United Kingdom

Aldbourne resident Mr. Beattie came up with a novel idea to tackle a litter problem on the village green by creating a TARDIS bin to make throwing litter away responsibly more interesting! "We threw some ideas about (with young litterers) and they came up with the idea of a Tardis. We involved some of the youngsters in the early stages and they helped with the drawings and with the painting. One person I know has suggested the next one could be a Dalek and has agreed to pay for the parts" [This is Wiltshire, 9 Dec 2011]

Pupils at Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE Primary School in Shropshire got a surprise when a Dalek 'gatecrashed' their Christmas Fair! Headteacher Susan Blackburn said: "“The Dalek came into school and was fully functioning. It was very life-like. The children were asked to disarm it but it then escaped. The children have been so enthusiastic and the parents have been very supportive. A letter also went home in case children were anxious or distressed about the Dalek and all the children were told that it could not hurt them. But the week has been amazing and very dramatic." [Shropshire Star, 9 Dec 2011]

An army of festive Daleks are on display in Waterlooville, Portsmouth! Charlesworth Drive resident Ian Beazley dressed his own collection up for the season, and is very happy for people to have their photos taken with a small donation to Cancer Research. "Although I wasn’t a big Dr Who fan I found the Daleks fascinating. I used to hide behind the sofa terrified of them but although they scared me I wouldn’t turn the telly off. One year the Radio Times printed instructions on how to build one. I put them away and I remember thinking to myself, "I’m going to make one of those myself when I’m older". A few years ago I was medically retired and I had a go. It was so much fun I thought I’d have another go." [Portsmouth News, 10 Dec 2011]

The Devon hotel that former Doctor Who producer Graham Williams ran after leaving TV and up until his tragic death in a shooting accident in 1990 has been at the centre of a furore involving a stag's head. The head of the animal - believed to be the "Exmoor Emperor", the UK's largest wild land animal, which was shot in October 2010 during the rutting season - has been taken down from the hotel wall after phone and email threats were made. The hotel had been lent it about a month ago. [BBC News, 12 Dec 2011]

United States

Javier Grillo-Marxuach, creator of The Middleman comic book series, has recently written a new story where his character meets the Doctor! The author talked about his love of the Doctor: "I became a fan in the late '70s. I grew up in Puerto Rico, where they ran the Tom Baker adventures as a strip at 7 on weekdays. They called the show "El Doctor Misterio." At the time, I probably missed a lot of the subtleties of the stories, but I fell in love with the iconography of the show: the scarf, the TARDIS, K-9, the companions, all those things. After my family moved to the States in the '80s, I continued to watch the show on PBS, and then devoured the movie with number eight. (I even worked with director Geoffrey Sax on my first pilot the year after the Fox TV film!) Suffice it to say, I was thrilled when the show came back in '05 and have been a die-hard ever since. I even cosplayed the Master at last year's Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention... do with that information what you must." [CNN Geek Out/KSAT, 7 Dec 2011]

United Kingdom

A charity fayre taking place at the Holbeck Underground Ballroom (HUB) in Leeds on the 10th December will include an auction with a range of items to bid upon, including three Doctor Who scripts from cast reading sessions. [@SlungLow on Twitter, 6 Dec 2011]

Two full-sized Daleks will appear at the Toy and Hobby Fair at the Steyning Centre, Fletcher’s Croft, Steyning, on the 10th December. Visitors will be able to come face to face with the props at the fete, which is open between 10:30am-2:00pm. [Shoreham Herald, 5 Dec 2011]

Writer Daniel Blythe visited Wetherby High School alongside some Daleks to chat to pupils about writing. Senior assistant headteacher Mark McKelvie said: "It was absolutely fantastic. In the morning we had all 210 Year 4 pupils from seven primary schools. Daniel presented a talk about the Doctor Who TV series and discussed his own writing." [Wetherby News, 2 Dec 2011]

Lincolnshire Aviation Centre's general manager Andrew Panton talked about their involvement with The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe: "It is a thrill to think we’ll be on TV on Christmas day and be part of everyone’s Christmas. There was a lot of secrecy surrounding their visit. All we knew was that the BBC would be doing some filming at the centre, but we didn’t know what." Further details and photos from the shoot remain firmly under wraps until after broadcast, however: "There’s no plans to do anything special off the back of the filming at the moment - it depends how much publicity it gives us and how the public reacts to knowing it is us appearing in it. Hopefully it’ll lead to a lot more TV filming here in the future." [Skegness Standard, 30 Nov 2011]

