Doctor Who Returns and Sherlock Lives

After months of waiting, a lot of news seemed to suddenly materialise in the last day concerning Doctor Who and Sherlock. And, as a fan of both, I thought of it as my duty to share it with you here.

NEW POSTERS

As Series 7B is less than a couple of weeks away now, we've been treated to four great movie-style posters, as was done for the first half of the series, featuring the episode titles. Look how cool this stuff is!

'The Bells of Saint John' is the first episode of the series (is it a new series or not? I have a feeling this could be debated till the cows come home) and, as can be seen from the image, is being promoted as an ultra-modern technological thriller set in the Sherlock territory of contemporary London. The episode title, however, suggests more of an historical adventure, and it's thought, from footage seen in the trailer, that this episode features monks. Not a group of people you associate with the city. Only fourteen days till we find out what it all means...

This episode has already got quite a bit of publicity as the one that brings back the Ice Warriors for the first time in the series since 1974. Written by Mark Gatiss, it sees the Doctor and Clara stranded on a submarine that's besieged by a troop of the menacing Martians. It's sounds like a lot of fun and certainly has a fitting title, another example of Gatiss' love for wordplay titles (see later). 

Not much is known of this episode, other than that it is the second episode in the series and will show Clara's first visit to an alien world. The poster reminds me of an Indiana Jones film so I'm guessing it's going to be a big, adventure-filled romp of an episode. Which is no bad thing, but it's just a bit surprising considering it's written by Neil Cross, the lead writer of gritty crime drama Luther.

This is my favourite poster of the lot. Also written by Cross, this episode is apparently going to be a proper 'haunted house' story - with, by the looks of it, an  actual ghost!
The poster very much appeals to my Gothic sensibilities but with it's excellent title and spooky plot, 'Hide'  also seems to be harking back to Steven Moffat's Blink. No pressure, Mr Cross...


NEW TRAILERS

And, what's more, we've not only got some posters but two brand-new trailers showing us some new clips!

Both of these are exciting but the first offers us more to chew on including further glimpses of all those great aliens, both new and old (loving those Ice Warriors!). There also seems to be a fair bit on show of 'The Last Cybermen', the Neil Gaiman-penned penultimate episode of the series. I imagine the 'I'm the Doctor and I'm afraid' scene comes from this episode so those must be some pretty scary Cybermen. As has been said a lot about  this one, prepare yourself for some chills.
The BBC America version, although perhaps less packed with clips, does however, give us a nifty melodramatic voice-over from Mark 'Canton Everett Delaware III' Sheppard!

As the Doctor Who train hurtles closer and closer to your television sets, here's some news about the BBC's other hotly-anticipated drama series...


SHERLOCK TITLE REVEALED

At long last, Sherlock Series Three starts filming today! This is truly a happy time for all Sherlock fans who have been waiting patiently for Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to stop making Hollywood blockbusters and return to TV. Of course, we've still got many months until the series returns to our screens but let's not dwell on that right now.
The other big Sherlock news revealed today came courtesy of co-creator and Mycroft Mark Gatiss:

Exclusive! Ep 1 will be called 'The Empty Hearse'. The game is on! #Sherlock twitpic.com/ccbzh8
— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) March 18, 2013

Fans have been speculating the title for months, ever since we were given the teaser word 'rat.' However, out of all the suggestions that came up, none were as pun-tacular (if you'll excuse me that term) as the actual title. For those who are unfamiliar with the canon, the episode will be an adaptation of the Conan Doyle story 'The Empty House' which sees Holmes reveal he is still alive to Watson after being 'killed' at the Reichenbach Falls. Going by the adjusted title, this episode will focus a great deal on explaining just how Sherlock did survive the fall from St Bart's hospital. I could say it won't be long until we find out, but Cumberbatch recently stated the series could be broadcast at Christmas. Hold on in there, Sherlock fans, first it's Doctor Who's time to shine.