France 4 is to celebrate the arrival of Series 6 to the channel with with a Doctor Who Night to be held on Saturday 19th May.

As well as the first four episodes of the series, The Impossible Astronaut, Day Of The Moon, The Curse of The Black Spot and The Doctor's Wife, the channel will be showing some episodes from the classic series, the Tom Baker stories Genesis of The Daleks and City of Death and the William Hartnell story Edge of Destruction.

Alain Carrazé and Romain Nigita will present a series of reports looking at the Doctor Who phenomenon, investigating the origins of the series, profiling the Doctors and Companions and looking to see what the future holds for the Timelord.

Interviewed during the night will be Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Derek Jacobi and Tom Spilsbury as well as fans like François Descraques or Davy Mourier.

A visit to the Doctor Who Experience in London is also included.

The Doctor Who Night is produced by 8 Art Media and filmed partly at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris, and will be presented by Louise Ekland. A full episode listing can be found on This Week in Doctor Who.

Colin Baker appears on tomorrow's edition of the Channel 4 show Get Your House In Order. He attempts to help collector Barry Phillips, who is looking to de-clutter his Doctor Who memorabilia-filled house, by selling items at a convention. The hour-long programme starts at 8pm and will also be available afterwards on catch-up service 4oD.

David Tennant has launched the BBC's Shakespeare Season, which forms part of the Cultural Olympiad. He said of the Olympiad: "I'm a bit hazy as to what it actually means, what it all adds up to. But if it means more Shakespeare, it's fine my me." He will be starring in Romeo and Juliet on Radio 3 on Sunday 29th April at 8.30pm and was in Twelfth Night on Radio 3 last Sunday (available on the iPlayer until 13th May). [Radio Times, 22 April 2012]

Staying in the world of the Bard, the Royal Shakespeare Company has revealed that it was contacted three times by a man who wanted to buy a pair of David Tennant's unwashed socks - even offering £50 for them. The bizarre request came as the RSC announced that its costumes and props were for hire by the general public, and made particular mention of the crown worn by Tennant as Hamlet in the 2008 production being available for £20 a week. (The RSC refused to sell the socks, by the way!) [Daily Record, 24 April 2012]

Gareth David-Lloyd plays the male lead of Dr Robert Cameron in the independent short film Casimir Effect. Billed as a sci-fi romance, it is currently in post-production, having been filmed two years ago, and is looking for support to complete it.

The companion, not the Doctor, is the main character in Doctor Who, according to Steven Moffat. With Amy and Rory about to leave the show and a new companion, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, arriving in this year's Christmas special, Moffat told BBC America: "The story begins again, not so much with the new Doctor, but with the new companion. It is their story. The Doctor's the hero, but they're the main character." He added: "I thought about the Doctor travelling on his own and it always faintly depresses me." [Radio Times, 19 April 2012]

Talking of companions, Katy Manning has given an in-depth interview to Radio Times, revealing her thoughts about life, the universe, Jo Grant, and everything. A gallery of photos ranging from her debut in Doctor Who to the present day has also been put online by Radio Times. In addition, she can be followed on Twitter at @ManningOfficial.

Karen Gillan is among the 12 nominees for the title of Fashion Icon in this year's Scottish Fashion Awards, which take place at Clyde Auditorium on Monday 11th June. [Daily Record, 22 April 2012]

John Barrowman is urging fans to campaign for his character of Captain Jack Harkness to appear in the 50th-anniversary episode of Doctor Who. "I think it would be a shame if Captain Jack wasn't involved in the 50th anniversary, because he was such a big figure and a big presence within the show itself and also within Torchwood," he told MTV Geek at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo. But, Barrowman said: "It's not up to me, it's up to the executives and it's also kind of up to the fans, because if they want it all they have to do is get on those keyboards and start writing." Addressing fans directly, he said: "You have been known to change things!" He added: " I've spoken to Russell [T Davies] about it, he thinks it would be a great idea for Jack to meet Matt's Doctor, I think it would be a great idea, Matt and I actually had a conversation at the BBC once, sitting round a table, thought it would be a great idea, Steven [Moffat] thought it would be a great idea, so again it's one of those things. Great ideas sometimes never happen, they sometimes do, but you know I guess you just have to watch this space." [MTV Geek, 18 April 2012]

