Posted By John Bowman

Dalek writer Robert Shearman has won a World Fantasy Award for his short story collection Tiny Deaths.

A Doctor Who-related play is coming to Hobart, Tasmania, in February 2009. Who Knows, which is written and directed by Paul McIntyre and centres on a character called Russell Lambert, is billed as "a tribute to the sci-fi classic, bringing TV nostalgia, heartwarming comedy and megalomaniacal machinations from time and space to the Tasmanian stage". It is being staged by The Old Nick Company at an as-yet-undisclosed venue from February 18 to 28. The cast will be at The ABC Shop Centrepoint in Hobart on November 23 from 12.30pm to mark Doctor Who's 45th anniversary and to publicise the play.

Actor John Ringham, who played Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Blake in The Smugglers and Ashe in Colony In Space, has died aged 80. The Daily Telegraph ran an obituary.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has produced a webcast featuring Jane Tranter who, while Controller, Drama Commissioning, gave the green light to the return of Doctor Who as well as the go-ahead for Torchwood. In the webcast, she talks about her career and the future of TV drama. She also explains how the advancement in TV special effects and the support of Russell T Davies led her to commission a new series of Doctor Who. "Once Russell said he wanted to do it, there was never a moment of looking back," she says. She also presents clips from her most successful programmes. You can view the webcast here.

The Knightsbridge saleroom of Bonhams is holding an entertainment memorabilia auction on November 25, which will see the following up for sale: Jon Pertwee's jacket from Planet of the Daleks, a 1960s Cyberman glove, props from The Moonbase and Arc of Infinity, a rehearsal script from The War Games, a prop that is listed as "The Doctor's Stellar Signal Receiver" from an unidentified story, a quantity of Doctor Who merchandising, annuals and printed ephemera, autographed scripts from The Claws of Axos and The Trial of a Time Lord (it is not stated who signed them), Magnus Greel's robe from The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and a blue-face Terileptil head from The Visitation.

TV presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have selected The Writer's Tale, by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, for their Christmas presents book strand, and Stephen Fry will be appearing on Madeley and Finnigan's UKTV Watch show, Richard and Judy's New Position, on November 26 to review it.

Hyde Fundraisers, who appear around Britain in Doctor Who costumes to drum up financial aid for charities and are supported by the likes of Neill Gorton and MFX Replicas, will be appearing at Ashton's Central Library on November 22 to round off their efforts for 2008 and hand over a cheque for 15,000 pounds for BBC Children In Need.

The Series Four episode Midnight has been nominated for a Royal Television Society award for Best Sound - Drama at this year's RTS Craft and Design Awards. Julian Howarth, Tim Ricketts, Paul McFadden and Paul Jefferiesreceive the citation. The ceremony takes place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane, London, on November 24. It is the only category that Doctor Who has been nominated in this year.

Last Broadcast has done an interview with Elisabeth Sladen in which she tells why she won't be doing any more DVD commentaries for 2entertain. Among other topics, Sladen also talks about hating her new action figure, the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures and the possibility of a Christmas special, plus future SJA cast changes. You can read it here.

Glasgow's Doctor Who exhibition will open on March 27, 2009 and run until January 4, 2010, says the official exhibitions website. It is being held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and tickets go on sale fromNovember 17. The site also states that the exhibition begins on March 28, so the March 27 date may be a preview.

(With thanks to Viv Dunstan, Dwayne Bunney, Chris Winwood, David French and Kevin Taylor.)

UPDATE (November 17): The Doctor Who News Page has been advised that the Claws of Axos script being auctioned at Bonhams on November 25 is signed by Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Bob Baker, Terrance Dicks, John Levene, Barry Letts and Tim Pigott-Smith, while the Trial of a Time Lord script, which is also being auctioned there that day, has been signed by Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Nicola Bryant, Michael Jayston, Lynda Bellingham, Tony Selby, Malcolm Tierney, Anthony Ainley and John Nathan-Turner.

FURTHER UPDATE (November 17): In addition, it is now understood that the "Stellar Signal Receiver" being auctioned is from Pyramids of Mars and is the gadget used by the Doctor to decode the message from Mars.

(With thanks to Simon Nuckley and Richard Bignell for the supplementary information.)

The pre-titles sequence of the 2008 Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", which was premiered this evening during the BBC's Children in Need charity telethon, is now available to view here on the Children in Need website.

If you watch the special preview, please do consider donating to Children in Need, which helps disadvantaged youngsters across the UK. You can do so via the website, here.

Posted By John Bowman

A website dedicated to the production of spin-off series K9 has been launched. There is, however, no indication when the show will start airing.

The website has sections for the series' main credits, a photo gallery, guestbook, casting and crew documents (both of which are currently not allowing access), plus locations and key design (which is not displaying anything at the moment).

