
The BBC have confirmed the actor
Tom Riley is to appear in the third episode of the new series of
Doctor Who.
The actor played Leonardo da Vinci in
Da Vinci's Demons, the American historical fantasy drama series which presented a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life. Other roles include playing Romeo in
St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold alongside David Tennant, Raymond Boynton in
Agatha Christie's Poirot: Appointment with Death, Dave Beethoven in the BBC's
Freezing and Dr Laurence Shepherd in
Monroe the ITV British medical drama series.
The new edition of Doctor Who Magazine reveals that joining Riley in the episode will be actor
Trevor Cooper, who last appeared in Doctor Who in 1985 when he played Takis in the Sixth Doctor story
Revelation of the Daleks. Other guest stars include
Ian Halland, who played director Richard Martin in last year's docu-drama
An Adventure in Space and Time;
David Benson, who played Noël Coward in the 1998 comedy
Goodnight Sweetheart;
Sabrina Bartlett, who plays Hannah in Channel 5's
Suspects; and
Roger Ashton-Griffiths, best known for numerous film roles, including Terry Gilliam's
The Brothers Grimm and Martin Scorsese's
Gangs of New York.
The episode will be written by
Mark Gatiss, who recently
confirmed he has been commissioned to write two new episodes. It will form part of the third production block of the series, directed by
Paul Murphy, whose work includes
Wizards vs Aliens,
Trollied,
Casualty,
Waterloo Road and
Grange Hill.
The second episode of the third production block is episode 6, which will be written by
Gareth Roberts, whose previous stories include
The Shakespeare Code,
The Unicorn and the Wasp,
Planet of the Dead,
The Lodger, and
Closing Time as well as a number of episodes of
The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Guest stars in episode 6 include
Nigel Betts, who played Eddie Hope in
Emmerdale,
Edward Harrison, who has appeared in many stage roles as well as appearing in
Doctors;
Andy Gillies, who appeared in
Love Soup,
Ellis George and
Jimmy Vee, a veteran of Doctor Who whose previous roles include the Graske, the Moxx of Balhoon and Bannakaffalatta in
Voyage of the Damned.
The readthrough for the episodes took place on Thursday 20th March in Cardiff, with recording now taking place.