The actor Neil Fingleton has died at the age of 36

Neil Fingleton played the Fisher King in the 2015 Doctor Who stories Under the Lake and Before The Flood

In 2007 Fingleton was awarded the Guinness World Record as the tallest British-born man and the tallest man in the European Union, standing at 7 ft 6in or 2.33m.

Neil Fingleton was born in Durham in 1980. An outstanding basketball player, he spent 8 years in education in the United States, winning a sporting scholarship and studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 2004 he made his professional debut as a basketball player for the now defunct Boston Frenzy. He later played professionally in China, Italy, Greece, England and for the spanish teams Club Baloncesto Ilarcuris and Ciudad Real.

In 2007 injury forced him to abandon his sporting career and he took up acting. He appeared in the film 47 Ronin alongside Keanu Reeves, and played the giant Mag the Mighty in the TV series Game of Thrones. He appeared in the 2015 film Jupiter Ascending, the Fox Studios film X-Men: First Class and in the Marvel Entertainment film Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Neil Fingleton died on Saturday after suffering a heart attack.

A project to mark the 80th Anniversary year of Doctor Who legend and Electronic Music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, has won support from The Heritage Lottery Fund.

Delia Derbyshire Day has been awarded £42,600 ($53,000) to help organise a programme of activities and events to celebrate 80 years since the birth of the woman who realised the original Doctor Who Theme music, composed by Ron Grainer.

Highlights planned for the year include

• 5 May 2017
Derbyshire's 80th Birthday – launch of a new website, short film about the Delia Derbyshire Archive and “Deliaphonic Soundbank” (an interactive web platform) public engagement activity
• 10 June 2017
A Delia Derbyshire Day 2017 MCR at Band on the Wall – electronic music-making workshops for families and evening music/arts event, archive sharing, expert panel discussion/Q&A with special guests, live music/visual art performances.
• 5 Aug 2017
DD Day touring event at Full Of Noises (FON) Festival in Barrow-in-Furness – participatory workshops for families and evening cultural heritage event with archive sharing, panel discussion/Q&A, live music/visual art performances.
• Sept-Nov 2017
8 week education project in 2 primary schools in Manchester including production of a short film about the Delia Derbyshire Archive by the young participants.
• 5 Dec 2017
Delia Derbyshire Day and Digital Women’s Archive North (DWAN) symposium event at Anthony Burgess Foundation 6-9pm (time TBC) – with guest speakers, archive sharing and open forum discussion.

Project partners include the Delia Derbyshire Estate, John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, One Education Music, Full of Noises Festival, Digital Women’s Archive North and Band on the Wall.

Nathan Lee, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North West said You can follow Delia Derbyshire Day on their website or on twitter.

Peter Capaldi will be a guest on BBC Radio 2's Jo Whiley show tomorrow evening (30 Jan) at 8:00pm (GMT), "picking his favourite tracks and filling us in on all the latest news from the Doctor Who set.".

In addition, Tuesday's show will be dedicated to music that has appeared in Doctor Who, including groups such as The Beatles, The Streets and The Chordettes.

Both shows will be available to listen to worldwide via the BBC iPlayer.


David Tennant appeared on the show to chat about his experiences of being the Doctor back in November 2013, during the show's 50th Anniversary celebrations.

The actor John Hurt has died at the age of 77.

John Hurt, the man who played the missing regeneration of the Doctor, the War Doctor, was one of the most respected actors of his generation. Over a 50 year career, he played some of the most memorable characters in British Film and television, dominating the profession with his rich voice entrancing audiences. His career earnt him two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award, as well as four BAFTA Awards.

John Hurt was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire on 22nd January 1940. He trained at the Grimsby Art School, before winning a scholarship allowing him to study at Saint Martin's School of Art in London. In 1960, he won a scholarship to RADA, where he trained for two years.

His first film was The Wild and the Willing but he made his mark in Fred Zinnemann's A Man for All Seasons playing Richard Rich. His portrayal of Timothy Evans, in 10 Rillington Place, the true story of an innocent man hanged for murder, earnt him his first BAFTA nomination.

He won a BAFTA playing Quentin Crisp in the TV play The Naked Civil Servant, produced by ex-Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert, a role he would reprise in the 2009 film An Englishman in New York. He won further plaudits in the 1976 series I Claudius playing the psychotic Roman emperor Caligula.

In 1978 he won his first Acadamy nomination for Midnight Express, losing out to Christopher Walken, but for which he won a Golden Globe and a second BAFTA. His unique voice graced the animated films Watership Down and Lord of the Rings. In 1980 he played John Merrick in The Elephant Man earning him his second Acadamy nomination. The same year he came to a gruesome end as Kane in Alien, and four years later he played Winston Smith in the film adaptation of the Orwell classic set in that year Nineteen Eighty-Four.

He had roles in the Harry Potter films and the Merlin TV series and played the MP Alan Clark in The Alan Clark Diaries. Hurt recently starred in Oscar-nominated biopic of President John F. Kennedy's widow, Jackie, which is currently showing in cinemas.

In 2013, at the age of 73 he made his debut in Doctor Who, playing The War Doctor, a character invented by show-runner Steven Moffat to fill the gap in the series 50th Anniversary story, The Day of the Doctor, when it became apparent that Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston did not wish to take part.

Moffat later told Radio Times Hurt accepted the offer almost immediately, giving him a place in the series history as one of the rare breed of actor to have played The Doctor. Hurt would return to the role for Big Finish in 2015

In 2015 Hurt received a knighthood from Her Majesty The Queen for services to drama, to add to the CBE he received in 2004.

John Hurt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015 but was later given the all clear. In an interview last year he said he had no fear of death. John Hurt was married four times. He is survived by his wife of 12 years Anwen Rees-Myers, and his two sons Alexander and Nicholas.

