Visual effects designer Mat Irvine is to be one of the star names at this year's BritSciFi Weekend at the National Space Centre in Leicester.

The event, taking place on 10th and 11th March, is a celebration of TV programmes such as Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Red Dwarf, and Thunderbirds.

Irvine, who has long and strong connections to Doctor Who, will be bringing along the original K-9 prop, which he built for the season 15 story The Invisible Enemy, as well as other props from British TV and films.

Other confirmed guests at the moment who have a Doctor Who connection are Shane Rimmer and David Graham (although please note that the centre is highlighting the duo's Thunderbirds link).

Daleks will also be in attendance, as will the Hyde Fundraisers voluntary group, who will be creating a Doctor Who walk-through experience in the venue's Challenger Centre. All the money from the event will go to charity, including Children In Need.

More guests are yet to be announced and further details are available on the centre's website. (NB: Before buying tickets to the event, attendees should ensure that the guests they want to see will be there on the day that they wish to go, as not all the guests will be there on both days.)

(With thanks to Duncan Willis)

A number of activities are taking place during the course of the UK's school half-term week, not least of which are tours of the BBC Television Centre in London (the home of Doctor Who production for many years). Tours are available throughout the year, and further details can be found on the normal and special CBBC versions from the BBC website.

Entering its last few days in London, the Doctor Who Experience at Olympia has a number of activities planned during the course of the week - see our earlier news article for full details.

On Valentine's Day (14th February), the Ashley Centre in Epsom will be teaming up with the British Heart Foundation to present some free activities: "The Ashley Centre's David Tennant lookalike (the 10th Doctor) will be joined by two daleks and will be sharing some good advice on heart health with visitors to the Centre." [Ashley Centre, 11 Feb 2012]

Monkwearmouth Station Museum in Sunderland will play host to Meccano madness on Thursday 16th February as part of half-term celebrations, including Daleks, the TARDIS and K9! The constructed exhibits are courtesy of the North East Meccano Society, who will also display creations like buses, trains, and fairground rides. Manager Jo Cunningham said: "These models are amazing and so big. I think the adults will enjoy the day as much as the children." [Sunderland Echo, 11 Feb 2012]

A number of "Doctor Who"-related activities are taking place at the Explosion Museum in Gosport, where visitors can "follow our time travelling Doctor back to the Blitz and discover the real reason that Priddys Hard didn't get bombed." Plus, Tardis Making in the Museum Coffee Shop". [About My Area, 12 Feb 2012]

The Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, London, has made Matt Smith a patron of its Young Writers' Festival. The event, running from 23rd February to 14th April, showcases promising talent from young British playwrights. Smith's first professional acting job was at the Royal Court in Fresh Kills by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, as part of its 2004 young playwrights' season. Catherine Tate, Ruth Jones and Kathy Burke (who had an uncredited role in Terminus early on in her career) are previous festival patrons. [The Stage, 10 Feb 2012]

Christopher Eccleston will play Creon in the National Theatre's production of Antigone. The tragedy by Sophocles opens at the Olivier Theatre on 30th May (previews from 23rd May) and runs until 20th June. Tickets go on sale to the general public on 15th February, with some seats costing as little as £12. [The Stage, 10 Feb 2012]

When asked if she'd return to the Doctor Who world as Ace, Sophie Aldred said: "It would be very nice to go back. Doctor Who is one of those things that stays with you throughout your career and I'm very happy with that. So, I'd love to do it again on TV but she'd have to be played by this strange middle-aged married woman with two children." [Independent, 8 Feb 2012]

John Barrowman and his sister Carole have been on the promotion circuit for their new book, Hollow Earth. Talking about writing, John said: "I'm not the writer, Carole is. The way we work is that we brainstorm the ideas, come up with plot lines and talk about characters, while she takes notes. Once we have done that, she goes and writes them down and hands me a chunk of pages, which I will either say are perfect or we will work on changes. It's a true collaboration." [Daily Record, 7 Feb 2012]

Catrin Stewart (Jenny, A Good Man Goes To War) is appearing as Juliet in Richard Icke's imagining of the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, until 18th February: "It was quite difficult at first because I have not done Shakespeare before. But the longer you do it you start feel it. The language feels part of me now rather than being a distraction. While I do feel nervous about performing it, I am now in love with it. After a while you can make the language sound natural for the audience." [Basingstoke Observer, 8 Feb 2012]

