A conference on Spirituality and Doctor Who will be held at Wilson Carlile Campus in Sheffield, Yorkshire onSaturday, April 19. According to the day's organizers, "Christian themes and images in Doctor Who - both classic and new - will be explored. But there will also be a respectful look at other shades and faiths in Doctor Who, including ecological and Buddhist themes in the Jon Pertwee era, mystic parables in the Peter Davison era and the optimistic atheism of current Doctor Who creator Russell T Davies." Barry Letts, producer of Doctor Who from 1970 to 1975, is one of the confirmed guests for the event. There is a press release here, and online sign-up is available here.

Posted By John Bowman

A new 90-second trailer for Series Four will start showing at cinemas across the UK from February 1, it has been reported.

According to Digital Spy, it will run at Empire, Odeon and Cineworld venues.

Naomi Gibney, the head of marketing at BBC Vision, is quoted as saying: "This is a great opportunity for the BBC to reach new audiences with an exciting preview of the new series of Doctor Who."

Trailers for Voyage Of The Damned were shown at cinemas in December.

UPDATE: The BBC Press Office has now put online more details concerning the trailer. It says the deal is part of a BBC test with Carlton Screen Advertising to showcase BBC content. It covers 837 Odeon screens, 736 Cineworld screens and 142 Empire screens. The trailer will be shown before some of the most anticipated new releases, including Cloverfield,Juno, John Rambo and There Will Be Blood.

The British Board of Film Classification, the UK regulatory agency for film and video, has passed "Voyage of the Damned" for DVD release and rated it PG. The Christmas special was passed without cuts; the BBFC's consumer advice is that the special "contains moderate threat and scary scenes".

The 25th Anniversary Edition of "The Five Doctors" has also been passed and rated PG. The previous DVD of "The Five Doctors" was rated U.

UK release of "The Five Doctors - 25th Anniversary Edition" is scheduled for March 3. "Voyage of the Damned" is scheduled for release on March 10.

Posted By John Bowman

The Restoration Team has updated its website with details about the forthcoming DVD releases of The Time Meddlerand The Five Doctors - 25th Anniversary Edition in the UK.

In it, Steve Roberts reveals why VidFIRE hasn't been employed on The Time Meddler. The process is normally used to give a video look to film recordings so that episodes appear as they did on transmission.

As previously reported by Outpost Gallifrey, extras on that disc will include a feature examining the comic strip adventures of the First Doctor, as well as a piece using audio recordings and the script to place in context the 12 seconds that are still missing from Checkmate - the final episode of the 1965 story - after they were cut by overseas censors before the print turned up.

The two-disc Five Doctors release will include the original version of the story, lasting 90 minutes, plus the special edition, which runs for 102 minutes. Screen grabs are used in the Restoration Team's feature to illustrate the improvement in picture quality of this 1983 story.

Among the extras on the Five Doctors release are outtakes plus contemporaneous appearances by assorted cast members on the BBC TV shows Saturday Superstore, Blue Peter, Breakfast Time and Nationwide.

The Time Meddler is due out on February 4, while The Five Doctors - 25th Anniversary Edition is released on March 3.

The BBC Press Office has announced that Alex Kingston and Colin Salmon will appear as guest stars in writerSteven Moffat's two-part story for the fourth series of Doctor Who, which is currently filming.

Kingston, who will play a character named in the press release as River Song, is best known for her regular role in the American television drama series ER. In the UK, she starred in the one-off dramas Moll Flanders and Boudecia for the ITV network. Salmon has been seen in a variety of roles in British film and television, including as the supporting character Charles Robinson in the James Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. His character in Doctor Who has not yet been named.

BBC News and The Sun have stories about the casting announcement.

The Daily Star is reporting casting and plot information for Series Four which, if true, could be considered a spoiler. Some details are listed below, and more can be seen by following the link above. (Please note that the Daily Star's website has content which may not be suitable for all ages.)

(Thanks to Joey Donovan.)

The script for the 2007 Doctor Who episode "Blink" by Steven Moffat has been placed on the preliminary ballot for the Nebula Awards. The Nebula Awards are awarded yearly by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for the best science fiction written in the previous two years, using a system of "rolling eligibility". Moffat was nominated last year for his script for "The Girl in the Fireplace", but lost to the Hayao Miyazakianimated film "Howl's Moving Castle".

This year, the other entries for Best Script are the screenplays for the films "Children of Men", "The Prestige", "Pan's Labrynth" and "V for Vendetta"; an episode of the television anthology "Masters of Science Fiction" written by Harlan Ellison; and an episode of the fan-produced Internet series "Star Trek: The New Voyages".

CLARIFICATION: "Blink" is on the preliminary ballot, which is the first part of a two-stage voting process. The final ballot will be released in March.

(Thanks to Alex Frazer-Harrison.)

BBC Video has confirmed the April 1st North American release date for the classic series adventure Timelash, starringColin Baker as the Doctor, Nicola Bryant as Peri, and featuring a guest appearance of Blake's 7's Paul Darrow.
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