Will Brooks, co-author of the forthcoming Memoirs of an Edwardian Adventurer, has informed us that the pre-order date for the book has been pushed forward to 10:00pm this coming Friday, 26th August - this is in order to be able to launch the book as scheduled for 10th October.

Those who pre-order the book will have their names printed inside the book as a special thanks.

With the return of Doctor Who to our screens this coming weekend (27th August), Star Cutouts are celebrating by offering the Doctor and Amy as prizes in our latest competition!

In order to win one of these (cardboard!) figures, simply answer the following question:


The competition closing date is Saturday 3rd September, and is only open to those resident in the UK. To enter, email your answer to this address with the subject line Cardboard Doctor - the two winners chosen will receive the Doctor and Amy figures respectively.



Star Cutouts are Europe's largest dedicated manufacturer of life sized cardboard cut-outs, and the official licensee for full-sized Doctor Who characters. The latest figures in their collection are available from retailers like Forbidden Planet.

Some news on possible future DVD releases emerged at the Fantom Films conventions held over the weekend:

Back in 1964, the story Planet of Giants had originally been filmed as a four-part story, but had the latter two episodes combined into one in order to tighten the plot for a better paced series opener. Though the original recording no longer exists, actress Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor's grand-daughter Susan, mentioned at the Dalek Invasion Earth convention that she had recently recorded an audio version of the original script for that fourth episode, The Urge to Live, which she believed is to be for a DVD release of the story.

Further 'lost' material also seems likely to see the light of day. Back in 1979 the final story of Season 17, Shada, had to be abandoned due to BBC strikes with only parts of the studio sessions completed; appearing at the Timelord Tales convention, both Victoria Burgoyne (Clare) and Daniel Hill (Chris) reported that they'd been involved in a new audio recording of the script for the unfilmed material, in which other original cast members participated including Lalla Ward (Romana). They also discussed the missing scenes being recreated in animation, and believed this could form part of a DVD release of the story in the future. (Producer Ian Levine has confirmed that the actors were talking about his production, but that the cast hope for an 'official' release.)

---

A recent fire at the Sony warehouse facilities in Enfield led to loss of much of the DVD and CD stock held there, including Doctor Who DVDs due to be distributed by 2|Entertain. However, the company has reported that this will not affect the release of Day of the Daleks, due out on the 12th September (available to pre-order).

---

The Restoration Team have recently revived their website that delves into the technical issues involved in restoring the classic Doctor Who stories for DVD release - the site had been in mothballs since The Space Museum/The Chase back in January 2010. The site is in the process of being brought up to date, and new articles have now been added for the first Revisitations boxed set and for Mannequin Mania.

---

Further snippets for DVD production have been tweeted by the Restoration Team; this includes an appeal by Chris Chapman for anybody who could provide contact details for Peter Walker (the young boy in The Reign of Terror) - if you can help please let him know.

The new edition of the Radio Times (27th August - 2nd September) celebrates the return of Doctor Who to our screens this coming Saturday, with the Doctor once again gracing the front cover for the season opener, Let's Kill Hitler.


The magazine features an exclusive episode guide by head writer Steven Moffat, which finally reveals the titles for the concluding two episodes of the series, Closing Time and The Wedding of River Song.

There are also interviews with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston. Here, Matt and Karen talk about the downside of fame:

You can read a sample from the episode guide on the Radio Times website.


The website also offers a review of last week's preview for Let's Kill Hitler, and an interview with Mark Gatiss on the following week's episode, Night Terrors.

---

The Radio Times have also made a spoof video tie-in for Let's Kill Hitler, based upon the popular Downfall meme :

Episode Five of Torchwood: Miracle Day, The Categories of Life, had a final official rating of 5.17 million viewers according to figures released by BARB.

The programme was the 19th highest rated on BBC One for the week. While the rating was similar to previous weeks the chart placing was much lower because of the exceptionally high ratings achieved by news programmes during the periods of civil disturbance in several English cities which occurred at the start of the week

The final result includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within 7 days. It does not include those watching on iPlayer.

Episode Six, The Middle Men, had an AI score of 85.

Doctor Who has won a HUGO award for the 2010 series conclusion The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.

Written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes, the story was shown last June when it wrapped up the events of Matt Smith's first series as The Doctor.