Matt Smith, Jessica Hynes, Richard Briers, and David Walliams will be providing narration for a second series of the Disney Junior UK show A Poem Is . . . There will be 12 five-minute instalments featuring animation from the Disney vaults. [C21Media, 25 April 2012]

Former BBC1 Controller Michael Grade - arguably the nemesis of Doctor Who in the 1980s - meets Steven Moffat in the next instalment of Grade's Radio 2 series On The Box, in which he gives the inside story of the British TV industry from his unique viewpoint. Also taking part (although not necessarily because of their involvement with Doctor Who) are Maureen Lipman, Pauline Collins, Mal Young, June Brown, and Jane Tranter who, as Controller of Drama Commissioning at the BBC, oversaw the revival of Doctor Who. Dishing The Dirt will be broadcast on Monday 30th April at 10pm and will be available afterwards on the iPlayer.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jane Espenson has been talking about her role on the fairy-tale drama series Once Upon A Time, which airs in the UK on Channel 5, as well as her other projects. She also talks about her involvement with Torchwood, saying: "I was very proud of what we did. I thought it turned out amazingly well. I don't think you can ever beat Children of Earth, the previous season, which was an absolute masterwork. But, I thought we did very well. I thought we did things with that show that are not normally seen on American television." [The Hollywood Reporter, 22 April 2012]

Anna Maxwell-Martin and Julie Graham have been signed up to star in ITV1's newly-commissioned period thriller The Bletchley Circle. They will play code-breakers Susan and Jean in the three-part murder-mystery drama, which starts filming on location in London at the end of April. [ITV Press Centre, 23 April 2012]

Richard Wilson is to narrate his "untrue celebrity autobiography" on Radio 4 next month. The four-part "radiography" will feature dramatised scenes with star names including David Tennant and Arabella Weir. Believe It! starts on Wednesday 9th May at 11.30am. [The Independent, 24 April 2012]

Eve Myles talks about the roles she would like: "I’d love to do Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - I do enjoy playing big, strong, feisty females. I am too old, but I would have loved to play Dorothy. (and on television) Sherlock – it is really hot. I also love Upstairs Downstairs. I am proud it gets made in Cardiff." [Radio Times, 11 Apr 2012]

Lesley Sharp commented on working with Russell T Davies: "I would go anywhere and do anything for Russell. We did some great work 10 years ago – the TV series Bob & Rose and The Second Coming. It's not true that he wanted me to be the first female Doctor Who, but I would if he asked, obviously." [Observer, 15 Apr 2012]

Matt Smith's sister Laura talks about her influence on his acting aspirations: "When I was 18 I landed a lead role in the West End production of Saturday Night Fever; Matt came to see the show 57 times and I knew he had to have more than a passing interest in performing so I persuaded him to pursue it." However, not all of her ideas came to pass: "I had a friend who worked on Footballers' Wives so I covered Matt in fake tan, gelled his hair, made him wear salmon pink trousers and sent him for an audition - he didn't get the part, which was probably a good thing... that kind of look definitely isn't him!" [Daily Mail, 14 Apr 2012]

John Barrowman spoke about the representation of gay characters on US television during his panel at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, held last weekend: "There's more gays and lesbians represented on American television than anywhere else in the world, and I think that's a fantastic thing. I just don’t think that they're always represented in the right way. I think that there's a diversity amongst [members of the community]. Everybody is different. We're got butch, we've got macho, we've got effeminate — you name it, we've got it. But it always seems that they're portrayed in the effeminate. So I was quite proud to be an action hero. I was quite proud to be an action man, a hero to young men and women, and also gay and lesbian women who could actually look myself and Scott. We are men. We just happen to like men ... If I had someone like Captain Jack when I was younger to look up to, I wouldn't have had to have hidden who I was for a long time, because I would have been proud to be who I was at the age of 8 and 9 when I knew that I was gay. I am exceptionally proud of it. Not every gay man or gay woman agrees with me on how I feel, but that's my opinion and you asked for it and I appreciate that you did ask, so there you go." [Comic Book Resources, 15 Apr 2012]

