Last Friday heard David Tennant co-hosting the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio, discussing current projects and joining in the general mayhem of the programme - you can watch two videos from the show, with David discovering the delights of "Building Tennis" and "Fish Face Friday"! [Absolute Radio, 2 Sep 2011]

West-end stars including David Tennant have put their underwear up for auction to raise money for the Make A Difference Trust. The auction is being run on Ebay and items have been signed by the celebrity in question. Steven Inman, charity director, said: "This is a novel and fun way to raise money for good causes and we are fortunate to have the support of so many big names backing the Pants Project and its aims to help sick people in hardship. The pants are destined to become must-have mementos and are sure to attract a lot of interest from fans. [Metro, 6 Sep 2011]

John Barrowman has been busy promoting his new album, but will also be launching a range of grooming products on 12th September; named HIM, the range will be available exclusively from shopping channel QVC. [John Barrowman website, 6 Sep 2011]

The entertainer is also subject of a new musical, Stalking John Barrowman, where two eccentric fans set up a detective agency to snoop on the star. Described as a very traditional Broadway sound with a sort of Disney element, Musical director Patrick Steed said: "I hope he’ll be flattered. There should be loads in there for the fans – it will appeal to a lot of people who love Doctor Who and Torchwood and people who follow his career." [Wales on Sunday, 4 Sep 2011]

Billie Piper is to star as Carly in Neil LaBute’s Reasons To Be Pretty, which will open in London's Almeida Theatre on 10th November; her co-stars in the Tony Award-nominated play are Kieran Bew (Kent), Sian Brooke (Steph), and Tom Burke (Greg). Synopsis: "Greg is overheard admitting that his girlfriend Steph is no beauty, but that he wouldn't change her for the world. She is devastated; he can't quite see what he’s done wrong. Meanwhile, Greg's best friend Kent alternates between boasting about how gorgeous his wife Carly is, and chasing after a hot new colleague." [inc The Stage, Theatermania, What's On Stage, 2 Sep 2011]

Steven Moffat recently spoke on his continuing association with Doctor Who: I haven't got any kind of plans to leave. I take it one [season] at a time. 'Doctor Who' on its own is an incredible workload, astonishing. And to have that and to have 'Sherlock,' yeah, it's savage. I'd like to get out before it kills me. But and it's not killing me at the moment. I'm loving doing it, so I have no immediate plans to leave. But at the same time, the thing about 'Doctor Who' is, when it is time to go, you want to make sure it's looked after. You don't want to be the last one. I want it to go on and triumph long after I stop. [AOLTV, 26 Aug 2011]

Daniel Mays (who appeared as Alex in last weekend's Night Terrors) talked about if he would play the Doctor: "I don't know, it's so huge. Matt said to me you have to get used to having your face on plates and merchandise and all this sort of stuff. It's a huge part. isn't it? I don't know whether I would be able to take that on. But he's doing a fantastic job." [Coventry Telegraph, 2 Sep 2011]

Peter Hoar (director for A Good Man Goes To War) commented on his preferences for directing: "I prefer the more organic approach of reality and ‘things’. If I can create it for real, to be seen and touched by the cast, then I believe the performances are stronger. CGI definitely has a place but as a tool to improve reality and create fantasy but not out of proportion." On returning to direct further episodes: "I haven’t been asked as yet but wouldn’t turn down a great offer!" [Hypable, 5 Sep 2011 (with thanks to Nicholas Myers)]

Matt Smith has won the Most Stylish Man award at the 2011 GQ Men of the Year awards.

The citation reads
The annual GQ Men of the Year awards gives GQ magazine readers the chance to vote for the most influential figures in a variety of fields over the past year. Winners are chosen from nominees in the fields of film, television, sports, music, fashion, theatre, literature and food through online voting by GQ readers. Winners are typically featured in an issue of GQ, as well as being honored at the annual Men of the Year awards show.