(With thanks to Tony Clark.)

UPDATE (November 16): Originally, the site invited people to register for e-mail updates, but a statement on the home page now says that access to the pages is only available to those involved with the show's production, and there is no longer any registration facility.

All but one of the pages on the site are now password-protected. The locations section is currently viewable, although this may, of course, stop being the case at some point.

However, the statement adds that a special fan site will be set up in the near future. In addition, Grant Bradley, of project developer Limelight International Media Entertainment, confirmed to The Doctor Who News Page that the show is in pre-production.

Presenter Terry Wogan has reported on his radio show that the next Doctor might be announced in this year'sChildren In Need show. Although nothing has appeared officially to confirm this, Wired suggests that such an announcement would be a good fund-raiser for the event.

David Tennant appeared on BBC's Breakfast on Monday, and during the interview indicated that he wouldn't rule out returning to the show at some point in the future. He also mentioned that Steven Moffat's appointment had almost swayed his decision to leave (something that he and Russell T Davies had agreed upon some months previously). On the inevitable subject of a good female contender for the role, he lightly suggested his former co-star Billie Piper.

Based on the interview, Den of Geek speculated on how he might return to the role, whilst the South Wales Echoconcentrated on the Piper connection - also noting that the odds from William Hill on a female Doctor had now been lowered from 20/1 to 12/1 after the interview. Meanwhile, Lucy Mangan of theGuardian commented on her husband's view of a female in the part and why she thinks it would be a good move for the show. (Other stories related to the Breakfast interview from BBC News, Reuters, Press Association, Wales Online, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Now,Melbourne Herald)

Meanwhile, speculation on who would take up the mantle continues apace in the media!

Back in 1999, DWM ran an article in which well-known fans at the time commented on how they'd like to see the Doctor return. One of those was new head writer Steven Moffat, in which he suggested an older actor for the role, a "grandfather" figure. In spite of a decade between this and the production of Moffat's series next year, this hasn't stopped The Sun from revitalising these anecdotes! (Story also taken up by MyPark Magazine and BBC America'sAnglophenia)

The Mirror reports that ex-EastEnders actor Tom Ellis is under consideration - Ellis was previously seen in the series as Tom Milligan in Last Of The Time Lords. (Story also taken up by RTE and Now)

Additional news on Tennant leaving and speculation on casting can be found in: Evening Post, Wales on Sunday,io9, Guardian. Update: Raising Kids, Den of Geek.

More articles/references to Tennant leaving and other Who news in the media can be found in the dedicated Media Watch thread in the Doctor Who Forum.

After the announcement of David Tennant leaving, it was inevitable that the media would begin to speculate on who would assume the role of the Doctor in 2010. BBC Entertainment reporter Lizo Mzimba made a report on Tennant's departure which ran on BBC news programmes over the course of yesterday, citing Paterson Joseph(previously seen in the series as Rodrick in the Series One finale), David Morrissey (to be seen in the forthcoming Christmas special), and James Nesbitt as the leading choices.

Betting site William Hill have offered odds on a number of actors for the role (listed below); an article on their website has reported on how the odds on Welsh actor Rhys Ifans have been slashed following bets made in the Cardiff area! Says spokesman Rupert Adams: "So far we have not been able to find out where the rumours about Rhys are coming from but on paper we think he will make a good Doctor."

Today's Telegraph speculates on the top choices in more detail, also speculating onCatherine Tate - the possibility of a female Doctor once again suggested by Russell T Davies in an interview with Tate and Steven Moffat at the National Television Awards on Wednesday.

Another article appeared on BBC News's E24 entertainment programme last night, in which Lizo interviewed a few stars on their thoughts for who should be the next Doctor. Ricky Gervais put forward his usual collaborator Stephen Merchant for the role, Peter Purves and John Noakes suggestedthemselves(!), James Bond star Daniel Craig liked the idea of a woman, whilst singer Tom Jones agreed with the idea of fellow Welshman Rhys Ifans. As for David Tennant himself: "I’ve always been a big supporter of Wee Jimmy Krankie and I, you know, if it wasn’t me it was gonna be him, her, him. So the campaign starts here for me, to get wee Jimmy Krankie in the Tardis and big Ian Krankie as the companion. I think that works."

Other online media articles include: BBC News Northern Ireland, Londonderry Sentinel, Belfast Telegraph on James Nesbitt; Online Betting Guide; This is Swansea; BBC America; The Mirror; EW.Com Popwatch; LA Times.

Update: the Daily Mail places David Morrissey as favourite; BBC News adds Sean Pertwee and James McAvoyto the list; the Sun reports on reader ideas, including Harry Hill and Jonathan Rhys Meyers; and Russell Toveytells Digital Spy on his thoughts of being named as a possible Doctor.

