David Tennant made his Star Wars "debut" this weekend in The Clone Wars episode A Test of Strength, providing the voice of droid Huyang. Supervising director Dave Filoni (a Doctor Who fan himself) said: "When I heard the Doctor himself, David Tennant, was a fan of Star Wars I knew I had to find a way to get in contact with him to see if he would perform on The Clone Wars. The result was 'Huyang,' an ancient droid in the service of the Jedi Order, whose sole task in life has been overseeing the construction of lightsabers. I thought David was perfect for the part and he did not disappoint. He delivered a performance which impressed even the Master himself, George Lucas." [IGN, 6 Nov 2012]


The actor has also contributed artwork to an auction by the Steps’ Youth Achievement Award group, aimed to help youngsters in Weymouth; his sketch of K9 was won by an American bidder for £311. [Dorset Echo, 3 Nov 2012]

Former Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan talks about her new life in the USA: "I'm looking forward to embracing the culture. It's completely alien. There's loads of vegans but I won't turn vegan. I'm too Scottish. I love haggis. I loved Alabama because it reminds me of my home town. There is no one there and there is a lot of fried food. My guilty pleasure is Mars bars put in the deep fat fryer." [Daily Record, 4 Nov 2012]

Torchwood actress Eve Myles has been filming a new series, Frankie, which will be shown by BBC1 spring next year: "This is an incredible leading part for a female. It's tremendous pressure but also tremendously exciting. I can't wait to step into Frankie's shoes and get on set. I'm desperate to start. Lucy Gannon is an incredible writer and writes relationships so beautifully." [WalesOnline, 3 Nov 2012]

David Morrissey recently appeared on The Craig Ferguson Show to promote his appearance in The Walking Dead; spotting the police box on the host's desk he went on to briefly chat about his appearance in 2009's Christmas Special: "After we'd finished filming it, David Tennant announced that he was going to leave, so Russell T Davies said 'do you mind if we spin the story about you maybe being the next Doctor?' I said no and he said 'you CAN'T tell anyone that you're not going to be the next Doctor!' I said sure but I can tell my kids and he went 'NO!' - so for six/seven months my kids were going 'are you going to be Doctor Who?' and I'd say do your homework and I might tell you!" [The Craig Ferguson Show, 30 Oct 2012]

Director Michael E Briant is due to engage in a webchat on Monday 26th November from 8pm to 9pm to discuss his career and his autobiography, Who is Michael E Briant? [Tony Jordan/Planet Mondas, 5 Nov 2012]

Anne Reid, Sarah Lancashire, and Derek Jacobi star in the forthcoming BBC One romantic comedy Last Tango In Halifax. The six-part series starts on Tuesday 20th November at 9pm.

The British Board of Film Classification have listed features to be included on the DVD release of William Hartnell adventure The Reign of Terror, due out on 28th January.

FEATURE LIST ONE:

00:25:02:12  DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD - 
             THE MAKING OF THE REIGN OF TERROR
00:04:09:05  THE REIGN OF TERROR - PHOTO GALLERY
00:03:36:19  THE REIGN OF TERROR - ANIMATION GALLERY

FEATURE LIST TWO:

00:01:02:00  DOCTOR WHO - THE FIRST DOCTOR RETURNS -
             THE REIGN OF TERROR (TRAILER)

Commentaries have been passed on all six episodes, including the two animated episodes four and five.

Though no formal details have been given for the UK DVD release of the Legacy Box (Region One details were released last month), the British Board of Film Classification have now passed the additional material that features in the set, plus their running times.

