Doctor Who

The time-and-space-traveling alien known simply as the Doctor made his first appearance on TV screens in the United Kingdom on Nov. 23, 1963. Five decades later, he’s still going strong. The second half of the relaunched show’s seventh season is set to return March 30, with Matt Smith as the Doctor and a Clara Oswin Oswald making her bow as the companion, Oswald is played by actress Jenna-Louise Coleman. The first new episode, titled “The Bells of St. Johns,” introduces new villains called the Spoonheads. Meanwhile, the Doctor investigates something sinister going on with London’s Wi-Fi. There’s reason for celebration this year as the Doctor — who has racked up quite a lot of screen time and mileage on the TARDIS –  turns 50 (or 500 … who really knows?). It’s time to question just how well you know him. […]

For all the talk of 2013 being the 50th anniversary celebration of “Doctor Who,” the Doctor himself has been conspicuously absent from screens for the first two months of the year. But that’s about to change on March 30, when the second half of the relaunched show’s seventh season returns with Matt Smith as the Doctor and a brand-new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognize the Doctor’s fez from the fifth-season finale, “The Big Bang,” and that year’s Christmas special, “A Christmas Carol.” Actually, dedicated Whovians will remember that the fez originally belonged to Albert Einstein and that the Doctor has been wearing fezzes since his seventh incarnation back in the 1980s. The first new episode, titled “The Bells of St. Johns,” was written by show runner Steven Moffat and will introduce new villains […]

The Doctor and his recently recruited companion Clara Oswin Oswald will face off against some new nemeses and reconnect with familiar friends when “Doctor Who” returns March 30 after a three-month hiatus. BBC released details about the mid-season premiere episode “The Bells of St. John” as well as a new poster for the second half of Season 7 on Thursday. The poster features the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) clad in a purple smoking jacket and a gold bow tie, astride a motorcycle, with Clara (newcomer Jenna-Louise Coleman) hanging onto his waist. Surrounding images reveal glimpses of the season’s upcoming aliens, including Cybermen, Ice Warriors and a face that appears to be a Sycorax. The motorcycle appears to be racing down the side of the Shard, a 95-floor London skyscraper that was completed last year and opened to the public in […]

The truth is still out there, and IDW is ready to search for it once more. San Diego-based IDW Publishing is adding “The X-Files” to its already extensive lineup of comics based on beloved movie and television properties — a list that includes such major titles as “Star Trek,” “Transformers,” “Doctor Who” and “True Blood.” The comic will pick up after the landmark sci-fi TV series and the two feature films chronicling the adventures of intrepid agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). IDW will also reprint the “X-Files” comics published between 1995 and 2009. The title is one of many that IDW editor in chief Chris Ryall was excited to discuss looking at what’s ahead for his operation in 2013. Ryall, of course, is the author whose own Eisner Award-nominated series “Zombies vs. Robots” was optioned […]

The 50th anniversary celebration of “Doctor Who” is just beginning and Whovians are getting a nice big present in the form of a 100-minute audio drama starring five of the surviving Doctors. “Doctor Who: The Light at the End” will be released in November and will star Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. That’s Doctors 4 through 8 for those who came to the adventure series only after his revival in 2005 with Doctor No. 9 (Christopher Eccleston). But the Doctors aren’t the only classic characters making a return. Their companions are also joining them: Louise Jameson as Leela, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Nicola Bryant as Peri, Sophie Aldred as Ace and India Fisher as Charley Pollard. And for the villain, Geoffrey Beevers is reprising his role as the evil Time Lord, the Master. The […]

This year marks the 50th anniversary of “Doctor Who,” and to celebrate the landmark series, fans in England soon will be able to send mail with the Doctor’s face — all 11 of them. Beginning on March 26, the Royal Mail will offer “Doctor Who” stamps featuring all 11 actors who have played the Doctor, from his debut on Nov. 26, 1963, up to the present. That includes the three Doctors who have been part of the show since the relaunch in 2005: Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. In addition to the 11 Doctor stamps, there will be a sheet of second-class stamps featuring some of the Doctor’s notable villains, including the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Weeping Angels. There will also be a first-class stamp featuring the TARDIS. The stamps are coming at a particularly exciting time […]

This post has been corrected. See below. COMMENTARY It started with The Big Bang. Not the still somehow controversial theory of the universe’s origins, the CBS comedy, “The Big Bang Theory.” Before those two wacky physicists and adorably mismatched roommates Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) began wooing hearts and winning Emmys, the term “geek” was something of a pejorative. Proudly worn, perhaps, by those to whom it applied–comic book collectors, math heads, Trekkies, sci fi and fantasy fans and other obscure genre devotees–but certainly not in any way synonymous with popular, or influential or, heaven forbid, hot. Now, of course, we live in a Brave New World. San Diego’s Comic-Con International is a pop cultural touchstone/marketing platform, video games are truly the next new art form and Stephen Colbert proudly brandishes his pricey replica of the Elven blade […]

Jenna-Louise Coleman makes her debut as the Doctor’s new companion in this year’s “Doctor Who” Christmas special, “The Snowmen,” which premieres Dec. 25 on BBC America. And based on the first trailer released for the episode, it appears things will get slightly hot and heavy for the bow-tied Time Lord. Coleman plays Clara, who will give the Doctor a run for his money, taking his hand to lead him into action (rather than vice versa) and even grabbing him for a quick kiss. It wouldn’t be the first time a companion has fallen for the Doctor, though it never ends well. The annual “Doctor Who” Christmas episode has become quite a tradition for the series, with each successive episode grabbing bigger-name guest stars. This year’s episode also features Richard E. Grant, with Ian McKellen supplying the voice for the sinister […]

Fans of “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” know actor John Barrowman as the ever-cheery Capt. Jack Harkness. But for his latest role, as Malcolm Merlyn on the hit CW series “Arrow,” Barrowman is putting his famous smile to more sinister use, playing the wealthy head of the mysterious Tempest group. Of course, in “Green Arrow” comic book mythology, Malcolm Merlyn becomes archvillain Merlyn, a whiz with the bow and arrow himself. Barrowman unequivocally declined to reveal whether his character will one day evolve into that famous foe, but in an interview with Hero Complex, he did discuss what’s in store for Wednesday night’s midseason finale of the show, his own archery skills and how he might commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of “Doctor Who.” HC: What can we expect from “Arrow’s” midseason finale? JB: You can expect a lot of twists […]

One of the most anticipated performances in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is Sylvester McCoy’s turn as the wizard Radagast the Brown. Though the character did not appear in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Radagast is a key player in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. McCoy, who has been acting on the stage and screen for more than 45 years, joined “The Hobbit” after finishing a Royal Shakespeare Company tour of “King Lear,” acting opposite Gandalf actor Ian McKellen. McCoy is perhaps best known for his role in “Doctor Who.” Hero Complex chatted with McCoy about wizards and Timelords. HC: Were you a Tolkien fan before being cast in “The Hobbit” films? SM: Yeah, I read them in the ’60s. It came out in the ’50s, and then it started catching on. You know, they were the books to […]