(Karen Gillan and Matt Smith from the promotional trailer for the new Doctor Who season due in April in the UK, (c) BBC)

Belfast is the first port of call on March 29th with the tour finishing in Salford on the 31st. According to the article after the tour the Beeb “will also hold events on big screens for Doctor Who fans in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Plymouth and Swansea”, so more of us will have something to look forward to.  And while we’re talking Who, has anyone else seen the new trailer in 3D in the cinema yet? Great fun!

(apologies if this doesn’t play for you, some BBC videos only work for UK IP addresses; via PJ Holden’s Twitter- UPDATE – If the link is playing up and the video won’t play directly, try the direct link to the BBC Dr Who Trailer)

(frames from Doctor who Arctic Eclipse, written by  Oli Smith, art by  John Ross, colours by Alan Craddock, in Doctor Who Adventures #153, (c) BBC)

Oli’s also just had another tale, this time a short Torchwood comic, published online to go along with digital channel Watch’s Alien Invasion week. Incidentally Oli comments on his blog that he’s now referring to the new Who story as part of his ‘deckchair trilogy’, on the sensible ground that his previous two tales of the tenth Doctor (on the BBC site and in the Doctor Who Annual) both featured the Doc on deckchairs. Psychiatrists are already enquiring about Oli and a possible childhood trauma involving a Tom Baker action figure and a collapsing deckchair on Brighton Beach.

(Neil Gaiman signing at last summer’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, pic from my Flickr; you can listen to audio of the entire event with Neil, Ian Rankin and Denise Mina on the blog here)

There was even more exciting Gaiman-related news from the SFX bash though – for years now its been hinted that Neil had been asked to pen a script for the ultra successful revived Doctor Who series. The thought of that made me and many others rather delighted, but so far its been only a teasing fantasy (see Pádraig’s 2008 interview with him here). Last night it came out on Twitter that Neil was indeed to write for the show at last and since Neil later said he’d given the SFX boys a scoop, as Cheryl Morgan notes that sounds like proper confirmation and later SFX posted it on their site too. Neil’s story should appear in an episode due to air in 14 months, so the second Matt Smith season by the sounds of it. Many will recall J Michael Straczynski pestering Neil for years to pen a script for his mould-breaking Babylon 5 series before it eventually happened (”Zooty – Zoot Zoot!”) with the Day of the Dead episode late in the show’s run. Well its something to very much look forward to and since Neil, like many of us of a certain age in the UK, grew up with the original show I’m guessing he’s pretty pleased about a chance to be involved with it too.

Graeme Neil Reid tells me he posted up no less than eighteen different ink sketches on his blog through December and January, taking in science fiction characters, comics and sci-fi movies. Now he’s offering a chance to win your choice from the sketches, simply by clicking the follow button on his blog and leaving your choice of sketch in the comments section on the competition post. Details are on Graeme’s blog and you’ve got to the end of February to try your luck. I especially like his Doctor Who sketch of the late, great Jon Pertwee:

(just the thing if you’re planning some interior redesign – a section of TARDIS interior wall)

The famous auction house Bonham’s has a number of props and costumes and other assorted collectables from Doctor Who and Torchwood going under the hammer on the 24th of February, from Martha’s costumes to a section of TARDIS wall to Torchwood’s Range Rover (perhaps if there is a new series they will drive something more eco friendly, maybe nip around Cardiff battling baddies in a Smart car), Kylie Minogue’s maid’s costume (steady now!) and some original era Who goodies too, including cheetah people costumes from Survival, Mordred’s costume from Battlefield and even a full Cyberman costume from Silver Nemesis and an Imperial Dalek from Remembrance of the Daleks. Full list with details and pics and expected prices on the Bonham’s site (via Laura McDonald-Saxon’s Twitter, in turn via Tony Lee’s Twitter)

(Imperial Dalek – not to be confused with Mint Imperials – from Remembrance of the Daleks, also up for auction)

(a clearly delighted Bernard Cribbins and David Tennant at the National TV Awards)

Ah, Doctor Who and Bernard Cribbins for Christmas Day… Soon… Soon it won’t be just teasing little clips, it’ll be the whole episode being unwrapped under the tree… (via Podshock’s Twitter)