People Roundup

Paul McGann has joined the list of former Doctors and companions who have indicated an interest in being involved in Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary: "Being Doctor Who, there's always anniversaries looming large - celebration programmes and episodes. I'm often asked, 'If they get the five Doctors together, would you do it?' and of course, I'd do it. They've just got to ring me up! Although I was [in] Doctor Who for six weeks, sixteen years ago, it never goes away - it only ever seems to get stronger - I'd love to do that again, but that's not up to me." [Digital Spy, 15 Mar 2012]

Three Doctor Who-related names join the principal cast of What The Butler Saw, which opens in the West End in May. The lead character of Dr. Prentice will be played by Tim McInnerny, with his wife to be played by Samantha Bond and secretary by Georgia Moffett. [Playbill, 15 Mar 2012]

Mark Gatiss talks about creating his appearance for his character Mr Snow in Being Human: "I wanted to have red hair, because you never have ginger vampires, and terrible teeth, and these really dirty fingernails. And they gave me everything I wanted. So there's lots of lovely close-ups of my filthy hands and terrible teeth. He's about 3000 years old, he's literally rotting from the inside." [Guardian, 15th Mar 2012]

The Fourth Doctor, aka Tom Baker, was the subject of a Forbes "Geek Picture of the Day", depicting him in costume with two Daleks for a publicity photo in 1975. [Forbes, 16 Mar 2012]

Maureen Lipman is to be one of the guests in Matt Lucas's new comedy show The Matt Lucas Awards. It will air on BBC One in the spring. [BBC Media Centre, 16 Mar 2012]

Talking of awards, June Whitfield was honoured with a proper one at this year's TRIC Awards. The Television and Radio Industries Club event, held at the Grosvenor House in London, saw her given the TRIC Special Award. Sian Williams was named Best Newscaster/Reporter. [BBC News, 14 Mar 2012]

Steven Moffat, John Simm, James Corden and The Sarah Jane Adventures lost out last night in their respective categories at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, but Moffat's mother-in-law, Beryl Vertue, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. While representing writers at Associated London Scripts, Vertue negotiated Terry Nation's partial rights deal for the Daleks. Among her many other achievements, she founded the production company Hartswood Films, which makes the BBC One series Sherlock, co-created by Moffat and Mark Gatiss. At the awards ceremony, Russell Tovey jointly won (with Sarah Solemani) the Best Comedy Performance prize for the BBC Three anti-romantic comedy Him And Her. Full details of the awards ceremony - which, as with the TRIC Awards, was held at the Grosvenor House in London - are online here.

Michael E Briant is to publish his memoirs about his time on Doctor Who. The director's connection with the show stretches back to the 1965 story The Crusade, for which he was assistant floor manager. He was subsequently production assistant on a number of stories before notching up his first directorial credit on Colony In Space in 1971. Briant directed five more stories, finishing with The Robots of Death in 1977. Who Is Michael E Briant?, to be published by Classic TV Press, comes in at 216 pages and is due out on 4th May 2012. It can be pre-ordered here.

Talking of memoirs, a heartfelt and public thank-you has been said via one to Janet Fielding by writer Grant Gordon. In a piece taken from his forthcoming memoir Cobras In The Rough, Gordon recalls being a 12-year-old desperate to see the actress at the 1983 Longleat convention and how ensuring that he got his wish proved to be his father's salvation, following financial and personal problems. [Independent, 17 Mar 2012]