The actress Elizabeth Spriggs, who guest starred as Tabby in the 1987 Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers, has died at the age of 78. She appeared in many roles on stage and television for over fifty years, including performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Spriggs was particularly well-known for her role as Nan in "Shine On Harvey Moon", and was well-loved by children for her starring role in the 1980s Children's BBC series "Simon and the Witch".

The Daily Telegraph has published an obituary.

Thanks to Chris Winwood and Matthew Kilburn

With the grand finale of Series Four of Doctor Who only days away, fans are being given two chances to ask questions of chief writer and executive producer Russell T Davies, as the final full series to be overseen by him draws to a close.

The BBC News website will be publishing a question-and-answer feature with Davies at the weekend, and is currently inviting readers to submit questions to be put to him.

Davies will be appearing on ITV1's "This Morning" on Friday, and the programme is also inviting the public to submit questions. Questions can be submitted by e-mailing thismorning@itv.com

The Sunday Mirror is reporting that supermodel Agyness Deyn is being lined up as the new Christmas companion for the episode that will air on Christmas Day. Below is the body of the article; as always consider this to be strictly a rumour until confirmed officially by the BBC.

Extra caution is advised with this particular report, given that the episode in question has already been shot!

Colin Baker, the sixth actor to star in Doctor Who (1984 - 1986), is set to star in the upcoming pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" at the Theatre Royal in Bath.

Baker stars as Fleshcreep, the baddie in the piece. While he is best known for having been the Doctor, he's also famous for other villain roles, most notably that of Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 - 1976. He also portrayed Bayban the Butcher in the Blake's 7 episode "City at the Edge of the World" and first appeared in Doctor Who as Commander Maxil, the Fifth Doctor's executioner, in "Arc of Infinity".

"Beanstalk" also features Emmerdale star Susan Penhaligon as the Fairy and 19-year-old singer Lewis Bradley - a finalist in Any Dream Will Do - as Jack.

The panto will run from Thursday December 18 to Sunday January 25.

To book call the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844.

Noel Clarke's latest film, Adulthood, has become the number one British film at the UK box office. In the weekend's box office tally, Adulthood is the number four film overall, and has the highest per screen average.

Adulthood is written and directed by Clarke who also stars as Sam, released from prison six years after being involved in a killing. The sequel to the 2006 low budget drama Kidulthood, Adulthood is a urban drama dealing with life in the crime ridden slum areas of our major cities. It's set in a location where a life of drugs, crime and violence is often seen as the best choice for youth and where an ever increasing number of teenage lives are lost through the use of knives and guns. Although unflinching in its portrayal of street attitudes and behaviour the film does have a strong message of redemption.

The film took £1.2 million in its opening weekend with some of the many cinemas showing it around the country having to move it into bigger screens to meet audience demand, moving out big studio releases like The Incredible Hulk and Sex And The City.

Clarke said: "I'm thrilled that so many people both young and old have queued up to see Adulthood on the big screen as it was intended to be shown. This film carries an important message and it is very rewarding to know how widely it is being received."

John Fletcher, Pathe Distribution Managing Director, said: "We are delighted that Adulthood has performed so well at the box office. The fact that this British indie sequel is one of the most popular films this weekend demonstrates how well Noel Clarke's powerful drama has connected with audiences across the country."

The BBC showing of Kidulthood was the most requested programme on the BBC iPlayer last week, beating Doctor Who into second place.

Posted By John Bowman

The actor David Brierley, who provided the voice of K-9 for four stories, has died of cancer, according to an announcement in the current edition ofThe Stage.

Born in 1935, he appeared in such shows as Z Cars, Arthur of the Britons, The Tripods and Howards' Way, as well as the 1984 BBC drama Threads. Brierley took over from John Leeson as K-9's voice during season 17, which originally aired between September 1979 and January 1980.

He also provided the robot dog's voice in an October 1979 edition of Blue Peter.

(With thanks to Chris Winwood.)

John Barrowman is in Canada this summer to serve as a judge on the Canadian version of the hit BBC series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. The series is being broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and premieres today Sunday June 15th at 8:00pm across the country and at 8:30pm in Newfoundland.

Shows in front of a live studio audience will begin in Toronto on Sunday June 22nd. Tickets to be in the live audience are available from the CBC Maria website.

On the morning of Monday June 16th Barrowman will be appearing live on Breakfast Television on CITY TV in Toronto. Barrowman is scheduled to be on the show between 7:00am and 8:00am.

Russell T Davies, the lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who and the man who has spearheaded the revival of the programme since 2003, has been created an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire - OBE - in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. One of the highest civilian honours available to a British subject, the OBE is awarded by the Queen, on the advice of the Government, and has been given to Davies for his services to drama.

The Times quotes Davies as saying: "I'm delighted to accept, and I hope it does the whole industry a bit of good, for the writing of television drama to be recognised." Davies is the second Doctor Who producer to have been accorded the honour - the late Verity Lambert was given an OBE in 2002.

According to the Press Association, the BBC has released a statement saying: "We are delighted for Russell - he is one of this country's greatest writers and it is fantastic that his talent has been recognised in this way."

The story is covered in many other news sources, including: The Independent, The Guardian, The Scotsman and BBC News. BBC News have also published a profile of Davies.

Actor Bruce Purchase has died at his home in London at the age of 69.

Bruce Purchase, who was born in Thames, New Zealand, was best known to Doctor Who viewers for his role as The Captain in the fourth Doctor story The Pirate Planet.

He was a founder member of Sir Laurence Olivier's National Theatre and a regular performer with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2003 he gave the first performance of Johnson is Leaving, John Wain's adaptation of his 1974 biography of Dr Samuel Johnson, at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Wain wrote the drama especially for Purchase after the two men met in Oxford and Purchase subsequently performed the play around the world.

He appeared opposite Richard Chamberlain in a European tour of My Fair Lady and his television work included I, Claudius, Blakes 7 and Rumpole of the Bailey. His film performances included Richard III and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Purchase's autobiography Changing Skies was published shortly before he died and he was also an accomplished artist who exhibited in London and abroad.

He became seriously ill while touring in a production of The Last Confession last year which also starred David Suchet.

He lived in Putney with his partner, Sara Hebblethwaite.

Press Association

Thanks to David French

Posted By John Bowman


Royal Mail has released an image of a forthcoming first-class stamp that prominently features William Hartnell.

A set of six stamps are being brought out in the UK on Tuesday, June 10 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Carry On series and the first Dracula movie by Hammer. They depict the posters for Carry On Sergeant (which starred Hartnell and was the first of the Carry On films), Carry On Cleo, Carry On Screaming, The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy.

Peter Cushing, who played the Doctor in the two Dalek films of the 1960s, was in the Hammer films that are featured, while Jon Pertwee was in Carry On Cleo and Carry On Screaming, although he is not mentioned on the relevant stamps.

Royal Mail is producing stamp cards, a presentation pack and a first-day cover to accompany the Classic Carry On and Hammer film stamp issue.

The presentation pack contains all six stamps and comment from cult-film critic and author Kim Newman, who wrote the Doctor Who novella Time and Relative.

See the Royal Mail website for more details.