Filming for the last of this year's Doctor Who special episode took place yesterday and John Barrowman who plays Captain Jack Harkness was spotted. Russell Tovey who appeared as Midshipman Frame in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special, Voyage of the Damned, was also seen filming. A picture of John Barrowman filming for the episode can be seen below: 
Men in red and white body paint were also seen and some reports state that a Graske and a Raxacoricofallapatorian were also on set. The last two Doctor Who specials will be broadcast at Christmas time and more news on them will be posted here as soon as it is available. What are your thoughts on this news?
Earlier this year, various British newspapers were reporting that Hannah Murray would be starring as the Eleventh Doctor's companion in the fifth series of Doctor Who. BBC Entertainment reporter, Lizo Mzimba, attended the this year's BAFTA Awards and asked Hannah Murray if she was in line to play The Doctor's next companion. You can read a message that Lizo Mzimba posted on his Twitter page below:
Various online retailers are now taking orders for a Blu-ray release of this year's Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead. Planet of the Dead is the first episode of Doctor Who to be released on Blu-ray because the episode was filmed with high definition cameras. The cover for the Blu-ray DVD features the same artwork as the upcoming regular DVD release of the episode and the Blu-ray DVD will not include any special features. Planet of the Dead will be released on Blu-ray and on regular DVD on the 29th of June across the United Kingdom and Ireland and will be sold at the regular retail price of £15.99. You can order the DVD now by clicking 
The Official Torchwood website has now been updated with a new teaser trailer for Torchwood: Children of Earth. The ten second long trailer features new clips of possessed children and was recently shown in Australia, shortly after the second series of Torchwood had finished being broadcast. The new trailer can be seen on the official Torchwood website and below:
The British Academy Television Awards for 2008 took place last night at the Royal Festival Hall and was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One at 8pm. This year, Doctor Who was again nominated in the Best Drama category, along with Shameless, Spooks and Wallander. Doctor Who had been nominated in this category for the past three years and won the award each time, but unfortunately Doctor Who did not win this year and Wallander was announced the winner of the award. Einstien and Eddington, the single drama starring David Tennant was also nominated for an award but also lost out. A full list of BAFTA winners can be read by clicking 
SciFi Collector recently emailed us with details for two exclusive limited edition Torchwood action figures. The figures are of Captain John Hart and Ianto Jones which will also be released in the second wave of the Torchwood figures but what makes these figures special is that they are packaged in wave one figure packaging. 1000 of each figure has been produced and they will be available to buy from the music tours of Gareth David Llyod and James Marsters, as well as from the SciFi Collector online store. Each figure costs £14.99 or £29.90 for both and you can go to SciFi Collector's online store where you can preorder the new figures by clicking 
Various British newspapers have this week been reporting that Gillian Anderson, the actress who is well known for her role as Scully in the American science fiction series, The X Files, will be appearing in Doctor Who. The reports state that she will play the role of The Rani, an old Timelord enemy of The sixth and seventh incarnations of The Doctor who was originally played Kate O' Mara. An apparent BBC insider said:
BARB have now released the final ratings for the recently aired Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead. The ratings state that the episode was watched by 9.54 million viewers on BBC One and by 200,000 viewers on BBC HD. Planet of the Dead has now become the highest rated programme on BBC HD and is the fifth most watched programme of the week it was broadcast. The rating is over one million higher then it was estimated and the episode is now one of the eighth episodes in Doctor Who's forty-five year history that has been in the top five most watched.
Planet of the Dead, the first of the Doctor Who 2009 specials which was recently broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD has now been made available to download online through iTunes. The episode costs £1.79 to download in standard edition and costs £1.79 to download in high definition. The first, second, third and fourth series of Doctor Who are also available to download, along with various classic episodes and the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor. Once downloaded, the episode can be played on your computer, iPod and can even be put on a disc to watch on a DVD player. You can download the episode by clicking 
SciFi Collector recently revealed the first approved images of their second wave of Torchwood action figures. The wave consists of Ianto Jones who is played by Gareth David Llyod, Toshiko Sato who was played by Naoko Mori, Captain John Hart who was played by James Marsters and the Blowfish who was played by Paul Kasey. All of the figures are highly detailed, fully articulated and include a display plinth. The first wave of Torchwood action figures is currently on sale and consists of Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, a Weevil and the Cyberomwan. You can see the approved images of the wave two figures by following the links below:
Total Sci-Fi Online recently conducted a poll to find out what visitors of the website thought the best science fiction theme tune was. There were ten theme tunes to choose from and Doctor Who was voted the winner of the poll with Red Dwarf coming in second place and The X-Files in third place. Total Sci-Fi Online editor, Matt McAllister had this to say:
Various online retailers are now taking preorders for an upcoming Tenth Doctor exclusive audio adventure. The audio story is entitled 'The Day of the Troll' and is the fifth in a series of exclusive audios which includes Pest Control, The Forever Trap, The Nemonite Invasion and will later include The Rising Night. The Day of the Troll will be released by BBC Audiobooks across the United Kingdom and Ireland on the third of September and will be sold at the RRP of £9.99. The cover for the audio will be posted here as soon as it is made available online, along with more information regarding it.
