Pond Life - online mini-series

The BBC have announced that in the week running up to the start of S7 a new show will air online about the Ponds. Here is some info from the Guardian:

Doctor Who sidekicks to feature in new BBC mini-series Pond Life

Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill's characters will be the focus of five short online episodes, ahead of new Time Lord series

Doctor Who fans will get a glimpse of Pond Life in a new mini-series about the Time Lord's sidekicks.

The five short episodes will be shown online ahead of the start of the new BBC series on 1 September and will focus on the characters played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.

Writer Chris Chibnall said: "Pond Life provides us with a lovely opportunity to catch up with Amy and Rory since we saw them at the end of the last series.

"It opens with them at home and gives us an insight into just what happens when the Doctor drops in and out of their lives.

"Travelling with the Doctor is one of the greatest things you can do, but it's fun to spend a few moments looking at the chaos he can also bring."

Pond Life will be shown online over five days from Monday 27 August on the official Doctor Who website and the BBC1 YouTube channel – it will then repeated in an omnibus on the red button on Saturday 1 September.

The actual series returns with the first of five full episodes on the Saturday at 7.20pm on BBC1.

Below is a video of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill introducing the show from the BBC website:

BBC America trailer for S7

To go along with their announcement of the air date for the new season of Doctor Who BBC America have released a new trailer that features exclusive content not seen in the previously released international trailer.

Enjoy!

Air date finally announced

The BBC have finally put Doctor Who's fans out of their misery and announced the date & time for the Series 7 premiere.

Got your diaries out?

Ok, it's September 1st at 7.20pm on BBC One.

Since this news was announced BBC America have also announced that the series will begin on September 1st in the USA, as have Space in Canada (see local info for timings on these channels).

Official pics from S7

The BBC have released a lot of official pics from the upcoming series:

Have to say these new pics look amazing. Really can't wait for the new series to arrive!

What do you think?

New S7 trailer & image

Here's the trailer for the new series of Doctor Who:

And here's the image that has been released by the BBC:

I think it's looking great & it's made me even more excited for the new series.

What do you think?

Third pic from the BBC

Here is the third & final (for now at least) pic of Matt & Jenna from the BBC:

Now we've seen them all, what are your thoughts on what they show?

Another new pic from the BBC

Here is the second of the promised pictures from the BBC:

The third one will be apparently be released on Wednesday.

Photo: The Doctor & his new companion.

The BBC promised us a photo of Matt Smith & new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman this morning & here it is:

The accompanying article mentions three pics so there may be more to come.

We'll keep you posted.

First trailer for Series 7

The first trailer for Series of Doctor Who was shown to fans over the weekend at the official convention. This morning the BBC made it available for the rest of us to see. Enjoy!

Jenna-Louise Coleman is the Doctor's new companion

The BBC have today announced that the Doctor's new companion will be Jenna-Louise Coleman.

Here is part of the press release (which you can read in full here)

Jenna-Louise Coleman has beaten hundreds of hopefuls to become the new companion to Doctor Who, it was announced today by Steven Moffat.

Twenty-five year old Jenna from Blackpool will star alongside the 11th Time Lord, Matt Smith, to mark the biggest year in the show's history.

Best known for her roles in Emmerdale (Jasmine Thomas) and Waterloo Road (Lindsay James), Jenna will replace Karen Gillan when she and Arthur Darvill bow out of the show in a heartbreaking departure after one final series of rollercoaster voyages later this year on BBC One.

Jenna says: "I'm beyond excited, I can't wait to get cracking; working alongside Matt I know is going to be enormous fun and a huge adventure."

The Doctor will meet his new friend in a dramatic turn of events as the show builds towards its enormous, climactic 50th anniversary year - full of thrills, adventures and big surprises. Series seven is currently filming and comprises 14 big, blockbuster-movie episodes - each a brand new epic adventure featuring new monsters and some familiar foes as you've never seen them before.

Lead writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, says: "It always seems impossible when you start casting these parts, but when we saw Matt and Jenna together, we knew we had our girl. She's funny and clever and exactly mad enough to step on board the TARDIS.

Jenna-Lousie's character will appear for the first time in the 2012 Christmas Special.

Congratulations Jenna-Louise & welcome to the show.

Spanish Shooting Updates

With last months revelation of filming for Doctor Who in Spain, this week has brought around some extra tidbits. Episode 3, which is being penned by Being Human creator Toby Whithouse, is set to be a Western themed story with a half human-half cyborg villain.

Filming on location has been taking place just north of Almeria in a place called Oaseys Theme Park, which is an area set up to look like the old American West and has been used for numerous films in the past.

Adrian Scarborough

Ben Browder

Casting confirmed for the episode included Ben Browder, known to many for his role in Farscape, Rob Cavazos, Dominic Kemp and Adrian Scarborough, start of Upstairs Downstairs, Miranda and Gavin and Stacey.

Not much is known about what characters they will play but Scarborough and Kemp have listed on their CVs the names Kahler Jax and Kahler Mas respectively.


If you were hanging around our Forum yesterday then you may have seen some of the updates from this weeks filming in Spain. A full collection can be seen on the forum, but a sample few are below.

For more season 7 information and regular updates, be sure to check out The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Series 7: What We Know So Far

There has been lots of updates this week, so here is a roundup of what we know so far.

Filming on Series 7 began on Monday in Penarth for scenes inside the Ponds home. On set were Arthur Darvill, Karen Gillan and guest star Mark Williams. Filming then moved to Dunraven Bay in Southerndown, which has previously been used as Bad Wolf Bay and the scene of the crash of the Byzantium in The Time Of Angels.

Pictures courtesy of Wales Online

Guest stars announced for the series include Mark Williams, who is well known to many for his roles in Harry Potter and The Fast Show, David Bradley, who has also appeared in the Harry Potter films amongst many others, Rupert Graves, most recently seen as Lestrade in Sherlock, Rudi Dharmalingham (Casualty, New Tricks) and Rob Cavazos.

As we reported about a month ago, filming will indeed be taking place in Spain this year, as confirmed by the CV of Rob Cavazos this week, who will be guest starting in the story. It is unknown when filming there will be taking place, but it is rumoured to be in the next few weeks.

The official BBC Press Release had this to say:

Series 7 will then see a dramatic turn of events when the Doctor meets a new friend. Prepare yourselves for thrills, adventures and dramatic surprises as the show builds towards its enormous, climactic 50th anniversary year. Fourteen big, blockbuster-movie episodes - each a brand new epic adventure featuring new monsters and some familiar foes as you've never seen them before. 

Above photos credited to @Ryanfarr

It is specuated that the episode being filmed currently is episode 2 of the run. Filming is expected to continue throughout the week in and around the Cardiff area.

For even more news and updates, check out The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Some guest stars announced as filming begins

Filming on Series 7 of Doctor Who started this week, and to celebrate the BBC have released this pic of the show's 3 main stars - Matt Smith, Karen Gillan & Arthur Darvill.

Alongside the pic they have released the names of three guest stars for the new series. They are David Bradley (probably best known as Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films), Mark Williams (another Harry Potter star - this time Ron's father Arthur Weasley) & Rupert Graves (most recently seen as DI Lestrade in 'Sherlock').

You can read the BBC's full report here.

What do you think of the guest stars so far?

First Director Announced

The BBC have today updated their official Doctor Who site with news of the first person to sit in the directors chair for Series 7, and the lucky man is Saul Metzstein.

Metzstein has previously directed for Upstairs Downstairs, Late Night Shopping and Micro Men and has even picked up a Scottish Bafta for his work along the way.

Filming is due to begin on February 20th in Cardiff.

For more news about series 7, check out The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

More Series 7 Writers Confirmed

Two new writers have been confirmed for Series 7 in this months DWM, which you can pick up in stores today.

The first is Chris Chibnall, who has written loads of early Torchwood episodes as well as the Doctor Who stories '42' and 'The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood'.

The second is Toby Whithouse, who has previously written 'School Reunion', 'Vampires of Venice' and 'The God Complex' as well as being head honcho for BBC 3's Being Human.

According to the magazine, Chibnalls story will have the 'biggest ever Doctor Who set', while Whithouse told SFX Magazine that his story is currently planned to air 3rd in the run.

Other writes confirmed so far are Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and John Fay.

To discuss all the latest news and spoilers from Series 7, come on over to The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Series 7 Filming Updates, Rumours and Speculation

According to Matt Smith, filming for him on Series 7 is due to begin on Monday February 20th, with reheasals due to begin a week earlier on Monday February 13th. It has previously been rumoured that Alex Kingston would return to filming as River Song sometime around the 8th or 9th of February, though these dates are unconfirmed.

