This will be updated throughout the night at various points.

Tonight is the night! The first of two 50th anniversary proms celebrating the music of Doctor Who takes place tonight at London's Royal Albert Hall. The musical spectacle will get a television broadcast at an as-yet unspecified point in the future, but you can catch it live on BBC Radio 3 tonight at 7:30pm UK time. It's estimated to end at 9.45pm.

Listen live online here.

Listeners (and the lucky audience members) will be treated to a variety of music, consisting of Murray Gold's compositions from the series itself, a medley of music from 20th century Doctor Who and other atmospheric classical works from Bizet, Debussy and Bach. Conducted by Ben Foster, the music will be performed live by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the London Philharmonic Choir.

And let's not forget, Murray Gold's Song for Fifty's première.

But could there be more surprises in store? SFCrowsNest reports that the actor playing the Twelfth Doctor could be revealed live on-stage:

The fantasy and science fiction author Stephen Hunt is reporting that at last night’s rehearsals for the Doctor Who-themed proms at the Albert Hall, the staff gathered there were briefed on a section of the proms where the identity of the new Doctor will either be revealed, or they will actually walk out live on stage tonight.

One thing is certain - it's going to be a show to remember... and it happens all over again for the second prom tomorrow!

Doctor Who fan and farmer Tom Pearcy has created a Dalek Maze in celebration of the 50th Anniversary. The maze is the biggest ever image of a Dalek (easily beating out that giant inflatable Dalek that was seen going down a street a few months ago). The maze opened to the general public today and is open until Monday 2nd September.

A special sci-fi day is also arranged for Saturday, July 27th,where visitors will come face to face with the Daleks, peer inside the TARDIS and take part in other fun Doctor Who and sci-fi activities.

The maze measures over 300m (1,000 feet) long and is cut out of an 18-acre field of more than 1 million maize plants.

The maze also features images of William Hartnell and Matt Smith, where it all began and where it is now.

 Colin Baker said: “It is fantastic to see how much interest there is in the 50th anniversary of the show. I have been invited to join events all over the world this year, but what York Maze have created with their giant maize maze has to be one of the most imaginative ways to mark the 50th anniversary I have seen.

“Who would have thought almost thirty years after I played the Doctor that the show would continue to go from strength to strength reaching a new generation of fans? It is great that children and their families will be able to have their own Doctor Who-inspired adventures in the York Maze this summer.”

It has already appeared in both local and national news outlets, including a couple of videos embedded below.

Matt Smith is selling his first car, a silver Vauxhall Corsa ("The Shed") for the Starlight Children's Foundation charity for which he is the ambassador. He first got the car when he was 18 and can be seen talking about it in the player below.

Matt commented:

“While I have been travelling the universe in my TARDIS, my much-loved Vauxhall Corsa, aka The Shed, has been parked outside my parents’ house.  As my first ever car, it has seen lots of adventures, not to mention a fair few mishaps (hence the dents).  I’ll be very sad to see it go but I understand my parents want their driveway back!  I’d love to find a new owner for this great little car, particularly as all the profits will go to Starlight, which is an amazing charity that brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children.”

 The eBay item description explain some of the features that the car has, which Matt is proud of such as "a wing mirror held on with gaffer tape and one or two strategically placed bumps and scratches".

You can see The Shed's eBay page here. It currently stands at £1,140.00 with 33 bids.

Not quite the end yet!

Entertainment Weekly recently spoke to Steven Moffat regarding some of the fandom's most sought after queries. The top of these would be who the 12th Doctor is and, due to the confusion caused by the conflicting tales of Moffat and BBC Worldwide's press releases, the length of the 50th Anniversary. Here are some highlights from the interview:


Previously, it has been said that the new Doctor will be revealed in August, but due to the nature of the beast that is the internet, Steven Moffat commented that “unless we have an insane plan, we’ll announce a new Doctor within days of finalizing the new Doctor. I think we’ll go public pretty fast.”


On the search for the 12th Doctor: “Well, it’s always just terrifying… When you’re suddenly faced with the reality that you are going to sit there and you are going to make that decision it does feel absolutely chilling. There’s a very big range of people who could play it and different ways you could go with it. We must get this right. One false move and the show’s over.” He did, however, refuse to comment on the gender of the 12th Doctor.

Moffat also explained that we will see the 12th Doctor "in the closing moments"of the Christmas special as it is "traditional".

A lot of people are worried that we will have to wait several months again due to a summer/autumn broadcast, and it looks like that is "probably right. But these things change so often."

He commented on when he found out that Matt was leaving: “Well, I’ve known broadly speaking for a very long while because I knew how long, when he first came in, he was broadly speaking intending to do. And obviously, being the man I am, I always tried to persuade him to do longer and to do more and he [stayed] a little bit longer than he intended to. I knew that he would do what most of them do and do his three years.”


He also revealed how Matt's timeline was all planned out beforehand: “We discussed ages ago that we would do three series and then he would do the 50th and then he’d do Christmas. That was Plan A for a very, very long while. That may sound cold that it was so far in advance but you’ve got to plan a career. [Laughs] The question was, “Will I be able to talk him out of it?” We went out for lunch and he said that he’d come very close to doing another series but it was the same argument: “If I do another series, I think I might do two more series, or three more series. I think I might never leave.” It’s that thing of wanting to leave while you’re a huge hit and not let it tail off.”

On the length of the 50th anniversary special, Moffat has remained saying what he has always said: “I think you could call it movie-length, yeah. I mean, I’m saying that with a slight hint of vagueness because I don’t know the finished running time. [Laughs] It’s certainly well over an hour.”
If we judge from Sherlock, this would mean 90 minutes, although "movie-length" can be anywhere from 90 to more than 180.

He also explained how the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's acted among one another: “They’re quite a fun pairing, I would say. There’s a bit of the normal joshing of each other but they’re both such enthusiastic Doctors. While they might be sort of competing slightly, they’re both standing there saying, “Oh god, it’s so cool, there’s two of me!” So, it’s very different. I think the other one that worked brilliantly was Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton. They were incredibly funny together. This is very different from that but it’s a sublime double act.” He further mentioned John Hurt's Doctor as being "a whole new Doctor played by a proper screen legend.”

What would come as sad news to some, Moffat has commented on his future working on the show: “I’ve signed up for this next year, with the new Doctor. It’s one of those jobs when you know when you’ve had enough. At the moment I haven’t had enough and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I’m very excited for the challenge of the new Doctor and establishing that new Doctor. So, no plans to leave as yet. “ He has previously commented that he is "nearer the end than the beginning", so we still believe that series 8 will be his second-to-last series (or maybe even his last!).

Source.

In an interview with Murray Gold that was broadcast today on BBC Radio 4's Front Row Daily, Murray Gold revealed that there will be a song for the 50th Anniversary entitle "Song for 50" in tribute to the 5 decades that is under the show's belt. You can listen to the interview in the player below:

Murray Gold explains "We thought it would be appropriate to write something to commemorate the birthday and essentially, happy birthday to a lovely television show."

Gold further gave us a hint at the lyrics by saying that the last words were "Happy Birthday Doctor You", although he's not completely sure if he recalls it correctly. He further explains that he's "sure that the audience will mis-hear and say 'You must never call him by that name!'"

"It's a real privilege to be able to write directly for an audience that you know so I wrote this long song to speak for everybody in that room."

He also hinted at that a rough cut of the 50th Anniversary is now complete with the music being worked on, which is something that we fully expected.

The Proms will be on this Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's showing will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 7.30pm till around 9.45pm, which will be available worldwide. It is also being recorded for a BBC One showing at a later date. We will have links to these, as usual.

Quite a lot of news about John Barrowman lately, though we've already mentioned his marriage to long-time partner Scott Gill. His new fantasy novel Bone Quill (cowritten with his sister Carole E Barrowman) comes out in the US today; the publishers have already asked for at least one more sequel. It comes out just in time for them to sign copies of it for the San Diego Comic Con. ITV1 breakfast show Daybreak interviewed him this morning.

Bits n' pieces from this chat are showing up all over the Internet; Contact Music excerpted the discussion of his wedding, while the Radio Times picked up on his comments about a female Doctor.  “We’ve had great guys playing the role. The character of River Song was so popular in the last part of the series and it was such an impact, why shouldn’t we have a female doctor...Give it a whirl, if it doesn’t work she can always regenerate, she can always regenerate back to a man - I’ve been there, I’ve watched them do it.” Digital Spy has some info on two new shows he has lined up, ABC song programme Sing Your Face Off and BBC One show Pressure Pad. The latter is described on Barrowman's website thus: "Produced by independent production company, 12 Yard, and consisting of 25 hour-long episodes, Pressure Pad is set in a quizzing amphitheatre, featuring an under-floor high-res LED screen that puts the players under constant pressure. In today's press release, John Barrowman said "Pressure Pad is dramatic, edge of your seat entertainment with a stunning high-tech set. I can't wait to be part of this fantastic quiz show and bring it into your living rooms this Autumn"." They're having auditions if you'd like to apply. Finally, Jo Whiley had Barrowman as a guest for the "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" BBC Radio 2 show: you can listen to the whole show for the next week here.

Just as a reminder, the BBC Proms are starting this week, which means our annual exercise in Doctor Who music is coming up. There's actually a number of DW events planned. First off, author and journalist Matthew Sweet is giving a talk about the history of Doctor Who (he's a Big Finish writer, among his other pursuits; here's his Twitter feed). That's going to be from 5.45 to 6.45 Saturday 13 July, at the Royal College of Music. Sweet's also just done a piece on music and sound in Doctor Who for the Telegraph (the usual homage to the Radiophonic Workshop, plus some rather good anecdotes and a wry comment about Drashigs).

Later this Saturday from 7.30 to 9.45, the Doctor Who Prom proper begins at the Royal Albert Hall. Ben Foster is conductor for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, so all as per normal. It'll feature Murray Gold's music and some classical pieces (Bizet’s Habanera from Carmen Suite No. 2, Debussy’s ‘La fille aux cheveux de lin’, and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor). Here's the BBC's description: "Doctor Who returns to the Proms to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the popular BBC series. As well as showcasing Murray Gold’s music from the past eight years, the concert also journeys back to the early days of Doctor Who and the groundbreaking work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Featuring special guests from the series, big screens and a host of monsters ready to invade the Royal Albert Hall, this is not the year to be exterminated!" The schedule page promises an appearance by Matt Smith (who is very fond of the Proms), and a preview clip of the theme music is here.

The Doctor Who Prom is so popular that they repeat it the exact same way at the Royal Albert Hall the following morning (Sunday 14 July, 10.30 am – 12.45pm); nevertheless, both bookings are sold out. Finally, the Proms Family Orchestra and Chorus is offering an opportunity to help create a Doctor Who soundtrack, although that's sold out too. The Sweet event and the Prom will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and the Prom is being recorded for broadcast on BBC One.