SHADA:

00:04:46:06 SHADA - PHOTO GALLERY
00:25:35:09 TAKEN OUT OF TIME - 
            THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF SHADA
00:12:41:20 SHADA - NOW AND THEN
00:27:46:01 STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!
00:30:08:15 BEING A GIRL

MORE THAN 30 YEARS IN THE TARDIS:

00:25:57:14 REMEMBERING NICHOLAS COURTNEY 
00:13:29:06 DOCTOR WHO STORIES - PETER PURVES 
00:10:33:21 THE LAMBERT TAPES - SUCCESS STORY 
00:01:47:21 RICHARD MARTIN'S MEMORIES OF VERITY 
00:22:35:23 THOSE DEADLY DIVAS 
00:06:04:02 MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS IN THE TARDIS - PHOTO GALLERY

In addition, the six episodes comprising the 2003 animated version of the story, featuring Paul McGann as the Doctor, has also been passed (the final item most likely refers to the introductory 'episode' to the story that places it in context):

00:18:26:04 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA - EPISODE ONE
00:22:43:03 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA - EPISODE TWO
00:20:49:13 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA - EPISODE THREE
00:27:22:00 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA - EPISODE FOUR
00:24:18:21 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA - EPISODE FIVE
00:23:41:16 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA - EPISODE SIX
00:07:31:09 DOCTOR WHO - SHADA  (EPISODE LISTING)

Steve Roberts recently explained how the animated version is to be presented:

The Legacy Box is due to be released on the 7th January in the UK(R2), and on the 8th January for North America(R1).

Colin Baker is to be one of the contestants on this year's series of I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!, the reality television show on ITV1 that places a number of celebrities out in a jungle environment in Australia who then take on challenges in order to become the 'king' or 'queen' of the jungle!

The former Doctor said that he's doing the show because of his four daughters:

Colin is the first major Doctor Who actor to engage in jungle shenanigans, though in 2007 the series was won by "Doctor" Christopher Biggins, who appeared alongside him in Big Finish's The One Doctor.

Other celebrities competing in the jungle this year include fellow actors Charlie Brooks (EastEnders), Helen Flanagan (Coronation Street) and Linda Robson (Birds of a Feather), comedian Brian Conley, singer Ashley Roberts, sports personalities Eric Bristow (darts) and David Haye (WBA), entertainment PR Hugo Taylor and MP Nadine Dorries.

The twelfth series begins on ITV1 on 11th November at 9:00pm.

The BBC have announced that the Cybermen will feature in the second half of the current series, appearing in the penultimate episode, written by Neil Gaiman.

Tamzin Outhwaite (reported last roundup) has also now been confirmed for the episode, and will be joined by Warwick Davis, whose sci-fi/fantasy career includes playing Wicket in Return of the Jedi, the titular role in Willow and the Leprechaun films, and Professor Flitwick/Griphook in the Harry Potter films. On television he has most recently been seen as "himself" in Life's Too Short.

The two are joined by Jason Watkins, who is also no stranger to sci-fi/fantasy, having played the vampire leader Herrick in Being Human; other credits include Lark Rise To Candleford, Little Dorrit, Psychoville, and Dirk Gently, and he can currently be seen as Gavin in Sky's Trollied.

Steven Moffat said:

The episode is directed by Stephen Woolfenden, with the guest stars described as "a band of misfits on a mysterious planet..."

---

The writer himself has been busy with rewrites of the script, teasing away on Twitter. As reported last week on the Wednesday he said: "Amazing hectic couple of days & stressed Doctor Who post-table-read rewrite in progress. On BBC legal advice Lampwick is no more.«". On Thursday, he continued: "back on Doctor Who script. Only 5 pages to trim before dawn.« They start shooting it on Wednesday. They need the script now.« There. It is FOUR pages shorter than it was this morning. It has been sent to the BBC. And I am going to bed.«" Finally, on Friday: "I believe that we've just locked my Dr Who script. I probably won't have to write it again until we need new ADR dialogue once it's edited.«" - to which executive producer Caroline Skinner retorted: "Ha ha!! A locked script is an alien concept on Doctor Who.... :-)«"

On this morning's announcement, he added: "I saw my first Cybermen watching Moonbase, as Jamie thought the Piper was coming for him (scary). Then Tomb of the Cybermen terrified me.«". And on his version of them being scary? "I hope so.«"

Doctor Who Magazine have announced the latest in their collected comics series, with The Child of Time encompassing adventures for the Eleventh Doctor and Amy.

