The BBC have released three videos covering highlights from the Q&A that followed the press screening of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe last week. The session was hosted by Radio 5 Live presenter Richard Bacon, and included a discussion of the episode that had been shown, the announcement over Amy and Rory's future, and answering questions posed by the audience.

The Doctor Who immersive theatre experience, The Crash of the Elysium is to be recreated at the Ipswich Arts Festival from 15th June to 8th July 2012, as part of the London 2012 Festival celebrating the Olympic Games taking place in the summer.

The event was originally created by Punchdrunk for the Manchester International Festival that took place last June/July, and is described as:
The performances will take place at the Crown Car Park, and is sponsored locally by the New Wolsey Theatre; there will be three variations of the show, catering for schools, families with children aged 7-12, and for those aged 13 and older.


Ruth Mackenzie, Director, Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, said
Ipswich Borough Council Leader David Ellesmere said:
Sarah Holmes, New Wolsey Theatre Chief Executive said:
Councillor Kathy Gosling, Suffolk County Council's portfolio holder for sport, culture, diversity, health and wellbeing, said:
Andrea Stark, Executive Director, Arts Council England, said:


There is a website for the event, though at the time of writing it is not currently active.

BBC Worldwide have announced that Arthur Darvill will be joining Matt Smith and Steven Moffat at the Official Doctor Who Convention, taking place at Cardiff in March.

Other guests at the weekend include actors Stuart Milligan (President Nixon, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon) and Simon Fisher-Becker (Dorium, The Pandorica Opens/Let's Kill Hitler/The Wedding of River Song.

Also joining the previously announced behind-the-scenes crew Danny Hargreaves (special effects supervisor), Michael Pickwoad (production designer), and Marcus Wilson (producer) are Andy Pryor (casting director), Tom MacRae (author and writer of last year's The Girl Who Waited), Stephan Pehrsson (director of photography), and Caroline Henry (script editor).


See the Official Convention website for full details of the event.

Matt Smith talks about an incident with the police: "I was running for a train, on my way to film in Bristol, when I was stopped by anti-terrorist police for a routine check. I ended up missing my train and being late for my call. I must have been looking particularly dodgy." And on his best present at Christmas? "A snooker table - although my SEGA Mega Drive comes close. I also used to love getting pyjamas and wearing them all day." [Standard, 16 Dec 2011]

Praise was also heaped upon the actor by Daventry's MP, Chris Heaton-Harris, who having seen the Christmas Special at the press preview, said: "I’m very much a Doctor Who geek, so I loved it. It was a perfect show for Christmas Day and I’ll look forward to watching it again then. It was also nice to hear Matt speaking about the show, he came across as a really nice, pleasant guy with a lovely sense of humour. I think he’s a great representative of Northamptonshire." [Northamptonshire Chronicle, 18 Dec 2011]

Jane Espenson (writer) talks about the differences in the creative process in writing for Torchwood and Once Upon A Time: "Torchwood was a very different process from everything else, since it functioned as a sort of hybrid version of the UK system – less room time, more one-on-one with the showrunner. Once is more similar to Buffy – we work in a writers' room figuring out the story, and then we take turns writing complete drafts that are then polished by Eddy and Adam. And, also like Buffy, we're being allowed to make the show that the guys envisioned. It's a very smooth and very productive process." [Blogcritics, 16 Dec 2011]

Sarah Smart (Jennifer, The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People) talks about being broody after meeting Billie Piper (Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me co-star Laurence Fox's wife), and also on her time in Doctor Who: "We will of course be watching the Doctor Who Christmas special, but I will see it in a completely different light now I’ve been in it. Matt Smith is absolutely brilliant, but my favourite Doctor will always be Peter Davison, because he was my dad in At Home With The Braithwaites." [Sunday Mercury, 18 Dec 2011]

Robin Squire ("main Auton", Spearhead from Space) has written a new 'reality novel' entitled The Making of Britflick and is described as all about the vicissitudes of being a writer on a feature film that manages to get made despite all the odds. It is currently available as an e-book from Amazon, with a hardcopy available next spring. [with thanks to Richard Bignell, 17 Dec 2011]

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Meanwhile, the announcement by Steven Moffat that Amy and Rory would be departing has set the bookies off on their predictions of who might assume the vacancy in the TARDIS, though predictably lacking the imagination to consider a male as the Doctor's next sidekick.

Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay is considered the favourite by Ladbrokes at 4/1, with The Curse of the Black Spot's Lily Cole at 6/1, Matt Smith's close friend Daisy Lowe at 10/1, and Strictly Come Dancing runner up Chelsee Healey at 12/1.

