Belated Verity Birthday

Yesterday, 27th November 2013, would have been Verity Lambert's 78th Birthday.

Verity was born in Hampstead, London in 1935. She is best known of course for producing the longest running science fiction and worldwide phenomenon that is Doctor Who from 1963 to 1967. 

 

Verity owned her own production company, Cinema Verity. She was awarded an OBE in 2002 for services to film and television, making her the first producer of Doctor Who to be made an OBE. She was due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Women in Film and Television Awards in December 2007, but died before the award could be presented to her. It was awarded posthumously. She died the day before the show's 44th anniversary in 2007.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Jessica Raine (Call The Midwives and Doctor Who episode Hide) played Verity Lambert in Mark Gatiss' An Adventure In Space And Time, which told the story of the creation of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who has paid  tribute to Verity Lambert at least three times since it's Russell T Davies brought the show back in 2005. In 2007's episode Human Nature, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), when he was made human by the chameleon arch, and became John Smith, identifies his mother by the name Verity. The 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned ends with an on-screen dedication to Lambert, who had died in November that year. In the 2009 episode The End of Time included a character named Verity Newman (as an homage to both Verity Lambert and series creator Sydney Newman), the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern from Human Nature and the author of A Journal of Impossible Things.

 

Happy Birthday Gillan

Happy 26th Birthday to former Doctor Who companion Karen Sheila Gillan who is 26 years old today!

 

Karen is best known for playing Amy (Amelia) Pond/Williams alongside outgoing Doctor Matt Smith from 2010 until 2012. Her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portrayed young Amelia on first meeting the Doctor.

Karen Sheila Gillan was born on 28th November in 1987. Born and raised in Inverness, to parents Raymond John and Marie, Karen stayed here until the age of 16, when she left home to go to Edinburgh to study acting. Whilst in Edinburgh, Karen attended the Telford College to study acting, and later moved to London to the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. However, before achieving her degree, Karen left to star in Rebus – she needed to be a member of Equity, which isn’t possible whilst in College.

Karen got her first career break in modelling, and has modelled in a number of shows including 2007′s London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks’ autumn/winter catwalk show. Karen has also modelled for the Dainty Doll make-up range launch party, which was founded by Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts – this was shown in the television episode The Passions of Girls Aloud, and originally aired on 4th April 2008.

In 2009 it was announced that Karen would be the new companion to the newly announced Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, for Series 5 of Doctor Who. Her character was to be called Amy Pond. The first episode of this new series aired in April 2010, to a mostly positive response both for Matt and Karen. However, some fans were unhappy with the new direction, particularly Amy Pond’s wardrobe choices which were deemed a little risqué for family viewing. But, as Karen pointed out several times in interviews, Amy’s choices only mirrored what girls of her age were actually wearing on the streets of the UK.

Read more on Karen at her fan site here

Jenna Coleman in Death Comes To Pemberley

Current companion to out-going Doctor Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman will be starring in the P.D. James adapatation period drama Death Comes To Pemberley which will be aired at Christmas on BBC One. Jenna stars alonside Matthew Goode, Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell-Martin.

The story is a continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and stars Matthew Rhys as Mr Darcy, who says he will be portraying a very different character to that portrayed by Colin Firth. 

Although far removed from the original tome, international bestseller Death Comes To Pemberley imagines the marriage of Elizabeth Bennett - played by Anna Maxwell Martin - and Darcy (Rhys) six years on from their initial union. 

Jenna Coleman is to star as Lizzie’s sister – and Wickham’s wife – Lydia, who arrives at Pemberley one night, six years after the conclusion of Austen’s novel, screaming that her husband has been murdered.

The three-part BBC adaptation of the novel will air over the Christmas period, and was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice.

Below is the first official picture of the cast

Death Comes to Pemberley will air at 8.15pm on Boxing Day.

  

Christmas special Update

The BBC have now revealed the title and details for the Doctor Who 2013 Christmas special. The episode, which is Matt Smith's final as The Doctor, will indeed be entitled The Time of the Doctor and will air on Christmas Day on BBC One, time to be confirmed.

I have to say, it is not as very imaginative title now is it. I'd have put money on it being The Fall Of The Eleventh, which is a far better title.

