The Shakespeare's Globe have announced casting for their forthcoming play, Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus; the titular role will be played by Paul Hilton (whose television credits include Silk), with the evil spirit Mephistopheles that 'serves' him in the story to be played by Arthur Darvill - the actor is, of course, currently starring in Doctor Who as TARDIS traveller Rory Williams.

The press release reports:

As mentioned above, the play runs from 18th June through to 2nd October 2011. For more details on the production, see the Shakespeare's Globe website.

(with thanks to West End Theatre, Erisi)

With media interest in the imminent return of Doctor Who running high, it is perhaps unsurprising that some of the popular characters from previous series were discussed, looking at the possibility of their return in the future.

American broadcaster NBC has announced that its morning news show Today will meet Doctor Who on 6th May! Forming part of an initiative to broadcast from places all around the world, the show's presenter Meredith Vieira will visit the set of the show in the United Kingdom, and will also feature in a cameo in an upcoming episode. It has yet to be revealed whether she will be appearing in her role as Today presenter or in some other capacity.

Vieira's appearance follows a tradition of cameos in the series, which include Barbara Windsor in Army of Ghosts, Sharon Osbourne, Anne Widdecombe and band McFly in The Sound of Drums, Richard Dawkins and Paul O'Grady in The Stolen Earth, and Patrick Moore in The Eleventh Hour, plus the vocal talents of Anne Robinson, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine portraying their robotic counterparts in Bad Wolf.

The first four series of Doctor Who regularly featured American news reports by Trinity Wells (played by Lachele Carl) from fictional network AMNN.

Media Links: UPI

With the sad news of the death of Elisabeth Sladen still raw in many people's minds and so difficult to comprehend, many fans around the world have been making their own tributes to a woman who was such a central part of so many childhoods.

British folk singer Talis Kimberley has recorded her own tribute, Goodnight Sarah Jane, available as a download from her website. Kimberley says "this is my tribute to the actor Lis Sladen. Along with many other people I was desparately saddened to hear of her death; her portrayal of Sarah-Jane Smith was an inspiration during two periods of my life."

Other tracks released include Companion by Parralox and What's the Story Sarah Jane by New Magnet.

The tribute page in Gallifrey Base now stands at over 2000 posts and a special thread has been setup where fans can post their own artwork. Meanwhile a whole new generation of fans have been expressing their sense of loss on the BBC's Newsround page, which has had its biggest response ever to a story covered on the site. Some of the messages from children are read out by the co-stars of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Tommy Knight and Daniel Anthony, who are mourning the loss of the woman they called their "Mother Hen, ...always smiling, always laughing".

Many fans have made their own tribute videos which can be found on YouTube. Dork Tower, the online comic, has also produced its own cartoon in tribute.

A group of fans have launched a JustGiving site raising money for the charity Cancer Research UK, in memory of the actress. To date over £3000 has been raised. Other fans have been donating to the Lymphoedema Support Network, which was understood to be a charity the actress supported. A JustGiving site has been set up to buy an imaginary pint to toast Sarah Jane.

The BBC's programme in memory of Elisabeth Sladen, My Sarah Jane, which contains contributions from many of those who worked with her, can be seen in the UK on CBBC at 6.45pm Saturday, directly after Doctor Who finishes on BBC One.


News links: Obituary, Doctors pay tribute, Elisabeth Sladen Tributes, Press Roundup

It is with great sadness that we report the death of the actress Elisabeth Sladen - forever known to us as the Doctor's best friend, Sarah Jane Smith.

Born in Liverpool in February 1946, Elisabeth Sladen took an interest in acting from an early age; she joined the Liverpool Playhouse repertory company as assistant stage manager after drama school, where she would meet her future husband Brian Miller. After a stint touring the country in repertory, she settled in Manchester, during which she had her breakthrough television role in 1970, appearing as Anita Reynolds in Coronation Street. More small roles were to follow in popular shows like Doomwatch, Z Cars and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

Then in 1973 came what would be her defining role as she was cast as the replacement companion for third Doctor Jon Pertwee. Following in the footsteps of popular companion Jo Grant played by Katy Manning, Sladen was to hit the ground running as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith in her debut story The Time Warrior, and over the next three years would see her popularity soar as she became part of what is arguably known as the "golden years" of Doctor Who alongside fourth Doctor Tom Baker, an era including the story frequently appearing top of fan polls, Genesis of the Daleks.

