Class star Katherine Kelly treated her fans to a special Friday treat this morning by revealing (perhaps accidentally) the first episode title!

Thanks to this Instagram post, we now know that Episode 1 of the Doctor Who spin off, which has been created and written by award-winning Young Adult author Patrick Ness, is intriguingly titled The Prom. Not only that, but Katherine’s character – who has previously been described as “a teacher and powerful new presence at Coal Hill School” – goes by the name of Miss Quill. Exciting!

Filming on the 8-part drama is now well underway, to premiere on BBC Three this autumn.

Get to Class! Read all the latest developments about Doctor Who’s new spin off…

Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi have both been singing praises of Doctor Who’s newest signing, Pearl Mackie, who was announced as the next companion last weekend.

Speaking at the launch of the new Doctor Who Target Books Artwork exhibition in London yesterday, the showrunner affirmed that the actress was more than ready to take on her overnight stardom. “There is nothing you can say to prepare people for being suddenly terribly famous,” he told BBC News. “But she’s a very level-headed and clever girl, so she’ll be absolutely fine.”

The Twelfth Doctor himself, meanwhile, shared a humorous story about having to pretend he and his incoming co-star were strangers when he was recently invited backstage at The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, in which Pearl is currently starring. He said: “I knew she had the job, but I couldn’t tell anyone and, of course, she couldn’t tell anyone. That was a rather great performance of mine, having to pretend that I didn’t know Pearl!”

Steven, who will be leaving after Pearl’s debut series in 2017, continued: “We saw some amazing actresses but Pearl was the first one through the door and she was extraordinary.”

New adventures. New companion. Same Doctor! Read the latest Series 10 news…

A new exhibition celebrating the Doctor Who Target Books was officially opened in London last night (Thursday).

The collection of artwork from the iconic novel range, originally published in the 1960s and 70s, features over 30 pieces and will be on display at the Cartoon Museum in Holborn until Wednesday 11th May 2016. Seven of the books have been reissued this week and the exhibition includes six of their covers, illustrated by Chris Achilleos, as well as other well-loved designs by Andrew Skilleter, Roy Knipe, Jeff Cummins and more.

Let us know if you’ve attended the exhibition, or intend to, in the comments section below!

One of last year’s Doctor Who episodes, Heaven Sent, has been shortlisted for a prestigious Hugo Award, it has been announced.

Helmed by Rachel Talalay, the story was universally acclaimed for its innovative script and direction, with this nomination reaffirming its status as one of the best episodes in the show’s history. It’s up for the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form alongside episodes of Grimm, Jessica Jones, My Little Pony and Supernatural. The results will be revealed at MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City on 20th August 2016.

Previous Hugo wins for Doctor Who include The Waters of Mars and The Doctor’s Wife.

Today (Thursday) sees the release of the new Doctor Who Magazine to accompany the arrival of Target’s reissued Classic Series novels.

As we previously reported, several titles from the 60s and 70s range have been republished with updated artwork by their original illustrator Chris Achilleos, who chats exclusively to Issue #499 about about the process of updating the iconic books for a new generation. Also inside, Warriors’ Gate is revisited and actress Claire Higgins ponders the possibility of her character, Ohila, being the Doctor’s mother.

Doctor Who Magazine #499 is on sale now, at the usual price of £4.99. Don’t miss it, folks!

Browse the latest Doctor Who products on sale now in our merchandise section…

The Royal Television Society recently caught up with Doctor Who’s casting director Andy Pyror to find out more about the process of signing Pearl Mackie as the new companion.

Andy explained that the actress brought something “fresh and new” to her audition which left Peter Capaldi “fizzing with ideas” about where to take their dynamic next. “Pearl grabbed those scenes and did something really exciting with them,” he explained. “We were looking for something startling from somebody who is going to bring ideas to the part, and she did a fantastic job.”

The TARDIS’ new co-resident, Bill, made her world debut last weekend as part of a trailer, Friend from the Future, which showcased her “natural ability on camera”. Andy affirmed: “She just proves that you don’t always have to have experience to be good. She has done a variety of theatre work but she’s not naïve and she’s not a pushover. She just stood out.”

What are your first impressions of Pearl as Bill? Let us know by voting in our new poll!

New adventures. New companion. Same Doctor! Read the latest Series 10 news…

Please join us as we raise our glasses to wish both Jenna Coleman and Russell T Davies a very happy birthday!

The Clara Oswald actress, who bowed out as everybody’s favourite impossible girl at the end of the last series, is 30 today, while Russell T Davies, who revived the series back in 2003 and served as its showrunner from 2005 to 2010, turns 53.

We hope they both enjoy their respective celebrations and feel free to leave your own messages for them below.

The moment we have been waiting for is HERE!

The BBC has announced that Pearl Mackie will be stepping aboard the TARDIS as the Twelfth Doctor’s new companion.

