If you're a 'Doctor Who' fan and you're not excited, then there is something wrong with you.

Saturday brings the new season of the show on the BBC in England (either the fifth season or the 31st season depending on who you ask) with a new Doctor in the form of Matt Smith, a new companion in the form of Karen Gillan and a new showrunner in the form of Steven Moffat. For those that reside in the United States, there is a two week delay before the season premiere on BBC America on April 17th.

If you have never watched the show before, then the introduction of a new Doctor is an excellent place to start. Usually you find that the Doctor you start with becomes "your" Doctor. It's a wonderful cult that is far more interesting than Scientology, so please join.

Everything is different, and yet the same, just as we've come to expect with 'Doctor Who.'

According to Zap2It, the latest incarnation of the classic sci-fi series will have its American debut Sat., Apr. 17 on BBC America, just two weeks after it premieres in the U.K.

Among the changes to the 'Who' reboot include a new star (Matt Smith), a new companion (Karen Gillan, who will play Amy Pond) and a new head writer -- Steven Moffat, who will take over for Russell T. Davies. Moffat has been with the series since 2005.

As the title says, the Goth Geek God himself, Neil Gaiman, has penned an episode of the British iconic program 'Doctor Who'. Gaiman has already written for television (including an episode of 'Babylon 5' and his British TV series 'Neverwhere') but this represents the first time he has written for a program that he actually watched as a child. If you listen carefully, you can hear all the nerd brains around the world exploding.

Gaiman himself announced this at a British sci-fi convention this past weekend and shocked everyone with this bombshell during an award acceptance speech. However, the folks behind our favorite Time Lord would not confirm Gaiman's statement. Hopefully he didn't jump the gun with this announcement. It would be a shame if he had to renege on it later.

The episode might be called 'The House of Nothing' (the announcement is nothing if not vague) and supposedly will air sometime in 2011, during the next season. Neil Gaiman, meet Matt Smith.

[Warning: mild spoilers for Doctor Who: The End of Time ahead] David Tennant's tenure as Doctor Who ended this weekend, and not without a few tears (including a few from our own Brad Trechak).

On a personal note, this was the end of an era for me, because it was Tennant who pulled me back into Doctor Who a couple of seasons ago. I had heard the new series was great, but didn't manage to catch Christopher Eccleston's incarnation. I have since gone back and watched his series, but I may not have had Tennant not been such a fantastic fit for the role (Brad also explained this in out Best TV of the '00s feature).

So who cried at the end? I cried my eyes out.

It's very difficult to write about this episode without using any kind of spoiler. Excellent performances all around with a little more credit going to David Tennant for his final bow. They also broke out the remainder of the special effects budget for this one, probably spending more on this episode alone that an entire season of William Hartnell's era. There were also surprises galore along with some familiar faces at the end. Anybody that accuses me of spoiling the fact that this is Tennant's final episode has not been reading this site for the past six months.

Real spoilers follow ...

For those who live in England and watched the final moments of David Tennant's run as the Doctor, they were also treated to a trailer for the new season of Doctor Who starring Matt Smith. Thankfully, the miracle of the Internet brings such knowledge world-wide in a matter of moments after its completion.

More after the jump ...

BBC News has an article up regarding the upcoming changeover on Doctor Who (which is being broadcast on the BBC on New Year's Day and BBC America the day after), in which David Tennant will (presumably) regenerate into Matt Smith. They ask a few of the participating actors (minus the regeneratees, of course) as well as Russell T. Davies about the importance of regeneration in the series.

Regeneration is a brilliant idea, enabling the program to continue while changing the lead actor. This in turn allowed the program to continue on the air for 26 years before being put on hiatus, then restart a couple of times in the same universe without much fuss. The beautiful thing is that it's built into the character that every actor who plays him can be completely different. It doesn't suffer the limitations of, say, the different actors playing James Bond.

My first Doctor was Colin Baker and I started right after his regeneration from Peter Davison. Contrary to most fans, I enjoyed him in the role. For all you fans reading, which regeneration sticks in your mind?

Merry Christmas! In this pre-holiday podcast, Brad Trechak and Jason Hughes join me to talk about our favorite holiday episodes (think Festivus, folks), as well as the following:

• Brittany Murphy's death and how it caused NBC to pull a SNL Weekend Update bit from a few weeks ago,
• It's David Tennant's last days as Doctor Who, and we talk about his popular run and what's in store for his successor, Matt Smith,
• What TV-related items you can buy with the handful of gift cards you received during the holidays,
• How we might be watching TV during the next decade. Will the 30th season of The Simpsons be available telekinetically?
• Ask TV Squad, Comment of the Week, our picks of the week, and more!

