Here is a list of the currently known open competitions related to Doctor Who - if you come across any competitions not listed please feel free to let us know!
The BBC have now updated their programme information for Week 30 with details of Torchwood: Miracle Day's third episode, Dead of Night, which will premiere in the UK on BBC1/BBC1HD at 9:00pm, 28th July.
The following is the plot synopsis for Dead of Night which might be considered a spoiler
Torchwood goes on the run – and finds a new enemy. But as they launch a raid on PhiCorp headquarters, Jack must confront the mysterious Oswald Danes.
Episode three includes guest stars Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park, Seinfeld), Dillon Casey (The Vampire Diaries) and Richard Gilliland (Desperate Housewives).
With the news series of Torchwood due to begin airing next Thursday in the UK, the BBC Press Office has released interviews with the main cast and crew of Torchwood: Miracle Day.
An interview with John Barrowman ahead of the new series of Torchwood, BBC, via BBC Press Office - may not play outside of the United Kingdom
John Barrowman on Jack's relationship with Gwen Cooper:
Jack's relationship with Gwen is – he is very fond of her, but it's more than that. He is very protective of her. Gwen was always the heart of the group, but she has evolved herself. She's still the heart, but now is a bit of the muscle. And Jack, through the process of them being together, has taught her the art of fighting, gun slinging and all that stuff. She has come a very long way. But their relationship is funny, because it's almost like a brother and sister relationship and it's almost like a husband and wife relationship. But there's nothing sexual between them, it's the type of thing where she might finish one of his sentences or vice versa because they know each other so well. And, between Jack and Gwen, if they're in a sticky situation, all it needs is a look from one of them and then they know exactly what they're thinking.
Eve Myles on Gwen's life since Torchwood disbanded:
At the end of Children Of Earth, both Jack and Gwen went their separate ways. Jack went off somewhere and Gwen moved to a very quiet part of the country into hiding because she was being hunted. She's been wanted because she's the last remaining member of Torchwood. She goes away and has a baby and lives there with her husband, and they've got quite a perfect, chocolate box kind of cottage, and it's idyllic.
But she is so bored. She's in limbo land and she never switches off. She's constantly in Torchwood mode and always on alert. So when this particular event happens and Captain Jack turns up, he couldn't have turned up at a better time for her, because she was lost.
I wouldn't describe Rex as arrogant but I think he's certainly set in his ways. There's a certain amount of edge to him. I think he's determined and strong and focused. And I think once he has it set in his mind that he wants to do something, that's what he goes out and does. He just goes out and makes it happen, He's very much a black or white person – he's not a grey area guy.
When Rex first meets Captain Jack, they just flat out don't like each other. John's a great guy in person – really funny – loves life. And he's always singing and dancing around and saying crazy things, so I just love the guy. But our characters, definitely in the beginning, clash, there's no question about that. We definitely have different approaches to things. And I haven't figured him out yet.
Russell T Davies on moving production for the new series to America:
Coming to the US for Torchwood (the organisation) is like another case. They've dealt with galaxies and universes, so another country is not that big of a deal. It is, however, a big deal for Gwen. She's separated from her husband and from her child. She's arrested and taken to America, so it's heartbreaking on that level. But for Jack, he hits the ground running. For many years Torchwood (the series) has had an American actor in the lead role, so in that sense it feels entirely natural. For the show to hit America, I think it's a new start without being a reboot. That's what's exciting about it. This is simply a new horizon. We have different producing partners, and it has added a new influx of imagination, and frankly, a bigger budget as well.
Julie Gardner reassures new viewers:
If you haven't watched Torchwood before, the first important thing to say is – don't be afraid. You don't have to know anything about the show or its history. Everything is explained from the beginning. In that way, it's a completely welcoming new show for a brand new audience. And you should watch because it should be a lot of fun. It's a thriller that is properly answered in 10 episodes. It's not the type of show where you have to hang on for five years and at the end of that you're weeping trying to understand who everyone is and how stories have properly been tied together.
