The new issue of the Radio Times (week commencing 19th June) joins the collection of those that feature Doctor Who on the cover; this issue promotes Karen Gillan, who is interviewed inside the magazine about playing the part of Amy Pond, and acting alongside Matt Smith.


This year has previously seen Radio Times covers for The Eleventh Hour and three versions for Victory of the Daleks.

Doctor Who is the Hamlet of the television world according to the Oscar-nominated writer Richard Curtis, who just happens to have penned the next Doctor Who episode, Vincent and the Doctor.

Speaking in this week's Radio Times, Curtis says "it is a pivotal, career-making role, to be reprised over the years with different actors, always the same, and yet metamorphosing radically with each new incarnation."

Curtis, admits he was not a childhood addict. "No, I wasn’t very dedicated. I seem to remember I liked the Master more than the Doctor, strangely enough." He says his decision to write an episode was more thanks to the nagging from his four children, now aged from 14 to six. "My kids absolutely love it. We all watched the Christmas special two years ago and my children said I had to do one. Scarlett, our eldest, pointed out that while I’d always promised I would write a children’s movie, by the time I do, she won’t be a child any more. And the great thing about telly is how swift it is by comparison with films."

The Eighth Doctor returns to BBC Radio 7 next Sunday when the station begins airing selected stories from the third series of the Big Finish Eighth Doctor Adventures.

The series stars Paul McGann as the Doctor and Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller. Four out of eight stories will be broadcast, from the series first released by Big Finish in 2009. Radio Seven has previously broadcast the first two series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures.

The series starts on BBC Radio 7 on Sunday 16th May at 6pm with a repeat at midnight BST.

Radio 7 can be heard around the world via the BBC Website.

This weeks Radio times contains an interview with actress Alex Kingston about returning to the role of River Song.

Kingston last appeared in Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead in 2008 – in which she perished to save David Tennant’s Doctor. Kingston reprises her role alongside Matt Smith's time traveller in a battle against the Weeping Angels, last seen in Blink in 2007.

In this current two-parter River is a younger version of the one who previously met, and admitted to having intimate knowledge of, the Doctor. Time travel can be confusing, but it does give the Surrey-born actress something of a unique perspective on the whole Doctor Who phenomenon, having played opposite both Tennant and Smith.

When she first took on the part, she spoke of the Doctor being her lover but now she’s not so sure. “I was absolutely certain. That’s what I’d assumed. But when I was reading The Time of Angels, I suddenly thought, “My God, she’s his mother!’ ”While Kingston, 47, and Tennant, 39, couldn’t have pulled that off, Smith is 20 years her junior. So is that how she’s playing it this time? A mother/son relationship? 


“Well, no, the flirtation between them still indicates they have a much more intimate relationship further down the line – and I sort of hope it is that. I hope they’re married,” she laughs, “Otherwise, if she’s his mother, the flirtation isn’t quite appropriate!"

In just a fortnight since gracing the front cover of the Radio Times for the series launch, this week sees not just one but three covers devoted to the Doctor's greatest enemy, the Daleks - with the three main political parties engaged in the current UK election campaign reflected in red, blue and yellow livery!

Inside, the magazine chats to Victory of the Daleks writer Mark Gatiss about his fascination with the Daleks, and explores their timeless appeal. Plus, an exclusive first look into the BBC’s online archive to find out its top Doctor Who secrets - the first ever access to audience research reports on previous Time Lords from Jon Pertwee to Sylvester McCoy.

This week also sees an interview with current Prime Minister Gordon Brown, plus a quickfire round of questions including Doctor Who:

The new issue of the Radio Times is released in the UK today, and gives an exclusive glimpse into the new TARDIS with a special pull-out gatefold cover.

The magazine talks to new Doctor Matt Smith. Smith is a graduate of the University of East Anglia, where he studied drama and creative writing, and has his own way of accessing the enigmatic Doctor.



Also Karen Gillan is the girl who grabbed the role every actress would die for: the companion to the eleventh Doctor. Fans camped outside the Doctor Who set are a reminder of the show’s unique place in British culture.

The title of Episode Seven of the new series has been revealed as Amy's Choice.

The title is revealed in next week's edition of Radio Times, which is released tomorrow. The story is written by Simon Nye and directed by Catherine Morshead.

The magazine confirms the titles of the first seven episodes of the series, the first six of which were previously known. There is, however, some confusion over the title of Episode Six; although Doctor Who Magazine and Matt Smith have referred to it as Vampires in Venice, the script's author, Toby Whithouse, and the BBC preview discs have confirmed the title is Vampires of Venice.

A selection of photos from the new TARDIS interior are available on the Radio Times Website.

The Radio Times cover will be available on the Doctor Who News Page from 12.01am BST tomorrow.

This week's Paul O'Grady show, on BBC Radio 2, will feature a Doctor Who related trail.

It has been made specially for the programme and will only be broadcast once. Paul O'Grady is on Radio Two between 5pm and 7pm BST and the trail should be broadcast before 5.20pm. The programme is available worldwide via the BBC iPlayer.

With the launch date of the new series rapidly approaching, Matt Smith makes a number of appearances on UK Television and Radio over the next few days, including as a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross this Friday and on Blue Peter next Wednesday.

The 1 minute teaser on the BBC Red Button service appears to have been pushed back until the weekend. Final transmission times of The Eleventh Hour will be confirmed sometime today so details can be sent to listing magazines.

BBC America will screen Doctor Who, The Ultimate Guide on Saturday April 17, just before the US premier of The Eleventh Hour. The program is described as an original, all-access look inside the world's biggest, most successful sci-fi television program.

A number of new stills from The Eleventh Hour have been released.

Sculptress of Sound - The Lost Works of Delia Derbyshire is a new documentary commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to celebrate the life and work of the BBC Radiophonic composer; presented by broadcaster and Doctor Who fan Matthew Sweet, it will investigate the wealth of material of her work that has been passed onto researchers at the University of Manchester.

Production company Made in Manchester's producer Phil Collinge says:
The documentary also examines her work with poet Barry Bermange, her 1971 piece marking the centenary of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and also includes a 1960s track composed for The Dance from children's programme Noah

The show forms part of the Archive on 4 strand on the radio channel, and will be broadcast between 8:00-9:00pm on Saturday 27th March.