In Production:

This week saw the read-through for episode twelve, written by Neil Gaiman; the writer commented on the experience over the last few days on Twitter: "Amazing hectic couple of days and stressed Doctor Who post-table-read rewrite in progress. On BBC legal advice Lampwick is no more." The read-through also gave him the chance to meet new girl Jenna-Louise Coleman!

Matt Smith praised Gaiman's script at the London MCM Expo: "It's very different, but again I think it will be a fan's favourite because, well, without giving anything away, it just will be, because there's something in it. Neil's brilliant ideas will always add a level to Doctor Who, which will be interesting."

One guest star for the episode will be Tamzin Outhwaite, who according to her CV will be playing the role of Capt Alice. A former EastEnders actress, other lead roles include Red Cap (2003), Hotel Babylon (2006), The Fixer (2008) and Paradox (2009). Asked about her role by Flicks and the City earlier in October, she said: "I'd like to play a baddie, but I haven't done a goodie for a while, so it'll be nice to play a goodie."

Another actor confirmed for the episode is Calvin Dean, whose CV indicated a character name of Ha-Ha (now removed); speaking on Twitter he said: "wow. things get out so quickly on here. So much for being secretive!". The actor was critically acclaimed for his role as Darren Mullet in Tormented, but is also familiar to the Doctor Who world, having played "Chris" in The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Gift.

Former singing contestant on The X Factor Zoe Alexander hopes that her appearance in episode seven (2013#3) will kick off an acting career: "It's great to be working on Doctor Who - the people are a lot nicer than some you get to meet working in TV. I'm loving it but I'm hoping that this is just a start for me." [WalesOnline, 30 Oct 2012]

Regular monster/extra Matthew Doman has also been involved; on Tuesday he said: "Sitting in the changing rooms ready to Don my new monster costume for the WHO. A week of monstering WOO HOO!!"; today, he added: "Our Monster is coming close to the final wrap on this ep of Dr WHO :( It's ok I'm monstering again Sunday for the Dr WHO Experience ;) ha ha"

Episode six is undergoing editing, with director Colm McCarthy indicating yesterday that there's about two weeks to go. It's certainly busy work, with McCarthy commmenting this morning: "Got into the edit at 6AM. Started shouting "INCEPTION CAT!" at the editor at 6.05AM. Directing is hard."; he then added: "Temp music is fun when you have a bin full of genius thanks to Murray Gold".

Another actor identified for episode six (2013#1) is Robert Whitelock, whose CV indicates he plays a character named Mahler. The actor is about to appear as DC John Attwood in the second series of The Hour.

Meanwhile, Rachael Stirling talked about her recent filming experience in Doctor Who with her mother, Dame Diana Rigg: "We filmed Doctor Who in the summer, which was amazing. It's a juggernaut, I got to see all sorts of secret things I can't tell you about or I'll have to shoot you! Working with my mum was funny - I think it was a good experience for both of us, we really loved it; I was very proud of her and she said likewise, and that something we'll always remember. Working with Matt was gorgeous, he's brilliant, he's got that wonderful energy, I think he's a really admirable, brilliant man!" [Sky Tyne and Wear Video, 1 Nov 2012]

Matt Smith on the Steve Wright Show:

Matt Smith was a guest on the Steve Wright Show on Monday afternoon, during which he managed to avoid giving away anything about the Christmas Special! "I can say it's set in Victorian England, we meet a Doctor who's been profoundly changed by the experiences before from losing the Ponds ... and into his life walks Jenna-Louise Coleman's character and off they go on new adventures!"

Talking about the series in general, he said: "I think that the Doctor is the same character fundamentally, that's why we tune in to watch the show, because there's a mad man who turns up and saves the universe with a ball of string and a toaster, and that's kind of it. That's why it's been going for fifty years - at its core and its heart beat that's what it's about. Of course it is going to evolve with CGI and now you get a bit more culture perhaps - but then is it more cultured, I don't know? I think sometimes there can be too much CG and 3D and all that sort of stuff can get a bit overwhelming. Hopefully you can be a bit more inventive with the stories and actually go and create space, or you can go back to Victorian England in a way that 40/50 years ago was more difficult to do."

Looking to next year, he said: "We're very fortunate to have Mr Steven Moffat, who's a complete genius, he really is. I've just read episode one of the next season and you think ... and there're some brilliant ideas in it, there's a moment in it which involves wheels - that is an exclusive, an actual honest exclusive! - and when you watch it you'll go ahhh. It's him, being brilliant."

