Prince Charles has come to town.

Well Kirkby In Ashfield to be more precise Today (20/2/2009).

STAFF and students at West Notts College rolled out the red carpet for Prince Charles when he visited the college's Construction and Logistics Skills Academy in Kirkby today.

His Royal Highness took a tour of the £7.2 million academy at Station Park before unveiling a commemorative plaque to mark his visit to the state-of the-art facilities to a crowd of thrilled onlookers.
He even had the opportunity to show his artistic side when he was given the chance to create marble-style patterns using a feather on a canvas.
College principal Asha Khemka said she was proud to welcome the Prince to the college.
"The college was established over 100 years ago and this is the first time we have had a royal visitor. Your presence here today will help to ensure the continued success of the college for many years to come.
"I feel that the college shares many of the same ambitions for young people you have shown with the work with the Prince's Trust," she said.

Duncan to play Doctor's sidekick

Duncan will next be seen as Margaret Thatcher in a BBC Two drama

Lindsay Duncan is to guest-star as an assistant to Doctor Who in the programme's second special of 2009.

Duncan will play Adelaide, the Doctor's cleverest and most strong-minded companion yet in the unnamed episode.

The actress, who has starred in Rome and GBH, said "I'm thrilled to be involved in Doctor Who. I've never done anything like this before."

There are four Doctor Who specials planned for 2009 with the first - Planet of the Dead - airing at Easter.

Russell T Davies and Phil Ford are joint writers of the second special and filming will start on the episode in Spring.

David Tennant stars in all four programmes, concluding his run as the Doctor before 26-year-old Matt Smith takes over the role in 2010.

Matt Smith & Lindsay Duncan

 

Although Lindsay Duncan hasn't appeared before with David Tennant (as far as I can find out), she has appeared on stage with the next doctor, Matt Smith!
The above picture above is from That Face, a stage play Matt & Lindsay appeared in last year!.

 

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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?)