The BBC have confirmed the news, originally reported in October, that the award-winning novelist and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce will be writing an episode of Doctor Who for Series Eight.

The novelist is best known for his children's books for which he has won two awards, the 2004 Carnegie Medal for Millions, and the 2012 Guardian Prize for The Unforgotten Coat. He also worked on the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Cottrell Boyce’s episode for the thirty-fourth season of Doctor Who will feature a cast of child actors including Harley Bird, the voice of household favourite Peppa Pig, alongside Abigail Eames (Harry And Paul, The Crimson Field), Ashley Foster (The Woman In Black) and Jaydon Harris-Wallace (CITV Text Santa).

Cottrell Boyce spoke of his joy at writing for the series:
Steven Moffat, lead writer and Executive Producer, says:
The episode will be directed by Sheree Folkson (Casanova, Hit & Miss), and produced by Paul Frift (Escape Artist, Best Possible Taste, Restless).

Cottrell Boyce is the final confirmed writer for the series, working on episode ten. The other writers confirmed for the eighth series are Mark Gatiss, Phil Ford, Gareth Roberts, Peter Harness, Steve Thompson and Jamie Mathieson as well as showrunner Steven Moffat himself.

Doctor Who returns on Saturday 23rd August.

Doctor Who Adventures is giving readers the chance to win a sonic screwdriver universal remote control in its latest issue.

It is inviting them to say what they would do if they had their own sonic - and the top three answers will win a universal remote control.

Issue 349 - which is out now - sees the start of a new feature entitled Monsterchef, in which readers can learn how to turn a pizza into a monster meal. It also has a comic-strip adventure for the Doctor and Clara that has been written by former script editor Andrew Cartmel.

The magazine comes with free Sontaran and Weeping Angel mini armies, plus:

• What would happen if the Weeping Angels teamed up with the Daleks?
• The latest photos from the new series
• Dalek secrets
• How would you battle aliens?
• Strax's guide to Zygons
• Puzzles and posters
• Goodies to be won

Issue 349 of DWA is available until Tuesday 15th July.

An interactive ebook history of the Cybermen has been released globally by the BBC as an experiment - and is available free to UK licence-payers until the end of this month.

The Doctor Who: Cybermen Monster File features every version of the Cybermen, with the baddies being brought to life using clips, photos and in-depth information. The ebook also includes a new and exclusive story entitled Cybermen: Status Update, written by Joseph Lidster and narrated by Nicholas Briggs, who has been the voice of the Cybermen since their return to the show in 2006.

The ebook - which has been created by the BBC and is being distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide - also features galleries and the real-life story behind the metal monsters. There are interactive sections on the world of the Cybermen, where everything from Handles to Cybermats and the CyberKing is investigated, and there are quizzes as well.

After the free offer for UK licence-payers expires - at 11.59pm BST on 31st July 2014 - they will be able to buy it on iTunes, Android stores, the Kindle Fire App and Google Play. It should be noted that if it is downloaded for free then removed from a device, it will not be available for free reinstallation after then.

The interactive multi-media digital book is designed to be viewed on Android tablets, Apple iPads and Kindle Fire tablets. It can also be viewed on Mac computers with OS X Mavericks.

The file will take up 370MB on Apple and 295MB on both Android and Kindle. In addition, the installation process means that 590MB of file space is needed on Android and Kindle Fire tablets.

To view the ebook on an Apple iPad it must have iBooks 3 or later and iOS 5.1 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later. If syncing via the iTunes desktop application version then 11.1.3 or later is required. To view it on an Android tablet you must have Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and up. If you want to view it on a Kindle Fire tablet it has to be running Android 4.0 and up.

The BBC says the purpose of the experiment is to explore a different platform for delivering additional content to audiences. It adds that the ebook has been co-funded with money from the UK licence fee and, as such, is being made free to UK licence-payers until the end of this month.

UK licence-payers can download it for the iPad from here, for the Android from here and for the Kindle Fire from here.

People outside the UK can buy it now via these links: iTunes, Google Play, Amazon.

Watch a trailer for the ebook below:

A new book from Mad Norwegian Press is being published to mark Doctor Who's 51st Birthday.

Back in November, Doctor Who was awarded the Guinness World record for the largest ever simulcast for a television episode, officially reported as 94 countries. Though a number of those fall within the reach of BBC Worldwide's Entertainment and HD channels, there are still a wide variety of television channels around the world that broadcast the show!

Originally launched in 1998 by Benjamin Francis Elliott, This Week in Doctor Who continues to report on where Doctor Who and its related programmes are shown; however, whilst we are aware of many international broadcasts, there are certainly other non-English channels that we have yet to catalogue. Also, even though we do cover a number of worldwide channels through their online listings, these don't always provide much detail on which episodes are actually being shown (or in some cases are misleading).

