The actor, writer and comedian Toby Hadoke is to give the last performance of My Stepson Stole My Sonic Screwdriver for the foreseeable future next month, he has announced.

The show, which is as highly acclaimed as its antecedent Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, will be staged on Monday 19th May at 7.30pm at Bollington Arts Centre, Wellington Road, Bollington, Cheshire, as part of the Bollington Festival.
Hadoke, who writes for Doctor Who Magazine and has been a moderator on classic Doctor Who DVDs, also said that work is under way on a DVD release of Moths and Stepson, both of which were filmed when he performed them as a double bill at the Garrick Theatre in the West End on 17th November last year. A release date is yet to be announced.

A book that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the era of the Seventh Doctor is to be brought out in July 2014 by Miwk Publishing, with the authors' profits going to the Alzheimer's Society.

Wallowing In Our Own Weltschmerz is being written by Andy Davidson, Chris Orton, Andrew Orton, Steven Duckworth, Robert Hammond and Matthew West – a fanzine collection of writers known as "Auton" – with the cover designed by Andrew Orton.

"Auton" dates back to 1989 and since then has produced "nineteen and a half" fanzines and two books.

(Editor's note: "Weltschmerz" is German for "world-weariness".)

The University of Chichester's Department of Media will be celebrating the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with a day of interviews, lectures, talks and panels, culminating in a rare opportunity to see the Workshop perform live.

Original team members Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell and Roger Limb, as well as archivist Mark Ayres, will be extensively interviewed about their lives and work at the event which takes place on Friday 11th April.

The day session will be followed by a visual show in surround sound, featuring new material to be played only at this event. There will also be an after-show party hosted by Brighton electronica night Synthesize Me, and a special performance by rising synth-pop duo the Vile Electrodes.

Tickets costing £65 are available from the official website.

Matt Smith will be playing football for England when he takes part in this year's Soccer Aid.

And he'll be facing a former nemesis in the shape of Michael Sheen - who provided the voice of the sinister House in The Doctor's Wife - at the charity event at Old Trafford on Sunday 8th June. Doors open at 5pm and kick-off is at 8pm, with the match being broadcast live on ITV.

It is being held in aid of the global children's charity UNICEF, with Smith signed up for Robbie Williams's England team. Meanwhile, Sheen is heading the opposing Rest of the World side. Joining Smith on the England squad will be Bradley Walsh, who appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Day of the Clown.

Before he became an actor, Smith's dream was to be a professional footballer, and he played for the youth teams at Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City, but the spinal condition spondylosis wrecked his sporting hopes. However, he retains links to the game through his avid support for Blackburn Rovers, and the 2010 episode The Lodger saw the actor don a number 11 football shirt as the Doctor and lead fictional pub team The King's Arms to victory.

Williams, who is UNICEF's UK ambassador, said: And UNICEF UK executive director David Bull said: In the past six years, Soccer Aid has raised more than £12m to help children around the world.

Tickets for the match cost from £20 for adults and from £5 for under-16s and over-65s, with premium seats at £40 (plus booking fees), and can be bought via the Soccer Aid site.

Sheen features briefly in his kit in the promotional video below, while The Lodger guest star James Corden can also be seen cheering:


Other celebrities on the England team are Stephen Moyer, Jamie Theakston, Mark Owen, Jack Whitehall, Damian Lewis, Paddy McGuinness, John Bishop and Olly Murs, while Sheen's celebrity players will include James McAvoy, Nicky Byrne, Adam Richman, Patrick Kielty and Gordon Ramsay. Former professional footballers joining the England side are Teddy Sheringham, Jamie Redknapp, David Seaman, Paul Ince and Jamie Carragher, with Jaap Stam and Edwin van der Sar among those playing for Rest of the World.

UPDATE - 8th JUNE: Sadly, Matt Smith was unable to take part in the game because of an injury. In a statement, he said:

The actor Olaf Pooley is 100 years old today - making him the second person to have appeared in Doctor Who to become a centenarian.

Born in the Parkstone area of Poole in Dorset to an English father and Danish mother, he studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London and painting at the Chelsea School of Art - and is still an exhibiting painter.

His first full-time job was with Pinewood Film Studios' design department, and he then became a member of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, with his prolific acting career also seeing him appearing in the West End, on film and on TV. He is one of just a handful of actors to have appeared in both the Doctor Who and Star Trek franchises.