Terry Molloy has been named-checked as one of the curious facts of Norfolk! The Bawburgh resident appears in the Little Book of Norfolk for his role as Davros in Doctor Who (and Big Finish adventures). The book is compiled by historian Neil Storey to illustrate how "this county is so diverse, full of curiosities and nuances - it’s trivia,but don’t we all love it?" [Eastern Daily Press, 6 Dec 2011]

A bridegroom has admitted to causing a fire at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire (as featured in The Time Warrior) last June; nobody was hurt at the incident, which occured after disagreements with staff at his wedding reception. [BBC News, 2 Dec 2011]

Three full-sized Daleks made an appearance at the Christmas Lights ceremony in Nuneaton, in aid of the DiGeorge Syndrome Max Appeal. Christine Adams said: "This is the first time these models have been out in public and seem to have created quite a stir. They were made out of fibre glass by my brother, Paul Holt, for my son Craig, who suffers from the immune deficiency condition and is a big sci-fi fan. We’ve been giving youngsters rides in the Daleks in return for a small donation." [Coventy Telegraph, 5 Dec 2011]

Meanwhile, the "Doctor" was on hand to turn on the lights for Thetford: "'Dr Who' may have arrived in time-travelling style to switch on Thetford’s Christmas lights – but it was community spirit which lit up the town. Scores of people squeezed into space in front of King’s House on King Street as the button was pressed, and watched the town centre spring to life in preparation for Christmas." [Eastern Daily Press, 2 Dec 2011]

Australia

TV Blog TV Tonight suggested Doctor Who could be on it's way for next series: "(we're) hearing whispers from the UK that the long-running science-fiction series is considering a move to film multiple episodes in Australia in mid-2012. ... There’s still much that needs to be sorted before an Aussie sojourn becomes a reality, but it’s certainly a tempting idea." [TV Tonight, 30 Nov 2011]

Lindy Orthia, a lecturer in science communication at the Australian National University, is making final preparations for her latest Doctor Who project, Doctor Who and Race. The anthology aims to discuss areas such as: ethnic or racial backgrounds, identities and racially-signifying physical traits of characters, communities, and actors; depictions of racism, racial stereotyping and race-related exploitation; colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, and other race-related phenomena significant in human history; and allegorical literary tools used in the program to reference race, such as the alien as 'other'. Lindy is keen to receive submissions for the anthology, full details of which are available via her blog.

Ricky Gervais has filmed a scene for his new comedy, Life's Too Short, that will feature a TARDIS and Daleks.

On the news page of his website, it is revealed that he has filmed a "little something for sci-fi nerds everywhere".

The blog post also contains photos of Gervais posing with a TARDIS and two Daleks. No other information has been revealed as yet. Guest stars in Life's Too Short include Sting, Johnny Depp and Steve Carell. It is not known if Matt Smith will guest star as himself or the Doctor in the scene

Ricky Gervais is no stranger to the world of Doctor Who. In the 2007 Christmas Special and series finale of his sitcom, Extras, he filmed a short Doctor Who parody with David Tennant as the Doctor, and himself as the slug monster called Schlong.

A 10" model of a monster created for a Doctor Who Adventures competition has been added to the Doctor Who Experience.

Twelve year old Jessica Rickarby won the design-a-monster competition which featured in the magazine with her design, Screamer, picked from over 1,000 entries. The monster was then incorporated into a comic strip character for the Doctor to encounter in last week's issue, and a model maker has created a physical version which has been put on display to visitors to the Doctor Who Experience for the next three months; Jessica will then receive it to keep.


Natalie Barnes, editor of Doctor Who Adventures said:

The prize-winning design featured on today's edition of the news programme for children on BBC1, Newsround - this is currently available to watch in the UK via their website.

In what seems to be turning into a regular trip to the historic castles of Wales, this week sees the TARDIS materialise at the gate of Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. The police box prop stands prominently in the Queen's Gate and will be there until 27th July.

Previously, the police box appeared at Raglan Castle back in February, and also turned up on the battlements of Caerphilly Castle during December 2009 as part of promotional activities by the Welsh historic environment service CADW.

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Doctor Who's relationship with castles and castle-like structures has flourished in recent years; May's adventure The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People saw several such locations used for filming, including Cardiff Castle, Caerphilly Castle, St Donat's Castle (aka Atlantic College), and the ruins of Neath Abbey.

An "alternative census" has been carried out in the UK to determine what constitutes the "average" person's life in the United Kingdom, and reports that Doctor Who is the programme they most like to watch!

