The BBC have moved to the next stage of their disposal of London's Television Centre today with an announcement that the site has formally been placed onto the market.

Chris Kane, the Head of BBC Workplace, said:

Television Centre is seen by many as the 'home' of the BBC and the source of many successful series over the decades since its opening in 1960, including of course "classic Doctor Who"; however, the Corporation has been planning the sale of the site since 2007, citing the need to "reduce the property portfolio" in order to "deliver a smaller but fitter organisation." Today, Richard Deverell, W12 Programme Director, commented:

Last year, the BBC's in-house magazine Ariel reported that the partially listed landmark "could form the centrepiece of a community of media organisations, performing arts groups, facility providers and even fashion houses." Today, the press release re-iterated that "apart from a conventional sale, the Corporation is keen to investigate opportunities for redeveloping Television Centre that preserve the key listed elements of the iconic building, but also afford the opportunity to establish a hub for creative businesses and a visitor destination."

The annual Portal Awards have been announced by Airlock Alpha, with Doctor Who once more well represented within the various categories.

Best Actor sees Matt Smith nominated for his role as The Doctor; he will face competition from Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones), Joshua Jackson (Fringe), and Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13). This award was won overwhelmingly by David Tennant last year with some 68% of the vote (with second place going to John Barrowman with 10%!).

Similarly, Best Actress sees co-star Karen Gillan pitted against Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Anna Torv (Fringe), Paula Malcomson (Caprica), and Summer Glau (The Cape). Gillan lost out last year to Eve Myles for her portrayal as Gwen Cooper in Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Doctor Who itself is nominated for Best Television Series, which it won last year (Torchwood came second). This year sees it up against Fringe, Game of Thrones, Stargate: Universe and The Walking Dead. Also, The Doctor's Wife has been nominated in the Best Television Episode category, facing episodes from Fringe, Stargate: Universe, Game of Thrones and Caprica.

Alex Kingston has been nominated for Best Television Special Guest, an award she won last year for The Time of Angels; this time her role in Day of the Moon is being recognised, and she faces competition from another Doctor Who guest, Michael Gambon for A Christmas Carol. Christopher Lloyd and Leonard Nimoy are also nominated for Fringe, plus Michael Rosenbaum for Smallville.

The late Elisabeth Sladen has been nominated for the Gene Roddenberry Award which honours lifetime achievement; the other nominees are H.G. Wells, J.J. Abrams, Rick Berman and Gene L. Coon.


The full list of categories are available from Airlock Alpha, and fans will be able to vote from the 25th June until 24th July.

BBC America have now revealed the winner of their Where's The TARDIS? competition: announced during broadcast of the mid-series finale, A Good Man Goes To War, last night saw the Bull Family from Wisconsin succeed over hundreds of submissions to the competition, with entrants sending in pictures of the TARDIS in strange and exotic places.



A variety of the many entries can be seen on the Where's The TARDIS? website.

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Over in the UK, police boxes have featured a number of times in the National Shed of the Year awards held by Cuprinol's We Love Sheds, and this year sees one through to the finals. It was built by design engineer John Williams from Newport, who said:

His competition includes a Bygones Museum in Scratby, Norfolk by Dad's Army enthusiast Darren Stride, a Diner and "The George and Dragon". The winner will be announced on the 4th July.

[South Wales Argus; Wales on Sunday]

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Another TARDIS garden shed in the news originated from student Luke Palmer, who built his own as part of a school technology project. The project took some four months to complete and cost around £1000.

The seventeen year old is a founding member of Charity Daleks, which aims to raise money for charities such as The British Heart Foundation, PHAB and Marie Curie.

[Wiltshire Gazette and Herald]

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The trend continues, as Zachary Smith got a surprise for his fifth birthday in the form of his very own TARDIS! It was built by his father, Lee, who said:

Zachary's mother Anna added:

[Daily Mail; Somerset Western Gazette]

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Herne Bay in Kent is the subject of a couple of "TARDIS" projects initiated by local prop-maker Jason Onion to honour Anthony Coburn - credited with inventing the Doctor's 'home' - who lived there until his death in 1977.

As widely reported in the press, one aim is to place a police box on the seafront; the other is to install one within the local library to inspire and encourage future writers. Both are currently being considered for planning permission.

Jason added:

The project was also covered in a local news film by BBC South East.

[Herne Bay Gazette, BBC News]

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Finally, a success story in the world of preservation. Back in 2009 the media covered the plight of a police box in Somerton, Newport, which whilst a Grade II listed building was in danger of completely collapsing due to "concrete rot". However, a Cadw grant at the beginning of 2010 was made available to restore the box, which can now be seen once again standing in all its glory!

September 2009

May 2011

Last month we reported on a series of tie-in designs for Doctor Who, available on t-shirts, mugs and folder bags; with A Good Man Goes To War now broadcast these latest designs have been added to the series and are available through a number of retailers.

Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes To War had a final rating of 7.51 million viewers, 2 million more than the initially reported overnight figures.

The audience share was 31.0%

The final figure is much more accurate than the overnight one, and includes all those who record the programmme and watch it within a week. It does not include iPlayer viewings.

Official ratings should be released tomorrow which will give the chart position of the episode, likely to be around 20th for the week.

A variety of items from the classic series of Doctor Who have been listed by Bonhams for their forthcoming Entertainment Memorabilia auction, taking place in Knightsbridge on 29th June 2011 from 1:00pm.

(with thanks to "Alyd")

UPDATE - The hammer prices were as follows:

Jon Pertwee's cape: £4,800
War Games script: £420
Dalek film posters: £660
City of Death Mona Lisa: £2,400
TARDIS model: £900
Resurrection of the Daleks costumes (Lot 116): £1,320
Resurrection of the Daleks costumes (Lot 117): £1,140

NB: No price was given for the TARDIS key. It is unknown if this means it failed to sell.

Big Finish have revealed that the new companion to accompany the Sixth Doctor in his audio adventures will be played by Lisa Greenwood. She will be reprising her character of Philippa (Flip) Jackson, who was introduced in Jonathan Morris's story The Crimes of Thomas Brewster, released earlier this year.

The role was announced by Big Finish at their convention taking place in Barking today; recording for her adventures commenced last week, with three tales expected to be released from January 2012. Their website has since been updated about the news, with executive producer Nick Briggs saying:

On television, Greenwood is to be a series regular in the forthcoming Kudos series for the BBC, The Hour, and has previously appeared in Doctors, The Bill, and Silent Witness.

(with thanks to Richard Brinck-Johnsen)

The actor Bernard Cribbins has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, released today; he receives the honour for Services To Drama.

Cribbins has been an actor for over fifty years, having appeared in films like The Railway Children and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD, television roles including Fawlty Towers: The Hotel Inspectors, and remembered by a generation as a presenter of Jackanory and the voice of the Wombles.

Of course, for Doctor Who fans he is now firmly part of the 'family' as Donna Noble's comradely grandfather Wilfred Mott, from his brief appearance in Voyage of the Damned to achieving fully fledged "companion status" - not to mention the inadvertent cause of the Tenth Doctor's demise - in The End of Time.

The actor said:

Having previously released a commentary on the closing scene of A Good Man Goes To War, the BBC have now released a second video with director Peter Hoar, this time offering his insight to the opening scenes of the mid-series finale. As before this is presented as an in-vision commentary. Please note the videos explicitly discuss the plot of the episode, so will be a spoiler for those who have yet to see it.