Despite choosing to leave the programme in 1976, with an emotional departure scene at the conclusion of the serial The Hand of Fear, Sladen later stated in interviews that although she had left Sarah Jane, "Sarah Jane never left me". Although she declined producer John Nathan-Turner's offer to come back as support for the Fourth Doctor's regeneration (being present at his own arrival at the end of this week's DVD release Planet of the Spiders), she did returned to the role for the 1981 pilot: having been described by the Doctor as his best friend, Sarah was form her second long-lasting partnership with his "second-best friend" in the titular K9 and Company.

Sladen was re-united with "her" Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in the 1983 20th anniversary celebration The Five Doctors, and again during the 1990s for the two radio stories The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space, written and produced by the person who originally cast her, Barry Letts - the two would also be joined by another popular Doctor Who legend in the form of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier.

Outside of Doctor Who, Elisabeth continued to work in theatre and television, often alongside her husband Brian; roles included Josie Hall in Take My Wife, a small role in the film Silver Dream Racer, and as Lady Flimnap in a production of Gulliver in Lilliput by her former producer Barry Letts, followed a few years later in his production of Alice in Wonderland as the Cheshire Cat. However, with the birth of her daughter Sadie in 1985, she was to focus more on her family.

However, Sarah would never be far from her life, with the actress continuing to be a popular guest at Doctor Who conventions, and also featuring in a series of audio adventures from Big Finish. Then, in 2005, a discussion with the revived Doctor Who's head writer and long-term fan of hers, Russell T Davies, led to a guest appearance in the second series adventure School Reunion, which re-united Sarah (and K9!) with the Doctor in his most recent incarnation (David Tennant) - her appearance proved instrumental in cementing the connection between the 20th and 21st Century productions in a way that the Daleks couldn't!

The character, and Sladen's performance, proved to be as popular as ever, if not more so, and led to her own starring role in spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures; the CBBC series continued on from her re-introduction in Doctor Who as an independent investigator of alien activity - now joined by her young own assistants as well as her faithful K9 - and winning a whole new legion of fans, both young and old. It is also a testament to the strength of the show that it has been graced by the appearance of the both the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney), and the Doctor himself in both his Tenth incarnation in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (and David Tennant's final performance as the Doctor), and Eleventh in the form of Matt Smith in Death of the Doctor - where Sladen was also to come 'full circle' by performing with the actress she 'replaced' way back in 1973, Katy Manning, aka Jo Jones né Grant.

The series itself has gone on to win awards, including the Royal Television Society award for Children's Drama last month.

At the time of her death there are still three stories of The Sarah Jane Adventures to be broadcast on television, and her autobiography, Who's That Girl is due out later in the year.


Elisabeth Sladen died in the morning of 19th April, having been battling with cancer for some time. She is survived by her husband Brian Miller, and daughter Sadie.


Media Obituaries: Toby Hadoke for The Guardian; Scott Matthewman for The Stage.

Karen Gillan is to play Jean Shrimpton, one of the world's first supermodels, in a new biopic commissioned for BBC Four.

We'll Take Manhattan, written and directed by John McKay, explores the explosive love affair between photographer David Bailey and the sixties supermodel which developed during a wild and unpredictable 1962 Vogue photo shoot in New York. The drama brings to life the story of two young people falling in love, misbehaving, and inadvertently defining the style of the Sixties along the way.

The role will be Gillan's first leading role away from the series since she joined the cast of Doctor Who.

Claire Parker of Kudos Film and Television, says:
Filming starts in May.

---

BBC Four has also recommissioned Dirk Gently, the adaptation of the late Douglas Adams novel.

The channel has ordered another three episodes of the drama based on the books by the former Doctor Who author and Script Editor, following the success of the pilot shown on the channel last December.

A BBC Press release today has revealed that Piers Wenger, one of the excutive producers and creative influences of the Eleventh Doctor's era of Doctor Who, is stepping down as Head of Drama at BBC Wales. His successor in the role will be Faith Penhale, creative manager and executive producer at Kudus Film and Television (Spooks).

The release goes on to explain:
Wenger went on to say:

Doctor Who fans are collecting donations via the fundraising site JustGiving in memory of Nicholas Courtney, who passed away last week. Funds raised will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care, the hospice charity which cared for Courtney in his last days. Marie Curie Cancer Care describes itself thus:The Doctor Who News Page encourages fans with fond memories of Nick to contribute to this worthy cause; even small donations will be appreciated. JustGiving accepts donations via credit card, debit card or PayPal. The page for donations is here.

