The BBC have been accused of wasting unnecessary money on this week’s edition of Doctor Who Confidential, The Sun reports.

The episode, Death in Venice, features coverage of Matt Smith and writer Toby Whithouse’s visit to Venice, however programme-makers at the corporation are reportedly frustrated that the trip was funded, especially as its accompanying episode, Vampires of Venice, was, in fact, shot in Croatia.

The tabloid quotes a spokesman as saying: “Doctor Who Confidential is highly successful and is fantastic value for money.”

UPDATE: Since the news surfaced online, a spokesperson has told DigitalSpy: “Matt Smith made a short visit to Venice for Doctor Who Confidential to bring viewers a history of the city and to tell the story and inspiration behind the Doctor Who episode it follows. Unlike a drama, an historical film about Venice can’t be recreated in Croatia.”

Vampires of Venice airs tomorrow night at 18:00 on BBC1/HD, followed by Confidential at 19:00 on BBC3 and 20:10 on the HD channel.

Toby Whithouse, the man behind this week’s episode, Vampires of Venice (and, of course, Series 2’s School Reunion), has spoken to SFX about the inspiration behind his latest story.

“I was going to write a completely different episode. The Doctor was lost in some kind of labyrinth,” he explains, “but then executive producers Steven Moffat  and Piers Wenger said, “This is kind of similar to another couple of episodes that we’re doing. Can we think about something else?”"

He continues: “They said, “You can set it anywhere in the world that you want, but it should be romantic.” So I thought of Venice, which is one of my favourite places in the world. And it’s obviously renowned as being a very romantic city. So that’s how we ended up there. I can’t remember who was the first person to mention vampires – I think, to be honest, it was probably me – but it was also the fact that Venice is a very dark, macabre place, full of shadows and secrets. There’s something very clandestine about the city. And something very elegant and very Gothic. And so the idea of at least kicking the episode off with vampires seemed very fitting.”

You can read the full interview via the link above. Vampires of Venice airs this Saturday at 18:00 on BBC One/HD. Keep up to date with the latest episode news here.

The Telegraph have today released an interesting article, compiled on location during the filming of Vampires of Venice in Trogir, Croatia last year.

The report includes comments from Matt Smith, episode guest star Helen McCrory, and Karen Gillan, who defends Amy’s behaviour during that scene at the end of Flesh and Stone. “Amy’s just this kind of spontaneous girl. If she wants to kiss someone, she’s going to kiss someone,” she said. “She’s not in love with the Doctor in that way.”

Click here to read the full article, however please be aware that it includes some minor spoilers from the episode, which airs this Saturday at 18:00 on BBC1/HD.

As anticipation for Vampires of Venice grows, LastBroadcast have posted their review of the episode, in which they describe the story as “great, unaffected, old-style Who”.

Click here to read their preview, but watch out for minor spoilers. Thanks to Will for the details!

Vampires of Venice airs on Saturday at 18:00 on BBC1/HD, and you can keep up to date with the latest episode news via this link. Not long now!

You can now watch a preview of this week’s edition of Doctor Who Confidential, Death in Venice, over at DigitalSpy!

The episode (19:00 BBC3/20:10 BBC HD) accompanies Vampires of Venice (18:00 BBC1/HD), and follows Matt Smith and writer Toby Whithouse as they take a trip to Venice and meet up with Francesco Da Mosto, who gives them a unique tour on his boat.

The official Doctor Who website has today been updated for Vampires of Venice!

The brand new homepage links to 3 clips from the episode, including the scene which was previewed during Matt Smith’s appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in March. In addition, we can now watch its introduction video from Rory actor Arthur Darvill, in which he reveals that the episode is one of his favourites of Series 5, and there’s also a related jigsaw to piece together!

The episode sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory encountering a clan of blood-sucking beings in 16th century Venice, and airs on BBC One/HD at 18:00 on Saturday 8th May.

SFX have released a preview of this week’s episode, Vampires of Venice, which airs on Saturday at 18:00 on BBC One/HD.

Click this link to read their teasers.

On this Chews-day evening we bring you another selection of episode stills taken from this week’s Doctor Who adventure – Vampires of Venice by Toby Whithouse!

There are strange happenings when the Doctor brings Amy and Rory on a romantic mini-break to the city, which has been sealed off to protect it from Plague. It’s not long before the trio encounter a clan of blood-sucking beings, and find terror in the canal. Keep up to date with the latest episode news via this link.

Vampires in Venice airs this Saturday at 18:00 on BBC One/HD.

Arthur Darvill has taken time out to speak to DigitalSpy about the return of his character, Rory, in this week’s episode, Vampires of Venice.

“Rory’s just getting on with his life, when suddenly the Doctor turns up and says ‘Right, you’re coming with us!’” he reveals. ”As far as Rory’s concerned, he hasn’t seen him for two years, and he’s moved on from all the stuff that happened in episode one. Amy’s taken the night before, so it’s only been a day since Rory’s seen her.”

The actor goes on to explain what impact the character has on the TARDIS team. He admits: “He’s quite a bumbling companion. It takes him quite a while to get into it. Somewhere inside him he does have an adventurous side, and Amy brings that out of him. He sort of doggy paddles his way through it, I suppose. He almost ends up feeling, in his eyes, more heroic than he’s ever been in his life, but in terms of what they’re doing, it’s not that much.”

In addition, DigitalSpy have posted ten teasers from the episode, which airs this Saturday at 6:00PM on BBC One/HD.

The BBC have today released a few more stills from episode 6, The Vampires of Venice, kick starting another week of anticipation ahead of its transmission!

The adventure, written by Toby Whithouse, sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory encountering a clan of blood-sucking beings in the city, which has been sealed off to protect it from the Plague. But Rosanna Calvierri may have other plans. Keep up to date with the latest episode news via this link, and you can check out the new stills below:

The Vampires of Venice airs this Saturday at 6:00PM on BBC One and BBC HD.