The BBC have released new promotional images for the forthcoming Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe.

The ten new images are made up of screen captures depicting a number of scenes and effects from the story.

Yesterday saw Bonham's Entertainment Memorabilia auction take place, in which a range of costumes from 21st Century Doctor Who were available to bid upon, originating from Angels The Costumiers, plus the preliminary artwork for the 1964 The Dalek Book and a spaceship prop from Battlefield.

The Battlefield spaceship (#154a) reached its estimate of £5000, but the surprise sale of the auction turned out to be the Clockwork Droid costume (#162), estimated at £400 but also going for £5000!

Unsurprisingly the Doctor's costumes all performed well at the auction, well in excess of their estimates: John Smith's teacher costume (#173/£1500/£2125); John Smith's suit (#174/£600/£938); John Smith's pyjamas (#175/£600/£1125); John Smith's coat/hat/scarf (#176/£400/£1250); and the Doctor's wedding outfit from The Big Bang (#191/£1800/£2625).

Other items that far exceeded their original estimates include: The Dalek Book artwork (#154/£700/£1500), William Shakespeare's costume (#166/£500/£1625), Martha's maid costume (#167/£400/£1000), Rosita's costume (#184/£350/£1375), Van Gogh's costume (#188/£450/£1250), and Dorium's costume (#185/£350/£1375).


The final prices of the items are listed below, which is inclusive of the Buyer's premium.

Lot	Description	Estimate (£)	Final Price
154	Preliminary artwork for The Dalek Book (1964)	500-700	1500
154a	Spaceship model from Battlefield	4500-5000	5000
155	Doctor Constantine costume from The Empty Child	400-500	813
156	Adherent of the Repeated Meme costume from The End of the World	250-300	750
157	Partial Sycorax costume from The Christmas Invasion	350-400	563
158	Sisters of Plenitude tunic from New Earth	200-300	875
159	Maid's costume from Tooth and Claw	100-150	400
160	The Host cloak from Tooth and Claw	150-200	475
161	Guardian monk's robes from Tooth and Claw	200-300	438
162	Clockwork Droid costume from The Girl in the Fireplace	300-400	5000
163	Two Roboform costumes (one pos worn by Tennant) from The Runaway Bride	400-500	437
164	A Slab guard costume from Smith and Jones	300-400	225
165	Lilith's nightdress and slippers from The Shakespeare Code	150-250	325
166	William Shakespeare's costume from The Shakespeare Code	400-500	1625
167	Frank's costume from Daleks in Manhattan	500-600	400
168	Tallulah's costume from Daleks in Manhattan	150-200	688
169	Laszlo's human and pig slave costumes from Daleks in Manhattan	300-400	475
170	Two Pig Slave costumes from Daleks in Manhattan	250-300	500
171	Mr. Diagoras's costume from Daleks in Manhattan	200-300	438
172	Solomon's costume from Daleks in Manhattan	250-300	250
173	John Smith's Teacher costume from Human Nature	1000-1500	2125
174	John Smith's suit from Human Nature	500-600	938
175	John Smith's pyjamas from Human Nature	400-600	1125
176	John Smith's overcoat/hat/scarf from Human Nature	300-400	1250
177	Martha's maid costume from Human Nature	300-400	1000
178	Baines's costume from Human Nature	200-300	625
179	Lucy/Jenny/Rocastle costumes from Human Nature	300-400	1063
180	Futurekind Chieftain costume from Utopia	400-500	600
181	Lucius Petrus Dextrus's costume from The Fire of Pompeii	300-400	375
182	Quintus and Lucius costumes from The Fires of Pompeii	400-500	688
183	UNIT Trooper part costume from The Sontaran Strategum	200-300	563
184	Rosita's costume from The Next Doctor	250-350	1375
185	Four Smilers costumes from The Beast Below	400-500	1500
186	Four Winders part costumes from The Beast Below	250-350	813
187	Guido's costume from The Vampires of Venice	600-700	unsold
188	Vincent Van Gogh's costume from Vincent and the Doctor	350-450	1250
189	Dorium Maldovar's costume from The Pandorica Opens	250-350	1375
190	Rory's Wedding outfit from The Big Bang	400-600	688
191	The Doctor's Wedding Guest outfit from The Big Bang	1200-1800	2625

We have three copies of the CD up for grabs courtesy of Silva Screen Records. To be in for a chance of winning the competition, simply complete the following verse from the nursery rhyme which was played during the final seconds of Closing Time:

Tick, tock, goes the clock, he cradled and he rocked her.
Tick, tock, goes the clock, ________________________.

