The Telegraph is to give away a series of Doctor Who Audio adventures starting next weekend with an early release of Matt Smith reading a brand new adventure for the Eleventh Doctor, The Runaway Train. It is understood this will be in the paper on Saturday 24th April.

The news comes from Doctor Who author Peter Anghelides, whose own story, Pest Control, featuring the Tenth Doctor and read by David Tennant, will be the second story released on the 25th and 26th April.

The promotion is part of a deal with BBC Audiobooks. Commissioning Editor Michael Stevens says
Other stories included are: Slipback, the Colin Baker story originally heard on BBC Radio 4 in 1985; Genesis of the Daleks and Exploration Earth featuring Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen; and finally Mission to the Unknown, the soundtrack of the 1965 story, which was the one Doctor Who television episode not to feature the Doctor or any of his companions.

The Doctor Who promotional tour of the states continues with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan making appearances ahead of the series launch on BBC America this Saturday.

The official site has a report on the preview showing of The Eleventh Hour at the Village East movie theatre on Wednesday night. The event, attended by Smith, Gillan and executive producer Steven Moffat, drew fans from around the country with the queue forming as early as 6.30am. The Daily Mail reports on the event, continuing its fascination with the outfits of Karen Gillan. BBC America have uploaded video of Matt Smith signing his first head to their Facebook page.

Meanwhile the Paley Centre for Media has uploaded a video of the question and answer session which took place last Monday, and there is a report on the event on Newsarama. BBC America have uploaded a video of Smith and Gillan at the Apple store in SoHo.

The stars have also given interviews to a number of local TV stations such as WCSH6 based in Portland, Maine, with Steven Moffat talking to FilmSchool Rejects.

Doctor Who was even mentioned on the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight, when a guest from Washington said the leadership debates, taking place in the UK tonight, may draw an audience as big as that achieved by the arrival of a new Doctor Who.

In Canada a special preview of The Eleventh Hour took place last week and is covered by The National Post. Steven Moffat talked to the event via Skype. We understand a 9 minute clip of The Eleventh Hour is available as a free download from iTunes Canada.

On the other side of the world the new series also launches in Australia this weekend. Fans are reporting that the ABC is so heavily promoting the fact that the first episode will be available online from midnight on Friday via its iView service that a lot of viewers are missing the fact that it will actually be shown on ABC1 on Sunday, with ABC announcers specifically mentioning the iView showing but not the Sunday one.

This article asks: “Is this the Doctor Who general election? And are Labour hoping that some of the popularity of the show will rub off on them?” The forthcoming UK general election and Doctor Who do seem to be becoming evermore interlinked.

The new issue of Radio Times, harking back to its 30 April to 6 May issue from 2005 (opposite), shows the Daleks in the colours (blue, red and yellow) of the three main UK political parties, David Tennant, earlier this year, declared his support for the UK’s Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the party’s current leader. Earlier this week, the Labour Party turned to the Doctor and a son of the Doctor in it’s campaign to win re-election in the contest.

The first party-election broadcast of the campaign premièred on YouTube before airing on UK television channels. In the Labour Party broadcast, The Road Ahead, the third Doctor Jon Pertwee’s son, Sean Pertwee, appeared, while the tenth Doctor David Tennant provided the voice-over.

See our earlier story about this week’s Radio Times and the interview with Brown, who reveals that Tennant is his favourite Doctor, and that he saw him recently in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In recent months, both Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat have separately warned against David Cameron’s Conservatives winning the election, fearing the future of the BBC would be under threat. Citing Moffat’s comments, the Daily Mirror claimed that Saturday’s episode, The Beast Below, featured a message blasting the Tories:

In February, the Sunday Times claimed that writers wove anti-Tory propaganda into Doctor Who scripts in the 1980s.

As for the Liberal Democrats, their candidate for Blaenau Gwent, Wales, is one Matt Smith!

The Doctor Who bookshelf of awards eyes up Canada next, with a number of nominations in the categories for the Constellation Awards.


Former Doctor David Tennant is up for his third award for Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode with The Waters of Mars; he previously won in the 2006 and 2007 ceremonies. This time he is up against Gareth David Lloyd for his performance as Ianto Jones in Torchwood: Children of Earth (Day Four). Other nominations include Jenson Ackles (Supernatural), John Noble (Fringe), Misha Collins (Supernatural), Robin Dunne (Sanctuary) and Ron Livingston (Defying Gravity).

The Best Female Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode sees guest star Michelle Ryan nominated for her role as Lady Christina in Planet of the Dead. This was won last year by Catherine Tate for her role as Donna Noble in Turn Left, and in 2008 by Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow in Blink). Michelle's competition includes Agam Darshi (Sanctuary), Alona Tal (Supernatural), Amanda Tapping (Sanctuary), Erin Karpluk (Being Erica), Laura Harris (Defying Gravity) and Lena Headley (Sarah Connor Chronicles)

Doctor Who is (of course!) up for Best Science Fiction Television Series of 2009 for the fourth time, having won this category in all three previous ceremonies. This year it is up against the likes of Sanctuary, Supernatural, Stargate Universe, Defying Gravity, Flash Forward and Being Erica. (The series also won the Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television at the first ceremony in 2007.)

