In less than two weeks, Gallifrey 2009, the twentieth annual North American Doctor Who and science fiction media convention will begin! The official convention of Outpost Gallifrey and the Doctor Who Forum, the 2009 Gallifrey One event takes place February 13-15 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel, and features an enormous guest lineup including Doctor Who 2005-2008 producer Phil Collinson in his first-ever convention appearance; the sixth Doctor,Colin Baker, sponsored by Alien Entertainment; Nicola Bryant and Wendy Padbury, Peri Brown and Zoe Heriot from classic Doctor Who; Torchwood star Gareth David Lloyd (Ianto Jones); recurring Torchwood cast member Kai Owen (Rhys Williams) sponsored by Tenth Planet Events; writers Phil Ford (head writer for "The Sarah Jane Adventures"), Keith Temple ("Planet of the Ood"), Paul Cornell ("Human Nature"), James Moran("The Fires of Pompeii") and Rob Shearman ("Dalek"); "Doctor Who: The Forgotten" comic writer Tony Lee and illustrator Pia Guerra; Big Finish producer Jason Haigh-Ellery and cast members Laura Doddington and Ciara Janson; actor/comedian Toby Hadoke; and Doctor Who/Torchwood novelist and script editor Gary Russell.

In addition, Gallifrey 2009 has confirmed a variety of new guest appearances in the past few weeks, some appearing on stage and some signing autographs only on one or more days, including Claudia Christian (Babylon 5); Tracy Scoggins (Babylon 5 and Crusade); John Levene (Sgt. Benton from Doctor Who, signing at the Sci Fi Sea Cruise tables); Damian Samuels (Mr. Lloyd from the Doctor Who episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances"); writers David Gerrold, Marc Scott Zicree and Marv Wolfman; Doctor Who novelists and audio writers Simon Guerrier, Nev Fountain, Mark Wright, Caroline Symcox, Darin Henry and Peter Anghelides; and many, many more!

For more information, visit the website here at Outpost Gallifrey.

Doctor Who Adventures celebrates its 100th issue this week with 100 Doctor Who prizes up for grabs, including books, DVDs, audiobooks and toys. There is also a special feature about some of the sonic devices in the series, everything from the sonic screwdriver to the sonic blaster.

Also in the issue:

• Posters: Matt Smith, a Dalek, the Graske and Miss Hartigan.
• Interview: Actress Dervla Kirwan talks about her time as horrible Hartigan.
• Tales from the TARDIS: the Doctor and Donna meet Miss Foster…
• Secrets: Special stunts from The Next Doctor.
• Doctor’s data: Facts about Rosita, the Other Doctor’s companion.
• Who's where?: Monsters invade the Doctor Who Adventures office.
• Terror through time: Have you ever heard of the Vervoids?
• Comic strip: The Doctor and his new friend Heather take a trip to Delquis.
• Subscription offer: Subscribe today and get a Sarah Jane Adventures CD!

Both Teletext and The Sun are reporting today that Freema Agyeman will return to Doctor Who for one more appearance as Martha Jones before David Tennant leaves the role. Agyeman is, according to the reports, scheduled to appear in one of the four upcoming specials that Tennant will appear in before turning over the role to Matt Smith. Says the Sun, "Freema's on board. It's early days so it's unclear what exactly Martha will be up to in the new show."

Agyeman will be doing a Q and A, with Chris Chibnall, Ben Daniels and Dick Wolf after a preview screening of Episode 1 of Law and Order on Thurs 5th Feb at the British Film Institute in London.

David Tennant's performance in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet, has won him the best Shakespearean performance award from the Critics Circle. Tennant shared the award with Sir Derek Jacobi who won for his performance of Malvolio in the Donmar Warehouse's production of Twelfth Night. Tennant described the experience of playing Hamlet "a dream I never imagined I would get to fulfil".

Former companion and Blue Peter presenter, Peter Purves's autobiography is being published by Green Umbrella Publishing on 10th February. The book, which is being promoted as a scandalous read, will cover Purves time on Doctor Who, working with the first Doctor William Hartnell, as well as his later work on Blue Peter and Kick Start. He will be making several appearances at signing sessions around the UK.

Torchwood has been nominated for best Drama Series, in the annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) media awards. GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The awards will be presented at three separate ceremonies: in New York on March 28, in Los Angeles on April 19 and in San Francisco on May 9.

Former companion Louise Jameson has given an interview to Kent Life. Jameson who played Leela, talks about her relationship with fourth doctor Tom Baker and well as her work on other projects.

Scorenotes.com has uploaded an audio interview with Doctor Who composer, Murray Gold. Gold discusses both Doctor Who and Torchwood in the segment.

Radio Times has put together a selection of photographs from the recent Radio Times Covers Party. They are available on the website.

Thanks to Roger Jones, Andrew Futter, Rob Turner and Tom H.

The 'fast-tracked' The Next Doctor has debuted in Australia to disappointing ratings. The 2008 Christmas Special averaged only 738,000 in the five major capital cities, compared to the 1 million plus viewers who regularly watched Series Four in 2008. The lower ratings are probably explained by the summer 'non-ratings' period, the Australia Day long weekend and the 1.745 million viewers who watched Australian Jelena Dokic's remarkable progress to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Channel 7. Meanwhile the Australian Broadcasting Corporation will start repeats of series two on ABC1 on Tuesdays at 8.30pm, starting with 'The Christmas Invasion' on 27 January 2009. The national broadcaster will also broadcast the corresponding episodes ofConfidential Cutdown for series two, starting with 'New New Doctor' on Tuesday 3 February 2009 at 9.15pm. This will be the free-to-air debut of this series of 'Confidential' on Australian television.