Send your answer with your name and address to us at s6cd-competition@doctorwhonews.net, with the subject line Series 6 CD Competition.

This competition closed on the 23rd December 2011

This week has seen Doctor Who become the favourite with bookies for being the Top Show on Christmas Day, as speculation continues over the impact of Downton Abbey and Eastenders going head-to-head later in the evening...

                                           William Hill   Betfair   Oddsbet    SkyBet    Bet365
comb  3:00 The Queens Speech                 100/1                   100/1       80/1     100/1
ITV1  6:00 Emmerdale                          80/1                   100/1       66/1     100/1
BBC1  6:30 The Gruffalo's Child               14/1          16/1      16/1       12/1      16/1
BBC1  7:00 Doctor Who                          5/4           5/4       7/4        6/4       5/4
ITV1  7:00 All Stars Family Fortunes         100/1                   150/1      100/1     150/1
BBC1  8:00 Strictly Come Dancing              20/1                    16/1       25/1      16/1
ITV1  8:00 Coronation Street                  16/1          55/1      20/1       16/1      20/1
BBC1  9:00 Eastenders                          5/4          13/5       5/4        7/4       5/4
ITV1  9:00 Downton Abbey                       5/1          27/5       5/1        4/1       5/1
BBC1 10:00 Absolutely Fabulous                25/1                    25/1       33/1      25/1

The winning programme will be the one that achieves the highest BARB overnight rating.

The BBC have now confirmed the dates for the first five DVD releases of 2012, along with the Region 2 cover art.

The U.N.I.T. Files 9th January 2012 pre-order

The Sensorites 23rd January 2012 pre-order

Revisitations 3 13th February 2012 pre-order

The Face of Evil 5th March 2012 pre-order

The Dæmons 26th March 2012 pre-order

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Since our last update, the extras for Tomb of the Cybermen have now been classified by the BBFC: The Lost Giants - Making of Tomb of the Cybermen (26m51s), The Curse of the Cybermen's Tomb (14m24s), The Magic of Vidfire (5m56s), Cybermen - Extended Edition (32m25s), Sky Ray Advert (30s), Photo Gallery (3m23s), plus an easter egg (1m8s).

In addition, three intriguing items have also been classified as additional material for a future release: Best of the Doctor (43m29s), Best of the Companions (43m21s), and Best of the Monsters (43m31s). A recent press statement from Warner Home Video indicated that these three titles would appear as extras on the Region One release of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe (due 14th February), and were previously broadcast by BBC America in the run-up to Let's Kill Hitler, so it is possible the BBFC classification is for the UK release as well.

Doctor Who Showrunner Steven Moffat has announced that the next series of Doctor Who will see the departure of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill when the story of Amy and Rory comes to an end.

Speaking at the press screening of the Christmas Episode, The Doctor The Widow and The Wardrobe, Moffat confirmed that the duo will rejoin the Doctor in the TARDIS for the next series of the show, but that sometime during the series the couple's story will come to a heartbreaking end.

Moffat teased that he wouldn't say when, and certainly not how, the couple would leave, but that it would happen during the series and then their story would be over.

Matt Smith was asked if he would be sad to see Gillan leave. A new companion, who has yet to be cast, will be joining the Doctor.

The press launch was held in Studio One at Television Centre in London, where many episodes of the classic series of Doctor Who were recorded. It was attended by a specially invited audience, including several MPs including Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and, reportedly, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

For a full report, including an audio clip of the announcement, see Life of Wylie.

