Vortex Event in Belfast

Belfast based non-profit genre TV event organisers UT Events is running a rare Northern Ireland Doctor Who event in May!

Actors and characters from Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures will be materialising in Belfast later this year for a day-long celebration of the hugely successful television series at Vortex.

UT Events, a Northern Ireland based events group, have announced VORTEX, a one-day spectacular for fans of Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. The event will take place during the bank holiday weekend in the Europa Hotel, Belfast on Sunday 3rd of May, 2009. Guest actors from the series will be taking part in Q&A sessions, talking to attendees about working on the shows and signing autographs. There will also be opportunities for fans to get photographs taken with the guests.

But this event promises to be very different from anything Belfast has seen before. At Vortex the audience will be transported through time into the world of Doctor Who where they will see the TARDIS, inside and out. They will be joined by many colourful creatures from the series such as Daleks, The Ood and Clockword Droids who will be roaming around the venue, but there will be no sofas to hide behind! On display will be the last human Lady Cassandra and the Doctors faithful robotic dog K-9.

There will be chances to take part in various activities throughout the day such as Prize draws, a Charity auction in aid of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice and an amazing reproduction of The Weakest Link in the year 200,000 hosted by the Anne Droid herself (as seen in the Doctor Who episode Bad Wolf). A very special Meet & Greet session with the guests may be the highlight for some of our audience and a Themed party in the evening including a Fancy dress competition will bring the event to a close where all attendees can let their hair down and dance the night away.

• Live Characters - will greet attendees as they arrive
• Guest Q&As - an opportunity to ask the guest actors about the show
• Autograph Session - get pictures, posters, DVDs and anything else signed by the actors
• Photo Session - have a professional photo taken with the actors (ready to collect later in the day)
• Ianto's Coffee Club - a special meet and greet session with the guests
• The Weatest Link - enter as special stage version of the hit quiz show as seen in Doctor Who
• Fancy Dress Competition - win prizes by dressing as your favourite character
• Themed Party - finish off the day with your best dance moves
• Charity Auction - in aid of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice
• Dealers Tables - various Doctor Who merchandise will be on sale throughout the day

The event starts at 9am on Sunday 3rd of May and runs through to 1am. Tickets for the full day cost just £10 (group discounts are available) and are on sale now through the UT Events website (www.utevents.co.uk). For more ticket and event info, call UT Events on 07709 176 544.

Visit www.utevents.co.uk for more information.

The Daily Record are claiming that Lindsay Duncan is to the the Doctors assistant for the currently unnamed episode to follow Planet of the Dead!
Lindsay Duncan, who is starring as Baroness Thatcher in the BBC2 drama Margaret, will play Adelaide, the Doctors cleverest and most strong-minded companion yet.
Duncan said I'm thrilled to be involved in Doctor Who. I've never done anything like this before and I'm really looking forward to working with David Tennant and the Doctor Who team.
The second 2009 episode is written by executive producer Russell T Davies and Phil Ford and will be screened on BBC1 later this year.
Note that I can't find any other reports about this, even the BBC press office have nothing about it, so there is a chance it could all be made up, but it does seem very possible!
I expect a post-Easter conformation of the next episode title, names of some stars perhaps (companion included) and possibly some news about Matt Smith, his costume maybe?)