Doctor Who Series 5 Pandorica Action Figures

The official Forbidden Planet website has revealed that there will be a new action figure set with figures associated with the Pandorica. The 6 figures in the set include the Eleventh Doctor with a fez and mop, Amy Pond, a Silurian Warrior, a Roman Soldier, a Weeping Angel holding the Doctor’s coat, and the Guard Cyberman. All of the figures come with a part of the Pandorica which can be built once all parts are collected.

However, this set contains two large errors as the figures are meant to be associated with the Pandorica. The first mistake is that Amy is wearing the completely wrong costume, as Character Options are only re-releasing the figure with her costume from ‘Victory of the Daleks’. The second mistake is that the Guard Cyberman has two arms, despite him only being shown with one. Also, the helmet was closed when connected to the rest of the body.

These new figures are available to pre-order from Forbidden Planet either separately at the price of £8.99, or as a set for £53.94, and are expected to arrive at their warehouse on 20th December 2010.

Doctor Who Eleventh Doctor with Fez and Mop Action Figure

Doctor Who Executive Produce Steven Moffat has supposedly reported that there will be an action figure of the Eleventh Doctor with a fez and mop, as seen in the series finale ‘The Big Bang’. However, some people are questioning whether this news is reliable, as Moffat has been impersonated on Twitter before.

This action figure news came about when Moffat wrote on Twitter: “I have an 11th Doctor action figure WITH A FEZ! Also… A MOP!”

Doctor Who Exclusive 'Exploding TARDIS' Poster

The official Forbidden Planet website has released information about a new poster from Series 5 of the exploding TARDIS painting, which featured in ‘The Pandorica Opens’. The painting has been reproduced as this quality 24” by 36” poster from Forbidden Planet.

The product description states: “The Pandorica Opens, also known as Blue Box Exploding, was one of the final paintings by Vincent van Gogh, painted in 1890 and inspired by transmissions he picked up from 102 AD Stonehenge.”

Poster: Exploding TARDIS

Doctor Who Series 6 – Toby Haynes Directs Episodes 1 and 2

It has been announced that Toby Haynes will direct Episodes 1 and 2 of the upcoming Series 6, which are believed to go into production in a few weeks time, and will be broadcast in Spring 2011.

Haynes previously directed the two-part Series 5 finale, ‘The Pandorica Opens’ and ‘The Big Bang’, as well as recently completing work on the Doctor Who 2010 Christmas Special.

These new stories will make Toby Haynes the Director of five consecutive episodes to be broadcast in a row. The only other confirmed Director for Series 6 at the moment is Richard Clark, although it was unofficially revealed that Adam Smith will be returning to the show.

BANG! And the world is gone...

The results of the poll for 'The Big Bang' showed that the average star rating was 4.2 stars, meaning that this episode was thought of as 'Good'.

The Blink Review: The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang

I’m confused. Really confused. So please excuse me for this confusing review of the confusing series finale which had some clever and confusing points but also lacked some crucial confusing details which left me confused and wondered how I would be able to write a review without saying the word ‘confused’. I think I’ve managed not to say it so far…

‘The Pandorica Opens’ was an absolutely brilliant episode, and by far my favourite of the series, with an engaging and emotional script by Steven Moffat, a surprisingly good use of CGI effects, and a tantalising cliffhanger that left everyone in suspense. A great first part to a story, which surely the second part couldn’t live up to.

And sadly it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. There were some really great ideas in ‘The Big Bang’, in particular Rory guarding Amy throughout the centuries to protect her, and it was a very enjoyable episode to watch, but overall it seemed a bit shambolic, with lots of jumping between locations and coming up with random explanations.

Wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey stuff is great in small amounts, when the Doctor can use it to cheat his way out of small problems. However, using it every five seconds to get out of every problem makes the viewer feel cheated for having watched the first part, as every threat that occurred was overwritten with a quick trip using the vortex manipulator. Similarly, the sonic screwdriver was really overused in this story, and provided a ridiculously simple solution to opening up the Pandorica, which supposedly nothing could open.

