The TARDIS console made for the forthcoming drama An Adventure In Space And Time has been installed at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff.

The replica of the first console - which was originally designed by Peter Brachacki - is on show in the mezzanine section of the attraction throughout the summer. As previously reported, the replica console was first seen earlier this year by Paris Comic-Con attendees.

A time-lapse video of its installation at the Experience has been made available to view.


The 90-minute drama, which has been written by Mark Gatiss, will air on BBC Two later this year after a première at the BFI in London. The dates have yet to be confirmed.

.As previously reported, Splendid Chaps is a year-long performance/podcast project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who hosted by comedian Ben McKenzie (Dungeon Crawl, Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour) and writer John Richards (ABC1 sitcom Outland, Boxcutters podcast).

Described by its creators as part intellectual panel discussion, part nerdy Tonight Show, Splendid Chaps is a combination of analysis, enthusiasm and irreverence. The first episode went to number 1 on the iTunes TV & Film Podcast chart in Australia, and to number 4 in the UK. The podcasts to previous episodes are now available at www.splendidchaps.com or at iTunes.

Tickets are now on sale for their Ninth Doctor show! Their ninth major episode brings the Splendid Chaps finally to new Who, that time when the seemingly impossible happened and the show returned! Russell T Davies reinvented the Doctor by casting renowned TV and film actor Christopher Eccleston, famous for serious roles in dramas like Cracker, Our Friends in the North and Elizabeth. His simultaneously light-hearted and tortured portrayal of a man who has lost everything won over old and new fans alike, though the revelation after the smash success of the first episode that he would only be staying for one year took fans and media by surprise. Despite his short stay in the role, Eccleston defined the new era of Doctor Who and laid the groundwork for the format that persisted ever since.

Just as important to new Who was new companion Rose Tyler, played by pop star turned actor Billie Piper. For some she was a revelation compared to the “scream queens” of the past; but is this a fair assessment? Splendid Chaps take as their theme women in Doctor Who: was having a proactive and near equal status companion for the Doctor really such a radical idea? Has Doctor Who been as terribly sexist as has often been claimed? Are the women in the show as varied and multifaceted as the men? And is the modern series really better in its portrayal of women than the old?

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott are joined by a panel including feminist organiser and writer Karen Pickering (Cherchez la Femme), author and podcaster Tansy Rayner Roberts (Galactic Suburbia, Verity!) and more, plus a musical performance, giveaways and excellence!

Space: The Gasometer Hotel, 484 Smith Street, Collingwood (corner of Alexandra Parade)
Time: Sunday 15 September; recording starts 5 PM
Accessibility: Splendid Chaps regret that this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: $15 (plus booking fee where applicable)
Bookings: via trybooking.com or at the door (subject to availability)
Podcast: not yet available; released 23 September 2013.

Kristopher Kum 1929 - 2013

The actor Kristopher Kum has died at the age of 84.

Kristopher Kum played Fu Peng, the Chinese delegate to the World Peace Conference, in the 1971 Doctor Who story The Mind of Evil.

Kum was not the original actor cast for Fu Peng, but stepped in after the original actor was dropped from the role. He ran Oriental Casting, a talent agency for actors of Southeast Asian descent. He appeared in many UK dramas including Rockliffe's Babies, Edge of Darkness, Tenko, The Professionals and Crossroads.

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Michael Goldie d 2013

The actor Michael Goldie has died.

Michael Goldie played Jack Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Craddock was imprisoned by Daleks, along with Ian Chesterton and the Doctor. He was converted into a Roboman. Goldie returned to Doctor Who in 1969 playing Elton Laleham, a member of the staff of Space Station W3, in The Wheel in Space.

He appeared in many TV roles including Coronation Street, Wycliffe, Inspector Morse and Z-Cars. His best known role though was in the 1991 feature film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in which he played Kenneth of Cowfell.

Global ratings are now available for last weekend’s broadcast of Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, with the BBC estimating over 1.5 million fans around the world joined the 6.2 million who watched the show in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, BBC America reported 895,000 total viewers for the show which was broadcast at 2pm Eastern Time. This made it the best telecast ever outside of primetime among the 25-54 demographic, and it was only beaten by The Royal Wedding as the best non-prime telecast ever on the channel.

According to Trendrr.TV the 30-minute TV event was the most talked about TV show, apart from sport, on social media in the US, beating the likes of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never on MTV and Keeping Up With The Kardashians on E. On Tumblr, there were 11.84 million views of the Official US Doctor Who Tumblr since the show’s announcement, and fans created 3 million Doctor Who-related reblogs on the day of the show. Twitter activity around the special was double the sci-fi series’ season average for BBC America and at the peak of the activity, six out of the ten trending topics in the US were related to the announcement. Doctor Who continues to be the highest rating programme on the network.

In Canada the show was broadcast on SPACE, which reported 412,000 viewers at its peak for the special, making it the number one network for the key 18-54 demographic during that time.

While in Australia, 40,000 sacrificed sleep to tune into the live broadcast at 4am ET with a total of 200,000 watching the show or its repeat on ABC2. An additional 41,000 have so far watched the programme on iview, ABC’s catch up service.

BBC Worldwide ANZ have announced a partnership with television network ABC to open a special Commemorative Exhibition at the ABC Ultimo Centre in Sydney, Australia. The free exhibition opens on Thursday 15th August until Friday 31st January 2014 (see below for opening times), and will have a variety of props on display from the series, including the Tenth Doctor’s costume and Astrid's costume from Voyage of the Damned (as played by national superstar Kylie Minogue), plus the Fourth Doctor's scarf, an original Dalek, an iconic TARDIS, Ood head, and Cybermat amongst the many other exhibits.

Jon Penn, Managing Director, BBC Worldwide ANZ, said:
Mark Scott, ABC's Managing Director, said:

A wide variety of merchandise including exclusive souvenirs and collectables will be available from the ABC Shops and online.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, StoryBundle is offering a specially curated set of six full length e-books featuring episode guides, producer autobiographies, coming-of-age stories and recipe books themed around Doctor Who.
StoryBundle is a platform for indie authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog.

Buyers pay what they like, subject to a minimum fee of $3.

The initial titles in The (Unofficial) Doctor Who Bundle are:

• Dalek I Loved You: 50th Anniversary Edition by Nick Griffiths
Nick Griffiths' memoir of life as a Doctor Who fan, which has been praised by the UK Guardian and a former Doctor Who himself, David Tennant, and comes in a special 50th Anniversary update.
• Who & Me by Barry Letts
The fascinating behind the scenes autobiography by the late Doctor Who producer Barry Letts - a key creative force on the show in the Jon Pertwee years, and who also worked with iconic Doctor Tom Baker.
• TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 2: Patrick Troughton by Philip Sandifer
The second volume of collected and expanded posts from the popular blog TARDIS Eruditorum offers a critical history of the Patrick Troughton era of Doctor Who.
• Dining With The Doctor: An Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook by Chris-Rachael Oseland
A cookbook to remember, celebrating the return of The Doctor with recipes themed around the first six seasons of the 2005 Doctor Who reboot - including dishes like Open Faced Dalek Ironsides, Sontaran Soldiers, Fish Custard Tacos, and a Cinnamon Pull Apart Crack in the Wall.

If you pay at least $10 you get two bonus books:

• VWORP! by Earl Green
A key primer to the Doctor Who canon from 1963 through to the 2011 Xmas special, for both novices and experts alike.
• The Best of TARDIS Eruditorum, by Philip Sandifer.
The Best of TARDIS Eruditorum collects twenty-one of the best and most popular essays from Philip Sandifer's acclaimed blog TARDIS Eruditorum.

Full details on the StoryBundle website.

Silva Screen has announced the release date and track list for the Doctor Who Series 7 soundtrack. As well as the standard double jewel case, a special limited edition gatefold wallet will be available to the first 5000 copies sold. The soundtrack will available to buy in the UK from 9th September, 2013 and the preorder will be available soon.

DISC ONE Asylum of the Daleks They Are Everywhere Save Us Dalek Parliament Towards The Asylum A Probe In The Snow Amy And Rory Together The Terrible Truth Dinosaurs On A Spaceship Dinosaurs On A Spaceship / Pterodactyls Brian Take A Ride On Tricey A Town Called Mercy Make Peace Welcome To Mercy Out West Gunslingers The Salvation Of Kahler Jex Our Little Town’s Prosecutor The Power of Three Cubes While We Waited Brian’s Log The Angels Take Manhattan New York New York I Am You Melody Malone Little Angels My Husband’s Home Hide The Damage Together Or Not At All - The Song Of Amy And Rory Goodbye Pond The Bells of Saint John Cumbria 1207 Monking About Spoonheads Clara? A Turbulent Flight Bah Bah Biker Up The Shard I Might Change My Mind

DISC TWO The Rings of Akhaten The Leaf Something Awesome Market Day Merry Gejelh God of Akhaten The Speeder Never Wake The Long Song Infinite Potential Always You, Never A Replacement Cold War Cold War Skaldak Hide I Am A Ghost Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS A Machine That Makes Machines The Crimson Horror Crimson Horror Sweetville Thomas Thomas Nightmare in Silver Hedgewick's World Tiberian Spiral Galaxy Upgrade In Progress The Dream Of Cyberia What A Brain Can’t Win Your Orders Come From Me Other Good News The Impossible Girl Cyber Amy The Emperor’s Wife Some Wednesday The Name of the Doctor To Save The Doctor A Letter To Clara What Is His Name? A Secret He Will Take To His Grave Trenzalore I Am Information Pain Everlasting Remember Me Glasgow [Bonus track for iTunes] Whisper Men [Bonus track for iTunes]

The BBC has revealed the extent to which Sunday's announcement of the next Doctor took over the twitter-sphere, with the Corporation counting a total of 542,000 tweets reacting to the news that Peter Capaldi would be taking on the role come Christmas.

During the live show, Doctor Who Live; The Next Doctor, the number of tweets averaged 9,000 per minute, jumping to 22,081 a minute as the new Doctor was revealed, the highest TV tweet minute peak recorded this year.

The tweet with the first photograph from the official site was re-tweeted over 25,000 times.

For most of Sunday, during the build up to the announcement, #DoctorWho trended in the UK. Showrunner Steven Moffat trended number 1 in the UK and worldwide while former Doctor David Tennant trended at number 3 worldwide. The Twitter domination continued and at one point 7 of the ten UK’s trends were Doctor Who-related.


The audience for the live show peaked at 6.9 million in the UK and scored an Appreciation Index of 73.

As mentioned in earlier articles, Peter Capaldi is a self-confessed fan of the show. With the Radio Times report of his letter from 1974 posted last week, Doctor Who News reviewer and correspondent Matthew Kilburn has discovered in his own fanzine archive an article by Capaldi dating from May 1976.