The actor also got to meet and get the autograph of author Anne Rice at the event! [Anne Rice Net on YouTube, 15 Apr 2012]

Script editor and long-term Doctor Who writer/producer Gary Russell will be appearing at Comic Guru in Wood Street, Cardiff, from midday to 5pm this coming Saturday, signing copies of much of his literary output over the years. The shop has also recorded an interview with Russell, which is being released via their YouTube channel; the first five are available now: 1 2 3 4 5

When joining Twitter, Karen Gillan discovered the hard way what fame can do as her co-star Arthur Darvill observed: "so Karen has NOT turned off her email notifications and her battery has died. Cue 50000 emails. Today just got so much better.«". The actress responded: "Someone could have told me to turn off my email notifications when I joined twitter today Arthur. Plus side? That many cyber friends.«"

Amidst all the Dalek-media-mania of the last fortnight, Dave Saunders (who possesses two originals from the Hartnell/Troughton era), said: "My uncle was a Dalek operator in the 1960s, and I took over in the 1980s. It was tremendous fun. I had to sit inside the Dalek on a wooden platform and operate it all with my feet and hands. The Dalek was on wheels and you would make it move by moving your feet, very much how you would make an office chair move. During rehearsals you had to follow dotted lines that were put on the studio floor and then remember the moves when they were taken away for the action scenes. You also had to wear a black hood so you could not be seen through the mesh of the Dalek’s head." [Shropshire Star, 12 Apr 2012]

(there are more Dalek tales, courtesy of The Sun, 12th April)

The recent Virgin Media adverts starring David Tennant alongside Richard Branson have been pulled from television - in a joint statement between the company and the BBC they said: "Virgin Media has listened to concerns raised by BBC Worldwide about perceived commercial endorsement by the BBC/a BBC brand relating to the recent Virgin Media advertisement. As a gesture of goodwill Virgin Media has agreed to withdraw transmission of the advertisement and BBC Worldwide is now satisfied that the issue has been addressed." [BBC News, 18 Apr 2012]

Matt Smith has talked about his approach to choosing roles. "Well, I guess I choose whatever the best role is but it's very hard to find a part like the Doctor. But I suppose I wouldn't go and play a really clever scientist who's mad next - unless it was a really dark one. I think acting's about variety, so you're constantly trying to find a variety of identities to explore because that's what makes it interesting." [Independent, 5 Apr 2012]

While we await his reappearance on TV as the Doctor, Smith can be seen in his first major film, Clone, when it gets its UK release on 4th May. In it, he plays a man who dies in a car accident but whose girlfriend gives birth to a genetic copy of him. Production on the film, which originally had the title Womb, started in March 2009. A special preview will take place on 1st May at the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival. [Digital Spy, 11 Apr 2012]

David Tennant has also spoken about taking on roles, this time for children and with regard to his voiceover for the CBeebies animated series Tree Fu Tom: "I haven't done anything for this age of children before, but they are formative years and it's really important we create television of a high quality for that audience. Generally speaking we don't have vivid memories from when we were pre-school age but the programmes you watch when you are that young, when you’re still learning about how the world works, are very important. Television, more than any other medium, is what influenced me as a child and formed my response to literature, storytelling and, therefore, the world around me." [Daily Mail, 6 Apr 2012]

Tennant's image is to turn up in a new comic, America's Got Powers, written by Jonathan Ross. The chat show host said: "He agreed to let us use his likeness in one of the characters and it looks great. His character is kind of the mastermind behind a brutal reality show where kids with super powers slug it out to join the only Government-sanctioned super team." [The Sun, 10 Apr 2012]

A tweet by Laurence Fox on 5th April announced to the world that wife Billie Piper had given birth to their second child that day. He wrote: "One born every minute. We had our minute today. Couldn't be happier. Beautiful boy. Everything fine." Yesterday, Fox tweeted that the baby, who is a brother to three-year-old Winston, had been named Eugene Pip.

Derek Jacobi is to have a long-held wish come true when he appears in Coronation Street - but viewers may not recognise him. The renowned actor will only be seen at the back of a Rovers Return shot, which was filmed during a private visit last week to the set of the Phil Collinson-produced soap. In an interview five years ago, Jacobi told how he had always wanted to be in the ITV programme. It is not known when the episode will air. [BBC News, 11 Apr 2012]

Robert Glenister has less-than-fond memories of his time on Doctor Who. The actor, who played Salateen in Peter Davison's swansong The Caves of Androzani, tells Radio Times: "I still get people outside the stage door with that picture of me looking about 12 and I am appalled at myself every time I see it. I looked like a complete berk and wish I never had to see it again." Ironically, Glenister says that his favourite television role was in the Davison-starring BBC1 comedy series Sink or Swim, which ran from 1980 to 1982 and gave him his TV break playing the younger brother of Davison's character. [Radio Times, 12 Apr 2012]

John de Lancie provides the voice of Professor Fitz Quadwrangle in a new video puzzle game, Quantum Conundrum, to be released for PSN, XBLA and Windows platforms. [The Sixth Axis, 4 Apr 2012]

Production:

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine has reported that the fourth episode of the series will be produced on its own as Block Three, to be directed by Douglas Mackinnon, who previously filmed The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky; the episode will also be the second script written by Chris Chibnall for this series.

This will then be followed by Block Four, due to commence production in May, and of course introduces us to a new traveller in the TARDIS in the form Jenna-Louise Coleman in the 2012 Christmas Special. This will also be the first story to be totally produced at the new BBC Roath Lock studios in Cardiff Bay.

Steven Moffat described the audition process for the new arrival: "I sat down and wrote a scene, from a pretend story, that I thought covered everything a Doctor Who co-star might have to do. And that one scene ended up being three scenes, and two of them I liked so much, they snuck themselves into real eposodes, and one I liked even better because during it we all realised Jenna was our one and only choice. We all sat and watched this - me, Caro Skinner, Marcus Wilson and Andy Pryor - and I'm sure you could hear our heart rates soaring. Because there it was, right in front of us, the new team and the new show." This scene is included in DWM Issue 446.

Casting director Andy Pryor described the process of short-listing for roles to DWM: "My original list was probably a couple of hundred names, which I whittled down to around fifty. Then I began auditioning in earnest - in the intake stages, I'll audition maybe twenty people at a time for a role like this - and showing the best of them to Steven, Caro and Marcus. For smaller roles and guest parts we usually audition somewhere between three and five people, but for such an enormous part it's a bigger deal. Between us we shortlisted further and recalled a small selection to read with Matt. We met some brilliant actresses for the part, but when Jenna auditioned with Matt, we all knew instantly that she was the one."

After photos with classic Daleks revealed by the BBC and Moffat last week, one owned by former head writer Russell T Davies has also been pressed into action! The arrival of 'her' at the studios were marked by brand manager Edward Russell: "Oh look. It's me and Caroline Skinner posing with Russell's Dalek on her way to the studio!« Daleks are female, right? It make so much sense. For one they have skirts....«". The executive producer herself said: "Russell's Dalek has arrived on set - I'm talking her through her part!«" Russell's partner Andrew saw it off: "Our Dalek on its way to TV stardom in Cardiff«", to which Steven Moffat replied: "We'll all look after it. Except for the Doctor, who'll probably blow it up. Sorry, he does that.«"

Filming from the current block indicates that Director of Photography for episodes one and five is Neville Kidd - previous credits include Lip Service, How To Grow A Planet and Case Histories, and he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Photography (Factual) in 2009 for his work on A History of Scotland

Media:

Matt Smith on how things are progressing with filming: "It's really great. I think we've got some really exciting episodes. We did the read-throughs for episodes one and five and they are extremely extraordinary. Really, really pleased with them, so if we get them right, the Ponds' final hour could be incredible. We will be making some Doctor Who in New York which is incredibly exciting." [Independent, 5 Apr 2012]

