The third edition of Doctor Who Insider will be available in North America from June 2nd.

In an exclusive interview, Arthur Darvill reveals he wants to write his own episode of Doctor Who, that he was cast for his massive arms, and shares his experience of filming in America.

“I think the balance between the humor and the terror is good because the look of it’s just getting better and better, the way it’s being shot, the way it’s designed, it’s just unbelievable

Also in this issue:

• WASHINGTON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS Actors Mark Sheppard and Stuart Milligan talk exclusively to Doctor Who Insider, sharing their experience of playing FBI Agent, Canton Everett Delaware III and President Richard Nixon in The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon.
  
• HERE’S TO THE FUTURE
  We track the evolution of mankind in Doctor Who as humanity escapes the confines of planet Earth and reaches for the stars.
  
• GOING FOR GOLD
  Insider talks exclusively to Murray Gold who has composed the music for Doctor Who
  since its return to TV in 2005.
  
• I WAS… ANAT Anna Barry casts her mind back to 1972 when she played the leader of a band of freedom fighters opposite Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee in Day of the Daleks.
  
• NEXUS POINT
  We recall the moment that the Doctor met himself – twice! – for the first time in The 
  Three Doctors.
  
• DATA FILE
  To coincide with the release of Time and the Rani on DVD, Insider takes a look at the 
  Seventh Doctor’s battle with his fellow Time Lord, the Rani in his very first adventure.
  
• TIME SCOOP Caught in the Time Scoop this issue are the Silurians, those xenophobic reptiles who are 
  sleeping beneath the Earth, waiting to re‐conquer their world.
  
• MERCHANDISE
  Previews of the latest Doctor Who merchandise, including Time and the Rani and 
  Frontiers on DVD featuring interviews with Wanda Ventham who plays Faroon in Time 
  and the Rani and Lesley Dunlop who was Norna in Frontios; we take a look at The BBC 
  Radio Episodes collection of Doctor Who audio dramas; and author Una McCormack
  guides us through the writing of her mysterious new Doctor Who novel, The Way 
  Through the Wood
• FAN ZONE A selection of photographs of fans and their incredible creations taken at the 2011 Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles. 
  

PLUS! The latest official news and a giant, double‐sided poster of Rory Pond and Time 
and the Rani!

Some subscribers in the UK received their copy of the magazine just after Issue 2 was published; editor John Ainsworth noted that this had been a mistake in distribution.

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Issue 5 of the Doctor Who Fanzine Fish Fingers and Custard is now available.

The issue contains the following:

• Our Sarah Jane - Tributes from fans of Elisabeth Sladen
• The Brig: A Great Chap
• Why I Watch Who
• Poetry
• A Look At The Scarifyers, plus an interview with creator Simon Barnard
• Doctor Who Actor, Harry Sedgewick, offers some more of his wisdom in his latest column
• Review of the opening 2 episodes of Series 6!

Downloading details on the website.

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Matt Smith will join Matt Baker (Aliens of London) and Alex Jones in the studio for tonight's One Show on BBC One at 7.00pm.

Following transmission the show will available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

The BBC Doctor Who website have revealed that a "previously unseen clip" from The Almost People will premiere on tonight's One Show and will be made available to watch immediately after on their website.

Related Articles: Matt Smith on One Show (1 April 2010); The Doctor to the rescue! (19 August 2010); One Show Christmas Promo (24 August 2010)

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After a shorter preview shown by Access Hollywood last week, Starz have now released their first full scene-driven trailer for Torchwood: Miracle Day, which runs to some 1 minute 46 seconds:

Torchwood: Miracle Day - 1:46 trailer, Starz, via BBC Torchwood/Dailymotion

Note: this video link was recommended by the BBC Torchwood Production Office, as the official Starz version is region-locked.

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BARB have now issued final ratings for the week ending 15th May making Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife the 14th most watched programme of the week.

The show was once again the highest non-soap drama of the week. It was knocked a couple of places down the chart by the new series of The Apprentice and by the Eurovision Song Contest.

