If you were in line for Hall H during Comic-Con Sunday morning, you were either there for Glee or for what seems to be the fastest growing fan base of Dr. Who.
Me? I was in line for Dr. Who, though it would have been nice to see Glee, which I would have actually have had to camp out to get into the panel if I wanted to. I’m not that much of a Gleek, sorry.
Instead I stood in line to try and get an autograph signing from Amy Pond and The Doctor themselves, but failed to do so when tickets for the signing ran out before I got halfway through the last line….. *sigh*… I wanted to make up for the two missed opportunities that I could have seen and actually spoken with them during the weekend, but it didn’t happen. *Fingers Crossed* one of these days… hopefully soon… I can shake the hands of the beautiful Karen Gillan, and the darker Doctor, Matt Smith.
I made it into the panel with only a two hour wait, and boy was it worth it being in a room full of Whovians. The room was filled with past Doctors, bow ties, Fezes and Daleks. A true sight to see if you are a Dr. Who fan, showing how large the fandom has grown within the past couple years since it’s return in 2005 with Robert Eccleston as the ninth doctor.
The panel started off with a quick recap of what’s been happening the past couple of episodes and I must warn you, if you haven’t been keeping up with the series there’s only one word you need to know before you move on to the rest of the article and that is… *Spoilers*
The catch-up video showed clips from the previous episodes, which included the death of the Doctor, the introduction of The Flesh, the new enemy seeking war with The Doctor, as well as the revelation of River Song as Amy and Rory’s daughter.
The moderator then proceeded to ask questions to the cast and crew that included The Doctor himself, Matt Smith (who was enjoying his first convention in America), his sassy and gorgeous companion Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), producers Piers Wenger and Beth Willis, and writer Toby Whithouse. It was then opened up to the audience for questions. Here’s what we found out:
The cast really doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, for them reading the script is like watching the episode for the first time. They don’t get information ahead of time, they always get it when the script is handed to them, not bbefore hand. With that said, neither Smith or Gillan knew that River was Amy’s daughter before hand, however Alex Kingston had been told since the beginning of the previous season.
Neil Gaiman, who may return to write another episode for The Doctor, after writing “The Doctor’s Wife” for the past half season told the other writers that when he wrote in the Doctor’s Wife draft starting with “INT. INSIDE THE TARDIS” he said “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life to write that line.”
They showed a clip of an episode that Toby Whithouse wrote called “The God Complex” which will air fourth when the show comes back. The 11th episode of season 6, showed a “Shining”-like hotel and Minotaur. It was indeed very dark, and through the clip alone am excited to see it in it’s full.
When the crew was asked “What does it take to write a good monster for the Doctor?”
The producers answered that they need to find the humanity and sympathy of the monster, make it a relatable character. They look for the connection and complexity of the character for the Doctor to be intrigued by because the Doctor never actually wants to fight the monsters, he wants to find the intention of the monster and investigate what is happening. Each episode is more like a mystery story when looked at it in that way.
When asked “Does anything actually scare the actors on set?”
Gillan told a funny story about how Smith likes to hide in her trailer with a giant shoe horn and jump out and scare her. Matt Smith added that when he did she cried because she was so scared.
“Why do they keep killing Rory?” Jokingly the writers said that “He’s become the Kenny of the series, but he always comes back and seems to learn things after each death.”
A lot of secrecy on set as Steven Moffat has told the actors information about the future of their characters and they are keeping this information secret from each other while they are filming (such as the Doctor suspecting that Amy was Flesh.) The actors hope that some of that keeping of these secrets translates to the screen. Smith really wanted to tell everyone, but kept it in to move on to the other questions.
As for the Dalek’s returning…. the producers on had this to say…. “Spoilers….”
Matt Smith is the first Doctor to get nominated for a BAFTA. With that said, the writers think that Smith is brilliant and that they are so lucky to have him. Smith believes getting the role was a game changer for him.
The auditions were kept very secretive and he barely had time to practice the lines since he got them a day in advance, but everyone including his mother said that he should be the next doctor. The writers said casting him was the easiest decision they ever made. After they saw him the second time Moffat said to everyone, “It’s him, lets face it, it’s always been him.”
The decision to cast Karen Gillan was a just as easy. After they saw her Moffat jumped up and yelled “We found her!”
When asked “Will the astronaut that kills the doctor be addressed?”
It will be eventually in due time. Whithouse stated that he wants to find out with the audience, but that the problem with working on Doctor Who is often knowing what is coming and what is going to happen, but saying that the only one who really knows what is going on and Steven Moffat likes to keep things close to the vest. Whithouse says that he tries to keep and ignorant as possible.
A lot of information came out of the panel, and a lot of praise from the audience. Among the audience members who asked questions were people who cosplayed as River Song, Amy Pond, The Doctors, and my favorite life sized Daleks with the voices.
If you’re wondering if “We will see more glimpses of the Doctor’s darkside?” Smith definitely hopes so. He thinks that is the reason why the Doctor is so bubbly and in a constant state of motion, because the moment that he stops he’ll be forced to face the darker aspects of his past and what he’s done. Also, remember “Rule #1, the Doctor Lies.”
The crew was asked “What writers would they love to have on the show?”
There are a lot but the ones they could think of were JJ Abrams, Raul Daul, Edgar Wright, and they would also love to have Russell T. Davis come back for an episode.
They showed a glimpse of what to expect in upcoming episodes, and I can tell you watching it really gets me excited. Here it is , so enjoy!!
We also find that Moffat is good at what he does, and by keeping everything so secret, it makes for an interesting writing and creative process for the cast and the crew. So keep an eye out and expect a lot of awesome surprises to come.
By the way…… was that the Face of Boe we saw in the preview reel?
Doctor Who returns to Kill Hitler on August 27th.