 Synopsis:

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe’s deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars.  And amongst them – the Doctor.  Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

Steven Moffat: "Matt's Doctor is ...." Spoiler Alert

Doctor Who will face the end of a 50 year story in the Christmas special - when Time Lord Matt Smith reveals he is actually the 13th and 'final' Doctor.

Actor Matt, 31, has long thought to have been the Eleventh Doctor on the hit BBC sci-fi show, which can only regenerate 12 times according to the show's folklore. Fans have worried for years that the show will have to end once the 13th Doctor dies.

But on December 25, current theories among millions of fans will be exterminated once and for all when Matt says in a dramatic speech he is the 13th Doctor and adds: "I'm dying and there is nothing I can do about it."

On Saturday night at the end of the show's 50th anniversary special, all the Doctors lined up, including John Hurt who was previously not thought to count. David Tennant's Time Lord also used up an extra regeneration to save himself in an episode called Journey's End.

Asked about the Christmas episode and the regeneration of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat confirmed Matt was the 13th Doctor and told the Mirror: "The 12 regenerations limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology - science fiction is all about rules, you can't just casually break them.
 
Speaking at the Doctor Who 50th Celebration at London's ExCel, the showrunner said that John Hurt's version of the Time Lord does not alter the numbering of other incarnations:

"He has no more ever called himself the 11th Doctor than he would call himself Matt Smith. The Doctor doesn't know off the top of his head [what number he is].

"If you worry about such things, and I do, then I specifically said John Hurt's Doctor doesn't use the title. [Matt Smith's Doctor] is in his 12th body but he's the 11th Doctor, however there is no such character as the 11th Doctor - he's just The Doctor, that's what he calls himself.

"The numbering doesn't matter, except for those lists that you and I have been making for many years. So I've given you the option of not counting John Hurt numerically - he's the War Doctor."

"So if the Doctor can never change again, what's Peter Capaldi doing in the Christmas special?"

A show source explained: "There have been two David Tennant Doctor Whos technically and with John Hurt playing another Doctor in the film, it basically means he can't regenerate again. The riddle of the regeneration problem, something fans have talked about for decades, will be faced head on at Christmas. There is going to be another huge cliffhanger and somehow Peter Capaldi has to join and the series has to continue. The show's big fans, known as Whovians, won't believe their eyes at Christmas."

Full article

Christmas special title revealed(?)

This year's Doctor Who Christmas Special, is apparently called The Time Of The Doctor. The episode will be the swan song of current Doctor Matt Smith, as he regenerates into Peter Capaldi.

Bleeding Cool have seen what is to be the outline of the special, and as we all know, there are spoilers and there are spoilers. Take the following with a pinch of salt…

A bell tolls across the Universe. Many are afraid, The Doctor and Clara are… curious.

You will come to Christmas Town, a place of peace, welcomed by Rob Jarvis and Tessa Peake-Jones.
You will come to Trenzalore, a planet of war.
You will find out where Gallifrey went.
You will discover what the Silence are.
You will see who the voice in the TARDIS was.
The episode will be nine hundred years long.

There will be Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels. Some of them will be wooden. So will The Doctor.
He always has Handles. And grab hold, as you will find out what the hell that crack in space and time actually was. Because The Time Of The Doctor will be going right back to The Eleventh Hour.

John Hurt's Sonic Screwdriver

The 'Other Doctor' is the Doctor's dark chapter, an _hitherto unknown incarnation whose existence he has spent centuries repressing, a secret he wants no one to know of. He is a relic of the past, part of the great Time War, when he spent centuries fighting alongside his fellow Time Lords against the Daleks and made the final decision to end it with a desperate act that cost that incarnation the right to use the name "Doctor". This haunted and battle-worn Other Doctor is finally forgiven after helping find a new solution to end the war, giving the Eleventh Doctor a new purpose as he heads into further adventures.

The Other Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, as seen in the 50th anniversary episode: "The Day of the Doctor". Includes sound and light FX.

Requires 2 x AG13/LR44/L1154 button cell batteries, Demo batteries included. Ages 5+.

Price: £19.99

Forbidden Planet

Steven Moffat on Peter Capaldi's Doctor is 'energetic and full of vitality'

Peter Capaldi will make his début as the Twelfth Doctor in this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, and begins filming the new series from January. Series 35 (8) will air in autumn 2014.

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat has revealed that Peter Capaldi "leaps around the place" following his regeneration scene.

