Posted By John Bowman

Tickets to the press launch of multi-platform Doctor Who book project The Darksmith Legacy are up for grabs in a contest.

The event takes place at the Earls Court Doctor Who exhibition on November 6 from 6pm to 8pm, and the winners will be among the first to preview the books, test the interactive Darksmith online destination, and interview a panel of writers from the 10-part series, which launches to the public in January.

They will also get free admission to the exhibition plus a Doctor Who goodie bag.

Published by BBC Children's Books in association with Penguin Books, The Darksmith Legacy will offer the adventure of a book serialisation, with cliffhangers, plus interactivity and content only obtainable online.

The contest is only open to 13-to-18-year-olds and closes on November 3. Click here for more details.

Click on the thumbnails below for larger images of the covers for the first two titles: The Dust of Ages and The Graves of Mordane.

The Doctor Who Exhibition at Earl's Court will be extending a special value to visitors on Halloween weekend, 31 October - 2 November.

Any child under the age of 16 who dresses up as a Doctor Who character or in any Halloween costume will be given free admission into the exhibition.

"The exhibition has proven to be a really big hit over the summer holidays and it's great to offer families and young Doctor Who fans something a little bit different for Halloween," said EC&O venues managing director Nigel Nathan.

The exhibition features props, costumes and monsters from Doctor Who. Taking center stage in the exhibition on Halloween night is Davros, creator of the Daleks. There's also a sound and light Dalek Zone for visitors to enjoy.

The exhibition, which started in March, ends on 9 November and is organised by Experience Design and Management.

The BBC Press Office information for Children in Need night, Friday the 14th of November on BBC One, contains the claim that the evening's entertainment will feature "Children In Need-themed scenes from Doctor Who and Ashes To Ashes," among the various other attractions on offer.

There is no information given as to what form this scene might take. In 2005 and 2007, Children in Need featured specially-commissioned Doctor Who scenes (such as Time Crash, pictured, in which the Tenth Doctor met the Fifth), although neither of these were "Children in Need-themed" in and of themselves, suggesting that this particular production may be of a different format.

Doctor Who has long enjoyed a close relationship with the Children in Need charity, being featured in various capacities on several of the annual telethon evenings. Since its return, Doctor Who has also been the focus of several special events to raise money for the charity, such as the 2006 concert in Cardiff and this year's set visit competition.

This year, in addition to the Doctor Who scene, the press office information also reveals that Captain Jack actor John Barrowman will be performing live, as he did in last year's telethon when he sang Elton John's "Your Song".

BBC News reports that postgraduate students from Cardiff University and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama have organised a three-day academic conference examining Doctor Who. The event will be held at Cardiff University from November 14th to 16th this year, and members of the public will be able to attend.

Called "Whoniversal Appeal", the conference will involve presentations and discussions on various areas relating to the series. Its modern spin-offsTorchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures will also be discussed.

The conference is being chaired by an American student, 29-year-old Melissa Beattie from Buffalo, New York. She admits to only having become a fan of the series two years ago but said: "It shows the progression of society over 45 years and it's amazing to see what an impact it's had. Also I think it's a good way of getting rid of what I call ivory towers thinking. Using something like Doctor Who is a good way of finding a common ground. There's a lot of narrative density in a lot of them - you have epic scenes, mythical-religious scenes, plus again the reflection of modern society like quite a strong anti-war message."

The keynote speaker will be Dr Matt Hills, from Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. More information can be found at the official website of the event, here.

This year's Flip Animation Festival, held in the city of Wolverhampton, features a special screening of the animated episodes from the 1968 Patrick Troughton story The Invasion.

The episodes were lost but in 2006 they were meticulously reconstructed using audio recorded off-air by fans mixed with newly created animation courtesy of Cosgrove Hall. These animated reconstructions have been warmly received and this is a chance to see them on the big screen.

The screening will be followed by an opportunity to find out more about how and why the animated episodes were commissioned, whether there may be further productions in the future and to meet some of the people responsible for making them. The talk will also highlight the world of Doctor Who fan animation.

Speakers Include

• James Goss, who ran the BBC's Doctor Who website for seven years and as part of this he produced the BBC's first webcasts, and commissioned the Invasion animations. He produced the BBC One animation Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest and has written a Torchwood book.
• Jon Doyle, from Firestep Productions, 2 x Bafta winning Animation Producer/Director/Artist whose work includes the animated series Scream of the Shalka, The Invasion and The Infinite Quest.
• Rob Ritchie, fan animator and producer of a raft of well received Doctor Who clips. Rob is contributor to the Who3d feature film project and he created Doctor Who 3d visuals for the stage play, The Trial of Davros.
The panel will be chaired by Myles McLeod, of animation duo The Brothers Mcleod.

The showing is on November 8th and is scheduled to start at 11.15pm. Please note this is a free event, and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis, so please arrive early to pick up a ticket.

Posted By John Bowman

A talk about the Doctor Who and Torchwood art department is to be given in Cardiff later this year.

This free event, looking at the creative use of locations in Cardiff, will be held at the Millennium Centre on Sunday, December 7 between 6pm and 7pm, and will be followed by a question-and-answer session with production designerEdward Thomas and his team.

Tickets must be booked in advance by calling 08700 40 2000 or visiting the main ticket desk.

The talk will coincide with an exhibition of Doctor Who concept art on Level 2 in the Glanfa foyer of the centre, running from December 5 to January 4.

There's an opportunity to meet the writers behind the new Doctor Who Storybook in London this Saturday, 4th October at 1pm.

James Moran, Keith Temple, Gareth Roberts, Clayton Hickman, Jonathan Morris and Gary Russell will be signing copies of the book at Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue.

Entry to the signing is free. Please note that all guests appear subject to work commitments.

Posted By John Bowman

Coventry Transport Museum is to host the official touring Doctor Who exhibition next year.

According to the Coventry Evening Telegraph, it will open on March 13 and is expected to be at the Millennium Place venue for several months.

In the report, the museum's head of collections, Steve Bagley, said: "This is really fantastic news for the Coventry Transport Museum and the city.

"We knew that the exhibition was touring around the country and had been in some museums, so I contacted them to ask if Coventry would be a suitable location.

"They came to the city and had a look and have only recently confirmed that they will set up the exhibition at the museum next year."

A Doctor Who exhibition is also due to open in Glasgow next March, at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Posted By John Bowman

It was a huge hit at the box office - and now the Interalia Theatre production of The Dalek Masterplan is up for two awards.

The play, which was staged at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth last October, was the fourth and final "lost" Doctor Who adventure performed by the non-professional company, which reworked and condensed the 1965-66 12-part William Hartnell epic.

It proved to be a sell-out, and the daily paper for the Portsmouth area, The News, has included the play and two of its actors among the nominations this year for its prestigious awards that recognise and celebrate the local arts scene.

Nick Scovell, who played the Doctor, and James George, who portrayed Mavic Chen, are each nominated in the Best Actor category, while the play itself is among those in the Best Amateur Drama Production section.

Those who saw the play can vote for it online by clicking on this link and filling in the form. There are other categories but people do not have to vote in all of them.

The closing date for votes is Friday, October 10 and the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held at the Kings Theatre in Southsea on Monday, November 10.

The official blog about the production, with exclusive photos and videos, can be found here.