The chart does not include iPlayer figures where over 1 million have already accessed this episode.

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The Rebel Flesh had an Appreciation Index, or AI score of 85.

The score is once more in the excellent category with the highest rating of Saturday going to Casualty with 88.

Two programmes got more than six million watching on Sunday, pushing Doctor Who into 21st place for the week on the overnight figures. This will certainly rise when final figures are released next week.

The BBC Three Sunday night repeat had 0.5 million viewers, a 2.1% share of the audience.

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Steven Moffat had cause to celebrate this evening as he won the award for Drama Series with co-creator Mark Gatiss for their mini-series Sherlock. The show beat off opposition from Being Human, Downton Abbey and Misfits. Sherlock also garnered an award for actor Martin Freeman, who won Best Supporting Actor for his role as John Watson, but missed out in the YouTube Audience Award to The Only Way Is Essex.

However, neither of Moffat's principle stars were able to walk off with the Leading Actor award - both Matt Smith for Doctor Who and Benedict Cumberbatch for Sherlock were pipped to the post by actor Daniel Rigby, who played the young Eric Morecambe in the BBC's Christmas special Eric and Ernie. The other nominee in this category was Jim Broadbent for Channel 4's Any Human Heart.

Matt Smith's nomination heralded the first time a leading actor for Doctor Who has ever been represented for the award.

The full list of nominees and winners can be found at the BAFTA website.

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Matt Smith and Catherine Tate - Television Awards Red Carpet in 2011, BAFTA Online, via YouTube

Related Articles: BAFTA nomination for Matt Smith (26 Apr 2011)

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Today's Sunday Mail has reported that the jacket worn by Matt Smith's Doctor in the current series of Doctor Who is a Chinese remake of the Harris Tweed one from last series.

A BBC spokesperson told the paper that: "the tweed changed because they needed a warmer jacket for outside filming"; back in June 2010, Smith himself told the Sun newspaper:

I went for a costume fitting this very morning for next year. I've always said that I think the look will evolve. I don't want to say too much but, just practically, we film in November and it's freezing. And just a tweed jacket can get a bit cold.

A spokeswoman for BBC Worldwide told the paper that the decision to drop Harris Tweed was taken by programme makers, adding: "we've had no input into the jacket design." Ann MacCallum, Managing Director of the Isle of Lewis mill which makes Harris Tweed said: "the BBC told me Matt wanted something different for the new series."

Lydia Walton, a spokesman for Harris Tweed Scotland said:

Harris Tweed is so special as it is woven by hand on the Western Isles and every 50 metres is stamped by the Harris Tweed authority. It is steeped in romance and history. I find it very odd that they would use a replica costing £360 when our genuine Harris Tweed jackets retail at £250. Why pay more for a replica than have the original?

Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil told the Mail:

I'm appalled and outraged. What the BBC are doing is stealing Scotland's heritage. It is a kick in the teeth to one of our most iconic industries.

The BBC has granted a license to AbbyShot Clothiers, a Canadian company who make screen-accurate TV and movie clothing, who will sell the the official replica jacket through various affiliates. AbbyShot has previously made the official replica of the tenth Doctor's coat and the red leather jacket worn by Martha Jones.

Fashion expert Tessa Hartmann said:

I suspect the BBC has gone down the commercial route with the new blazer because they received so much coverage from the previous series' jacket. However, I think part of the allure was the Harris Tweed authenticity and craftsmanship. Once you lose that, it becomes just any blazer. But £360 is a steep price for a replica jacket. Harris Tweed is part of a uniquely British fashion institution and has an incredible heritage and brand identity. People will pay for luxury garments but a Far East replica is not the same thing.

The replica is currently available to pre-order from the Forbidden Planet website.

Related Articles: Eleventh Doctor Costume Comments (22 July 2009)

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The Doctor's Wife had a final official rating of 7.97 million viewers, a 34.7% share of the audience.

The final rating includes those who record the programme and watch it within seven days.

Full ratings, which will reveal the chart position of the episode, should be released tomorrow.

