Blogtor Who reader Jason Murray has very kindly shared this information concerning the identity of the Doctors next companion:

“Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary is coming. In Cardiff, we’re gearing up for the biggest, the best and the most ambitious season we’ve ever made. There will be shocks, surprises and heartbreak – the Doctor is about to say goodbye to his very best friends, Amy and Rory.

And then he’s about to say hello to someone very different – the Doctor is going to meet someone very new in the very last place he could ever have expected…”

Different is a very difficult word to pin down and of course, wide open to speculation. Does Moffat mean different for the show or different when compared to Amy and Rory? Are they physically different as in a different species or different in attitude towards what we usually expect in a companion?

Unless we finally get that grumpy alien gelatinous cube we’ve all be praying to see stacked next to the Doctor then its unlikely that it’ll be too different. After all the companion is our place-holder and its hard to sympathies with jelly.

As for that ‘very last place…’ well what would be more surprising than finding a companion who’s already on-board?

As usual share your speculations below.

The Radio Times reports that in an interview which airs this Friday at 10:35 pm on BBC 1 Alex revealed that thanks to the scheduling Gods, her role in the second series of the BBC remake of Upstairs, Downstairs (it was a lot like You Rang M’Lord? but with a serious face, no Su Pollard and no crooning Bob Monkhouse title sequence) wouldn’t clash with a possible return to the show:

“You may see her again. Who knows? Lets just say, Upstairs, Downstairs and Doctor Who don’t film at the same time.”

Alex also confessed that she’d known for a very long time that (spoiler alert!) River was Amy’s daughter – a fact she hid from her co-stars:

“I knew…for the whole of the last series. [The other actors] didn’t know and were constantly trying to get it out of me. They discovered it in that episode [A Good Man Goes to War] when they read the script.”

So all that remains to be speculated over is: with Mom and Dad out of the picture  isn’t it time River cut loose and joined the TARDIS party?

Doctor Who star Matt Smith has revealed his innermost thoughts on his future with the show, indicating that he isn’t planning to beat Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker’s longevity as the Time Lord.

For certain fans, this comes as a bit of a surprise. After all, we’ve been waiting for someone to actively match Tom Baker’s long relationship with the role since 1981. Even if Sylvester McCoy was officially the Doctor from 1987 to 1996, he was restricted to short runs and a death in Vancouver.

And as for the Eighth Doctor…

Still, it seems that Matt has an inkling that something is set to change with the show; perhaps he uttered the following with some knowledge of what is to come.

“I think there will need to be a younger, cooler person than me – or maybe an older, cooler person, who knows? But I don’t think I’ll be doing it as long as Mr Baker.”

Naturally, however, there was no real indication of when he will be hanging up his bow-tie.

“I just sort of take each year as it comes really. We’ve got all the rest of this year to get through and then we’ll just sit down and review it from there and see where it goes,” Matt said.

“But I love playing the part and I love working with (writer) Steven Moffat.”

Could this indicate that Matt fancies drawing a line under the Eleventh Doctor when Steven “The Grand Moff” Moffat moves on? Is this a clue that Moffat has a date in mind?

However, it’s not all bad news, particularly if you’re a young actor looking for a future in television. Matt Smith has hit on the formula of keeping on top of a busy shooting schedule.

“Fruit, vegetables, good sleep if you can and preparation is the key.”

(Via PA)

In other words, it’s Doctor Who doing what it does best; taking established sci-fi ideas, giving them a spin through some of the finest creative minds television has to offer (in this case the untouchable pairing of Hinchcliffe and Holmes) and turning them into something bold, entertaining and altogether more exciting.

Also, it has a rather rubbish talking plant…yeah.

So to celebrate this Forbidden Planet have germinated this exclusive The Seeds of Doom 1976 Setto forever remind us of the dangers of letting your garden grow.

You may wonder whether Underground Toys (who’ve been busy tweeting images of the set)  just emulated the production team and simply sprayed an Axos figure green.

However you’d be wrong, as the Krynoid is quite an impressive creature – coming as he does with two seed pods fresh from the Antarctic, one open and one closed – more than making up for the familiarity of the Fourth Doctor’s look – although he does come ready to buck some swash with a nifty cutlass accessory.

Sorting out the Krynoids from the weeds the exclusive The Seeds of Doom 1976 set is set to grow exponentially and devour Forbidden Planet‘s warehouse on the April 2nd for £24.99

Assignment X have gone out on the most spindliest of limbs and suggested that Lara Pulver – last seen coming across all Sherlocked in Steven Moffat’s update of everyone’s favourite violin playing super sleuth (take that Basil the Great Mouse Detective!) – may be about to board the TARDIS.

Of course if you follow the same logic (she’s a woman, she’s worked with Moffat before, female companions tend to outweigh male ones) then welcome aboard Gina Bellman, Julia Sawalha, Fiona Gillies and Gabrielle Anwar!

Yeah, Pul-ver other one, it’s got a sonic screwdriver on it.

Though it’s a perfect opportunity to read just what the True Blood actress thinks of Moffat (after she’s finished being all honoured and flattered of course).