The show's 50th anniversary special, 'The Day of the Doctor' aired at the weekend and saw Capaldi briefly appear as the Twelfth Doctor for the first time, but the actor will make his official début in this year's Christmas special.

Moffat told journalists at the Official Doctor Who Celebration in London yesterday: "We've only seen the tiniest moment. It's just the beginning of a process really. Of course, he's brilliant. And just seeing the energy and vitality that he brings to his performance, he works - he's like Matt [Smith] - he works, he's a worker. And he's an extraordinary vital performer."

He added: "The man is not at all elderly in style, he leaps around the place probably more than any other Doctor in that first scene. But that's not how he's gonna play it, he's in a state of post-regeneration madness. It's something we're still working on."

Neve McIntosh will be returning as Madame Vastra and had this to say "It will be sad not to be working with Matt  again but I’m really looking forward to Peter taking over and seeing what he does with it. [Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax will] be helping the Doctor more, but I can’t say anything else."


Alex Kingston will reprise her role as River Song : "I look forward to sharing more of River with you in the future, but… spoilers!"

Tom Baker: "I'm Still Doctor Who"

 Fourth Doctor Tom Baker told the audience at the Doctor Who Celebration that he is still the Doctor.

“I had a fantasy that I was going on to something else,” he told host Nicholas Briggs. “Which was a fantasy of course because I didn’t go on to anything else.

“I’m still playing Doctor Who in Big Finish. I remain playing that lovely character. He’s really rather like Tom Baker really.”

When asked if he felt that age mattered when playing the Doctor he said: “It doesn’t really matter. Nobody has ever failed at it. It would be quite interesting to see one with a hump.”

Millions tune in for Doctor Who 50th anniversary show

 

More than 10 million people tuned in to see the special 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who in the UK, according to overnight viewing figures.

At its peak, the show was watched by 10.61 million viewers, with an average of 10.2 million across the 75-minute running time.

It comfortably beat X Factor on ITV, which was seen by 7.7 million people.

But Strictly Come Dancing was Saturday night's most popular show, peaking at 11.7 million viewers (10.6m average).

'Beautiful reinvention'

 

The Day of the Doctor was broadcast in 94 countries at the same time as it aired on BBC One on Saturday night - earning it a Guinness World Record as "the world's largest ever simulcast of a TV drama".

Featuring three Doctors - Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt - it delved deep into the character's psyche over 75 minutes.

Amid the special effects and multiple time zones, critics were particularly impressed with the interplay between the actors.

Speaking immediately after the broadcast, star Matt Smith said: "I think what's really clever about it is that what he [Moffat] has managed to do is change the mythology of the character - which, after 50 years, is an achievement."

Full article here  

Paul McGann: "I'd do more Doctor Who"

Paul McGann has stated that he would definately do more Doctor Who in the future should the opportunity arise to do so.

"Well, it's like with the mini-episode - if they send you the script and it's good, you'll do it," McGann told Doctor Who Online, "So, you know, these things are only as good as the material. So the real question is if the material was good enough and if you were available, you'd do it - cos it's a Who!"

McGann continued to describe the lengths he went to in order to keep his involvement in the minisode and prequel to the fiftieth special  'The Night of The Doctor' a secret. "That was tough, keeping it a secret," he declared. It wasn't easy. I mean a couple of mates knew - family knew, and I'm pretty good at keeping a secret. 

"But of course so many people work on something, you know, technicians and everybody else, and publicity people, you know, I'm not pointing the finger, except I'm saying, somewhere along the line, someone couldn't resist pressing send. "A couple of days ago we were seeing still pictures from the episode going out before it had gone out [officially], so Steven Moffat presumably thought 'I've gotta do something', so we released it."

Below, you can watch Paul McGann in The Night Of The Doctor

Guinness World Record for The Day of the Doctor

‎ 
Doctor Who‬ has received a Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama for 'The Day of the Doctor' last night!

The award was presented by to Steven ahead of his first panel appearance today at the Doctor Who Celebration, a special three-day event spanning the anniversary weekend at London’s ExCeL. Cast members Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were also in attendance along with thousands of fans from across the world.

On receiving the award, Steven Moffat says: “For years the Doctor has been stopping everyone else from conquering the world. Now, just to show off, he's gone and done it himself!”

