Extra dates have been added to the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular taking place this December at the Sydney Opera House.

The show now runs from Saturday 15th December until the following Wednesday 19th December and will feature music from the TV series composed by Murray Gold.

The show will be presented by special guests Alex Kingston (“River Song”) and Mark Williams (“Brian Williams”) with music performed by The Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Ben Foster.

Full details and how to book can be found via the Sydney Opera House website.

Doctor Who dominated the listings for the BBC iPlayer for September, with over 8 million accessing the programme at some point during the month.

Top of the list was the series opener, which has been available for almost the entire month, Asylum of the Daleks with over 2.2 million requests. It was by far the most requested programme on the iPlayer for September.

The next three episodes, available for fewer days, took the next three places in the chart, with Dinosaurs on a Spaceship having 1.8 million requests, A Town Called Mercy having 1.4 million requests and The Power Of Three having 1.3 million accessing the episode.

The highest-rated non-Doctor Who programme was Citizen Khan, which had less than half of the requests for Asylum of the Daleks with just over 1.0 million accessing the programme.

The last Doctor Who episode before the mid-series break, The Angels Take Manhattan, was 7th in the list, with 0.92 million requests, despite only being available for the last 28 hours of the month.

Asylum of the Daleks currently stands as the fifth-most-accessed programme of the year. All Doctor Who episodes are available on the BBC iPlayer until later this evening.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first sole credited single release by The Beatles - who would feature in Doctor Who in stock footage in The Executioners (episode 1 of The Chase) - and if he had a time machine Matt Smith would love to see the Fab Four: "I'd go see music - the Beatles at their height, or Woodstock, or Kurt Cobain live. I'd love to see Arcade Fire in a room somewhere. And Sinatra when he was with Dean Martin." [Bust Magazine via Yahoo, 2 Oct 2012] (DWN note: Perhaps Matt got his time trip after all, if this photo that was circulated earlier in the year is to be believed!)

Alex Kingston is to appear in the 10th season of NCIS as a "woman of questionable morals". The actress is to play a character named Miranda Pennebaker, and is described by series boss Gary Glasberg as someone who "deals in everything from high-end weapons sales to priceless gems. Her connections go all the way up the ladder of D.C. politics, and [Major Case Response Team leader Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro] Gibbs needs her for this very disturbing, emotional case." [TVLine, 3 Oct 2012]

Author and long-term fan A. L. Kennedy has expressed an interest to write for Doctor Who: "To go back to things that you are completely open to as a child, and which you allow to be very deeply part of who you are, as an artist, is to get back to that bit of yourself. And Doctor Who is very deeply there in my own work. Every crazy person, lots of the sense of humour, my viewpoint on what human beings are, absolutely. If I wasn’t going to be a writer I was going to be an anthropologist, because that was my thing: what are human beings?" The author will also be talking about Doctor Who when she appears at the Wigtown Book Festival on Sunday 7th October. [Scotsman, 1 Oct 2012]

A rare opportunity to see Sarah Sutton in one of her earliest TV roles is coming up. The BFI is screening the BBC's 1973 adaptation of Alice Through The Looking Glass, which stars Sutton as the eponymous heroine, at its Southbank venue in London on Saturday 17th November as part of its Beyond the Fourth Wall – Experiments in TV Drama season. Directed by James MacTaggart, who was keen to exploit the possibilities offered by the then-new technique of colour separation overlay, the 65-minute play was the BBC's official entry to the Prix Italia competition. Also appearing in it are Geoffrey Bayldon (White Knight), Bruce Purchase (Walrus), and Stephen Moore (Haigha). Tickets go on sale to the public on Tuesday 9th October.

Mark Gatiss will be at the BFI Southbank on Sunday 28th October for a question-and-answer session following a preview of his feature-length BBC Four documentary Horror Europa With Mark Gatiss, which explores European horror cinema and is a follow-up to his BBC Four series A History of Horror. Again, tickets go on sale to the public on Tuesday 9th October. The 90-minute documentary will air on BBC Four towards the end of October.

