Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has confirmed that a scriptwriter from the classic series of the programme will pen a script for the upcoming series.

This will be the first time a writer from the original series, which ran from 1963 to 1989, will contribute to the revived series, launched in 2005. One director, Graeme Harper, has contributed to both runs, helming episodes in 1984 and 1985, and from 2006 to 2009.

Moffat announced the news at a panel at New York Comic-Con, and confirmed it in an interview with Comic Book Resources.

There is no confirmation yet as to whom the writer will be.

Other writers already confirmed for the upcoming series include Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who wrote the 2014 story In The Forest Of The Night, Sarah Dollard, who wrote last years Face the Raven, vintage contributor Mark Gatiss and newcomer to Who Mike Bartlett, best known for Doctor Foster.

Series 10 is due for transmission in the spring of 2017. Full details, as they are released, can be found in the Doctor Who Guide

The BBC has confirmed the 2016 Christmas edition of Doctor Who will be called The Return of Doctor Mysterio



This year the episode will see The Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, joining forces with with an investigative journalist, played by Charity Wakefield, and a superhero to save New York from a deadly alien threat.

Steven Moffat, Writer and Executive Producer, says:Canadian actor Justin Chatwin, plays Grant in the special, he says: Matt Lucas returns as Nardole, a character first seen in last year's Christmas special. He told Comic-con Also joining the cast is Adetomiwa Edun (Lucifer, Bates Motel), Aleksandar Jovanovic and Logan Hoffman. Executive Producer Brian Minchin added

The Doctor Who production team have won the BAFTA Cymru award for Special and Visual Effects, Titles and Graphics for their work on the Series Nine opener The Magician's Apprentice

The Special Effects on the episode were supplied by Real SFX, led by Danny Hargreaves, while the Visual Effects were supplied by Milk VFX. Both teams have previously won a BAFTA Cymru award for their work on the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor.

The BAFTA Cymru awards honour excellence in broadcasting and production within film and television in Wales. The winners were announced on Sunday, at a ceremony hosted by BBC Radio 1 presenter, Huw Stephens, at St David’s Hall, Cardiff.

The actor Terence Bayler has died at the age of 86

Terence Bayler appeared in two Doctor Who stories. In 1966 he played Yendom, one of the Monoids' slaves, in the First Doctor story The Ark. In 1969 he returned to the series playing Major Barrington, an officer in the British Army, in the final Second Doctor story, The War Games.

Bayler was born in New Zealand, where he first trained as an actor, appearing the 1952 film Broken Barrier, playing a young journalist who falls in love with a Maori woman.

After moving to the UK he made regular appearances on British Television appearing in Hamlet, Moonstrike, Compact, Maigret, Ivanhoe, The Brothers, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Squad, London's Burning, The Bill and Dangerfield.

In 1971 he needed stitches above an eye after he was injured in a sword fight while the shooting Roman Polanski's 1971 film of Shakespeare's Macbeth where he played Macduff.

Terence Bayler had a long association with the Monty Python team, appearing in Eric Idle's BBC TV series Rutland Weekend Television as well as in The Rutles, All You Need Is Cash and in the play Pass The Butler. He appeared in two Terry Gilliam films, Time Bandits and Brazil. He had a small but memorable role in the film The Life of Brian declaring I’m Brian and so’s my wife.

In later years he played the Bloody Baron in the Harry Potter films.

Terence Bayler died early last month.

The British Film Institute has now released details about its forthcoming special event based around the new, animated version of Patrick Troughton's premiere story, The Power of the Daleks:


Tickets go on sale from the 4th October at 11:30am, and will be priced at £22.70, which includes a copy of the DVD which will posted once released. There is a maximum of two tickets per booker. More details can be found via the BFI website.

Fantom Publishing have comissioned four new editions of Who Talk, the series of independent commentaries for Doctor Who episodes.

The company has previously released commenteries for the recovered second Doctor stories The Enemy of the World and The Web Of Fear, as well as the third Doctor story The Dæmons and several ophaned First Doctor episodes

The first of the new commisions is the Seventh Doctor Story Remembrance of the Daleks.

Producer Paul W T Ballard explained the choice Joining moderator Toby Hadoke for this release is Pamela Salem (Rachel), Simon Williams (Gilmore), Karen Gledhill (Allison), Andrew Cartmel (Script Editor), and Andrew Morgan (Director).