Tim Davie, from BBC Worldwide, said: "We knew we were attempting something unprecedented in broadcast history, not only because Doctor Who is a drama, unlike a live feed event such as a World Cup football match or a royal wedding, but because we had to deliver the episode in advance to the four corners of the world so that it could be dubbed and subtitled into 15 different languages. If there was any doubt that Doctor Who is one of the world's biggest TV shows, this award should put that argument to rest".

Full article here

50th Anniversary Videos

Steven Moffat with John Hurt, David Tennant, Matt Smith And Jenna Coleman

David Tennant introduces the fiftieth anniversary

 

Matt Smith and David Tennant on The Graham Norton Show (22 November 2013)

Current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat



Matt Smith



50th anniversary deleted scene



Christmas 2013 teaser trailer



The Twelve Doctors

My Grandfather, The Doctor

 Jessica Carney talks about  her grandfather, the first Doctor Who, William Hartnell.

The One Show - Doctor Who 50th Special

This evening at 7pm on BBC One's magazine programme The One Show, celebrated 50 years of  Doctor Who with an hour long special with guests Jenna Coleman (Clara), John Hurt (The War Doctor), with Giles Brandwith interviewing current showrunner Steven Moffat  about the fiftieth episode The Day of the Doctor. 

Below,you can watch the Doctor Who edited pieces thanks to BlogtorWho

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Doctor Who: Daleks' creator Terry Nation has blue plaque at Cardiff home

Dalek creator Terry Nation has had a blue plaque unveiled in his honour at the house in Cardiff where he was born.

Nation, who died in 1997 aged 66, was a screenwriter on Doctor Who when he came up with the ideas for the aliens who are almost as famous as the Time Lord himself.

The unveiling took place during the week of the 50th anniversary of the BBC sci-fi series.

The Daleks made their first appearance in December 1963.

Nation was born in the suburb of Llandaff, close to Cardiff's cathedral, and near to the childhood home of fellow writer Roald Dahl.

The plaque was arranged by the Llandaff Society whose chairman Geoffrey Barton-Greenwood once met Nation when the writer, who had by this time moved to Hollywood, was visiting friends in the Cardiff area.

He said: "I knew immediately who he was. I had been watching the Doctor Who series from the very beginning. I didn't at that stage know that he was a Llandaff boy."

"There are stories of neighbours seeing him, as a boy, sitting on the back step jotting down story ideas in his notebook”

Geoffrey Barton-Greenwood Llandaff Society

 

"He was obviously a very impressive character. He had stature and gravitas."

Four years ago, the society unveiled a blue plaque just yards away in memory of another local writer, Roald Dahl.

'Play on words'

 

Mr Barton-Greenwood believes there may be a connection between the name of the famous writer and the name Nation gave to his armoured mutant creations.

He said: "There is a connection in that they are 'Daleks' and Roald 'Dahl' was only from around the corner.
"I think Terry Nation might well have been having a play on words.
"It would be an extreme coincidence that these guys came from such a short distance apart and yet came up with this sort of affinity."

Source

Jenna Coleman on Matt's Regeneration: :"I knew it was going to be sad, but it was really traumatic"

In a matter of 5 weeks, on Christmas Day, we will bid a sad farewell to the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and welcome in the Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi. Clara Oswald played by Jenna Coleman, will be there to witness the regeneration of the Doctor. 

Jenna: "I knew it was going to be sad, but it was really traumatic. It was very emotiomal and overwhelming. It's a stranger thing but, it's the nature of the show. Matt leaves and Peter arrives in his costume, and the scen carries on. You just keep going - that's the show"


 
Below, Jenna Coleman on Tuesday morning's edition of  Daybreak (19th November 2013)

The Last Day - Minisode

The second mini episode for the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, is now online. Unlike the first one though this is currently only available through iTunes. For some reason, it costs £2.49 in the UK, whereas it is free on the American iTunes store. The video was reportedly priced in error, and is now  available as part of a series pass. A spokesperson for the BBC told the Radio Times: “This is an error on the part of iTunes. This should have been free. We’re waiting to hear back from them about how this will be rectified.”

Synopsis:

First day on the front line? Time to attach a Headcam for a soldier’s point-of-view. What could possibly go wrong?

50th Mini epsode The Last Day by culttvstuff

Source

An Adventue In Space And Time Trailer

 

Moffat on McGann’s Return

Steven Moffat has spoken to the BBC about bringing back the eighth Doctor, Paul McGann for today’s amazing mini-episode.