Billie Piper is moving to Los Angeles with husband Laurence Fox after they both finish their current theatre stints, according to a newspaper interview with Fox, who is appearing with Arthur Darvill in Our Boys at The Duchess Theatre in London until Saturday 15th December. Piper is in The Effect at The Cottesloe, which opens on Tuesday 6th November and runs until Wednesday 23rd January 2013, meaning that for a few weeks their performances will overlap. However, Fox said the two of them didn't compete over their careers. "It's not competitive but I feel like I've got to raise my game a bit. She's really good so it would be nice if I was really good too," he said. [i, 3 Oct 2012]

Meanwhile, Matt Smith and David Tennant bumped into each other at the press night for Our Boys. Also there was Billie Piper to give her support to her husband. [Mail Online, 4 Oct 2012]

Comedian and TV presenter Frank Skinner has told of his failed bid to secure a role in the current series of Doctor Who. In an interview with Absolute Radio, he said: "I got my manager to phone up the Doctor Who people when I heard this series was being filmed. He never mentioned it again so I take it that he couldn't break it to me." [i, 3 Oct 2012]

Comic book writer and playwright Grant Morrison, who penned stories for Doctor Who Magazine in the 1980s, told the MorrisonCon audience in Las Vegas that despite his desire to write for the show and apparent initial interest by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss in him doing so, nothing more had been forthcoming. "Moffat had been getting a lot of tweets from people who were saying, 'You should have Grant write Doctor Who', and I'd really love to write Doctor Who," he said. He added that a friend who had worked with Moffat and Gatiss suggested it to the pair and told him the duo wanted to hear from him. "We tried it four or five times, and he never wrote back," said Morrison. [Comic Book Resources, 1 Oct 2012 - NB: Article contains strong language elsewhere.]

In a two-page feature in the new Radio Times, Steven Moffat describes how he struggled to find the proper ending for Amy and Rory. "How and why would they leave? And would they live or die? I wrote and rewrote. I had a completely different ending and threw it away. So many times over those mad few days, the fate of the Ponds changed. Alive, dead, alive, dead . . . Nothing felt right. Nothing felt inevitable." [Radio Times, 3 Oct 2012]

Sheridan Smith - companion Lucie Miller to the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish audio dramas - is the latest signing to BBC In-House Comedy's production of Mr Stink. As previously reported, the children's novel by David Walliams stars Hugh Bonneville as the eponymous tramp and has been adapted by Walliams and Simon Nye. Smith, who will play the overbearing mother of lonely 12-year-old Chloe who befriends Mr Stink, said: "David is such a brilliant writer, and the character just jumped off the page when I read it." [BBC Media Centre, 4 Oct 2012]

An Australian politician has started a campaign for Doctor Who to film an episode in Australia.  Federal Nationals Party MP George Christensen has launched a campaign to bring the program to Australia in 2015 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who's first Australian screening in 1965. The Queensland-based MP wants the program filmed in his coastal electorate and suggests that bringing the show down under could help stimulate Australia's film and tourism industry.

"As an avid Doctor Who fan, I would love to see the TARDIS materialise in Australia and, most importantly, it would be a tremendous boost to tourism in Bowen and the Whitsundays, as well as to the local economy," Mr Christensen said.

In a letter to Steven Moffat, he said Doctor Who was inextricably linked to Australia because the very first episode, An Unearthly Child, was written by Australian Anthony Coburn. He also pointed out that two of the Doctor's former companions, Tegan Jovanka and Jo Grant, were played by Australians Janet Fielding and Katy Manning (born in the UK, but later an Australian citizen).

Mr Christensen has started an online petition, as well as establishing Facebook, Twitter and YouTube campaigns.

... so asks Mike Rugnetta on the latest episode of Idea Channel, the weekly web programme from PBS Digital Studios.

A range of Doctor Who homeware products has been launched by BBC Worldwide.

Called Doctor Who Home and created by design partner Skew & Rude, it has Daleks, Cybermen, and the TARDIS emblazoned on a total of 14 products, including jugs, mugs, cups, teapots, cards, notepads, and gift wrap, as well as textiles and kitchen accessories. They will be available in shops from the end of next month.

David Wilson-Nunn, the creative director of BBC Worldwide, led the appointment to exploit a perceived gap in the market for 16-to-60-year-old fans, having previously worked with Skew & Rude on strategic work for the programme. He said the TARDIS graphic, which is featured on boxed card packaging, was "like a secondary brand logo for us – the one thing that never changes and something we can use across everything".

Abi Williams, the founder and director of Skew & Rude, said the designs had been created by "vectorising images and then developing block colour work and playing with shapes across product ranges". She added: "We're working on the next season to follow this collection. We want to push the design as far as possible and have two fantastic concepts for a product brand."

The New Radiophonic Workshop is to make a rare appearance this coming weekend at London's South Bank Centre as part of the Ether Festival.

A number of presentations on the role of the new department will take place on 7th October, which will include a history of the original BBC department from long-term member and prolific Doctor Who contributor Dick Mills.

Booking information is available via the South Bank Centre website.

The following round-up includes interview discussion of the current series which may be considered spoilers for future episodes.

With his current co-stars departing, Matt Smith insists that he hasn't been tempted to hang up his bow-tie any time soon: "There are absolutely things I'd like to do. I'd have to go to the States and do a film but for the moment, I've more than enough to keep me busy, and it's work I love. I don't think there's any point in concerning yourself with what you might be doing if you weren't doing this. This is an amazing, extraordinary job and it would be madness - total madness - to be wishing it away when it's such a gift." [Radio Times, 29 Sep-5 Oct 2012]

With the deparature of Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan, media attention now focuses upon Smith's next co-star, Jenna-Louise Coleman. The actress has already made her mark on readers of The Sun who, in spite of her yet to appear in the series as a side-kick to the Doctor, have voted her as his sexiest sidekick! Half of those participating in the poll placed the actress's character Oswin Oswald, who appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as their favourite, with Gillan's Amy Pond coming in second with 30%. [The Sun, 6th Sep 2012]

Steven Moffat talks about her 'proper' arrival at Christmas: "Looking ahead to Doctor Who with the new companion, we’ll be telling a very different story. You probably already know that from Jenna’s surprise appearance at the beginning of this series – but there are lots more twists to come. He’s never met a girl like this one." [Daily Record, 29 Sep 2012]

Matt Smith also commented on his new co-star's arrival: "In the Christmas special he meets his new chum, or someone he thinks is his new chum. The episode will deal with the arrival of Jenna as companion and the subsequent adventures with the Doctor thereafter." [Wall Street Journal, 27 Sep 2012]

Both of the recent co-stars offered their advice, with Karen Gillan saying: "I just want her to experience it because it's the most incredible thing, it's like just jumping in at the deep end and I don't think anyone can really prepare you for that. But I'd probably just say 'Don’t Google yourself!'". Arthur Darvill said: "Jenna’s a really wonderful actress," he told BBC America, "I think she's gonna be absolutely amazing. My tip would be to enjoy it... and she's got to own it, make it her own, which I know she will because she's brilliant." [Radio Times, 2 Oct 2012]

Tom MacRae talks about Jenna-Louise Coleman's audition tapes: "She just had this amazing energy. She's actually a couple of years older than Karen but she seems younger - she seems more of a teenager and bouncy. She's fantastic. It's really hard to take over from any companion that's loved like Amy and Rory are, and she's just going to be so different whilst still being a Doctor Who companion. It's a very good choice from the producers." [Digital Spy, 26 Sep 2012]

The discussion of director Peter Jackson being interested in Doctor Who has led to a comment by executive producer Caroline Skinner: "It is beyond wonderful that Peter is a fan of the show and it's beyond flattering that he'd even think about it. I'm absolutely sure that we couldn't afford him but, you know, we can always negotiate. His enthusiasm is just fantastic of course." And on filming in New Zealand: "I'm with Matt, of course at some point we'd love to bring Doctor Who Down Under... it won't be possible until at least a year after the 50th anniversary" [Waikato Times, 24 Sep 2012]

Make-up designer Neill Gorton talks about some of the work he's recently undertaken: "I usually get a loose brief. A writer will often write 'an eight foot-tall green monster' - it can be as broad as that. So I look at the script, and work out from what is going on how I am going to approach it. That can dictate the look. Other times, it's a fairly set brief. For example, for Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, which was broadcast a couple of weeks back, we built the triceratops that the Doctor and his companions ride. Now we all know what a triceratops looks like, so I couldn’t really change that." The designer's company Millennium FX also designed The Gunslinger and Shakri, but it is the subtle work that Gorton is most proud of: "For me, it's often about the things people see and don’t even realise - you see an Ood in Doctor Who and you go, 'Oh that's got to be special effects or prosthetics', but when people watch something and just don't notice... well, that's why I love doing old-age make-up. Something very subtle." [Scotsman, 27 Sep 2012]

UK digital PVR producer YouView have launched a new advert to promote their broadband content service, which enables purchasers to watch a variety of digital channels and catch up via the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand 5.

The advert showcases a number of shows including Sherlock, Alan Carr, Noddy, and Downton Abbey, as well as documentaries and sport. Doctor Who is also prominent, represented by a Dalek patrol being screened approaching along a street.

The free Canadian fan magazine Whotopia pays tribute to Caroline John and Mary Tamm among the many features in its latest issue.

Edited by Jez Strickley, issue 24 also has a number of interviews plus a competition to win a copy of the Death To The Daleks Region 1 DVD (closing date 10th October 2012).


The 56-page magazine can be downloaded here, as can issues 1 to 23 plus the 2008 Spring Special.