Into the last couple of days of filming, with Matt Strevens commenting: "The penultimate day and a very busy one. Lots of v exciting stuff to shoot. Been saying goodbye to our lovely cast as we wrap them out.". The producer reported earlier in the week about new creatures, and today seems to be centre around events during The Web Planet, with Thom Hutchingson tweeting: "Today I've mostly been menacing Wimbledon Studios dressed as a winged insectoid alien. My TV debut!". As a follow-up to this, Mammoth Screen apologised to actor Sam Hoare: "So sorry if you were stalked by a giant bee creature today."

Hoare, who played opposite Matt Smith in Bert and Dickie last year, has been confirmed by his agent as playing "Douglas". Other cast members involved today include David William Bryan, who said: "Ready for a long Dr.Who day!" and afterwards commented on his experience meeting another creature seen previously: "Just had a fight with this little fella...... And lost"

DWM were also present at today's filming, with editor Tom Spilsbury commenting: "Today, I had an amazing and unforgettable adventure in space and time. Thank you, Mark Gariss!" As usual, activities at the set drew attention from other parts of the studios, with Chris Presswell commenting: "Have just had a meeting in the same studio complex as where An Adventure in Space and Time is being filmed. 60s costumes galore. Awesome."

Tomorrow is the final scheduled day of principal photography, and tweets today indicate that it may well include another iconic recreation, this time for the TARDIS (de)materialisation! Natasha O'Keeffe asked Matt Strevens: "if there's an old scabby piano on any of your shoot days as part of set, that piano is from my parents/childhood home!". To which he replied: " I think there is tomorrow. What, why, how?"

BBC Worldwide have finally confirmed that August's DVD release of Second Doctor adventure The Ice Warriors will indeed include animated versions of the missing episodes two and three, as well as the previously announced 'telesnap' version of the episodes that originally appeared on the 1998 VHS release.

Unlike January's The Reign of Terror, animation for these episodes has been created by Qurios, an award-winning animation and visual effects production studio based in London and Newcastle, and who have previously worked on the range providing titles for the Who Peter features.

DVD range producer Dan Hall said:
A preview of a "work in progress" clip from the episodes has been published on YouTube, featuring the scene in episode two where the Doctor tries to convince Leader Clent that humans are better than machines:



The DVD is currently scheduled to be released on 26th August.

A Doctor Who Showcase Symphonic Spectacular was held in Liverpool last night to pay tribute to the programme.

Hosted by Mark Williams, it took place at the BBC Worldwide Showcase - being attended by some 700 TV buyers from around the world - and saw Ben Foster lead the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as well as the Sense of Sound choir through compositions by Murray Gold, with Elin Manahan Thomas and Daniel Keating-Roberts providing solos.

Earlier this week, Steve Macallister, the president and managing director of sales and distribution at BBC Worldwide, had said that Doctor Who would feature as one of two themed evenings at the showcase.

The programme was as follows:

• The Madman With A Box
  
• I Am The Doctor
  
• Brianosaurus
  
• Abigail's Song
  
• Battle In The Skies
  
• The Majestic Tale Of A Madman In A Box
  
• Liz, Lizards, Vampires & Vincent
  
• This Is Gallifrey/Vale Decem
  
• The Final Chapter Of Amelia Pond
  
• Doctor Who Theme
  

Scenes from The Angels Take Manhattan provided a suitable backdrop for the penultimate piece.

As has been the case with previous musical outings, various monsters put in an appearance too, including Daleks, Ood, Cybermen, Silurians, the Silence, and Saturnynians (from The Vampires of Venice). The Symphonic Spectacular also featured a compilation of the Doctor's regenerations.

More pictures from the event can be seen on BBC America's Anglophenia site.

BBC Worldwide have released a demonstration of how Doctor Who is broadcast in other languages from around the world as part of the promotion of the show at this year's BBC Worldwide Showcase, currently taking place in Liverpool.

The video shows a clip from The Wedding of River Song in English, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German and Italian.


As recently reported, episodes of the show will be available to watch in the Middle East via Al Jazeera's JCC channel, and in Poland, South Africa, Burma and Indonesia via BBC Entertainment.

