It has been confirmed that actor Nigel Planer will be appearing in the Doctor Who Live tour as Vorgenson!

Showrunner Steven Moffat has created the role exclusively for the concert, and the character has been described as an ”intergalactic showman”, who just so happens to be the Doctor’s number one fan. Planer is best known as Neil Pye in the BBC comedy The Young Ones, and has also appeared in Blackadder, French & Saunders, Jonathan Creek, and on stage in Wicked and Hairspray.

“I’m excited to be joining the tour and this role is something of a boyhood dream come true,” he said. “My character Vorgenson is the Greatest Showman in the Galaxy and using his incredible invention, ‘The Minimiser’, he can make any Doctor Who character appear on stage as part of his travelling show dedicated to his hero.”

He continued: “The Doctor Who Live tour brings all the magic of the television show together with a host of incredible effects, and I just hope that I can survive visiting nine cities sharing a stage with eleven Doctor Who monsters and a flying Dalek in tow!”

Meanwhile, producer of the tour, Craig Stanley, has promised that the show’s ”incredible illusions, immersive storytelling, magical music, scary monsters and intergalactic heroes” is enough to even entertain people who aren’t necessarily fans of the series.

Nick Briggs, voice of the Daleks and Cybermen, will also be taking to the stage as Winston Churchill. While Matt Smith and Karen Gillan won’t be appearing in the flesh, they will be seen on a big screen in specially-recorded scenes, as a 16-piece orchestra, conducted by composer Murray Gold, peform tracks both new and old.

For full dates, venues and ticket information, see its website, DoctorWhoLive.com.