Screencaps - "The Companions" - The Guardian Interview

Screencaps from The Guardian - Companions - Life inside the Tardis have been uploaded to the Flickr Gallery.  This features screencaps of Louise Jameson, Billie Piper, Karen Gillan, Katy Manning, Freema Agyeman and Carole Ann Ford.  Samples below - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions - please feel free to take and use:

"The Day of the Doctor" - Teaser idents and hashtag

So, whilst the wait for a trailer goes on...and on...and on, the BBC have thrown us a tiny finger bone or two.  Below are the three "teaser idents" for "The Day of the Doctor" - the third is just basically 1 and 2 combined.  Oh - and the hashtag to use on twitter is #savetheday.  Thanks to TheDoctorWhoGuy and drwhomedia for these videos:

"The Day of the Doctor" - Ident and Hashtag to be revealed.

I know - it's too much, isn't it?  Now, please try to contain yourselves because the BBC have announced that before and after "Atlantis" tonight they will reveal the "ident" and "hashtag" for "The Day of the Doctor."   Wow.  Why do we need a trailer?  They've also released the above behind the scenes photo.  Sarcasm aside, they have said that they've shot a new trailer which is currently in post production:

So, I guess that means we won't be seeing the trailer shown at Comic-Con, the Edinburgh TV Festival and the British Embassy in Beijing.

Video - The Companions on life inside the Tardis

The Guardian have interviewed 6 former Doctor Who actresses for their continuing "50 Years of Doctor Who" series.  Billie Piper, Karen Gillan, Freema Agyeman, Louise Jameson, Katy Manning and Carole Ann Ford talk about a varied range of topics including fans and conventions.  You can watch the video below and there are more interviews in The Guardian's "Weekend" magazine on sale tomorrow (Saturday 28 September 2013):

50th Anniversary Celebration Convention - Ticket Ballot Open

Doctorwho.tv have announced that they are holding a public ballot for a limited number of additional tickets to the 50th Celebration Convention taking place at the Excel Centre, London on 22, 23 and 24 November 2013.

Full details on how to apply are below:

The ballot can be entered online and via telephone now, and will remain open until 10am (BST) on Monday 30 September 2013.

Ticket prices are £45 for adults, £20 for children and £104 for a family ticket (two adults and two children, prices exclude booking fee).

How to apply for the ballot:

• Online ballot applications can be made via our ticket agent Crowdsurge.
• Alternatively you can call the call centre: (+44) 0844 693 0780.
• Applicants with disability access requirements can enter the ballot via telephone or online. If you would like to discuss access requirements with a member of the team, please call the dedicated CrowdSurge helpline on 08434 594 939.
• For further information please visit our FAQ page.

How the ballot works:

1. Applicants can enter the ballot online or by telephoning the call centre. One entry per person permitted.
2. After 10am on Monday 30 September, names will be drawn at random from all the submitted applications.
3. Both successful and unsuccessful applicants in the first ballot will be notified via email on Tuesday 1 October. If successful applicants do not have a valid email address then they will be contacted by telephone. Unsuccessful applicants without an email address will not be notified.
4. Successful applicants will receive a unique code which they must use to purchase tickets to the event. This code can only be used once. Up to four tickets can be purchased, but this will need to be in the same transaction. The code is only valid for the date and entry group originally selected upon application.
5. Successful applicants will have until Thursday 3 October at 10am to use their code. The code will become invalid after this date and applicants will no longer be able to purchase tickets.
6. Tickets can be purchased either online or by telephoning the call centre.
7. Should any tickets remain from the first ballot, a second ballot will open. All applicants who are unsuccessful in the first ballot will be automatically entered into a second ballot. Ballot rounds will continue to take place until all tickets have sold out.
8. No additional merchandise/photos/autographs/t-shirts will be available to purchase at this stage.
9. TARDIS tickets are sold out and will not be included in the ballot.
10. Full terms and conditions can be found here.

"Doctor Who" tops Radio Times Poll

The Radio Times recently conducted a poll to find people's "ultimate TV schedule" for it's 90th birthday and, following almost 30,000 votes, "Doctor Who" was chosen as "top drama".

"Doctor Who" beat "Downton Abbey", "Sherlock" and "Coronation Street" amongst others and TV Critic, Boyd Hilton, commented:

"Doctor Who is absolutely unique. It's an incredible achievement that it's lasted for 50 years and been entertaining families for that long."