Tom Ellis (Thomas Milligan, Last of the Time Lords), Pooky Quesnel (Captain, A Christmas Carol) and Christine Bottomley (Margaret Hopley, Torchwood: A Day In The Death) are among the cast members announced for the pre-recorded dramas that will form part of BBC One's contemporary retelling of the Passion story The Preston Passion, which will air on Good Friday (6th April). [BBC Media Centre, 8 Feb 2012]

When asked if he'd be interested in playing the Doctor in a David Yates-helmed film version, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe said: "I don't know if I could play him. Matt Smith plays Doctor Who and does a wonderful job. They don't need me! I would never presume to jump into somebody else's franchise, not at all." [Digital Spy, 7 Feb 2012]

Jenny Tomasin's funeral took place at Islington and Camden Cemetery on 9th February. The actress's body was discovered at her London flat in January. According to the local coroner, she died of hypertensive heart disease on 3rd January but confirmation of her death was delayed as there were no immediate survivors. [The Stage, 6 Feb 2012]

And finally, the latest Doctor Who name to make her Twitter debut is Louise Jameson, who can be followed via @Lou_Jameson [Steven Moffat, 12 Feb 2012]

Award-winning director Toby Haynes will be appearing at the Official Doctor Who Convention next month, it has been announced.

Haynes, who helmed The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang - together comprising the Series 5 two-part finale that last year netted him the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) - A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon, said:

The event takes place on 24th and 25th March at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff, where attendees will also get to see Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, Arthur Darvill, Mark Sheppard, Nicholas Briggs, Ian McNeice, Raquel Cassidy, Barnaby Edwards, Simon Fisher-Becker, Stuart Milligan, Tom MacRae, Millennium FX's Neill Gorton, special effects supervisor Danny Hargreaves, director of photography Stephan Pehrsson, production designer Michael Pickwoad, casting director Andy Pryor, script editors Caroline Henry and Gary Russell, and producer Marcus Wilson.

In the run-up to its release next week, BBC Worldwide have provided a number of preview clips on their Classic Doctor Who YouTube channel for the Revisitations 3 boxed set, reflecting some of the features available on the stories contained within.

The Tomb of the Cybermen

In the first clip, cast and crew share their memories of seeing the Cybermen, and the work that went into creating them:

Actor Michael Kilgarriff discusses what it feels like to be inside a large and looming costume:

In the next clip, second Doctor companions Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling reflect some of their challenges and the more light-hearted moments during the production of the story:

The Robots of Death

In this clip, the origin of the look and feel for the story's setting and characters is revealed:

Pamela Salem and Louise Jameson share their memories of working with the director on the story:

The Three Doctors

In this clip, Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts discuss how they tackled bringing the original Doctor, William Hartnell, into the 10th Anniversary Special:

In this clip, Terrance and Barry alongside Stephen Thorne (Omega) chat about the acting styles of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee:

Finally, Caroline John, Katy Manning and Louise Jameson give their thanks to Doctor Who for helping to kickstart their careers:

Eagle-eyed readers will notice a subtle change in the covers of DVD releases from the spring, as the old 2|Entertain identity is finally retired.

The company was created in 2004 with the merger of the BBC Video and Video Collection International, with a 60% stake held by BBC Worldwide and the remaining 40% by the Woolworths Group. With the collapse of the latter in 2008 BBC Worldwide eventually acquired the whole of 2|Entertain in 2010, and as of this year has fully integrated the company into its Consumer Products division, which is responsible for the company's DVDs, download business and licensed product brands.