The story beat two other Doctor Who stories, A Christmas Carol and Vincent and the Doctor as well as The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan and **** Me, Ray Bradbury by Rachel Bloom, to win the award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

The award is the fourth for Steven Moffat, having previously won for The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink. Last year the award was won by The Waters of Mars written by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford.

The award for Best Related Work was given to Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea and published by Mad Norwegian.

The book is a series of essays which delve into the extraordinary aspects of being a female “Doctor Who” enthusiast. Essays include Carole Barrowman discussing what it was like to grow up with her brother John, columnist Jackie Jenkins providing a Bridget Jones’ Diary-style memoir of working on “Doctor Who Magazine,” and novelist Lloyd Rose analyzing Rose’s changes between the ninth and tenth Doctors.

The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories.

Hugo Awards have been presented every year since 1955. The 2011 winners were announced on Saturday evening, at Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction convention held in Reno, Nevada.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations have now released statistics relating to the distribution figures of magazines for the first half of 2011, which includes details relating to both official publications, Doctor Who Magazine (Panini) and Doctor Who Adventures (BBC).

When compared to previous periods, the data reveals how the average circulation trends have fared:


The figures show that both magazines saw a decline in circulation for the first half of this year, with DWA dropping to below its circulation for the same period in 2010. Further breakdown on circulation can be found within the publication certificates linked to above.

(with thanks to John Bowman)

David Tennant has been talking to The Guardian Weekend as his run in the West End playing Benedick to Catherine Tate's Beatrice draws to a close.

Tennant talks about his career so far, his life growing up in Scotland and his tabloid reputation as a seducer on the Doctor Who set. "I refute that heartily." he says. "Well, I mean I have had some girlfriends, and I did meet some of them at work you know, my bedpost really has very few notches compared with other actors of my erm, erm, pedigree.

He talks about his future plans following the release of Fright Night next month. "I just like to join the jobs up and hope they will be as varied and interesting as possible. So if I can do a film with DreamWorks, then come back and do a little British film, then do something in the West End, then do something for the BBC, that's great. You learn from experience that the things you think are going to change your life probably won't. Not that I'm looking for it to be changed. I'm very happy with what I've got."

---

Colin Baker joined experts from East Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Job Centre Plus in the cathedral city of Ely on Friday in a day aimed at helping residents tackle any life challenges that they may face.

The Sixth Doctor was joined by experts in housing, policing, benefits and drug awareness as well as a Dalek, a Cyberman and an Ood. Baker, who is currently touring in Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White, gave his time free for the event.

"I think everyone knows that it has been a difficult time for many people over the last few years and I know a lot of people who have or are struggling to keep their heads above water," he said. "I hope that in a small way I can attract people along who might not necessarily seek help who can then talk to the experts who will be on hand."

---

Christopher Eccleston is currently filming in the North East of England in a comedy drama about a grumpy pensioner who joins a local choir.

Also staring Gemma Arterton, Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp, Song For Marion by Paul Andrew Williams is a comedy drama about a grumpy pensioner Arthur (Terence Stamp) who is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) to join a highly unconventional local choir.

Eccleston plays their son James in the Steel Mill Pictures production.

---

Matt Smith has been snapped in a fetching white sailor's hat with wide-rimmed glasses as he rowed on the Thames while filming for the new BBC Drama Bert and Dickie. Smith is playing Bert Bushnell, one half of the rowing team that won the gold medal in the 1948 Olympics in London for the double scull.

The return of Doctor Who next weekend of course means the return of the behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who Confidential! The BBC have released two videos to tie in with the forthcoming episode, Let's Kill Hitler.

Doctor Who Confidential will be on BBC3/BBCHD on Saturday 27th August, from 8:00pm.

---

The BBC also operate an official Doctor Who Confidential fan page on Facebook, which you can "like" here.

Big Finish have announced that Ian McNeice has joined the cast for their forthcoming Fourth Doctor audio adventure, Renaissance Man.

McNeice is perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans as the Doctor's old friend Winston Churchill, as seen in last year's Victory of the Daleks and The Pandorica Opens; he also featured in an earlier Big Finish adventure, playing Zeus in the Eighth Doctor story Immortal Beloved.

Renaissance Man is the second adventure in this series starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, and was recorded on 17th August: the story sees the Doctor and Leela aiming to visit the Morovanian Museum but instead arriving at an English village, where they encounter the mysterious Harcourt (played by McNeice) and his household.


Episode titles for this series are expected to be announced shortly.

(with thanks to David Richardson, Richard Brinck-Johnsen)