The actress Anna Wing has died at the age of 98.

Anna Wing had a small but memorable part in the 1982 Doctor Who story Kinda, playing Anatta, a manifestation of the Mara who appeared to Tegan in a dream.

However, it was the creation of the character of Lou Beale, in the BBC soap EastEnders, for which she will be long remembered. She played the matriarch of the Fowler/Beale families from the show's first episode in 1985 until the character was killed off in 1988.

Wing had a long career before EastEnders, appearing in small character roles on television as long ago as 1938 and appearing in some of the most iconic dramas such as Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and Anna Karenina.

She is survived by her two sons, including the actor Mark Wing-Davey, and five grandchildren. At the age of 98, she was believed to be the second longest-lived actress to have had a credited role in Doctor Who.

The actor Angus MacKay has died at the age of 86.

Angus MacKay appeared in five episodes of Doctor Who.

He played Chancellor Borusa in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin, the first time the Doctor's old teacher was seen in the series. He returned to the show in 1983 alongside the fifth Doctor playing the Headmaster in the story which introduced Turlough, Mawdryn Undead.

Away from Doctor Who he had numerous television credits in productions such as One Foot in the Grave, Only Fools and Horses, Howards' Way, The Professionals, Steptoe and Son, The Sweeney, Minder and Z-Cars.

Raymond Cusick - the designer of the Daleks - has died at the age of 84, his family have reported.

Born in London, Cusick first planned to be a civil engineer, but then after a stint in the army he planned to instead take up teaching. Having taught art, he then took an interest in design and joined Granada Television. This then led to a move to the BBC as a staff designer, which included being assigned to the fledgling Doctor Who. Here, he was to come up with the design of the Daleks, which arguably - alongside the TARDIS interior - is one of the key elements that made Doctor Who the success it was to become.

Talking to Doctor Who Magazine about his original design, Cusick said:

However, as a staff designer he was never to receive royalties for his iconic realisation of Terry Nation's creations, and his enduring contribution took many years to be properly acknowledged.

As well as The Daleks, he would continue to work on the show during its first couple of years, designing more of the TARDIS in The Edge of Destruction, the futuristic/rugged worlds seen in The Keys of Marinus, The Sensorites, The Rescue and The Chase, the 'giant' items experienced during Planet of Giants, and even delving into history with The Romans; Cusick's last assignment was sharing the design load alongside Barry Newbery for the epic twelve-parter, The Daleks' Master Plan.

Outside of Doctor Who, he worked on a variety of BBC shows including Out of The Unknown, Dr Finlay's Casebook, The Pallisers, The Duchess of Duke Street, Rentaghost, When The Boat Comes In and Play For Today.

Upon his retirement he devoted a lot of time to his hobby, writing about the battles of the Napoleonic era. Retaining his interest over his creations, he was to be reunited with their modern equivalent during Doctor Who Confidential; he also recorded commentaries and appeared in features for the BBC DVD range.

Cusick had been suffering from a short illness. He leaves two daughters and seven grandchildren.
(Raymond P Cusick 1928 - 21 Feb 2013)

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Tributes to the designer have included: current voice of the Daleks Nicholas Briggs(Twitter): "I'm very sad indeed to learn that Ray Cusick, the brilliant designer of the Daleks, has passed away."; original voice of the Daleks David Graham(BBC): "I never met him personally, but he was responsible for one of the iconic designs of television sci-fi."; Dalek operator Barnaby Edwards(Twitter): "So sad to hear that Ray Cusick, the designer of the Daleks, has died. Without him, there'd probably be no Doctor Who."; Davros actor Terry Molloy(Twitter): "So very sad to hear of the death of Ray Cusick... The true Creator of the Daleks!"; and from An Adventure in Space and Time writer Mark Gatiss(Twitter): "Farewell to the great Ray Cusick. His passing is especially sad in this anniversary year but his creation remains immortal. Daleks forever!"

In the Media: BBC News; Radio 5 live Interview with David Graham; ITV News; Radio Times; AFP; Guardian; Mirror; Independent.

