The BBC has announced that Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams is to star in a guest role in the next series of Doctor Who.

Williams is renowned for her role as Arya Stark in the international fantasy drama series. She also starred in the one-off docu-drama Cyberbully and was cast as one of the leads of Carol Morley’s drama The Falling. As well as being a three-time Screen Actors Guild Awards nominee, in February of this year she was awarded with a Shooting Star Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

On her first day on set, Maisie Williams said:Steven Moffat, lead writer and Executive Producer, added:Two more story details have been released by the BBC. The first is The Girl Who Died which is written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat. Mathieson wrote the aclaimed Series Eight stories Mummy On The Orient and Flatline. Also announced is The Woman Who Lived by Catherine Tregenna. Tregenna wrote four episodes of Torchwood: Out of Time, Meat, Adam and Captain Jack Harkness, which was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

The two stories will be directed by Ed Bazalgette, currently earning rave reviews for working on the BBC One 18th-century drama Poldark.

Comedian and actor Rufus Hound, who recently appeared in the series Cucumber, also joins the guest cast alongside BBC Three’s Siblings and CBBC’s Horrible Histories star Tom Stourton, Ariyon Bakare, Simon Lipkin, Ian Conningham, Murray McArthur, Barnaby Kay, John Voce, and Struan Rodger.

The series returns this Autumn.

The BBC have released a video clip of Peter Capalid as the Twelfth Doctor, surprising some of his younger fans and answering some of their questions. The event took place at the Doctor Who Experience on Cardiff Bay, to celebrate ten years since the relaunch of Doctor Who.

Titan have released a preview of a number of additional variant covers for the new Comic set based on the adventures of the Ninth Doctor, as played by Christopher Eccleston.

The five part series, released on Wednesday, is written by the co-author of the bestselling 'Who-ology', Cavan Scott, and illustrated by artist Blair Shedd.

Doctor Who News recently had the privilege of interviewing talented comic book writer Nick Abadzis, who works on the ongoing Tenth Doctor series from Titan Comics. Having enjoyed the new stories  (which I have reviewed for some time here on this site) I was fascinated to find out a bit more about the process behind them.

Doctor Who Comics influenced Abadzis going back to his childhood, so even today he finds it very special to be part of this great tradition. He has produced the acclaimed graphic novel 'LAIKA', which won an Eisner award, and got similar praise and awards from foreign countries. His upcoming project is entitled Pigs Might Fly and will literally involve flying pigs.

The Tenth Doctor stories take place immediately after Donna Noble's unceremonious exit from the TARDIS crew in Journey's End.approaches the stories as if they formed a proper fourth season for this incarnation; (of course producer Russell T Davies came up with the idea of a 'gap year' of Specials instead). The Tenth Doctor is not in the happiest of places mentally, and is cautious of taking on another companion. He needs newcomer Gabby to win his trust.  

One deliberate creative approach involves using the traditional Doctor Who cliffhanger to  gain reader loyalty and have them obtain further installments from the range.  ButAbadzis tries to not be too formulaic in his storytelling, and this means that the dominant character in the story varies.
Abadzis's sheer passion for the comic format is evident:    
Abadzis acknowledges that David Tennant's own charisma gives the story with the Doctor a certain energy and drive, yet he as the writer must look for ways for the heroic Time Lord to develop as a character. Furthermore the RTD produced era was multilayered and in comic form, Nick wants to try and explore that intriguing material with the options comic books allow. Nick also is gracious in crediting the work done by artist  by Elena Casagrande, who is an even bigger fan of the character portrayed by Tennant.

On a final note, he expressed his desire to see major live tours for David Bowie and Iggy Pop when I asked what he would visit if time travel were possible.

The full interview with Nick Abadzis is on Doctor Who Reviews.

Doctor Who: Tenth Vol. 1  is out now in comic book stores, and reaches books stores on March 31st.

Amazon UK Link
Anazon US Link

Big Finish have announced a new Eighth Doctor Series, Doom Coalition will be released in the Autumn.

Starring Paul McGann as the Doctor and Nicola Walker as his companion Liv Chenka, the series will see the TARDIS recalled to Gallifrey by the Time Lords, where they will be battling a new foe known only as The Eleven.

Doom Coalition is an epic saga that will span four box sets (a total of sixteen episodes) forming one breathtaking inter-connecting saga that will push the Doctor’s bravery and resourcefulness to its limits.

Producer David Richardson explained The series will be directed by Ken BentleyThe first box set will see a new addition to the TARDIS team when gifted philologist Helen Sinclair steps aboard in the second episode. Helen is played by Hattie Morahan, whose many leading credits include Bodies, Eternal Law, The Bletchley Circle and the upcoming film Mr Holmes.