Digital Spy recently published an exclusive interview on their website with John Barroman, the actor who plays Captain Jack Harkness in both Doctor Who and Torchwood. In the interview, John is asked about the upcoming third series of Torchwood, if there will be a fourth series and if he will be returning to Doctor Who. Two extracts from the interview can be read below:
The appreciation index for the recently aired Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead, has now been announced. The episode which was broadcast last Saturday on BBC One was given an appreciation index of 88 and the repeat which was show on the following Sunday was given an appreciation index of 89. On average, dramas that are broadcast on BBC or ITV channels receive an AI result of around 77 and any rating above 85 is classed as excellent. Unofficial ratings state that Monday's repeat of Planet of the Dead was watched 1.8 million people on BBC One and by an additional 30,000 people on BBC HD. What do you think of this AI result?
The BBC have today announced the producers of Doctor Who series five. Tracie Simpson, the producer of the recent Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead, and Peter Bennett, the producer of Torchwood series three will both be joining The Doctor Who production team as producers. Beth Willis, producer of the award winning Ashes to Ashes will be joining forthcoming Doctor Who lead writer Steven Moffatt and Piers Wenger as an executive producer. Steven Moffat had this to say:
The nominations for this year's BAFTA Craft Awards have now been revealed and Doctor Who has been nominated in three different categories. Russell T Davies has been nominated for writing Midnight, The Mill who create the CGI for Doctor Who have been nominated for their work on The Fires of Pompeii, and Philip Kloss has been nominated for his editing work on The Doctor's Daughter and Midnight. This year's awards will take place on the 17th of May and will be hosted by Alexander Armstrong who provides the voice of Mr Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures. The results of the awards will be posted here shortly after they are announced.
Today, the twelfth of April, is Easter Sunday. Easter is celebrated every year across the world and happens because Christians believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected on this day. Easter also marks marks the end of Lent, a period of time when people give up one thing that they like for forty days and forty nights. On this day, people are given chocolate eggs which represent new born life and some people have parties. You can find out more about Easter including how it began by clicking 
Unofficial overnight ratings for Planet of the Dead, the Doctor Who Easter special, have now been released online. The ratings state that the episode was watched by 8.41 million people on BBC One and by 184,000 people on BBC HD. These ratings make Planet of the Dead the most watched programme on BBC HD to date. According to the ratings, last night's episode of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.46 million people and the most watched programme of the night was Britain's Got Talent which had 10.52 million viewers. These ratings are yet to be finalised and the official BARB ratings will be posted here when they are released in ten days.
The BBC have now added the fifth video in The Tennant Tapes series to their official Doctor Who website. The video includes moments recorded by David Tennant while staying in Dubai to film the Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead. The video can be seen on the official Doctor Who website and can also be seen below:
Planet of the Dead was broadcast for the first time earlier tonight and the episode was followed by a short teaser trailer for the second Doctor Who special of the year. The trailer confirms that the episode is entitled 'The Waters of Mars' and includes clips of water firing zombies, Adelaide who is played by Lindsay Duncan and much more. You can see it below:
More filming for one of this year's Doctor Who specials took place yesterday and this time the Doctor Who production team were filming at Clinton Road which appears as Bannerman Road in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Both Elisabeth Sladen, the actress who plays Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures and Thomas Knight, the young actor who stars as Luke Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures were seen. The scenes which were filmed yesterday included one of Luke nearly getting hit by a car while crossing the road but getting saved by The Doctor. Luke and Sarah Jane recently appeared in the Doctor Who series four episodes, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End to help The Doctor defeat the Daleks to save the whole of reality from destruction. The latest news on Doctor Who specials filming will be posted here on The Gallifrey Vortex shortly after it takes place.
Please be aware that this post contains pictures and information that could be classed as spoilers. Filming for one of this year's Doctor Who specials took place today at a church where Catherine Tate was spotted in a wedding dress. It is presumed that Catherine's character, Donna Noble, will be getting married for the second time. You can see two pictures from today's filming below (click to enlarge):
Michelle Ryan, the actress who will star in Planet of the Dead on Saturday as the Lady Christina De Souza was a guest on this morning's edition of GMTV. On GMTV, Michelle discussed working on Doctor Who, doing her own stunts and much more including future roles in television. You can see Michelle Ryan's appearance on GMTV from earlier today below:
The Official BBC Doctor Who website has been updated for the upcoming Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead. The website now features a section for the episode which includes desktop wallpapers, videos and even a new game. The aim of the game is to destroy desert debris while on a double decker bus to unlock an exclusive script extract and five wallpapers that can be seen below:
Michelle Ryan, the famous actress who will star in Doctor Who this Saturday as The Lady Christina will be a guest on today's editions of Blue Peter and The Paul O' Grady Show. She will be interviewed about how she found working on Doctor Who on both shows and will also participate in various activities. Blue Peter will air at 4.35pm on BBC One and The Paul O' Grady Show which will today be hosted by Melanie Sykes will be broadcast at 5pm on Channel Four. If you miss Michelle Ryan's appearance on Blue Peter, it will be available to watch shortly after on BBC iPlayer and if you do not catch The Paul O' Grady show, it will be repeated at 6pm on Channel 4+1.
