Matt Smith last night proposed to his long-standing girlfriend at the Doctor Who Experience in London. The marriage offer, which Matt had been planning for weeks (with some help from BBC Worldwide), came as a complete surprise to his girlfriend who was under the impression she was visiting the capital for a shopping trip.

The Doctor Who Experience at London’s Olympia, a walk through exhibition where the Doctor takes you on a spectacular adventure though time and space, has already been enjoyed by over 200,000 fans both young and old, and was chosen by Matt as the perfect setting for his proposal to girlfriend and avid Doctor Who fan, Stacie-Anne Dilkes, 23. The attraction is in the final three weeks of its year-long London run.

Matt, 22, from Rochford, Essex coincidentally shares the same name with the star of the globally successful BBC TV series and even chose to dress in a tweed jacket and bow tie for the occasion, the standard uniform of the Eleventh Timelord. He stunned his wife-to-be by pretending to be an exhibit in a section of the Experience which hosts original props, costumes and monsters from almost 50 years of the programme – before bending down on one knee and asking for her hand in marriage. And happily, she said YES!

Matt Smith, who plays the real Doctor, instead of protesting at this apparent, albeit brief identity theft, was also in on the surprise and sent a personal message of congratulations to the happy couple, commenting: “Matt Smith proposing to his girlfriend! Firstly, being a Smith means phone calls to the bank take so much longer – there are so many Smiths!! But I bet none of them have proposed at the Doctor Who Experience! Amy and Rory would be proud. Next – babies in the TARDIS…? Congratulations to you both and many years of happiness. Love, Matt.”

From the official site

History will be made this weekend as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ben Foster, performs Murray Gold’s thrilling music from the two most recent series of Doctor Who.

It’s the first time such an event has occurred outside the UK and the first and only Australian performances of the show will be this Saturday, 4th Feb at 2pm and 7pm at the Plenary Hall, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Both shows are sold out.

Inspired by the BBC Doctor Who Proms at Royal Albert Hall in London, the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular will be an exhilarating live event, accompanied by a big screen presentation of key moments and specially edited sequences showcasing Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Doctor. BBC Wales’ Paul Bullock, who produced the previous Doctor Who Proms and the seminal Doctor Who: A Celebration back in in 2006, is producing this latest extravaganza.

The performances are hosted by Mark Sheppard, best known as Canton Everett Delaware III in The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon. He’ll be joined by his old friends the Silence with a host of other monsters including Daleks, Cybermen and Judoon invading the auditorium!

Mark is clearly delighted to be back in the world of everyone’s favourite Time Lord. ‘Doctor Who is such a fantastic show and the fans’ loyalty is incredible,’ he commented. ‘The music has been a key component in the success of the show; it’s instantaneously identifiable and spine-tingling. I can’t wait to hear the sounds of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – and the TARDIS – filling Plenary Hall.’

Matthew Van Besien, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Managing Director, was equally enthusiastic. ‘The response from the Australian public to this concert has been overwhelming and I know the Orchestra are really looking forward to being a part of such a unique and world famous production…’

Enjoy a calendar of events this half term at The Doctor Who Experience

·Come face-to-face with a Cyberman an Ood and a Judoon

·Learn how to ‘Walk Like A Monster’ with Doctor Who Choreographer Ailsa Berk

·Transform into a monster with professional Doctor Who makeup technicians

·Learn how to draw, design and sculpt a real Doctor Who monster

The Doctor Who Experience is preparing for its final week in London this February half term, and to make sure it goes out with a bang, a whole host of additional activities are planned to thrill visitors for the last time in London, before the exhibition moves to Cardiff in the summer.

Saturday 11th February sees the return of Doctor Who choreographer Ailsa Berk who will be giving visitors a chance to perfect their monster moves with special lessons on how to walk like a Judoon Trooper or a Cyberman.

Monday 13th February, the team from Millennium FX share their behind-the-scenes knowledge on the inspiration behind some of the show’s iconic characters, with live design and sculpt demonstrations, as well as drawing demonstrations on the 17th February.

