Karen Gillan commented on how she'd like to see her character Amy leave the series: "Death would be an option. I don’t want Amy to pop up again every so often, because for me it would take away from the big, emotional goodbye. Once she’s gone, she’s gone - I want people to remember the Amy Pond era as a good one." [Mirror, Daily Record, 31 Oct 2011]

Singer song-writer Mark Eitzel commented on hiring Arthur Darvill last year in his Brighton stage show: "Not many people know this, but aside from being a great actor, Arthur’s a fantastic musician. He gave my little production 120% all the time, and we even ended up playing in a band together when I performed at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Minehead. It’s weird though seeing him running round fighting Daleks or whatever – I’m like, 'That’s the guy who sang in my play?'" [Western Mail, 31 Oct 2011]

John Barrowman revealed that he is often asked out to the jungle: "They ask me on I'm a Celeb every year and each year I politely say, 'No'. But I kinda want to do it. I think it'd be fun and some of the trials are pretty out there. But my partner, Scott, reminded me that there would be no way I could cope in the jungle. If I don't eat, I get grumpy. Happy John you see on the telly would soon turn into Grumpy John and I'd probably start snapping at the other contestants." [Western Mail, 1 Nov 2011]

The actor will also be performing at the Macmillan Centenary Gala, taking place at the London Palladium on the 28th November. The show, hosted by Graham Norton, will feature a variety of performers, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Jimmy Carr, and Jimmy Osmond. [Theater Mania, 31 Oct 2011]

Peter Davison rates A Very Peculiar Practive amongst his best performances: "I think from my point of view it's right up there near the top I think in terms of personal enjoyment of it. I mean I loved doing it - I enjoy doing every show I do actually - but I think it just held a special place because the writing was so good. And it's one of those scripts you get where you just don't want to change a word . It really is terrific, the really well written scripts are easy to learn, they just flow and it makes the whole process so much easier. This show had it." [Bang Showbiz via The List, 31 Oct 2011]

Sylvester McCoy will be a guest at this year's Auckland Armageddon Expo, and appeared on New Zealand's NZTV's Good Morning to chat about the expo, rugby, his career, and NOT The Hobbit! (Other Doctor Who guests at the Expo include Louise Jameson, Mark Sheppard, and Morgan Sheppard) [TVNZ (video), 27 Oct 2011]

Sara Lloyd-Gregory (Carys, Torchwood: Day One) reflects on the highlight of her career: "Torchwood was amazing. It was brilliant to be working with creator Russell T Davies and the cast were incredible. I had a lot of fun playing Carys who seemed to spend a lot of time snogging people! In fact, I do spend a lot of time playing dark characters but I like that. It gives you the chance to challenge yourself, to let loose and push yourself." [South Wales Guardian, 1 Nov 2011]

Shane Rimmer (Seth Harper, The Gunfighters) has recorded an audio version of his autobiography, From Thunderbirds to Pterodactyls; the character actor reflects on his career that covers Doctor Who, James Bond, Coronation Street, Star Wars, Batman Begins, and of course the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds as well as many more. The 3CD set is due to be released on 31st November. [available from Big Finish]

The final story in The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Man Who Never Was, had an official average audience of 0.66 million viewers, according to Barb.

The two Sarah Jane episodes topped the CBBC chart for the week, with Episode One of getting 0.71 million watching and Episode Two getting 0.60 million viewers.

Third placed Tracy Beaker got 0.35 million watching. The Friday repeat of The Sarah Jane adventures also made the top ten for the week with 0.32 million watching.

This final series has now been scheduled for a BBC One repeat showing with Sky: Episode One showing at 4.30pm on Thursday 10th November and Episode Two one day later. Both episodes will be in HD on the BBC One HD channel.

The winner of the CBBC poll to find the Ultimate Sarah Jane Adventure has new been revealed to be The Man Who Never Was.

