A special auction is being organised to raise funds for research by Great Ormond Street Hospital into organ transplantation. Featuring artwork from illustrators of children works to sketches from Doctor Who designers and artists, the auction takes place during National Transplant Week, 5th-12th June 2010.

The research being carried out by the hospital is into how, in organ transplantation, these organs do not survive for as long as those that haven't been transplanted.

Works up for auction include the sketch made by model-maker Mike Tucker for the 1997 Doctor Who Night "TARDIS" background (pictured here), and other Doctor Who contributors such as Colin Howard, Lee Binding, Adrian Salmon and Peter McKinstry.

For more information on the auction, visit the Art For Hearts site.

Steven Moffat has recorded a special introduction to The Eleventh Hour, which can be viewed on the official website.

In the UK, the publicty push for the new series continues with Karen Gillan appearing on GMTV and on CBBC sometime on Friday morning. BBC America viewers can catch Matt Smith's meeting with Jonathan Ross this Friday at 10pm ET.

Meanwhile the BBC Big Screen events continue at five locations around the UK until Saturday. ReelScotland has a review of the first day of the Edinburgh event.

The event includes a showing of the 3D version of the trail, which is also available on the BBC YouTube Channel. Special glasses are needed to view it in its 3D glory. Instructions on how to make a pair are available on the BBC bang goes the theory site.

Attendees will be able to see a special preview showing of the new series opener The Eleventh Hour at WonderCon, an event taking place at the Moscone Center South in San Francisco over the 2nd-4th April. WonderCon is an event operated by the company that puts on the annual large-scale media event in San Diego, California, Comic Con International, which BBC America exhibits at annually.
The episode will be shown twice on Saturday 3rd (the same day as the series is expected to start in the United Kingdom), at 6:30pm and 7:45pm.

For full details of the convention see the WonderCon website.

The BBC have issued a press release reporting that in the run-up to Doctor Who airing at Easter there will be a national tour featuring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. The two stars will travel to five locations in a specially themed Doctor Who bus, and each venue will also feature a regional premiere of the first episode, The Eleventh Hour.

The tour has been arranged in association with BBC Outreach, whose remit is to take the BBC into specific communities and sections of society, and the focus here is to reach relatively under-served communities by the BBC.

The bus will be at the following places on tour:

There will also be three big screen showings at selected BBC locations in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Plymouth and Swansea; these will take place between the 1st and 3rd April.

The events will feature exclusive footage – including the chance to see the Doctor Who trailer in 3D – and giveaways, and fans can also get their photo taken tumbling through the giant vortex. Visitors will also be able to meet monsters.

Says Executive Producer Piers Wenger:

In a tradition dating back to series one, a free-to-enter event will be taking place in London to celebrate the return of Doctor Who to television. This year, however, will see a change of venue for the party, for which registration will be required - full details below.

In the next few weeks, American fans will have several opportunities to meet Doctor Who celebrities and celebrate the show. Coming up this weekend (February 26–28) in Los Angeles is Gallifrey One, the largest Doctor Who convention in North America. This year's guests include classic series companions Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield), Anneke Wills (Polly), Frazer Hines (Jamie), and John Levene (Sgt. Benton). From modern Doctor Who and its spin-offs, actors Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Georgia Moffett (Jenny), and Andrew Hayden-Smith (Jake) will be in attendance. On the production side, guests include costume designer Louise Page, directors Graeme Harper, Colin Teague and Alice Troughton, polymath Nicholas Briggs (voice of the Daleks, actor in Torchwood: Children of Earth, writer and producer for Big Finish Productions), script editor Gary Russell and writers Bob Baker (co-creator of K9 and the new K9 TV series), Phil Ford (head writer for The Sarah Jane Adventures, and writer for Doctor Who and Torchwood), John Fay (Torchwood: Children of Earth), Rob Shearman ("Dalek" and the short story collection Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical) and Paul Cornell ("Human Nature" and Marvel Comics). Pre-registration for Gallifrey One is closed, but on-site registration will be available from Friday morning. Gallifrey One is held at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel.

There are also events coming up for Doctor Who fans on the East Coast. On March 7, Who York will host "A Who York Evening with Russell Tovey" at Cafe 50, 50 W 22nd St, New York. Tovey played Midshipman Frame in the Doctor Who specials "Voyage of the Damned" and "The End of Time", and also stars as the werewolf George in the BBC series Being Human. The Who York event will include a Q&A and an autograph session.

If you want to see Tovey, but New York isn't convenient, you can catch him and Doctor Who legend Nicholas Courtney at a special Pub Night being hosted by Hurricane Who. Courtney, of course, has played Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart for over 40 years. "Hurricane Who: Greyhound One" will be held on March 11 at the Cricketers Arms pub in Orlando, Florida, and will include a Q&A, meet-and-greet, and episode viewings with both Courtney and Tovey.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will be presenting an afternoon of sci-fi music, which will feature music from Doctor Who, amongst other sci-fi favourites:The concert will be presented by Alasdair Malloy, a musician who's dedicated much of his life to promoting music to children; talking to the Liverpool Echo about the forthcoming concert:

The concert is on the 7th March at 2:30pm at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall - see their website for further information and to book tickets.

This Wednesday sees the Bonhams Auction of many Doctor Who costumes and props take place, and the auction rooms are now open for public viewing up until Tuesday. Entrance to both the viewings and the auction is by purchase of the auction programme, which costs £15.00 (£5.00 goes to the charity Children in Need).

Stephanie Connell, entertainment specialist at Bonhams said: "Doctor Who is without doubt one of the most important and best loved television programmes, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to offer some of the iconic costumes and props from the show."

As might be expected, the media is taking an interest in the auction, most of which revolves around the sale of two Daleks which featured in their last 'classic' story, Remembrance of the Daleks (MKI and MKII versions).

The BBC1 magazine programme The One Show is expected to run a feature on the auction on Tuesday evening, from 7:00pm.


For full details on the auction, including openings times for public viewing, see the Bonhams website.

As previously reported, Bonhams will be holding a Doctor Who related auction on Wednesday 24th February. The catalogue for the auction is now available to view online, and includes items from both the 'modern' series of recent years, and also from the 'classic' 20th Century series - many of which originate from the recently closed Blackpool Exhibition.

There are a variety of costumes and props listed in the auction, ranging from the SUV from Torchwood through to the oldest item in the auction, a Brontosaurus model from Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

It is possible to pre-register on the site to bid in the auction on the day.

Auctioneer Bonhams is to hold an auction dedicated to Doctor Who costumes and props from the BBC archives.

The event takes place on Wednesday 24th February at its Knightsbridge saleroom in Montpelier Street, South Kensington, London, starting at 2pm.

The catalogue is currently unavailable to view but people are advised to keep checking. The only lot that appears to be mentioned on the Bonhams site at the moment is a Sea Devil costume from 1984's Warriors of the Deep (pictured), estimated at between £3,000 and £5,000.