During his latest visit to the USA current Doctor Matt Smith spoke to VH1, who asked the actor about his future plans at that side of the Atlantic:


The interview suggests that Matt Smith may leave Doctor Who at the end of the next series; last summer newspapers such as the Sun and Mirror reported the actor was discussing potential projects with film companies during a visit to Los Angeles. Whatever his intention regarding the role of the Doctor in the future, however, it is unlikely any official announcement of his involvement in the series' fiftieth anniversary will be made until much nearer the time.

Readers in the United States can watch the full interview via the VH1 website.

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Matt Smith also appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson this week, during which he discussed winning his Scream Award, and campaigning for Craig to appear in Doctor Who!

Dubit, a specialist youth research and marketing agency, recently undertook a survey of the impact of children's television shows and their toys, with Doctor Who's licensed merchandise proving the most popular - 32% of the 500 7-11 year olds surveyed owning toys from the range. Nickelodeon's SpongeBob Squarepants came second at 29%, with other high scorers including their Peppa Pig and Dora the Explorer, Cartoon Network's Ben 10, and CITV's Horrid Henry.

Also, children were able to rate their toys on a scale of 1-5, with Doctor Who toys again faring well, achieving joint top with 4.7 alongside the BBC's In The Night Garden.

The surveys also took into account how aware children actually were of the programmes their toys come from; Doctor Who achieved a very high 90% awareness, with only SpongeBob Squarepants known by more at 94%. SpongeBob also fares best in terms of those who actually watch the programmes at 57%; here the Doctor was third at 52%, with Horrid Henry taking second place at 56%.

More details on the survey, including other programmes surveyed, can be found in a Toynews report.

The new Doctor Who Magazine (out 20th October) celebrates the life of Elisabeth Sladen in a special 100-page issue. Among those paying tribute are Doctors Tom Baker, David Tennant and Matt Smith.

Tom Baker describes Sladen's death in April as "a terrible blow" and remembers being overwhelmed by the public reaction:

Also in this issue:

• Remembering Elisabeth Sladen: Family, friends and colleagues, including Brian and Sadie Miller, Katy Manning, John Barrowman, Louise Jameson, Sophie Aldred, Richard Franklin, John Levene, Philip Hinchcliffe, Terrance Dicks, Christopher Barry, Graeme Harper and many more, share their personal memories of Lis.
• The Doctor's Best Friend: DWM takes an in-depth look at the life and times of Elisabeth Sladen, from her childhood in Liverpool, through to her starring roles in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
• The Final Interview: DWM presents Elisabeth Sladen’s final magazine interview, originally conducted for Radio Times in 2010, and published here exclusively in full for the first time.
• Introducing Miss Smith: It was the series that saw the first appearance of Sarah Jane Smith – and the departure of the Third Doctor. DWM looks at a year of Daleks, Ice Warriors and Sontarans as Countdown To 50 reaches 1973/4’s Series Eleven!
• The Last Adventures: DWM catches up with Phil Ford, the Head Writer of The Sarah Jane Adventures, and stars Daniel Anthony, Anjli Mohindra and Sinead Michael, about working with Lis and making the final series of the top-rated CBBC spin-off from Doctor Who.
• Happy Birthday! Doctor Who’s showrunner Steven Moffat has some confidential thoughts to share exclusively with DWM readers in the 100th edition of Production Notes!
• World's End! The Doctor, Amy and Alan Turing are on a mission to stop Chiyoko – and save the human race – in Episode 3 of the latest comic strip, The Child of Time by Jonathan Morris with art by Martin Geraghty.
• Game On! The Doctor on Big Brother. Rose on The Weakest Link. And Captain Jack with the makeover from hell! DWM’s Time Team – Emma, Chris, Will and Michael – travels to the year 200,100 and watches the penultimate Ninth Doctor story, Bad Wolf as their mission to watch every episode in order continues!
• Wotcha, Sarah Jane! The Watcher uncovers a feast of fantastic facts about everyone’s favourite investigative journalist, in Wotcha!

