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By now I will assume you have seen the latest episode of Doctor Who, The Angels Take Manhattan. If you have not, you may want to stop reading this until you have because this piece may spoil the episode for you. So consider this a spoiler alert (insert cloister bells here). 

In this next to last episode of the year 2012 we see the Ponds for the last time. Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) are doomed to live the rest of their lives in Earth's past without any further visits from the Doctor… Or we are led to believe at least. Though never say "never" in Doctor Who as it has been proven time and time again.

What did you think of their farewell? 

Richard E. Grant has been cast in the upcoming 2012 Doctor Who Christmas special. The news came from a tweet from Doctor Who Magazine today. It's interesting to see an official-unofficial past Doctor actor return to the series. You may recall that Richard E. Grant was the original 9th Doctor in the Scream of the Shalka, a story written by Paul Cornell. This animated adventure was produced prior to the television series being relaunched in 2005. We reviewed Scream of the Shalka not too long ago in Doctor Who: Podshock 267. In it, we discussed Richard E. Grant's portrayal of the Doctor and how Scream was the forerunner of Rose. 

Today marks the 29th birthday of the youngest actor to play the lead role in Doctor Who, the 11th and current Doctor... Matt Smith. So a big spirited happy birthday wish goes out to Matt who is big spirited himself.

Now I believe he is at the age that Peter Davison was when he took on the role, the previous title holder for youngest actor to play the role in the series. Smith was still 27 when we met and interviewed him in April 2010 which is when I took these photos here of him.

Once again, Craig Ferguson welcomes Doctor Who guests on his US late night chat show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. This coming week we have both Matt Smith and Karen Gillan lined up to appear on his show, but not on the same night. It's Monday night's show for Matt* and Tuesday for Karen… *Maybe. I say maybe because according to the show's CBS website of this week's guests, it has Matt scheduled for Friday at the time of this writing. According to my DVR though, he's on for Monday night's show, so I would advise recording Monday night's show just to play it safe. If Matt is not on it, be sure to set your DVR for Friday. Remember when it comes to setting your DVR, since the show is at 12:35 am, it's after midnight, so techincally, it's the next day. Depending on your DVR, you may need to go Tuesday, July 26th at 12:35 am to find Monday night's show and to Wednesday, July 27th at 12:35am to find Tuesday night's show.

Both are "in town" so to speak -- well at least in CA for San Diego Comic Con taking place now.

Today marks one week since the unbelievable news broke that we lost Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) to cancer. The BBC had dedicated this past Saturday's transmission of Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut (the premiere episode of the new 2011 series) to her and afterwards there was a 12 minute piece on CBBC titled, My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen which if you saw it, I'm sure it didn't leave you with a dry eye. In it, many of her co-stars spoke about their time working with her including David Tennant and Matt Smith. The day after she passed, another Doctor actor had his say as well.

Tom Baker, the 4th Doctor in Doctor Who shares some of his memories and feelings after the passing of co-star, Elisabeth Sladen last week.

Tom Baker Newsletter | Latest news | Lis Sladen | Sarah Jane: "Sarah Jane dead?  No, impossible!  Impossible.  Only last week I agreed to do six new audio adventures with her for Big Finish Productions.

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill will be on hand at the Barnes & Noble located at 555 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY at 12 noon this Friday, April 8, 2011 signing copies of the DVD box set of Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series (season 31).

According to the Barnes & Noble website, "You will need a wristband to join the signing line for this event. Wristbands will be distributed starting at 9AM on Friday, April 8 with the purchase of the Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series boxed Set. Please call store for additional details."

One can only assume this would apply to the Blu-ray set as well, but best to call the store to confirm at 212-697-3048.

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 241 EXTRA Edition
Running Time: 0:35:01

In this Extra Edition of Doctor Who: Podshock we include our full length extended interview with John Leeson (the voice of K9 and more). Hear it here first in its entirety (we'll have a shorter version in an upcoming DWP episode).

Thank you supporting subscribers!

Hosted by Louis Trapani ( @LouisTrapani ) and Ken Deep ( @kendeep ).

Doctor Who Monthly has reported via Twitter this morning the sad news of the death of actor Michael Gough. He will be remembered by Doctor Who fans as the Celestial Toymaker in the story of the same name (The Celestial Toymaker) in 1966 with the first Doctor (William Hartnell) and Councillor Hedin in the 1983 story, Arc of Infinity with the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison).

You may also recall him for his parts on the big screen such as the trustworthy butler Alfred Pennyworth in the 1989 Batman film as well as its sequels, Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), and Batman & Robin (1997). 

Also included in his long list of credits is Sleepy Hollow (1999) playing Notary Hardenbrook.

Colin Baker the 6th Doctor has now joined the ranks of twitter, under the pseudonym of @SawbonesHex.

