Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited Roath Lock Studios as part of their annual summer tour of Wales yesterday, coming face-to-face with the Doctor and a number of his foes!

In the first Royal visit to the BBC Cymru Wales Roath Lock studios since they officially opened in March 2012, the visitors were taken on a tour around the studios and the Doctor Who production office. After being given a rundown on how to fly the TARDIS, The Prince and The Duchess were then introduced to the Daleks, with the Prince demonstrating his own take on their famous cry. The were also treated to displays from the show’s costume designer, locations manager, graphics artist, set decorator and production designer, plus production secrets revealed with a green screen display, demonstrated by SFX.

The visit concluded with Their Royal Highnesses meeting some of the Skillset apprentices who are currently training at Roath Lock.


Commenting on the visit, outgoing Doctor, Matt Smith, said:
Jenna Coleman - who met the Queen at Broadcasting House last month - added:
Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat said:

Rhodri Talfan Davies, Director BBC Cymru Wales:
Danny Cohen, Director BBC Television:


Videos from the visit can be found on the BBC News site, which include Matt and Jenna's thoughts on meeting the Prince (and his chances of being the next Doctor!), and of the TARDIS set visit (which includes a brief discussion between Jenna and Prince about the 50th Anniversary Special). Photo galleries are also available from both BBC News and the BBC's Doctor Who website.

Doctor goes up against Doctor in the final shortlist for the 2013 TV Choice awards with both Matt Smith and David Tennant being nominated as Best Actor, the latter for his role in Broadchurch. The two actors face competition from Brendan Coyle for Downton Abbey and Jeremy Piven for Mr Selfridge.

Jenna Coleman is nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Clara and faces competition from Olivia Colman for Broadchurch, Miranda Hart for Call The Midwife and former Big Finish actress Sheridan Smith for Mrs Biggs.

Doctor Who is nominated for Best Drama Series, a title it has taken for the past three years. It faces opposition from Call The Midwife on BBC One, Downton Abbey on ITV and Waterloo Road on BBC One.

Voting is open online until Friday 12th July with the winners being named at a ceremony hosted by Ben Miller at The Dorchester in London on Monday 9th September.

Tea with The Doctor

Afternoon tea at the Ritz in the company of Matt Smith, is being auctioned in aid of Autism Charities.

The auction is part of A Curious Night at the Theatre, a one off performance taking place at the Apollo Theatre in London, with Jude Law performing live as well as filmed performances from Helen Mirren, James Bond actor Ben Whishaw, and Matt Smith himself.

Tea with the Doctor will be auctioned, along with several other celebrity lots, after the performance.

Bids can also be accepted online.

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Death Comes To Pemberley

Jenna Coleman is to play Lydia Wickham in the BBC One adaptation of Death Comes To Pemberley, the sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The drama, based on the bestselling novel by P.D. James, involves the well known characters of the english classic in a new tale of murder and emotional mayhem.

The cast includes Matthew Rhys who stars as Mr Darcy and Anna Maxwell Martin, who played Suki in the Ninth Doctor adventure The Long Game, playing Elizabeth. Other Who alumni include Tom Ward who played Captain Latimer in The Snowmen, and James Norton playing Colonel Fitzwilliam. Eleanor Tomlinson who played Eve in The Sarah Jane Adventures two-parter, The Mad Woman in the Attic, is playing Georgiana Darcy. Filming will take place in Yorkshire later this month.

NB: Jenna-Louise Coleman has decided to drop the Louise from her name for future credits so will now simply be known as Jenna Coleman.

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Walk for Life

Four former Doctor Who actresses took part in the Walk for Life last Sunday, joining forces with Gay Times to raise money for the Terrence Higgins Trust, a charity concerned with sexual health issues.

Freema Agyeman who played Martha Jones, Sophie Aldred who played Ace, Louise Jameson who played Leela and Katy Manning who played Jo Grant, walked the 10km route through the centre of London, from Bloomsbury Square Gardens to Waterloo Bridge.

Donations can still be made by clicking the relevant actress's name above.

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Michael Sheen is to read Neil Gaiman’s latest novel, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, for BBC Radio 4’s Book At Bedtime strand.

Sheen played the voice of House in Gaiman's 2011 story The Doctor's Wife. The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is the first adult novel in eight years by the acclaimed author. It’s a tale about memory, about the adventures, experiences and enchantment of childhood and the power of stories. The reading will be broadcast in five 15-minute instalments during July and will be available worldwide via the Radio 4 website.

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The Queen's birthday honours list for 2013 saw veteran actors Julian Glover and Claire Bloom and comic actor Rowan Atkinson all made Commanders of the Order of the British Empire. David Haig, who played Pangol in the 1980 story The Leisure Hive, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.