United Kingdom

A Dalek lent its aid towards 'exterminating' prejudice and inequalities at Sunderland College. Joe Leggett, director of learning support, said: "We were trying to think of a creative way of explaining diversity and engaging with the students. In Dr Who, the Daleks have a very hierarchical society, with prejudices within their ranks based on their colour." [Sunderland Echo, 13 Dec 2011]

Meanwhile, another Dalek has been immortalised in Lego by the Addis family in Huntingdon. The seven foot Christmas-themed creation was constructed from over 100,000 bricks as part of a eighteen year personalised Christmas card tradition. Catherine Addis said: "'We thought we'd have a bit of fun this year and build something a bit out of the ordinary - but obviously, we want to keep it quite festive. You get a great feeling of satisfaction once the model it complete - all our friends are so complimentary of it, it really makes all the hard work worthwhile." [Daily Mail, BBC News, 15/16 Dec 2011]

A Cyberman went on patrol at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, as part of a promotion for the forthcoming Big Blue Box convention being held there on 14th January. The event is raising money for the local charity which helps disabled people, Compaid, and will see a number of Doctor Who names appearing including Louise Jameson (Leela), Paul Magrs and Jonathan Morris (writers). Compaid's chief executive Stephen Elsden said: "Big Blue Box marks the first ever fan convention for Doctor Who in Tunbridge Wells, which has a long history of associations with the show. From a screening of a classic Peter Cushing Dalek movie to more recent fan films, we will be taking full advantage of Trinity’s superb theatre." [Stephen Elsden/Compaid, Kent News, 14 Dec 2011]

Basil Brush is appearing at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton in Aladdin, and imparted a joke from his co-star: "I like Bobby Davro. I collect jokes and he told me a good one. What is Dr Who’s favourite food? Dalek bread. He is my friend for life now." [Northampton Chronicle, 16 Dec 2011]

United States

Rory Williams aka Arthur Darvill has made it through the first round of Chicago Redeye's Best TV Character Tournament. The Doctor Who character was up against True Blood's Eric Northman and won the face-off with 50%/49%. Round two has started with Rory facing Breaking Bad's Walter White and continues until the end of the week. [Chicago Redeye, 14 Dec 2011]

Update: Rory made it through round two, easily beating Walter White with 63% to 36%. The quarter final sees him against Sons of Anarchy's Clay Morrow, which at the time of writing sees the Doctor's travelling companion way ahead with 71% to 28%. Voting ends on Tuesday.

Skokie resident Allegra Rosenburg is a local Doctor Who fan celebrity thanks to her love of "Trock Rock" aka "Time Lord Rock", a sub-genre of pop that celebrates the show. The teenager is popular at conventions, and has even been praised by writer Neil Gaiman who said: "Took me 3 years of scribbling and rewrites to make 45 minutes of Dr. Who, summed up in 2:29 by a smart girl with a ukulele." [Chicago Tribune, 14 Dec 2011]

Australia

Cultureshock Events have announced two special evenings with sci-fi actor Mark Sheppard (Canton, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon), taking place in February. The actor will be the guest for Q&As in Sydney (7th) and Brisbane (8th), following on from hosting the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Melbourne on the 4th February. [Dallas Jones/Cultureshock Events, 17 Dec 2011]

Doctor Who Showrunner Steven Moffat has announced that the next series of Doctor Who will see the departure of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill when the story of Amy and Rory comes to an end.

Speaking at the press screening of the Christmas Episode, The Doctor The Widow and The Wardrobe, Moffat confirmed that the duo will rejoin the Doctor in the TARDIS for the next series of the show, but that sometime during the series the couple's story will come to a heartbreaking end.

Moffat teased that he wouldn't say when, and certainly not how, the couple would leave, but that it would happen during the series and then their story would be over.

Matt Smith was asked if he would be sad to see Gillan leave. A new companion, who has yet to be cast, will be joining the Doctor.

The press launch was held in Studio One at Television Centre in London, where many episodes of the classic series of Doctor Who were recorded. It was attended by a specially invited audience, including several MPs including Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and, reportedly, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

For a full report, including an audio clip of the announcement, see Life of Wylie.

