Posted in: Movies | Tagged: bbc, bbc america, doctor who, film, orphan black, tv, wondercon

I Saw Today's Doctor Who Yesterday And Didn't Even Need A Tardis

Joshua Stone writes the following article from WonderCon. I am not reading it, just in case. There may be spoilers, I don't know. Maybe Brendon will tell me.

I was super excited to attend the showing of the new episode of Doctor Who. While there was no accompanying panel, I felt like there would be something special about watching an episode with over a thousand like minded nerds.

I decided to play it a little safe by getting to the room an hour early, and this was the right idea – they cut off the line just ten or see people behind me.

The 6.00 pm Femme Fatales panel had just started. It was quite clear that something like 99% of the people in the room were there to make sure the had a seat to watch Doctor Who. I say 99% because I think the panelists were only there for their panel – but to their credit they clearly recognized this and they repeatedly made references to Doctor Who, throwing it in here or there to get a cheap reaction from the audience.

The panelists did all they could to win the crowd over, but most people were busy checking their phones or playing Angry Birds.

When the panel ended the only people who left the room were those people who were on the Femme Fatales panel itself. It was announced before the episode started that there was a full line waiting outside and so they were going to reshow Doctor Who and Orphan Black twice, starting again after the originally scheduled times, clearing the room inbetween.

So… the lights went down. The audience went wild. The title appeared – The Bells of Saint John. I'm not going to tell you what it refers to. I don't want to spoil the joke.

Indeed, am going to do my best not provide any spoilers at all, but I will point out a thing or two.

For example, here's an Easter Egg – one day early for you, two days early for me. In the shot where we see Clara disconnecting from talking to the Doctor over the house intercom, there is scarf hanging on the wall. It just so happens to match the scarf worn by the 4th Doctor.

When the episode ended, most of the audience left the room before Orphan Black began. I don't know how this reflects on the overall interest in the show, but it certainly seems like this audience decided to orphan Orphan Black before even seeing her.

Doctor Who always plays well, but it played better as part of a large audience. Orphan Black… didn't get to have that large audience.

Both shows screen tonight – Doctor Who on the BBC and BBC America, Orphan Black on BBC America.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!