Next Wednesday January 21 sees the release of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #7 by Rob Williams & Warren Pleece, and Titan has released a preview of the issue.

​Comes with three covers to collect!​

The BBC has released details for Series Nine of Doctor Who, which began filming in Cardiff at the start of last week.

The episodes currently being filmed are written by Toby Whithouse whose first worked on the series in 2006, when he wrote School Reunion, the story which saw the reintroduction of Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 into the series. He also wrote The Vampires of Venice, The God Complex and A Town Called Mercy for the Eleventh Doctor, as well as an episode of Torchwood.

Steven Moffat, lead writer and Executive Producer, said,On set filming for the new series, Peter Capaldi addedJoining the Doctor and Clara in the story will be Paul Kaye who is known for playing Thoros of Myr in the third series of Game of Thrones. In the 1990's he was better known for creating Dennis Pennis, the shock interviewer who ambushed celebrities with bizarre questions. Kaye is also well-known for being the voice of Vincent the fox on the puppet-based BBC comedy Mongrels.

Commenting on his role, Paul Kaye, saidAlso starring in the episodes will be Morven Christie who recently played the role of Amanda in the crime drama Grantchester and featured in Death in Paradise (2014) and Twenty Twelve.

Other guest artists in the story include Arsher Ali who played the part of Malik Suri in the critically acclaimed The Missing (BBC One) and Colin McFarlane who appeared in EastEnders as part of the Who Killed Lucy Beale? storyline. McFarlane provided an alien voice in the 2007 Christmas story Voyage of the Damned as well as appearing in Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Actress Sophie Stone also appears in the show for the first time. Stone was the lead actress in the play Woman of Flowers and has appeared in Midsummer Murders and Casualty. Also confirmed for roles in the double episode are Zaqi Ismail, Steven Robertson and Neil Fingleton.

While filming continues in Cardiff, plans are underway for location filming later in the series, with the show heading back to Spain according to a tweet from Director of photography Ali Asad. Last year's episode Kill The Moon was filmed on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, as was the 1984 story Planet of Fire. Spain has also been used for location work for The Two Doctors, Asylum of the Daleks and A Town Called Mercy.

The new series will be back in Autumn 2015.

Torchwood is coming back, at least in audio form, John Barrowman revealed during a press conference promoting his series Arrow.

Speaking during the 2015 Press Tour hosted by the Television Critics Association, as reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Metro and other media outlets, Barrowman indicated that plans are afoot to produce several BBC audio dramas based on the series, which was last on TV in 2011.

"My sister and I are discussing the possibility of writing one of them and whether or not that leads to something [on TV]," Barrowman said, though he noted that he is "full-time" on Arrow at the moment (though he also reiterated that the producers of Arrow have indicated their willingness to allow him to film a Torchwood special if the opportunity ever arises). His sister, Carole E. Barrowman, has co-written several novels with her brother, including the Torchwood novel Exodus Code. Barrowman says "three or four" plays are planned.

No timeframe for production or broadcast was offered by Barrowman, who likewise did not say whether or not other Torchwood cast members (past or recent) will participate beyond teasing that at least one story will feature "the whole" Torchwood team. However, he did say that Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner, producers of Torchwood (and, of course, former producers of Doctor Who) will be involved.

Fantom Publishing have announced their plans to release a biography of Anthony Ainley, who played the Doctor's rival the Master in some nine full stories during the course of the 1980s, not to mention 'hosting' the computer game Destiny of the Doctors.


The book is now available for pre-order from the Fantom website and will be published exclusively through them from May 2015 until its trade release later in the year.

A crowdfunding campain on indiegogo launched yesterday to fund the first ever Doctor Who convention held in Germany. At the same time the website to the event went online. The organisers previously only communicated via Facebook to the fans.

The event will take place in Kassel, on 24th to 25th October 2015. Guests announced so far are:

• Catrin Stewart ("Jenny Flint")
• Nicola Bryant ("Peri Brown")
• Terry Molloy ("Davros")
• Toby Hadoke (Actor, Comedian, Podcaster for Big Finish)
• Jason Haigh-Ellery (Co-executive producer of Big Finish)
• Terrance Dicks (Writer, Script-editor)
• Andrew Cartmel (Writer, Script-editor)

Other guests include german dubbing-actors and -producers. According to the organisers of TimeLash, there are still more guests to be added to the line-up in the coming weeks.

Tickets are available on indiegogo. Since the launch of the campaign yesterday, the convention already achieved 40% of its goal and sold 112 weekend-tickets out of 500 available. The campaign on indiegogo runs for 60 days.

Monday marks the 50th Anniversary of the first screening of Doctor Who in Australia.

Although New Zealand first saw the series in September 1964, the series didn't reach Australia until 1965. The series had been purchased from the BBC in March 1964 and initially planned for premiere in May. However the Australian Film Censorship Board (AFCB) classified the series' first thirteen episodes 'A', meaning they were only suitable for an adult audience, thus preventing the ABC from showing the series in the 6:30pm Sunday timeslot they'd intended to use.

The series was therefore first screened in Perth, capital of Western Australia, by ABC station, ABW-2 on Tuesday 12 January 1965.

It was the days before satellite links, so the 16mm film print of the story had to be flown around the country for broadcasts to the different states. Sydney was the second city to screen the series, three days later on January 15th along with various New South Wales Country stations and the Australian Capital Territory. This was followed by screenings on 22nd January for Brisbane and Toowoomba in Queensland. The series reached Victoria on 20th February when Melbourne and various Victorian country stations screened the series. On the 4th March it was back in Queensland in Townsville before flying South to Adelaide where it was screened on 15th March. On the 18th March it was transmitted from Rockhampton before crossing the Bass Strait for broadcast on 11th June to viewers in Hobart and Launceston.

Many ABC stations had not been opened by January 1965, 10 opened in 1965 and a further 14 in 1966. The staggered launch dates of the stations that opened after 1965 meant that viewers in the country were introduced to Doctor Who well into the run, and often part way through a story. Some areas did not even have an ABC transmitter, so missed out altogether.

Final figures now confirm that Doctor Who: Last Christmas finished as the 7th most watched programme on British Television for the Week.

The episode, which has 8.28 million watching, had a share of 31.6% of the total TV audience.

The Boxing Day repeat on BBC Three had a final audience of 0.48 million viewers, a share of 2% of the total audience. It had an AI of 84.

SPACE have reported that the Christmas Special Last Christmas not only ranked as the channel's most popular show over Christmas, but also the highest ranked programme on the channel so far this broadcast year.

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine is published this week, and features an interview with Jenna Coleman, during which she discusses the loves and lives of Clara Oswald:

Also inside this issue:

• Rachel Talalay, director of the 2014 series finale two-part finale, reveals the secrets of how Death in Heaven was brought to the screen.
• Peter Purves, who starred as companion Steven Taylor in the 1960s, talks in-depth about his time on Doctor Who.
• Discover fascinating new facts about the acclaimed seventh Doctor story The Greatest Show in Galaxy in The Fact of Fiction.
• Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers’ questions – including the knotty problem of the Doctor's many wives! – in his exclusive column.
• Writer David Fisher, who wrote three memorable stories for the fourth Doctor in the 1970s, revisits his work.
• The Doctor and Clara face Sontarans and Nazis as The Instruments of War continues, a brand-new comic strip written and illustrated by Mike Collins.
• Sarah Jane and the Brigadier are reunited, as the Time Team watch The Sarah Jane Adventures: Enemy of the Bane.
• Jaqueline Rayner wonders how the Doctor's companions would get on in the Cubs in Relative Dimensions.
• Last Christmas is put under the spotlight in The DWM Review.
• The Watcher considers the many surprising ways that Doctor Who stories can change from script to screen in Wotcha!.
• The Watcher gives the answers to his Fiendishly Festive Christmas Quiz! How well did you do?
• Have your say on Peter Capaldi’s first series as the Doctor in the DWM Season Survey.

Plus the DWM Crossword, prize-winning competitions, and much more!

Doctor Who finished Christmas Day as the Sixth most watched programme on British television for the day.

Final figures, which include those who record the programme and watch within seven days, give Last Christmas a final rating of 8.28 million viewers. The rating is down from the 11.14 million achieved the previous year when The Time of the Doctor saw the departure of the Eleventh Doctor. Ratings across the board are down with no programme reaching ten million viewers in the whole Christmas week. Top of the list was Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas Special which had 9.7 million watching, down from 11.52 million last year.

The final figures don't include those watching on iPlayer where Doctor Who had 1.06 million requests during Christmas week. Overall it was the 9th most requested programme, losing the title of Most requested programme over Christmas, a title it has held since the iPlayer was introduced. Top Gear topped the list this year, airing the controversial episodes filmed in Patagonia.

Victoria Jaye, Head of TV Content for BBC iPlayer has posted a blog praising the success of the iPlayerDoctor Who's finished between 6th and 8th for the week. Final figures will be confirmed later in the week when full ITV HD and +1 figures are released.