Smith won the 2010 award for Best Actor which this year went to Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame.

Bill Nighy, who appeared in Vincent and the Doctor, who won the 2011 Editor's Special award.

The BBFC have now certified various episodes and features that will form part of the Series 6: Part 2 boxed set:


At the time of writing the finale of the series, The Wedding of River Song, has yet to be classified.



The boxed set is due for release on 10th October 2011, and is available for pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray.

The BBC have released a new video to promote this week's forthcoming episode of Doctor Who, The Girl Who Waited, featuring producer Marcus Wilson and writer Tom MacRae:



A number of publicity photos to tie in with the episode have also been released:

The BBC have now announced the titles for the remaining episodes of Doctor Who Confidential (which might be considered spoilers):


Some behind-the-scenes features have recently been added to the BBC's Doctor Who site that tie into the two episodes that have been broadcast so far. Two location featurettes were released for Let's Kill Hitler covering the final day's filming (part one and two) in a cornfield, and a tour inside the robot. Meanwhile, after the first interview snippet with Night Terrors star Danny Mays reported previously, a second interview with the actor has been released, accompanied by an introduction to the story by Matt Smith and Marcus Wilson; there are also two preview clips of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill discussing the dolls house on location (one, two) via the BBC's YouTube channel.

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You can follow updates from the Doctor Who Confidential team on Facebook.

A new one-man stage show based around Doctor Who has been announced for the Melbourne Fringe, taking place between the 21st September and 9th October:


The 55 minute play is to be performed by Australian actor, comedian and improviser Rob Lloyd, known for the cult musical comedy The Dodge, comedy troupe The Crew and award-winning comedy trio The Hounds; he devised the show alongside regular collaborator/director Scott Gooding.

Who, Me. will be performed throughout the Fringe (bar Mondays and final night) - further details and tickets can be purchased via the Melbourne Fringe.

(with thanks to Laura Milke Garner/MILKE Performance Industry Services)

Dragon*Con 2011 featured a number of Doctor Who costumes some of which can be studied on the Geeks of Doom Website.

Amongst the Daleks, Doctors and assorted villains parading through the streets of Atlanta was this version of the TARDIS. Created by Kelldar, the inspiration for the dress came after getting an incorrect shade of blue fabric for a Marie Antoinette dress she wanted to make.

Meanwhile across the nation at the Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, tens of thousands of participants gathered to create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. Part of the Festival is the presence of hundreds of art cars or mutant vehicles gliding through the desert including, this year, a rather large DALEK .

The BBC have released publicity photographs for the finale of Torchwood: Miracle Day, The Blood Line; the episode is due to broadcast on Starz in the United States on 9th September (10:00ET), on UKTV in Australia (9:30pm) and on Space in Canada (9:00ET) on Saturday 10th September, and on BBC1/BBC1HD in the United Kingdom on 15th September (9:00pm).

Figures released by BARB show Doctor Who: Let's Kill Hitler, just missed out on a top ten place becoming the 11th most watched programme of the week.

The episode was the 6th most watched programme of the week on BBC Television. It was beaten in the charts by the two major soaps, EastEnders and Coronation Street, New Tricks and The X Factor, but out rated all editions of Emmerdale.

The figures do not include those watching on iPlayer, where over 1.2 million people accessed the episode within 7 days of the broadcast.

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Meanwhile Torchwood: Immortal Sins had a final UK rating of 4.48 million viewers. It was the 32nd most watched programme of the week.

The AI score for Episode Eight of Torchwood, End of the World, was 84.

Doctor Who: Night Terrors had an Appreciation Index, or AI score of 86.

The AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the episode. The score puts the programme in the excellent category. It was the joint highest, with Casualty, for Saturday on BBC One.

Doctor Who finished 24th for the week in the overnight charts. It should finish well within the top twenty when official ratings are issued next week.

0.32 million watched the Sunday night repeat on BBC Three.