Meanwhile, in the local media, Patricia Maunder of The Age calls 'The Next Doctor' a 'bit of a tease'. TV Tonight in its preview of the same episode also writes that 'ultimately, this Christmas edition feels like the universe, or 'WHOniverse', is undergoing great change – rather like some of the plots we've enjoyed before. With Donna Noble's tale concluded in 2008, The Doctor is now sans assistant. As enjoyable as it tries to be, the writing in this episode is no better or worse than a weekly episode, upstaged by the 2007 Titanic special featuring Kylie..' Meanwhile Ian Cuthbertson ofThe Weekend Australiawrites of 'The Next Doctor' that 'it would be hard to go past a sensational line-up on the national broadcaster this evening, which has a little something for everyone.'

Thanks to the contributors to the Australian forums.

The BBC have confirmed the casting of Michelle Ryan in the Planet of the Dead, the first of four Doctor Whospecials which will air in 2009.

Ryan, who is best known for her roles as Zoe Slater in EastEnders and Jaime Sommers in the recent remake of Bionic Woman, will play the mysterious Lady Christina de Souza, who joins David Tennant, as the Doctor, on a bus trip which takes a very unexpected detour into danger. She said "I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who and very excited to be joining David Tennant and the Doctor Who team. It is such a fantastic show and I can’t wait to get started!"

British comedy star Lee Evans will also be joining the cast playing a character called Malcolm, whose life becomes connected to the Doctor's under extraordinary circumstances.

Noma Dumezweni returns to the series as Captain Erisa Magambo, last seen helping Rose and Donna save the world in Turn Left.

Executive Producer and writer Russell T Davies said "Michelle is one of the most sought after young actors in the country and we are delighted to announce that she will be joining the team. As always the script is being kept strictly under wraps however we can reveal that Lady Christina is a woman with a mysterious past who's going to have a huge impact on the Doctor! "

The episode will be screened at Easter.


UPDATE:
Lee Evans will be appearing on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, 10:35pm on BBC1 tonight.

Several newspapers have covered this casting news, including The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian, as well as BBC News.

The Doctor Who News Page has learned that actor and comedian Lee Evans has been cast as "a Professor" in one of the forthcoming special episodes of Doctor Who, four of which will be broadcast during 2009 and into New Year 2010. Evans confirmed his casting during this afternoon's studio recording of tomorrow's edition of BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, saying that he had been approached a few days beforehand and was delighted to be working on the series.

Evans has worked as both a stand-up comic and an actor, appearing in several Hollywood movies. His films include MouseHunt, There's Something About Mary and The Fifth Element. On stage, he appeared in the 2004-05 London run of The Producers, as Leo Bloom.

The news of his casting has also been reported at Chortle.co.uk.

UPDATE, 18.15 GMT: Evans's comments during the Jonathan Ross recording have been confirmed in a BBC Press Release.

Following on from an earlier blog report from The Guardian, the Dubai-based newspaper 7DAYS has reported that filming for one of the forthcoming Doctor Who specials will take place in Dubai. There has been no official word from BBC sources; the7DAYS article quotes an unnamed "BBC insider" confirming that the series will be filming in Dubai "later this year". The same article also states, "At least one other episode will be shot in the US, it was disclosed."

The newspaper also created a few images of Doctor Who aliens and villains in Dubai scenes; one of these is at right. The rest can be seen in the "e-paper" available on the7DAYS website after (free) registration.

Thanks to "chelwood" of the Doctor Who Forum.

Since Matt Smith's announcement at the beginning of the year, media speculation has moved onto who the companion to his Doctor will be for the next series. Whilst the media has speculated on a number of names for the role, such as Lily Allen and Rachel Stevens, most recently they have turned their attention towards former EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan.

Betting company William Hill had initially placed the odds on the actress at5/1; however the Sunday Mirror reported last weekend that Ryan had been "in secret talks with BBC bosses" over the role of companion to the eleventh Doctor, and that an announcement would be made by the BBC very soon (also reported by Digital Spy, Coventry Telegraph, Marie Claireand Den of Geek).

However, with production having now commenced on the first Doctor Who special Planet of the Dead, fans who have been watching events unfold in Cardiff over the last few days have reported on Ryan being involved with this episode. This was confirmed last night with the actress being seen performing with current Doctor David Tennant. Though there has been no official confirmation of her role from the BBC as yet, it is believed that she is playing the part of companion to the tenth Doctor for this special, with The London Paper today reporting her character name as 'Lady Christina de Souza'.

Ryan has recently been seen on television in the BBC's Saturday night fantasy series Merlin, and the short-lived re-imagining of The Bionic Woman. She also appeared in Doctor Who's new head writer Steven Moffat's previous series on the BBC, Jekyll.


Update 2200: further coverage of casting in Den of Geek and Daily Mail.

(with thanks to Lee Tucker and the Cardiff Kinda Group)

For the first time since the completion of material for "The Next Doctor" in April 2008, BBC Wales have resumed the production ofDoctor Who. Work began yesterday, on Monday the 19th of January, with director James Strong helming material for the forthcoming special Planet of the Dead at Museum Avenue and Park Place in Cardiff.

As has become the custom, the shooting of Doctor Who has attracted the attention of fans, several of whom have been down to the location to observe activity and take photographs, one of which is reproduced at the right. The Doctor Who News Page will avoid giving any spoilers for episodes while they are in production, but those interested in finding out more about the production in Cardiff can follow the link to the set reports thread in the Doctor Who Forum by clicking below.

Picture by Scooty of The Doctor Who Forum