The annual Portal Awards have been announced by Airlock Alpha, and sees Doctor Who represented in a number of categories:

• Matt Smith is once again nominated as Best Actor - as with last year he faces Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead) and Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13), plus this year's nominees Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones).
• Similarly, Karen Gillan is nominated in the Best Actress - she again faces last year's winner Anna Torv (Fringe) and runner-up Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), plus Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13) and Amanda Tapping (Sanctuary).
• The third member of TARDIS crew, Arthur Darvill, also gets a look-in this year as he is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor; he'll face Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones), last year's winner John Noble (Fringe), and Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13).
• Series regular Alex Kingston is also nominated again in the Best Special Guest(TV) category for her appearance in Let's Kill Hitler - she out last year to Leonard Nimoy, who's in the list again this year for Fringe. The other nominees are Misha Collins (Supernatural), Jaime Murray (Warehouse 13) and Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story).
• The representative for Best Episode this year is taken up by A Good Man Goes To War, which will face Brave New World from Fringe, Emily Lake from Warehouse 13, Ghost of Harrenhal from Game of Thrones, and Slash Fiction from Supernatural. (Last year's nomination was also from the sixth series, The Doctor's Wife, with the nomination criteria for this year being shows broadcast since 1st June 2011!)
• This year's Best Series include Doctor Who, last year's winner Game of Thrones, Fringe, Supernatural and Warehouse 13.
• Elisabeth Sladen was nominated for the Gene Roddenberry Award last year, but lost out to J.J. Abrams; the late actress is nominated again this year and faces Doctor Who/Sherlock maestro Steven Moffat, as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs, DeForest Kelly, and George R.R. Martin.

The full list of categories are available from Airlock Alpha, and fans will be able to vote once a day between 25th June and 25th July.

Last week saw the final scenes recorded on location for the characters Amy and Rory, aka Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill - the latter who comes 'full circle' as the location at St. Cadoc's Hospital in Caerleon was where he filmed his first day on location back in 2009!

Their last scenes to be filmed come from the penultimate episode for the Ponds, the fourth of the next series. Their departure on screen will be in the following episode, the fifth, which was recorded last month. After the final shots were completed Karen Gillan tweeted "And that's a wrap! Bye bye from the ponds. We love you."

The final scenes were observed by several of the production team past and present, including lead writer Steven Moffat and former executive producers Piers Wenger and Beth Willis, with a party taking place afterwards to celebrate.

Another 'closure' took place on Friday, with the final day's production at Upper Boat. The studios, located in Pontypridd just outside Cardiff, have been home to Doctor Who since the third series and have also been the base for Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. The complex was the first BBC studio centre totally dedicated to drama, and was set up in the wake of the success of Doctor Who following the series' revival in 2005. Production will now continue in full at the new purpose-built studios at Roath Lock in Cardiff Bay.



With Karen and Arthur's final scenes recorded, the "handover" to new girl Jenna-Louise Coleman will begin filming shortly, though as with previous introductions her first story to be recorded may not be her first story on screen!

Eve Myles talks about the roles she would like: "I’d love to do Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - I do enjoy playing big, strong, feisty females. I am too old, but I would have loved to play Dorothy. (and on television) Sherlock – it is really hot. I also love Upstairs Downstairs. I am proud it gets made in Cardiff." [Radio Times, 11 Apr 2012]

Lesley Sharp commented on working with Russell T Davies: "I would go anywhere and do anything for Russell. We did some great work 10 years ago – the TV series Bob & Rose and The Second Coming. It's not true that he wanted me to be the first female Doctor Who, but I would if he asked, obviously." [Observer, 15 Apr 2012]

Matt Smith's sister Laura talks about her influence on his acting aspirations: "When I was 18 I landed a lead role in the West End production of Saturday Night Fever; Matt came to see the show 57 times and I knew he had to have more than a passing interest in performing so I persuaded him to pursue it." However, not all of her ideas came to pass: "I had a friend who worked on Footballers' Wives so I covered Matt in fake tan, gelled his hair, made him wear salmon pink trousers and sent him for an audition - he didn't get the part, which was probably a good thing... that kind of look definitely isn't him!" [Daily Mail, 14 Apr 2012]

John Barrowman spoke about the representation of gay characters on US television during his panel at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, held last weekend: "There's more gays and lesbians represented on American television than anywhere else in the world, and I think that's a fantastic thing. I just don’t think that they're always represented in the right way. I think that there's a diversity amongst [members of the community]. Everybody is different. We're got butch, we've got macho, we've got effeminate — you name it, we've got it. But it always seems that they're portrayed in the effeminate. So I was quite proud to be an action hero. I was quite proud to be an action man, a hero to young men and women, and also gay and lesbian women who could actually look myself and Scott. We are men. We just happen to like men ... If I had someone like Captain Jack when I was younger to look up to, I wouldn't have had to have hidden who I was for a long time, because I would have been proud to be who I was at the age of 8 and 9 when I knew that I was gay. I am exceptionally proud of it. Not every gay man or gay woman agrees with me on how I feel, but that's my opinion and you asked for it and I appreciate that you did ask, so there you go." [Comic Book Resources, 15 Apr 2012]

The actor also got to meet and get the autograph of author Anne Rice at the event! [Anne Rice Net on YouTube, 15 Apr 2012]

Script editor and long-term Doctor Who writer/producer Gary Russell will be appearing at Comic Guru in Wood Street, Cardiff, from midday to 5pm this coming Saturday, signing copies of much of his literary output over the years. The shop has also recorded an interview with Russell, which is being released via their YouTube channel; the first five are available now: 1 2 3 4 5

When joining Twitter, Karen Gillan discovered the hard way what fame can do as her co-star Arthur Darvill observed: "so Karen has NOT turned off her email notifications and her battery has died. Cue 50000 emails. Today just got so much better.«". The actress responded: "Someone could have told me to turn off my email notifications when I joined twitter today Arthur. Plus side? That many cyber friends.«"

Amidst all the Dalek-media-mania of the last fortnight, Dave Saunders (who possesses two originals from the Hartnell/Troughton era), said: "My uncle was a Dalek operator in the 1960s, and I took over in the 1980s. It was tremendous fun. I had to sit inside the Dalek on a wooden platform and operate it all with my feet and hands. The Dalek was on wheels and you would make it move by moving your feet, very much how you would make an office chair move. During rehearsals you had to follow dotted lines that were put on the studio floor and then remember the moves when they were taken away for the action scenes. You also had to wear a black hood so you could not be seen through the mesh of the Dalek’s head." [Shropshire Star, 12 Apr 2012]

(there are more Dalek tales, courtesy of The Sun, 12th April)

The recent Virgin Media adverts starring David Tennant alongside Richard Branson have been pulled from television - in a joint statement between the company and the BBC they said: "Virgin Media has listened to concerns raised by BBC Worldwide about perceived commercial endorsement by the BBC/a BBC brand relating to the recent Virgin Media advertisement. As a gesture of goodwill Virgin Media has agreed to withdraw transmission of the advertisement and BBC Worldwide is now satisfied that the issue has been addressed." [BBC News, 18 Apr 2012]

AudioGo:

The Doctor is well and truly in the dark in two May releases from AudioGO.

The classic-era audio release Doctor Who: The Sensorites, which was novelised by Nigel Robinson, is read by William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton in the original TV serial.
Written specially for audio by Steve Lyons, Day of the Cockroach features the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory and is read by Arthur Darvill.

Both Doctor Who: The Sensorites and Day of the Cockroach are released on 1st May in download form and on 3rd May as CDs. The Sensorites CD release can be pre-ordered here and the Day of the Cockroach CD release pre-ordered here.

---

From stories to sound effects, and AudioGO has teamed up with Discovery Records for a limited-edition reissue of two 1970s vinyl LPs featuring the work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Out of This World and Doctor Who Sound Effects have been digitally remastered for re-release on coloured vinyl on 21st April to coincide with Record Store Day.

Both albums are being reissued with their original sleeve artwork and notes.

Martin Cobb, of Discovery Records, told Doctor Who News:

The Scarifyers:

Philip Madoc can be heard in his last acting role in the forthcoming new Scarifyers audio play The Horror of Loch Ness.

The Cosmic Hobo Productions drama, to be released on June 4th as a double CD and download, also stars David Warner and Terry Molloy.

Simon Barnard, of Cosmic Hobo Productions, said:

Planet Skaro:

Planet Skaro Audios has released its Season Four finale, The Next Universe - a three-part adventure by Si Hunt and Simon Hart.

A trailer for the story is available here.

Episode 1: Why is the Doctor disappearing out of all his time streams? And what is wrong with time?

Episode 2: Can the two Doctors and his companions survive the deadly game of Rassilon?

Episode 3: Far in the future a deadly trap waits for the Doctor, but who's really behind it?