Will a woman be taking over the role of the Doctor for the 50th Anniversary? According to the Express, she will, with their show insider saying: "The 50th anniversary series will end with a very big twist - the Doctor becoming a woman will give the show a new lease of life.". The newspaper cites Sherlock actress Lara Pulver as being one of the front-runners. [Express, 2 Apr 2012]

Filming Reports:

After a number of weeks hidden away in studio or abroad, the production team has finally been out and about on the public streets of Cardiff once more, with filming taking place across Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for both episodes one and five. The "Silver Cloak" were on hand to watch the exterior filming, and the following summaries of the shoots contain potential plot revelations - though the details have also been widely reported on Twitter, do not read further unless you don't mind knowing such details!

Jenna-Louise Coleman:

Matt Smith discussed the casting of Jenna-Louise Coleman during an interview on the Roy Noble show, BBC Radio Wales, on 22nd March:

When speaking to Digital Spy about his new film The Pirates!, David Tennant also offered some advice to the new companion:

The actress herself appeared on This Morning on 27th March to promote Titanic, but briefly said of the announcement of her new role:

Talking to Radio Times about the secrecy surrounding her casting, Jenna said:
The full interview is in the new edition of Radio Times (31 Mar-6 Apr 2012), where the actress also explains how she had to describe her audition as being for Men On Waves (an anagram of Woman Seven).

Radio Times have also published a number of exclusive publicity photos of the actress, which can be found via their website here.

Casting::

Joanne McQuinn Joanne McQuinn is listed by Spotlight as playing Sadie (episode three). McQuinn is primarily known as Sally Moore in the BBC series Mistresses. She also appeared in Little Miss Jocelyn, The Bill, and Our Friends in the North, and played Zoë Lessard in the documentary Space Odyssey - Voyage of the Planets. In addition, she appeared in the film Fierce Creatures

David Gyasi David Gyasi has been reported by the Standard as appearing in the series in an interview with the actor. Gyasi can currently be seen as Victor in BBC2's White Heat. Other shows have included Apparitions, Demons, Waking the Dead, Murderland, and he played Jeremy Hands in Mike Bassett: Manager. He also appeared in the first series of Torchwood, playing hospital patient Will Harris in Combat.

Filming:

After all the Spanish excitement, filming continued in studio in the week leading up to the official convention, with Arthur Darvill providing Twitter followers with a little levity over lunch. Then, at the convention itself, executive producer Caroline Skinner presented followers with a "dimensionally transcendental" Steven Moffat!

A tweet from last Friday indicated some upside down antics on set, with DrakeAV reporting: "So excited! I got to pop into the Tardis and saw Karen Gillan hanging by a thread upside down screaming. Doctor...«. This was later confirmed by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill themselves at the official convention, with Karen saying that the length of time suspended led to some blood vessels bursting! Steven Moffat was alleged to be present during the shoot laughing at their predicament ...

Friday evening then saw a read-through for the current filming block, covering episodes one and five.

As previously reported, the production team are to take their second international trip next month when they film in New York as part of the production for episode five, Amy and Rory's final story which features the return of the Weeping Angels.

Meanwhile, production has continued in studio for episode one, the series opener that will feature the return of the Daleks. The teaser trailer this week included a brief glimpse of the Doctor's old adversary in the snow (believed to have been filmed in Spain as part of the shoot there earlier in the month), and the BBC have now released some teaser images of the Daleks in studio:


Filming is expected to continue in Cardiff next week at the university's School of Physics and Astronomy.

Unconfirmed Updates:

The Daily Star has reported that an online version of Doctor Who Confidential is to be made to accompany the next series. However, there has been no other confirmation of this elsewhere at present.

During the convention, attendees were able to take a tour of the existing TARDIS sets at the BBC's Upper Boat Studios. Speculation as to why the console room hadn't been transferred to the new Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff Bay seem to have been clarified now, with fan Robert Davis reporting: "At today's TARDIS tour crew let slip that this Console room is not moving to new studios - NEW redesigned TARDIS being built there!!!«"

Production Crew: Related Vacancy:

BBC Careers have listed a role within the BBC Wales Production Unit which, though not specifically advertised for Doctor Who, will encompass the show amongst others:
The role, based in Cardiff, is for internal applicants only, with a closing date of 12th April.