A special screening of the opening two episodes of Series 6 is to take place across Australia and New Zealand on Thursday 14th March, the BBC has announced.

In a world-first multiple cinema screening for Doctor Who, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon will be shown at selected Event Cinemas, Greater Union and Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinemas, and Village Cinemas across the two countries, starting at 7pm on the day.

There will also be a "best-dressed" prize at each cinema for the Doctor Who fan with the most impressive costume, from Time Lords to monsters.

Sharon Wilson, BBC Worldwide Australasia's head of marketing for global brands, said: The screening has been arranged as part of the celebrations for the show's 50th-anniversary year.

Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes, the 90-minute two-parter stars Matt Smith as the Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, Alex Kingston as River Song, and Mark Sheppard as Canton Everett Delaware III.

In The Impossible Astronaut, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory receive a secret summons that leads them to the Oval Office in 1969. Enlisting the help of a former FBI agent and the irrepressible River Song, the Doctor promises to assist President Nixon in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious Space Man. In Day of the Moon, the Doctor is locked in the perfect prison, while Amy, Rory, and River Song are being hunted down by the FBI. But with the help of the president and Neil Armstrong, the Doctor is able to mount a rebellion against an alien invasion dating back to the very beginnings of human civilisation.

Tickets for the high-definition big-screen showings can be bought online at Event Cinemas or Village Cinemas (booking fees may apply) or at the box offices of the cinemas involved. The websites list the cinemas taking part in this special event.

UKTV, which is wholly owned by BBC Worldwide Australasia, is the media partner for this screening, which has been devised by BBC Worldwide Australasia.

As previously reported, Splendid Chaps is a year-long performance/podcast project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who hosted by comedian Ben McKenzie (Dungeon Crawl, Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour) and writer John Richards (ABC1 sitcom Outland, Boxcutters podcast).

Described by its creators as part intellectual panel discussion, part nerdy Tonight Show, Splendid Chaps is a combination of analysis, enthusiasm and irreverence. The first episode went to number 1 on the iTunes TV & Film Podcast chart in Australia, and to number 4 in the UK.  The podcasts to the first two episodes are now available at www.splendidchaps.com or at  iTunes.

Tickets are now on sale for their March show, in which the Splendid Chaps TARDIS will be visiting Adelaide. They'll be discussing the frill-fronted velveteen Time Lord Jon Pertwee, and looking at the notion of Family in Doctor Who - why are there so few families in the early years of the show? What’s with all the distant aunts? How did it change the show when companions’ families started to appear after Rose?

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott are joined by New York Times best-selling author Sean Williams plus other guests poached from the Adelaide Fringe Festival as Splendid Chaps makes the exciting move into colour and corduroy.

Splendid Chaps: A Year Of Doctor Who: "Three/Family"
Space: The Tuxedo Cat – The Yellow Room, 199-200 North Terrace, Adelaide.
Time: Sunday, March 10; show starts 2 PM (note that as we will be recording, latecomers will not be admitted until interval).
Tickets: All tickets $15 (plus booking fee where applicable).
Bookings: trybooking.com, tickets also sold at the door (subject to availability).
Podcast: not yet available; released 23 March 2013.
Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible.

The Professional Publishers Association are celebrating their centenary this year, and as part of this ten covers are to compete to become Cover of the Century, one of which is the Radio Times issue covering the week 30th April to May 6th May 2005 - otherwise known as Vote Dalek!

The magazine is up against covers from the Beano, Cosmpolitan, Empire, Harpers, MacUser, NewScientist, Time Out, Vogue and Woman's Weekly, all of which were chosen by a panel of experts as being the most iconic over the century.


Head of the PPA, Barry McIlheney said

Voting is open daily to the public via the PAA website until the 30th September, with the winning cover announced on the Association's actual centenary on 21st November.

---

This isn't the first time the Radio Times cover has been up for an award - in 2008 it won the coveted title of Best Magazine Cover Of All Time in a poll that was also conducted by the PAA!

