The actor and director Robin Phillips has died at the age of 73.

Robin Phillips played Altos in five episodes of the 1964 story The Keys of Marinus, accompanying the Doctor and his companions in their quest for the Conscience's keys.

Phillips was born in Haslemere, in 1942. He studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic and went on to appear in many well known TV series including Compact, The Forsyte Saga, The Avengers and The Saint. In 1969 he played the title character in the star studded TV version of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield.

In 1975 he was hired as artistic director at the Stratford Festival in Canada. He spent six seasons directing many productions starring such actors as Maggie Smith, Richard Monette, Martha Henry, and Brian Bedford, directing 40 productions. He made Canada his home, becoming a Canadian citizen and developing a wide-ranging career in the country, including a period as artistic director at The Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, and as director general of Edmonton's Citadel Theatre.

Phillips's directing credits included a London production of Long Day's Journey into Night starring Jessica Lange, the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde, and a Canadian Opera Company performance of The Marriage of Figaro.

In 1983 he was given an honorary degree by the University of Western Ontario and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. He was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in 2010.

Robin Phillips died peacefully at his Stratford home, after a prolonged illness. He is survived by his long-time partner Joe Mandel.

A screening of the first episode of the new series, The Magician's Apprentice, will be taking place at the Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh as part of the Guardian's Edinburgh International Television Festival on 27th August 2015.


The event has sold out, but details can be found via the cinema website.

Olaf Pooley, the man who was the oldest surviving actor to have worked on Doctor Who, has died at the age of 101.

Olaf Pooley was one of a small group of actors to have appeared in both the Doctor Who and Star Trek franchises. He appeared in Doctor Who in 1970, playing both Professor Stahlman and his parallel-Earth counterpart Director Stahlman in the seven-part story Inferno. His appearance in Star Trek came thirty years later when he appeared in the Voyager episode Blink Of An Eye playing Cleric.

Pooley was born in the Parkstone area of Poole in Dorset to an English father and Danish mother, he studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London and painting at the Chelsea School of Art. Until his death he was still an exhibiting painter.

His first full-time job was with Pinewood Film Studios' design department, and he then became a member of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, with his prolific acting career also seeing him appearing in the West End, on film and on TV

During his career, he wrote and appeared in the film The Corpse - entitled Crucible of Horror in the USA - which starred Michael Gough, and wrote, directed and appeared in The Johnstown Monster. He also wrote the screenplay for a film version of Bernard Taylor's The Godsend, which was directed by his future second wife Gabrielle Beaumont. Pooley's other writing credits include the 1982 TV film Falcon's Gold, while he was an uncredited writer on the 1985 sci-fi horror movie Lifeforce.

His TV guest appearances since the 1950s included roles in Dixon of Dock Green, Paul Temple, Jason King and MacGyver, as well as playing Lars Torvik in the first episode of The Sandbaggers.

In 1958, Pooley took part in the BBC radio play Ambrose In Paris, and he played Sebastian in a 1956 film production of The Tempest. Pooley had a major career in West End theatre, appearing in notable productions such as Noël Coward's Peace In Our Time as well as The Tempest and Othello, and he counted Sir Alec Guinness among his close friends.

He emigrated to the United States in 1986, where he continued his acting, also becoming a respected artist both there and abroad. In an interview, he said: "It is a privilege to be an artist and I am fortunate in this respect."

He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2014 with a special exhibition of his paintings at the Santa Monica Art Studios

Olaf Pooley died on Tuesday.

Hidden away on page 32 of the BBC Worldwide Annual Review, published today, is the first official confirmation of the commissioning of Doctor Who Series 10

On page 32 of the report, detailing with Corporate governance the text reads Full report on the review here here

Flicks And The City have released video of the Doctor Who Comic Con Panel in full with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez & Steven Moffat.

BBC One has confirmed Doctor Who will be back on UK screens on Saturday 19th Sepetember

The news was announced via the channel's twitter feed, along with the release of the first trailer for the upcoming series. BBC America has confirmed that Series 9, the 35th Season of Doctor Who, will also première in the United States on the same day.



The news was announced at San Diego Comic-Con where the stars of the show were appearing along with the Doctor Who lead Writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat.
Having been filming in Cardiff since January, Peter Capaldi said:
Previously announced and taking up a guest role in the new season will be Maisie Williams, having already achieved global success for her role as Arya Stark in the fantasy drama series Game of Thrones. Michelle Gomez (Missy) returns to plague the Doctor and Clara in the season opener, and UNIT are back with Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver (Osgood) returning to season nine following their popular entrance in season eight. Also confirmed as guest cast in the new series are Rebecca Front, Rufus Hound, Paul Kaye, Joivan Wade and Sophie Stone.


The show’s ninth season has been written by lead writer Steven Moffat, Toby Whithouse, Jamie Mathieson, Peter Harness, Mark Gatiss, and new writers to Doctor Who - Sarah Dollard and Catherine Tregenna; directed by Hettie Macdonald, Daniel O’Hara, Ed Bazalgette, Daniel Nettheim, Justin Molotnikov, Rachel Talalay; and produced by Tracie Simpson, Derek Ritchie, Nikki Wilson and Peter Bennett.

The team continue to shoot in Roath Lock studios, Cardiff Bay, Wales, having filmed in Tenerife, and South Wales locations, Caerwent, Caerphilly Castle, Cardiff Castle, St Athans and Margam Park.

Director Rachel Talalay, who helmed last year's finale Dark Water/Death in Heaven, has confirmed on Twitter that she is returning to the series to direct this year's as yet un-named two-part Doctor Who finale:

Recovering from a case of The Silence. #DoctorWho I am so fortunate to be asked back for the finale S09. #DontScrewItUpPt2

— Rachel Talalay (@rtalalay) July 1, 2015

BBC Worldwide have announced that Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman will visit Germany this summer for a special fan event in Berlin on Friday 17th July. The event will offer German fans the opportunity to see the actors for the first time in Germany. Last year's World Tour did not include Berlin or any other European cities outside of the UK on the list of destinations.

Peter Capaldi said:

Isabelle Helle, Director, German Speaking Europe, BBC Worldwide says:

Details of the event will be posted on facebook.com/doctorwho.

Series 9 will premiere on Fox Channel Germany later this year.

The BBC have announced that Sarah Dollard has written Episode 10 of the forthcoming series of Doctor Who. The episode has just starting filming and will be directed by Justin Molotnikov and will see the return of Joivan Wade as Rigsy. Dollard has written episodes of The Game, Being Human, and Neighbours. She was also script editor on episodes of Primeval and Merlin.

Dollard commented:

The BBC have announced that Rebecca Front is to appear in Doctor Who, featuring in the story currently being filmed for the next series, due to air this Autumn.

The actress will be re-united with Peter Capaldi, with whom she co-starred in the political satire comedy The Thick Of It - and for which both won BAFTA awards in 2010 for best Male/Female performance in a comedy role.

As previously reported the episode, written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim, features the return of the Zygons and of UNIT, with both Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver reprising their roles of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Osgood respectively.