Doctor Who has won a HUGO award for the 2010 series conclusion The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.

Written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes, the story was shown last June when it wrapped up the events of Matt Smith's first series as The Doctor.

The story beat two other Doctor Who stories, A Christmas Carol and Vincent and the Doctor as well as The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan and **** Me, Ray Bradbury by Rachel Bloom, to win the award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

The award is the fourth for Steven Moffat, having previously won for The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink. Last year the award was won by The Waters of Mars written by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford.

The award for Best Related Work was given to Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea and published by Mad Norwegian.

The book is a series of essays which delve into the extraordinary aspects of being a female “Doctor Who” enthusiast. Essays include Carole Barrowman discussing what it was like to grow up with her brother John, columnist Jackie Jenkins providing a Bridget Jones’ Diary-style memoir of working on “Doctor Who Magazine,” and novelist Lloyd Rose analyzing Rose’s changes between the ninth and tenth Doctors.

The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories.

Hugo Awards have been presented every year since 1955. The 2011 winners were announced on Saturday evening, at Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction convention held in Reno, Nevada.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations have now released statistics relating to the distribution figures of magazines for the first half of 2011, which includes details relating to both official publications, Doctor Who Magazine (Panini) and Doctor Who Adventures (BBC).

When compared to previous periods, the data reveals how the average circulation trends have fared:


The figures show that both magazines saw a decline in circulation for the first half of this year, with DWA dropping to below its circulation for the same period in 2010. Further breakdown on circulation can be found within the publication certificates linked to above.

(with thanks to John Bowman)

David Tennant has been talking to The Guardian Weekend as his run in the West End playing Benedick to Catherine Tate's Beatrice draws to a close.

Tennant talks about his career so far, his life growing up in Scotland and his tabloid reputation as a seducer on the Doctor Who set. "I refute that heartily." he says. "Well, I mean I have had some girlfriends, and I did meet some of them at work you know, my bedpost really has very few notches compared with other actors of my erm, erm, pedigree.

He talks about his future plans following the release of Fright Night next month. "I just like to join the jobs up and hope they will be as varied and interesting as possible. So if I can do a film with DreamWorks, then come back and do a little British film, then do something in the West End, then do something for the BBC, that's great. You learn from experience that the things you think are going to change your life probably won't. Not that I'm looking for it to be changed. I'm very happy with what I've got."

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Colin Baker joined experts from East Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Job Centre Plus in the cathedral city of Ely on Friday in a day aimed at helping residents tackle any life challenges that they may face.

The Sixth Doctor was joined by experts in housing, policing, benefits and drug awareness as well as a Dalek, a Cyberman and an Ood. Baker, who is currently touring in Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White, gave his time free for the event.

"I think everyone knows that it has been a difficult time for many people over the last few years and I know a lot of people who have or are struggling to keep their heads above water," he said. "I hope that in a small way I can attract people along who might not necessarily seek help who can then talk to the experts who will be on hand."

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Christopher Eccleston is currently filming in the North East of England in a comedy drama about a grumpy pensioner who joins a local choir.

Also staring Gemma Arterton, Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp, Song For Marion by Paul Andrew Williams is a comedy drama about a grumpy pensioner Arthur (Terence Stamp) who is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) to join a highly unconventional local choir.

Eccleston plays their son James in the Steel Mill Pictures production.

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Matt Smith has been snapped in a fetching white sailor's hat with wide-rimmed glasses as he rowed on the Thames while filming for the new BBC Drama Bert and Dickie. Smith is playing Bert Bushnell, one half of the rowing team that won the gold medal in the 1948 Olympics in London for the double scull.

The return of Doctor Who next weekend of course means the return of the behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who Confidential! The BBC have released two videos to tie in with the forthcoming episode, Let's Kill Hitler.

Doctor Who Confidential will be on BBC3/BBCHD on Saturday 27th August, from 8:00pm.

