Its fitting on the eve of a regeneration to write of loss and hope. The
BBC officially announced Matt Smiths departure from Doctor Who yesterday. Interestingly, Matt made his well-received directing debut a few days ago with Cargese 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 Doctors last run was a dark one. Death wound its way through all of the series 7b stories in one way or another. Im 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, Alzheimers, Parkinsons, 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, lets explore series 7b and the way in which death and loss were presented, poked and prodded.