 

Question: How did The Night of the Doctor come about?

Steven Moffat: Well, we had our new ‘hidden mystery’ Doctor and I was thinking, what else can we do for our anniversary year… I thought… Why don’t we get Paul McGann in and regenerate him into John Hurt? I’d like to see that! I’d love to see that! And we had this possibility that we could do it as a surprise, so we got in touch with Paul who was dead keen and I’m delighted to say he was so happy to join in with the idea of keeping it secret. He was childishly excited about it!

Paul came along and shot it – it was the last two days of the shoot for the fiftieth, actually. He did a wonderful job. It was great! We designed a new costume for him based on his old one. Howard Burden did a fantastic job with that.

Q: It was a well-kept secret! How important was that for you, and what measures did you go to, to ensure this regeneration was kept under wraps?

SM: We were phenomenally secret with the making of it! And I’m sure some people are a bit cross that we were so secretive but the fact is, there is only one way to ensure you keep a secret, and that’s to keep it! So, we kept it very tight and we hope it all came as great surprise to everyone.

Q: For those that don’t know him, could you describe the Eighth Doctor?

SM: The Eighth Doctor is perhaps the first of the sexy, romantic Doctors. I don’t mean he’s the first sexy Doctor – he’s not. But he’s the first one who kisses a lady, for example. He’s obviously dashing, terribly handsome and quite romantic. I always found it hard to imagine him fighting in the Time War. I’d always imagined the ‘Time War Doctor’ would be more grizzled, somehow, you know?

Paul only played the Doctor onscreen once before, in the TV Movie. He gives a wonderful performance in it. It’s a terrifically exuberant performance and it anticipates the later performances, particularly of Matt and David. He’s a dashing, romantic, very funny and very affecting Doctor! Of course, Paul is not only known for the telemovie but for all his wonderful audio adventures. I’m always telling the Doctors and companions, as they come through the show, that they’ll never be quite done with it – Big Finish is expecting them.

Q: It’s an interesting spin on the Time War – the Time Lords becoming this hated race, as bad as the Daleks in some people’s eyes. Will we see that play out with John Hurt’s Doctor and so on?

SM: We will see some of that play out. We’ve already seen some of it play out on the show, in The End of Time, where the Doctor reveals the Time Lords got as bad as the Daleks towards the end, and he was as worried by them as anything else. And we know the Doctor wiped out his own people. He wouldn’t do so unless things had got pretty bad. Genocide is a big decision for anyone!

 

Q: People seemed delighted when they heard the Sisterhood of Karn was returning. Did that surprise you?
SM: A little bit! I was terribly excited about having the Sisterhood of Karn coming back which is why I did it! But I should probably learn to have a little more faith in the fact that what gets me excited as a sad, old fan will get other people excited as well! And okay, the Sisterhood are unknown to the kids, but I was a kid when I first saw the Sisterhood and I thought they were great! So I’m hoping other people will like them!

Q: And the character the Doctor encounters in the mini episode… Is that supposed to be Ohica, from The Brain of Morbius?
SM: No! If you look at the credits you’ll see I called her Ohila so it suggests she’s in some way connected to Ohica. Instead of having that confusion in having it the same person, I thought we’d just imply they were connected.

Q: Finally, running a show like Doctor Who is always going to be hard work… But how much fun was it? Bringing back the Eighth Doctor?
SM: Oh, it was a complete treat! It was always frustrating that we never got to see more of him! The completist in me… the ‘box set man’ in me wants every box ticked and I wanted every regeneration scene! And we get to see the Paul McGann Doctor regenerate into the John Hurt Doctor! I love regeneration episodes – there’s nothing more exciting! And in the anniversary year we get to see two regenerations… That’s pretty cool!


Source

Paul McGann: The Night Of The Doctor minisode

After all the speculation as to whether Paul McGann would be seen again as the Eighth incarnation of the Doctor, can finally be put to rest. In the Steven Moffat penned  minisode The Night Of the Doctor , a prequel to the fiftieth episode The Day Of The Doctor, sees his return to playing the Doctor on screen, even if it is via the BBC red button service. 

The changing image of the Eighth Doctor from left to right:  The TV Movie, Dark Eyes and Night Of The Doctor. Belowscreencaps taken from the minisode and promo image.

14th November - the return of Paul McGann as the Doctor and also his 54th birthday. Many happy returns!