“We haven’t spoken about Doctor Who at all. I think they are very separate entities for Steven, and I think he puts on very different hats, but I love working with him, and if we found another project to work together on whether it is Doctor Who or another season of Sherlock, then I’m sure we’d want to work together again.”

What she actually said: “Yes, of course i’ll appear in Doctor Who” but sadly Steven Moffat was too taken aback to listen to the actual words she said by her being sat around completely naked. Luckily all nudity involved in this anecdote took place well after the watershed.

Sherlock season two débuts on PBS in American this May.

Which means that it has been 20 years since 26th Century archaeologist Professor Bernice Summerfield first stepped on board the TARDIS to join the Seventh Doctor and to celebrate that fact Big Finish have united Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Lisa Bowerman for an audio drama adaptation of the Virgin New Adventures novel Love and War.

Written by Paul Cornell (Human Nature), Love and War saw Ace and the Doctor embarking on a seemingly trivial mission to the find a book on the planet Heaven – a paradise for both travelling humans and Draconian’s.

While there Ace falls for a charismatic traveller called Jan – sparking a romance that the Doctor is strenuously opposed to; What plans does the Doctor have for Ace and the mysterious object that is causing the military forces of Heaven such concern? Has the Doctor gone too far?

The only one who knows for sure is a woman who’s destiny seems inextricably linked to the Doctor’s; Bernice Summerfield.

Adapted by Jacqueline Rayner (EarthWorld), Love and War is set for release as a two disc set on 31st October 2012 for £14.99.

For fans of the New Adventures era, this heralds an exciting “one-off” special for Big Finish – but this fact won’t stop fans wondering if future adaptations could be in the pipeline…

Regardless of whether Matt is leaving after his final year is up – personally, he seems to be considering his options rather than announcing anything just yet – he spoke about his and the shows future and at the moment they both seem to be heading down the same path – even if he does seem a little unsure of what’s coming next.

Karen on the other hand has no concerns with her future as she blazes out of the Whoniverse and onto pastures new – instead she took the time to acknowledge the friends she’s going to miss and what she calls: ‘the best years of her life’.

So two very divergent paths and an interesting twelve months ahead as the build up for the 50th anniversary continues – will we be ushering in a new Doctor at its conclusion?

There’s always one true hero and an opposite of that hero to offer conflicting views. Okay, maybe we’re being overly dramatic (we definitely are) but it turns out that The Time Team from Doctor Who Magazine are not alone in their meanderings through the last six years worth of new Doctor Who.

If you do a little searching on the internet, you’ll come across blogger David McDonald has been working with a few other Who fans and sharing their views and opinions on the 2005 and 2006 series that we all enjoyed so much.

To give you an idea of their mission plan:

“David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she’s rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all.

We’re going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun!”

What follows on the blog are some interesting; honest and witty points about some of the major episodes from the first two years of the Russell T Davies era. It’s well worth a read and you can feel free to comment.

Catch up with the latest musings on David’s blog at www.davidmcdonaldspage.com/2012/01/s02e01213.

…and gave conflicting answers.

At one point, Matt announced that he has “no plans to leave” the role of the Time Lord, but later repeated an earlier comment that he had “one more year” on the show (although Hollywood hasn’t come calling yet).

Matt Smith says backstage that he has “no plans to leave” Doctor Who and he has no idea who his next companion will be #NTAs

January 25, 2012 8:47 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@BBCEntsTeam

BBC Ents News Team

To clarify the Matt Smith tweet “I have one more year of Who” is a direct quote.Said Hollywood was attractive but “sadly” no films yet #ntas

January 25, 2012 9:00 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@RadioTimes

Radio Times

It’s obviously a great night for an actor to be touting for work, but is Matt really leaving in 12 months time? Or is he letting everyone know that his contract is up for renewal and he would be happy to hang around?

We really, REALLY need to know as Doctor Who fans. But at the same time, wouldn’t it be great if the Doctor’s regeneration came as a complete surprise?

Ultimate, we’re bound to find out eventually, but the uncertainty ahead of the 50th anniversary is a little upsetting…

Someone’s bound to notice.

However none of that has stopped Powershop – a New Zealand based power company – from blatantly stealing their image for their latest ad campaign currently doing the rounds on various news pages on news site Stuff.

As you can see Powershop fly pretty close to the wind with ‘their’ design and as pointed out by Paul Scoones (whose many talents include Production Subtitles writer for the  2|entertain Doctor Who DVDs) even the artwork isn’t original – it’s a straight lift from Richard Jenning’s cover of The Dalek Book, published by Panther Books/Souvenir Press in 1964, a comparison of which you can see in full on Paul’s blog.

It’s not the first time Powershop have flouted copyright law – last month LucasFilm lawyers objected to the use of a Darth Vader like character in the very same ad campaign as our bootleg Dalek – a campaign that also includes Dalek posters on bus shelters around New Zealand and a game on the company’s website called Merry Xmas from Santa’s Robot Helpers – where the helpers in question are even closer to the iconic Dalek design.

Here’s hoping that the fallout from this isn’t too messy and that all parties (the BBC, Terry Nation’s Estate and Powershop) can come to an agreement as soon as possible..

(With thanks to Matt)