The seventh annual award ceremony for the Visual Effects Society is taking place on the 21st February, and Doctor Who has been nominated for two awards:

In the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special, the Christmas special The Next Doctor has been nominated for its effects for the Cyber-King; it will be up against 'Generation Kill', 'Knight Rider' and 'John Adams'.

For Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial we seeSilence in the Library nominated, up against 'Generation Kill' and 'Merlin'.

The VES is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. The VES is the entertainment industry's only official trade organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives.

(with thanks to The_Iceman2288)

Noel Clarke, the actor, writer and director who played the character of Mickey Smith in Doctor Who off and on from 2005 until last year, has been nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award.

Clarke, who also wrote an episode for the first series of spin-off programme Torchwood in 2006, has been recognised in the category for his work on the films Kidulthood and Adulthood, both of which he wrote and the latter of which he also directed.

BBC News reports that Clarke is up against Toby Keppell, Rebecca Hall, Michael Fassbender and Michael Cera for the prize.

The winner, decided by an online and text message public vote, will be announced at the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony in London on February 8th. Further details can be found on the BAFTA website.

UPDATE: Clarke's nomination came five days after it was announced that Matt Smith had got the role of the Eleventh Doctor, and interviewed at BAFTA Clarke said he was delighted for him.

"I'm absolutely chuffed that Matt Smith is the Doctor. I don't know the guy but I could not be happier," said Clarke, adding that the fact Smith was only 26 would mean he had "no baggage". He said: "It's going to be fantastic. I know he's going to be brilliant. He's going to be his own Doctor."

Russell T Davies, the man at the helm of Doctor Who's resurrection since its inception, has received the Order of the British Empire for his services in the field of Drama in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Davies, speaking with Prince Charles at the ceremony, said he was "proud to be recognized for his writing."

Read the article and watch the video of the award at the BBC News website.

Doctor Who has just won the Most Popular Drama award, and David Tennant has received the Outstanding Drama Performance award, at theNational Television Awards this evening the UK.

According to the official Doctor Who website, Catherine Tate (who collected the Drama series award alongside Executive Producer Russell T Davies) said "I know it's won the award for the last three years, but I was sweating that we wouldn't the year I joined!" Meanwhile, Tennant accepted his award in a live video feed from Stratford, where he his currently performing with the RSC.

Tennant also chose the moment, while accepting his award, to announce that he would be leaving Doctor Who at the conclusion of the four specials for 2009/2010 now in production (see separate story).

The Sarah Jane Adventures has been nominated for Best Drama in the 2008 BAFTA Children's Awards representing the best in children's production in film, television and online.

The series is up against The Revenge Files of Alistair Fury, Smallhill and Young Dracula. CBBChas also been nominated for Channel of the year. Children aged 7-14 are eligable to vote and can vote online at the BAFTA website.

The winner will be announced at the EA British Academy Children's Awards on Sunday 30 November 2008 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

Doctor Who chief writer and executive producer Steven Moffat (pictured right) has been nominated in the "Best Writing for Film or TV" category at the BAFTA Scotland Awards, according to a report in the Daily Record newspaper. Moffat, who earlier this year won the equivalent categories at the BAFTA Craft (UK as a whole) and BAFTA Cymru (Welsh) Awards, will be up against Bryan Elsey, creator of the series "Skins", and Greg McHugh, who wrote "Gary's War".

The BAFTA Scotland Awards reward film and television productions made in Scotland or by Scottish people. They have been given annually since 1997.

The official BAFTA Scotland website's nominations page - which manages to misspell both his first and surname! - cites Moffat as being nominated specifically for his work on Doctor Who. The BAFTA Scotland year runs from August to August, meaning he has been nominated for his 2008 series episodes "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

The shortlists for the categories at this year's National Television Awards - the annual public-voted poll for the most popular programmes and performers on British television, run by the ITV network - have been unveiled, with Doctor Who once again well represented.

The programme itself is nominated in the Most Popular Drama category, which it won in 2005, 2006 and 2007. This year it faces competition from ITV1's The Bill, Channel 4's Shameless and American import Desperate Housewives.

