The seventh annual award ceremony for the Visual Effects Society is taking place on the 21st February, and Doctor Who has been nominated for two awards:

In the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special, the Christmas special The Next Doctor has been nominated for its effects for the Cyber-King; it will be up against 'Generation Kill', 'Knight Rider' and 'John Adams'.

For Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial we seeSilence in the Library nominated, up against 'Generation Kill' and 'Merlin'.

The VES is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. The VES is the entertainment industry's only official trade organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives.

(with thanks to The_Iceman2288)

Big Finish Productions are to release the third series of the Eighth Doctor adventures as a series of downloads every Saturday from 7th March 2009.

The full-cast audio Adventures feature Paul McGann as the Doctor travelling with his companion Lucie, played by Sheridan Smith. Each 30-minute episode will be available on Saturday night, with the complete two-part story subsequently available on CD. There will be eight stories produced over a 16-week period. There will be a bonus ninth adventure which will be released as a Christmas special in December 2009, entitled Death in Blackpool.

The season will see the Doctor and Lucie facing some new foes and a number of favourite and iconic Doctor Who monsters, including the Krynoids (killer plants from the 1976 TV story The Seeds of Doom), the Wirrn (deadly insects from the 1975 tale The Ark in Space) and the Giant Spiders of Metebelis III (from the 1974 Jon Pertwee story Planet of the Spiders).

Big Finish have lined up an impressive list of guest actors for the series, which includes: Andrew
Sachs (Manuel in Fawlty Towers), Laura Solon (Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul), Nigel Planer (The Young Ones, The Colour of Magic), Lysette Anthony (Dark Shadows, Dracula: Dead and Loving It), Miriam Margolyes (Happy Feet, the Harry Potter films), Samuel Barnett (The History Boys, Beautiful People), Colin Salmon (Resident Evil, Die Another Day and Dr Moon in Doctor Who: Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead), Daniel Anthony (Clyde in The Sarah Jane Adventures), Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny in the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies, Ms Wormwood in The Sarah Jane Adventures), Phil Davies (Bleak House, The Curse of Steptoe, Lucius in Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii),Phill Jupitus (Rex the Runt, Never Mind the Buzzcocks), Stephen Moore (Brassed Off, Mersey Beat and Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy), Sophie Winkleman (Peep Show) and Sanjeev Bhaskar(The Kumars at No 42, Notting Hill).

The website of The Guardian newspaper has published an article by Gareth McLean, attacking the alleged decision of the BBC to carry out location shooting for one of the forthcoming Doctor Who specials in the state of Dubai.

Although the shooting in the United Arab Emirates has not yet been officially confirmed by the BBC, McLean quotes the Corporation as having told him that "There are no restrictions governing the filming of BBC drama in Dubai." McLean attacks the possibility of the programme being filmed there, on the basis of the country's human rights record.

Says McLean: "Though Dubai might be doing an effective job of presenting itself as a glitzy tourist destination, a place associated with mind-boggling decadence and the embodiment in glass and steel of the determination of the human spirit, the fact is, you may run out of fingers counting the ways in which filming even some of Doctor Who there is wrong."

Posted By John Bowman

Catherine Tate can be seen spoofing Doctor Who this weekend on entertainment showThe Sunday Night Project.

She is the guest host on the Channel 4 programme on January 18, and as well as delivering a monologue she puts on a wig, sideburns, suit and overcoat to assume the guise of the Tenth Doctor. The show's format also sees guest hosts facing questions from the studio audience.

In addition, regular co-host Justin Lee Collins portrays a bride, echoing Tate's first appearance as Donna Noble in Doctor Who.

The programme will air at 10pm.

David Tennant, Billie Piper and John Barrowman all guest-hosted during the show'sFriday Night Project incarnation.

2 entertain have confirmed that the First Doctor story The Keys of Marinus is scheduled to be released on DVD in the first half of 2009. This release is in addition to the stories previously announced.

The Keys of Marinus was William Hartnell's fifth story and was originally shown between 11 April and 16 May 1964. It was written by the Daleks' creator,Terry Nation, and directed byJohn Gorrie. The Doctor Who restoration team has an article on the making of the DVD including details of previously unknown cuts in the episodes and how this missing material was restored.

The team also have a feature on the upcoming release of thePatrick Troughton 10 part epic, The War Games.

There are 11 DVD release slots scheduled in 2009. The two remaining slots are likely to be filled with a box set consisting of three stories, and a stand alone release.

