Doctor Who Prom On TV!

Back in July 2008, the Doctor Who Prom was held in the Royal Albert Hall. It was a very special event which saw lots of pieces composed by Murray Gold for the show, as well as a whole host of monsters and stars, including Daleks, Davros, Freema Agyeman, Cybermen, Catherine Tate, Sontarans, Noel Clarke, Judoon and Camille Coduri. It has now been confirmed that at Christmas this year, highlights of the concert will be broadcast on television! The broadcast will also include Music of the Spheres, the specially filmed scene for the event. Below you can read a bit from the press release;

BBC One offers viewers the chance this Christmas to see highlights from the first Doctor Who Prom – one of the hottest tickets of the summer. Hosted by Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) and with a surprise guest appearance by Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), this programme, filmed at the BBC Proms in July, is a musical odyssey through time and space.
With the Tardis on stage at London's Royal Albert Hall, the programme takes viewers on a journey through four series of the Doctor's adventures, and features the music that accompanied them – Murray Gold's celebrated music for the television series. Performed by the BBC Philharmonic and London Philharmonic Chorus, under the baton of Ben Foster, the music is accompanied by specially edited film sequences from the series.

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Stamp Centre Signing Today

Doctor Who and Torchwood stars will be signing at the Stamp Centre in London today. The Stamp Centre, also known as Sci-Fi Collector is located at 79 Strand in London, and the signing will start at 10am onwards. Actors that will be there include Tom Baker (4th Doctor), Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), David Troughton (Professor Hobbes and other) and Doug Rollins (Dave in the Torchwood: Sleeper). They will be there with other guests non-Who related. Will you be going to the signing?

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John Sings

Just a reminder that on Children In Need tonight, apart from the preview of The Next Doctor, John Barrowman will be performing his new single from his new album. John Barrowman for those of you that hadn't already guessed, plays Captain Jack Harkness in the new serie of Doctor Who. The song is called 'What About Us?', and it is from the album Music, Music, Music. The single will be released on Monday on CD and download and then the full album the week after, the 24th November, again on CD and for download. No official time of the performance has been released, but we can presume that it will be in the first half of the show, from 7-10pm.

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Children In Need Night

It's Children In Need night tonight, so you know what that means, all you Whovians out there! So I'll firstly say that the first two minutes of this year's Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, shall be shown during the show, at apparently around 8-9pm. More likely nearer nine though. Nobody has seen this clip before (apart from the Doctor Who workers, obviously), so this is an exclusive. Last year, we had another Doctor Who-themed part of Children In Need. We had Time Crash, also an exclusive, when the fifth Doctor came back, 'crashing' into the tenth. But remember though, if you don't want to spoil Christmas day, turn your television off when they announce that it will come on (but you surely won't, will you?). To make a donation to Children In Need, visit here. The night happens every year, to have fun while raising money for charity. This year's motto is 'Do Something Different'. The show will go on from 7-10pm for the main part, and then 10:35pm-2am. It gets a little more boring in the second half though. Definitely after midnight. Here is a bit about the night, and have fun everyone!

Thousands of fund-raisers around the country have been doing their bit for the charity in recent weeks and tonight their efforts are celebrated with the traditional BBC extravaganza hosted by Terry Wogan, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton. The evening is jampacked with pop star performances, while the cast of EastEnders turn into "West Enders" for the night and The Bill pop on suits and shades to become the Blues Brothers. As always the BBC newsreaders will be humiliating themselves for our entertainment, but can they better Richard Hammond and Philip Glenister with their spoof of Ashes to Ashes?

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Happy Halloween!

I'd like to wish you all a very happy Halloween, and I hope you enjoy yourself with all your pumpkins and trick-or-treating or whatever you do and get everybody scared by dressing up as a monster from Doctor Who perhaps? But anyway, I'm going to give you, thanks to everyone who edits Wikipedia, a short snippet about the history of Halloween and the name of it. And trust me, you shouldn't get bored! But first, here is a great Halloween joke, which should get most of the misery out of you! Highlight to reveal the answer;

Q: Why did the skeleton cross the road?

A: Because he didn't have the guts!

That was so bad, lets try again;

Q: What has webbed feet, feathers, fangs and goes quack-quack?

A: Count Duckula

Not too bad, I guess. Anyway, Halloween History;

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year". Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

The term Halloween is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening", but "Halloween" gets its "n" from "even") as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day", which is now also known as All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 (which had itself been the date of a pagan holiday, the Feast of the Lemures) to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar.

In other news, Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor, will be presenting Have I Got News For You tonight, from 9pm to 9:30pm. Will you be watching?