 

  

  

And here is the minisode The Night Of The Doctor

An evening with Steven Moffat

Doctor Who: The Night Of The Doctor Schedule Released For BBC Red Button

The Night Of The Doctor

The 50th Anniversary features Matt Smith, David Tennant and a mysterious incarnation played by John Hurt.

 

Only one appears in this mini episode, The Night Of The Doctor. But which?

The BBC have confirmed that The Night Of The Doctor will be available from their Red Button service from Saturday 16th November. 

 

Times are as follows:

Saturday 16 November: 7:30-9:55pm, 10:30-11:45pm

Sunday 17 November: 6:30-9:55pm

Monday 18 November: 7-10:30pm

Tuesday 19 November: 9:30pm onwards

Wednesday 20 November: until 7am, 7:30pm onwards

Thursday 21 November: until 7am, 5:30-8:10pm, 10pm onwards

Friday 22 November: until 7am, 7:30pm onwards

Saturday 23 November: until 2:30pm, 6-7:45pm

 

Source

Steven Moffat: "Fiftieth is epically ambitious"

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has described writing the upcoming 50th anniversary special as "The most terrifying thing I’ve ever done".

Speaking to CultBox on the set of 'The Day of the Doctor' in Cardiff earlier this year, the writer commented: "I knew the story we wanted tell and certain things in the kit of parts that we could tell it with. That has to be the priority, otherwise you might as well just have a walk-down, a curtain call… It can’t all be curtain call. Not that I’m saying we don’t have a curtain call!"

Moffat added: "It was a very, very, very difficult script to start writing, because it had to be epically ambitious. I’ve never written anything quite like it. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done."

The writer explained: "I knew what I wanted to accomplish. I think there’s a tremendous danger if you attach the word 50 to anything that you are arranging a state funeral and a retrospective. I wanted it to be the show that ensures the next 50 years – it does celebrate the last 50 years, trust me, people seem to worry that I‘m not going to do that. It celebrates the legend, rather than saying ‘it’s really old, you know’."

He joked: "You don’t want to say that to kids, do you? ‘This is something your grandparents watched!’ You want it to be an absolute forward thrust."

'The Day of the Doctor' will air at 7.50pm on Saturday 23 November on BBC One.

Source

Jenna-Louise Coleman - "Matt's Regeneration is sad but perfect"

In an interview with the Guardian, Jenna Coleman has described Matt Smith’s regeneration as "perfect" in his final episode this Christmas:

 

“I was an absolute mess, an absolute wreck. But it’s good; it’s sad, but it’s what needs to happen. It’s perfect.”

Coleman admitted she held back from reading the script as long as possible: 

"I just read the script the other night," says Coleman. "I'd been putting it off for ages and ages, because once you read the last page, that's it, the story is over. So I read 10 pages on the tube and I stopped, and then I picked it up again the other day and finished it. I was an absolute mess, an absolute wreck. But it's good; it's sad, but it's what needs to happen. It's perfect."

On the casting of  Peter Capaldi to replace Matt Smith: 

“They told me and Matt when Prince Charles and Camilla came to the set. We were both: ‘Ahhh, of course.’ It takes you a few moments – I don’t think he was on any of the original lists. People were talking about Rory Kinnear and people like that, but as soon as you say it, you’re like: ‘Of course.’ As Steven Moffat said: ‘He’s the Doctor.’ And it’s brilliant that we’ve gone so different from Matt.”

Exclusive Day Of The Doctor Clip To Be Shown During BBC Children In Need

The BBC will be showing an exclusive clip from the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor during the Children In Need telethon on Friday 15th November.

According to the Radio Times, the clip will be shown during the first section of the programme between 7.30 - 8.00pm :

Children In Need 2013 7.30pm BBC One

Terry Wogan and Tess Daly present another bumper evening of fundraising fun, which sees a massive line-up of stars singing, dancing or acting plain daft in support of disadvantaged children across the UK. The fun kicks off with the cast of West End smash Matilda singing a medley of songs from the show, boy band JLS performing some of their greatest hits in Albert Square and a treat for Doctor Who fans with an exclusive clip from the long-awaited 50th anniversary episode, which is being shown in just over a week, on Saturday, November 23.

Who owns the Tardis? Son of man who invented Doctor Who's time machine is challenging BBC over breach of copyright

The BBC is being challenged over the ownership of the copyright of the TARDIS, by the son of the author of the first Doctor Who story, Anthony Coburn.