Planet Skaro Audios was started six years ago, and spokesman Richard Brinck-Johnsen said:

Filming Update:

Filming continued on the series yesterday with work progressing in studio with the Dalek opener, generating banter between Steven Moffat and Arthur Darvill on Twitter. SM:"After extensive deliberation, THE DOCTOR HAS SPOKEN. Matt Smith likes the sixties Dalek best.«" - SM:"This just in: Amy Pond concurs. The Last Centurian has yet to speak.«" - AD:"I could tweet several incriminating pictures of my favourites but I feel they may be. . . How do you say? . . . Spoilers?«". Moffat then released a photo illustrating the object of their discussion ...

John Sheppard, part of the FX crew, also commented on proceedings: "Job Saturday, watching Dr Who's Daleks explode at the Dr Who studios Wales. Working with Real SFX.« Call time confirmed 08.00 at the Dr Who studios, for Dalek explosions. Looking forward to this one, big fan of the Daleks.« Dr Who set looking good, plenty of Dalek mayhem, Dalek FX explosion went very well, just.« Working late on Dr Who tonight, it was interesting to see all original Daleks since 1960 in one episode.« The gun area of the Dalek just missed me, whilst it flew past burning!«"

Sheppard also said: "Made it onto Dr Who Confidential, SFX and me talking about the Dalek explosion. Which really did go Boooooom!!«"; he later corrected himself, saying: "just a small correction, Confidential was cancelled, I'm led to believe, but it's the same people who continue to film.«" - this last comment lends credence to a recent article in The Star in which it stated that there would be an online version of the behind-the-scenes show this series.

Media Coverage:

Jenna-Louise Coleman visited the Doctor Who studios last week, and said: "There were scenes built from all around the world. So I’m looking forward to going on all these big adventures. I think Ancient Rome would be great – to play Cleopatra would be good fun. Hopefully it'll happen. There’s no limit to what they do with the stories and where in time we can go. I'm excited to see where we go time travel-wise.". Talking about her future co-star, Matt Smith, she said: He's so full of energy which is infectious. Me joining him will be a new dynamic for the show and we'll be working hard to make that work." [The Star, 1 Apr 2012]

Ben Browder did a Q&A at the Australian OzComicCon Convention, during which he briefly mentioned his role in episode three: "I've just got back from the UK and Spain where I just did an episode of Doctor Who. I got the offer right in the middle of pilot season and my agent goes 'well you know you're going to miss some very big casting' and I went 'it's Doctor Who!' It was a very exciting moment, I got to work with the Doctor, I got to hold his hand. I have seen the inside of the TARDIS. I play a marshall in the 1870s." [full Q&A via YouTube, 31 Mar 2012]

Jenna-Louise Coleman:

Matt Smith discussed the casting of Jenna-Louise Coleman during an interview on the Roy Noble show, BBC Radio Wales, on 22nd March:

When speaking to Digital Spy about his new film The Pirates!, David Tennant also offered some advice to the new companion:

The actress herself appeared on This Morning on 27th March to promote Titanic, but briefly said of the announcement of her new role:

Talking to Radio Times about the secrecy surrounding her casting, Jenna said:
The full interview is in the new edition of Radio Times (31 Mar-6 Apr 2012), where the actress also explains how she had to describe her audition as being for Men On Waves (an anagram of Woman Seven).

Radio Times have also published a number of exclusive publicity photos of the actress, which can be found via their website here.

Casting::

Joanne McQuinn Joanne McQuinn is listed by Spotlight as playing Sadie (episode three). McQuinn is primarily known as Sally Moore in the BBC series Mistresses. She also appeared in Little Miss Jocelyn, The Bill, and Our Friends in the North, and played Zoë Lessard in the documentary Space Odyssey - Voyage of the Planets. In addition, she appeared in the film Fierce Creatures

David Gyasi David Gyasi has been reported by the Standard as appearing in the series in an interview with the actor. Gyasi can currently be seen as Victor in BBC2's White Heat. Other shows have included Apparitions, Demons, Waking the Dead, Murderland, and he played Jeremy Hands in Mike Bassett: Manager. He also appeared in the first series of Torchwood, playing hospital patient Will Harris in Combat.

Filming:

After all the Spanish excitement, filming continued in studio in the week leading up to the official convention, with Arthur Darvill providing Twitter followers with a little levity over lunch. Then, at the convention itself, executive producer Caroline Skinner presented followers with a "dimensionally transcendental" Steven Moffat!

A tweet from last Friday indicated some upside down antics on set, with DrakeAV reporting: "So excited! I got to pop into the Tardis and saw Karen Gillan hanging by a thread upside down screaming. Doctor...«. This was later confirmed by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill themselves at the official convention, with Karen saying that the length of time suspended led to some blood vessels bursting! Steven Moffat was alleged to be present during the shoot laughing at their predicament ...