The stars of Doctor Who took time out of their busy schedule to talk to a number of Doctor Who news sites, including Doctor Who News, at the Official Doctor Who Convention which took place in Cardiff last weekend.

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill joined Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner to answer questions on the future of Doctor Who and the departure of Amy and Rory, as well as their thoughts on the convention and the fans' reaction to the series.

In The Media:

Matt Smith was interviewed on the TARDIS set by Steve Hargrave for ITV1's Daybreak, during which he discussed Karen Gillan's departure, and his and the show's future: she’s a great friend, and creatively I have a really interesting relationship with her and Arthur, but I think by the same token the show is bigger than any of us - it’s been going in 2013 fifty years and it will continue way after me. It’s a thrill playing the part - as you see, this is work, this is home, I spend a lot of time here - I don’t want to give it up anytime soon. We've got a whole season to make, a Christmas special as well, so no time soon, I won’t be leaving anytime soon." Additionally, the Radio Times quoted him as saying: "We’ll get this season out the way and see where I’m at. I take it season by season and I take the job day by day because there’s no other way you can do it." [The full interview can be watched via the Daybreak website]

Speaking a little more on her decision to leave, Gillan herself explained how she wanted to be involved with her departure: "Oh, yeah! It would be so weird to just receive a script and find out that it was the end. That would be really weird. Oh, my god, I don't know how I would feel about that. It was nice. I was just thinking about it and I had this instinct of when I wanted to leave, so I called Steven Moffat and we arranged dinner. He told me where he was at, story wise, and together we were like, "Okay, this is when we can do it." It was actually so lovely and pleasant, and we both felt that it was the right time. In all honesty, I've had the best years of my life working on the show, so I’m going to be so sad to go. I really am." And on knowing how she will leave? "I wanted to keep it a surprise, for as long as possible, and keep the excitement in there." [Collider, 2 Mar 2012]

Writer Toby Whithouse discussed the new companion: "To be honest it was probably more of a mutual decision than people would assume. These things tend to be kind of agreed, particularly the companions have a natural shelf life. I know a bit about the new companion, I don’t know who they cast and even if I did if I told you Steven Moffat would come out here and punch me in the neck. Steven is one of the cleverest, most inventive people I’ve ever met in my life, and so you know it is in very safe hands with him. If he makes decisions, the chances are it’s for the best, it’s the best thing for the show." [Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb 2012]

Steven Moffat talked about monsters in Doctor Who during press coverage for Sherlock in France: "I always say new monsters are better in Doctor Who because you fall in love with monsters when they're new. One of the temptations, particularly if it's a success is to keep repeating your hits, which means you hear it again and again and again." [Le Village, 28 Feb 2012]

Moffat has also intimated on Twitter that he has started work on 2012 Christmas Special: "Right then. It's that time of year already. I'm breaking out the Christmas songs ... !"

On Location:

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were spotted on their way to Spain in the morning on the 6th March, as various members of the public tweeted their journey to Heathrow: firstly by Vicky Cole at Paddington Station, "Just saw the girl from Doctor Who!« Now I've seen Doctor Who!«"; then Erin Sykes at Heathrow itself, "Just seen Doctor Who in the airport, just a casual thing for me to do on a Tuesday.« Yes, actually Matt Smith! We followed him;) but then he got on his plane!«". Arthur Darvill was then spotted in Madrid-Barajas airport itself by Javier Alonso Fontaneda, confirming the trio would be filming there, with a return to the UK expected on the 16th March.


The Spanish shoot has also been confirmed by Doctor Who Magazine on the front cover for the next issue, due out Thursday.

Meanwhile, domestic filming without the two stars is planned at Cardiff Business School.

The Rumour Zone:

Being asked about the Express rumour from the weekend about the potential casting of Benedict Cumberbatch in the 50th Anniversary special, Matt Smith said: "I know Ben and I've not heard anything about it,” admits Smith. “But he’s a wonderful actor and a mate. I think he’s a bit busy being a Star Trek villain, and he’s Sherlock Holmes of course, so he’s a busy man." [Daybreak, via Radio Times, 28 Feb 2012]

Episode titles for the series have yet to be revealed, but an early contender for episode three of four has emerged, potentially tying in with the expected filming in Spain in the next few weeks.

