Doctor Who Does Hamlet

Tonight on PBS at 8:00 PM, Doctor Who does Hamlet. And the best part for sci-fi fans, he doesn't act alone, he proves that "the play's the thing" with The Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

In addition to their intergalactic adventures, David Tennant (Doctor Who #10) and Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek fame) are actually both very distinguished stage actors. The two performed Hamlet in 2008 with the Royal Shakespeare Company and close to one million U.K. viewers watched the BBC broadcast of the performance. Now it's time for those of us in the States to be treated to the Tennant/Stewart masterpiece.

PBS's Great Performances will air the modernized version of the stage production featuring Tennant as the jeans-wearing Prince of Denmark and Stewart as the tuxedo'd Claudius. The production promises to reawaken Shakespeare and give it a contemporary spin. We're going to give it a shot.

For those of you who prefer Doctor Who, tune into a new episode featuring the latest incarnation of the good Doctor, Matt Smith, on BBC America on Saturday nights and check out this clip of the next episode.