Her character, Bill, was introduced in the form of a new trailer, aptly titled Friend from the Future, in which Peter Capaldi and his incoming co-star came face to face with the dreaded Daleks. Bill has been described as “cool, strong, sharp, a little bit vulnerable with a bit of geekiness thrown in” and she will accompany the Doctor throughout Series 10 in 2017.

Filming on her string of adventures will begin in Cardiff next month, and Pearl has revealed that she cannot wait to get started. “I am incredibly excited to be joining the Doctor Who family,” she said. “It’s an institution so I couldn’t be prouder to call the TARDIS my home.”

Above - Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie as the Twelfth Doctor and his new companion, Bill.

What are your first impressions of Pearl Mackie as the new companion, Bill?

• I love her already! She looks like she'll be a breath of fresh air by bringing something new to the show.
• I'll hold off judgement until she's on screen properly. She seems cool, though.
• No offence to Pearl, but she's not what I had in mind at all. ANOTHER young, female companion?! Been there, done that. Yawn.

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Peter, meanwhile, added: “It is a genuine delight to welcome Pearl Mackie to Doctor Who. A fine, fine actress with a wonderful zest and charm, she is a refreshing addition to the TARDIS and will bring a universe of exciting new possibilities to the Doctor’s adventures.”

New adventures. New companion. Same Doctor! Read the latest Series 10 news…

The moment has finally arrived! It’s Saturday 23rd April 2016 and the Doctor Who fandom is on tenterhooks as Whovians across the land eagerly twiddle their thumbs in anticipation for tonight’s FA Cup semi-final on BBC One.

And yes, that is a sentence we never thought we’d say. Don’t worry, though, it’s all for a good cause, as the brand new companion will be spectacularly announced during half-time (around 6pm BST), which means that a brand new era in the TARDIS is about to begin! Pretty exciting, huh? And it’s about time, too!

We don’t know what shocks and surprises tonight will bring, but stick with us throughout the day for live updates right here and on our Twitter, @WhovianNet. We’ll be covering the build up, the announcement and the aftermath, so there really is only one place to be. Get comfy, get involved and join us as we await the arrival of our new hero! Somebody’s life is about to change forever. Let us know your predictions and general excitement below!

The new companion will be revealed at around 6pm BST

4:00pm: 2 hours and counting! We’ll be spending the next 120 minutes singing along to the #DoctorWho theme tune. Thanks.

3:46pm: We wonder how the #NewCompanion is feeling now, knowing that their life is about to change forever… #TheCalmBeforeTheStorm #DoctorWho

3:12pm: Who would be your DREAM companion? Your suggestions can and should be as weird and wonderful as you like! #DoctorWho

3:00pm: Just 3 hours until the world finally gets to meet the #NewCompanion! Is this how time normally passes?! #DoctorWho

2:45pm: It only feels like yesterday that @Jenna_Coleman_ was announced, yet here we are waiting for the next one. Time really does fly! #DoctorWho

2:20pm: #ICYMI, here are WhovianNet’s top picks for the #NewCompanion. Is your money on any of them? Let us know! #DoctorWho

2:00pm: 4 hours and counting. Get ready to meet the #NewCompanion! The next chapter in #DoctorWho history is about to begin.

1:00pm: 5 hours to go! Who do YOU think the #NewCompanion will be? And no, you can’t nominate yourself. Place your (realistic) bets now! #DoctorWho

12:00pm: Have you seen the teaser for tonight’s reveal? The #NewCompanion already has a lot of running to do! #DoctorWho

11:27am: Guys, this is NOT a drill. The #NewCompanion has a HAND. We don’t know how much more of this we can take. #DoctorWho

11:16am: #ICYMI, an Earth-shattering picture of shoes. Definitely a step in the right direction. #NewCompanion #DoctorWho

10:50am: It’s Saturday! The FA Cup semi-final is almost here! Oh, and the #NewCompanion reveal. WAY more exciting. #DoctorWho

Doctor Who fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next companion since Clara Oswald flew merrily off into the vortex, and now we’re just a mere stone’s throw away from the biggest secret in showbiz being revealed!

The BBC will finally be unveiling Peter Capaldi’s incoming co-star during Match of the Day (make of that what you will…) tomorrow night, giving us just enough time to whittle down our last minute predictions. It’s tradition for every actor under the sun to be put forward for the role, so if you’ve ever appeared on TV, you’re probably in the running. Congrats.

A potentially problematic statistic, though, since the possibilities are literally endless, but it’s always fun to speculate nonetheless. The interminable plethora of potential candidates has certainly never stopped us guessing before, so here’s our selection of five actresses who could be about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. It’s a female dominated list purely because Peter Capaldi has already referred to the new companion as such, plus it looks like the pattern will be continued if this glimpse in the reveal teaser is anything to go by, so please don’t read anything into it. At all. Let us know if you agree with these predictions…

RAKHEE THAKRAR

It’s almost impossible to know where to start when it comes to predicting the next companion, so we might as well kick things off with the frontrunner.

