Matt Smith is ready to don the bow tie for the sixth season of Doctor Who launching in April.

The new season of Doctor Who will see the return of Matt Smith (the Doctor) as well as his companions, Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams).  When we last saw the characters, the Doctor had saved the universe from the crack in time, Amy and Rory had gotten married, but we were still left the question of who or what The Silence is in the happenings of season 5.  Despite the holiday special, which was a totally standalone story, we haven’t seen what exactly we’re in for with a married couple in the TARDIS, and the Doctor off to face an enemy that seems to have been able to impact all of time at once.

Unlike previous seasons, the episodes this time will air in the United States on BBC America the same day as they premiere in the UK.  Considering the number of viewers they probably lost to piracy in past seasons, this makes a lot of sense.  Check out the trailer below, and yay to yet another return of Alex Kingston (River Song), especially since it seems like we’ll finally get some answers about who/what she is to the Doctor.  I am totally ready for this season, bring it on.

Are you curious about Doctor Who, but never wanted to ask someone for fear of ridicule? There’s an infographic for that!

Infographics are a common tool in the tech industry as a way to quickly share a large amount of info in a quick, easily accessible manner. They’re usually full of colorful, friendly graphics, and look like something that could easily hang in a classroom. While I use these on a daily basis in my tech blogging lifestyle, there rarely are ones that cross over into my private life, but there seems to even be more of those showing up as of late.

While most people are only familiar with the latest version of Doctor Who, there were eight incarnations of the character before the current ones. Want to catch up quickly? Here you go! (yes, there is one typo on the Third Doctor entry, but I didn’t make this, so don’t blame me!)  Thanks to my good friend Steven for pointing this out to me.

Due to size, it’s below the jump.

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While the core of Doctor Who has always remained the same, the regeneration of the Doctor is always a time of some trepidation. If you don’t like the new actor, you’re stuck with them for a few years, and you just have to hope the next one is an improvement. When the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) regenerated into the fifth Doctor (Pater Davidson) … I seriously contemplated flying to England and beating the executives at the BBC. (It’s probably a good thing I was only a teenager.)

When the ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) left the show after only one year, I thought for sure the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) would be horrible.  Eccleston brought so many new layers to the character, and there was just no way Tennant could live up to it.

… I nearly cried when Tennant said his final line, “I don’t wanna go.”

So, here we are, the 11th Doctor, played by some odd looking young fellow named Matt Smith.  When he was announced in the role last Jan., my tone was less than hopeful.  And when the first images of Matt Smith in costume showed up online … I wasn’t feeling the bow tie at all.  I had no opinion of Karen Gillan as the new companion, Amy Pond, at all, except I kind of liked the youthful look of her outfits.  It was refreshing.

So, the new season premiered two weeks ago in the UK, and we got the first episode last night in the United States on BBC America.  I have to admit, I’ve already seen up through episode three, but I wanted to let the fans here see it before I expressed any judgement on the new actors.

I … freakin’ … love … them … both!

Matt Smith had me sold on his take of the Doctor in minutes.  He brings a youthfulness to the role that has been missing, but mixes it with the shyness of a dowdy college professor.  (notice the way he tucks his arms to his chest)  Smith is throwing himself into this role with an energy and hunger to prove himself that is just fascinating.  There is the Doctor’s absent-minded nature there to be sure, but he never pushes it so far as to be a parody.  The underlying darkness is there, as well as the bravado that says, “Yeah, I’m cool, but I’m never going to be so egotistical as to actually say it.”

As for Karen Gillan’s Amy, she is mesmerizing.  While most other companions have had at least one or two annoying habits, I can tell you that what you saw of her in the first episode only gets better.  She’s brave almost to a fault, but peppers her portrayal with a caring and soft side.  I can see her easily rocking into my top three favorite companions of all time.

As for the change over in show runners from Russel T. Davies to Steven Moffat, if this is a sample of what is to come, it’s looking like he has hit the ground running.

All-in-all, a very solid start, and I am definitely along for the ride.

… oh … and the bow tie totally works.

The premiere of season 5 of the new version of Doctor Who is rapidly approaching, and to whet our appetites, the BBC has released another trailer.

The fifth season of Doctor Who is about to premiere in the UK, and two weeks after that we can expect to see it in the USA on BBC America.  This will be the first season for the 11th Doctor, portrayed by newcomer Matt Smith.  How his Doctor will stack up against previous versions remains to be seen, but the footage we have seen thus far does look fairly promising.

The new footage does show that we will, yet again, be seeing the Daleks.  Is there no way to finally be done with these guys?  Although … the Union Jack on their heads?  Interesting.

Here is the first clip the BBC aired after David Tennant’s last episode.

The End of Time part 2 Doctor Who episode has aired in England, and it will air in the United States tonight.  Thanks to the wonders of the Internet though, everyone around the world can see the first promo for Matt Smith’s tenure in the role, and … the last moments of David Tennant.