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Series 6 of Doctor Who premiered on Prime in New Zealand on Thursday. Throng NZ reports that The Impossible Astronaut was watched by 146,520 people between 8:35pm and 9:30pm. Doctor Who was beaten in the 8:30pm slot by Lorraine Kelly's Big Fat Challenge on TV One with 377,900 viewers, No Ordinary Family (TV2, 276,940) and Bones (TV3, 293,010).

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol had its New Zealand debut on Prime on 30 January and had 85,130 viewers.

Part two of the story, Day of the Moon will broadcast on Thursday 26 May at 8:30pm.

Related Articles: UK Overnights (24 April 2011); The Impossible Astronaut lands on PRIME (4 May 2011)

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5.7 million viewers watched episode five of Doctor Who: The Rebel Flesh, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The story, written by Matthew Graham, attracted 29.3% of the overnight audience and was the second most-watched programme of the day. The most-watched programme was Britain's Got Talent with 10 million watching.

Doctor Who had a million more viewers than the third placed programme Casualty. Against the Doctor, Sing If You Can on ITV had 4.1 million watching. 0.84 million watched Doctor Who on BBC One HD.

The BBC One audience once more peaked when Doctor Who was on, rising to 5.9 million during the programme and dropping to 2.8 million as Doctor Who finished.

Doctor Who currently stands as the 19th most watched programme of the week.

On BBC Three Doctor Who Confidential has 0.57million viewers, a 3.1% share of the audience.

Related Articles: Final Ratings (29 May 2011)

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The Doctor's Wife has debuted in Australia to strong ratings. TV Tonight reports that the episode averaged 785,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. Again, it won its national timeslot, was the top-rating drama of the day and the fifth highest rating programme for the day overall. The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a respectable 605,000 viewers in the five major capitals. These overnight figures do not include regional, rural and time-shifted viewers and hence significantly understate the actual national ratings.

Meanwhile, BBC Worldwide Australia have confirmed that Torchwood: Miracle Day will be fast-tracked to Australia debuting on UKTV Australia on Saturday 9 July 2011 at 8:30pm. Deirdre Brennan, Director of Television, BBC Worldwide Australia said:

Torchwood: Miracle Day is the pinnacle of event television with global locations, brilliant casting, exhilarating action and captivating story-telling. This is the most ambitious instalment of Torchwood to-date and UKTV is thrilled to fast-track this show to Australian audiences, rewarding the fans and offering new audiences the opportunity to experience Captain Jack’s charm first hand.

(with thanks to TV Tonight)

Related Articles: UK Overnights (15 May 2011); Torchwood: Miracle Day fast-tracked to Australia (29 Mar 2011)

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Retailer Forbidden Planet continues its range of exclusive Character figures with the addition of a new set to their catalogue tying into Third Doctor adventure The Time Warrior:

In this exclusive set we present the Classic Sontaran: Commander Linx and his iconic Sontaran space ship along with the Third Doctor in Green Jacket and Sonic Screwdriver.

Journalist Sarah Jane Smith covertly gains access to a research centre where top scientists are being held in protective custody whilst UNIT investigates the disappearance of a number of their colleagues. The missing scientists have been kidnapped by a Sontaran, Linx, and taken back to medieval England, where they are working under hypnosis to repair his crashed spaceship.

The Third Doctor follows in the TARDIS, and Sarah Jane stows away. In return for shelter, Linx has provided a robber baron called Irongron with anachronistically advanced weapons to use in attacks on neighbouring castles.

The Doctor helps Sir Edward of Wessex to repel one such attack, then he and Sarah Jane conspire to drug the food in Irongron's kitchens so that the weapons can be removed while the men are unconscious. Aided by one of the kidnapped scientists, Rubeish, he then sends the others back to the 20th Century using Linx's primitive time travel equipment.

Linx shoots Irongron down and gets ready to leave in his repaired ship. Hal, one of Sir Edward's archers, fires an arrow into the vulnerable probic vent at the back of his neck, killing him. The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Hal escape just before the ship explodes, destroying the castle.

