On the day of the return of Doctor Who Series 7 with the episode The Bells of Saint John, the BBC made a COLOSSAL announcement today pleasing fans around the world: Tenth Doctor David Tennant is returning for the 50th Anniversary Special along with companion Rose Tyler played by Billie Piper. To top it off, legendary actor John Hurt has also been announced as joining the cast for the special.

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special will star current Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. It’s believed current companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) will be there, as well John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness who revealed weeks ago he was in discussions with the BBC and showrunner Steven Moffat for the special.

Doctor Who
Series 7, Episode 7 – “The Bells of Saint John”
Directed by Colm McCarthy
Written by Steven Moffat
Starring: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Manpreet Bachu, Sean Knopp, Eve De Leon Allen, James Greene, Kassius Johnson, Geff Francis, and Celia Imrie
BBC America
Air date: March 30, 2013

The seventh series of Doctor Who returned tonight with a brand new episode, “The Bells of Saint John.” As those began to ring, what adventures did our faithful Doctor encounter, and what role did Clara Oswald play in them? Hit the jump to find out.

“The Bells of Saint John” works fairly well as a mid-series premiere. There’s enough here to certainly build towards an ongoing arc for this back half, but I don’t think it works quite as well as an individual episode as others have in the past.

Guillermo Del Toro appeared on a panel today at WonderCon 2013 in Anaheim, CA, to promote his upcoming film Pacific Rim (you can read our full on-site panel coverage here).

During the audience Q&A portion of the panel, a fan asked the director about another project he’s working on: Justice League Dark also known as Dark Universe (and Heaven Sent), a film for DC/Warner Bros.

Del Toro said he was finished with a “bible” for Justice League Dark, which will differ from DC’s main Justice League film, and is beginning on the script with a writer, who will be announced soon. He revealed that the lead character will be a blond version of John Constantine, the center of DC/Vertigo’s comic book series Hellblazer (brought to the screen by Keanu Reeves in 2005’s Constantine). The Demon in the story will be Jason Blood, who was one of the Knights of King Arthur. In the current version of the script, the audience will discover the origins of the team as the story progresses, instead of all at the beginning, and there is going to be a mystery to solve.

Jolts galore for the jam-packed Arena at WonderCon 2013 in Anaheim, CA, as the Sony Pictures panel for the Evil Dead made its much anticipated appearance. The film, not so much a remake as a reimagining, is looking to take same kind of reins of horror-filled intensity, gore, shocks, and frights as the original did more than 30 years ago, and looking to bridge together generations of fans – those who have been following the original cult smash films and new audiences who will be discovering it for the first time.

Directed by Fede Alvarez, who was handpicked by the original director of the first three films, Sam Raimi, and who also produced with the incomparable and absolute icon of modern horror, Bruce Campbell (who starred as “Ash” in the original trilogy), with Robert Tapert and starring Jane Levy as the main protagonist, the new film looks to scope out a new horizon as the first film did and rightfully take its place in the modern horror pantheon of some of the all- time great stomach-in-knots-cinematic churners.

At WonderCon 2013‘s Pacific Rim panel, director Guillermo Del Toro came to the stage amidst wild applause and greeted the fans with a hearty, “Hola!”

He asked if people have seen the various Pacific Rim trailers that have already been released. The audience applauded in agreement. He said that was good, because the trailer he was about to show was cut specifically for this event, and probably won’t be seen again after this.

He then showed the new trailer, the highlight of which was seeing a 25-story high Jaeger robot dragging a oil tanker behind it through the streets of Hong Kong, to use as a bat against a Kaiju, followed by a two-fist slap to the Kaiju’s head.