Publicity:

The BBC have released their first publicity photo of Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman together on location, which is available to download as wallpaper in both 4:3 and 16:9 format:


Further images of the pair are due on the BBC website next week.

Filming Update:

Meanwhile, filming has continued on the series, with Matt and Jenna seen together on location at Margam Country Park last week. A clapperboard confirmed that this episode is being directed by Jamie Payne and Director of Photography is Mike Southon.


Filming then returned to another old haunt for the weekend, with the interiors of Hensol Castle playing host to the cast and crew.

Wednesday saw a read-through take place, as reported by casting director Andy Pryor: "Mega readthrough day, Block 1 of ‪Call The Midwife‬ (fantastic to be back) and a marv new ‪Doctor Who‬ ep. No spoilers for either!" This was followed yesterday by an early morning scene taking place in the Plan Cafe in Cardiff and featuring Matt with series regular Barnaby Edwards - normally enclad within a Dalek, the actor commented: "It's a welcome change not to be in one for this. :)"


This week also saw a surprising couple appear on location - Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill! The pair officially completed filming in May but were back for interior pickups for their last episode. Additional exterior work on episode four continued with scenes with Matt Smith outside the former couple's "home". Scenes were directed by Saul Metzstein and Douglas Mackinnon, with director of photography Sarah Bartles-Smith.

Casting Update:

The media covered filming at Margam Country Park, with items appearing in The Sun and Daily Mail; the latter reported that Dougray Scott was also on location - the actor (originally tipped to be the next James Bond after Pierce Brosnan) has recently appeared with David Tennant in United and starred in the BBC remake of The Day of the Triffids.

A Dalek film poster and costumes from three David Tennant-era Doctor Who stories are coming up for auction in London next month.

The Entertainment Memorabilia sale is taking place at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on Tuesday 3rd July, starting at 1pm.

The quad poster, measuring 40in x 30in (105cm x 76cm), is for the 1966 film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. and has an estimate of £300 to £400.

The first costume lot going under the hammer is made up of two Roboform costumes from The Runaway Bride, pictured below left, with one of them believed to have been worn by Tennant's Doctor as a disguise costume during the episode. Each outfit comprises a black hooded cape of wool, with Velcro fastening and split side seam, together with a black wool jacket/coat, the costume attributed to Tennant having a pair of black loafer shoes and a black leather effect belt with large buckle, the other with belt only. These have an estimate of £400 to £500, which will be taxable.

The next outfit is a maid's costume from Tooth And Claw, pictured below centre, comprising a black cotton dress, with button front with lace-effect collar and cuffs, together with a fine net and lace belted apron. It carries an estimate of £100 to £150.

Finally, there is a Slab guard costume from Smith and Jones, pictured below right, which has an estimate of £300 to £400 and comprises a two-piece black leather biker-type outfit, the leather jacket with geometric detail to top of sleeves with a pair of trousers, both labelled 'Hein Gericke', the jacket with label inside inscribed 'Matt', together with a pair of leather gauntlet/gloves and a black cotton T-shirt.

All of the costumes appear to be the same as the ones that were included in the Entertainment Memorabilia auction held by Bonhams last December, where the Roboform costumes sold for £437, the maid’s costume for £400, and the Slab guard costume for £225.

Pre-sale viewings will be held on Friday 29th June (9am to 4.30pm), Sunday 1st July (11am to 3pm), Monday 2nd July (9am to 4.30pm), and the day of the auction itself (9am to 11am).

BBC Worldwide is giving UK fans to win a PlayStation 3 and a copy of the game Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock.

The competition, on the official Doctor Who Facebook page, also offers five runner prizes of a copy of Doctor Who Playstation game.

The promotion closes at 11.59pm UK time on 2nd July 2012 and is open to those resident in the United Kingdom who are at least 18 years of age. The winner will be the first entry drawn at random from all eligible entries.

Material from a long-lost documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the 1966 film Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. has been discovered in a private collection in Wales.

The recovered edition of the 1960s teen culture show A Whole Scene Going contains a sneak-peek into the making of the big-screen Doctor Who adventure. The brief clip shows movie Doctor Peter Cushing preparing to battle the Daleks. The black-and-white footage, taken on the set of the movie, also captures director Gordon Flemyng behind camera as he talks with stunt-men and plans out the movie's climactic final scenes.

Interspersed with the footage is an interview with Flemyng — who died in 1995, aged 61 — revealing that he preferred making "entertainment pictures" as opposed to more high-brow films, but "didn't take them any less seriously".

