Can people in the UK confirm that this is not how female police officers actually dress? Not that I'm opposed to fetishwear on Doctor Who — far from it. I'm just curious. And yes, you can glimpse Matt Smith wearing the ruined remains of David Tennant's costume in some of these photos, which come from the season opener. Apparently the new Doctor gets the post-regeneration munchies really bad, and runs to an ice cream truck. Or is there more to it than that?

Many thanks to Alun_Vega for these pics. And there are tons more at the link. [Alun_Vega on Flickr]

Gillan previously appeared in last year's "Fires Of Pompeii" as a soothsayer, and she's also appeared in the Scottish drama Rebus, plus Stacked, The Kevin Bishop Show and James Nesbitt's forthcoming film Outcast. "When she auditioned alongside Matt we knew we had something special," said Piers Wenger, head of drama for BBC Wales.

New showrunner Steven Moffat also gushes:

Writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said they saw some "amazing actresses" but Gillan "walked through the door the game was up".

He described her as "funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it".

"A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too," he added.

Insert obligatory comment about how young she is, and how young the new Doctor is, and why can't the Doctor still be a crotchety old man traveling around with a couple schoolteachers and his granddaughter. [BBC News]