Colin Baker is to star as Walter Hartright, the lead character from the new adaptation of The Woman In White, which will run at the Lichfield Garrick between 26th February and 2nd March. [Burton Mail, 19 Feb 2013]

The actor may also be about to take legal action against Buckinghamshire County Council after his daughter suffered a car accident due to a pothole. The actor said: "I'd say it was a good day because my daughter walked away, but we are very grateful for efficient seatbelts and airbags. Our insurance company is considering action against [the council] and if they don't, I will." [BBC News, 11 Feb 2013]

When talking about the return of The Walking Dead, David Morrissey compared the atmosphere on the show with his guest role in The Next Doctor: "(The Walking Dead) reminds me of Doctor Who in a way; David Tennant, when he was Doctor Who, really led from the front, he was the first man on set, the last man to leave, making sure everybody was all right, a great leader - and Andrew (Lincoln) is just the same, he's a wonderful leading actor." [This Morning, 13 Feb 2013]

Sue Perkins found herself the subject of a Twitter campaign to make her the next Doctor, after being nominated by Scifind. The comedienne/presenter told her followers that she was "Beyond flattered. SERIOUSLY.".

Burn Gorman is to appear in a new AMC drama pilot, Turn; based on the Washington Spies book by Alexander Rose, it is set in the summer of 1778 during America's fight for independence, with Gorman playing the character of British Major Hewlett. The actor also has a part as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb in the science-fiction film Pacific Rim, due out this summer. [Deadline, 15 Feb 2013]

Talking about the original plans for Torchwood: Miracle Day, Chris Chibnall said: "I did a bit of very early storylining with Russell on Miracle Day, right at the start, before they pitched it to Fox, before they pitched it to Starz. I think somewhere along the way it sort of lost a little bit of its Torchwood-ness. Whether you like or dislike Torchwood, it has an essence – of madness and cheekiness and sexiness, and fun and darkness, those sort of polar facets of what it’s about, of putting those things together – and somehow it lost a bit of that somewhere in the process. when we were first talking about it, it was something a bit bolder, a bit cheekier. it may just come back to the fact that one of the great essences of Torchwood was taking those American tropes and doing them in Wales. And in a way, that’s what made Torchwood so brilliantly odd. Once you put it in California, it becomes more like other shows." [Starburst, 12 Feb 2013]

Part-time extra and full time teacher Sean Carlson (who played a policeman in The Christmas Invasion) talks about his work on Gallifrey for Big Finish: "I've been very lucky to have been involved with the Doctor Who audio series for ten years now as the Time Lord Narvin. We record the series in a studio in West London over a period of three months and perform radio plays, as well as for CDs and downloads. They feature characters from the classic series and actresses like Lynda Bellingham and Lalla Ward." [Free Press, 14 Feb 2013]

Gregg Sulkin (Adam The Mad Woman in the Attic) has been cast as Julian in the FOX pilot for Delirium - based on Lauren Oliver’s bestselling book trilogy, the series is set in a world where love is deemed illegal and can be eradicated with a special procedure. [Deadline, 19 Feb 2013]

James Corden is hosting the 2013 Brit Awards, taking place tonight, and broadcast in ITV.

Graham Norton's Big Chat is a show taking place on BBC3 on the 7th March in aid of Comic Relief which will aim to set the Guinness World Record for "Most Questions Asked on a TV Chat Show". An array of stars will appear on the show, including Ronnie Corbett, Warwick Davis and Russell Tovey, plus a Big Chat Backstage Party hosted by Greg James. [BBC Media Centre, 20 Feb 2013]

In Memoriam:

The actress Elspet Gray (Lady Rix) has died at the age of 83. As well as appearing in Doctor Who as the High Council member Thalia in Arc of Infinity, she also played the Queen in Blackadder, Lady Collingford in Catweazle and Mrs Palmer in Solo amongst many roles on television. [Daily Record, 19 Feb 2013]

The actor Richard Briers has died at the age of 79.

Born in 1934 in Raynes Park, Briers started off his career as a filing clerk, a role he continued to perform during his national service. It was at this time he met Brian Murphy, who introduced him to acting and once his service had finished Briers went to study at RADA. After graduating, he then worked at Liverpool Repertory Theatre, where he was to meet his wife Ann Davies.

An established actor of stage and screen, Briers became a household name during the 1970s for his role as Tom Good in The Good Life. This was followed by other popular roles such as Martin Bryce in Ever Decreasing Circles, Tony Fairfax in Down to Earth, Hector McDonald in Monarch of the Glen, and for two generations of children as the narrator and voices of Roobarb.

Other notable television roles included his breakthrough as George Starling in Marriage Lines (in which he starred alongside Prunella Scales, whose son Sam is his godson), Birds on a Wing, The Norman Conquests, All in Good Faith, and If You See God, Tell Him. He was also a presenter of Jackanory, the original voice of Noddy, narrator of another childrens' animated series Noah and Nelly, and played Bob The Builder's dad Robert.

