BBC Worldwide have announced that Karen Gillan will be a guest at the Official Doctor Who Convention, taking place in Cardiff on 24th and 25th March. Speaking of the confirmation that she would also be there, the actress enthused: "I'm really looking forward to the Convention and meeting all of the wonderful Doctor Who fans!"

The news means that the full current TARDIS crew of Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and Karen will be headlining alongside lead writer Steven Moffat, plus the many other actors, production crew and activities previously announced for the two, one-day conventions.

David Tennant was amongst the stars gathered together for the annual Ultimate Pub Quiz, a charity event organised by Centrepoint for homeless young people in London. John Raynham, head of fundraising, said: "We can't thank the teams, celebrities and everyone who makes this event possible, enough for all they do. With youth unemployment at over 1 million, things have probably never been tougher for the young people we support. But thanks to our supporters' generosity, we can carry on working with them to achieve the two most important things they need to leave homelessness behind: a job, and a home of their own." [Press Association, 2 Feb 2012]

Eve Myles talks about the highs and lows of being in a cult show: "The high is the response from the fans – there’s no bigger high. I used to be scared of doing signings and going to conventions. Then, when I started to do them, I enjoyed it. Meeting people who are so loyal to the show gives you a massive boost. The lows all stemmed from the fact I was worried people might just see me as the Welsh action girl who plays Gwen Cooper but things like this play [All New People] can change that perception. Torchwood has taken me from Cardiff to London and LA, and I’m eternally grateful to it." [Metro, 2 Feb 2012]

Eve's Torchwood co-star Kai Owen is to appear in As You Like It by Terry Hands at the Mold Clwyd Theatr Cymru. The actor will play court wrestler Charles, and has had to train for scenes with fellow actor Alex Felton (Orlando): "We've been wrestling hard for the last few weeks. Daniel Llewelyn-Williams, the fight director, has been training both myself and Alex, so the moves are getting nice and sleek. I've never wrestled before, other than doing stage combat at drama school. I'm not a fan, though I do follow boxing. Rugby is the closest I get to contact sports. Alex is taller than me and leaner – he's a very good-looking boy! I think there may be some topless scenes. You will have to wait and see what we decide to do!" [Daily Post, 3 Feb 2012]

Arthur Darvill has been announced as the voice of Sam the Penguin in a new animated short film. The project is being funded through donation, with regular updates via Facebook and Twitter. About the film: "Penguin" is the comedic tale of Sam, a young male penguin in the human world. He's just like us, he has a job, friends, and what makes him so similar to the humans is his love troubles. After being rejected by a potential girlfriend for reminding her too much of a "pet", this drives Sam on a journey of self-discovery where he tries to determine whether the dating world really is for him. [Facebook, Bleeding Cool, 2 Feb 2012]

You can also catch Arthur on BBC Radio 4 this afternoon (Sunday 5th) starring as Lemuel Gulliver in a new three-part adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. [BBC Media Centre]

Tom MacRae described the environment created for his interactive event, The Crash of the Elysium, which features as part of the London 2012 Festival in Ipswich: "Once you enter a Punchdrunk show, the laws of physics are switched off until you leave again. There is no stage, no comfy seating, no division between the world of the audience and the world of the show. You are at the heart of the action, you drive the story forward. “No two shows will ever be the same, no individual adventure will ever be repeated. The madness and brilliance of Doctor Who could not find a better theatrical partnership than Punchdrunk." [East Anglian Daily Press, 2 Feb 2012]

Janet Fielding (Tegan) is campaigning on behalf of a project to save Ramsgate's Motorhouse Museum from being auctioned off and potentially demolished. Project Motorhouse aims to redevelop the rundown building as an arthouse cinema and flexible modern theatre space. [Isle of Thanet Gazette, 3 Feb 2012]

Ian McNeice, who has played Winston Churchill in four episodes of Doctor Who, is reprising the role on stage in The King's Speech, which received its theatrical world premiere in Guildford, Surrey. It is there until 11th February and then goes on tour to Nottingham, Bath, Brighton, Richmond and Newcastle. [BBC News, 3 Feb 2012]


As previously reported, a longer interview with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred conducted by Shadowlocked has now been made available on the Minister of Chance website.

Star Cutouts have launched the first of their Classic Doctor Who range of life-sized cut-outs, kicking off with arguably the most famous and recognisable in the form of the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker. The new range celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary year of the series, with more releases in the coming months - next up will be his successor the Fifth Doctor, as played by Peter Davison.