“Silence will fall!” screamed the menacing voice at the end of ‘The Pandorica Opens’, who turned out to be… Oh wait, that wasn’t answered! If there’s one thing that annoys me, it’s having to wait for ages to get an answer to a question, and we’re going to be waiting for another year to find out whose voice that was!

However, I’m probably being a little harsh here. In fact, I’m being very harsh. It’s in my Weeping Angel nature. There were some fantastic scenes in the episode, mainly the terrifying Stone Dalek chase sequences, and the sad departure of the Doctor before he zoomed off into the greatest explosion in history.

The series as a whole was fantastic, with my favourite episode being ‘The Pandorica Opens’ and my least favourite being ‘Victory of the Daleks’, which still feels like an incomplete story despite the return of the Daleks in the finale. ‘The Big Bang’ was a pretty decent story, with many ups but also some irritating downs. I think it’s time we meet the Yeti! Roll on Christmas…

Rating: 4/5 stars

You can also give your rating in the new poll, ‘BANG! And the world is gone…’

Overnight Viewing Figures

Overnight viewing figures for ‘The Big Bang’ show that the programme was watched by 5.1 million viewers, a very disappointing result for a series finale.

The share of the audience was 31%, and it was the second highest rated programme of the day. However, even if this figure increases by the usual 2 million, it will be nowhere near the 10 million viewers which watched the Series 4 finale in 2008.

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BANG! And the world is gone...

The final poll of the series is now available on 'Blink', where you can give your star ratings for 'The Big Bang'.

BBC Press Office: The Big Bang

The BBC have confirmed that episode 13 of the new series, 'The Big Bang', will air on 26th June 2010, although the time is subject to change.

“The Doctor is gone, the Tardis has been destroyed, and the universe is collapsing. The only hope for all reality is a little girl who still believes in stars, as this series of Doctor Who concludes with an episode written by Steven Moffat.”

Are you excited yet?

Finale Titles Confirmed

The official Doctor Who BBC website has confirmed the titles for the finale of Series 5, due to be broadcast in late June. They had been previously speculated by many people.

Episode 12: The Pandorica Opens
Episode 13: The Big Bang

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The Story Never Ends: The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang

PREDICTED BROADCAST: 26/06/2010, 03/07/2010

The twelfth and thirteenth episodes of the upcoming series were written by Steven Moffat, who also wrote four other episodes of this series, and directed by Toby Haynes. These episodes form the third and final two-part story of Series 5, and are rumoured to be called ‘The Pandorica Opens’ and ‘The Big Bang’, although this has not been confirmed by any official reports.

Details of the plot are not widely known at the moment, but some photos of location filming at Swansea Guildhall and Stonehenge, as well as some short clues from press reports, have given rough ideas of the storyline. Firstly, it appears that this story will take place at multiple locations, including the famous pre-Christ built Stonehenge in Wiltshire, and a museum filled with ancient artefacts. Photos showed that amongst the many objects, the museum will include a polar bear, a penguin and Egyptian statues.

The filming for the museum scenes also showed pictures of Alex Kingston, who plays the recurring character of River Song, and Nicholas Briggs, famous for being the voice of the Daleks. This led many fans to believe that the Daleks would be returning in the finale as well as ‘Victory of the Daleks’, although it has since been proven that a Cyberman appears in the museum, which he also provides the voice for.

It is not currently known if the Cyberman featured is one of many, or if it is a single museum artefact, like the head of a Cyberman in 2005’s ‘Dalek’. Other key themes surrounding these stories include the ‘Pandorica Box’, which is said to contain the greatest evils of all time inside, a message on the oldest cliff-face in the universe, and a love that lasts thousands of years. It promises to be a breathtaking finale to a superb new series.

Things to look out for:

• The Doctor and his two companions holding flaming torches.
• A battered Cyberman menacing Amy Pond in the shadows.
• The Doctor riding a horse rapidly across a vast field.
• The sonic screwdriver with a green setting, as the Doctor examines the ancient stones of Stonehenge.
• The line, “A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies”.

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