Live+7 figures are now available for the series of Doctor Who episodes shown in September.

The Live+7 figures give the total numbers viewing a programme within a week of transmission, including all watching on PVR, transmission repeats and on iPlayer.

Each Doctor Who episode increased its audience by an average of 52% from the initial overnight figure, a much larger increase than achieved by the average BBC One drama, which had a 25% increase. Just under 10% of viewers watched on iPlayer, with the vast majority of iPlayer viewers time-shifting the programme.

With an average increase of 3.07 million, Doctor Who has the second-largest average increase for Drama in 2012, just being beaten by Steven Moffat's other series, Sherlock, which increased each episode by an average of 3.34 million viewers. Doctor Who has the largest percentage increase for Drama for the year so far.

Title	First Run	Live+7	increase	First Run	Repeats	Time Shift	i Player
Asylum of the Daleks	6.39m	9.65m	51%	66%	4%	20%	10%
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship	5.43m	8.64m	59%	63%	5%	23%	9%
A Town Called Mercy	6.49m	9.22m	42%	70%	2%	20%	7%
The Power of Three	5.59m	8.68m	55%	64%	3%	24%	8%
The Angels Take Manhattan	5.86m	8.92m	52%	66%	3%	22%	9%

In Production:

This week saw the read-through for episode twelve, written by Neil Gaiman; the writer commented on the experience over the last few days on Twitter: "Amazing hectic couple of days and stressed Doctor Who post-table-read rewrite in progress. On BBC legal advice Lampwick is no more." The read-through also gave him the chance to meet new girl Jenna-Louise Coleman!

Matt Smith praised Gaiman's script at the London MCM Expo: "It's very different, but again I think it will be a fan's favourite because, well, without giving anything away, it just will be, because there's something in it. Neil's brilliant ideas will always add a level to Doctor Who, which will be interesting."

One guest star for the episode will be Tamzin Outhwaite, who according to her CV will be playing the role of Capt Alice. A former EastEnders actress, other lead roles include Red Cap (2003), Hotel Babylon (2006), The Fixer (2008) and Paradox (2009). Asked about her role by Flicks and the City earlier in October, she said: "I'd like to play a baddie, but I haven't done a goodie for a while, so it'll be nice to play a goodie."

Another actor confirmed for the episode is Calvin Dean, whose CV indicated a character name of Ha-Ha (now removed); speaking on Twitter he said: "wow. things get out so quickly on here. So much for being secretive!". The actor was critically acclaimed for his role as Darren Mullet in Tormented, but is also familiar to the Doctor Who world, having played "Chris" in The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Gift.

Former singing contestant on The X Factor Zoe Alexander hopes that her appearance in episode seven (2013#3) will kick off an acting career: "It's great to be working on Doctor Who - the people are a lot nicer than some you get to meet working in TV. I'm loving it but I'm hoping that this is just a start for me." [WalesOnline, 30 Oct 2012]

Regular monster/extra Matthew Doman has also been involved; on Tuesday he said: "Sitting in the changing rooms ready to Don my new monster costume for the WHO. A week of monstering WOO HOO!!"; today, he added: "Our Monster is coming close to the final wrap on this ep of Dr WHO :( It's ok I'm monstering again Sunday for the Dr WHO Experience ;) ha ha"

Episode six is undergoing editing, with director Colm McCarthy indicating yesterday that there's about two weeks to go. It's certainly busy work, with McCarthy commmenting this morning: "Got into the edit at 6AM. Started shouting "INCEPTION CAT!" at the editor at 6.05AM. Directing is hard."; he then added: "Temp music is fun when you have a bin full of genius thanks to Murray Gold".

Another actor identified for episode six (2013#1) is Robert Whitelock, whose CV indicates he plays a character named Mahler. The actor is about to appear as DC John Attwood in the second series of The Hour.

Meanwhile, Rachael Stirling talked about her recent filming experience in Doctor Who with her mother, Dame Diana Rigg: "We filmed Doctor Who in the summer, which was amazing. It's a juggernaut, I got to see all sorts of secret things I can't tell you about or I'll have to shoot you! Working with my mum was funny - I think it was a good experience for both of us, we really loved it; I was very proud of her and she said likewise, and that something we'll always remember. Working with Matt was gorgeous, he's brilliant, he's got that wonderful energy, I think he's a really admirable, brilliant man!" [Sky Tyne and Wear Video, 1 Nov 2012]

Matt Smith on the Steve Wright Show:

Matt Smith was a guest on the Steve Wright Show on Monday afternoon, during which he managed to avoid giving away anything about the Christmas Special! "I can say it's set in Victorian England, we meet a Doctor who's been profoundly changed by the experiences before from losing the Ponds ... and into his life walks Jenna-Louise Coleman's character and off they go on new adventures!"

Talking about the series in general, he said: "I think that the Doctor is the same character fundamentally, that's why we tune in to watch the show, because there's a mad man who turns up and saves the universe with a ball of string and a toaster, and that's kind of it. That's why it's been going for fifty years - at its core and its heart beat that's what it's about. Of course it is going to evolve with CGI and now you get a bit more culture perhaps - but then is it more cultured, I don't know? I think sometimes there can be too much CG and 3D and all that sort of stuff can get a bit overwhelming. Hopefully you can be a bit more inventive with the stories and actually go and create space, or you can go back to Victorian England in a way that 40/50 years ago was more difficult to do."

Looking to next year, he said: "We're very fortunate to have Mr Steven Moffat, who's a complete genius, he really is. I've just read episode one of the next season and you think ... and there're some brilliant ideas in it, there's a moment in it which involves wheels - that is an exclusive, an actual honest exclusive! - and when you watch it you'll go ahhh. It's him, being brilliant."

Into the Future - 50th Anniversary:

Peter Davison talks about the 50th Anniversary: "Every day I check the phone to see if Steven Moffat has called me! I don't know what’s happening next year, I have nothing to report. I'm sure it will be something fantastic! But I don't know what. I think if [the classic Doctors] aren't invited, I'm going to make my own rival video. I'll do my own 50th anniversary special. Colin Baker's prepared to work for nothing!" [ComicBookResources, 26 Oct]

Meanwhile, the special documentary for the Anniversary seems to have fallen foul of recent revelations, according to the latest edition of Private Eye (number 1326): "As the sound of stable doors slamming shut resounds around the BBC the Jimmy Savile scandal is having some increasingly bizarre after-effects. A one-off docudrama about the creation of Doctor Who scripted by Mark Gatiss is in production, to be broadcast in November 2013 in celebration of the programme's 50th anniversary. Its makers have just been ordered to excise all scenes set in Television Centre dressing rooms."

Into the Future - cast/crew aspirations:

Deep Space Nine actor Aron Eisenberg has said that he'd like to be in the show, especially if Peter Jackson does direct! "If they called me I'd be there. I want to to play some fun, interesting, crazy little character. I would love to get into something really fun and cool. It would be awesome. Doctor Who is on my Netflix queue, There's so many things on my Netflix queue, I still haven't been able to see Game of Thrones." [Waikato Times, 20 Oct]

As well as Jackson, Matt Smith continues to add to his wishlist of directors for the series: "Danny Boyle, I would just have a heart attack if he came anywhere near Doctor Who. I would love it. He's one of my favourite filmmakers around. He'd be an amazing director for Doctor Who, but I don't think we'd get him. I'll tell you who I'd also think would be great. Edgar Wright. He'd do something brilliant. I think he'd do something really, really clever with it." [Digital Spy, 31 Oct 2012]

Danny Boyle's collaborator for the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Frank Cottrell Boyce, would also like to write for the series: "I'm always slightly aggrieved that I never got asked to write for Doctor Who - that's in the same league (as the Olympics). I'd jump at that." [Digital Spy, 31 Oct 2012]

