Welcome to Matt Smith's weekly Sunday School!

Very good friend Matt Smith (no not the Doctor Who actor!) and I go back a few years, all the way to our time together at that very strange television station in Reidsville, North Carolina.  I learned a lot about video and broadcasting from Matt, and I continue to learn much from him since his becoming active with the online realm, sharing his talents and his calling as a minister.

For the past two or three years Matt has been maintaining a weekly series of "Sunday school" lessons.  Every Saturday he posts a new one on YouTube.  I for one have been benefiting from Matt's devotionals and I think that others might will also.  Click on over to Matt's YouTube channel and prepare to be edified, enlightened, and maybe even a little entertained.

Thank you for all that you do my brother!

Read More

The most bestest scene from "The Day of the Doctor"

"The Day of the Doctor" became a truly epic event: the kind of cultural milestone ranking up there with the premiere of Star Wars in 1977, Woodstock and the final episode of M*A*S*H.  The day after the fiftieth anniversary special of Doctor Who aired, Guinness certified it as the most-watched simulcast of a dramatic presentation ever.

I purchased "The Day of the Doctor" from iTunes as soon as it was made available and have watched it all the way through twice and some scenes many times.  And they were plentiful: "NO MORE", the Moment, the tribute to past companions (including Captain Jack Harkness, and why are River Song's red high-heels hanging there anyway??) in the Black Archive, all of those TARDISes that swooped out of nowhere, that very fleeting glimpse - with an anger and determination that would cower Hell itself - of the Twelfth Doctor's eyes, finally seeing the regeneration that produced the Ninth Doctor, the dream sequence of the Eleventh Doctor joining his previous lives as they look toward Gallifrey, all accompanied by a majestic score by Murray Gold...

All very wonderful.  Very beautiful.  Steven Moffat and his team pulled off what can only be described as the perfect Doctor Who story for the fiftieth anniversary.  One loaded with iconic scenes that have already become beloved by fans.

But there was one scene that stood tallest of them all.

It was the scene that most paid homage to where The Doctor has gone before while setting the stage for that which is yet to come.  The scene that sent Doctor Who fans worldwide into a collective gasp followed by screams of wild rejoicing.  And certainly what will prove to be the most pivotal scene of the series since its revival in 2005.

Here it is again for your viewing pleasure...


That surely will go down as the high point of Matt Smith's career as the Eleventh Doctor.  You just can't top sharing a scene with Tom Baker: the one who will, for many of us, forever be "my favorite Doctor".

Read More

And the Twelfth Doctor shall bear the face of... Peter Capaldi!

On December 25th, we will bear witness to the fall of the Eleventh and the rise of the Twelfth.

And it will be Peter Capaldi who will be the next actor to portray The Doctor on Doctor Who, the BBC announced moments ago:



The always-emotional regeneration will take place during this year's Christmas special, as Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor will pass the torch - and the responsibilities that come with such an iconic role - to Capaldi.

I am hearing nothing but insanely good things about Capaldi. He was mostly recently seen as a W.H.O. doctor in World War Z (no really, he was) but he's most familiar to British audiences for his work on the comedy series The Thick of It.

Interestingly, Capaldi is also the same age - 55 - that William Hartnell was when he first played The Doctor in 1963. I know lots of people who've said that the BBC would never again have an actor over 40 as The Doctor. The choice of Peter Capaldi dashes that but good. Personally, I think it's time for an older actor to once again steer the TARDIS. The Doctor is well over 900 years old and has had to experience and endure so much: an older actor can convey that kind of triumph and tragedy better than a younger man could. All the while maintaining that childlike sense of wonder at the universe that is a hallmark of The Doctor, whatever incarnation he is in.

On Christmas Day, the clock strikes Twelve.

And from this moment on, Peter Capaldi's life will never, ever be the same.

Congrats to Peter Capaldi, and long live the Twelfth Doctor!

Read More

Matt Smith leaving DOCTOR WHO in this year's Christmas special

On December 25th, time is up for the Eleventh Doctor...

Matt Smith, who the BBC announced four and a half years ago would be the one to play The Doctor after David Tennant left the role, is leaving Doctor Who at the end of this current season.  It will be during this year's Christmas special that the Eleventh Doctor will regenerate, and Smith will hand off to a new actor.

It was really bittersweet to hear that news tonight.  I do think that Matt Smith is taking his bow at the top of his game.  In no small part because of his portrayal of The Doctor, the show has never before been so wildly popular.  The past several years have seen Doctor Who truly become a global sensation, and in this blogger's opinion Smith has become one of the very, very few deserving to be recognized as a pop icon.  He will be the reigning Doctor for the massive fiftieth anniversary special coming on November 23rd.  After everything he has accomplished as the Eleventh Doctor, it would be really hard to find a way to top all of that and go out bigger than that.