Run time is 1:14:14.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick. Note that we recorded the podcast on Monday, and my pick of the week -- Jay Thomas on Letterman -- has already aired. Huh. I figured they'd wait until at least Christmas Eve for that one.

Prepare for some spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you. By the way, Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor (or the 12th, depending on how they spin David Tennant's extraneous regeneration) in case you didn't know.

Actually, it's not that bad. From an article posted on The Doctor Who News Page, it is learned that his new companion, Amy, is a police officer. In a few photos, he also seems to be wearing the remnants of Tennant's outfit. From the description, the Doctor is probably going through some post-regenerative trauma. When has the Doctor ever regenerated without trauma? Never, I think.

I know they film out of order, but it feels odd to know already what his outfit is going to look like. Here is one other possible minor spoiler: in the scenes filmed, the Sonic Screwdriver gets destroyed (and Matt Smith was slightly injured in the process). Between Matt Smith's age and that plot device, it's like Steven Moffat is trying to copy the Peter Davison era.

Every once in a while, the British television show Doctor Who is revamped. This is usually done by replacing the lead actor and his supporting crew. However, it is also done by changing the logo of the series. As a result, certain logos are associated with certain eras. Yesterday, the BBC has revealed on their website the logo to be associated with the Matt Smith era of the show. They also have a video of the historical logos of the show.

I don't have a particular favorite logo, although I liked both the "diamond" logo of the 70's, most closely associated with Tom Baker's era, and the "neon" logo of the 80's, which spanned three Doctors (Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker). The current one isn't bad either with the cylinder thing with pointy ends (what is that shape called?).

A video preview of thenew logo is available on certain sites such as Topless Robot. What do you think of it? Which logo has been your favorite?

Filming is underway for season five (called series five in the U.K.) of the adventures of everyone's favorite Time Lord, Doctor Who, and naturally, a few secrets of the next season have already been leaked.

For the benefit of those who don't wish to be spoiled, the goodies will be revealed after the jump. The rest of you can go about your business.

In a victory for nerdy Brit-philes everywhere, BBC America has announced the acquisition of U.S. broadcast rights for the fifth season of Doctor Who starring the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith. This is on the tail of announcing record ratings for the American broadcast of the Doctor Who episode Planet of the Dead and the mini-series Torchwood: Children of Earth.

This is all the more reason to curse my cable company for not actually carrying BBC America and having to resort to other means to watch one of my favorite programs of all time. You know when a network tells you to call your cable company to carry your favorite stations? I will personally testify in a court of law that it accomplishes jack squat.

There are no other television stations that could correctly carry Doctor Who in the states. SyFy? Oh please. Their first run with the series was lukewarm at best. The Doctor is home, and I look forward to catching his new adventures however I can.

The new Doctor Who, Matt Smith, and gal pal Anna Pond (Karen Gillan) seem to be stranded on a beach in more new set photos and a video of the series' first day of shooting. (Fans will notice the Doctor is holding a brand new sonic screwdriver.)

I'm really looking forward to the Doctor's return (or the new Doctor's arrival, however you wish to look at it) in 2010. The first two brilliant hours of Torchwood: Children of Earth have me wanting to dive back into the rich sci-fi world created by Russell T. Davies.

The new actor to play the lead role on Doctor Who, Matt Smith, has begun filming his first episodes. Thus, the paparazzi were able to snap some photos of his outfit. Despite being the youngest actor to play the role, he's dressed like the oldest. It's something of a full-color version of Patrick Troughton's outfit from the 1960's. Perhaps it's a hipster thing.

It's been suggested online that he's going for a science teacher look, and that would actually be pretty retro of the show (which was originally intended to teach children about science and history, although I'm not sure how meeting cavemen followed by Daleks teaches either).

Mr. Smith has pretty big shoes to fill, particularly considering that by the time he was considered of age to watch the show, it was off the air. Still, Steven Moffat is now the showrunner, so I'm confident that despite the loss of David Tennant and however the Doctor looks, it will still be among the best shows on television.

The rumors flow like wine. Once again, "news" has surfaced that a Doctor Who movie is in the works. Supposedly this one has a bit more merit because the BBC has confirmed that one is in development, yet they don't link to a press release of any kind. Forgive me if I have some doubts.

If true, which Doctor is it? Will it be David Tennant or Matt Smith? And which showrunner is it? Russell T. Davies or Steven Moffat? Or is the answer none of the above?

There has been a lot of recent developments in the Doctor Who world. A movie is the next logical step.

If I had my druthers, the movie would be about the Time War (the Daleks being the obvious choice for the alien enemy of the movie). It would star Paul McGann and fill the gap between the 1996 television movie and the 2005 relaunch. The odds are so astronomically against as to be incalculable, but I can dream.