A holiday cottage, designed as a tribute to a long term Doctor Who fan, has opened in the South East of England.

Doctor John Smith's Cottage has been set up in memory of David Bannister who died suddenly last year at the age of 51, leaving a large collection of Doctor Who memorabilia.

Bannister had been a fan of the series since childhood and shared many happy moments watching the series with his brother Tony, who decided to refit a cottage in Kent in memory of his brother.

The property houses Bannister's extensive library of DVDs, CDs and books all of which are available for the use of the tenants. There is a Dalek in the living room and the private Courtyard features a blue Police Box.

The property is based at Lydd, one of the larger towns on the Romney Marsh in Kent. Bookings can made via the website.

The current issue of the Radio Times (23rd-29th October) includes an article with Matt Smith discussing who is his favourite companion in Doctor Who, plus the run-down on the Doctor's former companions appearing in next week's The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor, Elisabeth Sladen and Katy Manning.

On the Radio Times website you can find an exclusive photo gallery to accompany the story.

Plus, you are also invited to vote for your favourite companion, with the chance to win a limited edition Doctor Who Series Five Steelbook in either standard DVD or Blu-ray versions.

The closing date for the competition is the 1st November.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine (#427) has confirmed details on the following DVD releases due in early 2011:

The Mutants, a Pertwee story by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, will be a two disc release, with features including:

• commentary by Katy Manning (Jo), Garrick Hagon (Ky), Christopher Barry (director), Terrance Dicks (script editor), Bob Baker (co-writer), Jeremy Bear (designer), Broan Hodgson (special sound)
• Mutt Mad, a documentary on the making of the story
• Race Against Time, examining the representation of black actors on British television
• Dressing Doctor Who, A discussion with James Acheson on his work in Doctor Who
• Blue Peter, an item featuring Peter Purves on Doctor Who monsters

The Ark, a Hartnell story by Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott, will include:

• commentary by Peter Purves (Steven), Michael Imison (director)
• All's Well That Ends Well, a feature on the influence of writer H.G. Wells on the series
• One Hit Wonder, on what makes a successful monster
• Riverside Story, touring old production haunt Riverside Studios

Both stories feature the usual production notes, photo gallery, and Radio Times PDF listings.

The actor Graham Crowden has died at the age of 87.

Graham Crowden has had an expansive career in film, television and theatre. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and appeared in variety of films such as The Amazing Mr Blunden, Jabberwocky, For Your Eyes Only, The Company of Wolves, Out of Africa, and Calendar Girls. On television he is probably best remembered for two major roles, alongside Peter Davison as head of medical department Jock McCannon in the series A Very Peculiar Practice, and as Tom Ballard in the comedy series Waiting for God.

He was one of the actors considered to take on the role of the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who in 1974, but felt he couldn't commit to many years in such a role. However, he did get to appear in the series in 1979 for the Season Seventeen adventure The Horns of Nimon playing Soldeed, the leader of the planet Skonnos and ally of the titular Nimon - his death throe has been considered one of the most 'memorable' in the classic series! The story was released earlier this year as part of the Myths and Legends boxed set, and featured the actor on the commentary.

Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010)

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The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine looks in detail at next weeks story in The Sarah Jane Adventures which not only features Matt Smith as The Doctor, but also sees the return of Katy Manning to the role of Jo Jones (nee Grant) some 36 years since she left the series.

Death of the Doctor is written by Russell T Davies who talks to the magazine about the story, along with Katy Manning, Elisabeth Sladen and Matt Smith, who says on working with his two co-stars.

Also this issue:

• The Fourth Doctor himself, Tom Baker is out to lunch with costume designer June Hudson in the streets of Soho, London. DWM tags along and discovers a wealth of stories about Seagulls, Ice Queens and crumbly pastries, not to mention Baker’s return as the Doctor in Demon Quest.
• They’re everyone’s favourite race of militaristic clones. Yes, the secrets of those squat, troll-like monstrosities, The Sontarans, are finally revealed, as The Watcher's Guide presents the definitive low-down on one of the Doctor’s most enduring foes.
• DWM meets Fin Jones, who plays Santiago in Death of the Doctor, to talk monsters, Matt Smith, and the possibility of his character’s return to the series.
• What have rain gods, Daleks and Karen Gillan’s legs got in common? Find out, as Neil Gaiman writes exclusively in DWM about his much-anticipated Doctor Who episode in Production Notes.
• It’s the show of the century. DWM goes behind the scenes of the brand new touring production, Doctor Who Live, and talks to stars Matt Smith, Nigel Planer and Nicholas Briggs, and writer Gareth Roberts about the new stage show.
• Things look grim for the Doctor and Amy as the Axons invade Tokyo. It’s action all the way as the new comic strip, The Golden Ones by Jonathan Morris and Martin Geraghty continues.
• The Fact of Fiction journeys back to 1983 and 1977, to look at the time-bending, Bliovitch-limiting, UNIT-dating-controversy-causing Fifth Doctor adventure Mawdryn Undead and reveals all you need to know to make sense of the temporal paradoxes presented.

Also Doctor Who’s executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat tells DWM all the latest official news; the latest DVDs and CDs are previewed; merchandise reviews; prize-winning competitions; and much more.

As with last year, Doctor Who is nominated for an award from The Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Series five writers included within the nomination for Best Television Drama Series are Steven Moffat, Toby Whithouse, Simon Nye, Mark Gatiss and Chris Chibnall.

Once again, the show is up against last year's winner in this category, Whithouse's successful 'horror' series Being Human; and for this year the other show in the running is another sci-fi/fantasy series, Ashes to Ashes.

The awards ceremony takes place on Sunday 21 November 2010.

The guild is a trade union for professional writers and the awards are deemed to be special because the work of writers is honoured by their peers and colleagues.

The release date for the two Nintendo Games Evacuation Earth and Return to Earth seems to have finally settled down for 12th November, according to online retailers.

Games publisher Asylum's associate producer Glen Parry talked to the Official Nintendo Magazine about the differences between the Wii and DS versions:

The age group the games are aimed at are for 7-11 year olds. Both games will feature characters well known to the Doctor Who universe, notably the Daleks and Cybermen, but also a new adversary for the Doctor to face.

Parry went on to explain why this platform was chosen over others such as the Sony PS3 or Microsoft XBox360:

Read the full interview with Glen Parry here.


The magazine also features a number of screenshots from Return to Earth:

More details on the games may be found in our previous article.

Today saw filming resume in Cardiff Bay, this time at the American-themed restaurant Eddie's Diner on Mermaid Quay. This time the three principal actors were all in attendance, plus guest star Alex Kingston.

Australian sources are reporting that the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas Special will be fast tracked to ABC Television where it will be shown on Boxing Day.

In previous years the Christmas Specials have taken a couple of months to travel down under with The End of Time being shown in the middle of February.

The programme, which co-stars Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins, will almost certainly be shown in the UK on Christmas Day, although schedules will not be confirmed until the end of next month. A fast track to the USA and Canada is also likely.

After a quiet start to the episode one/two recording block last week, the cast and crew were finally seen in public once more tonight, with filming taking place at an unfinished building on West Bute Street, at Cardiff Bay. The evening saw scenes taking place with guest stars Alex Kingston and Mark Sheppard.



Tonight's filming was preceeded by two additional filming shoots, once on St. Mary's Street in Cardiff centre at Le Monde, and the other at old filming haunt the Glamorgan Building at Cardiff University.