Doctor Who

Our Friend in Wales: Edward Russell

A selfie of a white man with grey-brown hair, wearing a red hoodie underneath a black leather jacket, as he stands in the newly revamped Doctor Who TARDIS

This month marks 20 years since the first BBC Wales-made episode of Doctor Who was broadcast, effectively creating the Welsh drama hub we enjoy today. Aside from a Children in Need special and a TV movie starring Paul McGann, the series had been off-air since 1989 until it was revived in 2005 by the then Controller of BBC One, Lorraine Heggessey.

Production was bestowed on Julie Gardner, Head of Drama for BBC Wales, under the penmanship of Russell T Davies.

ITV greenlights adaptation of Chris Chibnall’s debut novel ahead of publication

A yellow, green and blue variant of the ITV logo

Things are going swimmingly in the fictional Dorset village of Fleetcombe, until its pub landlord is murdered. It falls to Detective Nicola Bridge to find the killer, even if it means exposing resentment and deceit simmering beneath the surface of the community.  

The novel is part of a two-book deal, and will be published on 27 March 2025 in the UK and 10 June 2025 in America.

David Tennant and Toby Jones to star in new ITV phone hacking drama

David Tennant and Toby Jones, both white men in their fifties, sit at a table with a crowd of people behind them, the pair wearing suits and looking into the camera, unsmiling. Tennant wears a visitor pass for the House of Commons

A co-production with ITV Studios and Australia’s Stan, the seven-part programme is produced by the same team behind Mr Bates vs The Post Office. Starring David Tennant (Doctor Who), Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) and Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs The Post Office), it will explore two real-life stories.

Daisy May Cooper and Lenny Rush in first-look images for series two of Am I Being Unreasonable?

Selin Hizli and Daisy May Cooper stand outdoors at night, looking surprised and slightly horrified at something off-camera

Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Tom Davis (Wonka), Denise Black (Queer as Folk), Jamali Maddix (Never Mind the Buzzcocks) and rapper Kojey Radical will all be making appearances. They’ll be joined by Charlie Cooper, in his first onscreen reunion with This Country co-star Daisy May Cooper.

Doctor Who and Wilderness creators teach RTS Wales screenwriting

Jenna Coleman overlooks the Grand Canyon as her character in Wilderness

You don’t have to get a tattoo honouring your favourite production company if you want to get into TV… but it might help.

An audience member at RTS Cymru Wales’s event “How to write a TV drama” revealed that he wrote his master’s dissertation on the Bad Wolf theme in Doctor Who. It was his “absolute dream” to work for the production company, also called Bad Wolf, that makes the show, he declared. And to prove it, he said he had a tattoo on his left arm showing the Tardis graffitied with “Bad Wolf”.

Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to lead new Doctor Who spin-off

Headshots of Russell Tovey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient

Russell Tovey (Being Human) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki) will star in the five-part series, created by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. Davies co-wrote the show with Peter McTighe, who has also written for the long running sci-fi staple.

Jemma Redgrave (Grantchester) will reprise her Doctor Who role as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, commander-in-chief of military outfit UNIT, while Alexander Devrient (Ted Lasso) will return as Colonel Ibrahim.