[T]his coming Saturday, 30th March, at 6.15pm, sees the return of Doctor Who to UK television screens, as we finally get to see the first episode of the second half of Series 7, The Bells of Saint John. I\’m really looking forward to the start of this sequence of new stories, as is, I\’m sure, every other Doctor Who fan on the planet.
As far as I\’m concerned, Matt Smith has been a huge success as the 11th Doctor. His zany, eccentric portrayal combines the best elements of previous Doctors, but is influenced mostly by my favourite Doctor of all, Tom Baker, which has to be A Very Good Thing (at least in my book). Even in the Doctor Who stories which are… let\’s say… not exactly the best, Smith puts in a performance that is rarely less than excellent, and, by sheer acting ability alone, often elevates the quality of those episodes beyond that of the mediocre scripts.
I\’m also looking forward to seeing how he works with his new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald (played by Jenna-Louise Coleman). We\’ve already seen her a couple of times before, firstly in last season\’s Asylum of the Daleks, and then in the last Christmas Special, The Snowmen. She\’s already died twice, but keeps coming back, which bodes well for some intriguing story and character development in coming stories. From what we\’ve seen so far, Jenna-Louise Coleman is an excellent young actress, and Clara Oswald should more than ably fill the shoes of The Ponds as the Doctor\’s new companion.
But most of all, and I\’m sure many Doctor Who fans will empathize with me here, I\’m looking forward to the monsters. Yes, the monsters! What adversaries, both old and new, will the Doctor be facing this year? I\’ve caught the trailer on TV a few times over the past week, and I\’m pretty excited about it. The Cybermen are back, looking better than ever. But what excites me the most is that we\’ll at last be getting to see the Ice Warriors, the very first time they\’ve appeared in the new series.
The Ice Warriors have always been one of my favourite classic Doctor Who monsters, right up there with the Daleks, Cybermen, Autons, Silurians, Sea Devils and Zygons, and it\’s long, long past time that they made an appearance in the new series. They look absolutely amazing, at least from the brief glimpse that we got of them in the trailer. I don\’t know which episode of the new season the Ice Warriors will appear in, but I can\’t wait to see them. Hopefully Moffat and co. will do them proud with an excellent story.
Roll on Saturday evening, 6.15pm!