With regard to Doctor Who, BBC Worldwide told us:

United Kingdom

A charity Dalek squad will be displaying its dubious singing abilities in a contest labelled "The X-terminate Factor" at Royston Arts Festival later this year. The monsters will also be seeking and locating donations in aid of Home-Start Royston and South Cambs at the Hertfordshire town event, which takes place on Saturday 29th September. Festival chairman Graham Palmer said: "This is really something different and we hope it captures people's imagination, as the adventures of the Daleks and Doctor Who cover several generations." [Royston Weekly News, 2 Feb 2012]

More Daleks will be in attendance at the Aspire 2 Achieve Olympic Activities Showcase in Alnwick, Northumberland, on Sunday 10th June. The organisation aims to raise awareness, confidence and productivity of youths through sport and other activities. Co-founder Alan Hoyle said: "The whole day will be fun for the whole family. With all the different events we have going on there will be something new for everybody to try, along with the cheerleading group and, of course, the Daleks and the All-Star game. We are hoping to put on an entertaining show for people of all ages." [Blyth Journal, 2 Feb 2012]

Keeping with the theme, the snowfall over the last week brought out the snow sculpturers, with Lyn and Neil Cooper creating a Dalek in Coombelands, Royston. Lyn said: "We're not really fans of the show we had to go and google a picture of what it looked like. It was just something to do rather than make a bog standard snowman." [Royston Crow, 6 Feb 2012]

Trallwn councillor Mike Powell recently visited Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd, and commented on the conditions of some parts of the site, including the old lido in which he discovered a Dalek sculpture made from drinks cans, a relic from the recent Love Where You Live Day, had been abandoned and left to fall apart. He warned that the rundown site posed possible dangers to curious children. "It is an open invitation to any child to explore what is behind, especially when a look through the gap reveals an abandoned Dalek," said the Lib Dem councillor. (The lido also featured in Torchwood's From Out Of The Rain) [Pontypridd Observer, 2 Feb 2012]

The team behind Karen Gillan's next film, Not Another Happy Ending, are offering northern businesses an opportunity to back the production. [Press and Journal, 9 Feb 2012]

United States

The Los Angeles based GallifreyOne convention will soon be upon us, with Alysia Gray Painter of NBC looking forward to it: "What you'll find: celebrities, plus all sorts of panels and cosplay and people selling sci-fi-y frippery. Last year a bunch of people showed up in fezes and bow ties. Fingers double crossed that there will be a whole slew of curly-headed River Songs in the house this year, ready to fete one of television's longest running shows and a jewel in the genre series crown. "In the house" is the Los Angeles Airport Marriott, not some distant spaceport, note. That's so thoughtful, we think, bringing the party to this planet." [NBC Bay Area, 8 Feb 2012]

Australia

Twelve-year-old Keelan Mast from Warrnambool has amassed a sizeable Doctor Who merchandise collection, part of which will feature as an exhibit at the WRAD Collecta-Bool event, which raises funds for non-profit organisation The Western Region Alcohol and Drug Centre (WRAD). He said: "My dad got me into Dr Who. I just like collecting and my focus is on Dr Who. I go to bookshops and all the antique shops. There's a place called Gifts For The Geek in Melbourne where I found a Dalek helmet and remote-control Dalek. That’s my favourite collectable, but I've only used it once." [Warrnambool Standard, 3 Feb 2012]

Pharmacist Irwin Lowe from South West TAFE decided to build a police box for his cabinet-making class: "We were assigned a free project to demonstrate some of the skills we had learnt during our first year. I thought 'oh well, I might just make a TARDIS'. It ended up requiring more than what we’d learnt. I think the teachers were thinking more along the lines of a coffee table or small stool." [Warrnambool Standard, 10 Feb 2012]

The new Doctor Who Magazine (out today) delves into the history of Doctor Who's wiped episodes, how their film copies were made and sold around the world during the 1960s and 1970s, and how some might still exist somewhere today? What are their chances of survival ... the answers might surprise you ...