NTA Awards - Official Ceremony Today

The votes for the National Television Awards have now closed, so please do not vote now! The ceremony shall take place this evening on ITV1. Two different categories regarding Doctor Who have been nominated this year, and they are for Outstanding Drama Performance and Most Popular Drama. For Outstanding Drama Performance, Catherine Tate and David Tennant (The Doctor and Donna Noble) have been nominated, with others including Philip Glenister and Alex Walkinshaw. The nomination for Most Popular Drama doesn't really need saying, does it! Obviously it is Doctor Who, along with Shameless, Desperate Housewives and The Bill. The show tonight shall be live, and will start at 8pm, and go on for two hours until 10pm. Below you can see a it of information about tonight;

Trevor McDonald presents television's biggest night of the year live from London's Royal Albert Hall, as the nation's favourite TV programmes and personalities are honoured. After being whittled down to a final selection of 40 nominees in 10 categories, the winners have been selected from a huge nationwide poll. Plus a famous face in the audience is in for a surprise as they are presented with a very special award.

Do you think our nominees will win? Let's hope so!

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Cardiff Exhibition to Open With A Special Guest...

The Doctor Who exhibition in Cardiff , which has now been closed since the thirteenth of this month, has been pushed back again to open on Thursday 30th October. The Exhibition was originally going to be open again on the nineteenth, then it was going to be open today, but now it's even further away. The exhibition has been having a revamp. The first since it opened back in 2005, and will host many new displays, including three new Daleks, with the red Supreme Dalek. For the Daleks, there will be a 'Dalek Zone', with the new Supreme Dalek joining the group of foes. But now it has been confirmed that a very special guest will be opening it again, and that person is none other than Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies. This event will be held at the exhibition at 6pm on the 30th of this month, and shouldn't take too long. Anybody can go to it, and then go and see the new-look exhibition straight after the ceremony, but bear in mind that it will be a bit crowded and may be hard if you want to take photos or anything. Just if you've forgotten the exhibition is held in The Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay. It is normally open every day from 10.30am to 7.30pm except on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
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Edit: Sorry, but this rumour now seems to be false, and the exhibition has been opened today. We are still not sure whether Russell T. Davies will be there on Thursday or not.

The Darksmith Legacy - Press Launch Competition

It has now been confirmed that a press launch for the new Doctor Who book set, The Darksmith Legacy, will take place next month. It will be held at the Earl's Court exhibition in London on the 6th of November this year, and run for two hours at six o'clock. You are able to win tickets to this event, and all you have to do is 1) Write 50 words talking about why you would make a great Sci-Fi Editor for Spinebreakers and 2) Tell them: If you could meet the man himself – The Doctor – what one question would you ask him? So, what would you win? Well... 

• The chance to become the first Sci-Fi Spinebreakers Editor 
  
• A pair of exclusive tickets to the Darksmith Legacy Press Launch event for you and a friend
  
• Free entry to the Doctor Who Exhibition before it closes
  
• And a Doctor Who goody bag!
  

Winners will be the first to preview the books, test the interactive Darksmith online destination, and interview a panel of writers from the 10-part series! So, what are you waiting for? The competition is only open from 13 to 18 year olds and will close on 3rd November. You can find out more about this contest by clicking here!

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Earl's Court Goes Spooky...

The Doctor Who Exhibition in London, at Earl's Court, is celebrating Halloween this year, during next weekend. From the dates 31st of October to the 2nd of November (Halloween Weekend), children who dress up as monsters from the series will be given free admission into the exhibition. Bear in mind that children means under 16 year olds, so don't you grown-ups do it, as for one thing it will probably be a little embarrassing, and secondly because you will be charged!

"The exhibition has proven to be a really big hit over the summer holidays and it's great to offer families and young Doctor Who fans something a little bit different for Halloween"

Other Halloween-themed stuff will feature at the exhibition, with spooky items throughout the whole thing. One of the monsters appearing will be Davros, the creator of the Daleks, and he will be appearing at Halloween night for the first time at the exhibition. Please note that this exhibition will be closing on 9th November, and will be moving some place else.

In other exhibition news, the opening of Cardiff's one has been delayed now until tomorrow, but this date still hasn't been confirmed. Please check on the website here frequently, to ensure that it will be open before you go, if you do.

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The Hub Begins...

A Torchwood Convention, that was announced a while ago, has started its three-day run today. It is a very long event, compared to most conventions, and is held at the Park Inn Hotel in Northampton for this weekend. There are two nights contained within the price, at the venue. There are many Torchwood guests that will be appearing, naming only a few, John Barrowman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David Lloyd and Kai Owen, as well as Paul Kasey, Sara Lloyd Gregory and more! You can visit the official site for the event here. I hope whoever is going has a great time!

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Inside Who World

There is going to be a very special event held in London next month for the Children's Film Festival. Held at the Barbican in London, the team behind Doctor Who will be presenting an event called Inside the World of Doctor Who. It will be held on Saturday 29th November 2008, and you should be expecting to have a great time, and even see some special guests (possibly actors/actresses from the show). There will also be clips and trailers from this year's Christmas Special, The Next Doctor.

Expect to see some iconic monsters, talk to the programme makers, get behind-the-scenes gossip from series creator Russell T Davies, and see a sneak preview of snippets from this year's Christmas special.

The whole thing is an event for all the family, but bear in mind that adults must come with a child, otherwise they will not be let in. To see more about this event, click here. To book tickets click here. Each adult ticket is £10, and every child (going up to 15) enter for £7.50.