At the past three awards ceremonies, the actor and actress who played the Doctor and his main companion in each series of Doctor Who have been nominated as Most Popular Actor and Most Popular Actress respectively. Christopher Eccleston won the former category in 2005, and David Tennanttook the award in 2006 and 2007, with Billie Pipernamed Most Popular Actress in 2005 and 2006. However, as BBC News reports, in a controversial change for this year's ceremony, the Most Popular Actor and Actress categories have been scrapped in favour of a combined "Outstanding Drama Performance" category.

Tennant and co-star Catherine Tate will both compete for this single award, with Philip Glenister (BBC One's Ashes to Ashes) and Alex Walkinshaw (The Bill) also nominated.

Votes can be cast online at the National Television Awards website here. The ceremony will be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 29th, and broadcast live on ITV1 in the UK.

The front cover of the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine from the week of April 30th-May 6th 2005 has been voted the greatest British magazine cover of all time, in a poll organised by the Periodical Publishers Association.The cover featured a new series Dalek crossing Westminster Bridge in front of the Houses of Parliament, accompanied by the strapline "Vote Dalek!" This combined coverage of the transmission of the first new Dalek television story in over 16 years with the British General Election, which took place in the same week.According to The Guardian, the cover received over a quarter of the 10,000 votes cast in the public vote, beating off competition from issues of Vogue, The Face and OK!

Radio Times editor Gill Hudson is quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying: "It was a very complex cover to put together; simply getting Daleks onto Westminster Bridge at night was very challenging."

Editors were asked to submit UK-only covers but not their own. Submissions were accepted from any era or decade, including titles that were no longer being published.

Adam Pasco, editor of Gardener's World, who nominated the Dalek cover, stated in his original citation: "This Radio Times cover captures the essence of the mood of the nation in a brilliant and original way, and delivers on every level.

"The cover is totally unexpected and brings a contemporary twist to the iconic image of a Dalek to grab readers of all ages at the newsstand."

More than 40 front cover nominations, spanning more than 100 years, were initially put forward by magazine editors. These were whittled down to a shortlist of 16 by a panel of judges. Members of the public were then invited to vote on their favourite.

Nicola Rowe, the circulation director of the Periodical Publishers Association, said: "We had many outstanding entries but Vote Dalek! captured the popular vote. It is sharply observed, funny, and to the point. It is, in its own way, a truly inspired reflection of the British sense of humour."

UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 30: A Radio Times photo gallery showing how the cover was created is now online here.

(Additional reporting by John Bowman.)

Posted By John Bowman

Doctor Who and its two lead stars were winners in the TVQuick and TVChoice magazine awards last night.

The ceremony at The Dorchester hotel in London saw David Tennant take the Best Actor honour for the second year running for his portrayal of the Doctor, while Catherine Tate was named Best Actress for her role as Donna Noble.

The show itself took the Best-Loved Drama title for the third year.

Phil Collinson made a jokey oblique reference to the ITV phone-in scandal when he accepted the Best-Loved Drama gong. He said: "I'm really glad that I'm producing a show that stars Catherine Tate that actually gets given an award."

A surprised Tate said at the ceremony: "I genuinely don't know what to say, because Judi Dench was nominated and other great people. This is the first nomination I've ever had for anything that's not comedy-related."

Bernard Cribbins, who played Donna's grandfather Wilf Mott, was presented with Tennant's award, and Collinson told the official website: "The biggest thrill of the night . . . was hearing the huge cheering and applause Bernard Cribbins received when he took to the stage to collect David's award. It was a special moment and something I'll always remember."

Readers of both listings magazines voted for the awards.

Doctor Who has been named best programme of 2008 at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, a significant annual gathering of members of the British television industry.

According to the report on the BBC News website, the show's parent channel, BBC One, was named terrestrial channel of the year. Doctor Who Confidential broadcaster BBC Three took the prize for best digital channel.

The winners of these awards are selected by a panel made up of journalists and television executives. This is the second year in a row that Doctor Who has won the award for best programme.