It's SD Comic-Con weekend here (somewhere lying about ) in the tundra, an embracing of all things both geek-ery and creak-ery and, if the blog-trocrasy had it's way, fast approaching a national holiday of sorts on the level of the Super Bowl or even (gasp!) Valentines Day. Anyway it allows us here at THT Unlimited to indulge a very rare foray into video with an extended panel that Steven Moffat did at SDCC in July 2008. Mind you this was after he had accepted the job but prior to actually taking over in any true sense of the word, and four or months minimum before Matt Smith was auditioned and cast.
What's fascinating about this 30-minute panel clip, although it really shouldn't be in hindsight, is what a clear vision he had for his Producer-ship of Doctor Who even then. Watch it, then reflect on Series 5 and ask how close to his 2008 vision he strayed and what that might mean going to forward to Christmas 2010 and into 2011.
BTW there's a gi-normous site update coming August 1st…. Stay tuned.
Now that Matt Smith's first season has concluded, there's time enough to indulge other eccentricities, notably in the case of the THT Brain Trust, vintage 1970's ITV fare. It's always a joy to occasionally see actors wither before or after their association in Doctor Who. It's as if Doctor Who were the gateway drug leading ones curiosity further into the realm of British television. 
Upon first viewing of The Big Bang here at THT Worldwide, the consensus in the room was that while we liked it, we also wondered aloud if the general public would "get it." We then undertook a second, more defined, viewing sharpened all of the marvelous detail that had been laid in not only in the story, also through the season. Although the change in tone from 
Matt Smith was faultless once again. The Young Man with Old Eyes shone both when speaking to Amy strapped into the Pandorica and when telling a sleeping 7-year old Amelia to love Rory and have a good life. The Piggly-Wiggly Timey-Wimey-ness to get the Doctor out of the Pandorica in the end amounts to something of a cheat, but it was carried off with such panache by Smith that it didn't matter in the end.
So here we are… at the precipice of a season-ending (triple) cliffhanger. There are so many story threads dangling, not just from 
There was one unusual thing in this episode however that took the THT Brain Trust (temporarily) right out of the story, and it touches on a Tour pet peeve. Matt Smith has, relatively speaking, quite an asymmetrical face. It's always bothered us when stills are released in publications that have clearly been reversed, mostly to keep drawing readers eyes towards the center of a page. Peter Davison images are infamous in this regard. In 
Another week, another 3-hand character piece. This time however instead of being the change agent, Amy was pushed to the sidelines and it was the Doctor who moved the plot along. While it was feared that Richard Curtis' comedic history would undermine 
In a season where nods back to "classic" Doctor Who have been more in vogue than at any point since the series came back, it's odd that the more unconventional stories of this season like Amy's Choice and this weeks Vincent and the Doctor have risen to the top of our 2010 Dynamic Ratings Table. Neither change-of-pace episodes or pseudo-historicals are new to Doctor Who, or nu-Who for that matter, and like any Doctor Who they rise and fall on the strength and execution of the story. In this regard Love & Monsters completely misfired while The Unquiet Dead worked wonderfully. And much like The Unquiet Dead, the subject matter has much to do with art and artists.