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Post A Question To The Man Himself

Russell T. Davies, the head-writer and executive producer of Doctor Who has signed up with John Barrowman for an unmissable event. This Sunday, at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, joined alongside with Caitlin Moran, Russell T. Davies and John Barrowman will be speaking and answering questions all about the show. But, beforehand, will be an interview with the BBC News Channel. They will be interviewing just Russell, but they also want your question put into the mix as well. He will be interviewed live at the festival and you will be able to hear it at 4:20pm on the BBC News Channel. You are able to fill out a form, and send it off with the question to see if it is asked, and you can do that here! 

The main event will be held in the Centaur in Cheltenham betwenn 6:15pm and 7:30pm on Sunday. Please note that tickets are now sold out for it so please don't try on the website. Below you can see the main summarization for the event;

In a unique Festival event, we’re delighted to unite Russell T Davies, the reinventor of Doctor Who, and John Barrowman, known to millions of viewers as Captain Jack Harkness. From Daleks and the Doctor, to the Tardis and Torchwood, they join The Times’ Caitlin Moran for this unmissable event.

I will be going to the event and try to get their book signed on Sunday. If I can, I will take some pictures to post on the site. Is there anybody else going to this event?

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The Writer's Tale - Updated Signings

On the official Writer's Tale website, there is an updated version of the signing days, places and times. So, here they are;

Thursday 9th October

BOOK SIGNING – RUSSELL & BENJAMIN

12pm: Waterstone’s Birmingham

24 High Street

Birmingham, B4 7SL

Tel for enquiries: 0121 6334353

BOOK SIGNING – RUSSELL & BENJAMIN

6pm: Waterstone’s Manchester Trafford Centre

42 Regent Crescent

Manchester, M17 8AP

Tel for enquiries: 0161 7498623

Friday 10th October

BOOK SIGNING – RUSSELL & BENJAMIN

12.30pm: Borders Bristol

Clifton Promenade

48-56 Queens Road

Clifton

Bristol, 
BS8 1RE 

Tel for enquiries: 01179 226959

BOOK SIGNING – RUSSELL & BENJAMIN

5.30pm: Borders Cardiff

14 The Hayes

Cardiff, CF10 1AH

Tel for enquiries: 02920 387909

Sunday 12th October

6.15 - 7.30pm: Cheltenham Literature Festival

Russell T Davies and John Barrowman in conversation with Caitlin Moran 

Tickets: £12 (£8)

http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com

Friday 7th November

6pm: National Theatre Platform

Lytellton Theatre 

National Theatre 

South Bank 

London SE1 9PX

Please note: This event is sold out

I will be going to the event at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to see Russell T. Davies and John Barrowman and try to get their book signed on Sunday. If I can, I will take some pictures to post on the site. Is there anybody else going to this event?

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Cardiff Art Department Talk

This December, Doctor Who and Torchwood fans will be able to go to the Millennium centre to see an exclusive talk about the creative side of the show. The talk will be on 7th December 2008, a Sunday, and commence at 6pm and go on for an hour, to 7pm. After 7 o'clock, will be a question-and-answer session with production designer Edward Thomas and his team. This will be a free event, open to anyone who wants to go, but bear in mind that seats will be on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if you want to go, book tickets now! To book tickets in advance, call this number: 08700 40 2000, or go to the main ticket desk inside the Millennium centre. Also, around this time, there is a Doctor Who exghibition for concept art on Level 2 in the Glanfa foyer of the centre, running from December 5 to January 4. This would be great to go, and would be even better going the newly-revamped exhibition in the Red Dragon Centre as well, for a good day's outing!

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Stamp Centre Signing - Gareth David-Lloyd

Gareth David-Lloyd, also known as Ianto Jones in Torchwood, will be signing items on the fist of November. The place he will be signing will be the Stamp Centre (Sci Fi Collector), which is in London at 79 Strand. It will be held on Saturday 1st November 2008, and will start at sometime in the middle of the day. He will be signing various different pieces of Doctor Who-related merchandise. One of the main items will be the Fragments' collector's stamp cover, part of the new Torchwood Collection of commemorative items. Also, there are the Torchwood 2009 Annual, Torchwood 2009 Calendar, DVD's and his figure, which is out soon. Do you think you'll go the signing and meet Ianto?

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Storybook 2009 - London Signing

There is a new signing event to be held in London on 4th October! Many writers will be there to sign next year's Doctor Who Storybook, that was out in August. Known Who writers such as James Moran (The Fires of Pompeii), Keith Temple (Planet of the Ood), Gareth Roberts (The Unicorn and the Wasp, plus loads of other Doctor Who and SJA), Clayton Hickman (DWM), Jonathan Morris (Big Finish Audios and Other Who-related) and Gary Russell (Doctor Who Encyclopedia, The Inside Story etc., will be signing copies of the book at the Forbidden Planet store in London, at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue. The signing starts at 1pm, until an unknown time, but all guests will be appearing subject to work commitments. The signing is free to all who want to go. The story book is out now at the RRP price of £7.99!

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