In terms of press and media coverage, Rakhee Thakrar has been the hot favourite to be announced as Jenna Coleman’s successor since… well, Jenna Coleman’s exit was announced. It would make sense, too, if the BBC want to keep the ball rolling with the “soap star turned sci-fi icon” theme. Jenna’s most high profile role before being cast as Clara was in Emmerdale, while Rakhee recently bid farewell to the daily trials and tribulations of Albert Square after a two-year stint as Shabnam Masood in EastEnders. She received critical acclaim for her performance amidst such hard-hitting storylines as the stillbirth of her baby, which landed her a National Telvision Award nomination, plus the revelation that she had a secret daughter. And no, it wasn’t River Song. This time.

Likelihood? Pretty likely, actually. She definitely paid her dramatic dues on the Square, and her presence as a soap actor means that she’d already be a familiar face to a mainstream audience, which certainly helps.

MIRANDA HART

Steven Moffat has made no secret of the fact that he’s been on a mission to inject more comedy into Doctor Who over recent years, leading fans to theorise that the next TARDIS co-resident will have an honourable history of hilarity on their reputable résumé.

With that in mind, Miranda Hart might just be exactly what the Doctor ordered. Already an established and popular force at the BBC, Miranda has previously been linked to Doctor Who before, both in a guest star and potential companion capacity. In fact, she was the first to express her disappointment when her proposed appearance in a Christmas Special was scrapped for her to focus on her own self-named sitcom instead (that’s showbiz, Miranda!), but now that the pressures of writing and starring in her own show are out of the way, there is seemingly nothing stopping her from fulfilling her dreams as the Doctor’s next coveted sidekick. It worked for Catherine Tate.

PEARL MACKIE

Bagging an established actor to star alongside Peter Capaldi would be a huge coup for the BBC, particularly for Series 10 which has already been pre-billed as “event TV” as Steven Moffat’s last hurrah at its showrunning reigns.

It is perhaps even more exciting, however, when the companion role is used to launch the career of a rising performer. Such would be the case for our next contender, who is a latecomer to the race but a strong one nonetheless. In fact, she’s probably worth keeping your eye on.

According to a report in Radio Times today, Pearl Mackie is currently the bookies’ film favourite to be named as the Twelfth Doctor’s new BFF, with 4/6 odds predicting that her life is about to change forever. Does time and space await? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but she did just start following former companions Freema Agyeman and Jenna Coleman, as well as Doctor Who’s casting director Andy Pyror, on Twitter so, you know… The plot thickens, etc etc.

Check out her IMDb profile to find out more about her two previous acting credits (one of which is Doctors, which is halfway there!), but rest assured that she is currently receiving critical acclaim for her performance in the West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. We’ve seen it and it’s ace. One to watch, whether she’s announced tomorrow or not.

GEORGINA CAMPBELL

Odds have just been slashed on Georgina Campbell, according to Betfair, so if she just so happens to be who your money’s on, you’re going to have a very good weekend indeed. Ker-ching!

Seriously, though, despite being a relative newcomer to the showbiz scene, Georgina has certainly made a big impact on the industry thus far. Her performance in the BBC Three drama Murdered by My Boyfriend was met with universal acclaim, and it even won her a coveted BAFTA Award for Best Actress, which is certainly impressive.

If her CV is anything to go by, she’d better make more room in her trophy cabinet if she really is about to step aboard the TARDIS, and an actress joining the show with such a prestigious accolade already under her belt would be an amicable achievement indeed. Oh, and she’s been in Doctors, too. We definitely see a pattern emerging here.

As a side note, she’s just been cast in the new series of Broadchurch, as created by soon-to-be Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall, so be sure not to write her off in the Whoniverse if she doesn’t land the companion gig this time round. She’s definitely in with the right crowd.

MADDY HILL

Last but certainly not least is another soap actress whose shenanigans in Albert Square have put her in excellent stead to take on the weird and wonderful world of Doctor Who. And no, we’re not talking about Dot Cotton. Unfortunately.

Maddy Hill quickly became one of EastEnders‘ most popular characters when she was introduced as Nancy Carter back in 2014. Her subsequent storylines, most notably her ongoing struggles with epilepsy, helped to establish her as an on screen force to be reckoned with. She has also gone up against her on screen father, Danny Dyer, on numerous occasions (and, more importantly, lived to tell the tale!), so there’s literally nothing she can’t do. Seriously. He’s scarier than Davros himself.

Oh, and this assumption has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she literally just left EastEnders earlier tonight. Honest. Although a wise man did once tell us to never ignore a coincidence. Unless you’re busy, in which case always ignore a coincidence. As always, only time will tell. Not long now!

New adventures. New companion. Same Doctor! Read the latest Series 10 news…