That`s what I think.

Clara goes inside the Tardis to rescue the Doctor and gets Temporal Fission-ed. Her are some more screen grabs to back that up –

Name of the Doctor Speculation #1 – NO SPOILERS!

First up – THERE ARE NO SPOILERS HERE! – I haven’t seen it.

So, with things starting to go into overdrive for Saturday`s series finale, now`s probably the right time to do the obligatory pointless speculation thing before I start seriously trying to avoid the internet ahead of Saturday, which ain’t gonna be easy…

1. You don’t seriously think the Beeb deliberately released the eps early do you? Do you? Nah. That’s what comes of broadcasters trying to do damage-limitation on the effect of file sharing on their commerical activity.

2. In spite of myself, my Excitement-ometer is rapidly creeping up towards ten… and it`s only Tuesday! Okay, so

3.  I reckon Clara is some sort of wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey explodey-wodey temporal fission type thing with lots of Clara`s and Oswin`s scattered through time as she tries to save the Doctor from his fate. That`s probably why the Tardis doesn’t like her, cos the old girl knows she’s a paradox.

4. Something happens to the Tardis, which leaves it looking as if it`s been abandoned for years, it`s all overgrown with vines and things. Something is outside and grabs the Doctor, so looks like there is something else at Trenzalore as well as Dr Simeon and The Whispermen. Whatever it is, Dr Simeon is there in the Tardis when it happens…

5. When the Whispermen attack, it looks as if they do somethign to Strax or Strax reverts to his old self as he appears to attack Vastra, unless it`s a decoy ploy to escape. It looks like Vastra shoots him,as there’s a gunshot on the soundtrack, but if you lok at Vastra`s hand, she appears to be holding a sonic… and is that Strax that`s getting thrown in through the pub window?

6. Following on from that last one, it looks like there’s going to be a fair amount of time travel stuff – it looks like they go back to the events of The Snowmen for a start, either that or Strax has really bad dandruff for a baldy spud-head…

Journey to the Centre of the Tardis…

This was the ep that I was probably looking forward to more than any other and it`s currently my fave of all the ones we`ve had so far. Mind you, that wouldn’t be hard would it…

A modern-day version of Edge of Destruction, what was not to like about this story, one that I think worked even if you weren’t a fanboy.

Okay, maybe Huey, Dewey and Louie, the three intergalactic Steptoes. Personally I would have preferred the blokes from Junkyard Demon…

Loved the trip through the Tardis with Clara discovering the various different rooms, such as the Library…

…some sort of store room with the Doctor`s Crib from Good Man Goes To War..

…and one of Amy Pond`s Tardis models…

…the Swimming Pool and a telescope that put me in mind of the one from Tooth and Claw…

I`m usually highly ambivalent about moments like these, where Moffat is channeling JNT, but I even enjoyed the completely self-indulgent piece of continuity of all those old sound clips when the console got opened up, although surely they could have found a better Eccles one than Genghis bloody Khan…

Also liked how they took the time to reference the TV Movie so that, yes, the Eye of Harmony IS inside the Tardis, and not underneath the Panopticon, though quite when that happened during the Seventh Doctor`s tenure is unclear…

 

Good to see Strax, Vastra and Jenny back next week.

And is it just me, or does The Crimson Horror look like a remake of House of Wax? What a pity Vincent Price is no longer with us…

Satisfaction Level for this Episode? – 98%
Frustration Level for this Episode? – 0.5%
Anticipation Level for Next Episode? – 80%

THE SEASON SO FAR:

#1 – Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
#2 – The Bells of Saint John
#3 – Hide
#4 – Cold War
#8 – The Rings of Akhaten

The Tardis Voice Visual Interface…

…really liked this aspect of Hide and can`t help thinking that maybe it`s setting up something for either Journey next week or the Fiftieth Anniversary Special.

I’ve always loved the idea of the Tardis being sentient and I especially like the notion of her being able to talk to the Doctor via the VVI – a nice way of building on The Doctor`s Wife.

And I can`t help but think that this would be a really easy way to include all the other Doctors in the Anniversary Special. I reckon that’s what they’ll do, if indeed the Classic Doctors and Eccles are going to put in an appearance. That’s how I would do it if it were me…

…and yes, the fanboy in me is really hoping for a return cameo from Suranne Jones as Idris/The Tardis herself!

Journey to the Centre of the Tardis pix

OMG!

SO looking forward to this ep…

not only do we have the Siamese Twins of Death –

– and the Tardis Swimming Pool! –

- we`ve got the Tardis Library as well! –

And THIS is def the first book we want to read!

Can`t wait for this one!

Bells of St John – Continuity Error!

when the Doctor comes out of the Tardis on his Anti-Gravity Bike, obv the doors are open, otherwise he wouldn`t be able to drive out would he…

…as Clara gets on the back of the bike it`s one continuous shot, with no cutaways, right up until she gets her own crash helmet and the Doctor gives the fez away…

but when they`re ready to drive off, the doors have magically closed themselves!

[perhaps it was that bird in the corner of this last shot - she`s looking very pleased with herself, as well a Featured Extra might on £60+ a day...]

To The TARDIS Garage!

so you come in through the front doors…

… straight down the stairs, through the archway…

and turn right…

Bells of St John – Tardis pix

quite a few lovely Tardis pix from tonite`s ep…

The Sun Makers Slip Up!

There`s a nice little continuity error at the start of The Sun Makers that you`ve probably missed…

In this shot, the Doctor has closed the Tardis door…

But in this shot, it`s open again…