Bleeding Cool brings a tiny molehill of Doctor Who news that’s ripe for mountain making: Steven Moffat is going to be making an appearance at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, where he’ll be delivering a masterclass on Sherlock with co-creator Mark Gatiss, but also, tantalizingly, he will apparently be showing the entire first episode of Doctor Who Series 7 in an exclusive preview screening.
When is the EITF? August 23rd to August 25th.
Assuming that the official series premiere will take place not too far afterward, that’s a bit earlier than I’d expected the show to happen. A “fall” premiere to me could mean as late as October or November, so to see indication that it’ll actually be September, even early September, possibly even the last week in August, well. That’s pretty exciting news for a fandom that’s been waiting a year since the end of the last season, and going on six months since the last Christmas special.
The new season will also see the appearance of a new companion, and no, it’s not going to be me or you, but rather Jenna-Louise Coleman in an as-yet-unnamed role. Fortunately for the rest of us, Moffat himself outlined what it takes to be a companion to Doctor Who Magazine:
What is the base group of people who would run away with the Doctor? They’re all going to be a bit mad. A bit dislocated. Not happy with where they are. Are they yearning for outer space? They’re going to be people who feel like they can take on the Doctor, who’s quite an intimidating sort of person. So, they’re going to be feisty—they’re going to be all those things. He sort of defines the people who are going to travel with him. The distinction comes very much from the various actors and actresses. So, you know, they’re the ones who create the differences between them. But you are always going to have the same sort of person, just because it’s the same man choosing them, and it”s the same person being chosen…
I think the function of a companion is pretty simple. I don’t think that’s very difficult. It’s just a question of who credibly is going to agree to go in the TARDIS? Who’s going to do it? Is it going to be a mother of 15 children? No. Is it going to be someone in their 60s? No. Is there going to be a particular age range? I mean … who’s going to have a crush on the Doctor? You know, come on! It’s more than a format. It’s evolved from good, dramatic reasons.
(via Blastr, Bleeding Cool, Nerdbastards.)