Although the BBC wiped the master-tape of A Whole Scene Going, a copy of the magazine show was made and found its way on to the collectors' circuit. Classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope, which recovered the 16mm film print in conjunction with the Tim Disney Archive, said the find would "delight" Doctor Who and vintage music fans alike.

Chris Perry of Kaleidoscope said: Tim Disney of the Tim Disney Archive said: A Whole Scene Going also features a rare interview with the Spencer Davis Group, who perform their chart-topping single Somebody Help Me.

Kaleidoscope and the TDA — which bought the film print privately from the collector — are currently in the process of returning a digital copy to the BBC Archive. However, fans will get the chance to see the recovered footage for the first time in more than four decades at Kaleidoscope's next screening event, taking place in Stourbridge, West Midlands, on Saturday 9th June.

Tim Disney of the TDA added: A clip from the recovered show can be seen at the Tim Disney Archive.

This weekend saw the biggest collection of living Doctors for many a year as the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth all gathered at Collectormania 18 in Milton Keynes.


The event, organised by Showmasters, took place at the Don's stadium and saw Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann all meeting fans and signing autographs. The Independent has published a transcript of the Q&A session.

Elisabeth Sladen's autobiography is to be published in paperback next month, it was announced today.

Aurum Press, which brought the book out in hardback last November, said that it would be available from 26th July, but it is likely that it may be out on 1st July. It is available to pre-order here.

With a foreword by David Tennant and published with the support and participation of Sladen's family, Aurum calls the book "a warm and witty celebration of an actress who delighted generations of children and is fondly remembered by fans young and old alike".

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine features Sixties hero William Russell on its cover, while inside, the actor, who played science teacher Ian Chesterton in 78 episodes of Doctor Who, talks about his time on the series and his relationship with the actor who played the First Doctor. Also in this issue:

• Doctor Who Magazine, in association with Big Finish Productions, presents an exclusive brand-new audio adventure starring William Russell. The Revenants, written by Ian Potter, features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan and is available free to all readers this issue.
• The votes have been counted and the winners of DWM's annual poll are announced. Which stories, actors, authors and directors came out on top in 2011?
• Author Neil Gaiman, writer of the acclaimed 2011 episode The Doctor's Wife, talks about writing the story and reveals the secrets of the scenes you didn't see.
• Doctor Who's commander-in-chief, Steven Moffat, writes for DWM in Production Notes and tells of the sad day on which Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill recorded their very last scene as departing companions Amy and Rory.
• Glen McCoy, author of 1985's time-twisting Timelash, talks to DWM about writing the Sixth Doctor's infamous adventure and his early career in television.
• It's 1982 and the Fifth Doctor takes the helm of a crowded TARDIS and navigates the series into a new era as our voyage through five decades of Doctor Who continues with 1982's Season 19 in Countdown to 50.
• DWM goes behind the scenes of the making of a brand-new Doctor Who spin-off audio drama series from Big Finish Productions. Counter Measures features characters from 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, and DWM talks to actors Pamela Salem, Simon Williams and Karen Gledhill, who reprise their roles after more than 20 years.
• The Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory get involved in some very organised crime on an alien world as they embark on a brand-new adventure, The Cornucopia Caper, written by Scott Gary and drawn by Dan McDaid.
• As the hunt for the Key to Time comes to a dramatic climax, the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 face the ultimate forces of darkness in The Armageddon Factor. The Fact of Fiction examines this six-part adventure from 1979 and uncovers some fascinating new facts . . .
• As well as all broadcast episodes of Doctor Who, there are a multitude of scripts and story ideas that never made it to the screen. Some of these are now being produced as audio dramas, but would it have been better to let the stories rest in peace and make brand-new adventures for the Doctor instead? Toby Hadoke and Johnny Candon debate the pros and cons.
• The Time Team slick their hair back and join the Doctor and Rose in post-war London where the alien Wire is riding the airwaves of the nation's TV broadcasts. Join Chris, Emma, Will and Michael as they bathe in the warm glow of 2006's The Idiot's Lantern.
• The cunning Watcher challenges readers with The Six Faces of Delusion, outs another Supporting Artist of the Month and examines Doctor Who's use of the definite article in A History of Doctor Who in 100 Objects.
Plus all the latest official news, TV and merchandise reviews, previews, competitions and a prize-winning crossword.

Big Finish have announced that Tom Baker and Louise Jameson will reprise their roles for a new eight episode season of Doctor Who adventures as the Doctor and Leela, to be released from January 2014.

Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs said:
Producer David Richardson added:
The series will also feature the titular Blake's Seven actor Gareth Thomas (pictured) in one episode, playing the last surviving member of the Colophon race; the story also features The Greatest Show in the Galaxy star Jessica Martin.

The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Series Three is now available for pre-order by subscription from Big Finish.

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This June sees the finale of the first series released:

Three of Big Finish's audio releases have been nominated for the Best Audio award in this year's Scribe Awards, a ceremony organised by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers to honour excellence in writing. For Doctor Who, The Many Deaths of Jo Grant by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott is featured, against other series entries Dark Shadows: The Lost Girl by D Lynn Smith and Highlander: All The King's Horsemen by Scott Andrews. The results will be announced at the July Comic-Con.

In celebration, this weekend (1st June 6pm - 4th June 8am) sees the releases available on special offer (the latter as part of the Highlander Series Two boxed set) - see the Big Finish website for full details.


Big Finish will be running a number of promotional sales during the course of June, with the one above followed by another to tie-in to the transit of Venus ... with Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles - The Transit of Venus, narrated by William Russell! This will be available on offer for the 5th-6th June.

Filming Update:

As reported last week, Jenna-Louise Coleman has now joined the Doctor Who "family"; speaking on the Richard Bacon Show, BAFTA winner Steven Moffat commented on the impact her arrival has had on the series:
The complete interview on Doctor Who, Sherlock, and the Kennedy assassination is available to listen to worldwide from the BBC iPlayer until next Monday afternoon.

The episode currently being filmed is not Jenna's first episode - that will be this year's Christmas Special (which Moffat reports is still being written and well overdue!) - but will be one of the 2013 episodes; it has been written by Neil Cross (Spooks/Luther), and is being directed by Jamie Payne (Ashes to Ashes, Primeval and the recent Call the Midwife). Locations filmed thus far have included the Manor House at Plas Llanmihangel, Margam Country Park and Gethin Woodland Park - the latter eliciting a comment from alternative rock group Let It Fall, who tweeted: "Soooo.. We was going to write some music in the woods, but we bumped into the Dr. Who film crew, cool ay?". Other unconfirmed reports indicated another trip 'across the bridge' to England late last week, possibly to Bristol's historic harbourside.

Writers:

During a school talk, writer Steve Thompson mentioned that he would be writing an episode for the forthcoming series, and commented that he needed to read the scripts of the first five episodes. With the Christmas Special known to be the sixth episode, this would place his story firmly within the second half of the series.

Mark Gatiss confirmed that he was writing a story for 2013 to Digital Spy at BAFTA, saying that "it's for the new companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman, that's all I can tell you or I will actually be shot!"

As well as Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Neil Cross, other writers believed to be contributing towards the eight episodes featuring new co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman are John Fay and Tom MacRae.

Cast:

Some of the recent names to be confirmed in the next series include: for episode two, Riann Steele (Death in Paradise) as Queen Nefertiti; for episode four, Mark Williams continues his role as Rory's father Brian, Steven Berkoff (The Borgias) as Mr Shanks, Stephen Blything as Henry, Ruthie Henshall (The Case), Jemma Redgrave (Cold Blood, Bramwell) as Kate Stewart; and for episode five, Rob David (Rome) as Sam Garner and Michael McShane (Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Clerks, Spawn) - the latter said on Twitter: "Getting ready to leave for Cardiff to be a villain in Dr.Who!! YEEESSSS!!!«. In my episode the Doctor finds he's got a;:/;;zapppppp GACK. sizzle,hissssss......« Most fantastic time doing Doctor Who; best cast and crew I've been with in a while! Long live Gallifrey...« Can't say what I did In Doctor Who, or Steven Moffat will ride in on a horse and crush my head with a mace, like Mel in "Braveheart"..sorry.«"

Caitlin Blackwood, aka the young Amelia Pond, was a guest at last weekend's Timegate convention, and when asked about possibly appearing in the next series she avoided the answer, instead miming having her lips zipped shut and saying "spoilers"...

On the other hand, John Simm commented: "in reply to many, regardless of what it says on imdb, No i'm not returning to Dr Who. Got absolutely no plans to do so.«"

Scheduling:

Addressing recent concerns over scheduling and a potentially shorter series in the future, Moffat assured listeners on the Richard Bacon show:

Roath Lock Studios:

The BBC have released a video to introduce the new Roath Lock Studios at Cardiff Bay, presented by the 'current' cast of Arthur Darvill, Karen Gillan and Matt Smith; the video (originally shown to visitors at the studio's opening tour) includes facts and figures and a look behind the scenes within the new studios.