Pooley had two roles in Doctor Who, both of them in the 1970 story Inferno, portraying Professor Stahlman and his parallel-Earth counterpart Director Stahlman in the seven-parter.

During his career, he wrote and appeared in the film The Corpse - entitled Crucible of Horror in the USA - which starred Michael Gough, and wrote, directed and appeared in The Johnstown Monster. He also wrote the screenplay for a film version of Bernard Taylor's The Godsend, which was directed by his future second wife Gabrielle Beaumont. Pooley's other writing credits include the 1982 TV film Falcon's Gold, while he was an uncredited writer on the 1985 sci-fi horror movie Lifeforce.

His TV guest appearances since the 1950s included roles in Dixon of Dock Green, Paul Temple, Jason King and MacGyver, as well as playing Lars Torvik in the first episode of The Sandbaggers.

In 1958, Pooley took part in the BBC radio play Ambrose In Paris, and he played Sebastian in a 1956 film production of The Tempest. Pooley had a major career in West End theatre, appearing in notable productions such as Noël Coward's Peace In Our Time as well as The Tempest and Othello, and he counted Sir Alec Guinness among his close friends.

He emigrated to the United States in 1986, where he continued his acting, also becoming a respected artist both there and abroad. In an interview, he said: "It is a privilege to be an artist and I am fortunate in this respect."

An avid reader, he keeps fit by taking a daily walk and doing calisthenics and makes sure that he eats healthily.

Examples of Pooley's artwork can be seen on the InHarmony Yoga website, and he will be displaying his paintings at an "open house" event at the Santa Monica Art Studios at 3026 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, on Saturday 15th March between midday and 6pm.

The BBC is offering fans the chance to take part in a special masterclass in Cardiff with Neill Gorton, director of Millennium FX and the man behind the creation of many of the monsters and aliens on Doctor Who.

The event is part of BBC Radio 4 Character Invasion, a project that will let people spend the day with the nation's best-loved characters. On Saturday 29 March 2014 writers' creations will take over the airwaves, invading Radio 4's programmes throughout the day, beginning with Tweet of the Day and through Any Answers? and Loose Ends. There will be public events at all BBC sites producing radio drama.

The Cardiff masterclass with Gorton will offer an insight into how some of some of television's best-loved monsters and aliens from Doctor Who and Wizards vs Aliens are created using cutting-edge prosthetics, animatronics and special make-up FX.

Tickets will be allocated through a random draw. To be in with a chance you need to register your interest on the BBC website by 4pm on Thursday 13 March. You can apply for a maximum of four tickets per household. It should be noted, though, that as this is a free event, the allocation of tickets does not guarantee entry.

Additional Character Invasion events are taking place in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Salford.

Titan Comics has released more details about its forthcoming range of adventures featuring the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, including the covers for the first issues.

As previously reported, the publisher secured the rights to bring out the series in a deal with BBC Worldwide Americas. The company has now said that the range will launch on Wednesday 23rd July with covers by Alice X Zhang.

The second arc will be by fellow series architect Robbie Morrison (Drowntown, Nikolai Dante, The Authority).
A series featuring the Twelfth Doctor will follow in due course.

A free Doctor Who exhibition is to open in Wellington this week as New Zealand prepares to welcome the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular.

The Spectacular, hosted by Peter Davison, will see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra perform music from the series during three shows at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington over Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd February, with a big screen showing clips from the series while monsters roam the aisles and stage.

And to complement the musical event, an exhibition will be held at Capital E Central in the city. Opening on Friday, Doctor Who: Celebrating 50 Years of Adventures in Space and Time will have a display of original and replica props from the show's history, including the Fourth Doctor's scarf, the First Doctor's cane and a TARDIS. Visitors will also be able to go face to face with a Dalek and knit a section of an extra-long Fourth Doctor-esque scarf that will be created by fans throughout the duration of the display, which is staying in Wellington until Saturday 12th April.

The exhibition is a joint presentation by the New Zealand Festival and BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand, and Capital E director Stuart Grant said: Following performances in Melbourne and Brisbane in January and February - as well as in Sydney in 2012 - it is the first time the Symphonic Spectacular has been staged in New Zealand, and Helen Pendlebury, the head of live entertainment at BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand, said: A video promoting the Symphonic Spectacular is available to view:

Today sees a certain actor reaching a certain milestone and we couldn't let it go unrecognised, so here's wishing A VERY HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY to Christopher Eccleston - the man who was so fundamental in ensuring that Doctor Who was a success when it returned in 2005! To mark the special occasion, here are his first and last scenes as the Doctor.