Colin describes himself as an actor, columnist, writer, husband, father, Wycombe Wanderers fan, grumpy old man', also has an official website at colinbakeronline.com. Also he writes regular columns for the Bucks Free Press.

http://twitter.com/SawbonesHex

(Image Bucks Free Press)

It's been more than a couple weeks now since word first traveled across Twitter of the sad news that we lost Nicholas Courtney. For many we us, we were in disbelief and shock. If you heard the latest episodes of Doctor Who: Podshock or The Sonic Newsdriver, you will know that I was literally on my flight back from attending Gallifrey One 2011 in Los Angeles when word first came to me. After such a 'Doctor Who high' that was Gallifrey One, to have this news come on its heels... well, it's never a good time for news like this, but we can be grateful it was after, not during the convention. I want to thank Correspondent Graeme Sheridan @The2ndDoctor for posting the news to our site (see: R.I.P. The Brigadier, Nicholas Courtney Dies at Age 81). I had meant to follow it up, posting some of my thoughts, but I found it difficult to do. I was even dreading having to record the next episode of The Sonic Newsdriver only because I would have to report it. Though now that has come to pass.

It is with great sadness and a very heavy heart, that I report the passing of Nicholas Courtney,  best known for his role as the Brigadier. 

He was first seen in Doctor Who as Bret Vyon a security agent in the 12 part "The Daleks Master Plan" Later taking up the Role of Colonel Lethbridge Stewart in "The Web of Fear" and then comming back one year later as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart in the Invasion. 

The last couple days, Doctor Who: Podshock Correspondent, Tara Wheeler @TARDIS_Tara has been on the hunt for Matt Smith who is in the US currently shooting Doctor Who in Utah for the upcoming new 2011 series. Matt Smith also appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Tuesday.

From this photo that Tara has posted to her Tumblr blog, it appears she has found what she was looking for today. Somehow I am not surprised. When Tara has a goal set in her sights, there's very little that can come between it and her. She hasn't checked in with us since as of yet and I haven't caught up with her Twitter feed yet, so I don't have the details just now, but the photo seems to have been posted about 2 hours ago.

As promised on Doctor Who: Podshock, we can now confirm that Matt Smith is scheduled to be on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on the same night as the next 25th Anniversary Event for the Gallifreyan Embassy, Tuesday the 16th of November 2010.

He is there for the 3:30 pm (PST) recording of the show in Los Angeles, CA. Which also means he won't be able to attend our event that evening on here the East coast.

There has been a good deal of confusion leading up this late night talk show appearance. As recently as last Thursday, the office of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson was sending out emails indicating that Matt Smith would not be appearing, meanwhile, that same day Craig Ferguson's Twitter account @CraigyFerg was tweeting that Matt Smith is to appear that night. In addition, there will be a Dalek there as well (which was tweeted the following day)!

"Coulrophobia, it's the fear of clowns. Johnny Depp has it."

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 226 EXTRA Edition
Running Time: 0:30:35

In this Extra Edition of Doctor Who: Podshock we interview Tommy Knight (Luke) on The Sarah Jane Adventures, plus we have Doctor Who news and more.

Hosted by Louis Trapani ( @LouisTrapani ) with Ken Deep ( @kendeep ) and James Naughton ( @JamesNaughton ).

"Hold on there, old guy, Chang Lee will help you out."

Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 222
Running Time: 1:50:32

Interview with Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee in the 1996 movie), Tara Wheeler talks about tracking down David Tennant, Billy Davis files a report from Dragon*Con with Frazer Hines, Doctor Who: The Forgotten Army and Doctor Who: Podshock in New York City, join us for the next 25th anniversary event for the Gallifreyan Embassy, and more. Dedicated to the memory of David Jennings ("Adric Antfarm").

Hosted by Louis Trapani ( @LouisTrapani ), Ken Deep ( @kendeep ), with Tara Wheeler ( @TARDIS_Tara ).

You know how the Gallifreyan Irregluars just dig on Mr. McGann. If you're lucky enough to be near Bristol, check this out:

http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/735

Not only do you get to hear McGann reading extracts from Shackleton's diary, but you get to see a Silent Film. It will be good for you and you will thank me later. And here's an image from a cool new website called, well, Eff Yeah Paul McGann. You're geeky; you'll find it if you want to. 

It was a quarter of century ago today, as hard as it is for me believe, is when the Gallifreyan Embassy began. Unbeknownst at the time, it was the day after the Discovery Channel was launched. It was also the day after the launch of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-51-G) which marked the first Arab and Muslim in space (payload specialist Sultan bin Salman bin Adulaziz Al Saud). Yes, it was 1985. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer while NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after leaving Apple Computer.

Just two weeks before we went Back to the Future in the theaters, the Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island officially began.

Doctor Who crew and cast at the Paley Center for Media in April 2010. We were there covering the event for Doctor Who: Podshock. 

(L-R) Executive Producers Beth Willis and Piers Wenger, Matt Smith (11th Doctor), Executive Producer and Lead Writer Steven Moffat, and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond).

This photograph graced the cover of Doctor Who: Podshock 192. Listen to our interviews and coverage of the event in it and Doctor Who: Podshock 193.

Photo by Louis Trapani

Anthony Ainley (The Master) appearing at I-CON 7 in Stony Brook, NY in 1988.

Photo by Keith Klitses

Colin Baker sporting a beard in a 1986 convention in New York appearing with Tom Baker (not pictured).

Photo by Keith Klitses