Eve Myles talks about her audition for her role in All New People, the play by Zach Braff: "It was one of the strangest auditions of my life. On the Friday my agent phoned me up very excited because I was desperate to get back to doing theatre, and I wanted to do some comedy because I've never done comedy. She said 'I've got this wonderful script, I'm going to send it to you and they're going to have a look at some of your stuff over the weekend. And if they like what they see then on Monday you might get a phone call and you might have to read for them.' Monday came and they were very interested in me. They arranged for me – on the Wednesday – to audition on Skype, which I’d never done before. Anybody who knows me knows that I have difficulty with a mobile phone, never mind the internet! So I had a Skype audition with Peter DuBois, who was in New York, which lasted an hour and a half, then I had another 40-minute audition with Zach in Los Angeles. So the audition lasted nearly three hours with these two geniuses. In the meantime my babysitter had let me down so we put Alice In Wonderland on for Matilda. So I’m doing all these big scenes on Skype and my daughter is screaming, 'Off with her head!' in the background. But within 20 minutes they'd made an offer." [SFX, via Dave Golder, 21 Feb 2012]

Sylvester McCoy talks about his role in the play Plume, opening at the Tron Theatre Company on Thursday 1st March: "It's a beautifully written play about loss and sadness, and the change in a human being because of that loss. The man I play is a retired teacher, who's widowed, and his son being blown up in a plane affects and changes him from being a lovable, nice, kind, caring human being into an angry person. (On the influence of the real-life Lockerbie tragedy) Lockerbie is there, but it's not principal to the story. It's not a political play in that way, but there's the final straw that releases all this anger in him. One of the reasons for me wanting to do it was that I've got sons, and when I was reading it, I thought, well, how would I feel if that happened to me? I was touched." [The Herald, 28 Feb 2012]

David Morrissey will appear in the next series of The Walking Dead, playing the role of "The Governor". The series is due to start filming in Atlanta in the spring. [News in Time and Space, 26 Feb 2012]

Bill Pullman is returning to a familiar role ... the Independence Day star will be once again assuming the mantle of US President, this time in the new NBC comedy series 1600 Penn set around 'ordinary' life in the White House. [TV Guide, 24 Feb 2012]

A performance of Arthur Darvill's Cinderella forms part of the Nabokov Arts Club's Fable event at Battersea Arts Centre on 2nd/3rd March. The composition is described as a rock-opera, and is "a musical subversion of the Cinderella story". [Nabokov Online. A Younger Theatre]

Roger Lloyd-Pack has been named as patron of the 2012 Breckland British Film Festival. The festival aims to bring classic films to local villages, with the actor attending a screening of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (in which he played Inspector Mendel) in Garboldisham on 14th March. [Norwich Evening News, 27 Feb 2012]

Katherine Jenkins is to appear as one of the contestants on the US version of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars. The singer is about to begin training for the show, saying on Twitter: "So now I have a spare day to prepare myself for DWTS and for my first day of training with Mark Ballas" [Katherine Jenkins, 29 Feb 2012]

Visual effects designer/supervisor Tim Barter (between Smith and Jones and The End of Time) has made a remarkable recovery from a skull fracture he suffered in 2009. Reflecting on his accident, he said: "Life stopped for a number of months. I couldn't work and I had double vision. I was frightened that my eyesight would never go back to normal and that I would have to give up my job for good. I'm making the most of everything now where I didn't before." [Standard, 28 Feb 2012]

We'll Take Manhattan, starring Aneurin Bernard as David Bailey and Karen Gillan as Jean Shrimpton will premiere in the United States on 3rd March on cable channel Ovation.

The channel have provided links to three interview segments with Gillan: in the first, Karen talks about the impact of Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey; in the second she discusses the differences between her two characters, Amy and Jean; finally, she talks about the real Jean Shrimpton.