Also in this issue:

• Old Friends, New Faces - As work begins on the new series of Doctor Who, showrunner Steven Moffat takes DWM readers into his confidence, and looks ahead to the final fate of Amy and Rory – and just what might happen next...
• Sha-Daaaa! - At last, more than 30 years since the TV production was abandoned, Shada has been completed – thanks to BBC Books! DWM talks to author Gareth Roberts about the challenges of writing a novel based on Douglas Adams' lost 'Fourth Doctor' story.
• Rutans, Sontarans and Giant Prawns - DWM goes back to the 1977 and celebrates the season which introduced K9 and attempted some of the most ambitious stories in Doctor Who's history, as Countdown to 50! continues.
• An Olympian Task! - The Doctor and his new Greek philosopher chum Socrates meet the Gods of Olympus, while Amy and Rory face danger in ancient Athens! Don't miss the latest thrilling instalment of the brand new comic strip, The Chains of Olympus by Scott Gray, with art by Mike Collins.
• Fire and Ice - Go on an ANT hunt, explore the Ice Caves and feel the Dragon's fire! With fascinating new facts and photos, The Fact of Fiction guides you through the 1987 Seventh Doctor story that introduced Ace – Dragonfire!
• It Must Be Love - If the love of your life is a Doctor Who fan, should you share their enthusiasm or leave them to it? Katherine Hadoke (wife of Toby) and Gigi Candon (wife of Johnny) discuss the pros and cons as the regular DWM debaters defer to their better halves in A Battle of Wives!
• An Alien Werewolf in Scotland - The Tenth Doctor and Rose team up with Queen Victoria to battle a savage werewolf in Scotland, 1879! With their mistletoe at the ready, what will The Time Team of Emma, Chris, Will and Michael make of Tooth and Claw?
• Essential Reading - The mysterious Watcher remembers a landmark in Doctor Who publishing, champions another Supporting Artist of the Month and challenges readers with his Six Faces of Delusion. Don't miss the latest Wotcha!

PLUS! All the latest official news, reviews of TV and merchandise reviews, previews, competitions, a prize-winning crossword – and much, much more!

A roundup of some of the merchandise due to be released over the next couple of months.

Action Figures Collectors Sets

Attack Of The Cybermen Released: 24th February 2012 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet Contents: 1 x Peri action figure. 1 x Rogue Cyberman action figure (with detachable faceplate). 1 x Cybergun accessory.

Remembrance Of The Daleks Released: 9th March 2012 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet Contents: 1 x Dalek Emperor Davros action figure. 1 x Destroyed Imperial Dalek action figure.

The Seeds of Doom Released: 2nd April 2012 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet Contents: 1 x Fourth Doctor action figure 1 x Krynoid action figure 1 x Cutlass accessory 1 x Open Seed Pod accessory 1 x Closed Seed Pod accessory

Character Building

The Lego-compatible Character Building collection sees the release of a new Army Pack of Cybermen, featuring a Cyberleader and three Cybermen as seen in A Good Man Goes To War, plus the damaged "sentry" version from The Pandorica Opens. The set is due for release on 17th February.

The new figures join the existing "Cybus" Cybermen army released last year; other packs include red "Drone" Daleks and the Weeping Angels.

Masterpiece Collection

Titan Merchandise have announced a new addition to their Masterpiece range of sculptures:
The sculpture is due to be released on 30th April, and is available for pre-order.

Big Chief Studios

Big Chief Studios are to release a new, 9" vinyl figure of the 10th Doctor under their Dynamix Ultra Stylised Figures range:
The figure is due to be released on 27th May, and is available for pre-order.

Zeon Ceramics

Zeon are to release two new ceramics based upon the TARDIS, with a money box expected for 19th March , followed by a tea pot on the 2nd May.

The writing team for the next series of Doctor Who sees the return of two of the Matt Smith era's established contributors.

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine (on general release from tomorrow) reports that Chris Chibnall and Toby Whithouse form part of the team under the watchful gaze of lead writer Steven Moffat. Chibnall contributed to inaugural Matt Smith series with the two part The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, with Whithouse writing for both that first series with The Vampires of Venice followed by last year's The God Complex.

The two join the unconfirmed writers Mark Gatiss and John Fay. Gatiss was responsible for the eleventh Doctor's first encounter with his old enemies in Victory of the Daleks, and last year's Night Terrors. This new series will be Fay's first script for Doctor Who, having written previously for Torchwood's Children of Earth and Miracle Day.

Though there has been no formal announcement over how the series will be structured, Whithouse was a guest at last weekend's SFX Weekender, mentioning that his script was currently planned as the third episode - though the story order is not necessarily set in stone, as seen with Night Terrors and Curse of the Black Spot last year.

Rehearsals for the new series begin next week (at least for Matt Smith!).