Friday evening then saw a read-through for the current filming block, covering episodes one and five.

As previously reported, the production team are to take their second international trip next month when they film in New York as part of the production for episode five, Amy and Rory's final story which features the return of the Weeping Angels.

Meanwhile, production has continued in studio for episode one, the series opener that will feature the return of the Daleks. The teaser trailer this week included a brief glimpse of the Doctor's old adversary in the snow (believed to have been filmed in Spain as part of the shoot there earlier in the month), and the BBC have now released some teaser images of the Daleks in studio:


Filming is expected to continue in Cardiff next week at the university's School of Physics and Astronomy.

Unconfirmed Updates:

The Daily Star has reported that an online version of Doctor Who Confidential is to be made to accompany the next series. However, there has been no other confirmation of this elsewhere at present.

During the convention, attendees were able to take a tour of the existing TARDIS sets at the BBC's Upper Boat Studios. Speculation as to why the console room hadn't been transferred to the new Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff Bay seem to have been clarified now, with fan Robert Davis reporting: "At today's TARDIS tour crew let slip that this Console room is not moving to new studios - NEW redesigned TARDIS being built there!!!«"

Production Crew: Related Vacancy:

BBC Careers have listed a role within the BBC Wales Production Unit which, though not specifically advertised for Doctor Who, will encompass the show amongst others:
The role, based in Cardiff, is for internal applicants only, with a closing date of 12th April.

The stars of Doctor Who took time out of their busy schedule to talk to a number of Doctor Who news sites, including Doctor Who News, at the Official Doctor Who Convention which took place in Cardiff last weekend.

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill joined Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner to answer questions on the future of Doctor Who and the departure of Amy and Rory, as well as their thoughts on the convention and the fans' reaction to the series.

In The Media:

Matt Smith was interviewed on the TARDIS set by Steve Hargrave for ITV1's Daybreak, during which he discussed Karen Gillan's departure, and his and the show's future: she’s a great friend, and creatively I have a really interesting relationship with her and Arthur, but I think by the same token the show is bigger than any of us - it’s been going in 2013 fifty years and it will continue way after me. It’s a thrill playing the part - as you see, this is work, this is home, I spend a lot of time here - I don’t want to give it up anytime soon. We've got a whole season to make, a Christmas special as well, so no time soon, I won’t be leaving anytime soon." Additionally, the Radio Times quoted him as saying: "We’ll get this season out the way and see where I’m at. I take it season by season and I take the job day by day because there’s no other way you can do it." [The full interview can be watched via the Daybreak website]

Speaking a little more on her decision to leave, Gillan herself explained how she wanted to be involved with her departure: "Oh, yeah! It would be so weird to just receive a script and find out that it was the end. That would be really weird. Oh, my god, I don't know how I would feel about that. It was nice. I was just thinking about it and I had this instinct of when I wanted to leave, so I called Steven Moffat and we arranged dinner. He told me where he was at, story wise, and together we were like, "Okay, this is when we can do it." It was actually so lovely and pleasant, and we both felt that it was the right time. In all honesty, I've had the best years of my life working on the show, so I’m going to be so sad to go. I really am." And on knowing how she will leave? "I wanted to keep it a surprise, for as long as possible, and keep the excitement in there." [Collider, 2 Mar 2012]

Writer Toby Whithouse discussed the new companion: "To be honest it was probably more of a mutual decision than people would assume. These things tend to be kind of agreed, particularly the companions have a natural shelf life. I know a bit about the new companion, I don’t know who they cast and even if I did if I told you Steven Moffat would come out here and punch me in the neck. Steven is one of the cleverest, most inventive people I’ve ever met in my life, and so you know it is in very safe hands with him. If he makes decisions, the chances are it’s for the best, it’s the best thing for the show." [Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb 2012]

Steven Moffat talked about monsters in Doctor Who during press coverage for Sherlock in France: "I always say new monsters are better in Doctor Who because you fall in love with monsters when they're new. One of the temptations, particularly if it's a success is to keep repeating your hits, which means you hear it again and again and again." [Le Village, 28 Feb 2012]

Moffat has also intimated on Twitter that he has started work on 2012 Christmas Special: "Right then. It's that time of year already. I'm breaking out the Christmas songs ... !"

On Location:

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were spotted on their way to Spain in the morning on the 6th March, as various members of the public tweeted their journey to Heathrow: firstly by Vicky Cole at Paddington Station, "Just saw the girl from Doctor Who!« Now I've seen Doctor Who!«"; then Erin Sykes at Heathrow itself, "Just seen Doctor Who in the airport, just a casual thing for me to do on a Tuesday.« Yes, actually Matt Smith! We followed him;) but then he got on his plane!«". Arthur Darvill was then spotted in Madrid-Barajas airport itself by Javier Alonso Fontaneda, confirming the trio would be filming there, with a return to the UK expected on the 16th March.