In theatre, he worked alongside Kenneth Branagh in a number of productions, including the lead roles in King Lear and Uncle Vanya, and also took on roles in some nine films by the director, including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and Frankenstein. His most recent role was as machine gun-wielding walker-bound Hamish in Cockneys vs Zombies.

In 1987 he appeared in the Doctor Who story Paradise Towers alongside Sylvester McCoy, playing the Chief Caretaker. Talking about the role to Doctor Who Magazine, the actor said: Doctor Who enabled me to overact, and I enjoy that. The producer (John Nathan-Turner) worried that I wasn't taking the role seriously. He thought that Doctor Who was some kind of classic, which I suppose it was, but he considered it a classic like one of Shakespeare's plays. He thought that I wanted to send up Doctor Who. I think he was frightened that I would start overdoing it...so I did! I thought I had leeway." In 2008 he returned to the Doctor Who universe, appearing in the Torchwood story A Day in the Death as the critically ill Henry Parker.

In his later life, Briers became President of the Parkinson's Disease Society, and was also involved in the launch of the Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association campaign. He was also a non-medical patron of the Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula Support charity, which supports children and the families of children born unable to swallow.

He was awarded the OBE in 1989, and then the CBE in 2003 for his services to drama.

Briers passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday after a long struggle with a lung condition. He is survived by his wife Ann and children Lucy and Katie.

(Richard David Briers, 14 Jan 1934 - 17 Feb 2013)

Matt Smith is to star in a new film, How To Catch A Monster, written and directed by Ryan Gosling. The film has been described as "set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city and centred on a single mother of two being swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld, while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town." Smith is to play the, as yet unnamed lead, alongside Eva Mendes, Christina Hendricks and Saoirse Ronan. Filming begins in May. [Variety, 6 Feb 2013]

David Tennant is currently filming a new three-part thriller for BBC One, The Escape Artist, in which he plays Will Burton, a barrister who specialises in spiriting people out of tight legal corners. The show is written by Spooks creator David Wolstencroft, who said of the casting: "David Tennant is one of the most accomplished and iconic actors of his generation. I cannot wait to see him in Will's shoes.". The show also features Sophie Okonedo, Toby Kebbell and Ashley Jensen (with whom the actor appeared in his very first professional role, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui). [BBC Media Centre, 31 Jan 2013]

The actor has also been reunited with Emilia Fox for the drama Every Seventh Wave, a sequel to last year's Love, Virtually. It can be heard this Thursday on BBC Radio 4.

Christopher Eccleston took on the role of Winston Smith in the first BBC Radio 4 adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 broadcast at the weekend; on the enduring appeal of the book and his character, the actor said: "it's the human story that means that we keep coming back to it and keeps it relevant.". The adaptation forms part of a season of programmes entitled The Real George Orwell celebrating the writer, who used to work at Broadcasting House. (Eccleston isn't the only Doctor to have played the role - Patrick Troughton starred as Smith in a 1965 broadcast by the BBC Home Service.)

We reported back in September that Eccleston was amongst a number of celebrities who were making claims against News International over phone-hacking allegations - a settlement was reached last Friday, with the lawyer representing claimants reported that the actor has been "shocked and distressed" over the sixteen occasions his messages had been compromised, and that "owing to the deliberate destruction of documents by the News of the World, he will never find out the true extent to which his privacy and that of those close to him, was invaded". [BBC News/Express, 8 Feb 2013]

Peter Davison was recently subject to an internet death hoax, as a joke blog post escalated out of control across social media - the actor is of course very much alive! A number of celebrities have suffered similar reports in recent months as unfounded rumours spread through social media. However, this is not a new phenomenon as obituaries have been published in the past in print for people still very much alive! [Travelers Today, 2 Feb 2013]

Joy Whitby, former children's TV producer at the BBC, has revealed how producer Verity Lambert contacted her about a job on the recently launched Play School after she finished on Doctor Who. Surprised, she turned her down, considering her to be an over-qualified and high-powered producer! [BBC News, 31 Jan 2013]

Talking about how she became an actress, Freema Agyeman said: "No one in my family or my friend circle anywhere was in the acting business or anything to do with the industry whatsoever. I went to a very strict academic convent girls' school, and I was very into science and things like that when I was younger. And then I suddenly just went off on this tangent when I was 17 and I suddenly decided that I liked acting. But I also liked fine arts and English literature, so I would have gone and done any of them at a higher education level. I remember asking a career advisor, "What should I do?" and her advice was to apply to universities and see what happens. So I applied to either of the three at university, and I decided that fate would guide me. And it so happens that the theatre studies or the acting degree application was responded to first, so I thought it was a sign. And I learned everything as I went. I got into it quite late. I'm enjoying it, but I'm very much learning as I go - and enjoying that, actually!" [Hollywood, 5 Feb 2013]

The actress has also joined Twitter, and can be followed via @FreemaOfficial.

