News has just broken on the BBC that longtime Doctor Who script editor, writer and Target Books novelist Terrance Dicks has died, aged 84. A sad day for Who fans everywhere. RIP Terrance, the man who first told us that the Doctor must "never be cruel or cowardly"...

I mostly 'know' him through extras on the DVDs and interviews in fan magazines. I do also have the short Moonbase series he did with Barry Letts around when they were both on the Jon Pertwee Doctor.

I LOVE ACE! I wish that video didn't have that title because it would have been a nice feeling to have the reveal slowly dawn. I am confused though. Is that just a clip to promote the video set? I thought she might make an appearance on the new show.

Awwwwwwww

Incredibly, Doctor Who Magazine, which started life as Marvel UK's Doctor Who Weekly, is forty years old today! Four decades of in-depth coverage of the world's longest running sci-fi series, and of course, four decades of original Doctor Who stories in comics form. Not bad going. Particularly since it's even outlasted its original publisher by twenty years...

I rewatched Matt Smith's debut "The Eleventh Hour" last night and was impressed anew with the stamp that Steven Moffat immediately put on Doctor Who after taking over from Russell T. Davies. He's juggling a lot of balls including the new Doctor (great scene where Matt Smith steps through an image which is cycling through all his predecessors), new companions, a story for this episode, and the longer term arcs about the Crack, the Pandorica, and the Silence.

I'm most impressed how on top of all that, Moffat tells his own personal story. "The Eleventh Hour" is about a child who thought Doctor Who was coming back, and waited eagerly, but days turned into years, and by the time the Doctor returned, it was too late. The child was gone, replaced by an adult whose childhood fascination with the Doctor had become a running joke with friends and family, and whose collection of fan memorabilia were now an embarrassment. This is exactly what happened to British children when Doctor Who disappeared from TV in the late 1980s and didn't resurface until they had jobs and families. Amy's wedding dress symbolizes the taking up of adult life, and the Doctor's surprise reappearance is the occasion of temptation to forestall adulthood for just a little while longer.

Moffatt told this basic story already with Madame du Pompadour in "The Girl in the Fireplace," one of the best episodes of the Davies era. Now taking the helm of DW, Moffatt has the luxury of exploring his theme ("The Girl Who Waited") at greater length, in greater detail, with greater resonance. The theme of waiting runs through "Fireplace" and "Blink" and "The Big Bang" and the titular "The Girl Who Waited" episode, among others.

Looks pretty good though I'm more than a little bumbed out that isn't a Christmas episode yet again.