People Roundup

Peter Davison comments on convention experiences: "When I come to a Who convention, I quite often get given books people have written, stories people have written - I got one at a recent convention which turned out to be a kind of Fifty Shades of Grey take on it. Fascinating it was. I've always loved the fandom (which) seem to be an extraordinarily tolerant bunch of people, and I mean this in the nicest way, because it's every kind of facet of the human condition that you see at every kind of convention." [ComicBookResources, 26 Oct 2012]

Nicholas Briggs has his own thoughts on conventions: "I love to see the enthusiasm of fans, because I'm a fan of the show, too. And I think they are all extremely important in nourishing a growing community, yes. Absolutely. The growing popularity of Doctor Who is a beautiful thing to behold. I remember times when it had become very unfashionable. So I'm delighted with this incredible resurgence." [Chronicle Herald, 24 Oct 2012]

Toby Jones is to appear as Alfred Hitchcock in a new HBO film called The Girl. The storyline revolves around the director's relationship with actress Tippi Hedren; Jones commented: "I hope it's fair in that it's based on several testimonies, not just Tippi's testimony. I hope I have been able to make him not a monster. He behaves monstrously at one point, but hopefully it's balanced out." Mentioning his time on Doctor Who, the actor said: "For my children it's about the coolest thing I could be in. It was great to do that." [Anglophenia, 20 Oct 2012]

Scott Bakula told audiences at the London Star Trek convention that he had been offered the role of Isaac in A Town Called Mercy, but filming clashed with other work commitments. The actor said that he'd become a fan of the new series after catching episodes shown when in the UK last year. [London Excel, 21 Oct 2012]

Last time we reported on the musical The Lightning Child being composed by Arthur Darvill for the Globe Theatre; unfortunately his studio equipment was stolen during a break-in: "I've lost everything I've written in the last 18 months, including all the music for the play, which is a nightmare. Luckily, I'd emailed lots of bits so I'm in the process of trying to get stuff back. But it's inspired me to go, 'I've got nothing here, I can write a lot of new stuff." [Standard, 25 Oct 2012]

Russell T Davies was one of the judges for the Wales Drama Award; he said of the winner, Katherine Chandler: "The six finalists were excellent and any of them could have won; in the end you're looking for an individual voice and what I loved about Katherine's piece (Parallel Lines, about a teacher-pupil relationship) is the fact it's a very strong play. She has so much to say about the world. You always need competitions or schemes or apprenticeships to encourage new writing. There's nothing more scary than sitting at home with your ideas and a computer but you have nowhere to send the script. But competitions open the door to you. There's nothing television needs more than new talent. Television eats material – you can’t find enough, even if it feels like the opposite when you're outside the system." [Wales Online, 26 Oct 2012]

Gareth David-Lloyd talks about the Torchwood legacy on his career: " I suppose you do get typecast in a way and people sort of do recognise you as 'the gay one from Torchwood' and maybe there's some auditions that you may not be seen for because of that, but if you look at the perks on the other hand, with all the places I've been, it's been great. I'm talking to you now, currently stood on a balcony looking over the rooftops of Prague because I'm doing a convention here on the weekend." [Brisbane Times, 31 Oct 2012]