Doctor Who
Series 7, Episode 8 – “The Rings of Akhaten”
Directed by Farren Blackburn
Written by Neil Cross
Starring: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Aidan Cook, Michael Dixon, Feth Greenwood, Emilia Jones, and Nicola Sian
BBC America
Air date: April 6, 2013

“We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”

If you talk to any avid television fans, they’ll often tell you the exact moment in which they fell in love with their favorite show. But I don’t know many fans who can tell you the exact context in which they fell in love with that show.

Doctor Who was something I was always hesitant to get into, mostly because I felt it was something with such a storied past that I’d never be able to get caught up enough to a point where I’d be able to appreciate it as much as a hardcore fan does. It took months of pressure from friends to jump into the series. I started with Series 5, because many of my friends felt that was the most accessible episode of the series for a new fan. In January of 2011, during a rare snowy day in South Carolina, I fired up “The Eleventh Hour.”

I was hooked.

Series 7 continues with a new episode for Doctor Who entitled The Rings of Akhaten, written by Neil Cross and directed by Farren Blackburn. The Doctor (Matt Smith) continues to investigate the enigma that is new companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman), and takes her to the intergalactically famous Rings of Akhaten during their millennial celebrations in an effort to test her humanity…

During TARDISblend 60, we analyze the new Doctor Who episode, discuss what we thought were the more significant aspects of the plot, and highlight some of the continuity “name-dropping” that was nice to see in this latest adventure. Later, we make some Classic Who recommendations too!

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!

Just as we Whovians were beginning to go through withdrawal symptoms from having no Whoniverse material on our screens, the BBC America team has come through for those of us who are Time Lord Addicts: finally, the release of the trailer for this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, which you can view at the bottom of this post.

Rumored for a long time to be a play on a Narnia theme, the buzz has now been verified with the revelation of the special’s title – Doctor Who: The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe. Showrunner Steven Moffat is clearly going with a formula which worked well for the previous special, a play on a classic Dickens yarn and also titled A Christmas Carol.