Into the last couple of days of filming, with Matt Strevens commenting: "The penultimate day and a very busy one. Lots of v exciting stuff to shoot. Been saying goodbye to our lovely cast as we wrap them out.". The producer reported earlier in the week about new creatures, and today seems to be centre around events during The Web Planet, with Thom Hutchingson tweeting: "Today I've mostly been menacing Wimbledon Studios dressed as a winged insectoid alien. My TV debut!". As a follow-up to this, Mammoth Screen apologised to actor Sam Hoare: "So sorry if you were stalked by a giant bee creature today."

Hoare, who played opposite Matt Smith in Bert and Dickie last year, has been confirmed by his agent as playing "Douglas". Other cast members involved today include David William Bryan, who said: "Ready for a long Dr.Who day!" and afterwards commented on his experience meeting another creature seen previously: "Just had a fight with this little fella...... And lost"

DWM were also present at today's filming, with editor Tom Spilsbury commenting: "Today, I had an amazing and unforgettable adventure in space and time. Thank you, Mark Gariss!" As usual, activities at the set drew attention from other parts of the studios, with Chris Presswell commenting: "Have just had a meeting in the same studio complex as where An Adventure in Space and Time is being filmed. 60s costumes galore. Awesome."

Tomorrow is the final scheduled day of principal photography, and tweets today indicate that it may well include another iconic recreation, this time for the TARDIS (de)materialisation! Natasha O'Keeffe asked Matt Strevens: "if there's an old scabby piano on any of your shoot days as part of set, that piano is from my parents/childhood home!". To which he replied: " I think there is tomorrow. What, why, how?"

It's the last week of principal photography for An Adventure in Space and Time, with producer Matt Strevens commenting: "So the final week begins. It's flown by. Some big, moving scenes to come and perhaps a new creature or 2.". Doctor Who wouldn't be Doctor Who without corridors, but this time of the real kind as a couple of Dalek props are left "lurking" - as Matt observed: "These Daleks do like to gossip on a Monday morning."

Meanwhile, Waris met Waris as Sacha Dhawan caught up with original director Waris Hussein; the actor intimated that his time on filming was coming to an end, saying: "What a journey through space and time..loved every minute of it.x" Additional photos of the two together can be seen courtesy of the Radio Times, published when the initial casting was announced at the end of January.


Speaking of cast, last week Reece Shearsmith got to grips with becoming the Second Doctor: "Tried the hobo costume on the other day. Oh my giddy aunt ..."


Some additional members of the production team have been confirmed, with script editor Richard Cookson telling us: "I am indeed lucky enough to be working on An Adventure in Space and Time. Thanks for the congratulations! All I can really say is that it's a huge honour to be involved in the programme and to work with such a fantastic and talented cast and crew." Other confirmations include Pippa Suren as production coordinator, Catriona Scott as production secretary, and James Metcalf as a floor runner.

Sunday 24th February sees the broadcast of the six-part 1969 Patrick Troughton story The Seeds of Death in Australia and New Zealand. The story is the eighth instalment in the 50th Anniversary season of classic Doctor Who stories on the UKTV channel.

It is scheduled in New Zealand at 3:10pm and in Australia at 3:30pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 25th February at 3:10am.


The Seeds of Death was first broadcast in Australia in 1970. New Zealanders had to wait until 1988 to see the story when it was first screened as part of TVNZ's Doctor Who 'Silver Jubilee' celebration marking the 25th anniversary in November of that year.

UKTV is showing a story every week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The Seeds of Death concludes a month of Patrick Troughton adventures.

Next week UKTV shifts its focus to Jon Pertwee's Doctor and the colour era of the programme, beginning with Spearhead from Space on 3rd March.

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

Another early Doctor Who regular during the William Hartnell years has now been confirmed, with actress and dancer Sophie Holt to play Jackie Lane, aka Dodo.

