The next in the Doctor Who Lockdown global 'watchathon' events will be in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Eleventh Doctor to our screens this coming Friday 3rd April!


Once again the episode's writer Steven Moffat will be contributing to the Twitter discussion during this episode; speaking on his Instagram account, he also hinted:
Update: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and director Adam Smith will also be participating to the Twitter discussion.

Beforehand, at 5pm BST there will also be a Q&A session, with organiser Emily Cook tweeting:

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You can also support the creative industry behind our entertainment at this time through JustGiving as detailed below:

'Vincent and the Doctor' demonstrates the power of TV. If you'd like to support the creative industry at a difficult time, please donate to the @FilmTVCharity's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. #DoctorWhoLockdown has a JustGiving page to fundraise... https://t.co/lKPhu94UnI

— Emily Cook #FishCustard (@Emily_Rosina) March 30, 2020

The third in the global 'watchathon' events organised by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook - now entitled The Doctor Who Lockdown - will be eleventh Doctor tale Vincent and the Doctor, taking place on the titular Vincent Van Gogh's birthday, 30th March.

As with previous events, the writer for the story, Richard Curtis will be commenting live on Twitter, but this time Emily and her fellow co-organiser for this viewing, the story's script editor Emma Freud, have also announced the Doctor himself, Matt Smith, will be joining Twitter to participate in the discussion, along with his trusty companion's real-life counterpart Karen Gillan, and the actor who brought Vincent to life in this episode, Tony Curran. Not only that, but the uncredited curator of the Musée d'Orsay, Bill Nighy, will also be joining in!



There is a new YouTube channel for these event, Doctor Who Lockdown, which features videos relating to all the events so far, and more to come!

The BBC has announced that the stars of Doctor Who will be attending this year's Comic Con in New York.

Both Peter Capaldi and new companion Pearl Mackie, will be at the event as well as show-runner Steven Moffat and executive producer Brian Minchin. They will be joined by the cast of Class, the new Doctor Who spin-off due to be released this Autumn. The Class panel includes stars Greg Austin, Fady Elsayed, Sophie Hopkins and Vivian Oparah, as well as writer, creator and executive producer Patrick Ness.

Current Doctor Peter Capaldi will be making his New York Comic Con debut alongside the first ever appearance at a convention by new co-star Pearl Mackie, who plays Bill, the Doctor’s companion.

Previous Doctor Matt Smith and companion Karen Gillan will also be attanding the event, which takes palce at the Javits Center in New York, between October 6 - 9.

Matt Smith features on the front cover of this week's Entertainment Weekly magazine to promote Terminator: Genisys, the fifth instalment in the Terminator series. The actor appears along side Jason Clarke who is playing John Connor. Smith is playing an as yet unnamed character but EW describe him as a "close ally of John Connor". He told the magazine of the new film:

David Tennant was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman recently to promote Gracepoint, the American remake of Broadchurch. During his appearance he talked of his time playing the Doctor.

Karen Gillan appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about the ABC comedy series, Selfie, which she is the star of.


Peter Capaldi and Hugh Bonneville appear in the new trailer for the film adaptation of Paddington Bear. The film also stars Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton.

And finally... Sean Pertwee, who had a brief cameo in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, posted an image of himself dressed for Halloween as a familiar looking character...

Doctor Who Showrunner Steven Moffat has won the 2014 Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Mini-Series or Movie for the Season 3 episode of Sherlock His Last Vow.

Moffat was presented with the award at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday evening. Diana Rigg who was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in Game of Thrones, lost out to Allison Janney.

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Paul Cornell has achieved a life's ambition with an article in the new issue of Fortean Times

The article is about the history of Fortean themes in Doctor Who (that is, the appearance of UFOs, ghosts, the Loch Ness Monster, etc.)

It’s based on a lecture the author delivered several years ago at the Fortean Times Unconvention, but has been updated to include the whole of the current series thus far.

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ABC have released the pilot of Selfie, the new comedy starring Karen Gillan

Based on the My Fair Lady story, Gillan plays young woman Eliza Dooley, who is desperate to become famous via social media, but gets lessons in how to make real friends from an ettiquette expert.

She stars alongside Star Trek and Harold and Kumar actor John Cho as well as Homeland's David Harewood in the series which debuts on the US network ABC on September 30th.

The channel has added the whole programme to its Twitter feed.

Billie Piper is to star at the National Theatre in London in a new play about press intrusion and phone hacking.

The play Great Britain, written by Richard Bean and directed by Nicholas Hytner, opens on 30th June, with Piper playing the ambitious young news editor of a tabloid newspaper. The opening was delayed on legal advice due to an ongoing court case which has now been concluded. It will run on London's South Bank until 23rd August.

The play also features Robert Glenister.

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A new trailer for the upcoming ABC sitcom Selfie, starring Karen Gillan, has been released.