Meanwhile, the modern series range continues with the release of two figures of Rory, as played by Arthur Darvill, in both his "Rory the Roman" guise and in an initial Forbidden Planet exclusive of the character in his familiar bodywarmer.


The figures will be available to order online in the next week or so.

Arthur Darvill stars in a new three-part radio dramatisation of Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. The Radio 4 series, which will feature all four of Gulliver's voyages, starts on Sunday 5th February at 3pm. Also appearing in the adaptation are Matthew Gravelle, Richard Nichols, Claire Cage, and Ewan Bailey.

Eve Myles is returning to the stage in the play All New People, by and co-starring Zach Braff. It will be at the Manchester Opera House from 8th to 11th February, the King's Theatre, Glasgow, from 14th to 18th February, and the Duke of York's Theatre, London, from 22nd February to 28th April. Meanwhile, in an interview with Cultbox, she told of her hopes that Torchwood will be back in some form or another. "Nothing's going to happen in 2012, I know that much for sure. But who knows what will happen in 2013? Maybe a movie, to kinda draw a line under it. We've got such an outstanding loyal fan base. They deserve Torchwood to go ahead with something else to draw a line under it, for the fans to have a bit of closure," she said. Myles's previous stage appearance was some six and a half years ago at the National in Henry IV with Michael Gambon.

John Barrowman is a guest on the final edition of the current series of Channel 4's topical entertainment show Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Friday 3rd February. It airs at 10.30pm - half an hour after the end of the episode of the BBC One series Hustle in which he also appears, as previously reported by this site.

Sylvester McCoy lends his vocal talents to a new release from The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing; the actor has provided a spoken introduction to the album This May Be The Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot Be Killed by Conventional Weapons, setting the tone for "the parallel Victorian past imagined on the eleven tracks". [Alison Bateman/Work Hard PR]

Nicolas Winding Refn, director of the movie Drive, commented: I would have loved to direct Doctor Who but they didn’t want me — they turned me down last year. Maybe if they revive Blake’s 7 I could do that. I love it. It’s great. That could be fun to update. [Shortlist, 27 Jan 2012]

Russell T Davies (writing the new children's series Aliens vs Wizards) comments on television output for children: "I am passionate about children's television, but it is, as ever, an endangered species, under threat. The most shocking thing I have seen is that, apparently unnoticed, five years ago ITV dropped children's programmes. There is now the complete absence of children's programmes made by ITV on CITV. It is amazing to me, when I contrast it with all those people who were furious about cuts to BBC local radio, and they were immediately reversed. I am also amazed that people don't recognise the talent, genius, of children's writers, for example, Andrew Davenport. The creator behind Teletubbies and In the Night Garden is up there, in my opinion, with Tom Stoppard, Samuel Beckett, but no one puts him there. It's the same with Jacqueline Wilson, whose books have led to the wonderful Tracy Beaker dramas." [Guardian, 28 Jan 2012]

Writer Rob Shearman will be interviewed at the Writers and Readers Week in Wellington, New Zealand on 12th March, which forms part of the International Arts Festival. Organiser Anne Chamberlain said: "He wrote the Dr Who episode that re-introduced the Daleks. So, we're screening that episode and then we're going to have Robert talk. That will draw a completely different audience, I suspect, to the usual Writers and Readers audience." [Stuff, 26 Jan 2012]

Mark Sheppard (Canton, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon) is due to present the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Melbourne, Australia next weekend; speaking on the music, the actor said: "I've been connected with several shows that have had fabulous incidental music as well as score, and it's such an important part of the package as a whole. You watch a show like Doctor Who without music and there's a big difference. And what's amazing is when you isolate the music and hear it performed, it's even grander. It adds another dimension." [Herald Sun, 30 Jan 2012]

A trailer for the new David Tennant film The Decoy Bride has now been released; the film goes on release from 9th March. [IFC Films]

Doctor Who won in 5 categories at this year's Virgin Media TV Awards. The show itself won "TV Show of the Year" with 43.63% of the vote, beating off competition from Merlin. Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) won "TV Character of the Year" and the Doctor getting shot at Lake Silencio in The Impossible Astronaut won the "Most Explosive TV Moment of the Year". Karen Gillan won two awards; one for her acting talents ("Best Actress") and one for her good looks ("Hottest Female").

Doctor Who will be hoping for the same success tonight at The National TV Awards; which will be broadcast live on ITV1 from 7:30pm.

BBC Worldwide have announced that Arthur Darvill will be joining Matt Smith and Steven Moffat at the Official Doctor Who Convention, taking place at Cardiff in March.

