Late September will see Hampton Court Palace host the first Radio Times Festival, celebrating some of the biggest shows on television and radio.

The four-day event takes place between the 24th and 27th September, and features a number of talks and presentations including, of course, Doctor Who, represented on the Friday afternoon by Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat, Brian Minchin, and also Russell T Davies:


Details for these any of the other sessions will be available via the Festival website, with ticket sales commencing from noon today for Radio Times subscribers via phone or the website; general booking starts from 23rd June.

Wednesday, June 10th sees the release of Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #11 by Eisner award-winning Nick Abadzis (2000AD, Laika) with art by Elena Casagrande (Angel, Suicide Risk).

Ingrid Oliver is to bring fan favourite Osgood to the world of Big Finish where she'll join Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and a whole new team of UNIT members for the spin-off series UNIT: Extinction. Last month is was announced that Osgood was returning to the TV series along with Kate Stewart and the Zygons.

Producer David Richardson said:
Also confirmed for the series is Warren Brown (Luther, By Any Means, Good Cop) who plays new character Sam Bishop, "an international trouble-shooter for UNIT who is sent to the world’s most dangerous hotspots".
The ensemble is also joined Ramon Tikaram (Stella, Fortitude, Happy Valley) as Colonel Shindi.
Completing the team is James Joyce (Downton Abbey, The Musketeers, Holby City) who plays the role of "loose canon UNIT officer" Josh Carter. Joyce has appeared in many Big Finish productions including Charlotte Pollard.
In UNIT: Extinction, Kate and her team confront an alien invasion by the Nestene Consciousness and its army of plastic Autons. The box set is released in November 2015 and is available for pre-order; three further UNIT releases will then follow at six monthly intervals.

Wednesday 17 June sees the return of the Ninth Doctor series, with the climactic second issue of Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor by co-author of bestselling "Who-ology" Cavan Scott and art by Blair Shedd, with cover art by Alice X Zhang.

Doctor Who is to form a major part of the new BBC Make it Digital Campaign, heading across the United KIngdom, this summer.

The initiative is a project of BBC Learning and BBC English Regions, with the aim of inspiring a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology. Over the next three months the tour will travel to 13 locations across the UK beginning in Plymouth Hoe on 27 June. The BBC’s Make it Digital tour is aiming to put digital creativity in the spotlight, and help build the nation’s digital skills through a series of free events across the country.

The event is aiming to inspire audiences to learn about digital using some of the BBC’s best loved brands and live broadcasts, including Doctor Who.

The event offers Doctor Who fans the chance to get to grips with coding by programming The Doctor’s arch enemy, the Daleks, on their quest to retrieve the Orb of Fates. Children are encouraged to become a live Dalek, shoot a Cyberman, then drop the drawbridge, before attempting to tackle the devious Dalek maze as part of the BBC’s Doctor and the Dalek game.

Other brands included in the project include BBC Weather, which uses the variables found in the jet stream to introduce visitors to the basics of coding. Some lucky visitors to the event could also get the chance to present the weather with their BBC local weather presenter. The BBC English Regions Bus will also be present, from where local radio stations will be broadcasting live, as well as offering a behind the scenes peep at how the digital world has revolutionised broadcasting.

Sinead Rocks, Head of BBC Learning, says:The locations the BBC’s Make it Digital tour is visiting are:

• Plymouth – 27 June
• Belfast – 2, 3, & 4 July
• Cambridge – 11 & 12 July
• Bristol – 18 & 19 July
• Sunderland – 25 & 26 July
• Nottingham - 1 & 2 August
• Blackpool – 15 & 16 August
• Bournemouth – 22 & 23 August
• Cardiff – 30 & 31 August
• Hull – 5 & 6 September
• South East/London – 12 & 13 September (TBC)
• Dundee – 19 & 20 September
• Birmingham – 26 & 27 September

The BBC have announced that Rebecca Front is to appear in Doctor Who, featuring in the story currently being filmed for the next series, due to air this Autumn.

The actress will be re-united with Peter Capaldi, with whom she co-starred in the political satire comedy The Thick Of It - and for which both won BAFTA awards in 2010 for best Male/Female performance in a comedy role.

As previously reported the episode, written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim, features the return of the Zygons and of UNIT, with both Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver reprising their roles of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Osgood respectively.

BBC Worldwide have announced a new event taking place at the Excel Centre in London over the weekend 13th-15th November 2015:
Events and features during each day include:

• Meet the Cast: Your chance to attend a panel-led session which will get you closer than ever before to cast members from the era of the Twelfth Doctor.
• Meet the Writers: Hear from the experts who create the storylines of your favourite programme, led by Steven Moffat.
• Drama School: Have you ever wanted to know the techniques and secrets that actors learn for the filming of Doctor Who? Then this is for you!
• Latest Film Set Photos: Your chance to have a photo on the real series 9 film set.
• Costumes and Props: The Doctor Who Festival will be home to a selection of costumes and props from the latest series, all for you to enjoy!
• Production Village: Your chance to explore a day in the life of the production team and crew.
• The Fan Challenge: Test your Doctor Who knowledge in the Festival’s specially-themed fan challenges – choose from a traditional team-based competition for adults or an active multiple-choice challenge for younger visitors. Answer incorrectly and you will be eliminated!
• Official Merchandise: A shopping village consisting of only official Doctor Who products including brand new ranges, plus BBC Shop.
• Cosplay Showcase: Cosplayers can showcase their handmade Doctor Who themed outfits during the course of the Festival. Start designing your outfit!
• Photo Opportunities: Is a photo of you and the Doctor missing from your collection? This is your opportunity to purchase an individual photograph of you with the current cast members.

As with the 2013 Doctor Who Celebration, there will be alternative times for certain events, for example "Cybermen" have a theatre session at 10:00am and "Daleks" at 11:15am. In addition, the "Cybermen" sessions will include British Signed Language for those that might require it.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, 5th June 2015, from 10:00am. Also as with the Celebration there will be a special TARDIS version with additional facilities, including preferential seating, access to the TARDIS lounge, an official t-shirt and souvenir programme.

Full details and ticket purchases can be made via the Doctor Who Festival website.

Doctor Who is to become part of the Lego Dimensions Universe, the upcoming Lego action-adventure video game.

The interactive game, which follows multiple characters from various Lego sets in a virtual adventure, is due to launch this Autumn.

Today Lego Dimensions announced on Twitter, that Doctor Who characters will form part of the game. This follows the announcement, earlier this year, that Lego Characters, based on Doctor Who, will be released later this year.

Other franchises signed up to take part in the game include Back to the Future, Lord of the Rings, Scooby-Doo and The Simpsons. Players build physical figurines and then by placing them on the connected toy pad, their figures are absorbed into the virtual gaming world.

The Dimensions game will be available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. The game is due for release on 27th September

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.