Into the Future - 50th Anniversary:

Peter Davison talks about the 50th Anniversary: "Every day I check the phone to see if Steven Moffat has called me! I don't know what’s happening next year, I have nothing to report. I'm sure it will be something fantastic! But I don't know what. I think if [the classic Doctors] aren't invited, I'm going to make my own rival video. I'll do my own 50th anniversary special. Colin Baker's prepared to work for nothing!" [ComicBookResources, 26 Oct]

Meanwhile, the special documentary for the Anniversary seems to have fallen foul of recent revelations, according to the latest edition of Private Eye (number 1326): "As the sound of stable doors slamming shut resounds around the BBC the Jimmy Savile scandal is having some increasingly bizarre after-effects. A one-off docudrama about the creation of Doctor Who scripted by Mark Gatiss is in production, to be broadcast in November 2013 in celebration of the programme's 50th anniversary. Its makers have just been ordered to excise all scenes set in Television Centre dressing rooms."

Into the Future - cast/crew aspirations:

Deep Space Nine actor Aron Eisenberg has said that he'd like to be in the show, especially if Peter Jackson does direct! "If they called me I'd be there. I want to to play some fun, interesting, crazy little character. I would love to get into something really fun and cool. It would be awesome. Doctor Who is on my Netflix queue, There's so many things on my Netflix queue, I still haven't been able to see Game of Thrones." [Waikato Times, 20 Oct]

As well as Jackson, Matt Smith continues to add to his wishlist of directors for the series: "Danny Boyle, I would just have a heart attack if he came anywhere near Doctor Who. I would love it. He's one of my favourite filmmakers around. He'd be an amazing director for Doctor Who, but I don't think we'd get him. I'll tell you who I'd also think would be great. Edgar Wright. He'd do something brilliant. I think he'd do something really, really clever with it." [Digital Spy, 31 Oct 2012]

Danny Boyle's collaborator for the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Frank Cottrell Boyce, would also like to write for the series: "I'm always slightly aggrieved that I never got asked to write for Doctor Who - that's in the same league (as the Olympics). I'd jump at that." [Digital Spy, 31 Oct 2012]

The Season 3 episode Air Lock that was recovered last year is to be shown in full on the big screen in London next month.

It will form part of the first session of this year's annual BFI event Missing Believed Wiped, entitled The Weird And The Wonderful.

An excerpt from the Galaxy 4 episode was shown as a surprise part of last year's BFI showcase of recovered TV material, as was the screening in full of episode 2 of The Underwater Menace, whose recovery had similarly been kept under wraps until then. Both episodes were shown in full in Cardiff in May.

In addition, the second and concluding session of this year's Missing Believed Wiped - Music And Entertainment - will include the recovered March 1966 edition of BBC TV's youth culture show A Whole Scene Going that features a location report from the filming of Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.

Tickets to both sessions of this year's event, which takes place on Sunday 2nd December at the BFI Southbank, go on sale to the public at 11.30am on Tuesday 13th November.

As previously reported, Air Lock is to be a bonus episode on next March's special edition DVD release of The Aztecs.

A fan-written biography on First Doctor William Hartnell is now available as an e-book.

The 6,500-word booklet, first available last year, looks at Hartnell's earliest years and those of his ancestors, going right back to the 1500s. There are a few surprises and a lot of interesting personal and social history throughout the journey. The PDF file is available via eBay.

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The first issue of Fan Fiction Illustrated, the 'zine that will give fan writers and artists a place to showcase their comic strips, etc, is now accepting pre-orders via Indiegogo.com.

Former Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel is writer and script editor of the 'zine, and will be producing new stories based on his masterplan for Doctor Who for the first time in comic strip form. The first issue will feature 4 stories:

• Andrew Cartmel's 7th Doctor & Ace adventure "Phantom Freight"; art by Emerson Dimaya
• Paul Cooke's "The Cabe" - a prequel to Terror of the Zygons; art by Adrian Salmon
• Mike Dwyer's 5th Doctor & Peri adventure "Phantom of the Space Opera"; art by Flavio Bezerra
• Plus a Ducktor Who adventure authored by "Lord Aylesbury Mallard" and illustrated by "Vincent Van Duck"

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A new blog, The Doctor Who Book Project, reviews all of the Doctor Who books published in the Wilderness Years, by one fan who's intimately familiar with them and another who really only got into the series when it came back in 2005.

Scarves specialists Lovarzi have released a new scarf based on one worn by Fourth Doctor Tom Baker during his time on the series.

The scarf measures 13ft or 3.96m, including tassels, and is 10" or 28cm wide.

Supposedly knitted for the Doctor by "witty little knitter" Madame Nostradamus, the scarf actually began life when Begonia Pope received the commission from costume designer James Acheson. Acheson had been inspired by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec's painting of his black coat and long scarf-wearing friend Aristide Bruant, and bought a mass of multi-coloured wool. Pope proceeded to use it all and the cast and crew fell in love with the idea of the Doctor having an absurdly long scarf.