David Tennant will be leaving Doctor Who at the conclusion of the 2009 specials currently in production, the actor announced live on stage this evening at the National Television Awards.

The Guardian newspaper this evening broke the story prematurely, reporting on their website (in a report subsequently pulled down) that Tennant is "vacating the TARDIS and leaving the BBC's Doctor Who series at the end of next year. Tennant's decision brings to an end his popular four-year tenure as the time lord." The article went on to say that the BBC had confirmed that the actor "would complete the filming of four special episodes to be screened this year and in early 2010, as well as 2009's Christmas special."

The BBC Doctor Who website has now posted the full news: "I've had the most brilliant, bewildering and life changing time working on Doctor Who. I have loved every day of it," the actor says. "It would be very easy to cling on to the TARDIS console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will. ... I'm still the Doctor all next year but when the time finally comes I'll be honoured to hand on the best job in the world to the next lucky git - whoever that may be." Tennant added that he "always thought the time to leave would be in conjunction with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner who have been such a huge part of it all for me. Steven Moffat is the most brilliant and exciting writer, the only possible successor to Russell and it was sorely tempting to be part of his amazing new plans for the show. I will be there, glued to my TV when his stories begin in 2010." He furthermore says that he feels "very privileged to have been part of this incredible phenomenon, and whilst I'm looking forward to new challenges I know I'll always be very proud to be the Tenth Doctor." Says Russell T Davies, "I've been lucky and honoured to work with David over the past few years - and it's not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we're planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching!"

Says the BBC News site, Tennant is quoted as saying, "I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don't take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you'll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair." Tennant also says, "I think it's better to go when there's a chance that people might miss you, rather than to hang around and outstay your welcome," he said.

Tennant will appear in this year's Christmas special, as well as four specials being produced for 2009 and 2010 airdates by executive producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner. Tennant confirmed to BBC News that the four specials for 2009/2010 will be "the four last stories that I do." New incoming executive producer Steven Moffat will then take over the series with new leads as the show returns for a normal, fifth series of episodes in 2010.

More details as they come in...

Posted By John Bowman

Elisabeth Sladen will be joined by fellowSarah Jane Adventures actors Daniel Anthony and Thomas Knight for a signing session in London - and 50 people could attend an exclusive story-telling session by Sladen herself.

The event at the Oxford Street branch of Borders has been organised to mark the return of the Doctor Who spin-off plus the launch of four SJA novels, the complete Series One DVD, and two new audio-exclusive stories. It will be taking place on November 15 between 1.30pm and 4pm. Borders states that people must have bought a copy of the SJA DVD set, an SJA book or an SJA CD to be in the queue.

The four books - Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, Day of the Clown, The Lost Boy, and The Last Sontaran - are being published on November 6, the Series One DVD set is released on November 10, while audio-exclusive stories The Time Capsule and Ghost House will be out on November 13 and available on CD or as a download.

The competition to attend the story-telling session is for UK residents only and open to youngsters up to and including the age of 16. Winners must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The closing date is November 11. Click here for details on how to enter and full terms and conditions. The story-telling session takes place on the same day as the signing, and the winners will also get to be first in the queue for autographs.

Doctor Who has just won the Most Popular Drama award, and David Tennant has received the Outstanding Drama Performance award, at theNational Television Awards this evening the UK.

According to the official Doctor Who website, Catherine Tate (who collected the Drama series award alongside Executive Producer Russell T Davies) said "I know it's won the award for the last three years, but I was sweating that we wouldn't the year I joined!" Meanwhile, Tennant accepted his award in a live video feed from Stratford, where he his currently performing with the RSC.

Tennant also chose the moment, while accepting his award, to announce that he would be leaving Doctor Who at the conclusion of the four specials for 2009/2010 now in production (see separate story).

The website of the Doctor Who Restoration Team has published information on the forthcoming DVD release of the 1989 Doctor Who serial "Battlefield". The four-part adventure, which opened the final season of classic Doctor Who, stars Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as his companion Ace. It is due to be released on Region 2 DVD in the UK on December the 29th.

This is the first ever commercial release of the transmitted version of the story, the VHS release having included various extended and deleted scenes edited back into the action. For this DVD release, the transmission version is presented on one disc, with a movie-format extended edition with new CGI special effects included on a second disc.

Other extras include a commentary track with Aldred, Nicholas Courtney, Angela Bruce, writer Ben Aaronovitchand script editor Andrew Cartmel; documentaries on the making of the story, BBC trailers from the time and various other features.

The latest issues of Enlightenment, the fanzine of the Doctor Who Information Network, features reviews of every story in Series Four. Also included are an assessment of Steven Moffat's arrival as executive producer and the backlash yet-to-come, a tribute to Russell T Davies' tenure, an assessment of Donna Noble, a fan's report from the underbelly of the CBC and more. Available now from DWIN.