Our story really begins in a very precarious moment for the earth and my character in particular. He is getting three lethal injections, because he has been convicted as a murderer/paedophile. And the surprise is that he doesn't die. He survive a very horrendous experience, but his body is still alive.
And then everyone in the hospital realises that other people haven't died in that hospital and in that city, in the country, in the world for 24 hours or so. They realise this is a new paradigm of how and what it is to be human. For Oswald, it begins a journey of beginning to realise that he is going to survive and that he's going to be free because they haven't been able to kill him.
Torchwood as we all know changes life drastically, and Esther gets a firsthand knowledge of that. There's intrigue and her curiosity pretty much gets the best of her. We start with Esther's very safe, comfortable 9-5 job. But all of a sudden, once she steps into the world of Torchwood, she's launched into a whole different path. Quickly we find her on the run. She's trying to survive, but her instincts kick in. So it's interesting watching this person that doesn't have the experience and training as Jack or Gwen or Rex would. I love watching her as a character and playing her and reading the scripts. She's trying to get out of life and death situations and she stumbles a little because she's still a newbie
Jilly Kitzinger works in public relations. She's a sleek, slick, clever PR person who works for the potentially evil corporation PhiCorp, a giant pharmaceutical company. She's always on the move, seems to always be traveling on a different airplane going to a different city.
Bill Pullman plays a death row prisoner who's about to be executed and he doesn't die, so he becomes a media star and I want him for my company. We want him – we want to use him. I find him and I convince him that he needs me. He of course doesn't need me, but I have other plans for him.
My character, Dr. Juarez, starts off having a pretty normal day, and all of a sudden, everybody starts coming in to the hospital and staying there – they're not dying. Rex comes in, after he's impaled in his accident, and because of the miracle, I am able to work on him and save his life. I'm Rex's liaison to keep him pain free.
So the miracle saved his life, and as the show goes on, you see all the troubles that come with over-population and everything that we have to deal with – from the government to lack of medication and how we're going to deal with that.
Doctor Who executive producer Beth Willis, is to leave the series to return to her former employers Kudos Film and Television.
Willis will leave the BBC at the end of this month, a couple of months before fellow executive producer Piers Wenger leaves the BBC to join Film 4.
The news means a new executive team will join showrunner Steven Moffat as the programme gears up for production on the 2012/2013 series of the show leading into the 50th anniversary year.
Willis has been an Executive Producer on the series for the past two years. She joined the series with Wenger at the same time as showrunner Steven Moffat, taking over for the arrival of Eleventh Doctor at the conclusion of The End of Time. Both have been responsible for 27 episodes of the Show.
Wills will leave the series at the end of this month with Wenger departing the BBC at the end of September. The BBC hopes to find a replacement for Willis in time for the filming of the Doctor Who Christmas special. It will then recruit a second executive producer before filming for the 33rd series begins.
Working with Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Matt Smith on the last two series of Doctor Who has been the most fantastic experience and I will miss them hugely... The plans taking shape for the next series of Doctor Who and for the 50th Anniversary are beyond exciting - and with Steven Moffat at the helm, this incredibly special time for the show is in very safe hands.
The BBC's Drama controller Ben Stephenson praised Willis for her work on Doctor Who.
Much of its current success is down to her vision and ambition for the show. She has been an inspiring and instrumental force and I know will be much missed by all of us, and especially Matt Smith and Steven Moffat.
Steven Moffat added:
We couldn’t keep her forever, though God knows I tried. She is off to be brave and brilliant in brand new ways, and the sad news for Doctor Who is that it will be somewhere else.
Willis returns to Kudos where she produced the first two series of Ashes To Ashes. Chief executive of Kudos, Jane Featherstone, said
I’m chuffed to bits to be welcoming her back to Kudos, where her creative instincts and no-nonsense work ethic will make her a force to be reckoned with in the drama world.
Matt Smith and Karen Gillan will be in Hollywood on 26 July to sign copies of Doctor Who: Series 6, Part 1. They will be appearing at the Los Angeles based Amoeba Music store.
Matt Smith (The Doctor) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) will be at Amoeba Music to celebrate the release of Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 1 (on DVD and Blu-Ray). Limited to 200 purchasers of Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 1 (available for purchase starting July 19th at Amoeba). Fans can get ONE item of their choice signed as long as they have purchased Series Six, Part 1 on DVD or Blu-Ray.
Doctor Who DVD Signing Tuesday July 26th 7pm - Hollywood
6400 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 Matt Smith and Karen Gillan make their triumphant return as the Doctor and his companion in an all-new series of Doctor Who! In Part 1, the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves in Sixties America, battling the invasion the world forgot, then journey on the high seas of 1696 aboard a pirate ship, to solve the mystery of the Siren. In a bubble universe at the very edge of reality, the Doctor meets an old friend with a new face, and in a monastery on a remote island in the near future, an industrial accident takes on a terrible human shape. And waiting for them, at the end of all this, is the battle of Demon's Run, and the Doctor's darkest hour. Can even the truth about River Song save the Time Lord's soul? Only two things are certain. Silence will fall. And a good man is going to die...
Part 1 of the new season delivered record ratings on BBC AMERICA, earned rave reviews including an “A” and a spot “The Must List” from Entertainment Weekly, and was featured on NBC’s Today show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Beth Willis, Piers Wenger and Toby Whithouse, will be in the US to attend San Diego Comic Con on Sunday 24 July where they'll be showing attendees new footage from the second half of Series 6.
Torchwood: Miracle Day is now available to pre-order from online shops. Amazon UK has given a UK release date for Series 4 as 14 November 2011.
DVD Description One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep ageing - they get hurt and sick - but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight.
With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four month's time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?" he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.
Special Features Magical FX on Miracle Day Special Behind the Scenes Motion Comic Art Dept Tour Audio Nav & Description
Torchwood: Miracle Day is available to pre-order now in both DVD (Region 2) and Blu-ray formats.
The episode will be screened at the annual gathering of senior figures from within the Television industry on Friday 26th August.
Story synopsis follow - can be considered spoilers
In the desperate search for Melody Pond, the TARDIS crash lands in 1930s Berlin, bringing the Doctor face to face with the greatest war criminal in the Universe. And Hitler. The Doctor must teach his adversaries that time travel has responsibilities - and in so doing, learns a harsh lesson in the cruellest warfare of all.
In June Doctor Who once more topped the list of the most requested programmes the BBC iPlayer.
The final story before the mid season break, A Good Man Goes to War, had total of 1.26 million requests in the 8 days it was available, 100,000 ahead of the second placed programme, The Apprentice which had 1.14 million accessing episode 7, in which the contestants designed a pet food. Other high ranking programmes were Top Gear and Waterloo Road.
The current series of Doctor Who came off the iPlayer on 11th June. The series totalled 9.63 million requests across the seven episodes in the two months they were available. The series opener, The Impossible Astronaut is the joint most accessed programme of the year so far, alongside the second in the comedy series Come Fly With Me, both programmes were accessed 1.86 million times.
The top twenty list for the year so far consists of just four programmes; Doctor Who, The Apprentice, Come Fly with Me and Top Gear. Episode Two of Doctor Who, Day of the Moon, is currently 5th for the year, being accessed 1.62 million times. The Doctor's Wife is 12th with 1.30 million, A Good Man Goes to War is 15th with 1.26 million, The Curse of the Black Spot is 16th with 1.26 million and The Rebel Flesh is 19th with 1.13 million. The Almost People just slips outside the top twenty with 1.13 million accessing.
Matt Smith début episode, The Eleventh Hour, is still the most requested programme on the iPlayer ever with over 2.5 million requests.
The official Twitter feed name for the BBC's Doctor Who website has recently been changed. People who wish to be notified of website updates etc. should follow:
People already following the feed are not affected as the identity hasn't changed, only the name.
Please note that the old name, doctorwho_bbc, is no longer in use by the BBC but has been taken up by an individual who is not officially connected with the show or website in any way.