The Rings of Akhaten (that's pronounced AK-A-TEN if you were wondering) is a science-fiction filled, fun-packed emotional rollercoaster of an episode. The pre-title sequence is quite confusing, which we probably won't get our heads around fully until the end of the series, but it starts with a 1981 hit song Ghost Town which introduces us to two characters, Dave Oswald and Ellie Oswald (nee Ravenwood), Clara's parents. It appears the Doctor has been stalking them throughout history, watching 'The Impossible Girl' grow up....but why?

We start off after the pre-title sequence pretty much where we left off in the previous episode, except a day later (presumably 7pm, as promised) and welcome aboard Clara Oswald, official TARDIS traveler  Where does the Doctor take her first? The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten, a place he has visited in his very first incarnation with his Grand-daughter, Susan, which a great reference to the Classic Doctor Who. Again, no fault with the acting of any of the cast or guest cast, it was clearly done with 100% effort which cannot be faulted.

This episode displays a vast majority of CGI effects and prosthetics created by the Mill and Millennium FX, both companies need to be congratulated on such brilliant efforts during this episode, unlike past episodes of Doctor Who, it was very difficult to tell what was green screen and what wasn't which helped make this feel like it was on a genuine alien planet, if that were possible. And with the addition of several brilliant creatures from Millennium FX filling up our screens (Including the Ultramancer, which resembles a create from CBBC's show Mission 2110) it felt like it wasn't just filmed in a studio in Cardiff, it was on a genuine planet.

The element of music in this episode stood tall against everything else, with a slight variation of Clara's Theme helped us hear Ellie's Theme, and both the musical elements which where a significant part in the plot were just amazing, specifically the final piece, ''Wake Up''. Murray Gold needs to be congratulated on such great creations on this series!

Recently, the BBC has denied tabloid reports that Christopher Eccleston has 'pulled out' of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode, stating his decision to not start in it "has not impacted on the shows 50th Anniversary"

The BBC's official statement to Digital Spy stated:

"Chris met with Steven Moffat a couple of times to talk about Steven's plans for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode. After careful thought, Chris decided not to be in the episode. He wishes the team all the best."

What do you think, are you disappointed of his-non-involvement? or pleased?

[source]

The Rings of Akhaten, airing tomorrow is a alien-packed, comedy musical thriller...never did I think I'd say that about an episode of Doctor Who, but there you are - it's what you get with a sci-fi series that can go anywhere and everywhere and only a week apart from the last.

The episode itself is a very emotional one, not only do we get a glimpse at a certain characters very emotional past, but we also have 2 very heartfelt musical moments which have a lot of emotion behind each one, you never know - there may even be a secret song hidden in the episode! The emotion is very raw and gripping, we get to see an emotional side of almost every main character in this episode which is a rare opportunity in such an alien-packed episode. We may even get a few scares from a new race of aliens  The Vigil - but are they evil, or good?

We also get introduced to two new characters in this episode, one quite small - The Queen of Years, and one quite big... I'll leave you with those deductions about the other one, "Grandfather...". Not only are new characters introduced, but age-old ones referenced too, including one of the Doctor's first companions, which gives a great feeling to any Classic-Who fan.

For the second script but first to air from new writer, Neil Cross, it certainly gives a good-impression of such brilliant writing that he has going on within his mind - managing to capture emotions, aliens, Earth and mystery - right until the final moments of the episode. It certainly gives high hope for his next episode later in the series, Hide.

Murray Gold again is on top form, providing such brilliant musical variations of past tracks, and some brand new ones which will certainly live down in Doctor Who history with "Song of Captivity". Congratulations to all of those involved in creating this episode - you helped make such a wonderful episode, that I'm sure everyone will enjoy on Saturday 5th April, 6:15pm (BST).

Three new books in BBC's New Series adventures have been released, with stories about Cybermen and Daleks, and a story set after JFK's assassination. Synopses:
When the Doctor arrives in the 19th-century village of Klimtenburg, he discovers the residents suffering from some kind of plague — a 'wasting disease'. The victims face a horrible death — but what's worse, the dead seem to be leaving their graves. The Plague Warriors have returned...

The Doctor is confident he knows what's really happening; he understands where the dead go, and he's sure the Plague Warriors are just a myth. But as some of the Doctor's oldest and most terrible enemies start to awaken he realises that maybe — just maybe — he's misjudged the situation.

A thrilling, all-new adventure featuring the Doctor as played by Matt Smith in the spectacular hit series from BBC Television.

A Young Moffat

BBC Wales Drama Productions are actively searching for a new Executive Producer (or the much cooler sounding Welsh Uwch Gynhyrchydd). So if you've disagreed with the way Moffat has been treating Doctor Who, why not sign up to become one of the next Exec Producers?

We know that previously, they had who took over sorted out before the writing of Series 4 finished. Moffat has also recently exclaimed in an interview that "I'm nearer the end than the beginning", which in itself strongly hints that series 8 is the last.

Lets also not forget about how long executive producers stay for is on average, aside from the rare circumstance, less time than Moffat has already served.

How strongly could this be hinting for Moffat's leaving, or could this simply be due to the fact that they must make up for the recent announcements of (exec) producers moving on, ie. Marcus Wilson and Caroline Skinner? While Skinner does have a replacement announced, Faith Penhale, it is unclear whether she is here just for the 50th or for series 8 and maybe beyond as well.

(This post is purely speculative)

What do you think? Do you want him gone? Would you preferred he reigned supreme for eternity? Do you think he will be gone?

BBC South Africa have revealed short synopsis for remaining Doctor Who Series 7 Part 2 giving us a slight indication as to the story-lines of the remaining episodes.

