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.

Sherlock Series Three: Rat. Wedding. Bow.

Although we still have a long while before Sherlock series three hits our screens, showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have today revealed the three teaser words that sum up the three new episodes coming next year. Last year it was 'Woman. Hound. Fall' and this year... well, now is the time to avert your eyes downward.

Wow. I know. What can that mean? A rat? Who's wedding? And is that 'bow' as in 'how' or 'bow' as in 'tow'? Well, that's what this post is all about. Just what do those mean for Series Three?

Rat

As a Sherlock Holmes fan, the first thing that came to my head when seeing this was the Giant Rat of Sumatra, the most famous of the hints of untold adventures that Conan Doyle used to drop into his stories. The name comes from this extract from The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire:

''Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,' said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. 'It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.'

On the other hand, another proper Holmes story has another reference to a rat. The Boscombe Valley Mystery features a murder victim's last word being 'a rat.'' However, without spoiling the story, its not exactly what it seems...

So, if this guess is right, the first episode as well as featuring Sherlock's return proper in the life of Watson may include either the great detectives going on a boat trip and facing a giant rat or a more straight-forward (if there is such a thing on Sherlock) adaptation of a classic Holmes story. Only time will tell! Who knows, it could be neither!


Wedding

Oh-hoh this one's got fans got fans going. Is Sherlock getting married? To whom? To Irene? To John?! The most likely answer to me is that it will be John getting married, just as the original character did in The Sign of the Four to Miss Mary Morstan. Steven Moffat has spoken before about the fact that most adaptions ignore the fact that a great deal of the Holmes canon involves Holmes and Watson living apart and called these versions lazy for not tackling it. Who knows how this will affect the modern Sherlock and John's relationshp...
Of course, there's also the question of who John will marry. Fans are suggesting Molly Hooper, the Sherlock-infatuated pathologist at Bart's Hospital, may switch her affections to the good Doctor.


Bow

Now what could this mean? Will the final episode of the series focus on Sherlock starting to wear bow ties? I think it refers to Holmes' final case before he retires His Last Bow which sees him up against German spies on the eve of the First World War.
How could this translate to 2013? Will it really be Sherlock's last case? Your guess is as good as mine here.

Well, there we are. None of ths may be true but at least it's giving me (and hopefully you) something to chew on until the series itself emerges. How are we going to last till next year?! Bring on 2013!

The Power of Twitter

Ah, Twitter. Ever-reliable Twitter. You can always count on the loveable, massively popular bird-themed social network to distract you, especially when you have something due in presently (as does your truly; ssh if we won't mention it again, it might go away). You may even tweet solely about twitter distracting you - perhaps the most ludicrously way of time-wasting which I hope I haven't sunk to yet. Social networks are a drug. And I - as are so many - am addicted.

It's terrible to admit but it is true. Thankfully, I'm not as bad as some people who, largely self-confessed which is good, check twitter and tweet with much more ferocity than I do. Columnist Andrew Collins thought it was for 'stalkers, narcissists and people who talk to themselves'. I'd like to think I'm none of the above but, you never know, I may be all three.

However, despite its perhaps sole purpose as a distraction machine, I love it. It strangely satisfying when you clip your thoughts down into a (hopefully) witty nugget of 140 characters. Plus, celebrities have it so it's a good way to see what they're up to. And, occasionally, you may even get a tweet back from them. I once get a reply from Mark Gatiss when I asked him a question about his Who episode (more words than I said to him in person, in fact) while my sister recently was tweeted by Russell Tovey.
However, despite its witty chatty appearance, Twitter and other social networks -it's not alone in this - have a dark side...

As brilliantly shown in Charlie Brooker's recent opener to his new Black Mirror series (a Twilight Zone inspired anthology series), Twitter - or more accurately the collective thoughts of the mass of people who use it - can control what happens in the 'real' world. In the aforementioned episode 'The National Anthem', a popular royal princess is kidnapped and the ransom states the Prime Minister (a clear Cameron pastiche but well-played by Rory Kinnear) must... do something thoroughly abhorrent and embarrasing on live TV for the princess' safe return. Whether or not he goes through with it is largley based on how people are reacting to it on Twitter and other such sites, due to the government's constant reliance on public opinion. I'm deliberatly witholding details from you as if you ever get round to watching it I have no intention to spoil the surprise. If you are interested you can watch it here.

Of course, at this moment in time Twitter isn't distracting me from my work but Blogger is. Yet I didn't blame it. Cue Twilight Zone music.