View source for Mystery and sorrow in new season of Doctor Who

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| publication = The Fourth Estate
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| date = 2012-09-18
| author = Dylan Dobson
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| language = English
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Do you know what your friends are doing this weekend? If they are fans of the television series Doctor Who, theyve likely already cleared their calendars for the next several Saturdays in anticipation of the series new season.

Doctor Who, now in the seventh season of its second incarnation spanning five decades of science fiction adventure, is more popular in the U.S. today than ever.

The show has been able to accomplish such longevity through the use of a simple yet important plot device: the protagonist, the Doctor, is able to reincarnate himself. This device has allowed the show to outlive the contracts of its stars time and time again.

The last time Doctor Who experienced a major recasting was in 2009. Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith replaced fan-favorite David Tenant as the shows lead. He also brought with him some of the Doctors most beloved companions yet in the form of Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan, and Rory Williams, played Arthur Darvill. Gillan and Darvill provide a very human element to the series otherwise peculiar cast of alien creatures.

However, this season is set to be the final one featuring Gillan and Darvill, with an ending for their characters that has been called heartbreaking by series producer Stephen Moffat.

The Sept. 22 episode of Doctor Who will mark the fourth episode of the season, as well as the ultimate episode for Amy and her husband Rory.

Past seasons have explored Amys role as a strong heroine, placing her in the middle of a quirky love triangle between Rory and the Doctor.

Though she may joke about infidelity, last years season cemented her love for Rory via the reveal that River Song, one of the shows many reoccurring characters, was their long-lost daughter. Long-lost is, of course, used relatively here, as the nonlinear plot of the series, which spans time and space, often throws viewers for a loop.

So far, this season of Doctor Who has brought the main characters of the series to the brink of doom and despair.

They've been surrounded by death to the point where its not hard to imagine the worst of ends for Amy and Rory.

Asylum of the Dahleks, the first episode of the new season, introduces incoming companion Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, in a fashion befitting a Greek tragedy. The Doctor and his companions are deployed by his arch nemeses, the Dahleks, to save their evil race from an arctic asylum planet. Along the way they encounter the trapped Oswin only to find she has a sinister secret which even she is unaware of. This episode exhibited much promise for the rest of the season and raises questions as to the logistics of Oswin being the Doctors new companion.

The follow-up episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, begins much more lightheartedly than Asylum of the Dahleks, -only to devolve into a tale of greed and genocide.

Fans of the Harry Potter series will be sure to point out guest actors Mark Williams and David Bradley (who played Arthur Weasley and Argus Filch respectively) in this episode, which also notes a steady increase of high-profile cameos the show has enjoyed over the years.

All in all, this season shows a lot of promise and heartbreak for fans of the series, who will surely be glued to their televisions and keyboards for the next few months as they analyze and fawn over each and every odd detail.

Doctor Who airs on BBC America Saturdays at 8 p.
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