The man credited for the original iconic look of the TARDIS interior, Peter Brachacki, is to be played by David Annen, his agent has reported.

The character actor has had roles in a variety of television programmes, including The Chatterley Affair (which also featured David Tennant), Criminal Justice, and Lennon Naked (which starred Christopher Eccleston), and the gamut of regular series such as Call The Midwife, Doctors, Midsomer Murders and Law & Order: UK. Film-wise, he has appeared in The West Wittering Affair and Theatre of Dreams, both directed by David Scheinmann.

He is also very active in theatre, with recent performances including Provost in Measure for Measure at the Almeida, and Dad in My Dad's A Birdman at The Young Vic. As well as acting, he is a teacher for Lightwork.

Filming Update:

After the excitement of Sunday's Dalek excursion to Westminster, the return to BBC Television Centre turned out to be the last day of filming for the drama at the spiritual "home" of Doctor Who. Producer Matt Strevens said afterwards: "Filming is now complete at Television Centre location. Could we be the last drama to film there? Week 3 continues elsewhere tomorrow.". Writer and executive producer Mark Gatiss summed up the moment, which might well be the final drama to be filmed at the site: "Farewell TVC....x".


Filming has now returned to base at Wimbledon Studios, as evidenced by set directions!

BBC Worldwide have announced details for the forthcoming release of The Visitation (Special Edition) on DVD. The two-disc set has been provisionally scheduled for release on the 6th May for both its R2 and R1 versions, and on the 24th April for R4.

BBC Worldwide have announced a TARDIS 2.1 sound speaker system to be released by WhoSounds Ltd in April, for use over bluetooth and through a standard 3.5mm auxiliary cable.


The speaker units can be pre-ordered directly from the company website, and from other retailers such as the BBC Shop and Forbidden Planet.

Big Finish have released details on the latest adventures for the Doctor and his companions in February:


In addition to the Doctor Who releases, Vienna is a new series starring Chase Masterson as Vienna Salvatori, a cosmic assassin. The first story, The Memory Box, is out now and finds Vienna being investigated for the murder of an intergalactic businessman – but did she do it?

David Richardson says:

Finally, two Blake’s 7 titles are out this month – the full cast story Warship, which reunites all of the Season 2 line-up, plus The Liberator Chronicles: The Armageddon Storm, which stars Paul Darrow, Michael Keating, Jan Chappell plus Tom Chadbon as Del Grant.

The actor Richard Briers has died at the age of 79.

Born in 1934 in Raynes Park, Briers started off his career as a filing clerk, a role he continued to perform during his national service. It was at this time he met Brian Murphy, who introduced him to acting and once his service had finished Briers went to study at RADA. After graduating, he then worked at Liverpool Repertory Theatre, where he was to meet his wife Ann Davies.

An established actor of stage and screen, Briers became a household name during the 1970s for his role as Tom Good in The Good Life. This was followed by other popular roles such as Martin Bryce in Ever Decreasing Circles, Tony Fairfax in Down to Earth, Hector McDonald in Monarch of the Glen, and for two generations of children as the narrator and voices of Roobarb.

Other notable television roles included his breakthrough as George Starling in Marriage Lines (in which he starred alongside Prunella Scales, whose son Sam is his godson), Birds on a Wing, The Norman Conquests, All in Good Faith, and If You See God, Tell Him. He was also a presenter of Jackanory, the original voice of Noddy, narrator of another childrens' animated series Noah and Nelly, and played Bob The Builder's dad Robert.

In theatre, he worked alongside Kenneth Branagh in a number of productions, including the lead roles in King Lear and Uncle Vanya, and also took on roles in some nine films by the director, including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and Frankenstein. His most recent role was as machine gun-wielding walker-bound Hamish in Cockneys vs Zombies.

In 1987 he appeared in the Doctor Who story Paradise Towers alongside Sylvester McCoy, playing the Chief Caretaker. Talking about the role to Doctor Who Magazine, the actor said: Doctor Who enabled me to overact, and I enjoy that. The producer (John Nathan-Turner) worried that I wasn't taking the role seriously. He thought that Doctor Who was some kind of classic, which I suppose it was, but he considered it a classic like one of Shakespeare's plays. He thought that I wanted to send up Doctor Who. I think he was frightened that I would start overdoing it...so I did! I thought I had leeway." In 2008 he returned to the Doctor Who universe, appearing in the Torchwood story A Day in the Death as the critically ill Henry Parker.

In his later life, Briers became President of the Parkinson's Disease Society, and was also involved in the launch of the Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association campaign. He was also a non-medical patron of the Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula Support charity, which supports children and the families of children born unable to swallow.

He was awarded the OBE in 1989, and then the CBE in 2003 for his services to drama.

Briers passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday after a long struggle with a lung condition. He is survived by his wife Ann and children Lucy and Katie.

(Richard David Briers, 14 Jan 1934 - 17 Feb 2013)

The Radio Times have revealed that Reece Shearsmith is to play the actor Patrick Troughton in the 50th Anniversary drama An Adventure in Space and Time. Shearsmith - one of the collaborators behind The League of Gentlemen - is a good friend of writer/executive producer Mark Gatiss, who told Patrick Mulkern at the recent BFI screening of Troughton adventure The Tomb of the Cybermen:
The actor told his Twitter followers this morning: "Very happy to confirm I am the 2nd Doctor. Very excited to be part of it."


