"...life depends on change, and renewal..."

As we head towards Doctor Who's 50th birthday on November 23rd, the storm clouds are gathering. There was all sorts of talk about how Dr Who would take over television, and how the programme was going to be entering its longest sustained period of production since it came back... but as things stand, the omens are not good. 

As things stand at the moment, there is very little confirmed for the anniversary year in respect of the main event itself, the show;

* - there's the second half of Season 7 of nu-Who, which really should have been on last year (don't forget in 2012, we had just six new Dr Who episodes), so that's 8 episodes.
* - there's a 60 minute anniversary episode. 

And that's all that's been confirmed thus far; albeit that this confirmation has been from promotional material seen at a toy fair, rather than as a result of a direct press release or promotion to the public at large.

The speculation that we'd get a special a month from June seems to have been, sadly, unfounded, as were such specials happening you'd expect mention of it at the toy fair. Also, that the show is on a production break at the moment, with filming due to resume in April would give insufficient time for this to happen anyway. And then there's the news that come May, Matt Smith is off to the US to film a movie...

Whilst it's true that there's no mention of a Christmas special yet, that doesn't mean there's not going to be one. It's been a lynchpin of the Christmas Day schedules since 1985, and I can't see that changing. 

Yes, there's all sorts of spin off stuff, re-issued books, the series of short stories, the Big Finish stuff, but really that's all small potatoes, and a sidebar to what should be the main event; the TV show.

The most substantial of the spin off material, and by far the most interesting is the behind the scenes drama, penned by Mark Gatiss, about the origins of the show, how it came to be, the casting of the leads, and (apparently) going all the way up to the departure of William Hartnell. I am very much looking forward to this... 

...but it does set me thinking... if you've got a cast of actors playing the parts of Hartnell et al, wouldn't it be just perfect to use these actors as the guest cast in an actual Dr Who story playing the roles of the 1st Doc, Susan, Barbara & Ian... wouldn't you just love to see 1st and 11th meet...?

...and if they're going up to the point where Hartnell leaves, does that mean the drama will cast an actor to play his replacement? Will there be a 2nd Doc, Polly and Ben in the drama? And if so, shouldn't they be in the main show as well...? 

It all starts to get intriguing. 

And, returning to the main show, if there is just this one anniversary episode to come, wouldn't that be the perfect time to have a surprise regeneration? If there's nothing else in the can come November (although indeed there might be; no-one knows filming schedules beyond April.) wouldn't the fall of the 11th, ending with a regeneration in to a new Doctor be just the cherry on top of the cake? 

Especially if that actor happens to be Adrian Lester, who would be just perfect as the 12th Doctor.

After all, we should always trust the Moff. He'll get it all right. 

Am I worrying about nothing with my ramblings above? I do hope so...