Other guests at the weekend include actors Stuart Milligan (President Nixon, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon) and Simon Fisher-Becker (Dorium, The Pandorica Opens/Let's Kill Hitler/The Wedding of River Song.

Also joining the previously announced behind-the-scenes crew Danny Hargreaves (special effects supervisor), Michael Pickwoad (production designer), and Marcus Wilson (producer) are Andy Pryor (casting director), Tom MacRae (author and writer of last year's The Girl Who Waited), Stephan Pehrsson (director of photography), and Caroline Henry (script editor).


See the Official Convention website for full details of the event.

United Kingdom

A Dalek lent its aid towards 'exterminating' prejudice and inequalities at Sunderland College. Joe Leggett, director of learning support, said: "We were trying to think of a creative way of explaining diversity and engaging with the students. In Dr Who, the Daleks have a very hierarchical society, with prejudices within their ranks based on their colour." [Sunderland Echo, 13 Dec 2011]

Meanwhile, another Dalek has been immortalised in Lego by the Addis family in Huntingdon. The seven foot Christmas-themed creation was constructed from over 100,000 bricks as part of a eighteen year personalised Christmas card tradition. Catherine Addis said: "'We thought we'd have a bit of fun this year and build something a bit out of the ordinary - but obviously, we want to keep it quite festive. You get a great feeling of satisfaction once the model it complete - all our friends are so complimentary of it, it really makes all the hard work worthwhile." [Daily Mail, BBC News, 15/16 Dec 2011]

A Cyberman went on patrol at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, as part of a promotion for the forthcoming Big Blue Box convention being held there on 14th January. The event is raising money for the local charity which helps disabled people, Compaid, and will see a number of Doctor Who names appearing including Louise Jameson (Leela), Paul Magrs and Jonathan Morris (writers). Compaid's chief executive Stephen Elsden said: "Big Blue Box marks the first ever fan convention for Doctor Who in Tunbridge Wells, which has a long history of associations with the show. From a screening of a classic Peter Cushing Dalek movie to more recent fan films, we will be taking full advantage of Trinity’s superb theatre." [Stephen Elsden/Compaid, Kent News, 14 Dec 2011]

Basil Brush is appearing at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton in Aladdin, and imparted a joke from his co-star: "I like Bobby Davro. I collect jokes and he told me a good one. What is Dr Who’s favourite food? Dalek bread. He is my friend for life now." [Northampton Chronicle, 16 Dec 2011]

United States

Rory Williams aka Arthur Darvill has made it through the first round of Chicago Redeye's Best TV Character Tournament. The Doctor Who character was up against True Blood's Eric Northman and won the face-off with 50%/49%. Round two has started with Rory facing Breaking Bad's Walter White and continues until the end of the week. [Chicago Redeye, 14 Dec 2011]

Update: Rory made it through round two, easily beating Walter White with 63% to 36%. The quarter final sees him against Sons of Anarchy's Clay Morrow, which at the time of writing sees the Doctor's travelling companion way ahead with 71% to 28%. Voting ends on Tuesday.

Skokie resident Allegra Rosenburg is a local Doctor Who fan celebrity thanks to her love of "Trock Rock" aka "Time Lord Rock", a sub-genre of pop that celebrates the show. The teenager is popular at conventions, and has even been praised by writer Neil Gaiman who said: "Took me 3 years of scribbling and rewrites to make 45 minutes of Dr. Who, summed up in 2:29 by a smart girl with a ukulele." [Chicago Tribune, 14 Dec 2011]

Australia

Cultureshock Events have announced two special evenings with sci-fi actor Mark Sheppard (Canton, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon), taking place in February. The actor will be the guest for Q&As in Sydney (7th) and Brisbane (8th), following on from hosting the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Melbourne on the 4th February. [Dallas Jones/Cultureshock Events, 17 Dec 2011]

Doctor Who Showrunner Steven Moffat has announced that the next series of Doctor Who will see the departure of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill when the story of Amy and Rory comes to an end.

Speaking at the press screening of the Christmas Episode, The Doctor The Widow and The Wardrobe, Moffat confirmed that the duo will rejoin the Doctor in the TARDIS for the next series of the show, but that sometime during the series the couple's story will come to a heartbreaking end.

Moffat teased that he wouldn't say when, and certainly not how, the couple would leave, but that it would happen during the series and then their story would be over.

Matt Smith was asked if he would be sad to see Gillan leave. A new companion, who has yet to be cast, will be joining the Doctor.

The press launch was held in Studio One at Television Centre in London, where many episodes of the classic series of Doctor Who were recorded. It was attended by a specially invited audience, including several MPs including Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and, reportedly, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

For a full report, including an audio clip of the announcement, see Life of Wylie.

