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Doctor Who
The press launch for the new season took place yesterday in Wales where an almost completed cut of the first episode was screened. A few spoiler-light reviews are up at The BBC, Den of Geek, The Sun, Sky TV, The Guardian and The Times Online.

New facts garnered are that the show will get a Christmas Special this year and has already been renewed for another full season next year with Matt Smith returning as The Doctor. Filming on the special and next season kicks off in early July in Cardiff while filming on the current season wraps this Saturday. A post-premiere trailer was aired showing off what's to come during the rest of the season with a glimpse of the Cybermen in the clip apparently, probably relating to the final two-parter. A 30-second clip from the early moments of the opening episode (new Doc talking to a younger incarnation of new companion Amy Pond)

A few more details of the new look, three-level "steampunk-inspired" TARDIS interior have also come to light with the central control console consisting of all sorts of wacky instruments - a typewriter, a 1980s touchphone, a 1970's digital clock, a gramophone speaker, a petrol pump, a morse code machine, hot/cold water taps, dials and pistons and a blown glass 'time rotor'.

There's also a door leading to other rooms within the machine's interior including a library and Swimming Pool which Matt Smith's Doctor makes a quick reference to in the opening episode (the pool was seen in the classic series). Moffat explains the design to The Guardian saying "there is no such thing as modern to the Tardis... [it] rebuilds itself around the new Doctor and because the Doctor is completely mad, it builds itself around his madness."

With three weeks to go, a swath of updates on the first season of the next incarnation of "Doctor Who" have come through so lets get to it starting with a new batch of photos from the first episode at Dr Who TV.

Premiere Dates (Updated)
The BBC have confirmed a Saturday April 3rd bow at 6:25pm GMT for the Season Premiere in the UK (and are officially calling it "Series Five"). That's two weeks ahead of the US and Australian broadcasts which will kick off the new season from Saturday April 17th on BBC America and Sunday April 18th on ABC1 respectively.

US fans can get an earlier sneak peek just a few hours after the UK broadcast at the San Francisco Wondercon on the evening of April 3rd. BBC America also confirmed via Twitter that unlike the Syfy broadcasts and the repeats of the Tennant-era episodes they've previously run, this season will be broadcast without any cuts or editing. This includes the extended season premiere which will run with "limited commercial interruption".

Australian fans who can wait will be able to watch the premiere online, legally, through ABC's free iView service two days earlier from just after midnight on Friday April 16th.

Character Talk
The Telegraph has done a lengthy set visit-style article talking with the producers and stars of the new series during filming on the first broadcast episode of the new season and a few months later during the tail end of production.

Amongst the new facts garnered is that unlike Tennant's previous companions, don't expect Amy Pond to be taking trips home to see the happy family, a trait that helps her and the Time Lord bond - "Because Amy has no parents, she’s this Scottish girl in an English village. So they’re both lost souls that have found each other. And they both have a sense of adventure about them, and I think that’s what the Doctor loves about Amy. She has that spirit in her, and that fire. She keeps him on his toes" says actress Karen Gillan.

Showrunner Stephen Moffat's aim for the new show is "not to be shit... The audience, whether they’re eight years old or 48, they’re not waiting to see why it’s different or strange or new, they’re just wanting it to be really good. It’s actually an incredibly easy challenge to make something different. It’s incredibly hard to make something good."

The writer has also given a description of Matt Smith's work as the new Doctor that he's seen - " funny but not comical, thoughtful but not academic... Smith is certainly his own Doctor. Less prickly than Eccleston and without the slapstick of Tennant, he brings an air of muddled intensity that’s a bit reminiscent of, say, Tom Baker."

TARDIS Talk
The most exciting bit of new information in that Telegraph article though is the discussion of the new TARDIS interior set which we won't see until the end of the first episode (so far spy photos and trailers have shown only tiny glimpses of small portions of it). Here's the description they give with more details than ever before:

"It must be three times the size of Tennant’s, on multiple levels with staircases in between. Less grubby than its predecessor, with a transparent plastic floor on the main level, its walls are resplendent with polished copper and its central column features a blown glass decoration that could be straight from Tales of the Unexpected.

There are old car seats and downstairs – downstairs! – a swing. With a nod to Paul McGann’s Tardis, the central column features an old TV screen on an extendable trellis. It also has a 1980s-style computer keyboard, and a His-Master’s-Voice style trumpet speaker."

Wii Game
Finally The Sun reports that Nintendo has agreed to a contract with the BBC said to be worth over £10 million to create a much-anticipated 'Who' game for its popular Wii and DS consoles based around Matt Smith's doctor.

The main difficulty up until now has been coming up with a game idea that doesn't have a shooter element seeing as The Doctor blasting aliens left and right with guns is completely out of character.

Source http://www.darkhorizons.com