Oh, thank goodness. Nice to have that confirmed, after all our speculation.

… although this raises questions, the first of which is: can a Christmas special be a series finale?

Of course, the quick answer is yes: The End of Time springs to mind (admittedly the final bit was on New Year, but you know what I mean.) On the other hand, Moffat’s Christmas specials have so far been completely separate from the series themselves, and in rather a different tone. Imagine AGMGTW at Christmas. Ouch. Doesn’t work, does it? The others, by which I mean TBB and TWoRS, fit slightly better, but they’re still not in the same key as ACC and TDTWaTW.

So, if we assume for the sake of argument that the Christmas Special will remain separate to the series, that requires a slight gap in between ep13 and the special. Christmas this year falls on a Tuesday, so let’s say the series will end at the latest two Saturdays previously, on the 15th. That puts ep1 on 22nd September at the latest.

Okay. September. I can deal with that. What I wouldn’t be able to deal with is an assertion that an amazing show was coming back in the autumn and then in fact airing in January *coughSherlockcough*.

Thoughts, all?

Well thats taken everyone by surprise then ! lol ! But hey, its amazinly brilliant news and I for one cant wait till the autumn !

@TSG
HAve to agree with everything you’ve said, tho, I would have no problem with the Christmas Special being the season finale. The Christmas Special is a “feel good” ep just as much as any season finale so why not combine the 2 and have a Christmassy feel good finale ? Just a thought…?

So he’s saying that we’ll get a full series all in one go, a sort of rush towards Christmas in the autumn?

If so, I wasn’t expecting that. I thought all the evidence pointed to half a series in the autumn and half a series in 2013.

Assuming we are reading this right and we’re getting a full series this year, I have to admit that is great news.

@JC
Not sure how you could “read it wrong” ?

Hang on, in no way does he confirm all these episodes will be shown this year. He says there will be at least 14 in Series 7, with the Christmas special being a part of it, but that does not mean that the series will not be split between this year and next. This story is misleading.

Glad to see this has been clarified. I mean, it made sense that all thirteen episodes would be broadcast before the Series Eight Christmas Special as it wouldn’t make sense to have a fun gap in the middle of a dramatic storyline.

Moff also has said that there won’t be a story arc in series 7. So the series could be split. 7 episodes in the fall, a few weeks break and then a Christmas special (not necessarily a “Christmasy” story) and then another short break before the final 6 episodes.

I would be up for that!

Exactly, that’s why I said what he could have been read wrong, because what he’s said could apply to the original theory that it’d be half this year and half next year.

In no way will the Christmas special be the season finale. It has to be a self-contained story not bogged down with anything that’s happened that year to attract the widest possible audience. Moffat also likes them to be really Christmassy.

im so excited about this news the only problem that there is now is wait so long for about 10 months to watch them all :)

I am excited as anyone about this news, don’t get me wrong – more episodes is better than a few. However, I am somewhat dubious about the level of ’straight-forward’ banter that seems to be coming from Moffat. Generally he likes to keep us all guessing and there have been very few cases in which he has been THIS open about what is to happen.
Especially considering that Series 7 seems so impossibly far away, with filming expected to start next month.

Still, I can’t believe no-one has questioned the possibility that Moffat is being more cryptic about his answer than we believe – any Whovian that follows Doctor Who news knows that Matt Smith has signed on for at least fourteen episodes and while he hasn’t said he is going to leave after that, I feel that the twelfth Doctor isn’t too far away. Unfortunately. ( I really quite adore him )

Maybe there is a possible correlation between the two?

With the 50th Anniversary coming up, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they changed it dramatically and, as a few of us might suspect, a regeneration or two are almost a given.

The surprises will be dramatic to the point that everything will be top-secret and a possible regeneration will be covered up to the best of their ability. I honestly think there is a possibility that we won’t know about the ‘Fall of the Eleventh’ until a couple of weeks leading up to it.

The cast, crew and particularly Moffat take a particular joy to giving us all heart-attacks.

Even though the talk surrounding that impossibly gorgeous lady is just bare, speculative rumor at this point in time, there could be the possibility that Sophia Myles might be a bit more than a companion…?

It may be somewhat outlandish, but I just found the whole situation a bit odd.

Then again, I might be over-thinking it all.
As you were.
x

@Anastasia G I think you are over-thinking a lot of this.

Matt Smith has very much said he has no plans to leave any time soon and reportly signed a 5 year contract, whcih means it’d go beyond 2013. Also if anyone has actually watched the interview with Moffat on this he’s very much all over the place, clearing trying not to give too much away. So, thsi article is quite misleading, especially with the title.

Tbh I think Matt Smith will be around for quite a while yet, and that’s not just wishful thinking, because he seems very much up to continuing on with the role fro as long as possible.

‘There will never be a better time to be a Doctor Who fan’. So its a good time to be a Doctor Who fan but a bad time to be a Torchwood fan (it would appear to be ending permanently (/2012/02/eve-reaffirms-torchwoods-in-limbo-talks-movie/comment-page-1/#comment-17508).

@Anastasia G
I hope the ‘fall of the eleventh’ isn’t coming too soon. It would be good to see Matt do a few more years as The Doctor before he hands the Sonic Screwdriver and TARDIS keys to a new actor.