Well it wasn't Marco Polo...

TV And here we are again. The next series of Doctor Who begins 19th September 2015, which with twelve episodes puts the finale on the 5th December which is astonishingly late in the year, assuming it's not a bloody split season. The trailer is what it is, the usual confusion of images, some of them intriguing, others confusing and one shot in a familiar cave based locale which probably is supposed to be somewhere else.  Very dark and blue.

The overall impression is to stress the Doctor as being a much more positive figure.  Definitive talk of the Doctor "saving people" which is a step up and a lot of shots of him smiling, which I know he did a lot last time despite everything but this seems more upbeat as though he's enjoying being in his own skin.  More heroic somehow.  Which perhaps suggests the production team have seen the criticism from last time and decided to try something else.

Right then, Maisie Williams.  If previous years are anything to go by it'll probably turn out that the Doctor's simply reacting to seeing a character of the week, but just in case ... younger version of Clara or a new incarnation of a familiar Time Lord, so River, Jenny, Donna, The Rani, Romana, Iris or Susan.  Or another family member we've not met before like Susan's mother or the Doctor's actual wife.  They do seem to be making a big thing of her casting. Old man, look at my life ...