We would like to hear from any of our international readers (i.e. outside of the United Kingdom) who are able to assist in reporting on what is actually being broadcast in their countries, whether these include advertising, are cut, subtitled, dubbed, etc., and also local coverage of the show in the media which isn't always available online. In addition, we would like to know about general Doctor Who news within those countries, and welcome anyone who might wish to write articles for Doctor Who News itself.

If you are interested in contributing to This Week in Doctor Who and Doctor Who News then please contact us via our applications address, letting us know which country you are from and what's happening Doctor Who-wise locally.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
The Doctor Who News Team

We would also like to increase our pool of reviewers for Doctor Who (and other series) related publications, audio, and other merchandise; if you might be interested in writing reviews then please let us know at the above email address.

Peter Capaldi's Celebrity School Report and Signed Photo is being auctioned for Cecily's Fund, a charity that works to provide orphans and vulnerable children and young people in Zambia with access to education.

The unique school report is handwritten and signed by Peter Capaldi on behalf of Dr Who. It grades the Doctor on subjects including history (exceptionally good) and Dalek fighting (A+). The report also includes a doodle of a Dalek and comes with a signed photo of Capaldi.

Other reports are also available including items from Hugh Bonneville, Bill Nighy and Joanna Lumley.

The auction on ebay closes on 4th July.

Meanwhile Capaldi has joined Hollywood star Brad Pitt as a trustee of The Mackintosh Appeal, raising money to help the The Glasgow School of Art recover from a serious fire which damaged The Mackintosh Building at the heart of the school campus, in May.

Capaldi is a former student of the art school.

The Cybermen are to return in the new series of Doctor Who, the BBC revealed today.

Following the announcement earlier in the day of the casting of Michelle Gomez as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere, the show's official Twitter account subsequently tweeted a behind-the-scenes picture showing Gomez with Peter Capaldi in Cardiff and Cybermen behind them.

It is believed they were shooting scenes for the Series 8 finale.

Doctor Who returns on Saturday 23rd August.



The picture was tweeted again a few hours later with the words: "In case you missed it … Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez and some familiar faces, earlier today!"

The BBC has announced that Michelle Gomez will join the cast of Doctor Who, playing the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere in the new series.

Gomez is best known for her performances in Green Wing, The Book Group, and Bad Education. In 2008 she performed as Kate in Royal Shakespeare Company's production The Taming of the Shrew. Doctor Who fans may know her from her role as Jevvan in the 2007 Big Finish audio Valhalla.

Speaking about the role, Gomez said:Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat added: Filming on Series 8 is nearing its conclusion with the crew believed to be based at a central Cardiff location, working on the series finale, directed by Rachel Talalay.

Guest stars confirmed to join Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman in the new series, which starts on BBC One on Saturday 23rd August, include Frank Skinner, Ben Miller, Tom Riley, Keeley Hawes and Hermione Norris.

Big Finish Productions have announced they will be bringing back The Rani in a new story by Justin Richards, as part of their ongoing series of Audio adventures based on Doctor Who.

The Rani was originally played by Kate O'Mara in two stories shown in the 1980's, The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani. She was created by Pip and Jane Baker as a renegade Time Lord, an amoral scientist who sees no limit to her research.

The return was suggested by O'Mara who told Big Finish she would love to reprise the role for the company. Producer David Richardson says The role will now be played by Siobhan Redmond, whose many leading television credits include Between the Lines, The High Life, The Smoking Room, Taggart and Holby City. The Rani's return comes at the end of a new trilogy of stories exploring what happened to Peri Brown during and after The Trial of a Time Lord. In the 1986 story Mindwarp, Peri was killed, but later in The Ultimate Foe it was explained that she actually married to the warrior Yrcanos.

So what really happened?

The mystery is addressed in an set of adventures starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri. It begins in October with The Widow's Assassin by Nev Fountain, which takes up Peri's story a few years after trial, as the Doctor and his former companion are reunited.

November's release is Masters of Earth by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott, which, as the title hints, features the return of the Daleks and the Robomen, and is set during the Dalek occupation of Earth in the 22nd Century.

The trilogy ends in December with The Rani Elite, which sees the debut of Siobhan Redmond as the evil Time Lord.

The three stories are available to pre-order individually or as part of the discounted subscription deal.

Tenth Planet Events are holding a special event and auction to raise money for Denville Hall, a home for elderly members of the theatrical profession.

Items in the auction range from several signed Big Finish scripts and Doctor Who posters through to a a private dinner for ten with Lalla Ward and her husband Richard Dawkins, and the chance to spend a day with Big Finish.

The Auction is now available online until midnight (BST) on August 8th 2014.