Matt Smith on Top Gear

Matt Smith demonstrated his driving skills on last Sunday's Top Gear as the "star in the reasonably priced car", and achieved the fastest lap-time of all the 'modern' Doctors that have appeared on the show so far, completing the circuit in 1:43.7, as compared to David Tennant with 1:48.8 and Christopher Eccleston with 1:52.4. Billie Piper has also completed the circuit, with a 'controversial' time of 1:48.3 (a three second penalty was overturned). The lap can be watched in the UK via the BBC iPlayer until 22nd April (starts at 30:32).


The 'current' Doctors aren't the only ones to take the challenge, however; back in 2003 the Sixth Doctor aka Colin Baker participated in a special 'sci-fi' item on the show, appearing in costume in a competition against a Dalek, Cyberman, Klingon, Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless to find the "Master of the Universe"! Unfortunately he ended up in 4th place, with the Cyberman being the fastest - the Dalek was disqualified for not fitting in the car! Baker was reported as completing the lap in 1:43, but the missing decisecond makes it unclear if he actually beat Smith's own lap time ...

In Memoriam

BAFTA-winning costume designer Michael Burdle, who worked on Colony In Space and The Armageddon Factor, has died at the age of 69. Other programmes he was involved with included Dad's Army and Don't Wait Up, but his great passion was period dramas and in 1985 he won a BAFTA for the BBC's Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Bleak House. [The Stage, 23 Feb 2012]

Actor, director, and producer Malcolm Taylor, who played Walters in The Ice Warriors, has died aged 74. Among his many credits, he was the dialogue coach for Richard Harris in This Sporting Life - the 1963 film that also included William Hartnell and brought the latter to the attention of Verity Lambert when she was casting the role of the Doctor. [The Stage, 21 Feb 2012]

Production

In an interview with SFX, executive producer Caroline Skinner confirmed that the first recording block contains two individual stories (being directed by Saul Metzstein). On whether all the scripts were written, she said: "No, if only. But we’ve got a lot of them and the ones that are written are really, really epic and very exciting. (The opening episode) is indeed written by Steven and it’s going to blow everybody’s mind."

Speaking on the Richard Bacon Show, BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen talked about series developments: "The Doctor Who team are writing away. There are more episodes next year. We've got some big events coming up in the near future. So, stay tuned! I always try and keep things close to my chest with Doctor Who because there's such interest in it, and I think it's right that Steven Moffat and the team are the people that bring the news on Doctor Who to the audience rather than me."

Toby Whithouse talked to BBC America about writing for the new series: "My episode is in a genre I’ve never written before — frankly, no one has written in that genre for quite a while now. But I absolutely love it. Steven gives me a one-line pitch, and then I’ll go away and put together a story and so on. And he gave me a great one-line pitch for this, so I’m really excited about it. Doctor Who is always a joy to write. It never gets boring, it never gets dull, it never gets routine. It’s an incredibly difficult show to write because it’s remarkably complex, but it also has to have such momentum and pace. And within that there has to be room for character and humour and so on. It’s always a huge challenge but always extraordinary fun. That’s why I keep going back."

On Location

As well as production commencing on the new series last Monday, later in the week saw filming taking place at Southerndown Beach; the distinctive Dunraven Bay location has featured in a number of BBC Wales programmes, including Merlin and Being Human, and has been used previously in Doctor Who to represent an alien planet (Army of Ghosts), Bad Wolf Bay (Doomsday/Journey's End) and Alfava Metraxis (The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone). Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and Mark Williams were pictured during filming, which was covered by a number of media sources including The Sun, Radio Times, and the Western Mail.

Casting

According to Spotlight, Rudi Dharmalingham will feature in this block, playing the role of ISA Worker. The actor has had a number of small guest roles in recent series, including The Bill, Casualty and New Tricks. He has also undertaken a number of stage roles, including the international tour of History Boys.

The Rumour Zone

In her discussion with SFX about Worlds in Time, Caroline Skinner was also asked about the possibility of a foe returning to the series itself:

The Express has suggested that Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch might have a role to play in Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary. The traditional 'insider' said: