Posted By Brigadier Bill

The Royal Shakespeare Company has revealed that the skull used by David Tennant for the "Alas, poor Yorick," scene in 22 performances of Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon had been donated to the RSC after the 1982 death of pianist Andrew Tchaikowsky.

In his will, Tchaikowsky wrote that his skull "shall be offered by the institution receiving my body to the Royal Shakespeare Company for use in theatrical performance".

Since then, it has only been used in rehearsals because no actor felt comfortable enough using it on stage in front of an audience.

In 1989, actor Mark Rylance rehearsed with it for a while, but in the end it was decided using the skull for performances would not be appropriate and the real thing was returned to the props department, where it resided in a tissue-lined box for almost 20 years.

It remained there until Greg Doran, who directed Tennant in Hamlet, retrieved it for his production. "It was sort of a little shock tactic. Though, of course, to some extent that wears off and it's just André, in his box," Doran told the Daily Telegraph. He added that he did not want the story to get out before Hamlet opened. He said: "I thought it would topple the play and it would be all about David acting with a real skull."

UPDATE - DECEMBER 3: The skull is not being used during Hamlet's run in London for fear it will distract the audience, according to a BBC News report today. The production previews at the Novello Theatre from today and has a limited engagement until January 10. Earlier this week, it was reportedthat fake tickets for the London performances had begun circulating.

The Telegraph is running a new interview with Martha Jones actress Freema Agyeman about her three new shows: Little Dorrit, Law and Order: UK and the remake of Terry Nation's Survivors.

She also talks about her appreciation for the role Doctor Who played in the furthering of her career.

Read the interview here.

Posted By John Bowman

Dalek writer Robert Shearman has won a World Fantasy Award for his short story collection Tiny Deaths.

A Doctor Who-related play is coming to Hobart, Tasmania, in February 2009. Who Knows, which is written and directed by Paul McIntyre and centres on a character called Russell Lambert, is billed as "a tribute to the sci-fi classic, bringing TV nostalgia, heartwarming comedy and megalomaniacal machinations from time and space to the Tasmanian stage". It is being staged by The Old Nick Company at an as-yet-undisclosed venue from February 18 to 28. The cast will be at The ABC Shop Centrepoint in Hobart on November 23 from 12.30pm to mark Doctor Who's 45th anniversary and to publicise the play.

Actor John Ringham, who played Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Blake in The Smugglers and Ashe in Colony In Space, has died aged 80. The Daily Telegraph ran an obituary.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has produced a webcast featuring Jane Tranter who, while Controller, Drama Commissioning, gave the green light to the return of Doctor Who as well as the go-ahead for Torchwood. In the webcast, she talks about her career and the future of TV drama. She also explains how the advancement in TV special effects and the support of Russell T Davies led her to commission a new series of Doctor Who. "Once Russell said he wanted to do it, there was never a moment of looking back," she says. She also presents clips from her most successful programmes. You can view the webcast here.

The Knightsbridge saleroom of Bonhams is holding an entertainment memorabilia auction on November 25, which will see the following up for sale: Jon Pertwee's jacket from Planet of the Daleks, a 1960s Cyberman glove, props from The Moonbase and Arc of Infinity, a rehearsal script from The War Games, a prop that is listed as "The Doctor's Stellar Signal Receiver" from an unidentified story, a quantity of Doctor Who merchandising, annuals and printed ephemera, autographed scripts from The Claws of Axos and The Trial of a Time Lord (it is not stated who signed them), Magnus Greel's robe from The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and a blue-face Terileptil head from The Visitation.

TV presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have selected The Writer's Tale, by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, for their Christmas presents book strand, and Stephen Fry will be appearing on Madeley and Finnigan's UKTV Watch show, Richard and Judy's New Position, on November 26 to review it.

Hyde Fundraisers, who appear around Britain in Doctor Who costumes to drum up financial aid for charities and are supported by the likes of Neill Gorton and MFX Replicas, will be appearing at Ashton's Central Library on November 22 to round off their efforts for 2008 and hand over a cheque for 15,000 pounds for BBC Children In Need.

The Series Four episode Midnight has been nominated for a Royal Television Society award for Best Sound - Drama at this year's RTS Craft and Design Awards. Julian Howarth, Tim Ricketts, Paul McFadden and Paul Jefferiesreceive the citation. The ceremony takes place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane, London, on November 24. It is the only category that Doctor Who has been nominated in this year.

Last Broadcast has done an interview with Elisabeth Sladen in which she tells why she won't be doing any more DVD commentaries for 2entertain. Among other topics, Sladen also talks about hating her new action figure, the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures and the possibility of a Christmas special, plus future SJA cast changes. You can read it here.

Glasgow's Doctor Who exhibition will open on March 27, 2009 and run until January 4, 2010, says the official exhibitions website. It is being held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and tickets go on sale fromNovember 17. The site also states that the exhibition begins on March 28, so the March 27 date may be a preview.

(With thanks to Viv Dunstan, Dwayne Bunney, Chris Winwood, David French and Kevin Taylor.)

UPDATE (November 17): The Doctor Who News Page has been advised that the Claws of Axos script being auctioned at Bonhams on November 25 is signed by Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Bob Baker, Terrance Dicks, John Levene, Barry Letts and Tim Pigott-Smith, while the Trial of a Time Lord script, which is also being auctioned there that day, has been signed by Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Nicola Bryant, Michael Jayston, Lynda Bellingham, Tony Selby, Malcolm Tierney, Anthony Ainley and John Nathan-Turner.

FURTHER UPDATE (November 17): In addition, it is now understood that the "Stellar Signal Receiver" being auctioned is from Pyramids of Mars and is the gadget used by the Doctor to decode the message from Mars.

(With thanks to Simon Nuckley and Richard Bignell for the supplementary information.)

Posted By John Bowman

Elisabeth Sladen will be joined by fellowSarah Jane Adventures actors Daniel Anthony and Thomas Knight for a signing session in London - and 50 people could attend an exclusive story-telling session by Sladen herself.

The event at the Oxford Street branch of Borders has been organised to mark the return of the Doctor Who spin-off plus the launch of four SJA novels, the complete Series One DVD, and two new audio-exclusive stories. It will be taking place on November 15 between 1.30pm and 4pm. Borders states that people must have bought a copy of the SJA DVD set, an SJA book or an SJA CD to be in the queue.

The four books - Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, Day of the Clown, The Lost Boy, and The Last Sontaran - are being published on November 6, the Series One DVD set is released on November 10, while audio-exclusive stories The Time Capsule and Ghost House will be out on November 13 and available on CD or as a download.

The competition to attend the story-telling session is for UK residents only and open to youngsters up to and including the age of 16. Winners must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The closing date is November 11. Click here for details on how to enter and full terms and conditions. The story-telling session takes place on the same day as the signing, and the winners will also get to be first in the queue for autographs.

Billie Piper and husband Laurence Fox are proud parents to their first son, who was born about 1am on Tuesday 21 October at the private Portland Hospital in London.

6lb 11oz Winston James Fox was delivered following a reportedly traumatic 26-hour labour and an emergency Caesarean procedure. Mother and child are "well and happy".

Read the full article in the Daily Mail.

Doctor Who chief writer and executive producer Steven Moffat (pictured right) has been nominated in the "Best Writing for Film or TV" category at the BAFTA Scotland Awards, according to a report in the Daily Record newspaper. Moffat, who earlier this year won the equivalent categories at the BAFTA Craft (UK as a whole) and BAFTA Cymru (Welsh) Awards, will be up against Bryan Elsey, creator of the series "Skins", and Greg McHugh, who wrote "Gary's War".

The BAFTA Scotland Awards reward film and television productions made in Scotland or by Scottish people. They have been given annually since 1997.

The official BAFTA Scotland website's nominations page - which manages to misspell both his first and surname! - cites Moffat as being nominated specifically for his work on Doctor Who. The BAFTA Scotland year runs from August to August, meaning he has been nominated for his 2008 series episodes "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

The actor Peter Copley, who played the role of Dr Warlock in the highly-regarded 1975 Doctor Who serial "Pyramids of Mars", has died at the age of 93. A full obituary has been published by The Daily Telegraph.

The website SonicState.com has published an exclusive video tour of BANG Studios in Cardiff, the audio post-production centre where all of the sound design and mixing is carried out for Doctor Who and its spin-off series. The video features showrunner Russell T Davies on a visit to the studio, and a second part will be published on the website next week.

The latest issue of science-fiction and fantasy magazine SFX features ten alternative covers, one for each televised incarnation of the Doctor. This is in promotion of a heavily Doctor Who-focused issue. The issue, number 176, will be available on British newsstands from Wednesday 22nd October.

A collection of the possessions of the late Verity Lambert, the first producer of Doctor Who from 1963 to 1965, is being sold at auction by the firmWoolley and Wallis at its showroom in Salisbury on Wednesday 22nd October. Her two BAFTA awards will be on display, and photographs can be taken.

A biography of Russell T Davies, entitled "T is for Television", is to be published by Reynolds and Hearn on November 27th this year. The company has previously published several other books related to Doctor Who, including Richard Bignell's location guide and Graeme Harper's "Calling the Shots" book about directing the series. "T is for Television" has been co-written by Mark Aldridge and Andy Murray, the latter of whom wrote "Into the Unknown", the biography of the famous television science-fiction writer Nigel Kneale. The book's press release claims that it is "the first book to trace Davies' entire life in television from his earliest days to his vast current success". It is already available for pre-order from various online retailers.

Dick Mills, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop sound design expert who provided sound effects throughout almost the entire run of the classic Doctor Who series in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, will be giving a free seminar at the National Media Museum in Bradford on October 22nd, from 6pm. More details can be found on the museum's website, here.

Actress Julie Brennan, who played the character of Fire Escape in the 1987 Doctor Who serial Paradise Towers, starring Sylvester McCoy, will be appearing as a special guest at a gathering of the Doctor Who Club of Australia on November 23rd. The event is part of the celebrations of the 45th anniversary of Doctor Who, and there are full details on the club's website.

The website Wired.com has published a new interview with Sarah Jane Smith actress Elisabeth Sladen.

Thanks to Simon Power, Ian Berriman, Clare Playle, Mark Aldridge, Tim Neal and Vitas Varnas.

Actress Velile Tshabalala, who plays the character of Rosita in the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas special The Next Doctor, has given an exclusive interview to the West Sussex Gazette, a local newspaper based in the south of England.

Tshabalala was appearing last weekend at a living history event in Amberley, West Sussex. To publicise it, she spoke to the Gazette's entertainments reporter, Phil Hewitt, and also talked about her role in "The Next Doctor", saying: "I am just so excited about it. We filmed it in April in Cardiff and Gloucester and Monmouth and so it has died down a bit, but now it is getting closer and I just can't wait.

"It is just a one-off Christmas special but out of all the episodes I could have been asked to do it is far better that it is this one."

On the subject of whether she might reappear in future episodes, Tshabalala added: "I would love to do more. At the moment I am just being positive about it, that I did it and that I had a great time. But I would love to be in it again if I can."

She also spoke briefly about her character's role in the episode, information regarding which is included in the spoiler box below.

I have to be very careful what I can say and can't say about it all. You have to bear with me! But she is an East Londoner, very Cockney.

The Doctor is faced with another Doctor. Rosita is the assistant to the other Doctor but as the episode goes on she starts helping the Doctor we know.

Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy returns to BBC1 in October, guest-starring in an episode of the daytime drama series Doctors.

McCoy portrays an actor who once played a time traveller on children's television in a show called The Amazing Lollipop Man. He now finds his life consists of giving DVD commentaries and posing for photos in his old costume, though nowadays he can't do the buttons up.

The episode is written by David Semple, who told DoctorWhoNews.com: "Sylvester gives an extraordinary performance: funny, touching and incredibly inventive. He also manages to appear 40 years old in one scene and 60-something in the next, despite the fact that Doctors is shot in a day and he filmed the young scenes in the morning and the aged ones in the afternoon."

Doctors: The Lollipop Man is on BBC1 on Monday 13th October at 1.45pm.

Rob Shearman, writer of the 2005 Episode Dalek, is scheduled to appear this evening on Tuddle Talk, on WTKS 104.1 in Orlando, Florida. The start time of the show is 7pm Eastern Time. Fans around the world will be able to listen via the station's website, and call in via the phone number on the website.