Christmas Special to begin production

The read-through for this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special took place yesterday (2nd August), with the show's Facebook page releasing a tantalising glimpse of the cover page for the script (title redacted!). The Special will see the series debut of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara, though a number of episodes have already been recorded with the newest TARDIS traveller. Guest stars for the Special have yet to be revealed.

Principal photography is expected to kick off in the next couple of days, with a number of 'familiar' locations being pressed into action. Monday-Tuesday next week will see Cardiff's Coal Exchange in use once again; the building has appeared in a number of episodes over the years, including the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned where it became the Titanic passenger lounge. Wednesday-Thursday will then see a visit to Fields House in Newport; though used as the Angels' haunt in Blink, this time filming will instead take place in the renovated half of the building (the lounge of which can be seen in Steven Moffat's other series Sherlock's A Scandal in Belgravia as Irene Adler's apartment). And at the far end of the month the production team will descend upon Treowen Manor on Bank Holiday Monday, whose notable staircase played a 'starring' role as part of Torchwood House during Tooth and Claw.