The survey was undertaken in over 2000 households by energy management service AlertMe, with chief executive officer of the company Mary Turner explaining:

Looking into daily lives, the report uncovered snippets such as favourites foods of the week (with fish and chips being the obvious Friday winner), families eating together three times a week (at 5:54pm!), and generally getting home from work at 5:15pm. Eight out of ten families consider themselves to be "happy" or "very happy", with 70% of adults considering their household as "completely normal". Half of families surveyed also indicated that television is their main form of entertainment, with a typical family tuning in for some nine hours a day and citing Doctor Who as their favoured show.

The survey also found that the average person gets up at 6:57am and goes to bed at 10:50pm - so there's no reason to miss Torchwood this coming Thursday!

BBC America have now revealed the winner of their Where's The TARDIS? competition: announced during broadcast of the mid-series finale, A Good Man Goes To War, last night saw the Bull Family from Wisconsin succeed over hundreds of submissions to the competition, with entrants sending in pictures of the TARDIS in strange and exotic places.



A variety of the many entries can be seen on the Where's The TARDIS? website.

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Over in the UK, police boxes have featured a number of times in the National Shed of the Year awards held by Cuprinol's We Love Sheds, and this year sees one through to the finals. It was built by design engineer John Williams from Newport, who said:

His competition includes a Bygones Museum in Scratby, Norfolk by Dad's Army enthusiast Darren Stride, a Diner and "The George and Dragon". The winner will be announced on the 4th July.

[South Wales Argus; Wales on Sunday]

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Another TARDIS garden shed in the news originated from student Luke Palmer, who built his own as part of a school technology project. The project took some four months to complete and cost around £1000.

The seventeen year old is a founding member of Charity Daleks, which aims to raise money for charities such as The British Heart Foundation, PHAB and Marie Curie.

[Wiltshire Gazette and Herald]

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The trend continues, as Zachary Smith got a surprise for his fifth birthday in the form of his very own TARDIS! It was built by his father, Lee, who said:

Zachary's mother Anna added:

[Daily Mail; Somerset Western Gazette]

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Herne Bay in Kent is the subject of a couple of "TARDIS" projects initiated by local prop-maker Jason Onion to honour Anthony Coburn - credited with inventing the Doctor's 'home' - who lived there until his death in 1977.

As widely reported in the press, one aim is to place a police box on the seafront; the other is to install one within the local library to inspire and encourage future writers. Both are currently being considered for planning permission.

Jason added:

The project was also covered in a local news film by BBC South East.

[Herne Bay Gazette, BBC News]

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Finally, a success story in the world of preservation. Back in 2009 the media covered the plight of a police box in Somerton, Newport, which whilst a Grade II listed building was in danger of completely collapsing due to "concrete rot". However, a Cadw grant at the beginning of 2010 was made available to restore the box, which can now be seen once again standing in all its glory!

September 2009

May 2011

Aviva Investors, the current owners of the Porth Teigr project to regenerate Cardiff Docks - and the new Roath Lock BBC Studios - have agreed to sell the 38 acre development to the British Steel Pension Scheme.

The full terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but the pension company has agreed to acquire both the BBC studios and to fund the development of the Centre for Creative Industries which is also to be built at the site.

Hoong Wey Woon, Fund Manager for Aviva Investors, said:

Aviva also confirmed that the BBC would remain long-term tenants at the site - phase one of the Roath Lock development was completed in January, and Doctor Who is expected to re-locate there from the existing Upper Boat studios during 2012.

News coverage from: Financial News, Professional Pensions

Back in 2009, BBC's Blue Peter launched a competition for its viewers to create a new TARDIS console to feature in an episode of Doctor Who.

The finalists were announced in 2010, with Susannah Leah in the 11-12 category being the overall winner with her design below:


Today's programme will follow up on what happened next with the design:


Blue Peter is on BBC1/BBC1HD at 4:30pm.

(with thanks to Neil Gaiman)

As if one Doctor taking on pirates wasn't enough, (The Curse of the Black Spot, tonight 6:15pm BBC1/BBC1HD), another will encounter some swashbuckling action too! Former Doctor David Tennant will provide the voice of Charles Darwin in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, a new film from Aardman, during which the famous naturalist will team up with a pirate crew led by the Pirate Captain - the lead role being voiced by Hugh Grant (who himself had a brief flirtation with the role of the Doctor in Steven Moffat's The Curse of Fatal Death).

Other characters will be voiced by actors such as Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, Salma Hayek, and Imelda Staunton (as pirate-hating Queen Victoria!).

The animated tale is based on two books from The Pirates! series by Gideon Defoe, who also wrote the screenplay, and is the first collaboration by Aardman with Sony Pictures Entertainment (their previous films being with Dreamworks). It is due to be released in cinemas March next year.