The BBC has announced production of a new Doctor Who spin off series has been commissioned for BBC Three for release in 2016, by which time BBC Three is likely to be an online only channel.

Class is a new 8 part series from acclaimed author, Patrick Ness. The series will be set in contemporary London and will feature Coal Hill School, first seen in Doctor Who's very first episode in 1963. Class will the the third full Spin off Series from Doctor Who, commissioned by the BBC. It follows Torchwood, which launched in 2006 and The Sarah Jane Adventures which launched on 2007

Steven Moffat, who will be executive producer on the series, says, On his first television series, writer Patrick Ness says, Damian Kavanagh, Controller BBC Three adds, Polly Hill, Controller BBC Drama Commissioning, adds, Class is executive produced by Steven Moffatt, Patrick Ness and Brian Minchin. The 8 x 45 minute series will film in and around Wales from Spring, 2016 and be released next year.

Missing episode hunter Philip Morris, the man responsible for recovering nine missing episodes of Doctor Who, has told fans at a convention that he also located the missing Episode Three of The Web Of Fear, only for it to be stolen before it could be returned to the United Kingdom.

Previously missing episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 of Enemy of the World were recovered in 2013, alongside episodes 2, 4, 5, and 6 of Web of Fear, two stories from the fifth Season of Doctor Who, originally screened in 1967/8. The films had been found gathering dust in a store room at a television relay station in Nigeria.

These finds completed the two stories, with the exception of Episode Three of The Web of Fear, an important episode in the history of the series as it introduces the character of the Brigadier. At the time it was claimed that this episode was not located with the other finds. The third episode was reconstructed by the BBC Doctor Who Restoration Team, for the DVD release of the story.

However, speaking at the Pandorica 2015 convention, being held in Bristol this weekend, Philip Morris announced that when he initially located the episodes, episode 3 was indeed part of the collection.

The negotiations for the return of the episodes took over six months, and when the episodes were finally returned to the UK, episode three had vanished. Morris said he believed that after word of the find leaked out an offer was made to a member of staff at the Nigerian station, and that the episode had been sold to a private collector.

Currently 97 episodes of Doctor Who remain missing from the BBC archive.

BBC Worldwide are to release The Underwater Menace on DVD, just two months after it was revealed that plans to release the story were cancelled. The DVD is listed on BBCShop.com with a UK release date set for 26th October 2015. Other regions are still to be confirmed.

Details of the release will be revealed by BBC Worldwide in the next few weeks. Anneke Wills, who played second Doctor companion Polly, has revealed on her website that she will be signing copies of the DVD, which can be ordered here. Her website also lists some of the contents on the DVD:

The actor and director Robin Phillips has died at the age of 73.

Robin Phillips played Altos in five episodes of the 1964 story The Keys of Marinus, accompanying the Doctor and his companions in their quest for the Conscience's keys.

Phillips was born in Haslemere, in 1942. He studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic and went on to appear in many well known TV series including Compact, The Forsyte Saga, The Avengers and The Saint. In 1969 he played the title character in the star studded TV version of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield.

In 1975 he was hired as artistic director at the Stratford Festival in Canada. He spent six seasons directing many productions starring such actors as Maggie Smith, Richard Monette, Martha Henry, and Brian Bedford, directing 40 productions. He made Canada his home, becoming a Canadian citizen and developing a wide-ranging career in the country, including a period as artistic director at The Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, and as director general of Edmonton's Citadel Theatre.

Phillips's directing credits included a London production of Long Day's Journey into Night starring Jessica Lange, the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde, and a Canadian Opera Company performance of The Marriage of Figaro.

In 1983 he was given an honorary degree by the University of Western Ontario and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. He was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in 2010.

Robin Phillips died peacefully at his Stratford home, after a prolonged illness. He is survived by his long-time partner Joe Mandel.

Olaf Pooley, the man who was the oldest surviving actor to have worked on Doctor Who, has died at the age of 101.

Olaf Pooley was one of a small group of actors to have appeared in both the Doctor Who and Star Trek franchises. He appeared in Doctor Who in 1970, playing both Professor Stahlman and his parallel-Earth counterpart Director Stahlman in the seven-part story Inferno. His appearance in Star Trek came thirty years later when he appeared in the Voyager episode Blink Of An Eye playing Cleric.

Pooley was born in the Parkstone area of Poole in Dorset to an English father and Danish mother, he studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London and painting at the Chelsea School of Art. Until his death he was still an exhibiting painter.