The BBC have now released their new Adventure Game, The Gunpowder Plot:
The game was written by Phil Ford and produced by Gary Russell, and is available to download for free in the United Kingdom.

Nothing at the End of the Lane have announced the release of their new scriptbook, The Prison in Space, a 268-page illustrated softcover book about a 'lost' tale of the Second Doctor from 1968 by Dick Sharples.

The book costs £16.50 and orders can be placed through the new Nothing at the End of the Lane website.

The soundtrack to Doctor Who Series 6 will be released in the UK on 5th December 2011.

The 2 Disc set from Sliva Screen features music composed by Murray Gold to accompany the sixth full Doctor Who series since the programme returned in 2005.

Final details of the release including the track list are still to be confirmed. The CD is now available to pre-order on Amazon.

Director Steven Spielberg paid tribute to Tin-Tin co-writer Steven Moffat and his other British contributors: "Steven wrote one of my favourite TV shows, which is Dr Who. Peter (Jackson) and I felt whoever did Dr Who would have a good sensibility for Tintin. And it so happens Steven had read Tintin since he was eight. Even when he had to leave the Tintin project to get on with making Dr Who, I got two other Brits — Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright and Attack The Block's Joe Cornish — to finish the job. They're two great British writers." [The Sun, 24 Oct 2011]

Matt Smith commented on his view of last year's protagonists the Silence: "What is wonderful is that they toy with your psyche. They mess with what you know and don't know and what you can and can't remember - they can influence your mind. They look horrendous and are really mean. So if you're under the age of ten, a good sofa to hide behind is essential. That's what Doctor Who should be about: 'I don't want to watch this, but also I do!'" [Press Association, 27 Oct 2011]

A pair of trainers especially signed by David Tennant are to be auctioned on behalf of the Accord Hospice in Paisley, a charity which his parents are closely associated with and where his mother was taken care of when she was ill. [Paisley Daily Express, 27 Oct 2011]

The actor is also involved in filming for a sequel to the film Nativity, playing twin teachers from rival schools (one under-achieving, one "posh") in competion with each other for a national competition. The film once again prominently features the city of Coventry, and Tennant visited local Blue Coat School alongside director Debbie Isitt to meet children potentially appearing in the film. [Coventry Telegraph, 19 Oct 2011; Variety, 28 Oct 2011]

Arthur Darvill (Rory) will be playing Pierre in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Softcops, taking place at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on 30th October (11:30am). The play by Caryl Churchill was inspired by Michel Foucault’s theoretical book, Discipline and Punish, and explores the ways governments seek to depoliticise subversive acts. [Entertainment Focus, 25 Oct 2011]

John Barrowman commented on the continued success of his character, Captain Jack Harkness: "I can't believe it. I was only meant to be a five-episode character in Doctor Who and it's turned out to be a huge success in its own right with Torchwood and Captain Jack. The American audiences have taken to him. It's quite overwhelming and quite amazing to be a part of something like that to spread what I call the best of British television worldwide." [Coventry Telegraph, 25 Oct 2011]

Billie Piper (Rose) is to appear in Neil LaBute's play Reasons to be Pretty, due to open at the Almeida Theatre on 10th November. It has also been revealed by artistic director Michael Attenborough that the actress is expecting her second child: "She was upset and told me she was pregnant. She very generously offered to withdraw from the show; however, she was Neil LaBute’s and my first choice for the part — and fortunately the character is pregnant — so with a bit of judicious re-writing we’re all delighted she’ll be with us." [Daily Mail, 28 Oct 2011]

Michael Sheen (House, The Doctor's Wife) is to take on the role of Hamlet, played famously a couple of years ago by former Doctor David Tennant: "It’s the most dangerous play that exists, yet our culture has made it safe - what I want is to make it difficult and jagged again, unsettling and uncomfortable and disorienting for the audience." Speaking about the language of Shakespeare, he said: "We’ve debased our language in lots of ways now. We speak in not particularly expressive ways. The way people express themselves in Shakespeare’s plays is so rich and so tense. It takes more energy and uses more of yourself. It’s an investment and once you adjust to it, it becomes an incredible kinetic experience, really extraordinary. It works on your imagination and emotions just like music – you can be incredibly moved just because of the rhythms and notes." [Wales Online, 28 Oct 2011]

With speculation over Matt Smith's continuation as the Doctor after next series increasing since his comments to VH1, it is perhaps inevitable that potential contenders for the role would be discussed once more, including media favourites such as Paterson Joseph. [Indie Wire, 27 Oct 2011]

Today marks a month since the announcement that Doctor Who Confidential was to be cancelled, and also when the SaveDWC campaign kicked off to help persuade the BBC that the series was still worth producing.

The online petition has now passed 50,000 signatories, and the site reports the importance of today for the campaign:
As well as signing the petition, people interested in the campaign can also follow and discuss issues via Twitter and Facebook.

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Doctor Who's Head Writer Steven Moffat recently expressed his personal view of the cancellation in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, commenting on how the exploration of behind-the-scenes inspired him and many others (not least of which the 'next generation' of writers/producers/etc. as demonstrated by this year's Script to Screen initiative):
His views were also picked up in the media, including Digital Journal, the Sun, and Unreality TV.

The BBC Press Office have now released information for this year's Children In Need, confirming that the evening will feature a (now traditional!) clip of the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special:

Full details about the night can be read in the press release - though no specific details about the clip have been mentioned, previous years have provided the audience with a teaser scene from early in the episode.

This year's Children in Need evening is on Friday 18th November, kicking off from 7:30pm on BBC1 and BBC1HD.

The eigth edition of Doctor Who Insider will be available in North America from 3rd November.

This month Arthur Darvill talks exclusively to Doctor Who Insider and looks back on how this year’s adventures and revelations have impacted on the life of his alter‐ego, Rory.

Also this issue:

• MEMORIES OF MELANIE - Doctor Who Insider talks Cats, lambs and all things show business with Bonnie Langford who joined Doctor Who as companion Melanie Bush in 1986.
• MARK OF TERROR - We resist the temptation to hide beneath the bedclothes and nervously (but exclusively!) talk to author and actor Mark Gatiss who wrote this year’s creepy Night Terrors.
• I WAS... MARCO POLO - Mark Eden casts his mind back to 1964 when he played the famous Venetian explorer opposite First Doctor, William Hartnell in the seven‐part adventure, Marco Polo.
• NEXUS POINT - Insider zooms in on the moment, in the very first episode of Doctor Who, where two school teachers stumbled through the doors of an old police box and discovered the TARDIS for the first time.
• DATA FILE - The all‐action Third Doctor and his friends from UNIT are this issue’s subject for scrutiny.
• TIME SCOOP - Insider takes a pictorial amble through the eventful life of one Martha Jones who travelled with the Tenth Doctor before joining UNIT and working with Torchwood.
• MERCHANDISE - Previews of the latest Doctor Who merchandise, including the DVD release of the Third Doctor adventure, Colony in Space, featuring an exclusive mini‐interview with Katy Manning who recalls working with Roger Delgado who played the Master. Simon Guerrier tells us about writing The First Wave, a new audio adventure for the First Doctor, and Peter Purves tells us what it’s like to once again be playing the First Doctor’s companion, Steven Taylor. Author Dan Abnett writes exclusively for Insider about bringing back the Ice Warriors in this year’s special, holiday‐themed hardback Doctor Who novel, The Silent Stars Go By. And David Howe rounds up the latest Doctor Who merchandise, including a wind up Dalek and TARDIS.
• FAN ZONE - In The Recreation Generator, Insider presents another selection of readers’ Whoinspired art, craft and costumes.

PLUS! The latest official news and a giant, double‐sided poster of the Eleventh Doctor with Rory, and the Third Doctor.


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