The BBC Press Office has published details of the line-up for this year's BBC Children in Need charity appeal, with which Doctor Who has long had an association. This year the programme is once again featured, with what the release describes as "An exclusive preview of the Doctor Who Christmas special." Last year there was a similar preview for the 2008 Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", with the pre-titles sequence for this episode being shown, a month in advance of its broadcast.

This year's Children in Need night takes place on Friday 20th November, broadcasting from 7pm on BBC One.

Pinewood Studios have announced a new exhibition featuring images that have been captured of filming at its prestigious Underwater Stage. Amongst the many photographs represented are sets from Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, Eastenders and Doctor Who – where it was used in The Impossible Planet for shots of Scooti floating in space.

The inspiring pictures were captured by Phoebe Rudomino, commercial diver and underwater photographer of Diving Services UK. “U Stage provides such a secure and comfortable water filming environment that we're able to produce almost any type of underwater production shoot,” says Phoebe. “From working with horses and fire to the world’s top actors and models, the scenes are truly fascinating to capture.”

The exhibition forms part of The Movieum of London, at the Riverside Rooms, County Hall, on London’s South Bank, and runs from 1st–28th October.

Experience Design, the team behind the Doctor Who Up Close exhibition in Cardiff Bay, have announced plans to open a Torchwood-themed exhibition in the Bay area.

The ambitious plan aims to reconstruct sets from the Torchwood Hub seen in the series, based across two levels, including an upstairs recreation of the Cardiff Bay watertower with lift to the "hub" below! It is also hoped that costumes from the series will also be on show.

Head designer of Experience Design, Martin Wilkie, said: "A Torchwood Exhibition would be a great addition to the Bay area. We have looked at several sites for a Torchwood Exhibition but we are hoping that this one might be available soon. The appeal of Torchwood brings many visitors to Cardiff Bay, especially to see the Torchwood Water Tower. The building we are hoping to use for the Torchwood Exhibition is near this famous TV landmark."

A Georgian building in Bute Crescent has been identified as a possible location for the exhibition, and Cardiff council are currently reviewing the application, which is hoped to open in July.

In the news: BBC South Wales, South Wales Echo.

After a period on hiatus, Who Party, Canada's Doctor Who convention is returning on Saturday June 13th, 2009 in Toronto. A semi-annual event first started in 1978, Who Party is one of the longest-running Doctor Who events in the world. Who Party is taking place at the Best Western Primrose hotel at 111 Carlton Street and runs between the hours of 10am and 8pm.

Guests for Who Party include:

* Director James Strong (Doctor Who: "The Impossible Planet", "The Satan Pit", "Daleks in Manhattan", "Evolution of the Daleks", "Voyage of the Damned", "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Dead"; Torchwood: "Cyberwoman", "They Keep Killing Suzie")

* Director Colin Teague (Doctor Who: "The Sound of Drums", "Last of the Time Lords" and "The Fires of Pompeii"; Torchwood: "Ghost Machine", "Greeks Bearing Gifts", "Sleeper" and "Meat"; Sarah Jane Adventures: "Invasion of the Bane")

* Rob Shearman: (Writer of "Dalek" and Doctor Who audios for Big Finish.)

* Lance Parkin: (Writer of Doctor Who novels for both Virgin and BBC Books.)

* Toby Hadoke: Performing his hit Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf show in Canada for the first time.)

Who Party is a fan run, not-for-profit event. For more information on Who Party Toronto visit their website.

Posted By Anna Roberts

A special Doctor Who scene featured on John Barrowman's show, Tonight's the Nightyesterday on BBC1. Fan Tim Ingham won a competition to appear in a scene in the TARDIS with John Barrowman playing Captain Jack. The scene was written by Russell T Davies and featured a surprise guest.

The scene and behind the scenes interviews can be found at the BBC Doctor Who website. For UK residents, Tonight's the Night will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

Today's Sun announced that Doctor Who could be returning to the stage in a new show later this year. The article reports that the stage show will a multi-media light and sound show with 3D-footage, and will feature many of the Doctor's best loved characters, including "flying DALEKS, croaky CYBERMEN and stocky SONTARANS in the family event."

The paper mentions that plans are at an early stage, and that BBC Worldwide will make a decision in a month or so. Venues mentioned include the Birmingham NEC and the London O2.

Says an insider: "The BBC know they’ve got a massive hit show on their hands, so they want to take it to the next level. They want it to be a Doctor Who experience which will blast fans with amazing visuals and music. The emphasis will be on technology so it’s unlikely any of the show’s stars will be on stage. But they are expected to feature in video elements. That said, the idea of using real actors hasn’t been ruled out."

The story has also been picked up by Digital Spy, What's on TV, the Retford Times and the Gloucestershire Forester.


Australia: the Mercury reports that a stage show based on Doctor Who opens this week at the Peacock Theatre in Tasmania; entitled "Who, Knows", the show follows the adventures of Russell Lambert as he becomes the president of the Doctor Who Club of Tasmania. (with thanks to Dwayne Bunney)

Further to our news article on the Mark Wallinger exhibition taking place at the Hayward Gallery in London over the next few weeks, a lecture has now been announced for Friday 27th February which will feature writer and script-editor Gary Russell talking about the secrets of the TARDIS: "Blackboard lectures unveil the secrets, enigmas and stories behind works and objects featured in Mark Wallinger's show with a wide range of experts including artists, writers, mathematicians or sport and art historians."

Admission to the lecture, taking place at 7:00pm, will be free with an exhibition ticket. Further details are on the Gallery website.

Meanwhile, the Yorkshire Evening Post has reported on the exhibition moving to Leeds and Swansea in the future. It will be at the Leeds Art Gallery from May 16 to June 28 and then the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea from July 18 to September 20. It is at the Hayward from February 18 to May 4.

(with thanks to Vin)

London's Hayward Gallery on the South Bank will be opening a new exhibition from 18th February, entitled Mark Wallinger Curates: The Russian Linesman - a name inspired by a ruling made during the 1966 England v West Germany World Cup final and which reputedly changed the course of football history.

The exhibition will explore "notions of the liminal: thresholds between physical, political or metaphysical realms". Says Wallinger: "I have always been interested in how we define and are defined by thresholds and boundaries, the events of history. The works in the exhibition use illusion, artifice and dislocating devices to look at our accidental time and place in the world afresh."

For Doctor Who fans, the exhibition also includes Wallinger's own "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space", a reflective 'TARDIS' originally featured in 2001's Venice Biennale.

For more details on the exhibition visit the Hayward Gallery exhibition page, plus coverage in the Evening Standard and on the London SE1 website.

An extended version of Doctor Who at the Proms is currently available for UK Digital viewers to watch on the red button. As well as the Doctor Who related music as broadcast on New Year's Day, the broadcast also includes "Song for Ten", and other classical music such as "Fanfare for the Common Man" and Holst's "Jupiter" from the Planets suite. The concert runs for approximately 95 minutes.

Posted By John Bowman

Russell T Davies is to reopen the new-look Doctor Who Up Close Cardiff exhibition on Thursday 30 October.

The event starts at 6pm and marks a revamp that has also seen the arrival of the Supreme Dalek to join the creatures, costumes and props there.

Doctor Who Up Close has been at The Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay since December 2005. It is open every day from 10.30am to 7.30pm except on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.