Wednesday 15th February, visitors have the rare opportunity to come face-to-face with the Doctor’s terrifying adversaries, the Cybermen and the telepathic Ood.

Thursday 16th February you can become your favourite monster, as Doctor Who makeup technicians will be ready to transform you into your choice of a Silurian, Cyberman, Clockwork Droid or Weeping Angel.

The show comes to a close on Wednesday 22nd February where fans get the chance to bid a final farewell to the Doctor and some of the most recent monsters from the series, before its big move to Cardiff. So if you want to have Ood-les of fun this February half term, visit The Doctor Who Experience at London’s Olympia by the 22nd!

The Doctor Who Experience allows visitors to join the Doctor on a journey through time and space, encountering some of the best-loved and scariest monsters from the hit international, television series. Special scenes filmed with current Doctor, Matt Smith, combine with amazing special effects and the chance to enter a recreation of the modern TARDIS interior topped off by a breathtaking 3-D finale.

Tickets are on sale at www.doctorwhoexperience.com

At tonight’s national television awards Matt Smith beat Torchwood star John Barrowman to win the award for outstanding male drama performance.

Karen Gillan won the award for the most outstanding female drama performance.

Doctor Who lost out in the most popular drama category to Downton Abbey

From The Official Site...

Script to Screen is back… And this time, if you’re aged 9-11 years old you can write an adventure for the Doctor set anywhere in time and space!

The new competition will be launched by the Doctor himself on Blue Peter on CBBC, Thursday, January 12 at 5.45pm. The challenge is simple. Schoolchildren aged 9-11 should write a mini-episode that features the Doctor in an Olympic-themed adventure. Amy and Rory can be included in the script alongside one of four familiar alien species plus a brand new human character.

You can find out much more about the new Script to Screen on Thursday’s Blue Peter, but it’s been confirmed that once again, the winning script will be produced by the Doctor Who team and broadcast on the BBC. The winners will meet the stars of the show, visit the set and see their mini-episode being shot.

Script to Screen invites UK primary schools to submit one entry each to the competition and a BBC Learning website is available to give master classes in how to write. Learning resources were downloaded 300,000 times during the 7 weeks the competition was open last year and more than 1000 schools submitted an entry.

Following the 2011 competition a survey found that 96% of teachers believed it was an excellent tool for teaching literacy and writing skills. Steven Moffat, Doctor Who’s lead writer and executive producer, reflected, ‘I come from a family of teachers, I was a teacher, my father’s a teacher, my sister’s a teacher. We go back teacher generations so it’s hard wired for me to want the approval of teachers so I’m very, very thrilled that its gone down so well with the schools that took part.’

Caroline Skinner, executive producer of Doctor Who, looked forward to the return of Script to Screen and commented, ‘It’s so exciting to be able to challenge young writers in this way. Doctor Who is such an amazing show to work on. It really sets the imaginations of viewers alight, and it’s a thrilling prospect to see where young members of our audience would like to see the Doctor go this time!’

All entries for this year’s Script to Screen must be submitted by midnight on Friday, March 16, 2012. To find out more about the competition, watch Blue Peter on CBBC, 5.45pm and you can visit the BBC Learning site to investigate the videos and resources created to help develop writing skills that are out of this world!

Please note terms and conditions apply – find out more at BBC Learning.

Final Christmas viewing figures are now available with Doctor Who coming third. Although its ratings are now much larger from the overnight figures there were some massive time shifts, especially from Downton Abbey which came top. These figures do not include iplayer which many people now use to catch up on their viewing.

1 Downton Abbey – 11.60m
2 EastEnders – 11.33m
3 Doctor Who – 10.77m
4 Coronation Street – 10.51m
5 Absolutely Fabulous – 9.07m

Overnight viewing figures showed that The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe was watched by 8.9 million viewers.