Other cast members confirmed by the article include Jeff Rawle (peviously Plantagenet in Frontios and Mr Harding in Mona Lisa's Revenge) playing associate producer/director Mervyn Pinfield, Andrew Woodall as producer/director Rex Tucker, and Gatiss's partner Ian Hallard as original Dalek director Richard Martin.

Filming update:

As reported yesterday, cast and crew descended upon Westminster Bridge to record the iconic scene of the Daleks gliding across the bridge, with articles on the shoot published by several media sources, including the BBC, Daily Mail and Express. After these scenes were completed the production moved back to BBC Television Centre, which saw scenes filmed including Brian Cox as Sydney Newman with Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert.

Big Finish are running a promotion on The Eighth Doctor Adventures, with stories from all four series starring Paul McGann available at a discount until the 2nd March.

Producer David Richardson says:

This morning saw a re-enactment of an iconic moment in the early history of Doctor Who - Daleks invading London! Filming for An Adventure in Space and Time took place on Westminster Bridge in London to recapture scenes from The Dalek Invasion of Earth.


This marks the fourth time Daleks have crossed the bridge in their pursuit of world domination (and publicity!): as well as the 1964 incursion, the scene was recreated in 1993 for the 30th Anniversary documentary (More Than) Thirty Years in the TARDIS, and then again in 2011 as part of the publicity for the Doctor Who Experience.



This weekend marks the halfway point in filming of the drama, which during the course of last week has focussed on scenes set in BBC Television Centre.

Cast and Crew updates:

As well as the actors that portray William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford, other members of the cast are expected to feature in some way. Speaking at The William Hartnell Years convention, Peter Purves mentioned that he would be represented in the drama, and observer Nick Lawton commented on Friday's filming: "'Vicky' [sic] was actually sitting in reception talking with Mark Gatiss, as Bill, Waris etc were filming scene. 'Vicki' was wearing her 'The Rescue' outfit, which is why I think it was her".

A few minor roles that have been cast include child actor Reece Pockney playing Alan, Elaine Andrews playing "1960s Vintage Mum", and Philip C. Francis playing "Restaurant Customer"; model/actor Ernest Gromov also reported his appearance in the drama, which he has now confirmed to us to be a "BBC Designer". On the production side, Matthew Patnick (who worked on Spies of Warsaw alongside David Tennant) is Line Producer, whilst Daniel Bishop (who also worked on The Empty Planet) is Camera Operator.

The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who may still be months away, but the Doctor Who Club of Australia (DWCA) is kicking off a year-long calendar of events with Whovention: Gold. Featuring international and local guests, exclusive activities and a few surprises, the convention promises to be the biggest in the club’s 35-year history.

Over the next weekend, 22-24 February, Bankstown Sports Club will welcome fans and guests from across space and time to celebrate the beginnings of the original series in 1963 as well as the hugely successful 2005 revival.

Star guests include Louise Jameson (Leela), who accompanied Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor during one of the most popular periods in the show’s history. Louise will also perform her one-woman show “From Women’s Eyes” on the Friday night. Separate tickets are available for fans unable to attend the full weekend.

Camille Coduri (Rose’s mum, Jackie Tyler) will talk about the show’s revival in 2005 and her part in those first two hugely popular seasons.

Original series composer Dudley Simpson will also share anecdotes from 15 years working with four Doctors.

Dan Hall from Pup Ltd and commissioning editor of the Doctor Who DVD range is flying in to join Austen Atkinson, of Central Coast animation company Planet 55 Studios. Together, they will share exclusive behind-the-scenes material from the newly restored Reign of Terror DVD. And maybe a few other surprises…

Also, Rob Lloyd is bringing his popular stage show “Who, Me” to Sydney for the first time for a one-off performance on the Saturday night.

Other activities include roaming Daleks, a Doctor Who script writing workshop hosted by NIDA teacher Judith Duncan, panels, autograph sessions, a Saturday night VIP dinner with the guests, Doctor Who Mastermind, cosplay competition, debate, charity auction, raffles and the dealer room stacked with Doctor Who merchandise for sale.

Weekend, VIP dinner and single day tickets are available. For more details and to buy tickets, please visit the Whovention website: http://whovention.dwca.org.au.

BBC Worldwide have announced that The Tenth Planet is to be released on DVD in late 2013 and, like last month's The Reign of Terror, will have its missing episode four animated by Planet 55 Studios.

Range producer Dan Hall said:
The story was originally released on VHS in 2000 and featured a reconstruction of the missing episode using existing telesnaps from the episode; it is expected that this version will also be included on the DVD as an extra.

The missing episode marked the end of the First Doctor's adventures, and introduced the revolutionary concept of the appearance of the Doctor changing - a key element of the series mythos that has enabled the series to now celebrate its fiftieth year! Though the 'regeneration' itself survived, along with a few clips, the story itself has been 'lost' from the BBC archives since the 1970s.


A selection of stills of the new animation in progress can be seen via a gallery on BBC Worldwide's official Doctor Who 50th Anniversay website. There is also a showreel available to watch on the Planet 55 website featuring a number of their concepts - including the First Doctor stalked in the snow, a scene inspired by The Tenth Planet.