Matt Smith is to appear at the Wizard World Louisville Comic Con on Saturday 29th March, which is being held at the Kentucky International Convention Center, 221 S 4th Street,
Louisville. He will be greeting fans, signing autographs, posing for photos and conducting an interactive question-and-answer session. [Wizard World]

The first photo of David Tennant in Gracepoint - the US remake of ITV drama Broadchurch in which he also starred - has been released and published by Entertainment Weekly. It shows Tennant, who plays Detective Emmett Carver, with Anna Gunn as his sidekick Detective Ellie Miller. The 10-episode series - written by Chris Chibnall who created the original show, and directed by James Strong who helmed five Broadchurch episodes - is being made by Fox and will air next season. [Entertainment Weekly, 14 Feb 2014]

Ben Wheatley - who is directing Peter Capaldi's first two episodes - has been talking about working with the actor. "With someone like Capaldi, he's a massive Who fan. He knows Who inside out. And everything he does is very, carefully planned and thought about. I remember when they first started talking to me about doing it, and I was very nervous for just those reasons. How do you shape this performance? But then when I heard who was going to do it - when they told me it was Capaldi, [I thought] that's not really a problem. He's so good. I was relieved, pretty much. It would have been a very different situation if it had been another kind of Matt Smith character. A guy who you don't know. Moulded from the start. But with Capaldi, you look at his career and you look at his performances they are all so brilliant, and all so different as well. It was a lucky break for me, I think that." He added: "It seems to me the episodes that we're doing now seem more like classic Who. We're going back to that style. But you'll have to wait and see." [io9, 3 Feb 2014]

Carey Mulligan will be playing the former lover of a character portrayed by Bill Nighy when she makes her West End debut in Skylight by Sir David Hare. The revival will be on at Wyndham's Theatre from Friday 6th June to Saturday 23rd August and will see Mulligan in the role of schoolteacher Kyra Hollis, while Nighy plays Tom Sergeant, as "the two attempt to rekindle their once-passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires." [BBC News, 14 Feb 2014]

Bonnie Langford is returning to play the Lady of the Lake in the hit West End musical Spamalot, which is at the Playhouse Theatre. She will be appearing in it from Monday 24th February. [The Stage, 10 Feb 2014]

The fifth series of ITV period drama Downton Abbey will see Richard E Grant joining the cast as Simon Bricker - a guest of the Granthams. The eight-part series will also see the return of Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton, Samantha Bond and Raquel Cassidy. [ITV Press Centre, 14 Feb 2014]

Michael Gambon will be among those taking part in the HighTide Festival in Halesworth, Suffolk. Among the theatre festival's events are world premieres of plays, readings and music, and Gambon will be taking part in the Face To Face series, when he will be interviewed by the theatre critic Michael Billington on Saturday 19th April. The festival - which takes place from Thursday 10th to Saturday 19th April - will also see the world premiere of Peddling, a play written and performed by Patrick Troughton's grandson Harry Melling, which will then transfer to New York.

Alex Kingston, Noel Clarke and Reece Shearsmith are to star in the ITV drama Chasing Shadows. The four-part production, which focuses on the work of a missing persons field unit charged with tracking down serial killers who prey on impressionable and vulnerable people, is due to start filming in the south-east of England soon for eight weeks. Shearsmith will play Det Sgt Sean Stone, with Kingston portraying his partner, Ruth Hattersley, while Clarke will take the role of Det Insp Prior. [ITV Press Centre, 11 Feb 2014]

Actress and model Lily Cole has been cast as Helen of Troy in The Last Days of Troy - an adaptation by Simon Armitage of The Iliad - which will receive its world premiere at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester from Thursday 8th May to Saturday 7th June, before transferring to The Globe in London from Tuesday 10th to Saturday 28th June. [The Stage, 12 Feb 2014]

A forthcoming show featuring Louise Jameson that is for children who have learning difficulties needs actors and costumes after some cast members had to leave the production. The Unexpected Heroes is being put on at Sandhurst School in Berkshire on Tuesday 25th, Wednesday 26th and Friday 28th February, and producer Jonathan Turner said: "We are facing great difficulties as some cast members had to drop out due to unforeseen circumstances, so we are appealing for help with costumes and sets." Jameson is voicing a magic mirror in the show. Turner can be contacted on jonathanturner560@gmail.com [Local Berkshire, 14 Feb 2014]

