Doctor Who Series 7b: 5 Ways To Assess The Damage

By Mary Ogle /

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It€™s fitting on the eve of a regeneration to write of loss and hope. The BBC officially announced Matt Smith€™s departure from Doctor Who yesterday. Interestingly, Matt made his well-received directing debut a few days ago with €œCargese€ via Sky Arts Playhouse Presents. In a recent interview he hinted at continued involvement in series 8 of Doctor Who. Is it possible we may see him direct an upcoming episode? The mind races. The eleventh Doctor€™s last run was a dark one. Death wound its way through all of the series 7b stories in one way or another. I€™m almost the same age as this show and by this time I and my circle of family and friends have experienced death in so many ways - Cancer, Alzheimer€™s, Parkinson€™s, AIDS, car accidents, plane accidents, murder to name a few €“ that the inevitability of it is like a constant background ache. In some ways series 7b mirrored this middle-aged angst. How best to examine death than from the point of view of a being who may never die? Sometimes the only way to really see something is to remove yourself from it €“ to stand to the side and peek through the corner of your eye. With this in mind, let€™s explore series 7b and the way in which death and loss were presented, poked and prodded.