His first full-time job was with Pinewood Film Studios' design department, and he then became a member of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, with his prolific acting career also seeing him appearing in the West End, on film and on TV

During his career, he wrote and appeared in the film The Corpse - entitled Crucible of Horror in the USA - which starred Michael Gough, and wrote, directed and appeared in The Johnstown Monster. He also wrote the screenplay for a film version of Bernard Taylor's The Godsend, which was directed by his future second wife Gabrielle Beaumont. Pooley's other writing credits include the 1982 TV film Falcon's Gold, while he was an uncredited writer on the 1985 sci-fi horror movie Lifeforce.

His TV guest appearances since the 1950s included roles in Dixon of Dock Green, Paul Temple, Jason King and MacGyver, as well as playing Lars Torvik in the first episode of The Sandbaggers.

In 1958, Pooley took part in the BBC radio play Ambrose In Paris, and he played Sebastian in a 1956 film production of The Tempest. Pooley had a major career in West End theatre, appearing in notable productions such as Noël Coward's Peace In Our Time as well as The Tempest and Othello, and he counted Sir Alec Guinness among his close friends.

He emigrated to the United States in 1986, where he continued his acting, also becoming a respected artist both there and abroad. In an interview, he said: "It is a privilege to be an artist and I am fortunate in this respect."

He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2014 with a special exhibition of his paintings at the Santa Monica Art Studios

Olaf Pooley died on Tuesday.

Bob Hornery 1931-2015 The actor Bob Hornery has died at the age of 83.

Bob Hornery appeared in the 1979 Fourth Doctor story The Horns of Nimon where he played the Pilot.

The Australian actor was best known for playing Tom Kennedy in long-running soap Neighbours. He was a long standing member of the Melbourne Theatre Company, first appearing in a 1961 touring production of Sweeney Todd. His last appearance for the company was in 2011 in The Importance of Being Earnest. His 60 year long career included TV roles in Sapphire & Steel, Orlando, Nicholas Nickleby, The Glynn Nicholas Show and Thunderstone. Movie parts include roles in Crackerjack and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

The actor died last Tuesday, just two days before his 84th birthday.

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Peter Howell 1919-2015

The actor Peter Howell has died at the age of 96.

Peter Howell played the Investigator in the last episode of the 1972 story The Mutants.

He was best known for his role in the 1960's medical drama Emergency Ward 10, playing Dr. Peter Harrison in well over 100 episodes. He had roles in Dr. Finlay's Casebook, The Ten Commandments, Freewheelers, Edward VII, The Mill on the Floss, Pride and Prejudice, The Prisoner Love in a Cold Climate, Death of an Expert Witness, Crown Court, A Sort of Innocence, Our Mutual Friend and Perfect Strangers. He played the Governor in the TV movie Scum. His many radio roles included the Right Reverend Cyril Hood in The Archers and playing Saruman in the 1981 BBC production of The Lord of the Rings.

Howell died on 20 April 2015 after a short illness.

The actor Rex Robinson has died at the age of 89.

He appeared in three Doctor Who stories, all directed by Australian Lennie Mayne.

In 1972 he played Dr. Tyler in the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors, playing the scientist who joined forces with The Doctor and UNIT to help defeat Omega. He returned the following year in The Monster of Peladon, to play Gebek, a Peladonian trisilicate miner. His final appearance in Doctor Who came in 1976 when he played another Doctor, Dr Carter in the Tom Baker story The Hand of Fear.

Away from Doctor Who Robinson appeared in a number of classic British Television programmes including Gems, Bread, One by One, Only Fools and Horses...., Just Good Friends, Are You Being Served?, Terry and June, The Onedin Line, Softly Softly: Task Force, Warship, Upstairs, Downstairs, Callan, The Plane Makers, Ghost Squad and Champion Road.

Rex Robinson is survived by his wife Patricia Pryor, who also appeared in The Three Doctors.

The Horror Channel in the UK is to be broadcast on Freeview, allowing the majority of UK viewers to watch classic Doctor Who, without a subscription.

The Horror Channel has been showing old Doctor Who episodes since last Easter, but until now the channel has only been available on Sky, Virgin and Freesat. The new deal means that from Friday 13th March it will be available on channel number 70 on Freeview, available to over 90% of the population in 17 million homes.

Tanya Gugenheim, Chief Business Development Officer, AMC Networks International – Zone said:
The first story to be shown on Freeview will be the 1978 story The Stones of Blood.

