Premiered at the official convention this weekend, the BBC have now released a Series Seven teaser trailer, featuring clips from the first couple of stories to be recorded for the Autumn season. Versions have been made available via both the BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

The first Official Doctor Who Convention since the return of the series closed its doors in Cardiff yesterday evening at the end of a weekend which saw 3,000 fans descend on the Welsh capital to meet some of the stars and see just how their favourite series is put together.

Several sites have reported on the event, with BBC America blogging to fans back in the States.

BBC News had several reports from the Millennium Centre, with live links throughout the day on the BBC News Channel, including interviews with Steven Moffat, while The Metro talked about the thousands of fans the event brought to Cardiff. Wales Online has reviewed the event and The Guardian talked to some of the fans who had made the journey to Cardiff.

Our own review of the Convention can be found on our Reviews page.

Doctor Who will return to America to shoot the final story featuring Amy and Rory, as they depart the series in an epic battle with the Weeping Angels to be shot in New York.

Executive Producer Caroline Skinner confirmed the news at the Doctor Who Convention taking place in Cardiff this weekend, were fans were given an exclusive premiere of Series Seven, with a showing of the first trailer featuring footage from the upcoming series. The trailer will be availble on the BBC Website from 9am Monday.

Asked how they felt about leaving the series Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill said they felt the time was right and that Amy and Rory's story had run its course. Darvill said: "we've had the most incredible time and it will be really sad when we leave. We had the read through for our final episode last night and it is going to be an amazing piece of Television.". Gillan said she was so pleased with the way she was leaving: "I just hope I can deliver it well."

Matt Smith said he would miss two of his closest friends, and that they had developed an incredible creative relationship. But all good things come to an end: "The thing about Doctor Who is that it is in constant change so we embrace the future and look forward to Jenna."

Asked how they felt about attending the convention, all the stars agreed said it was amazing to meet the fans and to see the reaction: "When making the series you forget how much people love it. We just try to make it the best it can be and its brilliant to see the reactions."

The production team were tight lipped about plans for Series Seven and the show's 50th Anniversary next year. Steven Moffat gave the headlines already known: "Amy and Rory leaving, tragedy, heartbreak and a Western, what more do you want out of Television. Come on Downton take that on!"

The Doctor Who Convention continues on Sunday although all tickets are sold out. A full Convention Report will follow later.

This weekend Cardiff plays host to thousands of Doctor Who fans as BBC Worldwide host the first official convention since the return of the series in 2005.

The event has now completely sold out for both days so fans should not travel to Cardiff unless they already have a ticket as no tickets will be available at the door.

A number of extra events have now been added to the schedule including talks from the Doctor Who Restoration team on their work on the DVD releases and the processes undergone to restore old and damaged episodes of Doctor Who to their former glory. There will be a chance to see exclusive trailers for previously lost episodes – Air Lock and The Underwater Menace.

Fans will also get a chance to try out the new Doctor Who Game The Eternity Clock in its first public appearance.

BBC America have released the first official publicity photograph of the new Doctor Who co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman, here pictured in front of the TARDIS:

Originally expected this month, the new game from BBC Worldwide, Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, has been delayed, with the game's official Twitter feed stating: "Finishing touches just being added to Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock with the release now set for April – believe us, it’s worth the wait!"

The release will initially be for the Sony PS3 and Sony PS Vita platforms, with a PC version due to be released at a later, currently unconfirmed date.

The BBC have announced that the new co-star to appear alongside Matt Smith in Doctor Who is to be Jenna-Louise Coleman, who joins the show in the sixth episode this year, due to be shown at Christmas.

The actress was announced via the BBC's Doctor Who feed on Twitter, which also included some quotes. Jenna-Louise said: "I want to get started already. I'm a huge fan of the show.« Matt Smith did my audition with me. It was fun and I felt like we were in it together.«"; and on her favourite companion, "Between Billie Piper and Karen Gillan". Lead writer Steven Moffat said: "We saw a lot of brilliant actresses. But Jenna was the only person going faster than Matt - he had to keep up!«"

Expanding on this in the press release, he said:
Danny Cohen, the Controller for BBC One, added:

The BBC's One O'Clock News included an item on the casting, with the actress describing when she found out she had won the part:
A full version of the interview with Entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba can be watched via the BBC News site.


The twenty-five-year-old first came to public attention playing Jasmine Thomas in the long-running soap Emmerdale between 2005 and 2009. She then went on to appear in series five of the BBC's award-winning Waterloo Road as Lindsay Jones, and will be seen on television this coming Sunday in the ITV mini-series Titanic as Annie Desmond. Her debut in film came with the role of Connie in Captain America: The First Avenger, and she has also lent her voice to the English version of the game Xenoblade Chronicles.


NB: The BBC have confirmed that Jenna-Louise Coleman does not have, and does not plan to have, a Twitter account.

Production:

It was also confirmed this morning when Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will depart, with Steven Moffat saying: "Amy and Rory will leave in the fifth episode that goes out, and it will be a final encounter with the Weeping Angels, and not everybody gets out alive - and I mean it this time!"

As well as the lonely assassins, Doctor Who Magazine have also reported that the Daleks, too, will feature during the first half of the series this Autumn.

Speaking to the Radio Times at the Royal Television Society awards last night, Moffat explained the style of story-telling for the next series:

After the six episodes broadcast in the Autumn/Christmas this year, the remaining eight will be shown next year, with Moffat adding: "Oh, there'll be more episodes than just those eight, but these are the ones we're making right now." No other details of when and what else will occur during the 50th Anniversary have been revealed as yet.

Paul McGann has joined the list of former Doctors and companions who have indicated an interest in being involved in Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary: "Being Doctor Who, there's always anniversaries looming large - celebration programmes and episodes. I'm often asked, 'If they get the five Doctors together, would you do it?' and of course, I'd do it. They've just got to ring me up! Although I was [in] Doctor Who for six weeks, sixteen years ago, it never goes away - it only ever seems to get stronger - I'd love to do that again, but that's not up to me." [Digital Spy, 15 Mar 2012]

Three Doctor Who-related names join the principal cast of What The Butler Saw, which opens in the West End in May. The lead character of Dr. Prentice will be played by Tim McInnerny, with his wife to be played by Samantha Bond and secretary by Georgia Moffett. [Playbill, 15 Mar 2012]

Mark Gatiss talks about creating his appearance for his character Mr Snow in Being Human: "I wanted to have red hair, because you never have ginger vampires, and terrible teeth, and these really dirty fingernails. And they gave me everything I wanted. So there's lots of lovely close-ups of my filthy hands and terrible teeth. He's about 3000 years old, he's literally rotting from the inside." [Guardian, 15th Mar 2012]

The Fourth Doctor, aka Tom Baker, was the subject of a Forbes "Geek Picture of the Day", depicting him in costume with two Daleks for a publicity photo in 1975. [Forbes, 16 Mar 2012]

Maureen Lipman is to be one of the guests in Matt Lucas's new comedy show The Matt Lucas Awards. It will air on BBC One in the spring. [BBC Media Centre, 16 Mar 2012]

Talking of awards, June Whitfield was honoured with a proper one at this year's TRIC Awards. The Television and Radio Industries Club event, held at the Grosvenor House in London, saw her given the TRIC Special Award. Sian Williams was named Best Newscaster/Reporter. [BBC News, 14 Mar 2012]

Steven Moffat, John Simm, James Corden and The Sarah Jane Adventures lost out last night in their respective categories at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, but Moffat's mother-in-law, Beryl Vertue, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. While representing writers at Associated London Scripts, Vertue negotiated Terry Nation's partial rights deal for the Daleks. Among her many other achievements, she founded the production company Hartswood Films, which makes the BBC One series Sherlock, co-created by Moffat and Mark Gatiss. At the awards ceremony, Russell Tovey jointly won (with Sarah Solemani) the Best Comedy Performance prize for the BBC Three anti-romantic comedy Him And Her. Full details of the awards ceremony - which, as with the TRIC Awards, was held at the Grosvenor House in London - are online here.

Michael E Briant is to publish his memoirs about his time on Doctor Who. The director's connection with the show stretches back to the 1965 story The Crusade, for which he was assistant floor manager. He was subsequently production assistant on a number of stories before notching up his first directorial credit on Colony In Space in 1971. Briant directed five more stories, finishing with The Robots of Death in 1977. Who Is Michael E Briant?, to be published by Classic TV Press, comes in at 216 pages and is due out on 4th May 2012. It can be pre-ordered here.

Talking of memoirs, a heartfelt and public thank-you has been said via one to Janet Fielding by writer Grant Gordon. In a piece taken from his forthcoming memoir Cobras In The Rough, Gordon recalls being a 12-year-old desperate to see the actress at the 1983 Longleat convention and how ensuring that he got his wish proved to be his father's salvation, following financial and personal problems. [Independent, 17 Mar 2012]

The BBC are to announce the new co-star to join Matt Smith headlining Doctor Who tomorrow at a press conference.

Lead writer Steven Moffat first indicated that a new companion / assistant / sidekick / talking cabbage (delete as applicable) would feature in the new series back at the Q&A session for the BFI preview of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, when he said:

This evening Steven Moffat has told reporters he got who he "wanted" to play Doctor's new companion but stayed tight-lipped about their identity. Speaking backstage at the Royal Television Society Awards in central London, he said The announcement will also be made online via the BBC's official Doctor Who Twitter feed.

Following on from their successful re-launch last year, BBC Books are to release a further six reprints of the classic series Target novelisations in May, based upon a reader poll via Doctor Who on Facebook. The novelisations will once again feature their original cover artwork, plus a new introduction from 'modern' day authors.


The books are due to be published on 10th May.