Selfie sees Gillan play a vain, social media-obsessed airhead, Eliza Dooley, forced to learn humility from a marketing consultant. The show is described as a modern update to My Fair Lady.


Selfie will debut in the US on ABC later this year on Tuesdays at 8pm.

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ITV have released a trailer for the new series Chasing Shadows, which stars Alex Kingston and Noel Clarke.

Kingston playes Ruth Hattersley in the drama, who is described as "maternal, but not mumsy", while Clarke plays DI Prior. The show also stars Reece Shearsmith, who played Patrick Troughton in An Adventure In Space And Time.

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Sophie Okonedo, who played Liz 10 in The Beast Below, has won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Ruth in the play A Raisin in the Sun.

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Dolore Whiteman, who played Aunt Vanessa in the Doctor Who story Logopolis, has died at her home in Australia. Whiteman was the mother of Tracey Wilson and Jodie Wilson who both appeared as the vocalist backing singers in Delta and the Bannermen.
(with thanks to Stephen Griffiths)

Matt Smith has been cast in a new Terminator film. The actor will play a new character with a strong connection to the leader of the anti-machine resistance, in the long running franchise.

Speaking at at Wizard World Minneapolis, Smith said he was very excited to be in the movie. The fifth Terminator movie will be directed by Alan Taylor and sees Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the role that made him famous.

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Karen Gillan's ABC pilot Selfie has been commissioned for a full series.

The American sitcom is based on My Fair Lady, with Gillan playing Eliza Dooley, a 20-something who pays more attention to her online persona than professional image. Written by Suburgatory’s Emily Kapnek, the comedy also stars John Cho as marketing expert Henry.

Meanwhile the Warner’s horror film Oculus, which stars Gillan, will be released in the UK on Friday, 13th June. The official UK trailer can be viewed on YouTube.

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Arthur Darvill recently appeared on BBC Radio 1 where he performed The Ballad of Arthur Darvill, lamenting, life after Doctor Who.

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Bob Baker co-creator of K9, is currently working on Marti, the amazing adventures of the World’s most unlikeliest of Superheroes. Marti is a creator-owned cartoon character series about a Superhero Meerkat and his friends. The concept began life after seeing the Meerkat Manor natural history series.

The new Cartoon Superhero is being funded via Kickstarter, with an exclusive bonus K9 DVD being given free alongside pledges of £15 and upwards. The DVD features the complete story of K9, with exclusive footage never seen before.

Full details here.

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A new project called Contradiction - The Interactive Murder Mystery Game is in production, also funded by a Kickstarter campaign.

The game stars Paul Darrow, who played Avon in Blakes 7 as well as appearing in two Doctor Who stories. Also appearing is John Guilor, who provided the voice of the First Doctor in the 50th Anniversary story The Day of the Doctor.

Full details here.

Karen Gillan has posted online one of the first pictures of herself and Matt Smith in costume as Amy Pond and the Doctor - taken at their initial camera test.

The actress shared the image via Twitter on Tuesday, saying: "1st pic of Matt and I [sic] in character was released 4 yrs ago today [sic], but, I have the real one..from the 1st camera test".

Having already appeared in the show as a soothsayer in The Fires of Pompeii in April 2008, Gillan made her debut as Amy two years later in The Eleventh Hour on 3rd April 2010.

On 17th February 2010, the BBC released a montage shot featuring the duo to promote the start of Series 5, as reported by Doctor Who News, with the world having been given its first look at Gillan and Smith in costume seven months earlier, when an official image was released as filming began on the series - also reported by Doctor Who News.

It is currently unknown when exactly the test photo - shown below - was taken.

The Fifth Estate:

The film The Fifth Estate is due out on Blu-ray and DVD next Monday (17th February); the story follows the events surrounding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as played by Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch, and also features new Doctor Peter Capaldi as Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger. Grapevine have kindly sent us some photos of Capaldi in his role:



We have two copies of the film on DVD to give away, courtesy of Grapevine; to be in with a chance to win please answer the following question:
Send your answers to comp-fifthestate@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Was Wikileaks an Omnishambles?", along with your name, address and where you read about the competition. Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open to readers in the United Kingdom only, and the closing date is 28th February 2014.

Not Another Happy Ending:

Former TARDIS traveller Karen Gillan's first film, Not Another Happy Ending, is out this week, and Organic have kindly provided us with a few video clips of the actress in action:


Recently in an interview with MSN, she revealed the romantic comedies that she watched to prep for her role:


We have two film posters signed by Karen Gillan to give away, courtesy of Organic; to be in with a chance to win please answer the following question:
Send your answers to comp-nahe@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Blink and you'll miss her", along with your name, address and where you read about the competition. Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open to readers in the United Kingdom only, and the closing date is 28th February 2014.