Toby Jones was named Best Actor at the London Evening Standard 2012 British Film Awards for his role as Gilderoy in the psychological thriller Berberian Sound Studio. [BBC News, 4 Feb 2013]

Daniel Blythe gave a reading of his Doctor Who book Autonomy to pupils at the Hepworth J&I School in Huddersfield. He visited the school to give a presentation on how he became an author and his Doctor Who connections. [Huddersfield Examiner, 1 Feb 2013]

In Memoriam:

The actor Peter Gilmore, who guest-starred as Brazen in the 1984 story Frontios, died aged 81 on 3rd February - 29 years to the day since the adventure's fourth and concluding episode was transmitted. He was best-known to TV viewers as shipping magnate James Onedin in the BBC period drama The Onedin Line and also made 11 appearances in Carry On films. [The Guardian, 6 Feb 2013]

Robin Sachs, who played a professor in Torchwood: Miracle Day, has died at the age of 61. He was the son of Leonard Sachs and was also known to sci-fi/fantasy fans for his roles in Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, and Galaxy Quest. [BBC News, 5 Feb 2013]

Two people from the Hartnell era have been reported as passing away in January: Reg Pritchard, who played Ben Daheer in The Crusade, and Keith Marsh, who played Conway in the Peter Cushing movie Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150AD. [The Stage, 7 Feb 2013]

The actor Bernard Horsfall has died at the age of 82.

He appeared in 14 episodes of Doctor Who, alongside the second, third and fourth Doctors.

Born on 20th November 1930 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, Horsfall had a long career in film and television in the UK, including roles in the feature films On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Gandhi and Braveheart.

He appeared in many classic television dramas including Casualty, Agatha Christie: Poirot, The Bill, The Jewel in the Crown, Juliet Bravo, Minder, When the Boat Comes In, Within These Walls, Jackanory, Elizabeth R, Doomwatch, Out of the Unknown, Softly Softly, Dr. Finlay's Casebook and Z Cars. He also played the respected doctor Philip Martel in the Channel Islands wartime drama Enemy at the Door, which ran for 26 episodes between 1978 and 1980.

Horsfall's first appearance in Doctor Who came in the 1968 story The Mind Robber, where he played Lemuel Gulliver, encountered by the second Doctor in the Land of Fiction.

After a small role as the First Time Lord in the final Troughton story The War Games, Horsfall returned to the series in 1973, playing the Thal Taron in the six-part story Planet of the Daleks, working with the third Doctor to defeat the Daleks on the planet Spiridon.

His final role in Doctor Who is arguably the one he is most famous for, playing Chancellor Goth in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin. His most famous scene involved a battle with the fourth Doctor inside the Matrix with the climax of episode three showing the Doctor being held underwater by Goth. The sequence prompted complaints from the TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse and was edited from repeat showings.

Horsfall returned to the world of Doctor Who in 2003 when he played Arnold Baynes in the Big Finish audio play Davros.

The actor, who was due to attend the 2013 Gallifrey One convention next month, collapsed and died this morning.

Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have been nominated for the Long Form Television category for Sherlock in the 2013 Producers Guild Awards, which take place on the 26th January. The show is up against American Horror Story, The Dust Bowl, Game Change, and Hatfields and McCoys.

Matt Smith has recorded a couple of pieces for Disney Junior's new series entitled A Poem is .... Set amongst animated clips from various Disney animations, he presents a traditional folk song De Colores on the 5th January and Jack Prelutsky's Once They All Believed In Dragons on the 19th January - a video of the latter can be found via BBC America. [BBC America, 3 Jan 2013]

Bernard Cribbins talks about working on a new story-based series Old Jack's Boat: "It was lovely to be asked, it is a bit like Jackanory - it's me, sitting telling stories, with my dog Salty beside me. And it has the bonus of a few extra characters and some animation, and we got the chance to wander about Staithes, a lovely fishing village in North Yorkshire." The series also sees two episdoes written by Russell T Davies: "I asked them if they had all the stories in place and when they said no, I approached Russell to ask if he would do it. It was a change for him, to write for such a young audience but his stories are lovely." [Evening Times, 2 Jan 2013]

Bill Pullman reveals his love of fruit in a new documentary The Fruit Hunters. The actor, who owns over two acres of Orchard in Hollywood, said: "Growing things and being able to live off the land has always appealed to me. I think in California it really blossomed. This climate is sensational for growing a lot of different variety of rare fruit plants from other climates all year-round. That idea was intoxicating to me. I would say the biggest surprise to me, the tree that I just find so cool (is) Persian mulberries; they're so fragile, the farmer's market will sometimes sell a single layer of them to gourmet chefs, but they're pretty pricey. But, if you stand under a tree and eat away, you just feel so lucky to have a sensation that very few people get to have." [USA Today, 4 Jan 2013]

The actor also continues his 'presidential' credentials in a new series from NBC, 1600 Penn; Pullman plays President Dale Gilchrist in the show, which debuts on the 10th January.

John Barrowman suffered an accident during the matinee of his pantomine Jack and the Beanstalk in Glasgow on Friday; the performer fell from a horse and was taken to Glasgow's Western Infirmary as a precaution. However, his injury was reported to be minor and that he expected to be back for the matinee on Saturday.

"The Next Doctor" David Morrissey speaks very favourably about current Doctor Matt Smith: "I love Matt; I think he's a fantastic actor. I've known him for a long time and he's a great guy. He's a really brave choice for them. There was lots of names around – and those were tough shoes to fill, David Tennant's. You know what I mean? David Tennant really made it his own, and for Matt to come in and do that is something else ... he's the first [Doctor] to really break through in America." [Paranormal Pop Culture, 6 Dec 2012]

Brian Cox is to star in the BBC Four comedy series Bob Servant Independent, in which he plays the wannabe MP for Broughton Ferry. The six-parter (originally planned to be in three parts and airing late last year) stems from the hit BBC Radio Scotland comedy The Bob Servant Emails and best-selling Bob Servant books. It begins on Wednesday 23rd January at 10pm.

Frank Skinner appeared alongside Billie Piper on The Graham Norton Show, where he confessed he'd accidentally called her Rose backstage! Talking about the show itself, he said: "I said to my manager 'Do you think you could get me a part in Doctor Who? I don't mean like a big part, I'll be a monster, I'll be a lunar rock, but I really would love to be able to say to my grandchildren I was in Doctor Who', and he said 'oh sure, it won't be a problem'. He got in touch and he got an email back from one of the senior people saying 'I'm really happy to hear that that's a thing that Frank would like to do ...' Somehow the end of the email seems to have been be cut off!" [The Graham Norton Show, 4 Jan 2013]

In Memoriam:

Daphne Oxenford died on Friday 21st December aged 93. She played two roles in Doctor Who, first as the Archivist in Seventh Doctor story Dragonfire from 1987, and then as an older Agatha Christie in the Tenth Doctor story The Unicorn and the Wasp in 2008 (her scenes in the latter were not broadcast, but can be seen on the Complete Series Four Boxed Set). She will perhaps be best remembered, however, as the voice of Listen With Mother and the immortal saying "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.".

The composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett has died aged 76.

As well as many and varied classical pieces, he also wrote film and TV scores, with the incidental music for the 1964 story The Aztecs being among them. The four-part adventure is to be released as a special edition DVD in March.

Born in Broadstairs, Bennett - who was also an accomplished jazz pianist - studied and later taught at the Royal Academy of Music.

His film work included the score for Nicholas and Alexandra, which starred Tom Baker as Rasputin and Michael Jayston as Nicholas and featured Julian Glover, Maurice Denham, Gordon Gostelow, Brian Cox, and Steven Berkoff.

He also provided the score for Four Weddings And A Funeral, written by Richard Curtis and starring Hugh Grant, who was one of the Doctors in the 1999 Comic Relief spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Steven Moffat. Other films to feature Bennett's music included Murder On The Orient Express, with George Coulouris among the cast.

Bennett was Oscar-nominated for his music for Far From The Madding Crowd, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Murder On The Orient Express, with the latter garnering him a BAFTA award.

Appointed a CBE in 1977, he received his knighthood in 1998. Bennett moved to New York in 1979 and in his later years also became an artist noted for his collage work.