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

The first story in the current series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sky, had an official audience of 0.53 million viewers, according to Barb.

Although the figures are slightly down on last year's series opener, The Nightmare Man, which had 0.63 million watching, the two Sarah Jane episodes topped the CBBC chart for the week, with Episode One of Sky getting 0.534 million watching and Episode Two getting 0.532 million.

Third placed Tracy Beaker got 0.407 million watching.

The Series has yet to be shown on the main channel, BBC One and the figures do not include those watching on iPlayer.

The last ever episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures is due to be broadcast later on Tuesday in the UK.

Matt Smith has won the Best Science Fiction Actor award at the 2011 Spike Scream Awards. He was up against tough competition from Daniel Craig (Cowboys & Aliens), Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger), Harrison Ford (Cowboys & Aliens) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Source Code).

Doctor Who lost the Best TV Show category to Game of Thrones while Karen Gillan lost out to Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil: Afterlife) in the Best Science Fiction Actress category.

The awards show took place at the Universal Lot in Los Angeles, California on 15th October. The two hour event will broadcast on Tuesday, October 18 at 9/8c PM, ET/PT on Spike TV.

Tom Baker will be visiting St Michael’s Hospice in Hastings on the 30th October; a keen supporter, the actor will be signing for £5 donations to the hospice. Community Fundraiser Amanda Hildreth said: "We’re extremely excited to be welcoming Tom to the hospice and providing an opportunity for his many fans to meet him. Tom is a great supporter of the hospice and this kind offer shows his commitment to both his fans and the work of St Michael's. Tom has a huge cult following and we’re expecting the signing to prove very popular not only with local fans, but also fans from all over the UK." [Hastings Observer, 9 Oct 2011]

David Tennant will be playing Robert Louis Stevenson in a two-part adaptation for BBC Radio Four; Stevenson in Love focusses on two of the writer's trips, to France and in America, and on the influence upon him of his future wife. It is broadcast on 26th and 27th October. [The Stage, 11 Oct 2011]

Paul McGann will be appearing on 17-18th November at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Studio in Grotesque Chaos, a play about former politician Derek Hatton by local writer Michael McLean. Suzanne Bell, Everyman and Playhouse literary manager, said: "We are thrilled Paul will be involved with this challenging and interesting play. He was excited to take on the role of Derek Hatton having read Michael McLean’s script and is also bringing a great deal of knowledge to the project." [Liverpool Echo, 12 Oct 2011]

Colin Baker arrives at the Malvern Theatres for performances of the Wilkie Collins play The Woman in White; it runs between 18th and 22nd October. [Worcester Standard, 13 Oct 2011]

Karen Gillan's role as Shirley in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence is attributed as the reason for its sell-out at the Donmar Warehouse. On the play, the actress said: "I think the writing’s really amazing, it’s so full of hate. It sounds like John Osborne ranting. It goes to a place that I haven’t encountered before. It’s all jagged, sometimes it doesn’t even fit together logically. You really have to investigate it to understand it.". And on taking on the role and the encouragment of her Doctor Who co-stars: "I’m completely terrified. But that’s what makes it exciting. When Matt and Arthur heard I had a part at the Donmar they were so pleased. They were, like, you’ve got to grab this with both hands. So that’s what I’m going to do." [Telegraph, 15 Oct 2011]

Speaking of the Donmar Warehouse, Sir Derek Jacobi (Professor Yana/The Master) has been nominated for their touring production of King Lear; the actor is up for Best Performance in the 2011 Theatre Awards. [BBC News, 30 Sep 2011]

Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) talks about how Torchwood has done wonders for Wales: "Yeah, it's really put it on the map, massively. The Welsh tourist board can't be more grateful because Torchwood uses the shots of the coastline, the mountains - and all the aliens we have and all the deadly goings on. It's also shown who the Welsh are, making the Welsh as real as possible on telly. We are not this stupid comedy nation. We are a bunch of smart, proud, passionate people who love showing off their country." [New Zealand Herald, 13 Oct 2011]