Maninder Singh Sahota, Director of Lovarzi, says:
The scarf, priced £49.99, is available from retailers including Amazon UK.

Big Finish have updated their details for releases in their Doctor Who range this month, including an early release of an adventure originally planned for November:


Voyage to Venus is available now at a special bargain price, and all three titles are included in the Special Releases bundle offer (extended until December) that also includes the new epic Eighth Doctor tale Doctor Who: Dark Eyes (out in November) and another story starring the Sixth Doctor with Jago and Litefoot – Doctor Who: Voyage to the New World (out in December).

Visit Big Finish's website for full details on special offers.

Current Filming:

Filming commenced this week on episode 7 (2013 #2), written by Neil Cross and directed by Farren Blackburn, who announced on Sunday: "Once more unto the breach! Start filming Neil Cross's latest Doctor Who ep tomorrow. Gonna be a ride!!!" Filming is due to continue until the 6th November on the episode, which appears to be set in the early 1980s - though no guest stars have been announced for this episode so far. Filming kicked off in Newport on Monday, with eagle-eyed viewers possibly recognising the Gaer estate from Torchwood: Children of Earth back in 2009; another old haunt from previous stories was the nearby St. Woolos Cemetery, which was used on Tuesday. Blackburn commented: "Several coffees a day keeps the Doctor at play. Boy you need energy to direct this show!!! « BTW the Doc is looking cooler than EVER!!! « When I say The Doc is looking cooler than EVER!! I mean what he's wearing!!! Just wait and see!!! «"

The bulk of episode six (2012 #1) by Steven Moffat has been completed, with a high-profile shoot in London taking place last week incorporating motorcycle antics on the South Bank and around Westminster streets, plus scenes in the shadow of the Shard near to London Bridge. Some pickups also took place on Wednesday back in Cardiff, with director Colm McCarthy wryly commenting: "Five cameras on a corner of a street in Cardiff shooting Dr Who for an hour. Nobody has noticed yet. Too late Whovians! We're out of here."

Thursday evening saw filming by Barry Pump House with director Saul Metzstein present - this seems likely to have been pickups for the Mark Gatiss story (2013 #6) that stars Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling - though the scene in question features another character, familiar to regular viewers... Main filming back at the BBC Studios during the day was briefly interrupted to celebrate Matt Smith's birthday (he'll be 30 on Sunday) - the cake surprise is available to watch via the BBC's Doctor Who website.

Neil Gaiman's script (2012 #7) has its readthrough next week, with the writer saying: "in case you are wondering: I'm really a bit nervous: the table read of my episode of Doctor Who is next week. Think good thoughts at us. I'll try and post some photographs afterwards. Oh, and for the curious, the episode will be called ███ ████ ████████ . Only with letters instead of Ascii Blocks. Unless we change the title again before it's broadcast. Which might well happen, actually. I mean, it was originally called █ █████████ ██ ██████." [Neil Gaiman's Journal, 25 Oct 2012]

Ashley Walters (who guest-stars in the fifth episode next year) spoke about his co-stars from his recent stint filming for the series: "You can't beat being in Doctor Who - it's something I've grown up with my whole life and working with Matt Smith was amazing. He's a really, really good actor and just being a part of that huge BBC franchise was an incredible thing. And Jenna Louise Coleman is really good at what she does - it seems like she's enjoying her job and I loved working with her." [Radio Times, 22 Oct 2012]

The Radio Times also reports that the fifth episode is intriguingly entitled Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS - however, episode titles won't be finalised until closer to transmission (for example this year's The Power of Three was originally entitled Cubed).

London MCM Expo: Q&A:

Matt Smith and Caroline Skinner participated in a Q&A at the London MCM Expo taking place at the Excel Centre in order to promote The Series 7 Part 1 boxed set, and answered a variety of questions about the series both shown and still to be broadcast. The session was streamed live, and will be made available to watch on YouTube next week.

Into the Future: re-occuring roles:

Steven Moffat has re-iterated that Amy won't be back for the 50th Anniversary, in spite of recent media speculation: "Amy and Rory won’t be back. At the very beginning, when I was talking to Karen, I said, 'Let's make it a proper ending'. Heaven knows if they will appear in some flashback – I have no plans – but the story of Amy and Rory is over." [Mirror, The Sun, 15 Oct 2012]

If he were to return, John Simm would like to take the Master in a different direction: "I'd love to have another take on him, to be a bit quieter. Russell T Davies had a specific idea of what he wanted him to be like. So I just had to do exactly what he wanted me to, and he wanted a giggling lunatic. There's a new writer now, and I'm sure his take on him would be different so I'd be interested to have a look at it. I'd like to take the Master to a very, very dark place." [Radio Times, 23 Oct 2012]

Matt Smith confirmed at the MCM Expo in answer to a question that he'd expect that - should the Master ever return - he'd expect it to be played by John Simm! Both he and Caroline Skinner indicated that Alex Kingston would also be back as River Song (though not exactly when!).