Stef Coburn is claiming that his father created the TARDIS, seen in the very first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, shown on 23 November 1963. He claims that he remembers his father getting the inspiration for the TARDIS during a walk on Wimbledon common. He believes the BBC is failing to give his father "the public recognition that should by rights always have been his due" for inventing the Tardis.

Anthony Coburn was a staff writer for the BBC when he was commissioned to produce scripts for the proposed new science fiction series. He inherited a concept for the show which had been produced by script writer Cecil Edwin Webber in which much of the structure of the programme had already been defined. In the original document the spaceship is described as something "humdrum, say, .... such as a night-watchman's shelter"

Stef Coburn's case is that any informal permission his father gave the BBC to use his work expired with his death in 1977 and the copyright of all of his ideas passed to his widow, Joan. Earlier this year she passed it on to him. He told the Independent

It is by no means my wish to deprive legions of Doctor Who fans (of whom I was never one) of any aspect of their favourite children's programme. The only ends I wish to accomplish, by whatever lawful means present themselves, involve bringing about the public recognition that should by rights always have been his due, of my father James Anthony Coburn's seminal contribution to Doctor Who, and proper lawful recompense to his surviving estate.

 

Coburn had demanded that the corporation either stop using the TARDIS in Doctor Who, or pay his family for its every use since his father's death. The BBC says it is looking into the complaint. A repeat run of a restored version of the very first story, An Unearthly Child, was announced in September, but then removed from schedules 'pending the resolution of issues'. The BBC have yet to confirm these issues have been resolved.

This is not the first time the BBC has been involved in litigation over the TARDIS. In 1998 the London Metropolitan Police argued it should own the trade mark of blue box, objecting to the BBC using the image of the TARDIS on comics, T-shirts, videos and other merchandise. The Police force lost the case, following appeal, in 2002, and was ordered to pay £850 plus legal costs to the BBC. 

Source

Doctor Who Live: The After Party to air on BBC Three for 50th

BBC Three's twitter has confirmed that it will air a new edition of Doctor Who Live on Saturday, November 23.The special - expected to follow a similar format to August's episode, which unveiled Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor - will air at 9.05pm.  Details on the 'after-party' - including which stars will appear - are yet to be confirmed.

The Day Of The Doctor Official Trailers

The Day of the Doctor premieres on BBC One a fortnight tomorrow, at 7.50pm on Saturday, 23 November. Just after Strictly Come Dancing, BBC One aired the first of two trailers being premièred over the weekend. Watch them both below

  

The Day of the Doctor - behind the scenes pics

 oday's edition of UK publication The Telegraph included a pull-out magazine with a feature on The Day of the Doctor and behind-the-scenes photographs. Included in the pics are: David Tennant, Matt Smith, John Hurt, Billie Piper, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and director Nick Hurran. Also included here are some quotes from the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special and from the article. 

  

 

From The Day of the Doctor:

"You were The Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right."

The Eleventh Doctor

"What we do today, we do not out of fear or hatred,

but because there is no other way."

The Tenth Doctor 

 

"What's really interesting is that Steven has managed to invent something new about the character, which is wonderful after fifty years." Matt Smith

"He's [John Hurt] from The Doctor's past, and The Doctor did not expect to see him again. We pick up, as it were, months later [After the events of The Name of the Doctor]. So you'll get an update on what Clara's been up to, a little bit about what The Doctor's been up to." Steven Moffat

 "Very, very roughly, I suppose, and with apologies to Charles Dickens, it's the A Christmas Carol structure - there's the ghost of the past, the present and the future. There's plenty of inter-Doctor rivalry and, as The Doctor's 50th birthday present, we're establishing a whole new Doctor right there in front of you." Steven Moffat.

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THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR - MINI EPISODE

The British Board of Film Classification have announced today that a minisode has been made for The Day of the Doctor, entitled The Night of the Doctor. The BBFC passed the material for release in the UK. The minisode has a running length of six minutes and fifty-four seconds, and stars David Tennant and Matt Smith. No more information has been included for the sketch so far.

Earlier last month, the BBC also passed a piece of additional material for the anniversary special called The Last Day. It is currently unknown whether either of these releases will be released on the BBC Doctor Who website, the cinema release for The Day of the Doctor, or the DVD release for the special.

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