Remembrance of the Daleks opened Doctor Who's 25th-anniversary series in 1988. The release consists of six new commentaries, including alternative tracks for episodes one and three. Both the CD and download editions are now available priced £10.99 and £9.99 respectively, ahead of the trade release next month.


Please note: these commentaries contain no BBC copyrighted elements and do not feature audio from the episodes themselves - these are designed to be played alongside the official DVD releases.

The actor Michael Leader has died after a short illness.

He was best-known for his 31-year stint as Eastenders extra Michael the Milkman, appearing in the first episode. He was a stalwart as a background artist on scifi shows, including Red Dwarf, Blakes 7 and '80s Doctor Who (The Leisure Hive/The Visitation/The Kings Demons/Mawdryn Undead).

He was best known among Star Wars fans as the stormtrooper who knocked his head while boarding the Deathstar in A New Hope (1977), although this particular acclamation was contested by a fellow extra. He spoke at many signings and scifi conventions around the world, and in particular, his fond memories of working with Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor) were both heartfelt and amusing, as were Davison's anecdotes of him.

Born in 1938, he was the son of well-known bandleader Harry Leader. He would later play the resident bandleader throughout the run of '80s comedy "Hi de Hi". His other diverse background comedy roles included Keeping Up Appearances and Yes, Minister.

A founder member of The Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society, his long-standing friendships across the entertainment industry included the likes of Rolling Stones founder member and hellraiser Brian Jones, Doris Day and Dame Barbara Windsor. It was Windsor who insisted that he played a small part in her exit storyline in Eastenders, when he he chauffeured her around the Square in his milk float and was given some dialogue with her to mark the importance of their friendship, and his contribution to propping up the Queen Vic bar.

Leader had a reputation across Showbiz as a true professional and a friend of rising talent, with the tributes on Eastenders' Facebook page and on Twitter, including from Bonnie Langford (Mel), a testament to the support and encouragement he gave to younger members of the cast.

The Leader, as we called him, will be sorely missed at the 'Club for Acts and Actors' in London's Covent Garden, a popular haven for many Doctor Who actors and fans. Married three times, he is survived by a daughter and many pals who will remember his humour, his remarkably funny anecdotes and his unstinting friendship

Doctor Who: Heaven Sent, has lost out in the 2016 Hugo Awards where the award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) went to the final episode of Marvel Television's Jessica Jones.

Heaven Sent, shown last year, was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay , starred Peter Capaldi in an highly acclaimed, almost single handed, performance.

Six Doctor Who episodes have previously won a Hugo Award, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, The Waters of Mars, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang and The Doctor's Wife. Last year the episode Listen was also nominated and lost out in the final voting.

On Twitter Heaven Sent Director Rachel Talalay thanked the fans for their support for the episode.

The actor Michael Napier-Brown has died at the age of 79.

Michael Napier-Brown appeared in the 1969 story The War Games, playing Arturo Villar, a soldier plucked from the Mexican Civil War who helped the second Doctor in his battle against the War Lords.

Napier-Brown had a long career in British Television and Theatre. His first credited role was in a 1963 episode of the crime series Maigret. He played Miller in several episodes of the 1970 adaptation of Ivanhoe. Other roles include parts in Secret Army, The Dick Emery Show, Terry and June, 1990 and Casanova.

He was a long standing stalwart of the Nottingham Theatre scene and was the last artistic director of Northampton's Royal Theatre. He is credited with discovering Gian Sammarco, the actor who played Adrian in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, and who later played Whizzkid in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

His daughter Kate broke the news of his death with a statement on her Facebook page:

The BBC has announced that David Suchet will appear in the next series of Doctor Who.

Suchet will play the role of The Landlord in series 10, currently being recorded in Cardiff. He will appear in an episode written by Mike Bartlett, best known for writing Doctor Foster for BBC One in 2015

David Suchet is best known for playing Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in the ITV drama series. He played Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British serial The Way We Live Now, a role which won him the Broadcasting Press Guild and Royal Television Society best actor awards.

In 2003 he played Cardinal Wolsey in the two-part ITV drama Henry VIII and in 2006, he played the role of the fallen press baron Robert Maxwell in Maxwell.

David Suchet has had an extensive theatre career and has recently been starring as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vaudeville Theatre in London.