At least, that's what I can glean from the official description of The Days Before, which Wanted helmer Timur Bekmambetov is also in talks to direct. According to Production Weekly (via Sci Fi Wire), the aliens travel back in time and wipe out humanity one day at a time, "yesterday by yesterday." Downey Jr.'s character keeps traveling back and trying to warn people that the end is coming, over and over again. It's not clear whom Witherspoon would play.

It sounds like a fun combination of Groundhog Day and that Star Trek: TNG episode where the Enterprise keeps blowing up. At the very least, with Bekmambetov involved, you know it'll look groovy.

Image by WENN. [Sci Fi Wire]

If you looked at those set photos we ran last week, you saw David Tennant and costar Ryan sitting in a double-decker London bus. According to Den Of Geek, that bus, or one like it, was meant to be transported to Dubai for filming there. (If it's true that Dubai is standing for an alien planet, then maybe the London bus gets whisked off to another planet?)

Sadly that London bus — which is essential for the plot — was damaged in shipping, so badly that it can't be used at all. This has forced writers Russell T. Davies and Gareth Roberts to rush back to the drawing board, rewriting the episode to suit the newly trashed state of the bus. (Or write the bus out altogether?)

Meanwhile, I couldn't help perusing those images a bit more closely, and noticing a few things. Like, what's Tennant holding in this picture (and a few others)? It looks like some kind of timey-whimey detector:

And notice an ad over Tennant's head for a book called Ocean Of Noise by E.R. Butler. There's no such book — I checked — but "Ocean Of Noise" is a song by Arcade Fire, a group which includes Win Butler. In-joke? Or does the book Ocean Of Noise figure in the plot somehow?

Who's this woman standing next to Michelle Ryan? She's not wearing a reflective vest like the rest of the crew, so is she another actor? Or is she a producer and I'm just not recognizing her?

And finally, are these horseback police officers — who looked like pumpkin-headed monsters in the thumbnail version — part of the story? Or just local color? (Please let there be horses. Tennant on horseback is always a major plus.)


Images by WENN.

According to the BBC, Ryan is playing Lady Christina de Souza, "a woman with a mysterious past who's going to have a huge impact on the Doctor." Her one-off appearance doesn't mean she can't return in 2010 as a regular companion, since Donna Noble already achieved a similar feat. (And those of you who saw Ryan's cringe-making Bionic performance should bear in mind, she's a better actor when she doesn't have to fake an American accent.)

Last night, fans observed the filming of a scene where Tennant and Ryan were riding the bus to Victoria. Also, there was a scene of Ryan in an alleyway, where she burst from a doorway and ran into a crowded city street. And policemen seemed to be arresting a businessman in a pink shirt.

Meanwhile, comedian Lee Evans will play Malcolm, "whose life becomes connected to the Doctor's in unusual circumstances." [BBC and Doctor Who Forum]

Images by WENN, except for top image by BBC.

E! Online's Kristen, who started the "star wants to leave" buzz in the first place, apparently mentioned more details during her TV coverage of the Golden Globes: it's both Hayden Panettiere and Ali Larter. Both stars feel as though their characters have drawn short straws in season three, and they want to be killed off at the end of season four. At least one of them has a "death" in the works for the end of the season, but it may not be permanent. And NBC hasn't decided whether to let them out of their contracts yet.

It's easy to see why Ali Larter would want to bail out of Heroes — she's not even playing the same character she originally brought to the show. And her new character, Traci, hasn't really had much chance to become more than a cipher, beyond a frosty new power and a vague penchant for attaching herself to powerful men. Claire, arguably, has fared slightly better this season, what with all the bonding she's done with her bio-mom. But compared with the toe-snipping, creepy-guy-romancing action in season two, she's been less interesting to watch (and probably to play) this year.

It's jarringly nostalgic to look back at the season-one cast photo above, and realize that a third of those castmembers are gone, and most of the others have been through some pretty major gyrations. Photos by WENN. [Heroes Spoilers]