Semi-finalist Jay McGuiness with dance partner Aliona Vilani danced the Charleston to 'Dr Jazz' tonight on Strictly Come Dancing, including a Doctor Who motif.

The official Doctor Who page on the BBC website will once again post a selection of images, clips, games and other goodies over the days leading up to Christmas in their Adventure Calendar.

The festive treats are unlocked at around midday daily, with the first being three wallpapers reflecting this Saturday's series finale, Hell Bent.

Peter Jackson reflects on Steven Moffat's attempts to woo him into directing Doctor Who ...


The director is known to be a big fan of Doctor Who, and back in 2012 expressed an interest in directing the series following comments from then Doctor Matt Smith about filming in New Zealand. However, please note the above video does not confirm that Jackson will indeed be directing the series!

Details have been released about a very special photo-shoot ...

NASA have released plans for the naming of areas of Pluto's moon Charon, based upon the International Astronomical Union's recommendations that these would relate to "destinations and milestones of fictional space and other exploration; fictional and mythological vessels of space and other exploration; fictional and mythological voyagers, travellers and explorers."

This has led to proposals of names from a number of sci-fi shows including Doctor Who, which sees a large crater on the surface named "Gallifrey Macula", with a nearby rift named "TARDIS Chasma". Star Trek is honoured with a plain named the "Vulcan Planum", containing craters such as "Spock" and "Sulu" and mons like "Kirk" and "Uhura" - there are also features named after Star Wars characters, and also sci-fi writers/directors such as Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey).


The names are to be submitted to the IAU for final approval.

The Yorkshire Building Society undertook a survey in November to discover who children would like to see on new banknotes, with the favourite among the 2000 7-16 year olds wanting it to be the Doctor!


Tanya Jackson, Head of Corporate Affairs at Yorkshire Building Society, said:

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In an alternative universe the Doctor has already had that privilege ... fake notes created for a scene in the 2006 Christmas Special The Runaway Bride where a cashpoint spewed out lots of money included the image of the tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant on the "£10" notes (with then-producer Phil Collinson adorning the "£20" notes).

Archival footage relating to Doctor Who is among thousands of films now available to view on the British Pathé YouTube channel, after the organisation decided to upload its entire catalogue in high resolution to the video-sharing website.

British Pathé newsreels were once a staple part of going to the cinema, providing people with visual reports and features in the days before television news and, indeed, before many people had TVs. Now its collection of 85,000 films, spanning the years 1896 to 1976, has been released as part of a bid to enable the archive to be seen globally.

Alastair White, the general manager of British Pathé, said of the unprecedented release: German online TV channel Mediakraft has managed the project and is to create new content with British Pathé material. It said:Of particular interest to Doctor Who fans will be the film clip of the 1967/68 Schoolboys' and Girls' Exhibition at Olympia, which at the start briefly shows a Cyberman and Yeti with onlookers, as well as the 1959 film Park Rangers, in which a police box on Wimbledon Common is put to use (1:51). Also in the archive is the 1955 newsreel Waistcoat Club Aka Waistcoats For Women, which includes footage of Jon Pertwee and Jean Marsh, who were married from 1955 to 1960 (0:49 and with Pertwee's brother Michael and Michael's wife Valerie at 1:24), as well as Peter Cushing (1:36). The film states that the Pertwees were founder members of the club in 1953.

More offbeat Doctor Who-related newsreels show a radio-controlled Dalek named Dodger selling university rag mags in Coventry in 1964, and another home-made Dalek plus robot and rocket in the back garden of the Sherlock family home in Horsham, which was filmed in 1967.

The new police box in Boscombe was officially revealed to the public today in front of a large enthusiastic crowd.

Dorset Police Band entertained onlookers beforehand and then it was time for Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood to deliver a speech before unveiling the steel-framed construction, which is based on the iconic 1929 design created by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench for the Metropolitan Police and subsequently used in Doctor Who.

Clouds of dry ice poured out of the box as it was opened.

Former Bournemouth AFC forward Steve Fletcher was among those present, as were Inspector Chris Weeks and Sgt Chris Amey, who both have responsibilities for the area and have previously spoken about the policing and tourism benefits of having the box. Also there was Dorset Police Federation chairman Tony Tester who, as he set off for the event, tweeted: "Off to the launch of the new police box this morning by car not time travel."

The MP said:
A report by ITV station Meridian about the police box's opening is available to watch via this link. Doctor Who News reader Nick Joy was interviewed for it and he took the pictures below:


For more photos, see Dorset Police's Twitter feed.

With just one day to go before the TARDIS-style police box is officially opened in Boscombe, Dorset Police has tweeted an image showing it on the back of a flatbed lorry, as shown below.

The picture is undated but, as previously reported, the steel-framed box was placed into position at the western end of the precinct in Christchurch Road last Thursday.

The box will be opened tomorrow at 11.30am by Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, with a family fun day to follow. Dorset Police hopes that as well as serving policing purposes it will become an iconic landmark, attracting tourists.

The BBC and ITV have told Doctor Who News that they intend covering the opening in their local news bulletins, subject to last-minute changes to their news diaries. For those able to receive them, BBC One's South Today programme broadcasts tomorrow at 1.30pm, 6.30pm and 10.25pm, while Meridian News will be going out at 1.55pm, 6pm and 10.30pm.

The police box's design is based on the iconic 1929 version created for the Metropolitan Police by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench. Built by AMK Industries, of Christchurch in Dorset, it has been funded by local firms and organisations via donations or services, either free or at a significantly reduced cost. The sponsors will be recognised with an engraved paving stone at the foot of the box.

The police box that has been built for Bournemouth is to be moved into place tomorrow, Dorset Police announced today.

As previously reported, and since updated with more pictures, the TARDIS-style box, which it is hoped will become an iconic landmark and create tourism opportunities as well as serving policing purposes, will be officially opened on Tuesday 8th April at 11.30am, but tomorrow - Thursday 3rd April - a crane will be used to move the steel-framed box into hoardings at the western end of Boscombe precinct in Christchurch Road so that final external and internal fittings can take place.

Also today, Dorset Police said that the box would be opened by Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood and tweeted a picture of it showing it with its phone in place, as seen here. The phone will be available for use by members of the public to contact Dorset Police when the box isn't staffed.

Insp Chris Weeks, whose policing responsibilities include the Bournemouth East neighbourhood, said: Boscombe Partnership and Regeneration Officer Sgt Chris Amey said: A family fun day will follow the opening next Tuesday to celebrate the police box's arrival.

The box was designed by James Roberts of Christchurch-based architect and design practice Anders Roberts Cheer, based on the iconic 1929 version created for the Metropolitan Police by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench, and built by AMK Industries, also of Christchurch.

It has been funded by local firms and organisations via donations or services, either free or at a significantly reduced cost. The sponsors are to be recognised with an engraved paving stone at the foot of the police box.

UPDATE - 3rd APRIL: Dorset Police tweeted a picture today of the delicate manoeuvre that took place early in the morning to move the police box into position.