Matt Smith reflects on the cancellation of Doctor Who Confidential: "It's a pity as I think it's a show which can reinvent itself year on year and it's one of the biggest shows on BBC3. But I guess people come in and have new ideas and want to have their own fresh take on it but, hey, some you win, some you lose..." [What's on TV, 8 Dec 2011]

Arthur Darvill was on hand to open a new PlayPod in the playground at Whitehall Infant School, Walsall. Installed by charity Children's Scrapstore, the play area was made with the practical application of scrap material. The actor said: "“It’s simple-looking from the outside, but a world of magic and wonder within. Watching the children playing with all this stuff I wonder how we haven't thought of it before. It's fantastic to see the kids having so much fun with things that would otherwise be thrown away." [Birmingham Mail, 10 Dec 2011]

Elisabeth Sladen has featured in the Top Ten Actresses to trend during 2011 on the social communication network Twitter. The actress, who died in April, was the fifth most discussed of the year, with Elizabeth Taylor topping the trend category. [Twitter Year in Review: Hot Topics, Dec 2011]

John Barrowman has appeared in a video promoting pet travel with Virgin Atlantic, during which he talks about his three dogs and how he feels about the service provided by the airline. [Virgin Atlantic via YouTube, 8 Dec 2011]

Paul McGann will be the subject of In Conversation With ..., to take place at Liverpool's St George’s Hall Concert Room in February. The interview includes clips and photographs of the actor's life and work, and will also see his five favourite songs performed live on stage. The event is rounded off with a Q&A from the audience. McGann said: "I was thrilled to be asked, then bashful terror set in until my mate David Morrissey calmed me down and assured me, having done it himself, that you can’t actually die from talking about your life and work in a beautiful room surrounded by friends and family and your favourite music. Guess I will just have to trust him!" [Click Liverpool, 8 Dec 2011]

Arthur Darvill has contributed to Amnesty International's Write for Rights campaign, asking people to write on behalf of a group of activists called WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) who protest on various issues in the country and are regularly met with violence and police brutality.

For full details see the Amnesty International website.

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What's On Stage have announced the nominations for their 2012 Awards, in which a number of related names from Doctor Who appear. David Tennant is up for the Best Actor in a Play award for Much Ado About Nothing, and his pairing with Catherine Tate has also made the Theatre Event of the Year list; Tate has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress alongside Mark Gatiss for Best Supporting Actor reflecting their roles in Season’s Greetings. Arthur Darvill is also nominated for the latter award for his role in Dr Faustus. Others include Simon Callow (Jo Hutchison Best Solo Performance for Being Shakespeare), Sheridan Smith (Best Supporting Actress in a Play for Flare Path), Sarah Lancashire (Baby Grand Best Actress in a Musical for Betty Blue Eyes), Tamsin Greig (Best Actress in a Play for Jumpy) and James Corden (Best Actor in a Play for One Man, Two Guvnors). [What's On Stage, 1 Dec 2011]

Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) has been awarded an doctorate by the University of East London; the actor/writer/director received a Doctor of Arts at a ceremony at the O2. Clarke said: "This is an amazing feeling, it’s such a great honour to receive this award. I love doing what I do and to get an honour for that seems strange, but I'm also very thankful. My advice to students, young people and anyone else who has a dream is to follow your instincts and to always give 100 per cent." You can watch him receive his award via the university's YouTube channel. [Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle, 30 Nov 2011]

Karen Gillan spoke about where she'd like to settle down: "I want to live in splendid isolation when I’m 40 and then come back to acting when I want. I will live in Drumnadrochit (by Loch Ness), which is the weirdest name ever but is the most beautiful place." [Deadline News, 1 Dec 2011]

Tracy-Ann Oberman (Yvonne Hartman, Army of Ghosts/Doomsday) is to host a new soap opera themed quiz show for BBC Radio 2. Suds Law will see a mixture of soap stars and comedians battle it out over games and rounds based upon the characters, storylines and cliches that make the soaps popular. The first episode will be recorded on the 11th December, with tickets available from the BBC Tickets Website. [BBC Audience, 1 Dec 2011]

Children's presenter Ed Petrie talks about what he'd like to do in the future: "I have always wanted to be in 'Doctor Who', I know quite a few CBBC presenters who have appeared on the programme and I’m hoping that one day my chance might come. I’m such a fan – I’ve seen every single episode. If anyone should be on it, it should be me. I would make a brilliant Doctor Who." [BH Beat, 29 Nov 2011]