Purchase from Forbidden Planet

 

The set is due for release on the 1st June.


Earlier in the year Forbidden Planet released another exclusive Sontaran figure set, featuring the Fourth Doctor's encounter with Field Major Styre in The Sontaran Experiment - the image from that earlier set shows the variations between the two releases.

In this great gift set is the Classic Sontaran: Field-Major Styre and his iconic Sontaran space ship along with the Fourth Doctor in duffle coat and hat.

The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan arrive on a desolate and apparently deserted Earth to discover that a group of shipwrecked astronauts from a human colony, GalSec, have been lured there by a fake distress call. One of their number, Roth, tells Sarah Jane of an alien conducting gruesome experiments on him and his crewmates. The alien turns out to be a Sontaran, Field-Major Styre, who is compiling a report on human physical and mental capabilities as a prelude to an invasion of Earth.

The Doctor challenges Styre to unarmed combat. The Sontaran agrees but is quickly weakened in Earth's unfamiliar gravity. Harry meanwhile enters Styre's ship and uses the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to remove the vital terullian diode bypass transformer, so that when the alien returns there to revitalise himself he is drained of all his energy and destroyed. The Doctor sends a message to the Sontaran fleet, warning them that without Styre's report they cannot invade.

Purchase from Forbidden Planet

 

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Tying into the theme of the current story, the BBC have released a short interview with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, where the trio discuss their real-life experiences with doppelgangers:

Matt, Karen and Arthur On Their Real Life Doubles!, BBC, via BBC Website

Meanwhile the usual promotional trailers and preview scenes are available for the forthcoming sixth episode of Doctor Who, The Almost People - the second of the two-part adventure written by Matthew Graham.

Next Time: The Almost People, BBC, via BBC Website



Preview One: The Almost People, BBC, via BBC Website



Preview Two: The Almost People, BBC, via BBC Website

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The Almost People will premiere on BBC1/BBC1HD at 6:45pm, 28th May in the United Kingdom; due to Memorial Day, SPACE and BBC America will broadcast the episode a week later at 8:00pm/9:00pm ET respectively, on the 4th June, the same day as ABC1 in Australia at 7:30pm.

As the solar storm rages, Jennifer, a Ganger driven mad by the memories of being "decommissioned", is seeking revenge, as the time-travelling drama continues.

She can remember every excruciating second of every "execution" and is determined that the humans will pay. And she isn't just talking war; she's talking revolution. As the crumbling factory fills with toxic fumes and drips lethal acid, the "Originals" wait desperately for the shuttle from the Mainland to rescue them. But Jennifer has other ideas. Can the Doctor convince the terrified factory workers to embrace their own humanity and work together with their Gangers to overcome a monster of their own making?

Related Articles: Coming Soon: The Almost People (12 May 2011)

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Doctor Who fans in North America will have an extra long wait to watch the conclusion to this week's episode The Rebel Flesh.

The second part of the two part story will not be broadcast on BBC America or Canada's SPACE until Saturday June 4. The reason is the Memorial Day holiday weekend which takes place in the States next weekend. Memorial Day commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while on military service and unofficially marks the start of the summer holiday season. TV schedulers try to avoid planning any new programming over the weekend when a large number of people are away from home.

BBC America will be broadcasting a series of episodes from Matt Smith's time as the Doctor over the weekend. Both channels will show The Almost People, the conclusion to the two part story, on 4th June.

Full listings can be found in This Week in Doctor Who.

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Threadless, the community-centered online apparel store are offering readers of Doctor Who News a chance to win a Doctor Who inspired t-shirt. Doctor-Hoo by Mallory Dyer features all eleven Doctors represented in the form of Owls.

We have two copies of the t-shirt up for grabs courtesy of Threadless. In order to enter the competition, please answer the following question:

What number shirt was the Doctor wearing for the Kings Arms in The Lodger?

Closing date: Saturday 4th June, 2011

Please email your answer to our competition address with the subject line "Threadless Competition" - we will contact the two winners with details on how to choose and receive their prize from Threadless after the competition has closed.

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