Steven Moffat was a guest (alongside Matt Smith!) this afternoon on BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon Show, during which the question of the potential "reboot" film being made came up; he responded:
The complete interview with Matt and Steven - which covers the first hour of the programme - can be heard on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

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Meanwhile, the Express suggests that David Tennant is set to return to the role of the Doctor for the movie:

Karen Gillan considers what she'd like to do in the future: "I want to do more theatre. I want to do more stage. I have a real passion for it. I want to do it as much as screen stuff, in all honesty, so that would be really amazing. Maybe something on Broadway. I'd love to do that. Not a musical, maybe like a play on Broadway. I genuinely just want to do good work. I'm interested in character, whether that’s in a play or a film or an indie film." [Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec 2011]

In the immediate future, however, the actress can be heard early next year narrating Scottish Passport 2012, a new STV series which will see a host of celebrities travel to a range of holiday locations across the world, including South Africa, Taiwan, Morocco and Ibiza. [4 Traders, 15 Dec 2011]

Meanwhile, the BBC have released a publicity photo for We'll Take Manhattan, the drama starring Karen Gillan as Jean Shrimpton and Aneurin Barnard as photographer David Bailey.

Matt Smith was a guest at 11 Downing Street for a special Christmas party arranged by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne for forty terminally ill children, which included face-painting, balloon animals and games. [Daily Mail, 15 Dec 2011]

Holly Earl (Lily, The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe) talks about working with her co-stars: "How lucky am I getting to work with Claire Skinner? She is just so lovely. She's so funny as well; we had a good laugh on set. I’d seen a few episodes of Outnumbered, I think it's hilarious, luckily I wasn’t too star struck when I first met her. Oh, Matt Smith is so much fun, I'm so lucky! He's just got so much energy; he always brings out the best in you every take. His energy makes him such a good Doctor. Even in between takes he was so much fun, he was a dream to work with. He was really welcoming. Little Maurice (Cole) is like my brother now, he’s such a character. He's so talented and so mature for his age. He's got wisdom far beyond his years! Even when we first met we felt like a family and all had a connection." [Cultbox, 15 Dec 2011]

Alexander Armstrong has launched a £1m appeal to safeguard the future of the Lit & Phil in Newcastle, the largest independent library outside of London of which he is president. "I'm quite fanatical about this place because this is one of the reasons why the North East has taken off as a huge centre, philosophically and scientifically. There are so many fabulous things about this place, it was a very important centre for scientific research. That's the philosophical side of it because they didn't really call it science in those days, it was natural philosophy." [Journal Live, 15 Dec 2011]

The much acclaimed London production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate is now available to stream or download from Digital Theatre.

The production, which ran to full houses at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End, breaking all previous Box Office records for the theatre, was directed by Josie Rourke and saw David Tennant play Benedict with Catherine Tate as Beatrice.

48 hour rental costs £5.99, or you can download the play for £8.99 (£10.99 HD)

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Simon Callow, who played Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead and The Wedding of River Song, will be performing excerpts from his new book Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World in Portsmouth on Tuesday 7th February 2012 - exactly 200 years after the birth of the author in the self-same city.

The performance takes place at the New Theatre Royal, which has previously staged semi-professional productions of Fury From The Deep, The Evil of the Daleks, and The Dalek Masterplan (based on The Daleks' Master Plan).

Matt Smith reflects on the cancellation of Doctor Who Confidential: "It's a pity as I think it's a show which can reinvent itself year on year and it's one of the biggest shows on BBC3. But I guess people come in and have new ideas and want to have their own fresh take on it but, hey, some you win, some you lose..." [What's on TV, 8 Dec 2011]

Arthur Darvill was on hand to open a new PlayPod in the playground at Whitehall Infant School, Walsall. Installed by charity Children's Scrapstore, the play area was made with the practical application of scrap material. The actor said: "“It’s simple-looking from the outside, but a world of magic and wonder within. Watching the children playing with all this stuff I wonder how we haven't thought of it before. It's fantastic to see the kids having so much fun with things that would otherwise be thrown away." [Birmingham Mail, 10 Dec 2011]

Elisabeth Sladen has featured in the Top Ten Actresses to trend during 2011 on the social communication network Twitter. The actress, who died in April, was the fifth most discussed of the year, with Elizabeth Taylor topping the trend category. [Twitter Year in Review: Hot Topics, Dec 2011]

John Barrowman has appeared in a video promoting pet travel with Virgin Atlantic, during which he talks about his three dogs and how he feels about the service provided by the airline. [Virgin Atlantic via YouTube, 8 Dec 2011]

Paul McGann will be the subject of In Conversation With ..., to take place at Liverpool's St George’s Hall Concert Room in February. The interview includes clips and photographs of the actor's life and work, and will also see his five favourite songs performed live on stage. The event is rounded off with a Q&A from the audience. McGann said: "I was thrilled to be asked, then bashful terror set in until my mate David Morrissey calmed me down and assured me, having done it himself, that you can’t actually die from talking about your life and work in a beautiful room surrounded by friends and family and your favourite music. Guess I will just have to trust him!" [Click Liverpool, 8 Dec 2011]