Doctor Who Discovers Pond Life

TV Quick round up of the day's news. Firstly, Ben Cook and Lizo Mzimba on BBC Breakfast offering a first reaction to Matt Smith's new costume:

[video removed from YouTube]

The official BBC site has coverage but is admittedly trumped by the Daily Fail who have the more iconic shots you might have expected, including one of the Doctor and Amy and the TARDIS which looks brandlipsmakingspanking new and blue and seems to have regained some of its 60s iconography. Pity the windows are still the wrong size. The Guardian also has some rather good commentary, spotting a Press Gang connection. The Times has quotes.

As we've seen in the past, choosing the Doctor's image is a sonic screwdriver dodging minefield. Get it right and you have something fans will be beating down the door of the local Slaters or Greenwoods trying to recreate; get it wrong and your lead actor will spend his term on the show wearing what amounts to Test Card H or the kind of cricket jacket which still manages to look out of place on a cricket field.

I think this is a very well considered choice. With Matt, the temptation might have been to go with a far more casual appearance, something akin to what he was wearing in his first publicity shots, the jacket and t-shirt. This is braver, a kind of old school teacher or 40s newspaperman or indeed scientist, slightly incongruous, underscoring the idea of an ancient mind in a younger body and a nice contrast to Karen's rather more contemporary look.

The other news today was of course the reveal of companion Amy's surname. Pond. Amy Pond. Let that roll about in your mouth for a bit. It's the kind of name the 10th Doctor would relish saying, stressing the surname to its full stressablity. It doesn't tell us an awful lot about the character other than, contrary to what the conspiracy theorists had in mind that she's not Donna regenerated or Romana (their way of explaining why the name hadn't been sent out yet).

It's simply that The Grand Moff and the gang want to keep something back at such an early point in their new era. Like this (if you reeeally want to be spoiled). Exciting isn't it?