Former Doctor Who lead writer Russell T Davies wants to be surprised by next year: "I think I’d be like the ghost at the feast, what would I do – turn up and make the tea? I have asked current boss Steven Moffat not to tell me what they are planning." [What's on TV, 24 Oct 2012]

Into the Future: alternative Doctors?

Actor Stephen Mangan wants to add his name to the list of Doctors: "I'd love to be Doctor Who – who wouldn't, it's a great part, it's very exciting, I think the Doctor Whos we've had recently have been phenomenal and I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to follow David Tennant because he was extraordinary." [Radio Times, 12 Oct 2012]

Comedian Russ Noble wouldn't ignore it either: "I think anyone would cancel anything to be [The Doctor]! The weird thing about Doctor Who is, I think there isn’t a human being on the planet who would say no to Doctor Who. But the only downside of that is you’d have to live in Cardiff!" [Den of Geek, 22 Oct 2012]

Into the Future: location, location location!

After the more 'exotic' locations visited for the first part of the series, Caroline Fisher said that they sadly weren't travelling that far from Cardiff Bay for the current batch of stories being recorded. However, when asked by the audience the the London MCM Expo about the possibility of filming in places like Louisiana in the United States, or in Australia (as championed by MP George Christensen) she didn't rule either out in the future.

Having recently stirred the hornet's nest over Australian filming himself, Matt Smith throws a few more locations into the mix: "I also think you could make quite a fun episode in Iceland or South America, or you could go to Peru. I'd like to film something in those places. The Pyramids would be fun, too, but I'd rather go to Peru." [BANG Showbiz, 18 Oct 2012]

The grieving widower of Mary Tamm who died shortly after the actress's funeral may have suffered from a rare condition in which the heart stops beating for no reason, an inquest was told.

Marcus Ringrose, who was aged 59, gave a moving eulogy at Tamm's funeral on 7th August this year but just hours later his body was found at their home in Battersea. The cause of death was given by pathologist Dr John du Parcq as sudden adult death syndrome, with emotional stress as the potential trigger. Mr Ringrose had collapsed while e-mailing a friend about his wife, but a post-mortem revealed that he had been fit and well and there was no evidence that he had suffered a heart attack. No alcohol or drugs were found in his body, nor were there signs of external injury, Westminster Coroner's Court was told.

Dr du Parcq said there may have been a genetic cause, as Mr Ringrose had complained of palpitations years earlier and had had an uncle who suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 52, but the pathologist added that "acute stress, be that metabolic or emotional" could have been the trigger.

Referring to the syndrome, deputy coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said: "It is a recognised situation that it can be triggered by particularly stressful and emotional events, which undoubtedly Mr Ringrose had been going through." She recorded a verdict of death by natural causes and advised the family to seek advice and tests from a cardiologist.

IDW Publishing have announced a new series of releases to tie in with Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary - launching in January, Prisoners of Time will focus on each of the eleven Doctors over the course of the year, with the first of course tracing the First Doctor. Each issue will also feature an essay on the Doctor of that month.


There'll also be a twelfth issue, details of which are unknown at present ...

The first part of Series 7 is due to be released in the UK on the 29th October, and will come in two flavours. Both versions feature the five episodes shown so far (Asylum of the Daleks to The Angels take Manhattan), the UK mini-episode Pond Life, and also the two special 'prequels' that were originally exclusive to iTunes:

• Asylum of the Daleks: The Doctor receives a message from a mysterious hooded stranger – a woman called Darla Von Karlsen wants to meet him...
• A Town Called Mercy: Civil war has ravaged the Kahler race, but a team of scientists has found an advantage. The Gunslinger is born.

In addition, a limited edition "Weeping Angels" release also contains the documentary The Science of Doctor Who, which delves into whether the scientific concepts of the series live up to reality.


Both the standard (DVD/Blu-ray) and limited edition (DVD/Blu-ray) versions are available for pre-order.

AudioGo have released details on audio titles in their spoken word range due to be released towards the end of the year.

After November's Destiny of The Daleks, the next in the television soundtrack range will also be the following adventure, City of Death, again with linking narration and bonus interview from Lalla Ward (Romana). Meanwhile, the next Eleventh Doctor story, Snake Bite, will be the final one to feature the characters of Amy and Rory.