The Spanish shoot has also been confirmed by Doctor Who Magazine on the front cover for the next issue, due out Thursday.

Meanwhile, domestic filming without the two stars is planned at Cardiff Business School.

The Rumour Zone:

Being asked about the Express rumour from the weekend about the potential casting of Benedict Cumberbatch in the 50th Anniversary special, Matt Smith said: "I know Ben and I've not heard anything about it,” admits Smith. “But he’s a wonderful actor and a mate. I think he’s a bit busy being a Star Trek villain, and he’s Sherlock Holmes of course, so he’s a busy man." [Daybreak, via Radio Times, 28 Feb 2012]

Episode titles for the series have yet to be revealed, but an early contender for episode three of four has emerged, potentially tying in with the expected filming in Spain in the next few weeks.

Production

In an interview with SFX, executive producer Caroline Skinner confirmed that the first recording block contains two individual stories (being directed by Saul Metzstein). On whether all the scripts were written, she said: "No, if only. But we’ve got a lot of them and the ones that are written are really, really epic and very exciting. (The opening episode) is indeed written by Steven and it’s going to blow everybody’s mind."

Speaking on the Richard Bacon Show, BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen talked about series developments: "The Doctor Who team are writing away. There are more episodes next year. We've got some big events coming up in the near future. So, stay tuned! I always try and keep things close to my chest with Doctor Who because there's such interest in it, and I think it's right that Steven Moffat and the team are the people that bring the news on Doctor Who to the audience rather than me."

Toby Whithouse talked to BBC America about writing for the new series: "My episode is in a genre I’ve never written before — frankly, no one has written in that genre for quite a while now. But I absolutely love it. Steven gives me a one-line pitch, and then I’ll go away and put together a story and so on. And he gave me a great one-line pitch for this, so I’m really excited about it. Doctor Who is always a joy to write. It never gets boring, it never gets dull, it never gets routine. It’s an incredibly difficult show to write because it’s remarkably complex, but it also has to have such momentum and pace. And within that there has to be room for character and humour and so on. It’s always a huge challenge but always extraordinary fun. That’s why I keep going back."

On Location

As well as production commencing on the new series last Monday, later in the week saw filming taking place at Southerndown Beach; the distinctive Dunraven Bay location has featured in a number of BBC Wales programmes, including Merlin and Being Human, and has been used previously in Doctor Who to represent an alien planet (Army of Ghosts), Bad Wolf Bay (Doomsday/Journey's End) and Alfava Metraxis (The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone). Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and Mark Williams were pictured during filming, which was covered by a number of media sources including The Sun, Radio Times, and the Western Mail.

Casting

According to Spotlight, Rudi Dharmalingham will feature in this block, playing the role of ISA Worker. The actor has had a number of small guest roles in recent series, including The Bill, Casualty and New Tricks. He has also undertaken a number of stage roles, including the international tour of History Boys.

The Rumour Zone

In her discussion with SFX about Worlds in Time, Caroline Skinner was also asked about the possibility of a foe returning to the series itself:

The Express has suggested that Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch might have a role to play in Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary. The traditional 'insider' said:

The BBC have released the first promotional photo and details for the new series of Doctor Who:

Casting Update

As well as Mark Williams (who was busy filming on Monday), additional guest stars for the series have now been announced:

Rupert Graves Graves has had a long film and television career, including roles in The Forsyte Saga (2002-2003), V for Vendetta (2005), and even The Famous Five (1979). He appeared alongside former Doctor David Tennant in Single Father, but is perhaps most recognisable currently as Inspector Lestrade in the Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss re-imagining of Sherlock.

David Bradley Another actor with a long career, Bradley has appeared on television ranging from A Family At War (1971) through to recent series like Five Daughters (2010), and has also worked with David Tennant, in Blackpool (2004). However, the actor is no stranger to the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who, having played a Shansheeth voice in The Death of the Doctor. He is probably most recognisable to the wider audience, though, as the scraggly caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film franchise.

Production Crew: Related Vacancy

BBC Careers have listed a job within Visual Effects for BBC Wales which, though not specifically advertised for Doctor Who, will encompass the show amongst others:
The role will "be responsible for delivering visual effects, to production requirements and standards, in either a support, or, lead role." Based in Cardiff, the closing date for applications is 4th March.