Veteran comedian Ken Dodd has been knighted in the Queen's New Year's Honours list.

The Liverpool legend is best known for his sixty-year-long career as a music hall style entertainer but has made a few forays into drama, one notable appearance playing the Tollmaster in the 1987 Seventh Doctor story Delta and the Bannermen.

The comedian has been a staple of the British Comedy circuit since the 1950's, and still, at the age of 89, continues to tour the UK with his Happiness Show.

He has had 19 UK Top 40 hits including the song Tears, which topped the UK charts for five weeks in 1965 and remains one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all time.

---

Also Honoured

The actor Tim Pigott-Smith, who is made an OBE.
Tim Pigott-Smith acted in two Doctor Who stories. He played Captain Harker in the Third Doctor story The Claws of Axos, returning in 1976 in the Fourth Doctor story The Masque of Mandragora, where he played Marco. His most well known Television role was as Ronald Merrick in ITV series The Jewel in the Crown. He has had a long and distinguished Radio and Stage career.

---

The actress Helen McCrory, who is made an OBE.
Helen McCrory played Rosanna in the Tenth Doctor story The Vampires of Venice. On film she portrayed Cherie Blair the 2006 film The Queen and portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films. She also plays Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders.

---

The actor Clive Rowe who is made an MBE.
Clive Rowe played Morvin Van Hoff in the 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned. He is best known for his role as Norman Ellington in BBC Children's drama The Story of Tracy Beaker and has appeared in Disney show The Evermore Chronicles.

---

The cartoonist Peter Brookes who is made an CBE.
Peter Brookes was the main artist producing covers for the Target range of Doctor Who books in the mid 1970's. His most well know covers include The Green Death and Planet of the Spiders. He has worked for Radio Times, The New Statesman and The Spectator. He has recently worked on a notable series of cartoons known as the "Westminster Academy", which depicted Nick Clegg as a public school fag to a red cheeked David Cameron, who was portrayed as a prefect dressed in a Eton suit. He depicted leader of the opposition Ed Miliband and shadow chancellor Ed Balls as Wallace and Gromit

Delia Derbyshire is to be honoured in her hometown of Coventry by having a road named after her.

The creation of Derbyshire Way will pay tribute to the musician, who will forever be remembered for her work in realising the original Doctor Who Theme Music, written in 1963 by Ron Grainer.

Delia Derbyshire is considered one of the most important and influential pioneers of electronic music in the United Kingdom, who inspired acts from The Beatles to The Chemical Brothers. Her contribution to Doctor Who came when she was working for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and was asked to turn Grainer's score into an electronic theme for the new science fiction series. Aided by Dick Mills, Derbyshire created the iconic theme music by creating each note separately by cutting, splicing, speeding up, and slowing down recordings of a single plucked string, white noise, and the output of test-tone oscillators. The notes were then edited together on quarter-inch tape. Mixing was done by starting several tape machines simultaneously and mixing the outputs together.

Derbyshire, who died in 2001, will now give her name to Derbyshire Way, part of a new housing estate in the city of her birth. The recognition follows a campaign led by the Coventry Music Museum, which features a permanent display dedicated to her work.

Museum Director Pete Chambers spoke about her legacy The project was supported by councillors Linda Bigham and Gary Ridley who said Next May, the Coventry Music Museum will host a celebration of what would have been Derbyshire's 80th Birthday.

John Barrowman has recently spoken about the obstacles preventing Torchwood's return to television.

Oh lordy. pic.twitter.com/Ba936I4PZ3

— Jamie (@typicalmadness_) September 11, 2016

Speaking at the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con Barrowman mentioned Doctor Who's current lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat as the reason Torchwood would not be back, to which Moffat has clarified that he is not one of those obstacles:

Actor Ralf Little has released a video categorically denying he will be taking part in the next series of Doctor Who.

The actor is best known for playing Antony Royle in BBC Comedy The Royle Family . He also played Jonny Keogh in the first six series of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Other roles include the young George Harrison at the Royal Court Theatre, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award and the title character in Billy Liar.

Little voiced the character of Guy Fawkes in the 2011 Doctor Who online game The Gunpowder Plot

Doctor Who is currently in production in Cardiff with Series 10, the 36th in the series history, expected to be screened in the spring of 2017.

Channel 4's Head of Drama Piers Wenger is due to return to the BBC this Autumn as its new Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning. Before joining Channel 4 in 2012, Wenger was Head of Drama for BBC Wales and one of the executive producers of Doctor Who to introduce the third Doctor of the modern series, Matt Smith, alongside fellow executive producers Beth Willis and the (then) new lead writer Steven Moffat.

On his new role, Wenger said:
BBC Controller of TV Channels and iPlayer, Charlotte Moore, said:

Willis, who followed Wenger to Channel 4 as his deputy, will succeed him as Head of Drama at Channel 4 upon her return from maternity leave.

Actress Penelope Wilton has been created a Dame in the 2016 Queen's Birthday honours list.

Wilton played Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North, and sometime Prime Minister, in four episodes of Doctor Who. She is best known for playing Isobel Crawley in the ITV period drama, Downton Abbey and for playing Ann Bryce in the 1980's situation comedy Ever Decreasing Circles.

Wilton has had a long career on the stage and screen receiving six Olivier Award nominations for West End appearances. Her film roles include parts in The French Lieutenant's Woman, Cry Freedom, Iris, Calendar Girls, Shaun of the Dead, Pride and Prejudice, Woody Allen's Match Point and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Wilton is made a Dame Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire in the honours list, which is published today to mark the official 90th birthday of the monarch.

The citation reads
Also honoured is actor Brian Blessed who is made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Arts and charity, and Janet Ellis who is made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to charity and broadcasting.

The awards are made by Queen Elizabeth on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.