If it's November, it's time for a little bit of extra Doctor Who thanks to the annual BBC charity marathon Children in Need. But did this year's extra offer any hints about what to expect from the post-Amy Pond Eleventh Doctor?

A Retired Doctor?

So, now we know: the Doctor really is taking the loss of Amy and Rory pretty badly. He claims to be retired, but that's clearly a pose (Otherwise, why answer the summons for help?) to cover up both his grieving process and his guilt over being unable to save his two best friends. It's interesting; we've seen the Doctor lose companions before and not be this distraught, and we've also seen him travel alone before and not be this grim. What - beyond Clara, of course - could bring him out of this funk…?

Hello, Old Friends

Even though we've only seen them once before, it's surprisingly nice to see Commander (Now "Mr.") Strax, Madame Vastra and Jenny again; when we met them in "A Good Man Goes To War" last year, they seemed like characters that could've supported their own spin-off should someone have deemed to give them one. Somehow, I suspect that this year's Christmas Special may be as close as we're ever going to come to that, but you know what? I'll take it.

Hello, Old Setting

Of course we're back in Victorian London again for the Christmas episode. I feel like this is the default setting for holiday episodes, for some reason, despite the fact that it's not actually been used that many times before (In "The Next Doctor," yes, but otherwise…?). Perhaps it's the Dickensian thing. I wonder if we'll actually get to meet Charlie again this time around? I wonder if Simon Callow could be convinced to appear in a festive cameo…?

"I've Declared War On The Moon!"

Purely because it seems so ridiculous, I wonder if Strax's obsession with the moon is going to end up playing out into something in the actual episode. After all, hearing Jenny say so definitively that there's no-one up there really seems like it's tempting fate, doesn't it…?

No Clara as Yet?

Color me surprised that we didn't see any mention of Clara in "The Great Detective," although she's all over the accompanying trailer for the actual Christmas special. About that trailer, or rather, the introduction to it… Way to be a massive tease, BBC…