Circulation director at the time, Nicola Rowe said of its successback then:

It's the last week of principal photography for An Adventure in Space and Time, with producer Matt Strevens commenting: "So the final week begins. It's flown by. Some big, moving scenes to come and perhaps a new creature or 2.". Doctor Who wouldn't be Doctor Who without corridors, but this time of the real kind as a couple of Dalek props are left "lurking" - as Matt observed: "These Daleks do like to gossip on a Monday morning."

Meanwhile, Waris met Waris as Sacha Dhawan caught up with original director Waris Hussein; the actor intimated that his time on filming was coming to an end, saying: "What a journey through space and time..loved every minute of it.x" Additional photos of the two together can be seen courtesy of the Radio Times, published when the initial casting was announced at the end of January.


Speaking of cast, last week Reece Shearsmith got to grips with becoming the Second Doctor: "Tried the hobo costume on the other day. Oh my giddy aunt ..."


Some additional members of the production team have been confirmed, with script editor Richard Cookson telling us: "I am indeed lucky enough to be working on An Adventure in Space and Time. Thanks for the congratulations! All I can really say is that it's a huge honour to be involved in the programme and to work with such a fantastic and talented cast and crew." Other confirmations include Pippa Suren as production coordinator, Catriona Scott as production secretary, and James Metcalf as a floor runner.

Al Jazeera has bought Series 5 to 7 of Doctor Who, it was announced today.

The episodes were snapped up at the BBC Worldwide Showcase 2013 event and will be shown on the satellite TV broadcaster's pan-Arabic children's channel JCC, which launched in 2005 and is based in Qatar.

The showcase is a four-day international TV market being held at ACC Liverpool. It started yesterday and is welcoming some 700 TV buyers from around the globe.

Paola Tonella, BBC Worldwide's sales and distribution territory manager for the Middle East and Africa, said: Among the star names at yesterday's gala opening were Eve Myles and Mark Williams.

The showcase will also be hosting special events to both celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and to spotlight the natural-history documentary series Africa.

Steve Macallister, the president and managing director of sales and distribution at BBC Worldwide, said:

Australian fans attending Whovention: Gold this weekend were fortunate enough to see a world premiere preview of the animated fourth episode of the forthcoming The Tenth Planet DVD.

To rounds of very enthusiastic applause, a warm and appreciative crowd saw clips from the animated episode, during panels hosted by Dan Hall (Pup Ltd and commissioning editor of the Doctor Who DVD range) and Austen Atkinson of Australian based animation company Planet 55 Studios. During the panels a number of animated clips were shown, including the famous William Hartnell regeneration scene (see images below) and other behind the scenes material. Video from the animated episode will be available next week on doctorwho.tv.  Fans reacted very positively to the material, as well as to queries from Dan Hall as to whether more missing episodes should be subject to similar animation in the future. Mr Hall noted however that while the existing business model for BBC Worldwide DVD releases did not currently allow more than two episodes a release to be animated that future options for allowing the release of more animated material may become more feasible at some later stage.

Also featured on the panels were Planet 55 Studios animators Colin Bennett, Josh Campbell & Chris Chapman who discussed the painstaking hours of work required to recreate the missing episode of The Tenth Planet as well as the two animated episodes from the newly restored Reign of Terror DVD. Austen Atkinson confirmed that work on the animated Tenth Planet episode was likely to be completed in the next month with the DVD release due in the second half of 2013. Dan Hall also confirmed that an announcement on whether the missing episodes of the forthcoming The Ice Warriors DVD would be similarly animated will be announced in the near future, also on doctorwho.tv.


Other highlights of Whovention: Gold (organised by the Doctor Who Club of Australia) included Louise Jameson describing her complex relationship with Tom Baker; Camille Coduri recalling her shock of first learning about Christopher Eccleston's departure as the Ninth Doctor via the media and original series composer Dudley Simpson announcing that there will be orchestral concerts of some of his Doctor Who scores in the United Kingdom in the near future. Rob Lloyd also performed his popular stage show “Who, Me” in Sydney for the first time for a one-off performance on the Saturday night.

Podcasts recorded at Whovention: Gold, including an interview with Dan Hall, are also now available at the Preachrs Podcast website or iTunes.