Best Overall 2009 Science Fiction Film or Television Script sees Torchwood: Children of Earth (Day One) nomimated; last year this was won by the Doctor Who episode Silence in the Library. Torchwood is up against Stargate Universe, Defying Gravity, Being Erica, Flash Forward and District 9.

In addition, the Best Female Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series category yields an unusual entry in the form of actress Aurora Buchanan, who has been nominated for the fan-made film Doctor Who: Victimsight. This is the only fan production to make the entire award nominations, and Aurora is up against major Hollywood actresses/entries like Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince), Zoe Zaldana (nominated twice for both Star Trek and Avatar), and Dakota Fanning (Push).


The Constellation Awards are Canada's annual science fiction awards, and focus on rewarding excellence in science fiction film and television. This is the fourth year of the Awards, which are voted for by the Canadian public; it will take place at the Polaris 24 convention on 17th July 2010.

The Doctor Who team have arrived in New York as part of the publicity tour in the run up to the new series launch on BBC America this coming Saturday.

On Monday Matt Smith and Karen Gillan attended an industry screening of The Eleventh Hour at the Paley Center for Media where, along with executive producer Steven Moffat, they answered questions from the specially invited audience.

Smith talked about his audition and how he had to shoot 12 takes of the infamous fish custard scene in The Eleventh Hour. Moffat said his inspiration for the scene came from the Winnie-the-Pooh books, specifically the scene where Tigger claims to like everything, but then proceeds to reject all the foodstuffs offered to him.

Smith and Gillan had time for some sight seeing as well as attending a 'Meet the Cast' event at the Apple SoHo store and giving an interview to TV Guide Magazine and the New York Times.

The trio will attend a special screening of The Eleventh Hour on Wednesday at the Village East Cinema.

The nominations for this year's BAFTA Cymru Awards have been released, and once again Doctor Who and its spinoffs are up for several awards — in some cases against themselves!


The BBC itself has some 31 nominations in total. You can find the full list of nominations in the categories at the BAFTA website.

The winners will be anounced at the Bafta Cymru Awards ceremony on Sunday 23rd May at the Wales Millennium Centre. There are limited tickets available to the public, enquire at the Millennium Centre (029 2063 6464).

The BBC has announced the production of four new 'interactive episodes' of Doctor Who which will be available from the official website, bbc.co.uk/doctorwho.

These four new adventures will take the form of downloadable computer games available for PC and Mac, in which players assume control of The Doctor and Amy as they embark on new adventures which complement the new TV series. The games have been produced by a team drawing on the very best talent from TV and gaming. The interactive episodes are executive produced by Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis and Anwen Aspden from BBC Wales Interactive, alongside Charles Cecil, one of videogaming's most revered creators.

The games are being developed by Sumo Digital, one of the UK's best game designers. Stories and scripts are by Phil Ford, who co-wrote The Waters Of Mars and James Moran who has written for Torchwood.

The project has been commissioned for BBC Online by the Vision Multiplatform team, headed up by Simon Nelson, and is being driven by BBC Wales Interactive.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have been digitally recreated in-game, and have provided full voice-overs. Music has been provided by TV series composer Murray Gold. An additional cast will portray original characters and classic enemies.

Steven Moffat, executive producer, Doctor Who, says
Piers Wenger, Head of Drama, BBC Wales, and executive producer, Doctor Who, added
Simon Nelson, head of BBC multiplatform in Vision, said:
Anwen Aspden, executive producer, BBC Wales Online, concludes:
The exact titles of the four episodes are being kept secret for the time being, but the four original stories will take players on a journey throughout time and space, including one location from the Doctor Who series which has never been seen before on screen. Players will encounter new and original monsters, in stories which form part of the overall Doctor Who canon.

The first episode of Doctor Who – The Adventure Games will be available to download for PC and Mac from bbc.co.uk/doctorwho in June 2010. Its title will be revealed at a special press event on 21 April in Sheffield.

The new Matt Smith action figure has been released, and ITN have reported on how the figure was made. The character comes in two versions, one showing the Doctor's crash outfit as he appeared in the majority of The Eleventh Doctor and one showing the Doctor in his new outfit.



Reviews on The Eleventh Doctor continue to be published and you can find a full list in Doctor Who in the Media.

Neil Gaiman has blogged about watching the episode and his daughter's reaction to the story. In his blog he reveals that the story he has written for Matt Smith's second series was originally planed for inclusion towards the end of the current series. He is now rewriting it to fit in its new slot.

Matt Smith joins Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley in the studio for tonight's One Show on BBC One at 7.00pm.

The show is available on the BBC iplayer for the next seven days.

BBC America has announced that Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, along with show-runner Steven Moffat, will make a promotional trip to New York in the week leading up to the launch of the new series in North America on April 17.

The trip will include a special screening of The Eleventh Hour on Wednesday, April 14, at 7:00 PM at the Village East Cinema in Manhattan, to be followed by a Question and Answer session with Smith, Gillan and Moffat.

The screening, which is free, will be open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

More details on the BBC America Facebook page.