Christopher Eccleston is to portray an English scientist in the Sky Atlantic crime drama Fortitude - a 12-episode series centring on a murder in the eponymous Arctic Circle town where there has been no violent crime beforehand. Joining him for the show - to be shot in Iceland and the UK and shown later this year - are Michael Gambon as a wildlife photographer who is terminally ill and Jessica Raine playing the wife of the town's main search-and-rescue pilot. [Radio Times, 24 Jan 2014]

John Barrowman is to present the new Channel 4 daytime series Superstar Dogs in the run-up to Crufts. It will see dogs and their owners competing in a number of challenges, with the eventual winner being crowned at the dog show in March. He said: "I have a passion for animals, dogs in particular, so I am hugely excited to be part of a sporting event for dogs and their owners that encourages teamwork, competitive spirit and a large dose of fun and laughter! Having dogs myself, I know the determination, love and commitment you need to train them - it's not easy!" Recording is taking place at MediaCity, Salford Quays from Tuesday 28th to Thursday 30th January, with tickets currently available from Applause Store. (NB: Minimum age is 16.) [Channel 4, 15 Jan 2014]

The BBC One daytime drama Father Brown - starring Mark Williams as the eponymous crime-solving priest - has been recommissioned for a third series. Made by BBC Birmingham Drama Village, it is based on the G K Chesterton stories. The new run of 15 45-minute episodes will begin shooting in and around the Cotswolds later this year. Damian Kavanagh, the controller of BBC Daytime, said: "I'm extremely proud that Father Brown has become an appointment-to-view programme on BBC One afternoons. The production team and Mark Williams have done a fantastic job bringing Father Brown to life and I'm delighted that our viewers share my enthusiasm for the series." [BBC Media Centre, 22 Jan 2014]

Richard Wilson is to appear in the one-man play Krapp's Last Tape, by Samuel Beckett, from Wednesday 25th June to Saturday 19th July at The Crucible in Sheffield, where he is an associate director for Sheffield Theatres at its studio space there. [The Stage, 20 Jan 2014]

The actor Bill Nighy has been shortlisted for one of the British Animation Awards. He has been nominated for his voice work on the 10-minute drama The Hungry Corpse, whose senior executive producer Rankin took the official portrait of Peter Capaldi for his unveiling as the new Doctor. The ceremony will be held at the BFI Southbank on Friday 7th March. [BBC News, 22 Jan 2014]

And speaking of Peter Capaldi, the actor Jason Flemyng - who will be guest-starring as baddie Vadim opposite Capaldi's Cardinal Richelieu in the BBC One drama The Musketeers tomorrow - reckons he will be "amazing" as the Doctor. Flemyng - the son of Gordon Flemyng who directed the two Dalek films in the 1960s - has a pedigree of appearing with forthcoming Doctors. Capaldi was filming The Musketeers when he got the role, and Flemyng said: "One minute I was working with Peter playing the Cardinal and the next, I was working with Doctor Who. That was quite surprising when he got the Doctor Who gig while we were in the middle of it. When I did The Quatermass Experiment, David Tennant came in one morning and was Doctor Who as well so it seems to be something strange, like I'm a lucky (charm). Always the bridesmaid, never the bride." He said Capaldi would "smash it. He's going to be amazing. He's so talented." Flemyng was less favourably disposed towards the Daleks, though. "Until they stop the Daleks flying and put them back in the spaceship, which is where they're meant to land, then I shall be keeping away from Doctor Who. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Much as I love the show, suddenly the Daleks start flying and I thought, 'That's silly,'" he said. [Wales Online, 25 Jan 2014]

A poster and trailer for the forthcoming horror film Oculus starring Karen Gillan have been released. The film, which sees Gillan portray the character Kaylie Russell, who is trying to clear her twin brother of murdering their parents by proving it was supernatural forces in a mirror at their childhood home, opens in America on Friday 11th April but has yet to receive a release date for the UK. (NB: The trailer has been approved for appropriate audiences by the Motion Picture Association of America.)

In Memoriam:

The actor Jerome Willis, who played the memorable villain Stevens in The Green Death, has died aged 85. He notched up well over 100 screen credits during his career, including the leading role of Matthew Peele in ITV drama The Sandbaggers and as Oliver Cromwell in the BBC drama Woodstock. Other notable series Willis appeared in included Z-Cars, Within These Walls, Freewheelers, The Avengers, Danger Man, Adam Adamant Lives!, Callan, Doomwatch, The Caesars, Poirot, and sci-fi drama Space Precinct. An accomplished stage actor, he was a member of the RSC in the 20th and 21st centuries, and in 2002 penned a piece for The Guardian describing the differences he encountered between then and the 1950s. Films that he appeared in included Siege of the Saxons and Winstanley. The DVD of The Green Death - first released in 2004 as a one-disc version and, since last August, also available as a two-disc special edition - saw Willis reprise the role of Stevens in the spoof documentary Global Conspiracy?, which was included as one of the extras. An announcement of his death was published in The Guardian on 17th January that read as follows: