Odds'n'Sods: Nine things unrelated to the new Doctor Who

The Internerds are aflame with news that the BBC will reveal the actor playing the next Doctor in Doctor Who this Sunday. In the interests of balance, here are nine other geek/nerd news stories doing the traps at the moment.

• Avatar. I actually quite enjoyed Avatar in a mindless eye candy sort of way, although I agree with many critics of the film that it has some pretty serious issues in regards to how to treats the disabled. All that said, I've never really felt the need to watch a sequel. James Cameron doesn't agree, and he's now going to shoot three sequels in one mega-shoot, for release in 2016, 2017 and 2018. (link)
• Continuum. I haven't a single episode yet, but have many friends who recommend the Canadian science fiction TV drama Continuum. They'll be happy to hear that it's received an order for a third season. (link)
• 24. May Lynn Rajskub, aka Chloe, aka the best one, is rejoining the cast of 24 for its 12-episode ninth season, coming out on Fox next year. This pleases me. Did I mention that she's the best one? (link)
• Pacific Rim. Pacific Rim has opened strongly in China, making it a lot more likely that Warner Bros will greenlight a sequel after all. (link)
• The Cuckoo's Calling. Did you know that J.K. Rowling is donating 100% of her royalties for her pseudonymous crime novel to charity? (link)
• Don't Go Breaking My Heart. Hong Kong's best director Johnnie To has commenced shooting a sequel to his rather excellent romantic comedy Don't Go Breaking My Heart. The film is scheduled for release in Hong Kong and China in mid-2014. (link)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past. Bryan Singer has tweeted a photo of the Sentinel prop from his upcoming X-Men movie. It's rather large and appropriately purple. (link)
• Wander Over Yonder. Craig McCracken (Powerpuff Girls) has a new cartoon starting on the Disney Channel, Wander Over Yonder. Its opening titles are pretty much the happiest thing you'll see today. (link)
• Haunter. Director Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) has a horror movie coming out, a trailer for which has been released onto the Internet. (link)

The Disney/Star Wars purchase FAQ

So this morning the geek Internet has woken to the news that Walt Disney has purchased Lucasfilm Ltd, including the rights to Star Wars, for approximately four billion dollars in cash and stock. This has naturally created an enormous amount of interest, speculation and way, way too many not-that-funny jokes on Twitter. A lot of people - myself included - are wondering what this may mean, so I figured it was worth putting down some details and speculating on what this means: for Disney, for Star Wars and for American cinema in the decade to come.