from here.

NERD ALERT: I’m excited about the start of series 5 of Doctor Who this weekend.

I could post nothing but geeky teaser photos/youtube clips for the rest of the week, I really could. But then again, if you haven’t noticed, this is me being honest and open and not so guilty about my “guilty pleasure” television show.

Back in the day, Buffy The Vampire Slayer was my “guilty pleasure” show that I didn’t tell anyone I watched. Well, for the first season. It started, I’ll admit, with a borderline insane crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar (which actually included Swan’s Crossing and her on All My Children), and was nurtured by the fact that Buffy had some of the best, smartest, and most fun writing on television at the time. It was the show where, come that time at that night, I’d unplug the phone and make myself unavailable. No one really had cell phones or a rampant internet presence back then, so it was just a little bit easier.

But then somewhere in the middle of season two of that lovely show, a bizarre thing happened: Sitting in front of me in class one day I overheard one of the geeky girls, your band/art nerd stereotype talking with one of the big dumb jock guys about Buffy and Angel having sex. Do you remember that cliffhanger? The girl, who would later in life discover livejournal and live happily ever after, and the guy, who probably slipped himself GHB one day and now works at Geico, had a lot to discuss about it (the girl was spot on, of course, that Angel had experienced a moment of “perfect happiness” and now had to pay the price for it, and the dude assumed that Buffy had the clap or something).

The reflective TARDIS sculpture, by Mark Wallinger.

But sitting there, watching and listening to them, I figured… Fuck it. Guilt is useless about these things. Unless you like drivel like Flash Forward. I mean, hell, you know that show Human Target on FOX currently? I watch that show (on Hulu), and it’s fucking horrible. Real, palpable bullshit, I tell you. So, so many flaws. A ludicrous amount of flaws! But, in small bits here and there, it’s not horrible. Every once in a while a fog clears on that show and there’s something old school and enjoyable shimmering through the curtain of mediocrity. But that’s a whole other post (to come!), I think. So, yeah, I like this smart, well produced and well written science fiction TV show from across the pond called Doctor Who. It comes back this weekend, debuting the new Doctor and his companion, and the new creative team, and I’m excited. In fact, I couldn’t be more excited.

You’ve already seen the 3D theatrical teaser here, but…

Here’s the latest UK trailer for the new season:

Here’s the American (or, rather, BBC America) trailer:

If you click here, you can see a scene from episode 6 of the new season, “Vampires In Venice,” which gives you a real first look at the portrayal of the Matt Smith iteration of the Doctor. It originally aired on Jonathan Ross last week. If you click here, you can see a bevy of behind the scenes clips from the new season, particularly the opening sequence of the first episode of the new season, in which the TARDIS flies wildly and out of control over London with the Doctor hanging over the side, clinging on for dear life. And here is a nice little blog about related things if you’re a dork like myself. Oh, and here’s a look at the new TARDIS interior, which just looks ridiculous and insane and way, way too colorful…

I’m fascinated by the differences in the marketing between one country and the next. The UK trailer certainly seems more… honest, I think is the word I’m looking for. Here’s a bumbling, insane protagonist, one who’s amazingly and painfully self assure, as seen through the normal human woman (with what I’m assuming now will be a gift for almost Lucille Ball-esque comedic facial expressions/reactions) who travels with him. The American trailer seems more built up, in an attempt to showcase certain heroic aspects rather… inaccurately? Does that make sense?

Whatever. I’m too excited to make sense now. Gonna go update my livejournal and make fanboy youtube clips with nothing but SQUEE-like dolphin noises of hysteric elation.