Peter Davison comments on convention experiences: "When I come to a Who convention, I quite often get given books people have written, stories people have written - I got one at a recent convention which turned out to be a kind of Fifty Shades of Grey take on it. Fascinating it was. I've always loved the fandom (which) seem to be an extraordinarily tolerant bunch of people, and I mean this in the nicest way, because it's every kind of facet of the human condition that you see at every kind of convention." [ComicBookResources, 26 Oct 2012]

Nicholas Briggs has his own thoughts on conventions: "I love to see the enthusiasm of fans, because I'm a fan of the show, too. And I think they are all extremely important in nourishing a growing community, yes. Absolutely. The growing popularity of Doctor Who is a beautiful thing to behold. I remember times when it had become very unfashionable. So I'm delighted with this incredible resurgence." [Chronicle Herald, 24 Oct 2012]

Toby Jones is to appear as Alfred Hitchcock in a new HBO film called The Girl. The storyline revolves around the director's relationship with actress Tippi Hedren; Jones commented: "I hope it's fair in that it's based on several testimonies, not just Tippi's testimony. I hope I have been able to make him not a monster. He behaves monstrously at one point, but hopefully it's balanced out." Mentioning his time on Doctor Who, the actor said: "For my children it's about the coolest thing I could be in. It was great to do that." [Anglophenia, 20 Oct 2012]

Scott Bakula told audiences at the London Star Trek convention that he had been offered the role of Isaac in A Town Called Mercy, but filming clashed with other work commitments. The actor said that he'd become a fan of the new series after catching episodes shown when in the UK last year. [London Excel, 21 Oct 2012]

Last time we reported on the musical The Lightning Child being composed by Arthur Darvill for the Globe Theatre; unfortunately his studio equipment was stolen during a break-in: "I've lost everything I've written in the last 18 months, including all the music for the play, which is a nightmare. Luckily, I'd emailed lots of bits so I'm in the process of trying to get stuff back. But it's inspired me to go, 'I've got nothing here, I can write a lot of new stuff." [Standard, 25 Oct 2012]

Russell T Davies was one of the judges for the Wales Drama Award; he said of the winner, Katherine Chandler: "The six finalists were excellent and any of them could have won; in the end you're looking for an individual voice and what I loved about Katherine's piece (Parallel Lines, about a teacher-pupil relationship) is the fact it's a very strong play. She has so much to say about the world. You always need competitions or schemes or apprenticeships to encourage new writing. There's nothing more scary than sitting at home with your ideas and a computer but you have nowhere to send the script. But competitions open the door to you. There's nothing television needs more than new talent. Television eats material – you can’t find enough, even if it feels like the opposite when you're outside the system." [Wales Online, 26 Oct 2012]

Gareth David-Lloyd talks about the Torchwood legacy on his career: " I suppose you do get typecast in a way and people sort of do recognise you as 'the gay one from Torchwood' and maybe there's some auditions that you may not be seen for because of that, but if you look at the perks on the other hand, with all the places I've been, it's been great. I'm talking to you now, currently stood on a balcony looking over the rooftops of Prague because I'm doing a convention here on the weekend." [Brisbane Times, 31 Oct 2012]

The Season 3 episode Air Lock that was recovered last year is to be shown in full on the big screen in London next month.

It will form part of the first session of this year's annual BFI event Missing Believed Wiped, entitled The Weird And The Wonderful.

An excerpt from the Galaxy 4 episode was shown as a surprise part of last year's BFI showcase of recovered TV material, as was the screening in full of episode 2 of The Underwater Menace, whose recovery had similarly been kept under wraps until then. Both episodes were shown in full in Cardiff in May.

In addition, the second and concluding session of this year's Missing Believed Wiped - Music And Entertainment - will include the recovered March 1966 edition of BBC TV's youth culture show A Whole Scene Going that features a location report from the filming of Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.

Tickets to both sessions of this year's event, which takes place on Sunday 2nd December at the BFI Southbank, go on sale to the public at 11.30am on Tuesday 13th November.

As previously reported, Air Lock is to be a bonus episode on next March's special edition DVD release of The Aztecs.