Series 7: Steve Thompson Returns

Steve Thompson will write another episode of Doctor Who for Series 7, it was confirmed in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine.

Thompson has only written one previous episode of Doctor Who, last series' The Curse of the Black Spot.

Also, it appears that Thompson is the final writer to be announced for Series 7 as all episode spaces have been filled.

All the writers for the current series of Doctor Who can be seen below.

Steven Moffat (5 episodes)

Chris Chibnall (2 episodes)

Mark Gatiss (2 episodes)

Neil Cross (2 episodes)

Toby Whithouse (1 episode)

Neil Gaiman (1 episode)

Steve Thompson (1 episode)

Series 7: The Power of Three Clip

A clip for The Power of Three has been released by the BBC.

Amy Pond reflects on her life as a part-time adventurer.

Series 7: Power of Three Titles

The title change for The Power of Three has been released by the BBC. You can see it below along with the titles for the previous episodes of Series 7.

Asylum of the Daleks

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

A Town Called Mercy

The Power of Three

DWM #452

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine bids farewell to Amy and Rory as it previews their final TV adventures with exclusive new photos from The Power of Three and The Angels Take Manhattan.

It talks candidly on set to the cast and crew - including Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill - about the last days of the Ponds, and despite the impending departure of his colleagues Smith finds plenty about The Angels Take Manhattan to enthuse over:

It's New York! One of my favourite cities in the world. And I love this script, and the Weeping Angels are my favourite monster, so it's all sort of come together for me on this one.

Also in this issue:

• "Remember Me" – DWM catches up with new Doctor Who regular Jenna Louise Coleman and chats to her about playing Oswin Oswald and the adventures she'll be starring in next year.
• Surprise Surprise! - Showrunner Steven Moffat reveals all about Jenna-Louise Coleman's surprise appearance in Asylum of the Daleks and just why and how the secret was kept.
• The Memory Cheats? - DWM concludes The Trial of John-Nathan Turner, as expert witnesses Steven Moffat, Phil Collinson, Nicola Bryant, Andrew Cartmell, Paul Cornell, brand manager Edward Russell, and Big Finish producer David Richardson give their final verdict on the most controversial producer in Doctor Who's history.
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Doctor - The Doctor, Amy, and Rory become embroiled in the shady world of international espionage and encounter an extra-dimensional horror in the second part of comic-strip adventure The Broken Man, written by Scott Gray and illustrated by Martin Geraghty.
• Daleks, Cybermen, and Sontarans! - It was the series that had it all: the 1985 run, starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri, which featured the Doctor's greatest adversaries! DWM takes a nostalgic look at Season 22 as Countdown To 50 continues.
• Hothouse of Horrors! ­– The Fact of Fiction scrutinises the 1976 Fourth Doctor and Sarah adventure The Seeds of Doom and discovers that there's far more to the terrifying tale of horrible horticulture than meets the eye.
• Team Spirit – The past comes back to haunt The Time Team as they watch the Tenth Doctor and Rose meet Torchwood and confront the deadly Cybermen posing as an Army of Ghosts. And what will Chris, Emma, Will, and Michael make of the episode's dramatic cliffhanger?
• Science and Scares – Is Doctor Who at its best when it concentrates on telling horror stories? Or are its science-fiction tales better? It's monsters versus spaceships as Toby Hadoke and Johnny Candon go head to head to argue the pros and cons in A Battle of Wits.
• That's An Oeuf! – The enigmatic Watcher champions another supporting artist, challenges readers with his Six Faces of Delusion, and celebrates Oswin's eggs. Prepare to have your brains scrambled by Wotcha!In addition, the magazine - out on Thursday 20th September - talks to Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, and Robert Llewellyn about the return of cult sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf to UK TV screens in October. 

Issue 452, which has two covers to choose from, is out in the UK on Thursday 20th September.

Series 7: Power of Three Hints

Digital Spy has released 10 hints about the next episode of Doctor Who, The Power of Three.

1. "Oh, the Ponds - with their house and their jobs and their everyday lives…"

2. The Doctor is amused by Rory's pants.

3. "I don't know - and I really don't like not knowing!"