Richardson explained the premise behind the character Doom Coalition’s first episode also introduces a brand new villain – albeit one that the Doctor has been batting throughout his lives. The Eleven is a Time Lord who retains each one of his personalities every time he regenerates; now in his Eleventh incarnation, he is an insane sociopath. Captured by the Seventh Doctor and placed in confinement on Gallifrey, the Eleven has been contained for many years. But now he has escaped.

The Eleven is played by Mark Bonnar, who was recently seen in Channel 4’s Catastrophe, and won critical acclaim in The Line of Duty. His other leading credits include Shetland, Psychoville and Paradox.

The first volume’s cast also includes Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey, Toast of London, Blandings), Caroline Langrishe (Dominick Hide, Lovejoy, Judge John Deed), Ramon Tikaram (Stella, Jupiter Ascending, Game of Thrones), David Yelland (Chariots of Fire, Poirot), John Woodvine (Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor), Harry Myers (Bernice Summerfield), Esther Hall (Queer as Folk, Spooks, Rome) and Matthew Cottle (Game On, Citizen Khan).

Doom Coalition 1 is released in October 2015. The remaining three volumes will follow at six month intervals through 2016 and into 2017

Doctor Who's longest serving producer, John Nathan Turner, is to be honoured by the City of Brighton and Hove, with a new bus named after the former resident.

As we reported earlier this week, the final decision to honour the producer was taken by public vote, with Nathan Turner's name being one of 9 selected from a shortlist of 31. An additional 15 names were selected from over one hundred submissions.

John Nathan Turner lived in the city, which is on the south coast of England, for many years, including the period in which he was overseeing Doctor Who. His name will now go on one of the 24 new Coaster buses to be deployed on route 12, that travels east along the Sussex heritage coast towards Eastbourne. The new buses come with a host of new features including low emission ‘Euro 6’ engines, free Wi-Fi, an upper deck table with USB charge points, softer seating, ‘talking buses’ with next stop information and real time tracking of bus locations.

Others being honoured include author Rudyard Kipling, actress Dame Anna Neagle and former voice of the speaking clock Brian Cobby

Full list is here

Big Finish Productions has announced that its licence from BBC Worldwide to make original Doctor Who dramas on audio has been extended until 31st March 2020.

Executive producer Jason-Haigh Ellery said Executive producer Nicholas Briggs added:Line producer David Richardson gave some idea of future plansBig Finish Productions have been producing audio dramas based on the original Doctor Who series since 1999.

A new programme guide is to be published in April, picking up from where the originals left off in 1989 ...


The New Who Programme Guide will be available on Amazon from 3rd April 2015.

Also inside the new issue:

• Russell T Davies, the writer of the landmark first episode, Rose, and many other episodes since, looks back on his first Doctor Who script, and shares brand new information about bringing the Doctor back to our screens.
• DWM tracks down a guest star from each and every one of the ten Ninth Doctor adventures, including Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Yasmin Bannerman (Jabe the Tree), Alan David (Gabriel Sneed), Alan Ruscoe (the Slitheen and other creatures), Barnaby Edwards (the Dalek), Bruno Langley (Adam Mitchell), Shaun Dingwall (Pete Tyler), Florence Hoath (Nancy), Annette Badland (Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer Day Slitheen) and Jo Joyner (Lynda 'with a Y' Moss).
• Doctor Who's first director of the modern era, Keith Boak, is interviewed, looking back on the making of Rose, Aliens of London and World War Three.
• Doctor Who's first ever director, Waris Hussein, concludes his look back over the epic lost adventure from 1964, Marco Polo.
• DWM pays tribute to 1980s director Fiona Cumming, who passed away earlier in the year.
• The Doctor and Clara visit Antarctica in Part One of Blood and Ice, a brand-new comic strip written by Jacqueline Rayner and illustrated by Martin Geraghty.
• Steven Moffat answers readers’ questions – and speculates about Osgood's family connections!
• Jacqueline Rayner reflects on what life would have been like if Doctor Who had never returned in Relative Dimensions.
• The DWM Review assesses the very latest Doctor Who audio and book releases.
• The Watcher reveals the connection between Doctor Who and Dr Carl Sagan, in the latest Wotcha!
• The DWM Crossword, prize-winning competitions, official news and much more!

Doctor Who Magazine 485 will be on general release from Thursday 2 April.

Peter Capaldi presents a special birthday surprise to children at the Doctor Who Experience, celebrating ten years since the series' return.