7.10: Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS

The TARDIS has crashed, Clara is lost inside, and the Doctor has 30 minutes before his ship explodes!

7.11: The Crimson Horror

Something ghastly is afoot in Victorian Yorkshire, as bodies are found with their skin a waxy, glowing red.

7.12: Nightmare In Silver

Hedgewick's World of Wonders: the perfect theme park day out - and ground zero for a deadly silver resurrection.

7.13: The Name Of The Doctor (rumoured title)

Someone is kidnapping the Doctor's friends, leading him towards the one place in all of time and space that he should never go.

[7.13 rumour name source: Dr Who Online]

The IDW comic book The Forgotten has been released in hardback format. This comic features a comic story from every Doctor from 1 through 9, and we get to see the Eighth Doctor during the Time War. I recommend it to anyone who likes Classic Who.

Buy The Forgotten:
UK
US

Summer falls is released tomorrow as an eBook, and you can read the first chapter of it as a preview here.

Details about the latest edition of The Doctor's Revisited have been released. This edition focuses on The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker featuring the classic Pyramids of Mars with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen.

Tom Baker, Steven Moffat, Marcus Wilson, Louise Jameson and several others join forces to discuss in the special revisitation before the airing of Pyramids of Mars.

The special airs on Sunday 28th of April at 8pm ET/PT.

On Sunday 7th April, at 11.15am, Radio 4 will broadcast a documentary on the 1960s of Doctor Who. The documentary will feature the cast and crew recounting their experiences in the early day of the show.

The show, sticking to the "Time Lord naming Constant", named The Reunion, features actors Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Peter Purves and Jeremy Young and director Warris Hussein.

 It is presented by Sue MacGregor and airs on Radio 4 and BBC iPlayer, available worldwide.

We will remind you half an hour before the airing.

The Calgary Comic Expo is the 6th largest of it's kind and it's history gives its own right. John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David Lloyd are being reunited at the Calgary Comic Expo.
The seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and Mark Seppard will also be at the expo. You can see their schedule's below.

Friday, April 26	Saturday, April 27	Sunday, April 28
12:30 PMAutographs 5:00 PMAutographs 8:30 PMSpecial Event (Fairmont Hotel)	10:00 AMAutographs 12:00 PMTorchwood Panel 2:00 PMAutographs 3:00 PMPhoto Ops 4:30 PMAutographs 6:00 PMPhoto Ops	10:00 AMAutographs 12:00 PMSpotlight Panel 1:00 PMPhoto Ops 4:00 PMAutographs

Friday, April 26	Saturday, April 27	Sunday, April 28
12:30 PMAutographs 3:00 PMAutographs 4:30 PMPhoto Ops 8:30 PMSpecial Event (Fairmont Hotel)	11:00 AMAutographs 12:00 PMTorchwood Panel 1:00 PMAutographs 3:00 PMAutographs 6:00 PMPhoto Ops	11:00 AMAutographs 1:00 PMPhoto Ops 2:00 PMAutographs

Sylvester McCoy does not have a schedule available right now and Mark Sheppard is only there for Saturday and Sunday.

There are many other guests appearing at the convention that may interest you if you're a fan of other shows. You can see these here.

Most of the tickets are now sold out, but some are still available. You can check out more information here.

Thanks to Rebecca Wright.

When the Fourth Doctor takes Leela to visit an immense tree space station known as the Heligan Structure, little do they know that the tree has been asleep for centuries, dreaming of vengeance against a man in a blue box... As the tree awakes, the Time Lord and his companion soon discover why they are such unwelcome guests.

The ebook will be available  from April 23. Read an extract here.

Possible spoilers ahead, read with risk -
Before the news of the Zygons return, a couple of images have come through from today's filming of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special.

The First comes from @cazj911 at Ivy Tower in Neath, who tweeted out: "Just seen the TARDIS and set for #DoctorWho #50thAnniversary in Ivy Tower, Neath!!!! #DoctorWho50th #DoctorWhoLeaks"

The Bells of Saint John aired on Sunday in Australia, and received 757,000 viewers. It was the 8th most watched of the day, but the best for ABC that night. It was also the fifth highest rating program in the free-to-air 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.

Like UK Overnight ratings, these figures do not include any regional or time-shifted viewers.

The official Doctor Who Twitter account just tweeted the following picture.

#DoctorWho50th bbc.in/ZxOXKp twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/s…
— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) April 2, 2013

The question that we now must ask is, how major will this character be? Considering they've already released the picture, we could presume they're going to have a fairly minor part.

Update: The official Doctor Who site have posted a news article on the subject, although it contains no new information.

Tomorrow we will celebrate National Fish Fingers and Custard Day (yes, it is most definitely real) which become a classic immediately after the strange combination was thought up by Steven Moffat for Matt Smith's debut episode, The Eleventh Hour. Now to celebrate the day, together with the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, Birdseye (the UK food company) will be replacing their mascot Captain Birdseye for The Doctor himself on their Fish Finger packets!

Karen Gillan in Z'OMBEAL "Advert" - Because You're Worth it Hungry

In a "lighter" twist, Karen Gillan has dressed up as a zombie for a Walking-Dead based L'OREAL advert. You can see a preview in the player below, and the rest on The Nerdist this Saturday on BBC America.

Who-Natic have somehow managed to get their hands on some promotional images for The Rings Of Akhaten.

We've only recently had the news of David Tennant and Billie Piper returning to the cast and Jenna-Louise Coleman being confirmed that she's in the special (for those who weren't sure). Let's also not forget John Hurt also being announced as guest starring, but now, as the 50th read-through is completed, BBC America have just announced the addition of Joanna Page to the cast.

As always, click to enlarge.