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The BBC also operate an official Doctor Who Confidential fan page on Facebook, which you can "like" here.

Big Finish have announced that Ian McNeice has joined the cast for their forthcoming Fourth Doctor audio adventure, Renaissance Man.

McNeice is perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans as the Doctor's old friend Winston Churchill, as seen in last year's Victory of the Daleks and The Pandorica Opens; he also featured in an earlier Big Finish adventure, playing Zeus in the Eighth Doctor story Immortal Beloved.

Renaissance Man is the second adventure in this series starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, and was recorded on 17th August: the story sees the Doctor and Leela aiming to visit the Morovanian Museum but instead arriving at an English village, where they encounter the mysterious Harcourt (played by McNeice) and his household.


Episode titles for this series are expected to be announced shortly.

(with thanks to David Richardson, Richard Brinck-Johnsen)

Episode six of Torchwood, The Middle Men, suffered at the hands of Big Brother, seeing its overnight ratings drop to 3.4 million, the lowest in the series so far.

The Celebrity edition of the reality show launched on Channel 5 with an average of 5.1 million watching the likes of House of Commons Speaker's wife Sally Bercow, David Hasselhoff's ex wife Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff and Jedwood, enter the infamous house, giving the Channel one of its biggest audiences ever.

Torchwood, had a share of 14% of the total television audience. It had 3.7 million viewers for the first quarter, dropping to 3.2 million for the last quarter. On ITV1, Single Handed had 3.2 million watching, roughly the same as last week.

The final ratings will be released in 10 days and will include those who record the programme and watch it within seven days.

Monday's late night repeat of episode five, The Categories of Life was watched by 0.4 million.

Aurum Press have announced that the autobiography of Elisabeth Sladen will be published on 7th November 2011, following her life from her humble Liverpool beginnings through to a celebrated return as the popular sidekick to the Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, in her own series for CBBC.


Originally slated for April, completion of the book was delayed through Sladen's illness and her untimely death earlier this year; it has now been completed with the support of her family. Her editor, Sam Harrison, reflected:

The final series of The Sarah Jane Adventures is expected to be broadcast in the Autumn.

The BBC have released details for Week 36, which includes the synopsis of ninth episode of the current series of Doctor Who, Night Terrors; this is due to be broadcast on BBC One/BBC One HD on Saturday 3rd September, with the broadcast time yet to be confirmed. The episode is written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Richard Clark.


Alongside Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, it features Daniel Mays, Andrew Tiernan, Leila Hoffman, Emma Cunniffe, Jamie Oram and Sophie Cosson.

As previously reported, Let's Kill Hitler sees its premiere on BBC1/BBC1HD between 7:10-8:00pm on Saturday 27th August, as confirmed by both the BBC Press Office and Radio Times websites, with the behind-the-scenes programme Doctor Who Confidential to follow straight afterwards as usual on BBC3, 8:00-8:45pm.

The Hitler theme continues on BBC2 after Doctor Who with Adolf Hitler vs Hans Litten: To Stop a Tyrant (8:00-9:00pm), a documentary that explores the story of Hans Litten, a young Jewish lawyer who challenged Hitler – and paid for it with his life. This documentary accompanies a BBC film about Litten to be shown this coming Sunday (21st, 9:00-10:25pm) on BBC2, The Man Who Crossed Hitler.


The BBC have now released a video featuring Karen Gillan discussing some of Amy and Rory's development during Let's Kill Hitler, plus two preview clips from the episode itself.

We have recently heard from Doctor Who's Brand Manager Edward Russell, who will be undertaking a walk to raise money on behalf of the hospice that looked after Elisabeth Sladen; he wishes to thank everybody who has donated so far, and has a message from the Meadow House Hospice itself to share:


As previously reported, the walk is scheduled to start at the BBC's Upper Boat Studios in Wales (where The Sarah Jane Adventures were produced) on the 3rd September; once under way, Edward aims to utilise the dedicated Facebook group for the walk to chart his progress.