The BBC have appointed media accountant Alun Jones as the Programme Director for its new Drama Village being built at the Roath Basin, Cardiff. Mr Jones has worked in the media industry for some seventeen years, including HTV and most recently as integration director for the Capital Radio/GWR merger.

He said:
The Drama Village is expected to be completed during the summer of 2011, with Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures due to start filming there from 2012 - meaning the former's 50th Anniversary series will be produced at a brand new studio!

Previous news items on the Drama Village were reported in January and May.

Doctor Who directors Richard Clark and Adam Smith will return to the series in 2011.

Both are listed in the online CV of new Production Designer Michael Pickwoad. They are listed alongside Toby Haynes who is already confirmed as director of the 2010 Christmas Special.

Richard Clark directed Gridlock and The Lazarus Experiment, both originally shown in 2007 as part of the third series since the revival. He has also worked on episodes of Life on Mars, The Whistleblowers and Gunrush.

Adam Smith directed the Eleventh Doctor's first story, The Eleventh Hour as well as the Weeping Angels two-part story The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone. Away from Doctor Who he has worked on Little Dorrit and Skins.

Production on the next series of Doctor Who is due to continue next week, with a read-through of the Neil Gaiman story.

Doctor Who's showrunner, Steven Moffat has confirmed he will be writing five episodes of the next series of Doctor Who to be broadcast in 2011, as well as the forthcoming Christmas Special.

Talking to Den of Geek, Moffat confirmed he will be following the previous pattern established by Russell T Davies, with the Lead Writer penning five of the thirteen episodes in the series.

As previously reported Neil Gaiman will be writing one episode, thought to be the third in the series. Writers have not yet been officially confirmed for the other seven episodes in the series.

Issue four of the Finished Product, the unofficial companion to the Big Finish audio series, is due for imminent release.

This issue concentrates on the UNIT series, looking at it from inception through to final execution, as well as revealing some ideas for the never-made second series. And lots of the interviewees talk about their memories of David Tennant in one of his final roles before playing the Tenth Doctor.

Interviewees include producer Ian Farrington, writers Simon Guerrier, Iain McLaughlin, Jonathan Clements and Joseph Lidster, directors Edward Salt and John Ainsworth, actors Ian Brooker and Robert Curbishley, as well as sound designer and composer David Darlington.

In addition, there's also an interview with DWM award-winning Big Finish composer Russell Stone.

For more details and ordering information, email thefinishedproduct@hotmail.co.uk.

Writing in Doctor Who Magazine, Steven Moffat has confirmed the key members of the production team for Series 32 of Doctor Who, the sixth series since the programme returned in 2005.

The team at the top will remain the same with Piers Wenger and Beth Willis continuing their role as Executive Producers on the series. As previously reported, Sanne Wohlenberg will take over as producer on the first two filming blocks of the series, following the departure of Tracie Simpson who has left to work on The Fabulous Baker Boys.

The new Production Designer is Michael Pickwoad who takes over from Edward Thomas who is now working on Outcasts. Pickwoad has recently been working on the ITV production of The Prisoner, for which he was nominated for an Art Directors Guild Award. Other series he has worked on include Miss Marple, Sweeney Todd, David Copperfield, Kavanagh QC and Murder Most Horrid. He designed the 1987 film Withnail & I, which starred Paul McGann.

Two new Doctor Who Fanzines have been launched recently.

Panic Moon features reviews of each of the stories in the recent series; explorations of the characters of the eleventh Doctor and Amy; a review of the K9 series; a look at the redesign of the Daleks; a roundup of other recent paper zines in 2010’s fanzine renaissance; a review of Big Finish’s recent output; thoughts on the work of Chris Chibnall, on the use of death in Steven Moffat’s episodes, and on madness, monsters and metaphor in Vincent and the Doctor. Plus some stunning illustrations.

Fish Fingers and Custard takes a light-hearted look at the show and its fandom. The first issue, which is available for PDF download or as a printed copy, features The Eleventh Hour Review; The infamous ‘PBS Hijacking Incident’; Interview with Doctor Who Podshock’s Louis Trapani; ‘Cracks’ an original 11th Doctor story; Invasion Convention review; ‘The Doctor In Wonderland’; It Could Have Been A Spin-off.

Veteran costume designer Barbara Kidd returns to Doctor Who this year, when she takes over costume design duties on the Christmas Special and the 2011 series.

Barbara Kidd worked on the series at the start of her career, creating costumes as early as the 1973 Jon Pertwee story, Frontier in Space. She was a regular on the series throughout the mid seventies working on The Green Death, Invasion of the Dinosaurs and The Monster of Peladon before moving on to a new Doctor in the guise of Tom Baker for The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and Pyramids of Mars. Her final contribution was for the Peter Davison story Kinda.

Kidd is now one of the most respected costume designers working in British Television. She has won an Emmy for her work on Little Dorrit in 2008 and a BAFTA award for her work on Nicholas Nickleby in 2001. She has recently been working on Wallander.

Doctor Who will also have a new producer from the Christmas episode in the form of Sanne Wohlenberg. Wohlenberg has also recently worked on Wallander and has also produced The Whistleblowers and Murphy's Law.

Building of the new BBC Studios at Cardiff Docks commenced yesterday. The press release reports:
The press release suggests that, as well as the forthcoming series six, series seven would also continue to be filmed at the current Upper Boat Studios, assuming the schedule follows the pattern of previous years (i.e. from Summer 2011 to Spring 2012).

Meanwhile, demolition has commenced on the BBC premises on Victoria Road in London, originally built on the site of TCC Condensers (seen in stories like The Invasion and Spearhead from Space) and subsequently used as rehearsal rooms in the production of many other classic Doctor Who stories. It is believed that the site will be developed into flats (a fate already received by the former BBC Visual Effects Unit site nearby!).

It has also been reported that the building that was once home to Shawcraft Models in Uxbridge is also threatened with demolition. Shawcraft built many specialist props for the early seasons of Doctor Who, most notably remembered for the original Daleks (you can find out more about the company in a feature on the Doctor Who DVD release of The Space Museum/The Chase).

The BBC in-house magazine Ariel published an article on the future of BBC Television Centre itself this week:

A new Doctor Who fanzine has been published in the UK and is now available to order.

Published by Grant Bull, issue 1 includes an interview with David J Howe conducted by Grant Bull and an in-depth interview with Paul Cornell conducted by Gareth Kavanagh.

Also in the fanzine

• Towering Ambitions by Jez Strickley
• Writing to the Doctor by Ian Wheeler
• Playing Games by David Mac
• Finding Light in a Dark Place by Bob Furnell
• Doctor Who – A Loving Obsession by Grant Bull
• Looking Back: Death to the Daleks by Richard Farrell

There is art throughout and the beginnings of a comic strip by Ellis Hampton and Erin. All wrapped in a cover by Draculasaurus.

The Fanzine costs £1.50 in the UK and £2.50 worldwide. Paypal orders to dalek82@hotmail.co.uk or email for more details on the same address.

Construction company Vinci has been reported as winning the £25m contract to build the new BBC studios. The Construction Enquirer has revealed that the company, chosen by project developers Igloo Regeneration, has beaten other major players in the construction industry to build the the new Media Village at the Roath Basin on Cardiff Docks.

The project is being developed in association with Welsh Government, as reported back in January.