Oft-rumoured to have been considered to play the Doctor, Paterson Joseph has told in an interview of his audition to take over from David Tennant. "I was in South Africa at the time, and I think if I'd been in England I probably would have suffered some sort of trauma. But I'll be very honest with you. I was overjoyed. Not that I thought I had been considered, because I hadn't been - they hadn't approached my agent at that point - but I was overjoyed." He added that after the audition "I came back and I think I pretty much knew that I hadn't got it and weirdly wasn't disappointed." [The Independent, 8 Feb 2014]

With his new TV entertainment show Superstar Dogs due to start on Channel 4 tomorrow at 5.30pm, John Barrowman has been talking about the programme and how his own dogs - Captain Jack, a Jack Russell terrier named after his Doctor Who/Torchwood character, and cocker spaniel Harris - would get on in the challenges. "Captain Jack knows how to dive underwater and swim down to retrieve a bone but I don't think he'd be good at fetching any balls because he'd burst them. And I'd probably have to train him a bit for the Dogstacle course. Harris would refuse to do anything!" [What's On TV]

An inquest into the death of former director Christopher Barry is to be held on Thursday 5th June. The 88-year-old died on Friday 7th February after falling down an escalator at a shopping centre in Banbury, near his home, earlier that day. He was taken to hospital but while there he suddenly stopped breathing and doctors couldn't revive him. [The Telegraph, 15 Feb 2014]

Lalla Ward and her husband Richard Dawkins will be sharing their memories of writer and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams, as well as celebrating his life, at Highgate Cemetery, where Adams is buried. The sold-out event - entitled A Conversation At The End Of The Universe - takes place on Tuesday 11th March, which would have been Adams's 62nd birthday. Ward and Dawkins were introduced to each other by Adams at his 40th birthday party in 1992 and they married later that year. [Highgate Cemetery website]

Among those paying their respects to Roger Lloyd Pack at his funeral at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, on Thursday were fellow Only Fools And Horses stars John Challis and Tessa Peake-Jones, plus the actor Nigel Havers. Daughter Emily Lloyd gave a reading of Kahlil Gibran's poem On Death and said afterwards that Lloyd Pack's last words to his family were "I'm fine." [The Mirror, 14 Feb 2014]

In Memoriam:

The actress Lisa Daniely - who played Madeleine Issigri in The Space Pirates - has died at the age of 84. She made her film debut in 1951 as the eponymous Lilli Marlene, starring in the sequel, The Wedding of Lilli Marlene, two years later as well. Among her other roles, she also appeared in ITV's 1958-59 version of The Invisible Man as Diane Brady Wilson - the title character's widowed sister - with Deborah Watling playing her daughter. Other TV appearances included The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Van der Valk, The Protectors, Strange Report, Danger Man and The Saint. [The Stage, 12 Feb 2014]

A 1977 programme featuring Jon Pertwee and his son Sean is to be shown as part of an event paying tribute to the ITV channel Thames.

A Salute To Thames will feature a number of programmes made by the company, including an edition of quiz series Whose Baby? The format of the show saw one or more children of celebrities presented to a guest panel, who then asked them various questions about what their parent did, to try to find out who they were, with the parent then being brought on if guessed correctly or not. The edition being shown during A Salute To Thames was originally broadcast on Wednesday 19th January 1977. Hosted by Roy Castle, it featured Jon Pertwee - as well as the actress Sylvia Syms - among the mystery stars. Sean would have been 12 at the time of the broadcast. His elder sister, Dariel, did not take part in the programme.

Sean Pertwee was one of the multitude of actors who appeared in the 50th-anniversary skit The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

A Salute To Thames has been organised by the TV archive organisation Kaleidoscope and is to be held at The Talbot Hotel in Stourbridge on Saturday 1st March, starting at midday and with "closedown" at 7pm.

Thames Television was formed with the merger of Rediffusion and ABC, broadcasting on weekdays to London and the surrounding areas from 30th July 1968 until 31st December 1992. It also produced programmes for the ITV network, including the celebrity panel mystery show Whodunnit?, which was hosted for a number of series by Jon Pertwee and whose differing guest cast acting out the scenarios included Katy Manning, Mary Tamm, William Russell and Philip Madoc.

Another of Thames's popular shows was The Tomorrow People, which saw the TV debut of Peter Davison and whose theme music was composed by Dudley Simpson - it is now enjoying an American-made, adult revival, currently airing on The CW in the USA and E4 in the UK.