Source www.doctorwhonews.net

Doctor Who & Torchwood National Television Awards 2012

Both Doctor Who and Torchwood stars have nominations in this years National Television Awards short list.

Doctor Who has been nominated in the best drama category whilst Matt Smith and John Barrowman go head to head in the best male actor performance category.

Karen Gillan and Eve Myles are both in the short list of 4 in the best female drama performance.

The results will be revealed live from The O2 on ITV1, Wed 25 Jan, 7.30pm. Voting closes at midday on 25 January 2012.

You can vote at www.nationaltvawards.com.

Visitors to the Doctor Who Experience will now be able to get up close and personal with the Wooden King and Queen from this year’s Christmas special.

The creatures from The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe have escaped their doomed forest and now reside in the safety of the interactive walkthrough exhibition at London’s Olympia Two. They are the brainchild of Steven Moffat, who was haunted by such wooden creations as a child.

The Wooden King and Wooden Queen were hatched from the baubles hanging from the branches of whispering Christmas trees, and reside in a tower grown from trees where they lie in wait to entrap their rescuers.

The Wooden King and Wooden Queen have been installed alongside many of the Doctor’s most familiar foes, including the Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians and the Silence. They will remain in their specially created viewing area at Olympia until the Experience closes its doors for the last time on the 22 February 2012.

The Doctor Who Experience is an interactive walk through exhibition at London’s Olympia Two, which runs until the 22 February 2012. You can still book tickets for the Experience by visiting www.doctorwhoexperience.com

Now that 2011 Doctor Who Christmas special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe is over what did you think of it? Was it the best of worst yet.

From BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games today announced the open preview launch of Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, the new browser-based, free-to-play multiplayer online game. Developed in partnership with Three Rings, an award-winning developer of persistent online worlds, such as Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights, the game is the first-ever multiplayer game based on the Doctor Who television series.

Beginning today at DoctorWhoWIT.com www.DoctorWhoWIT.com Doctor Who fans and gamers everywhere can enjoy the mystery and community of Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, which draws on the rich mythology, locations and excitement of the beloved television show.

“Our goal with Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is to expand engagement with the immensely popular Doctor Who brand and allow fans to deeply immerse themselves in that universe,” said Robert Nashak, executive vice president, BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games. “The game’s multiple worlds, its varied, wonderful characters and monsters, and changing story arcs will appeal to both Doctor Who fans and casual gamers alike.”

Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is designed for devotees of the show looking for a quick pick-up-and-play game, and life-long gamers and sci-fi enthusiasts seeking increased social engagement. Players choose among four races and endless possible character combinations to create their avatars. They can join together in missions identified by the mysterious Time Lord to defend civilization by undertaking interventions against infamous villains bent on creating chaos and destruction in the universe. Throughout the game, players will explore deep immersive worlds (e.g., Skaro, Messaline, The Library and New New York) featuring iconic monsters (e.g., Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels), delivering the authentic experience of being part of the Doctor Who realm.

“As a huge Doctor Who fan, the chance to develop this game with BBC Worldwide was a dream opportunity,” said Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings Design, Inc. “We’ve worked to provide Doctor Who fans an experience that matches the quality and imagination of the TV show, and a forum to introduce casual gamers to this remarkable world with an experience accessible to players of all levels.”

While the game is free-to-play, revenue is generated through micro-transactions. Players can enhance their experience and accelerate their progress in the game through the purchase of Chronons, which will help them to complete missions, customize their avatars, build new contraptions and more.

Doctor Who, one of BBC Worldwide’s flagship brands, is the longest-running science fiction series in the world. It’s the story of the Doctor, the mysterious traveller in time and space, who has saved the universe so very many times. The Doctor is a Time Lord, one of a legendary race of powerful beings whose job it is to observe and record, but never interfere. The Christmas Special, “The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe,” will be shown at 8 p.m. on BBC One in the UK on Christmas Day.

Doctor Who: Worlds in Time will launch commercially in the first quarter of 2012.