His Darkest Hour

Argh! It's here! Doctor Who's mid-series finale, A Good Man Goes To War, is only one more sleep away. As my bow tie is positively buzzing with excitement I thought I'd compile a list of things we know about Doctor Who's 777th episode ever so far - not sure this will calm me down though, in fact it will most likely have the opposite effect, but I'll still carry on with it.

1. A revelatory rhyme

The Doctor Who homepage reveals a chilling nursery rhyme-esque poem read by River Song - presumably to feature in the episode tomorrow - read at your peril.

Demons run when a good man goes to war
Night will fall and drown the sun,
when a good man goes to war
friendship dies and true love lies
night will fall and the dark will rise,
when a good man goes to war.


2. The crackpot cast list

Several characters to feature in AGMGTW have been revealed in some official photos:

Of course, newly-mummed Ms Pond will presumably be at the heart of this story and so will her baby daughter who, it has been revealed, is named Melody. Whether she's a Willliams or a Pond has yet to be discovered.

These mysterious men of the church are largley unknown to us as of yet other than that they are the Headless Monks. Although, I'm sure its save to say their not on the Doctor's side.

Ah, that enigmatic Eye Patch Lady who has been plaguing Amy over the past few weeks with her whispered words of "Push" and "Breathe". At last, we find out who she really is and what the heck she wants with Amy and her child - is she in league with the Silence who also seemed to have an unhealthly interest in the young Pond. For now, all we know is her name: Madame Kovarian.

This one's really got me. We don't know much about this eccentricly-dressed young woman, apart from a few short glimpses in the trailer. However, her name is what's really grabbing my attention: Jenny. If the Doctor's going into war, at the Battle of Demons Run, would he reconnect with his estranged daughter - in her second incarnation - first? We'll find out tomorrow. Hopefully.

He's back! Dorium Maldovar, proprioter of the space bar, the Maldovarium, where we saw Doctor Ten say goodbye to Jack in 2010s The End of Time, was previously in the series when River came to him to buy a Vortex Manipulator ("fresh off the hand of a handsome Time Agent") in last year's penultimate episode The Pandorica Opens. Looks like ol' Dorium always shows up when things get tough.

Weee! Those lovable potato - heads, the Sontarans, have returned! Well, at least one has in the - very minute - form of Commander Strax.

Aaand finally, to round up the Doctor's motley crew, helping him to save Amy and her child are...the Cybermen! I know, not the first species you'd expect to come to the rescue. Apparently, they're the 12th Cyber Legion. Maybe that's a rogue group of nice Cybermen?


3. Precious Prequel

The BBC have released a prequel to Good Man which shows Dorium visited by those mysterious Headless Monks. He gives them a warning not to get the Doctor angry. One I'm sure they'll not heed to. On the same link you can also find two one miute clips taken from the episode one of Dorium (again) being arrested by Kovarian and her men and the second is perhaps more intriguing as it shows a desperate Rory trying to plead a reluctant River Song to join the Doctor and he on their quest to find Amy. But that's all we're getting till tomorrow. Spoilers!


4. Super synopsis!

And to see you off, here's a tantalising synopsis of tomorrow's episode from Doctor Who Magazine:

'Hanging among the stars in the far distant future, an asteroid - and a bleak grey fortress built into the misshapen rock. This is Demons Run. In a prison hospital, Amy Pond kisses her one-month-old daughter goodbye. "Wherever they take you, however scared you are" she tells her, "I promise you, you will never be alone."
Twenty thousand light years away, the Doctor has a message for the Twelfth Cyber Legion. The Last Centurion has a question that consumes his every waking moment.
And at Stormcage Containment Facility, in the fifty-second century, River Song is preparing to escape for what may be the very last time...  '


5. And Finally...

Well, all these eye-popping, gut-wrenching, heart-tugging, teeth-clenching teasers have hopefully got you in thr mood for Episode 777 tomorrow but to ensure you don't stay awake all night, humming with excitement, here's a nice puzzle to ensure you get some sleep tonight. Enjoy!

And remember, His Darkest Hour has come, the Battle of Demons Run is about to commence and a good man, the best man you've ever known, may just die. Please, be there for him.

Cheerio!