The full voted schedule is:

• Children's: Blue Peter
• Entertainment: The Morecambe & Wise Show
• Comedy: Only Fools And Horses
• Drama: Doctor Who
• Documentary: Around the World in 80 Days
• News: Sir Trevor McDonald

The voting in the Drama category was:

1 Doctor Who

2 Sherlock

3 Downton Abbey

4 Coronation Street

5 Pride and Prejudice

Merchandise - More Goodies from the BBC Shop

I do love the BBC Shop - unlike the rest of the BBC they've been celebrating the 50th Anniversary all year with various delights on offer.  Obviously, the merchandising is ramping up the closer we get to November so below are some new releases - and the odd thing you might have missed.  Remember - there's also free delivery within the UK from the BBC Shop.

Available now:

First up - wristbands.  Yeah, everyone loves wristbands - I know I do ... I seem to have accumulated a large collection of them so of course, I had to order this:

It's one wristband - with "50 Years of Doctor Who" in gold alongside the "Doctor Who" and "DW" logo in white.  They're a fiver.  Really.  You can't go wrong.  You can order them from the BBC Shop.

Next, an "exploding Tardis bag for all time".  There's an obsession in UK supermarkets with attempting to save the planet by reducing the number of plastic carrier bags sold and offering "bags for life" instead.  You can go one better with this though.  It's a canvas "bag for all time" featuring an exploding Tardis:

Priced £5.99 at the BBC Shop.

How can anyone resist this?  The 12" British Icon Dalek - 50th Anniversary Collector Edition.  He's just gorgeous:

He's also, dare I say, a "proper" Dalek - none of your New Paradigm "Renault Megane" type Daleks.  Described as a "free-wheeling Dalek" that "features poseable arm, head and eye. Also includes 8 Dalek phrases with lights and sound FX."   He's just pretty fantastic.  This gorgeous guy is priced £39.99 at the BBC Shop

Being the Anniversary, the BBC have released 2 calendars for 2014.  The first is a beautiful Anniversary calendar featuring all the Doctors - one per month in special art prints with the final month being an accumulation (right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions):

This little beauty is £8.99 from the BBC Shop

Their normal calendar for 2014 is basically a Season 7 calendar featuring poster art from various episodes:

Again, a very reasonable £8.99 from the BBC Shop

No merchandise recommendation would be complete without a bit of frivolity... and this time I have just the thing.  Yeah, it's an Eleventh Doctor Mr Potato Head:

Isn't he sweet?  Featuring 8 removable parts and pieces, he's priced £16.99 from the BBC Shop

Pre-Order:

Obviously, there's the "Day of the Doctor DVD at £13.99 and the  "Complete Series 7 DVD Boxset (priced £30.99 on DVD and £34.99 on Blu-Ray) but what about this...

Yes, it's the Complete Series 7 - but in a BBC Shop Exclusive Limited Edition Tardis Packaging.  It looks fantastic and is available for pre-order priced £43.99 on DVD and £46.99 on Blu-Ray.  The release date is 28 October 2013.

Honestly, there are lots of goodies in the 50th Anniversary section of the BBC Shop and not everything is expensive - there are lots of very reasonably priced delights on offer.

Alex Kingston - "Macbeth" - More Images

A few more images from the National Theatre production of "Macbeth" starring Alex Kingston - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions.  Please note that the encore performances of "Macbeth" are listed on the National Theatre Live website.

National Television Awards - Voting Open

It's that time again - voting is now open for the National Television Awards.  There are two categories of interest for Who fans.

Firstly, "Doctor Who" is nominated for "Best Drama" - against 35 other shows - whilst both Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman are nominated in "Best Drama Performance".  There are 32 nominees in this category (no Benedict Cumberbatch - he's nominated in "Best TV Detective" where he's up against David Tennant).

Voting is open until 23.59 on Friday 11 October 2013 and the nominees with the most votes will go forward onto the shortlist stage of voting.

To vote simply go to National Television Awards.

New Competition - Win a Limited Edition Series 7 Soundtrack Gatefold Wallet Set with Exclusive Cards

Our new giveaway/competition gives you the chance to win the Silva Screen Season 7 Soundtrack Limited Edition with Exclusive Cards.  The soundtrack alone is superb - Murray Gold excels himself once more - but this release is the 2 CD Gatefold Wallet set with booklet and cards.

There is no question to answer - competition is open to all - no restrictions on location as long as there's a postal service.

To enter simply click the "Competition" tab above.

Screencaps - Proms Minisode

Screencaps from the Proms Minisode (plus Matt and Jenna appearance) have been uploaded to the Flickr Gallery.  Samples below - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions - and as usual please feel free to take and use: