Actress Leila Hoffman has been cast to appear in the sixth series of Doctor Who.

Her CV confirms that she will be playing a character called Mrs Rossiter, in an episode directed by Richard Clark.

Hoffman has previously appeared in Not Going Out, EastEnders, One Foot in the Grave, How Not to Live Your Life, and as Neville Longbottom’s gran in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

An array of monsters from the Whoniverse descended on Nottingham’s Old Market Square today!

They were out and about to promote the forthcoming Doctor Who Live tour, which kicks off next month and visits the Nottingham Arena on October 25th-26th. You can watch coverage of their invasion here. 

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

The Sun have posted an article in which they reveal what will no doubt be the first of their many ’spoilers’ surrounding next year’s mid-series cliffhanger.

On Sunday it was confirmed that Series 6 will be be transmitted in two halves to make for an ‘Earth-shattering’ plot twist at the end of Episode 7. According to the tabloid’s inevitable report, that plot twist will be the death of the Doctor’s current companion, Amy Pond. As always, the speculation should be taken with a pinch of salt.

To respect those of you who are avoiding spoilers, we’ve posted the link to the original source in a comment below. Do NOT read the comments if you don’t want to know as we won’t be monitoring them for spoilers.

BBC One Controller Jay Hunt has confirmed that the channel is currently deciding whether or not to make changes to the Doctor Who schedule.

Back in June last year it was speculated that Series 5 would be split into two halves, with the first half airing in the Spring and the second half from October. While this has obviously turned out to be false, the rumours have again resurfaced, with it now being claimed that the transmission of Series 6 will indeed be pushed back to Autumn 2011.

“We’re talking about what form Doctor Who will take,” Hunt exclusively told DigitalSpy. “I think the interesting thing with having Steven Moffat running that show now is it will be very much a creative decision. He will decide what he thinks is right for the show.”

She continued: “It’s one of the most terrifying things about being a BBC One controller – to be in charge of a regeneration and to cast the new Doctor Who. For Matt and Karen to have landed as successfully as they have in the audience’s mind, to be as popular and to be as instantly associated with the roles is wonderful.”

What do you make of the news? Do you think a transmission later in the year would benefit the series, or should it stick with traditition at the heart of the Spring schedule?

As always, we want to know your thoughts, so let us know by posting a comment below!

It has been revealed that next month the Daleks will be invading the National Space Centre in Leicester.

The event is taking place on 11th-12th September to raise money for Children in Need, and across the weekend there will also be guest appearances from Ruari Mears, who has played various monsters in the new series, as well as Nina de Cosimo, known as Blanche from Victory of the Daleks, and Sonila Vjeshta, who appeared as one of the Vampire Girls in The Vampires of Venice.

In addition, Hyde Fundraisers will be hosting a sculpting demonstration on the Saturday. You can read the all-important details at the Centre’s official site.

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.

The CV of actress Sophie Cosson has confirmed that she’ll be filming for the new series of Doctor Who next month.

Meanwhile, two Series 6 directors have seemingly been revealed via the CV of new production designer Michael Pickwoad. According to the listing, Richard Clark - the director of Series 3’s Gridlock and The Lazarus Experiment - will be back, as will Adam Smith, who helmed Series 5’s The Eleventh Hour and The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone two-parter.

What do you think of the latest cast/crew developments? Share your thoughts below!

The sixth series of Doctor Who is currently being filmed in Cardiff, to broadcast in 2011.

According to The Express today, Matt Smith has agreed to play the Doctor for at least another three years - helming the series right up to its 50th anniversary in 2013!

The newspaper suggests that ‘moves are afoot’ at the BBC to sign the actor long-term, with their ‘mole’ explaining: “The current team believe that Matt is the person to continue taking the show forward over the next few years and want to avoid the prospect of fans having to get used to yet another actor in the role in the near future.”

Meanwhile, they quote an official Doctor Who spokeswoman as saying: “From Matt’s point of view he’s loving playing the part and has no plans to quit. We aren’t in a position to provide a comment as to whether he’ll be playing the part in 2013.”

Earlier this year, tabloid rumours suggested Smith would be stepping down from the role at the end of Series 6, after two series, but what do you think about today’s news?

Would you be happy to stick with the Eleventh Doctor until 2013? Let us know below!

The Doctor will be back on our screens in December for a Christmas special, but first we’ll see him in Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, in Death of the Doctor.

Neil Gaiman updated his official blog yesterday to reveal that the read-through of his Series 6 episode will be taking place in Cardiff in “about ten days” time. 

In addition, he has posted an extract from his episode which has been cut out of its final draft, noting: ”Anything that wasn’t moving the plot forward has gone. Chatty background conversations in the TARDIS, gone. Lines of dialogue that were fun in themselves but weren’t really needed? Gone. And the food scene? Very gone indeed.” 

You can read a snippet of the aforementioned ‘food scene’ below. Even though we don’t learn anything about the story, it’s nice to be able to read something that could’ve made it to our screens. The writer explains: “The Doctor has just been given a bowl of something to eat. Something… possibly… alien…”. Well, it is Doctor Who after all…

AMY
Is it something people can eat? 

(to Doctor) 

Shouldn’t you scan it with your screwdriver or something? 

THE DOCTOR
Why would I scan food with my screwdriver? 

AMY
See if it’s safe? 

The Doctor leans over, dips his finger into his bowl, tastes it. 

THE DOCTOR
Some unusual trace elements, smidge too much background radiation, but, yeah, very yummy. 

Amy is about to try some of his food… he stops her. 

THE DOCTOR (cont’d)
No. Don’t put it in your mouth. 

AMY
Not for humans? 

THE DOCTOR
Not for you. Tastes like Marmite on socks.

It has been confirmed that both Matt Smith and Karen Gillan will be dropping in as guests on The One Show tomorrow.

They’ll be joining Chris Evans for his first episode as co-host alongside new presenter Alex Jones, so don’t miss their appearance from 19:00 on BBC One/HD – a great way to start the weekend!

If you miss it, it’ll be available to watch again on the BBC’s iPlayer shortly after its transmission.

Chris Evans makes his debut on The One Show sofa with Alex Jones.

The stars of Doctor Who, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, join them to chat about fish and chips, action heroes and bird-watching. In homage to the great British fish and chip supper, they’ll be seeing if they can run across 1000 litres of batter at the end of the show!