A full list of stories can be found on our sister site This Week in Doctor Who.

The actor Hugh Walters has died at the age of 75.

Hugh Walters had three roles in Doctor Who. In 1965 he first made a cameo appearance as William Shakespeare in the First Doctor story The Chase, appearing on the Doctor's newly acquired Time and Space Visualiser.

He returned to the series in 1976 playing Commentator Runcible alongside Tom Baker, in two episodes of The Deadly Assassin. His final performance in the series came in 1985 when he played Vogal, the secretary and assistant to Eleanor Bron's Kara, in the Colin Baker story Revelation of the Daleks.

Walters had a long career in British television. His first major role was as Georgie in the fifth series of the ATV situation comedy The Larkins, appearing alongside David Kossoff and Peggy Mount. He played Smike in the 1968 BBC production of Nicholas Nickleby which starred Martin Jarvis in the title role.

In 1970 he played Wamba in the mini series Ivanhoe as well as regular roles in Sentimental Education and Never Say Die. He played Mr Winters in The Fenn Street Gang and Peter Pringle in The Train Now Standing. He played Vic Thatcher in two episodes of the original production of Terry Nation's Survivors.

In 1976 he took the role of Stifford in the ATV adaptation of Arnold Bennett's Clayhanger. He played Mr Little in the Channel 4 comedy drama Chance in a Million and Theo in Gems. In 2000 he portrayed Charles Hawtrey in the Carry On Docu-Drama Cor Blimey.

Other credits included Heartbeat, Rumpole of the Bailey, Z Cars, The Brittas Empire, The House of Eliott and regular appearances in The Russ Abbot Show.

Hugh Walters was born in 1939 in Mexborough in Yorkshire. He died in London last month.

Veteran Doctor Who designer Barry Newbery has died at the age of 88.

Barry Newbery was one of the most prolific designers of Doctor Who, working on more episodes of the classic series than any other designer in its 26 year history. His contribution ranged from the very first story An Unearthly Child in 1963 through to The Awakening in 1984, a total of 62 episodes across 14 stories.

Barry Newbery joined the BBC in the late 1950's after working as a freelance designer in London, overseeing window displays and designing exhibitions. Early work for the Corporation included Comedy Playhouse and The Last Man Out, a 1962 period drama starring Barry Letts.

In 1963 he found himself attached to the new science fiction programme, planned by the BBC, Doctor Who. He was one of two designers drafted in to replace original designer Peter Brachacki, who had left the series following disagreements with the series producer Verity Lambert. Brachacki had designed the sets for the original pilot, but had left the show by the time the first episode was reshot, leaving Newbery to recreate the original Junkyard and School set, which had been destroyed following completion of the pilot.

For the majority of Doctor Who's first two years Newbery would share the design work with Raymond Cusick, with Cusick taking the Science fiction stories, while Newbery worked on the historical adventures. After creating a stone age settlement for An Unearthly Child, he was tasked with creating the court of Kubla Khan in Marco Polo, the city of Tenochtitlan in The Aztecs, the cities and deserts around Jaffa in The Crusade and Saxon England in The Time Meddler

In 1965 he worked on the first Doctor Who Christmas episode, The Feast of Steven, before completing the remaining 5 episodes of the The Daleks' Master Plan. He voyged into the future with The Ark before returning to the historicals, recreating the town of Tombstone, Arizona in the story The Gunfighters.

In 1968 he worked on his one Second Doctor story, The Dominators and in 1970 his one Third Doctor story The Silurians. He completed three Fourth Doctor stories, The Brain of Morbius and The Masque of Mandragora in 1976, followed by The Invisible Enemy in 1977.

His final credit for Doctor Who came in 1984 when he designed the Fifth Doctor story The Awakening.

Outside of Doctor Who Newbery worked on vast range of projects, being involved in some of the most iconic television series of the time. He wroked on historical dramas including The Onedin Line, Prince Regent, The Citadel and The Shadow of the Tower as well as more modern dramas such as Z Cars, Softly Softly and The Expert. He ventured into comedy with shows such as Dad’s Army and Sykes.

In 1979 Newbery won an RTS Television Award for his work on The Lost Boys and the following year he received a BAFTA nomination for Prince Regent.

Newbery took a great many behind-the-scenes photographs during his time on Doctor Who and a large selection were published in The Barry Newbery Signature Collection, published by Telos Publishing Ltd. in 2013.

Barry Newbery died peacefully in his sleep Wednesday morning.