But all the same, I think I'm going to miss Matt Smith's Doctor more than any other.  In too many ways than could readily be gone into, the era of the Eleventh really did wind up my favorite of the revived series.

Even so, he will not be soon forgotten.  Because of Matt Smith, "bow ties were never cooler", as showrunner Steven Moffat said earlier today.  Indeed, no other Doctor has made such an impact on modern fashion.

So here it is at last.  Matt Smith is about to leave one of the most legendary roles in the history of television.

And as Moffat put it, "Somewhere out there right now - all unknowing, just going about their business - is someone who's about to become the Doctor.  A life is going to change."

And so begins the craziest sweepstakes in modern culture's memory.  Who... Who... will be the next Doctor?!?  If y'all thought the madness over five golden tickets to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory was something, y'all ain't seen nothin' yet...

EDIT 12:10 a.m. EST:  In light of tonight's news, I'm feeling led to post the clip of Matt Smith's first true scene as The Doctor.  And by that I mean: that singular moment when he grasped the mantle of The Doctor and claimed it as his own, with no going back.  Yes, Matt Smith was the one playing the person who David Tennant's Tenth Doctor regenerated into... but this was the moment, in "The Eleventh Hour", when he became The Doctor:

To say nothing of the regeneration scene itself, considered by many to be the finest in the history of the show. It was certainly the most emotional.

Read More

New DOCTOR WHO trailer hints explosive action for Series 7

Or is that Season 33? I mean, look at this new promo art that the BBC has released for the new season of Doctor Who...

That's darn nearly every model of Dalek since the show first began in 1963! If you look toward the left there's even the Special Weapons Dalek, first (and until now last) shown in the 1988 story Remembrance of the Daleks back when Sylvester McCoy was the Doctor.

You can click on that image for a much larger version, bringing every detail of the Eleventh Doctor's grim, bloody visage into stark clarity. To say nothing of Amy Pond unconscious in his arms.

And as awesome as that pic is, well... here's the trailer which hit the Intertubes yesterday:

The first episode of the new season, said to be "Asylum of the Daleks", doesn't have a transmission date yet but widespread word is that it'll premier later this month on BBC One and BBC America.

Read More

BBC releases first look at Matt Smith in full DOCTOR WHO garb

Production has now begun on next year's season of Doctor Who (following the hiatus it took during 2009) and the BBC has published the first photo of Matt Smith in full costume. Smith will be the next actor to take on the iconic role of the Doctor (taking over from David Tennant).

So what does the Eleventh Doctor look like? Here he is (along with new companion Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan)...

Heck, that's darn near how I dress on a regular basis! I mean, nice shirt along with rugged pants and sturdy boots... except I don't usually wear a bow tie :-P

Next season's Doctor Who will be the first with new showrunner Steven Moffat at the helm. If that name doesn't ring a bell, I probably only have to mention that he wrote the previous episodes "The Girl in the Fireplace" and the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" two-parter and that should be enough to make you swoon with eager anticipation.

Can't wait to see the Doctor's newest adventures in time and space when they begin again next spring!

Read More

And the Eleventh Doctor will bear the face of... Matt Smith!

Matt Smith, who at age 26 will be the youngest person ever to take on the role, will be the next actor to portray the Doctor on Doctor Who, the BBC announced today.

This will be the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor since the series began all the way back in November 1963. Smith will take over from David Tennant, who has been playing the Doctor since the finale of the revived series's first season in 2005. Presumably the changeover will happen during the Christmas special a little less than a year from now.

In case you're wondering how this happens, the Doctor is a Time Lord from Gallifrey and whenever his current body gets too old or injured (or there's a contract dispute with the BBC) he has the ability to "regenerate": giving him a new body and usually a slightly different personality. So it's been the same Doctor ever since the beginning, just different versions of the guy.

And already, even before regeneration takes place, Matt Smith faces potentially more than any other Doctor before him. There's River Song who odds are good he'll finally "meet for the first time" now that Steven Moffat will be running the show. But on a more sinister note it has been rumored that Moffat wants to address the nasty business of the Valeyard now that we're getting Doctor #11.

What do I think of Matt Smith as the Doctor? I really don't know anything about him. But I definitely believe he looks like a potentially good Doctor. We shall see, beginning this coming December! :-)

Read More

The electrician is still scratchin' his head ...

This brings whole new meaning to "squirrel power". And no, he did not survive...

Good friend Matt Smith works on a bulletin board and found this posted by a radio engineer in Tennessee. Thanks for forwarding it this way Matt!

Read More