Billie Piper returned in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl amidst a huge blaze of press coverage; speaking about her career plans and a possible Hollywood calling: "I keep thinking about it, but then I like England; to be out there with a baby and to do seven, eight auditions a day is just not massively appealing at the moment." On future Call-Girl: "I think we've pretty much been everywhere with the stories and as that's at the heart of every episode, you wouldn't want to exhaust it to the point of just complete ridiculousness and seediness. I really like this job but you always want the story to have legs and not be that you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. I think if we go any further then we might be guilty of that." And on the future: "I just want to do something radically different and I don't know what that is yet. I think I've just chosen things that have interested me and then kept trying new and different things. It has worked out well and I can thank Doctor Who for all of that really. It was wholly responsible for giving me a great opportunity." [various]

Torchwood star John Barrowman has recently been embroiled in media discussions over who might replace Bruce Forsyth when he eventually retires from presenting the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, with reports that both he, gameshow presenter Vernon Kay, and The One Show house Alex Jones are vying for the position. However, the stories have been refuted by new BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen, who said that Bruce would carry on for as long as he wanted to. [Sun, Western Mail, Mirror]

Karen Gillan has been voted the 77th in men’s heath and fitness guru site Ask Men's Top 99 Women for 2011.

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison reminisces about a visit with his family to New Zealand, which tied in with the islands' Armageddon convention last Autumn. During their trip, they visited Wellington, the Weta workshops, Napier, Lake Taupo, Tepau and the Coromandel peninsula; speaking on Lake Taupo: "You can take a fishing boat out on the placid waters, see hot steam coming out of the ground at The Craters of the Moon – reminiscent of an early Doctor Who landscape – and watch the majestic Huka Falls." [Daily Mail]

Catherine Tate has expressed an interest in taking up directing; speaking at a platform event at the National Theatre in London, the actress said: "I directed for the first time at Christmas, a short film for TV. I would like to do more. I have got a project but I don’t know what’s happening with that." [Express]

Alex Kingston discussed her feelings towards her Doctor Who character River Song in the Readers Digest: "I'm not allowed to breathe a word about the new storylines... otherwise, they take away my sonic screwdriver. When I was first offered the part, I had no idea how successful the new Doctor Who was because I was in the US. But as soon as I read the script, I fell in love with River. She provides a very complex link to the Doctor's life and ever since I saw Alien, a little bit of me has wanted to run around a spaceship shooting intergalactic monsters." [Press Association]

Mark Strickson has been based in Qatar for the last couple of years, and recently talked about his filming projects at the Qatar Natural History Group, during which he regaled its members with tales of his adventures over the years, including his time in Doctor Who. [Gulf Times]

Welsh Opera singer and recent Doctor Who guest star Katherine Jenkins announced that she and long time partner Gethin Jones would be getting married. (Jones has also featured in Doctor Who under monster costumes during his tenure as a Blue Peter presenter). [BBC News]

Third Doctor Jon Pertwee's son Sean explains why he never expected to follow in his father's footsteps when David Tennant was announced as leaving: "No, I never said I wanted the part, but there is a financial tale behind how the rumour started. For a laugh I tried putting a £50 bet on me to play the next Doctor because I thought I was in with a chance, but all the boys I knew in Islington decided I must have some inside info so they piled in behind me. When the betting shop staff asked who I was, the boys told them my father had played Doctor Who so they called head office about it and then declared all bets off. The next thing I knew I was in the news as running for the part, but I think it stemmed from trying to put £50 on myself. I'd love to have a guest part, but when it comes to the main role my father was too big an act to follow." [Telegraph]

Former First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan, pays tribute to outgoing BBC Wales Controller Menna Richards, during which he also reflected on how he almost ended up in Doctor Who back when the series first started filming in 2004: "I’m still kicking myself though. If you knew how my grandchildren rate having a First Minister in the family tree compared to playing a tree on Doctor Who in relative street cred in the playground, you’d understand why, too!" [Western Mail]

BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee Colin Firth was interviewed on Twitter by Vue Cinemas, during which he was asked about Doctor Who: "I’d never rule out a part in Doctor Who or Torchwood – especially Doctor Who. I’d also love to play a villain like Moriaty in Sherlock Holmes."

Finally, speaking of the Oscars, Tariq Anwar is also nominated for an Editing award for The King's Speech; the film editor worked back on Fourth Doctor stories The Face of Evil, The Sun Makers and Shada during the 1970s.

According to clues left by the Torchwood production office, actor Wayne Knight is to guest star in an episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Knight is most notable for playing Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park and Newman in Seinfeld.

A twitter message posted by the BBC Torchwood account on Monday evening gave us our first clue:

Costumer Alana Stone later tweeted another:
Both of the clues given are lines said by Knight's character in Jurassic Park.

At the moment the production office has only been releasing clues as to who the special guest is, and it has not been made clear if Wayne Knight was actually on set filming for Torchwood.