There is also some potential overseas filming to take place if the following is to be believed. One of our forum members, Oh-Wise-One, has posted this on the forum:

Feel free to shoot this down but a friend of mine who is a bit of an up and coming actor posted on Facebook this week that he had gotten a small role on the show and will be going to Spain to shoot. He takes it all very seriously so I can't imagine why he would lie about it, and he isn't a fanboy so I don't think it is something he would say to get people worked up. A couple of us pressed for more information but he wouldn't budge and then the following morning he deleted the comment. I'd say take it with a pinch of salt, but I have no reason to think he would lie about it either.

As the poster says, this is unconfirmed and should be taken with a huge pinch of salt, but it does open up the possibility that we may have some new information about overseas filming for this year. Australia is another country that had been previously rumoured as a potential location for series 7. With filming due to begin over the next few weeks, remember to keep checking back for all the latest updates, or for more in depth discussion of filming, spoilers and set information, check out our forum, The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Gatiss, Fay, Confirmed Writers For Series 7

In last weeks newly released Doctor Who Magazine, Mark Gatiss, who had taken over the Production Notes feature, revealed that he would be penning a script for the upcoming seventh series of Doctor Who. While talking about pitching his story to Moffat, he gave three clues as to what it might be about. “Meat”, “Klaxon” and “Vienna”. A story set abroad, perhaps?

Gatiss has previously written The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern, Victory of the Daleks and most recently, Night Terrors, as well as appearing in different roles in some episodes including The Lazarus Experiment and The Wedding Of River Song.

This news, although late being posted here, has been on our forum for nearly a week, and response to the news of him writing for the show again has been mainly negative. His previous stories seem to have very much divided opinion.

Gatiss is the third confirmed writer for Series 7, alongside Steven Moffat and John Fay. John Fay has previously written for Torchwood, but this is his first Doctor Who outing. He recently penned episode 9 of Miracle Day as well as two episodes of Children Of Earth, including the now infamous Day 4.

At Least 14 Episodes For Series 7

During a short interview with the Radio Times, when asked about the series next year, Moffat has promised that it will definately air in Autumn 2012 and to expect at least 14 episodes. With emphasis on the 'at least'.

“There will never be a better time to be a Doctor Who fan, I absolutely promise you that,” says showrunner Steven Moffat on the topic of the series’ forthcoming 50th anniversary in 2013.

When quizzed about Doctor Who’s return later in 2012, Moffat did his utmost to encourage fan speculation by saying that there would be “at least” 14 episodes in series seven.

The emphasis that Moffat puts on the words 'at least' in the interview indicate that we could be in for more than the standard amount. In a previous interview it was said that this year they are filming more episodes than ever before.

The RT website has a video of the interview, which you can watch HERE

Series 7 News Roundup

With Series 7 being moved to the Autumn schedules and filming on the new series not due to start until February, new news is a little on the thin side, but thanks to Moffs appearance at the BFI screening of The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe as well as little hints in DWM, there are a few interesting facts about the next series that are worth looking at. As we haven't been around much to report on the updates, here is a roundup of what we know so far:

• Amy and Rory will be leaving the show 'at some point' during Series 7 in what Steven Moffat has described as a 'heartbreaking' end to their story. It has been speculated that it will be Rory's (final) death that brings an end to their travels, though of course this is speculation and the details are likely to be kept top secret.
• With the departure of the latest companions must come the arrival of the newest. Absolutely nothing is known about who will be taking the place of the Ponds, but it has been hinted that it will just be one companion this time around.
• Although not confirmed officially, Moffat has said that he expects River Song to return in the new series. 
• Moffat has also revealed that he has no plans for Series 7 to contain any two part stories, saying "At this stage, everything is a single episode, and the only reason anything will become a two-parter is if we think it needs to be; not so much that the story is too long for 45 minutes, because nothing is too long for 45 minutes, but if it feels as though there are two distinct stages to the story."
• He also gave us a tiny hint about what to expect from the opening story of Series 7.  "The first episode I’m writing is called '_____ of the _____' and it’ll feel a bit like Die Hard, that first episode." 
• Marcus Wilson, who acts as producer on the show, has revealed that Series 7 will see the return of 'a couple' of classic villains/monsters from the 1960's and 70's. Leading the popularity stakes on the forum so far is the Zygons and the Ice Warriors, but which would you like to see make a return? Let us know below.

And for more news, spoilers and updates check out The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Karen Gillan Confirms Return For Series 7

Karen Gillan has this evening confirmed to Zap2it that she will be returning to Doctor Who as Amy Pond for series 7 of the show. It isn't stated whether she will be appearing in all episodes, though a return is definate. This should put an end to some of the speculation that has been doing the rounds in recent months about whether or not she will be returning.