The current confirmed UK DVD release schedule is as follows:

• 26 Jan 2009 - E-Space Trilogy Box (Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate)
• 23 Feb 2009 - The Rescue / The Romans
• 16 Mar 2009 - Attack of the Cybermen

In addition, the following are slated for UK release in 2009, with specific dates yet to be announced: The Keys of Marinus; The War Games; Dalek War box set (Frontier in Space / Planet of the Daleks); The Deadly Assassin; Image of the Fendahl; Delta and the Bannermen

Executive Producer and Head Writer Russell T. Davies reveals that the forthcoming Doctor Who special Planet Of The Dead will serve as an "antidote" to recent adventures.

The departing showrunner told Doctor Who Magazine: "After the events of Journey's End and The Next Doctor I think it's time to get away from the past and have an adventure with lots of new elements. And lots of fun too!

"The next Special should be a nice antidote to Christmas, with a bit of sunshine if we're lucky. And with not one but two alien races that you've never seen before."

When the March issue of Torchwood Magazine hits the newsstands, readers will find a special treat inside: an original Torchwood comic strip written byJohn Barrowman

The actor, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in the Doctor Who spinoff, has penned "Captain Jack and the Selkie" with his sister Carole E. Barrowman and editor Martin Eden.

Eden told the magazine: "I'm so excited to be working on this story. John and Carole are an absolute pleasure to work with. Believe me, the readers are in for a treat."

Carole revealed that the project has been on her and John's agenda for some time, saying: "When John and I were working on [John's autobiography] Anything Goes, we spent a lot of time together on the Torchwood set.

"In between our storytelling and moments of inspired silliness, we decided we'd like to work on a project together that involved Captain Jack."

Posted By John Bowman

Comedian Toby Hadoke is to take his solo show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf to New Zealand during this year's tour of the production. The venues have yet to be confirmed but Hadoke told The Doctor Who News Page he would be appearing in Wellington from May 12 to 16 and Auckland from May 18 to 23.

It will be at selected locations in England between February and May, and is making its North American debut at the Gallifrey 2009 convention in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 14 - the first time the show will be performed outside the UK.

The England tour venues and dates are as follows:

Friday, February 20: The Wave Centre, Maryport, Cumbria
Friday, March 6: Selby Town Hall
Saturday, March 7: The Ustinov, Theatre Royal, Bath
Sunday, March 15: Tobacco Factory, Bristol
Sunday, May 24: Salisbury Festival at Salisbury Playhouse

For updates, visit the Moths website.

Talking to TVGuide.com, Billie Piper has added her insight on new Doctor Matt Smith, speaking as his former co-star.

The two appeared together in The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Piper labels herself a "big fan" of Smith. "I love him. He's a stirring actor, and he has the right energy," she says. "That's what the Doctor is about, essentially - having that energy that you just can't understand."

Addressing the concern that Smith, at 26, is too young to effectively play the good Doctor, Piper notes, "The fans get so concerned about these things, and they should just relax. It's going to be fine. They're in good hands."

Piper also comments on the rumours that a woman - possibly even herself - was being considered for the role of the new Doctor. "David [Tennant] has joked about me doing it, but... I don't think the Doctor should be a woman," she says. "It's like going, 'Let's make James Bond a woman.' It's a man's role."

This week sees the launch in the UK of a Doctor Who DVD and magazine series, theDoctor Who DVD Files.

Published by GE Fabbri, which also produces Doctor Who Battles in Time, it will be available fortnightly. Every issue comes with a DVD featuring two full-length episodes and a unique pull-apart magazine to form a reference work about the show.

The first issue features Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor as he meets Rose Tyler in the opening episode of the new series, "Rose", then takes her to "The End of the World". Subsequent issues follow the series through in broadcast order as the Doctor and his companions travel the universe, facing monsters such as the Daleks, Slitheen and Cybermen, and villains such as the Editor and Cassandra.

Every DVD comes with a 24-page magazine containing insider information and specially-commissioned artwork. "Because of the way it builds up you'll soon have hundreds of pages of invaluable information," says GE project manager Ben Robinson.

The magazine will feature never-seen-before photographs, exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews, episode guides, profiles of monsters, heroes and villains, new artwork showing classic moments from the show's history and specially created diagrams and cutaways produced by members of the Doctor Who art department.

The first edition is out on January 14.