Introducing Amy

The Eleventh Doctor isn’t the only new face in the TARDIS as the Time Lord is joined by the feisty, fantastic new companion, Amy Pond! We know their paths cross in the series opener, The Eleventh Hour and that she accompanies him through time and space, but aside from that, what is Karen Gillan, who plays Amy Pond, telling us?

Karen Gillan AKA Amy Pond

Discussing Amy’s relationship with the Doctor, Karen muses, ‘She doesn’t take his word as gospel and she’s always happy to challenge him. If he tells her to do something then she won’t necessarily do it, she might go off and do her own thing which can sometimes create a rift between the two of them! They are best pals though and it’s a very up and down relationship because they are both very passionate people.’

Doctor Who?

Sounds like it might get stormy! Karen agrees, adding, ‘They have quite a turbulent relationship but it’s also really passionate and they care about each other… It’s a great relationship!’

The Angels are coming…

This episode revisits the Weeping Angels, terrifying predators disguised in the form of stone statues, which previously appeared in the tenth Doctor story Blink – itself based on a short story that Moffat wrote for a recent Doctor Who annual. In addition to this, the episode sees the return of the enigmatic River Song (played by Alex Kingston), a feisty archaeologist introduced in Silence in the Library, and supposedly the Doctor’s future wife. Drawing on themes from such well-received past stories, this episode certainly has high expectations to live up to.

Don't Blink

Well, the episode certainly delivers. After a fast-paced and clever opening scene, the Doctor and Amy soon join River Song on a barren ruined planet, in search of the last surviving Weeping Angel. They are accompanied by a squad of militant clerics, as they search for the creature amidst a ruined temple full of stone statues. There is a certain amount of friction between Amy and River at first, as they both vie for the Doctor’s attention, but this soon gives way to heart-stopping drama. Many moments reminded me of the episode The Impossible Planet, as the Doctor leads a party underground into the ruins of a lost civilization; and this outing is certainly as dark as that one.

While the Angels featured in the episode Blink merely sent their victims back in time, feeding on their stolen potential, Moffat now takes it up a notch. We are told that the Angels need bodies for something, so now they break their victims’ necks with stone hands.

In terms of plot, the episode runs like a horror movie. From Amy’s early encounter with the Angel, through the deadly expedition into the sprawling ruins, and the final horrifying twist at the end; each idea reflects classic horror scenarios, but strung together seamlessly, and featuring an entirely original new monster.

In The Time of Angels, Moffat doesn’t just bring back his creation, but rather he develops the idea in a number of ways. The idea that any image of an Angel can itself become an angel is truly frightening, and leads to a scene reminiscent of The Ring, when Amy is trapped in front of a screen, through which a videotaped Angel slowly emerges. The twist at the end, on realising that each one of the many stone statues is in fact another Angel, is devastatingly effective.

The idea that weak and hungry, the Angels begin to loose their form, becoming distorted, misshapen and wingless effigies, is another original twist. It makes the army of stone monstrosities even scarier, with their mutated and deformed features.

It is also rather disturbing that the angels were able to communicate using the dead consciousness of their victims. Though the idea makes little sense, it doesn’t feel like a problem, as the Angels are so far from human understanding, that they border on what we might call the supernatural. The realisation that the dead Private’s voice on the radio is actually speaking a message from these creatures  makes for a chilling moment.

The episode ends with an unusual cliff-hanger, as the party are trapped in the caves, surrounded on all sides by the approaching Angels. The Doctor gives a wonderful, triumphant speech to the creatures, before firing a sonic gun up at the ceiling above them. Rather than leaving things bleak and hopeless until next week, Moffat shows us that the Doctor has a plan, and we’re left waiting to see exactly what it is he’s done. It’s a refreshingly optimistic twist on the usual cliff-hanger format.

This episode also marked a far greater threat to Amy than before. As a result of her early encounter with the Angel, she becomes somehow tainted by it, resulting in strange hallucinations. We see stone dust falling from her eye as she rubs it later on, and towards the end she becomes convinced that her hand is turning to stone. This attack on the Doctor’s companion brings home the very real danger, and one can’t help but wonder what further horrors await her in part two.

In the preview of next week, we also see a glimpse of one of these developing cracks – this time it seems, as an integral part of the story. It’ll be good to see Moffat weaving this ongoing theme into the fabric of a story, and suggests we’ll learn a little more about what to expect towards the end of the series.

Some may be wondering by now exactly who River Song is. When she speaks to the Bishop early on, he comments that the Doctor doesn’t yet know her true identity, and refers to her recent incarceration. The idea that Song might be the Doctor’s future wife (and he her former husband) strikes me as a little thin, and one can’t help but wonder what hidden twist is coming.