Back in September, we reported that Arthur Darvill would feature in the Bush Theatre production Sixty Six Books; now, it has been revealed that Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) will kick off the theatrical event by playing God - a high tech, high heeled, pale suited Almighty accompanied by an angel with a laptop who dispatches her tweets to the Internet in author Jeanette Winterson's interpretation of Genesis. Artistic director Josie Rourke said: "It's a very funny piece, it's very bold. Catherine came naturally to mind for that. She just walks out onto a stage and recruits everybody into what she's doing - and that's absolutely what it needs." [BBC News, 14 Oct 2011]

Christmas kicks off early in Skegness, with Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) appearing as Muddles in a special preview of Snow White at the town's Embassy Theatre - the show was attended by its writers, pupils from Skegness Infants School. The pantomine will open on 14th December. [Skegness Standard, 14 Oct 2011]

The final episode in the recent series of Doctor Who, The Wedding of River Song has now been confirmed as the 16th most watched programme of the week, with a final audience share of 32.0%

Final Figures include those who record the programme and watch it within seven days, but do not include those watching on iPlayer.

ITV1 once more claimed all the top spots of the week with The X Factor, Downton Abbey and Doc Martin once again taking the top four spots. The main two soaps also did well and the start of the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing also scored highly. Doctor Who beat everything else during the week including all episodes of Emmerdale.

Retailer Forbidden Planet continues its range of exclusive Character figures with a number of new themed sets in the run-up to Christmas featuring various enemies (and friends!) of the Doctor.

The first two "era-themed" sets to be released cover adversaries of the First and Third Doctors, with the latter including a hand puppet Drashig. Other "story-themed" sets expected in the next quarter include Mechanoids, Sontarans and the last of the Jagaroth!

Enemies of the First Doctor Released: 12th December 2011 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet True classics from the First Doctor's era: A 'Daleks' Master Plan' Dalek figure with the rarely seen flame arm, the chilling Roboman figure and the historic Cyberman figure from their first appearance in 'The Tenth Planet'.

Enemies of the Third Doctor Released: 16th December 2011 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet From the adventures of the Third Doctor, the Drashig figure stands approximately 220mm high and doubles as a hand puppet for little hands, children can animate the mouth in classic FX fashion! This set also includes the imposing 6.7" tall Omega figure which features a removable head and fabric robes, lastly the classic Auton figure has a swappable gun hand and Nestene Sphere accessory.

City of Death Released: 19th October 2011 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet This set features the Fourth Doctor and Count Scarlioni from the story 'City of Death'; Scarlioni comes with a swappable head for his alien counterpart, Scaroth, plus a pistol and painting accessory.	The Invasion of Time Released: 24th November 2011 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet 'The Invasion of Time' sees the Doctor and Leela face off against the Sontarans on Gallifrey. This set features Leela with her dagger, and Sontaran Commander Stor with detachable helmet and weapon. The set also includes the Doctor's de-mat gun.
The Chase Released: 16th December 2011 Pre-order from Forbidden Planet From the classic story: 'The Chase', the Mechanoid figure is approximately 130mm high (160mm with the antenna extended) x 130mm wide. It features a swappable flame arm, flip-out claw arms and wheels. It is faced by two Daleks ready to do battle!

Series 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures concludes next week with The Man Who Never Was; the final episodes of the series starring the late Elisabeth Sladen are broadcast on Monday and Tuesday at 5:15pm on the CBBC channel.


CBBC has released a preview trailer for the finale:


The BBC have also released a number of publicity photos for this episode:

Additional Online Content

A number of videos have also been added to complement the series via the Sarah Jane Adventures website, including a Behind The Scenes video of the last day of the recording block made by Daniel Anthony and Anjli Mohindra:


Meanwhile, the second part of Ask The Cast has been released, plus an additional two challenges in the Gameathon: