Comic-Con 2012:
Doctor Who!

Chris Hardwick thinks he's in control...

The Doctor Who panel on the last day of Comic-Con 2012 was a presentation of goodbyes and surprises from showrunner Steven Moffat, the time-travelling trio Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill, and new executive producer Caroline Skinner.

Moderator Chris Hardwick from “The Nerdist” started off the hour commenting on the year’s biggest Doctor Who news: the departure of the beloved Pond companions. 

Said Karen Gillan when she was filming Amy Pond’s final episode, “I didn’t stop crying for two weeks, in between takes, everything this was setting me off… I’m going to miss running down corridors from imaginary monsters!” 

Arthur Darvill added that the final moments with Amy and Rory together were very exciting to film, for it marked another return of the Weeping Angels: “[Being part of the Doctor Who has] been a huge part of our lives.  It’s changed it.”

Steven Moffat admitted that the Ponds last episode was an exceptionally tough one to write.  “It was very difficult because it’s not just fiction you’re ending—you’re actually ending a real life experience.  Working with Karen and Arthur was absolutely coming to an end, and I thought, ‘oh my gosh, have I written my last words ever for Amy and Rory?’  It was genuinely, properly sad.”

Smiles everyone!

Hardwick tried to squeeze a few hints about the Ponds’ departure from the Tardis, but Moffat simply smiled impishly and replied, “Take a guess, Chris.” 

Producer Caroline Skinner did promise a year of huge episodes, ranging from the Weeping Angels to the Daleks, and exotic locales, but saying goodbye to the Ponds would definitely be the biggest event of Series 7.

As for Gillan’s and Darvill’s after-Who plans, fans can expect to see Gillan in two films within the upcoming years: in Scotland a little film about a writer, called Not Another Happy Ending, and in America a film about a mirror, called Oculus.  Darvill will be returning to the London stage, as well as starring in a new series called Broadchurch with—get this—David Tennant, and written by Doctor Who alumni Chris Chibnall and Olivia Coleman (recently seen in BBC’s Twenty Twelve).  “It’s a Whoarama,” said Darvill.

Matt Smith tells Moffat what to say... yeah, right.

Although Moffat was traditionally tight-lipped about certain details concerning the future of the Doctor—and no mention at all about plans for the 50th anniversary of the show—he did treat the thousands of eager Whovians in Hall H with two exclusive clips from the upcoming seventh series.

Taken from the third episode entitled “A Town Called Mercy”, the first clip showed the Doctor, Amy, and Rory wandering into an old town saloon, only to be accosted by the local town folk who, for some yet unknown reason, want the Doctor’s head to hang.  Moffat and the episode’s writer Toby Whithouse wanted to create an homage to the classic American Western: “This is us in the heartland of your culture, we are doing a western.  And for extra authenticity, we did the one thing you must always do when you are shooting an iconic piece of American culture—we went to Spain.”

Not only will audiences be treated with more strikingly beautiful and strange worlds, but Moffat also promises a special treat for the long-term and hardcore fans of the series: Daleks, Daleks, Daleks.  From the Classic Who years to the current series’ Technicolor incarnations.  “It’s absolutely wild with lots and lots and lots of Daleks, exclaimed Moffat. “Exactly what we all see when we close our eyes, curled away in our Tardis-wallpapered bedrooms.”

Matt Smith already knows the secret to success... Karen Gillan doesn't believe him.

For the panel’s final but longer exclusive sneak peek, Moffat prefaced it with a lesson on success in the entertainment business: “People sometimes ask us on Doctor Who, ‘What do you suppose the secret to success is?’  And I’ve always pretended that I didn’t know.  But I do know what the secret of television success is, and I’m going to tell you now.  You might want to write this down. 

It’s you put… dinosaurs… on a spaceship.”

Appropriately titled “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”, the second episode is most definitely not a metaphor for something that does not have dinosaurs on a spaceship.  Not only did the Doctor encounter, much to his delight, actual dinosaurs on spaceship, but we were also introduced to a flirtatious Queen Nefertiti, Rory’s dad (played by Mark Williams of Arthur Weasley fame), and Rupert Graves in a safari hat.

“We’ve got absolutely everything,” said Moffat.  “I don’t think we’ve ever had a bigger variety of episodes than the ones we’re about to show you.”

Here’s hoping that Doctor Who can pull off everything and anything with its promise of a series filled with thrills and heartbreak.  Steven Moffat doesn’t seem like the type to joke around with success, especially when it comes to satisfying Doctor Who fans. 

With dinosaurs. 

On a spaceship.

Now it's time to say good-bye...

Steph Rodriguez