She’s highly intelligent, possesses a sonic screwdriver, is familiar with the ancient artifacts of Gallifrey, knows the Doctor’s true name, and is able to fly a TARDIS better than he can. (One detail I rather enjoyed was the revelation that a TARDIS shouldn’t make any sound on materialising – the ‘vroorp vroorp’ sound we all know and love, it transpires, is a by-product of the Doctor trying to ‘park’ with the brakes turned on.) Personally, I’m rather hoping she’ll turn out to be the Rani – the Doctor’s Timelady rival, last seen in the 1987 story Time and The Rani - but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Roll on next week!

Catherine Tate as the Doctor

ACTRESS Catherine Tate, who played Doctor Who’s companion Donna Noble, said that she had been convinced that she would be the next Time Lord.

Speaking on The Justin Lee Collins Show on ITV, she said that she became suspicious because of persistent attention from the press in the days before Matt Smith was announced as the 11th Doctor on January 3.

She said: “For about four days leading up to [the announcement there was one particular paper that was so adamant that it was me that they kept ringing up and asking for quotes, confirmation, and saying 'Can we just get a statement?'

"I actually thought 'Maybe it is me, maybe the BBC are so stringent that they haven't told me yet'. For a minute I thought it must be me and that they had told all the papers before telling me!"

Tate, who is to star in a big-screen remake of Gulliver's Travels, added that her appearance in Doctor Who had put her five-year-old daughter Erin off the programme.

She said: "She was a fan of Doctor Who until I went on it. She really liked it and then I went on it and it was a bit scary for her and she thought her mummy was in danger. She doesn't watch Doctor Who any more, I ruined it for her."

Tate added: "I loved being in the show, I loved it so much. I even have an action figure - that's exciting to get a little plastic doll made of you. But if you look closely, it does look quite like Cher!

"With my own show [The Catherine Tate Show] I said I didn’t really want dolls but on Doctor Who, you don’t get a choice. They say ‘We are going to merchandise you and that’s that.’ But I’m delighted with it.”

The Daily Mirror reports that new writer Stephen Moffat wants Matt’s arrival to herald a new digital era of the popular BBC show.

“It will be the most hi-tech, intricate Tardis ever,” said a source. The interior of the Tardis will have a completely new look and the police-box front will also be revamped.

Matt, 26, will be the youngest actor to play the 903-year-old Doctor.

A spokesperson for the show would not confirm or deny the changes.

 ”He’s to young” I hear your cry, “never heard of him!” “Doctor Who?” and so on! but to be honest think back a few years, was David Tennant a househould name and loved by millions??

The answer is no, I had seen im in quite a few programmes but nothing could have prepared him for the role of the Doctor and he pulled it off with apparant ease!

Matt, born and brought up with his sister in northampton always showed a flare for drama excelling at it in his school years, but he also had a love for sports and his initial ambition was to become a professional footballer. These dreams were squashed due to an injury.

Following his injury, and with the encouragement of one of his teachers, Jerry Hardingham, Matt decided to join the National Youth Theatre. It was during this time that Matt first gained attention at the Royal Court Theatre when he was cast in the play Fresh Kills, directed by Wilson Milam, whilst still at the University Of East Anglia where he was studying Drama and Creative Writing.

 During his tenure in On the Shore of the Wild World, the play transferred to the Royal National Theatre in London. After finishing the play, he took on the role of Lockwood, a pupil in the Alan Bennett play The History Boys. After The History Boys, he would act in the teen play Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship, and Swimming with Sharks; the latter being his West End début, once again alongside Christian Slater. His first television role was as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of the Sally Lockhart quartet books The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, opposite Billie Piper in the lead role; he would act alongside Piper a third time in an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Smith was cast as the Eleventh Doctor to replace David Tennant, who announced his departure in October 2008. Smith was a relatively unknown actor compared to the actors speculated to take on the role, who included Paterson Joseph, David Morrissey, Sean Pertwee, James Nesbitt, Russell Tovey, Catherine Zeta Jones, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Billie Piper. Smith was first named as a possible successor less than a day before he was announced as the Eleventh Doctor, on the 3 January 2009 edition of BBC Breakfast among the speculated names.His obscurity prompted the news headline “Doctor Who?”, a pun on the show’s title.

Smith was one of the earliest actors to audition for the role, performing on the first day. The production team, consisting of the incoming showrunner, Steven Moffat, and BBC Wales Head of Drama and executive producer, Piers Wenger, immediately singled him out based on his performance. At 26 years old, Smith is three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time of his casting as the Doctor in 1981, and younger than any other actor suggested for the role. After three weeks of auditions, Moffat and Wenger agreed that it had “always been Matt” and approached him to accept the role. The BBC were cautious about casting him because they felt that a 26-year-old could not play the Doctor adequately; Wenger shared the same sentiment, but noted that Smith had proven his acting quality in Party Animals, which Wenger thought highlighted Smith’s “mercurial qualities”. The casting was controversial among fans: some believed that Smith was inexperienced and too young for the role while others supported his acting ability.