It begins with a knock at the TARDIS door, while still in deep space, and an important message from a long-lost Time Lord friend. The distress signal prompts the Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to literally leave the universe, and leads them to a junkyard asteroid. The matrix and power of the TARDIS is immediately drained, leaving them stranded on this odd world, where they confront a mysterious entity called the House (Michael Sheen). What secrets does the mad bitey woman known as Idris (Suranne Jones) hold for the Doctor?

During TARDISblend 26, we review the events of the long-awaited Neil Gaiman-penned episode, The Doctor’s Wife, an episode that proves to be much of the best Doctor Who has offered in a long time.

Doctor Who
Series 6, Episode 2 (Day of the Moon) and 3 (The Curse of the Black Spot)
Directed by Toby Haynes (Day of the Moon) and Jeremy Webb (The Curse of the Black Spot)
Written by Steven Moffat (Day of the Moon) and Steve Thompson (The Curse of the Black Spot)
Staring: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, Mark Sheppard, Stuart Milligan, Chukwudi Iwuji, Hugh Bonneville, Lily Cole, and Frances Barber
BBC America
Air date: April 30, May 7, 2011

Exams put my review of the new Doctor Who episodes Day of the Moon behind a bit more than I’d like, so I figured I’d lump it in with my The Curse of the Black Spot review. This ended up being a good thing, cause I have lots to say about one of these episodes and not so much to say about the other. Hit the jump for the full review.

After their victory against The Silents, the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions decide to head off into the seas of the 17th century, where in responding to a distress signal they come face to face with the famous pirate, Captain Henry Avery (Hugh Bonneville). But not all is as it seems – for Avery’s ship is stuck in calm waters, haunted by the curse of a Siren (Lily Cole), who comes to claim those that have been marked with the Black Spot…

During TARDISblend 25, we review the events of Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot, and find ourselves to be somewhat disappointed at the poor editing and pacing of what could have been a very fun episode. From missing pirates to “Kenny from South Park” (Arthur Darvill), we find the saving grace to be elements of the overarching story arc and discuss who the mysterious Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber) could possibly be and why only Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) can see her.

We also discuss some in-universe fan debating over the use of the Sonic Screwdriver during this season. Our Classic Doctor Who recommendations this week also tie into ships and/or pirates, and we take a flashback to the Secondary Console Room in the TARDIS during the Tom Baker era. All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!

It’s less than two weeks until Series 6 of Doctor Who kicks off worldwide on television screens, and it’s getting to be a very exciting time to be a fan of the Time Lord. BBC and BBC America have released a whole bunch of new photos from the new season — including a sneak peak of the new creepy villain the Doctor will be facing in the opening two episodes, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon.

On top of that, new photos released by the BBC to media outlets give fans more previews of upcoming shows, including the “pirate” episode Curse of the Black Spot, the Neil Gaiman-penned The Doctor’s Wife, and confirmation (finally!) of the return of a classic villain. You can view the images at the bottom of this post.

Bear in mind, the photos (as well as the rest of the content of this post) could be considered spoilers — so consider to have been alerted!