Steven Moffat was a guest (alongside Matt Smith!) this afternoon on BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon Show, during which the question of the potential "reboot" film being made came up; he responded:
The complete interview with Matt and Steven - which covers the first hour of the programme - can be heard on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

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Meanwhile, the Express suggests that David Tennant is set to return to the role of the Doctor for the movie:

The BBC have reported some news about developments in the next series of Doctor Who, as revealed at tonight's press screening of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe.

The following may be considered a spoiler for the next series, and appeared on the official BBC Doctor Who Twitter feed:


More details are expected to be announced tomorrow (Friday).

Karen Gillan considers what she'd like to do in the future: "I want to do more theatre. I want to do more stage. I have a real passion for it. I want to do it as much as screen stuff, in all honesty, so that would be really amazing. Maybe something on Broadway. I'd love to do that. Not a musical, maybe like a play on Broadway. I genuinely just want to do good work. I'm interested in character, whether that’s in a play or a film or an indie film." [Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec 2011]

In the immediate future, however, the actress can be heard early next year narrating Scottish Passport 2012, a new STV series which will see a host of celebrities travel to a range of holiday locations across the world, including South Africa, Taiwan, Morocco and Ibiza. [4 Traders, 15 Dec 2011]

Meanwhile, the BBC have released a publicity photo for We'll Take Manhattan, the drama starring Karen Gillan as Jean Shrimpton and Aneurin Barnard as photographer David Bailey.

Matt Smith was a guest at 11 Downing Street for a special Christmas party arranged by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne for forty terminally ill children, which included face-painting, balloon animals and games. [Daily Mail, 15 Dec 2011]

Holly Earl (Lily, The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe) talks about working with her co-stars: "How lucky am I getting to work with Claire Skinner? She is just so lovely. She's so funny as well; we had a good laugh on set. I’d seen a few episodes of Outnumbered, I think it's hilarious, luckily I wasn’t too star struck when I first met her. Oh, Matt Smith is so much fun, I'm so lucky! He's just got so much energy; he always brings out the best in you every take. His energy makes him such a good Doctor. Even in between takes he was so much fun, he was a dream to work with. He was really welcoming. Little Maurice (Cole) is like my brother now, he’s such a character. He's so talented and so mature for his age. He's got wisdom far beyond his years! Even when we first met we felt like a family and all had a connection." [Cultbox, 15 Dec 2011]

Alexander Armstrong has launched a £1m appeal to safeguard the future of the Lit & Phil in Newcastle, the largest independent library outside of London of which he is president. "I'm quite fanatical about this place because this is one of the reasons why the North East has taken off as a huge centre, philosophically and scientifically. There are so many fabulous things about this place, it was a very important centre for scientific research. That's the philosophical side of it because they didn't really call it science in those days, it was natural philosophy." [Journal Live, 15 Dec 2011]

The 1971 story The Dæmons has been confirmed for DVD release at the end of March.

The five part story stars the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee in one of the stories most loved by fans and production staff alike, with Jon Pertwee often naming it as his favorite Doctor Who story.

The Doctor is joined by Katy Manning playing Jo Grant as well as UNIT regulars Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin and John Levene with Roger Delgado appearing as the main villan of the piece.

Christopher Barry directed the story which was written by Barry Letts and Robert Sloman

The story was originally screened between 22nd May and 19th June in 1971, where it brought to an end the eighth season of the show. Its popularity saw it repeated the following Christmas in an omnibus form. It received a further repeat in 1992 when restored versions of each episode were repeated on BBC2 on consecutive Fridays.

Extras on the disc include:

• The Devil Rides Out - A documentary on the making of the story. (29 mins)
• Episode One Colourisation Test. (25 mins)
• Tomorrow's World Extract (5 mins)
• The BBC's Dr Who - On Location - At Aldbourne (7 Min)
• Photo Gallery (6 Min)
• Remembering Barry Letts. Feature on the much loved Doctor Who Producer. (33 mins)

The DVD is released in the UK on 26th March and around the world shortly afterwards.

Full Release Guide