Although we have all known this was coming, it is still with great sadness that Doctor Who fans have to say good bye to Mr. Tennant as the tenth incarnation of the title character.  He has brought a warmth and weight to the character that will be very hard for anyone to ever top again.  This isn’t to say we won’t give Matt Smith, the next actor to step into the role, a fair shake, but he has some mighty big Converse sneakers to fill.

Below I have embedded the actual regeneration scene, do not watch this if you do not want to be spoiled.  It contains Mr. Tennant’s last line which is … it will be memorable.

And here is the first trailer for Matt Smith’s first season on the show.

So long, Mr. Tennant. You will be missed.

You may also want to check out Who Is The Best Doctor Who

The countdown to the final days of David Tennant as the tenth Doctor Who have begun, and I couldn’t be sadder.

I remember when the announcement that Tom Baker was leaving Dr. Who in 1981 started circulating, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the character.  He was my favorite Doctor and I just didn’t want to think about anyone else in the role, ever.

After I suffered through the Doctors that followed, and then the years with no show at all, I was greeted with the introduction of Christopher Eccleston as a very different Doctor, and I loved him!

… then he left after a year.

Then came David Tennant, and I just wasn’t sure how he would be in the role.

I can easily say my sadness over Tom Baker moving on is nothing compared to the sadness I am feeling over David Tennant leaving the role.

Mr. Tennant has brought a depth to the character that I don’t think anyone even imagined this character could ever exhibit.  Remember, this was originally envisioned in the 1960′s as a kids show to teach them about history, but it left that behind a long time ago.  Mr. Tennant has brought a mixture of excitable wonderment and dark brooding to the role that portrayed a man that is the last of his kind.  He has completely changed the perceptions of this character forever, and I can’t imagine the pressure Matt Smith, the eleventh Doctor, is feeling as he films his first episodes.

I’ll give Matt Smith a fair shake as the newest incarnation of this character, but he will have a long way to go to fill David Tennant’s Converse sneakers.

Make sure to check out the BBC site that is counting down to the end of David Tennant, and also don’t forget to voice your opinion on the best Dr. Who.  BBC America will be airing the ending episodes also this month for those of us here in the United States.

It’s that magical time in every Doctor Who fan’s life where we get to see the first pictures of the next regeneration, and the first pictures of Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor are… odd.

I have to say on first seeing these new pictures of Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor in costume are just kind of… blah.  Although, points for my mother who said, “Well, at least he isn’t wearing a piece of celery.”  (A reference to Peter Davinson as the fifth Doctor)  I don’t so much mind the bow tie, but the jacket is annoying the heck out of me.  Sure they can’t all wear long coats, but the tenth Doctor (Christopher Eccelston) at least had a bit longer of one.  I don’t know, this outfit is just not doing anything for me.

Also in these shots are the first images of Karen Gillan as new companion Amy Pond, and a slightly redesigned TARDIS.  You can see more pictures at IO9, but be warned there is a spoiler to the first story of Matt Smith’s Doctor in them as someone returns from last season.

Updated 1/02/09 You can now see video of David Tennant’s regeneration.

The jacket is so not working for me.

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It has been made official that UK actor Matt Smith will be the eleventh incarnation of the famous time traveler, Doctor Who.

Revealed on the UK television show Doctor Who Confidential today, the 26-year-old actor will be taking over the role of the infamous Doctor when the show returns for its fifth full season of the new run in 2010.

Mr. Smith is a relative newcomer, and has only been in a handfull of television shows in the UK to date.  His name hadn’t even been brought up in any of the speculation lists as to who would be the next Doctor, so this comes as quite a surprise to fans of the series.

He will be 27 at the time filming begins, making him the youngest person to ever assume the controls of the TARDIS, the Doctor’s time machine.  Most people had assumed we might see a return to an older actor in the role, something the old version of the series favored, but instead the fans have been thrown a curve ball by taking the role even younger.

For any one who may be unfamiliar with the series, the Doctor is the last living member of a race of people known as the Time Lords.  Due to their mastery of time, and unique physiology, they are able to regenerate themselves in to a whole new body at times of death if proper arrangements have been made.  Due to this ability, the Doctor is now over 900-years-old, which makes for interesting challenges for an actor having to play both their physical age and the wisdom of someone who has lived that long.

This will be the eleventh version of the Doctor to play out on television, and the twelfth overall if you count two odd movies from the 1960′s.  How he will stack up amongst the other Doctors will remain to be seen, and how he will do in the overall standings as the best Doctor Who won’t be determined until he has at least a few episodes under his belt.  He will have some huge hurdles ahead of him as we are coming out of what is arguably one of the most popular actors to assume the mantle, David Tennant.

You can check out a brief interview with Mr. Smith below, and I wish him the best of luck in this monumental task.