4. Someone gets married.

5. "Patience is for wimps!"

6. Remember the Doctor planting a smacker on Rory in 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship'? This week Mr Pond returns the favour.

7. "All these muscles and they still don't know how to knock."

8. We hear about an unseen adventure that fans will be clamouring to see!

9. "What happened to the other people who travel with you?"

10. We've been told that the Ponds' exit will be emotional, but prepare to be choked up this week too...

Series 7: More Power of Three Pictures

More pictures have been released by the BBC for The Power of Three.

A Town Called Mercy Review

So last Saturday, Doctor Who done Western in A Town Called Mercy. But was it as good as we all thought it would be? Let's see in my review...

Overview
A very good episode which much more action and more edge-of-your-seat moments than Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. However, the episode was slightly spoilt with plot holes and some stolen parts from other Who episodes.

Continuity
This episode did have little references to continuity but not many and most were subtle things that you could quiet easily miss. Below is a list of the one's that I caught.

• The Doctor's death is subtly mentioned again
• To the Doctor, humanity are aliens (previously in Meanwhile in the TARDIS)
• The opening narration seems to be talking about the Doctor, when in fact it isn't (A Good Man Goes To War)
• The Doctor speaks many languages with him speaking 'horse' in this episode (Planet of the Dead, Waters of Mars and Closing Time, to name a few)
• Amy urges the Doctor to not choose killing as an option (The Beast Below)

Story Arc

Besides the subtle reference to the universe not knowing the Doctor's existence, no real reference to the 'Doctor Who?' arc at all.

Story

A more complicated story than the previous two episodes, but still action packed and it did make sense for the most part, with the only thing letting it down being a few plot holes I will detail later on in the review.

Problems

This episode had a few minor plot holes, but the major one being, when Jex and The Gunslinger were communicating at the end just before Jex blew himself up, did no one else wonder how they were talking? Unless Jex had installed the town with megaphones as well as lighting, this was quite a major plot hole as it was the resolution to the story!

The Gunslinger

The Gunslinger was a work of art and I loved everything about it from it's eye to it's gun, from it's hat to it's voice. I particularly liked how Toby Whithouse had managed to fit the back story to the Gunslinger in really well as well.

Who's the enemy?

What this episode done really well was make you wonder who was the enemy? The Gunslinger, Jex or The Doctor... In the pre-title sequence we were all introduced to the Gunslinger which looked like it might be this weeks enemy, but as the episode continued we all thought Jex, then when the Doctor pulled a gun to Jex, we all thought The Doctor! But at the end, we all knew that this episode managed to contribute three suspects to being the enemy, but the truth being there really wasn't an enemy at all!

Conclusion

Monsters - 5/5  - The Gunslinger and the Kahler were excellent enemies and they really shone in this episode.

Story - 4/5 - Great, but the big plot hole at the end let it down

Doctor - 4/5 - Great acting from Matt but the Doctor even thinking about a gun was very out of character and I'm not really liking him in the past couple of episodes, with killing someone now being seen as an option.

Companion - 3.5/5 - Amy and Rory were sort of background characters in this episode and didn't really contribute, especially Amy.

Arc - 4/5 - Although there was no real reference to 'Doctor Who?', I feel the Doctor becoming more aggressive contributes towards another Arc which might result in Amy and Rory's departure. Also, I think the Doctor knows more about the Pond's exit than he is letting on...

Continuity - 4/5 - There was good continuity in this episode but the 'copy-cat' parts let it down slightly.

A Town Called Mercy (overall) - 24.5/30 - Great

So that's it for my review on A Town Called Mercy. I hope you agreed with me on the most part and enjoyed reading the review.

Next Week - The Power of Three

Overall Mark Comments

30 - Outstanding

25 - 29.5 - Fantastic

20 - 24.5 - Great

15 - 19.5 - OK, nothing special

10 - 14.5 - Bad, very poor

5 - 9.5 - Shocking, turned off after 10 minutes

1.5 - 4.5 - Worst thing to be shown on TV ever

0 - 1 - Doctor Who is over