Richard Clark has confirmed on his Twitter page that he’ll be directing a Series 6 episode penned by Mark Gatiss.

Last month, the director tweeted: “In the thick of Dr Who. New drafts coming along. Mark Gatiss story wonderful.” Gatiss has previously written The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot’s Lantern and, most recently, Victory of the Daleks. In 2007, he appeared on-screen in The Lazarus Experiment, and is co-creator of the acclaimed Sherlock series alongside Steven Moffat.

Clark will also be helming the 3rd episode of the 2011 series, written by Neil Gaiman.

Are you happy that Gatiss is back for Matt Smith’s second series? Let us know below!

Please bear in mind that the full list of writers is still to be confirmed by the BBC.

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.

Matt Smith has spoken to BBC Newsbeat about his excitement for the next series of Doctor Who.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “What Steven’s planned is so madly inventive, and hopefully we’ll get some fabulous actors. I don’t know anything about who they’re looking to get. I’ve got a couple of scripts coming to me this week that we’re film soon so I’m excited. It’s funny because I’m in the same position as the people who watch the show. I literally don’t know anything until I get the scripts.”

Of his co-star Karen Gillan, who will be back on our screens as Amy Pond next year, he laughed: “She’s great. She just makes me laugh more than most human beings. She’s sort of just a mixture between a praying mantis and a very beautiful China doll, all gangly. We’re great pals and I’m very fond her. She’s gonna hate me for saying that!”

The actor also discusses the Doctor Who Live tour, and confirms that he’ll be making a personal appearance at the launch of it at Wembley Arena (October 8th-10th).

He explained: “It’s gonna play in the arenas around the country and there’ll be all of the monsters and within that there’s a narrative. I’m there on the screen talking directly to the audience, and the whole story just unfolds. Fans can be part of the adventure!”

As confirmed last week, the read-through of Neil Gaiman’s Series 6 episode took place earlier today in Cardiff!

The writer has updated his online journal with a photo of him with Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, and the director of his story, confirmed to be Richard Clark. He wrote: “The table read was pretty amazing, the guest star or stars will be fabulous, Matt’s great, Arthur’s wonderful and I never got to say hullo to Karen (who was amazing).” His episode will be the third episode of the new series.

On Sunday it was announced that next year’s series will air in two halves, with the first 7 episodes airing from Easter 2011. The remaining 6 will follow later in the Autumn.

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.

The BBC Press Office has today announced that the sixth series of Doctor Who will be split into two halves to accommodate a ‘big plot twist’ halfway through the series.

Confirming reports from yesterday, Matt Smith’s second series will begin over the traditional Easter 2011 period, and will run until Episode 7, when ‘one of the most exciting Doctor Who cliffhangers’ of all time will keep viewers ‘on the edge of their seats’ until the series resumes with the remaining 6 episodes later in the Autumn.

Steven Moffat said: “The split series is exciting because viewers will be treated to two premieres, two finales and more event episodes. For the kids it will never be more than a few months to the next Doctor Who! Easter, Autumn, Christmas.”

Meanwhile, over at The Guardian website there’s a video of the showrunner’s initial announcement at the Edinburgh TV Festival this morning, in which he explains: ”Doctor Who will come back for 7 episodes at Easter, building up to an Earth-shattering climax in Episode 7. There will be a huge game-changing cliffhanger, one we could never do normally at the end of a series. It will change everything for the Doctor, Amy and Rory.”

He continued: ”In order to give you time to recover, we’ll let you go off, have your summer holidays, then come back in the Autumn for another 6 episodes in what will be Series 7, I suppose. We’re not just splitting it, we’re making two separate series.”

What do you think of the news? As always, let us know your thoughts about it below!

Karen Gillan has revealed that there’s plenty of heartache on the menu in this year’s Christmas special.

Speaking to the Daily Mail at a signing event of the Amy Pond action figure in Glasgow earlier today, she teased: “It’s really funny but it’s also heartbreaking and you get a glimpse into Amy and Rory’s honeymoon, which is an interesting one.” She also promised that “a really, really scary” monster will be appearing in the festive episode, which wrapped filming in Cardiff earlier this month.

However, the actress remained tight-lipped when pressed on her future in the series. “Who knows?” she said. “I’m just taking it series by series and I’m just having fun.”

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!

In his latest blog update, Neil Gaiman has confirmed that the read-through of his Series 6 episode will be taking place in Cardiff this coming Tuesday, the 31st of August!

It’s thought that his highly-anticipated story will be the third episode of Matt Smith’s second series, and in his new post the writer confirms: “This morning I was sent the producers’ “this is what we can afford” edited draft of my script. I’ll do a polish on that. And then we’re pretty much done. I think. I hope. I pray.”

He adds: “My Doctor Who episode is Bigger in every way, inside and outside: I’ve asked them for the impossible, and they’ve knocked themselves out to give it to me, and when they can’t they’ve managed to somehow give me the very improbable.)”

Click here to read a cut extract from his script – anyone for Marmite on socks?

SFX caught up with Matt Smith last week, who summed up his reaction to Neil Gaiman’s highly-anticipated Series 6 episode:

He teased: “I’ll give you two words. Oh, lord!”

The acclaimed writer has penned what is thought to be Episode 3 of Matt’s second series, and recently unveiled a cut script extract from it.

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