The Doctor is ancient, and has been to the future many times. Also, he works out a lot of things along the way (much like Sherlock Holmes) without "giving it away" - remember how he had noticed that Rose was 'wrong' - but he's not always right (accusing the Cat-people ...) Was he right about the pods? Who knows ... (sorry ;)

I'm a DW fan, but not obsessive.

The new-Who is founded upon good writing - like the best of the old Series were. With the bonus of a decent budget this time.

Not having see last years eps, you missed a lot of the links, I suspect.

They've played a bit with British history in the last Series (and earlier ones). There are very few sacred cows in DW. Everything is up for grabs.