Bernard Cribbins is a firm supporter of the Surviving Winter campaign, which aims to help reduce isolation and vulnerability for older people. The actor said: "I am 100 per cent behind the campaign and delighted to be supporting it. I am going to donate my winter fuel allowance to support others in Surrey that need additional help during the winter. I encourage others who don't need their allowance to do the same." [Camberley People, 4 Dec 2012]

Having hung up his Merlin breeches, Colin Morgan has no plans to return to Doctor Who: "Well, that box has already been ticked, but I feel very lucky to have been part of that. It was my first filming job really, so it was a great thing to be a part of, but in terms of the future? Probably not." And as the Doctor? "No, I don’t think so!" [Radio Times, 3 Dec 2012]

Matt Smith played host to a fund-raising dinner for the National Youth Theatre on Monday 3rd December; the event, A Shepherd's Delight, was held at The Shepherd's Restaurant in Belgravia. Smith became a patron of the NYT in July. [Daily Mail, 4 Dec 2012]

Karen Gillan, back home in Inverness for Christmas, was invited to present a UNICEF Baby Friendly Award to NHS Highland maternity staff at the city's Raigmore Hospital; the award was in recognition of the education and support they have given to breastfeeding mothers. The actress said: "I knew very little about the benefits of breastfeeding until now. But I am definitely a convert. I have no plans to start a family – I have to find a boyfriend first. It is too early for me to settle down but when I do get broody, I will be following the breast is best advice. I have learned so much here, it has been great research if I have to audition for a nursing or midwife role in the future." [Daily Record, 12 Dec 2012]

David Tennant is to perform festive duties on the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show this Christmas, and also portray the Virgin Mary in the celebrity nativity play due to be broadcast on 21st December. The presenter said: "David Tennant fans are going to really enjoy seeing his masculine Scottish jaw-line peeking out from under a head-scarf with me on his arm. He’ll need to draw on all his luvvie training to avoid being out-acted by me and Wrighty on the day." The actor has had a long association with O'Connell: he performed in another panto alongside Brian Blessed back in 2006, and has co-hosted the show in the past, too (2009, 2011); O'Connell was also a guest at the actor's wedding last year. [Radio Today, 12 Dec 2012]

Big Finish producer Nicholas Briggs talks about working with the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker: "Tom's an interesting one, really. All the stories you've heard about him being aggressive about scripts - he's mellowed a lot in his old age, but you do occasionally get a little flash of the old Tom Baker. He can be quite savage to a Director! ...He was suggesting something, you know, to the nth time, and it was quite a crazy suggestion. I said, 'OK Tom, I'm gonna go with that,' and he just said, 'Oh, Nick! I can't tell how happy it makes me when you accept one of my suggestions!" He sounded very moved... he said, 'I was rewriting my will this weekend, and I put something in it for you!' [Chicago Now, 3rd Dec 2012]

Sylvester McCoy talks about almost being Bilbo The Lord of the Rings, and how he came to play Radagast in The Hobbit: "It got down to two actors eventually from quite a few, and I was one of them. Of course the other was the great and glorious Ian Holm. I was a bit disappointed, but I was also quite pleased to be in such great company. So they knew me from that, and so as luck would have it, I was touring with Ian McKellen in King Lear, playing the fool to his king, and we went to New Zealand. And they knew me before, but they were reminded of me again, and they saw Ian and I working on the stage together. I think they must have quite liked that." [LA Times, 3 Dec 2012]

It has been announced that Russell T Davies married his long-term partner Andrew Smith during the course of last week. The couple moved back to the United Kingdom last year so that they could be closer to friends and family after Andrew was diagnosed with cancer. [Anglotopia, 7 Dec 2012]

Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli talks about his love of Doctor Who: "I am absolutely addicted - in fact I dedicated a chapter of my autobiography (to it). When I first came to the UK I didn't understand English at all, so the first show I watched on TV was Doctor Who because you could follow the story and understand it without understanding the language. And I've been addicted since, it gets better and better and better. Unmissable! I am desperate to be in it - I'd pay for it!" [The One Show, 11 Dec 2012]

Former MP Louise Mensch is one of the contributors to the new book, Behind The Sofa: "I always had a sneaking suspicion that everyone in the world loves Doctor Who - well, now I have concrete proof. If I could get all the famous names who contributed to this book into one room, I think it would be the maddest convention ever. Until then, their favourite memories of the programme are preserved for all to see. Plus, everyone who buys a copy will be helping to give hope to the 820,000 people in the UK living with dementia today." [Telegraph, 3 Dec 2012]

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]

Russell T Davies was a guest on the Graham Norton show on Saturday, where he discussed his new series starting on Monday and Tuesday next week, Wizards vs Aliens. During the interview, the question of future series of Torchwood was raised, to which he answered:


The interview can be heard via the BBC website.