Graduating from the Masters Performing Arts College in 2010, she has undertaken a number of theatrical roles, including productions for M&M Theatrical Productions, and also touring in Italy in Circus for the Smile Theatre Company. Breaking into television, as well as An Adventure in Space and Time, she has just played a supporting actress in the series premiere of this year's Poirot - Elephants Can Remember.

Holt joins Jamie Glover (William Russell/Ian), Jemma Powell (Jacqueline Hill/Barbara) and Claudia Grant (Carole Ann Ford/Susan) in portraying the actors who accompanied the First Doctor on his adventures. As previously reported, Peter Purves (Steven) has indicated that he would be represented in the drama, too, and that an actress playing Maureen O'Brien (Vicki) was believed to have been spotted during filming at BBC Television Centre.

Also joining the family of supporting actors is John Foreman, who plays a "passerby/interviewee".

Filming Update:

As Friday evening arrives, producer Matt Strevens sums up: The end of week 3 filming. Only a week left. Where did it go? As Sydney Newman might say 'what a picture!'". The cast and crew have been huddled away in studio for the week, with Sacha Dhawan (Waris Hussein) summarising his wait between takes: "Dressing room boredom..."

Filming is expected to wrap next week.

One person with some free time next week will be Brian Cox (Sydney Newman); the actor is due to be a guest on Wednesday's edition of The Wright Stuff next week. The show is broadcast weekday mornings on Channel 5.

A new voice encounters the old as Nicholas Briggs confirmed last night that he had taken on the mantle of one of the original voices of the Daleks! Making the announcement on Twitter, the man who has voiced the Daleks since their return in 2005 commented: "Just did my Peter Hawkins cameo today. Beyond exciting..." He later added: "Well, you can never tell what will make the edit... But I had a costume and a wig and everything! :-)".

Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine back in 2006, the actor/voice artist/producer for Big Finish paid tribute to Hawkins: "All of us who've provided Dalek voices over the last 40 years owe him a massive debt. None of us have been as good as Peter, but he supplied our inspiration. He was truly the Emperor of the Daleks."

Filming Update:

A number of classic series moments are being "captured" for the drama. As well as filming of Daleks across Westminster Bridge from The Dalek Invasion of Earth filmed last weekend, iconic moments from the pilot episode have also been recorded as photos released but subsequently removed had revealed, including recreations of the junkyard where the TARDIS is first encountered, and the interior itself (credited to Peter Brachacki, who we reported last night as being played by David Annen).

The look and feel of the 1963 studio environment has been provided by Golden Age Television Recreations, which reported on its site: "Dr Who- An Adventure In Space And Time. GA-TV is supplying all the 1960s vintage tv studio and gallery equipment for a movie-length drama from the BBC, about the early days of the Dr Who tv programme."

The man credited for the original iconic look of the TARDIS interior, Peter Brachacki, is to be played by David Annen, his agent has reported.

The character actor has had roles in a variety of television programmes, including The Chatterley Affair (which also featured David Tennant), Criminal Justice, and Lennon Naked (which starred Christopher Eccleston), and the gamut of regular series such as Call The Midwife, Doctors, Midsomer Murders and Law & Order: UK. Film-wise, he has appeared in The West Wittering Affair and Theatre of Dreams, both directed by David Scheinmann.

He is also very active in theatre, with recent performances including Provost in Measure for Measure at the Almeida, and Dad in My Dad's A Birdman at The Young Vic. As well as acting, he is a teacher for Lightwork.

Filming Update:

After the excitement of Sunday's Dalek excursion to Westminster, the return to BBC Television Centre turned out to be the last day of filming for the drama at the spiritual "home" of Doctor Who. Producer Matt Strevens said afterwards: "Filming is now complete at Television Centre location. Could we be the last drama to film there? Week 3 continues elsewhere tomorrow.". Writer and executive producer Mark Gatiss summed up the moment, which might well be the final drama to be filmed at the site: "Farewell TVC....x".


Filming has now returned to base at Wimbledon Studios, as evidenced by set directions!

BBC Worldwide have announced a TARDIS 2.1 sound speaker system to be released by WhoSounds Ltd in April, for use over bluetooth and through a standard 3.5mm auxiliary cable.


The speaker units can be pre-ordered directly from the company website, and from other retailers such as the BBC Shop and Forbidden Planet.

The Radio Times have revealed that Reece Shearsmith is to play the actor Patrick Troughton in the 50th Anniversary drama An Adventure in Space and Time. Shearsmith - one of the collaborators behind The League of Gentlemen - is a good friend of writer/executive producer Mark Gatiss, who told Patrick Mulkern at the recent BFI screening of Troughton adventure The Tomb of the Cybermen:
The actor told his Twitter followers this morning: "Very happy to confirm I am the 2nd Doctor. Very excited to be part of it."


Other cast members confirmed by the article include Jeff Rawle (peviously Plantagenet in Frontios and Mr Harding in Mona Lisa's Revenge) playing associate producer/director Mervyn Pinfield, Andrew Woodall as producer/director Rex Tucker, and Gatiss's partner Ian Hallard as original Dalek director Richard Martin.

Filming update:

As reported yesterday, cast and crew descended upon Westminster Bridge to record the iconic scene of the Daleks gliding across the bridge, with articles on the shoot published by several media sources, including the BBC, Daily Mail and Express. After these scenes were completed the production moved back to BBC Television Centre, which saw scenes filmed including Brian Cox as Sydney Newman with Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert.

This morning saw a re-enactment of an iconic moment in the early history of Doctor Who - Daleks invading London! Filming for An Adventure in Space and Time took place on Westminster Bridge in London to recapture scenes from The Dalek Invasion of Earth.


This marks the fourth time Daleks have crossed the bridge in their pursuit of world domination (and publicity!): as well as the 1964 incursion, the scene was recreated in 1993 for the 30th Anniversary documentary (More Than) Thirty Years in the TARDIS, and then again in 2011 as part of the publicity for the Doctor Who Experience.



This weekend marks the halfway point in filming of the drama, which during the course of last week has focussed on scenes set in BBC Television Centre.

Cast and Crew updates:

As well as the actors that portray William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford, other members of the cast are expected to feature in some way. Speaking at The William Hartnell Years convention, Peter Purves mentioned that he would be represented in the drama, and observer Nick Lawton commented on Friday's filming: "'Vicky' [sic] was actually sitting in reception talking with Mark Gatiss, as Bill, Waris etc were filming scene. 'Vicki' was wearing her 'The Rescue' outfit, which is why I think it was her".

A few minor roles that have been cast include child actor Reece Pockney playing Alan, Elaine Andrews playing "1960s Vintage Mum", and Philip C. Francis playing "Restaurant Customer"; model/actor Ernest Gromov also reported his appearance in the drama, which he has now confirmed to us to be a "BBC Designer". On the production side, Matthew Patnick (who worked on Spies of Warsaw alongside David Tennant) is Line Producer, whilst Daniel Bishop (who also worked on The Empty Planet) is Camera Operator.

Sunday 17th February sees the broadcast of the five-part 1968 Patrick Troughton story The Mind Robber in Australia and New Zealand. The story is the latest instalment in the the 50th Anniversary season of classic Doctor Who stories on the UKTV channel.

 It is scheduled in New Zealand at 3:50pm and in Australia at 4:00pm. New Zealand has a additional screening on Monday 18th February at 3:50am.

The Mind Robber was first broadcast in Australia in 1970. New Zealanders had to wait another 15 years to see the story (it was first screened in 1985 to launch an extensive series of Doctor Who screenings by TVNZ that continued with few interruptions until 1990).

UKTV is showing stories every week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The Mind Robber is the third of four stories to be aired as part of the channel's celebration of the second Doctor this month. The next story is The Seeds of Death (24th February). Next month UKTV will move on to focus on the third Doctor.

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.