Paul McGann is to be interviewed as part of the Personal Development Planning Week at the Liverpool John Moores University on Tuesday 23rd October. The actor will be there to discuss how his own career has developed. The event is only open to university staff and students. [LJMU, 15 Oct 2012]

Russell T Davies is to be a guest on BBC Radio 2's Graham Norton show on 27th October, to tie in with the premiere of his new children's show Wizards vs Aliens on CBBC on 29th October. Questions can be submitted to the show address.

Arthur Darvill is adding theatrical composition to his ever-growing list of activities; the actor/musician said: "I write music as well, so I work a lot with Sean Walker. We've been working on a twisted version of The Bacchae called The Lightening Child (written by Che Walker) with carnival music, so I've co-written music for that. We made it really big and refused to scale it down. Finally, the Globe said they would love to do it, so we’ll be doing that next summer." [Independent, 17 Oct 2012]

Actress Chase Masterson talks about working with two Doctors on the forthcoming Big Finish audio dramas The Shadow Heart and Night of the Stormcrow: "They were all absolutely charming and very welcoming to me, and it was big fun to see them exude the same playfulness and brilliant quirks that they displayed on screen. Tom and Sylvester were particularly generous with stories of working with other British greats, including Olivier and Gielgud and McKellen, and I even got Sylvester to do a command performance on the spoons. Some of my now-favorite career moments include hearing Sylvester recount stories of the roots of his career in vaudeville, as well as tales of his upcoming, key role in The Hobbit trilogy. Also truly lovely and deserving of her reputation as a favorite Companion is the gorgeous Louise Jameson. What is even more stunning about Louise is the richly aware person she is, and her kindness and personal attention to everyone she comes into contact with." [Star Trek, 11 Oct 2012]

Nina Toussaint-White is currently playing one of four twentysomething white witches in the new contemporary ITV2 comedy-drama Switch. The six-episode show, which started on Monday 15th October, is set in Camden Town and Kensington, with Toussaint-White's character, Jude, as the fashionista of the group, and she said she couldn't believe how alike she was to her. "When I first read the script I thought, 'That's me!' I could see myself in the role because we are so similar. We're both quite bolshie, energetic people. Jude is a hedonist. I wouldn't say I'm a hedonist as such, but I sometimes speak before I think. I like to go out and have fun and party. She's confident and loud, fun and care-free, and I think that's what I'm like," she said. [ITV Press Centre]

BBC Four is to show Mark Gatiss's documentary Horror Europa on Tuesday 30th October at 9pm, it has been confirmed. The 90-minute journey through European horror cinema is a follow-up to his 2010 series A History of Horror for the same channel. [BBC Media Centre, 18 Oct 2012]

Phil Collinson is leaving his post as Coronation Street producer but will be staying at ITV to take up a new role of drama development. He has produced the soap opera since July 2010 and will hand over the reins to current Emmerdale producer Stuart Blackburn in January 2013. He said: "It's been an honour to produce Coronation Street and I'll be sad to leave. But the drama can only stay at the top of its game if the producer is re-energised every two to three years." [ITV Press Centre, 17 Oct 2012]

Billie Piper is to make her National Theatre debut this autumn, starring in The Effect, by Lucy Prebble, at The Cottesloe. The play, described as "a clinical romance", deals with sanity, neurology, and medicine's limits. Tom Goodman-Hill will be among the co-stars. It runs from 6th November to 2nd March, and tickets go on sale to the public on 24th September. [BBC News, 3 Aug 2012]

Christopher Eccleston recently undertook a Q&A session at the National Theatre, where he is appearing as Creon in Antigone, during which he was asked about playing the Doctor: In response to a question about whether he felt he'd taken the character as far as he could he (very tellingly) said he felt that one series isn't enough to get under the skin of the character and that if he'd had two or three series he'd have developed the role considerably. He said that if you looked at the other Doctors (with the exception of Tom Baker) you can see them working out how to play the character through their first series because it's such a complex and challenging role. He said several times that there was more for him to do with the character... [BadGirlSeeksGoodMan@GallifreyBase, 19 Jul 2012]

Matt Smith commented on having Eccleston make a guest appearance: "Chris will be alright. Well, I mean, who knows? I'd love it. I'd love him to come back. I love his Doctor. I really do. He was from Manchester. Proper hard. Leather jacket. He'd give my Doctor a bit of a whopping, wouldn't he?" [Esquire via FemaleFirst, 3 Aug 2012]

Eccleston's name has also been associated with the film sequel Thor: The Dark World. If cast he would be playing the principal villain Malekith The Accursed. [Cinema Blend, 1 Aug 2012]

Bernard Cribbins is to return to television next year in his own series, Old Jack's Boat, playing a retired fisherman named Jack who tells stories to children. The actor said: "I am delighted to be back on CBeebies telling stories as I am storyteller. There are some marvellous writers, such as Russell T Davies, who I have been in touch with for a long time and who, of course, I worked with on Doctor Who. I am looking forward to sitting back and being able to tell some wonderful stories." As well as Doctor Who's former lead writer Davies, another familiar name in the show will be Freema Agyeman, who will play Shelley. [Mirror, 4 Aug 2012]

Karen Gillan met the actress to play her double in Not Another Happy Ending, the movie she is currently filming. Rebecca Davidson will double for Gillan in shots where her character Jane Lockhart meets her perfect double in a pub. [Huffington Post, 1 Aug 2012]

Neve McIntosh talks about meeting the new co-star, Jenna-Louise Coleman: "She's absolutely gorgeous as well, she's lovely. I've not had much work with her. I think she's got a lovely quality to her so I think is going to be really exciting. And obviously I don't know the rest of whatever's been going on, so it'll be interesting to start watching the new series and see how she's introduced." [Cultbox, 2 Aug 2012]

Alex Kingston is to feature in the next series of Who Do You Think You Are?, the BBC genealogy series that looks into the ancestry of celebrities. Now into its ninth series, it will also include celebrities like singer Annie Lennox and actor Patrick Stewart. Former Doctor David Tennant explored his family history in Series Four (2006).

Tennant came top in a poll of favourite Doctors recently undertaken by Entertainment Weekly.

Former costumer designer Leslie Rowland-Warne has been talking about his experience of working on Death To The Daleks, following his appearance in the extra features on the DVD, which was released in June. He said: "On the disc is a documentary asking all the stars and crew about their experiences working on it and I'm on it. I was the costume designer and mostly I talk about how I came up with the idea for the costume of the character Bellal. The script said he lived underground so I thought he should be small, and I told the director to hire a small actor to fit into it. Then I added some reflective strips to liven the suit up." [Leatherhead Advertiser, 4 Aug 2012]

France 4 is to celebrate the arrival of Series 6 to the channel with with a Doctor Who Night to be held on Saturday 19th May.

As well as the first four episodes of the series, The Impossible Astronaut, Day Of The Moon, The Curse of The Black Spot and The Doctor's Wife, the channel will be showing some episodes from the classic series, the Tom Baker stories Genesis of The Daleks and City of Death and the William Hartnell story Edge of Destruction.

Alain Carrazé and Romain Nigita will present a series of reports looking at the Doctor Who phenomenon, investigating the origins of the series, profiling the Doctors and Companions and looking to see what the future holds for the Timelord.

Interviewed during the night will be Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Derek Jacobi and Tom Spilsbury as well as fans like François Descraques or Davy Mourier.

A visit to the Doctor Who Experience in London is also included.

The Doctor Who Night is produced by 8 Art Media and filmed partly at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris, and will be presented by Louise Ekland. A full episode listing can be found on This Week in Doctor Who.

Chris Albrecht, CEO of Starz, has re-iterated to Multichannel News that the potential future of Torchwood on the channel rests with its creator, Russell T Davies:
In terms of the show's principal players, Russell T Davies himself is currently writing new CBBC series Wizards vs Aliens, John Barrowman has a leading role in the pilot for a potential new series Gilded Lilys, Eve Myles is currently appearing in the stage play All New People, Kai Owen has just finished performing in As You Like It, and Mekhi Phifer had also recently finished a stsge stint in Stick Fly.

Wizards vs Aliens:

As mentioned above, Russell T Davies's new series is Wizards vs Aliens, which is about to go into production. The name has recently changed, as Davies explained to Roy Noble on BBC Radio Wales:
Speaking to Cultbox, script editor Derek Ritchie described the style of the show:
The full interview can be read on the Cultbox website.

Russell T Davies is to be one of the inaugural judges in a new £10,000 initiative for writers living in Wales.

The Wales Drama Award, which will be given every two years, was launched at yesterday's official opening of the BBC's Roath Lock drama studios in Cardiff - the new home of Doctor Who.

For this year's award, writers must submit a full-length, unperformed, or unproduced script in any medium and in English, with a minimum running length of 30 minutes, by July 16th. Six writers who are shortlisted will then be asked to submit a one-page outline of an original idea for development before meeting the judges in September to discuss their script as well as the idea.

The winner, who will be announced in September or October this year, will receive £10,000 and the chance to develop their script and idea with BBC Cymru Wales or National Theatre Wales. Two runners-up will each receive £1,000.

The BBC said:
The judging panel will also comprise BBC creative director of new writing Kate Rowland, BBC Cymru Wales head of drama Faith Penhale, National Theatre Wales artistic director John McGrath, and writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, The Iron Lady, The Hour).

Wales's First Minister, Carwyn Jones, performed the opening ceremony at the Roath Lock production centre by unveiling a plaque on the TARDIS prop. The drama village, which took just 14 months to build, is part of the Porth Teigr renovation projection on Cardiff waterfront. Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Mr Jones said:

Open days over the weekend of 10th and 11th March gave members of the public the chance to see props from Doctor Who and Upstairs, Downstairs, as well as a look round the sets of Casualty and Pobol y Cwm, which have also shifted production to the 170,000 sq ft drama village - the BBC's largest drama production centre in the UK. An exhibition included costumes from Sherlock, which was co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and a Dalek.

Doctor Who production has moved to Roath Lock from Upper Boat. A video report on the opening, in which BBC director-general Mark Thompson mentions the beneficial effect locally of Doctor Who being made there, is available here.

In recognition of his contribution to drama business for BBC Wales, Doctor Who's former lead writer Russell T Davies has had the main walkway connecting all of the new Media Village facilities in Cardiff Bay named after him, with a plaque put up denoting Russell T Davies Alley. [Standard, 16 Feb 2012]

Talking about 'walkways', film cameraman Peter Eveson has filmed and directed the debut video for the north Suffolk band Walkway. As well as Doctor Who, the cameraman also filmed and directed Zoo Days, and worked on James May's Toy Stories. [Diss Express, 19 Feb 2012]

David Tennant will be the narrator for the audio version of Silver: Return to Treasure Island, a sequel book to Robert Louis Stevenson's original novel written by Sir Andrew Motion; the author said: "I'm completely delighted David Tennant's reading Silver. I honestly can't think of anyone I'd rather hear do it.". Dominic White of audiobook publisher W F Howes Ltd added: "David Tennant really conveys the thrills of an ocean odyssey. This is the making of a modern classic in spoken word form." [Booktrade, 22 Feb 2012]

The pairing of Tennant and Catherine Tate in last year's West End production of Much Ado About Nothing was named theatre event of the year in the Whatsonstage.com awards, voted for by the public. It also scooped the best Shakespearean production award at the event, co-hosted by Sheridan Smith (Eighth Doctor companion Lucie Miller in the Big Finish audio plays). Tate also won the award for best supporting actress in a play for Season's Greetings, and James Corden was named best actor in a play for One Man, Two Guvnors. [BBC News, 20 Feb 2012]

And speaking of Sheridan Smith, she has won the title role in Mrs Biggs, an ITV Studios drama that will chronicle the life of the former wife of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs from when she first met him. The five-parter will also feature Daniel Mays (Alex in Night Terrors) as the notorious criminal. [ITV Press Centre, 20 Feb 2012]

Actress Katy Wix (who played Ianto's sister Rhiannon in Torchwood: Children of Earth) can be seen in the new series of Not Going Out. Talking about her blossoming career as a comedienne, she said: "At times I've felt people in the industry didn't trust me with the joke, me being a woman and all – but they're just people I don't want to work with." [Observer, 19 Feb 2012]

Tom Price will be appearing in a new comedy show for BBC3, World Series of Dating, playing the character of James Chetwynd-Talbot, described as a nervous sports journalist, unlucky with the ladies and in his first commentary role. The 8-part series, which stars American actor/comedian Rob Riggle, commences on the channel in March. [BBC Media Centre, 22 Feb 2012]

Actor Zach Braff learnt about how famous his All New People co-star Eve Myles was by meeting her fans at the stage door! "I didn't (know) until I got here. Eve does not play a very - how do I put this? - her character is not like a sex pot, hottie, and I'm seeing these pictures from Torchwood of her firing guns and these tight outfits, and I'm like 'Eve?!!' But it's become quite popular in the States, too, I have a friend who I didn't know even watched it, he was like 'you're acting with Eve Myles!' - he was freaking out. She's a wonderful, wonderful actress, and doing comedy for the first time, which people haven't seen - wait until they see how good she is at comedy. [STV, 21 Feb 2012]

Mark Ayres was recently asked about how the incidental music was handled in the classic series. When asked if music was always mixed in on the board while filming, he said: Almost always prior to 1970, yes (the show was made, as far as possible, 'as live'). After 1970, music added in post-dub.«" On whether composers saw the visuals on post-dub: "Yes, composers saw playback at BBC and made notes. From 1980-onwards (perhaps slightly earlier) they were given a time-coded VHS.« From mid-70s, Doctor Who office and Radiophonic Workshop were using Shibaden black-and-white reel-to-reel video dubs for reference.«"

The composer also added: "It's taken 15 years, but I have finally digitised all of the classic Doctor Who sound effects.«" However, "There remains a massive amount of cataloguing and documentation to complete, but the 246 tapes are done.«" A collection of Doctor Who sound effects from the 1970s has recently been re-released on CD.

The Series 6 episode The Doctor's Wife has been nominated for a 2011 Nebula Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Richard Clark, it has been put forward for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. The winner will be announced during the SFWA's 47th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend, which takes place from Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th May in Arlington, Virgina. The Series 5 episode Vincent and the Doctor was similarly nominated last year in the 2010 awards but failed to win. [Richard Clark, via Twitter, 20 Feb 2012]

Russell T Davies and Phil Ford are bringing new action adventure drama Aliens Vs Wizards to children's TV this autumn. The series will comprise 12 episodes of 30 minutes each and centre on two 16-year-old schoolboys, Tom and Benny, and an alien race entitled the Nekross. Davies said: "Writing for children is the biggest challenge of all and I think CBBC stands right at the heart of broadcasting. So I'm delighted to launch this show, a true nationwide collaboration - a Salford commission from a BBC Wales team. We're joining genres too - the show's a wild, funny, thrilling and sometimes scary collision of magic and science fiction." The show will be produced for CBBC by BBC Cymru Wales with FremantleMedia Enterprises. The executive producers are Davies, Bethan Jones and Gina Cronk for the BBC and Bob Higgins and Sander Schwartz for FME. The producer is Brian Minchin, while Ford will co-produce. [BBC Media Centre, 23 Jan 2012], [BBC News, 23 Jan 2012]

It was back to school for new series writer Tom MacRae when he received a request to help children develop their creativity. He visited his alma mater near Daventry, Northamptonshire, after an invitation by two pupils at Weedon Bec Primary. MacRae revealed how, during an assembly while there as a child, he came up with the idea of a magnifying glass that could see through time - a concept he went on to use in The Girl Who Waited. MacRae, who also took some Doctor Who props with him to show the pupils, said: "I have used quite a few playground games and school daydreams in shows, particularly programmes that have a magic element to them. The Girl Who Waited has probably done more to boost my career than anything else I've done. I owe the huge boost it gave me to the idea I had when I was six years old." [BBC News, 23 Jan 2012]

Sheridan Smith, who played Eighth Doctor companion Lucie Miller for Big Finish, has won the Critics' Circle Best Actress award for her portrayal of Doris Skriczevinsky in the wartime drama Flare Path, by Terence Rattigan, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London - a role for which she previously received the 2011 Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress. [BBC News, 24 Jan 2012]

Arabella Weir (Billis in The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe, as well as an alternative Doctor in the Big Finish audio adventure Exile) is among the star names taking part in this year's Let's Dance For Sport Relief, which starts on BBC One on Saturday 18th February. [BBC Media Centre, 25 Jan 2012]