Arthur Darvill may have had a ball heading to New York to film his final Doctor Who episode, but there are still places he wishes Rory and Amy had had a chance to visit:

“Because of my music obsession, I’d have liked to travel back to the sixties and do something with the Doctor there. Or go back to when I was an annoying child and reassure myself it’s all going to be alright.”

He also admits he will miss the nights spent “running around in snowy castles, being chased by something that isn’t there.

“It’s something that becomes very normal, but soon you begin to realise that it’s not normal – it’s actually quite odd and most other jobs aren’t like that!”

Speaking of being chased, what does Arthur think of the statuesque foes who spelled the end of Rory and Amy’s travels with the Doctor?

“They’re my favourite baddies, along with The Silence. Steven (Moffat’s) creations are just brilliant because they’ve got such a psychological element to them and they are really, genuinely scary.

“I was on stage when the final episode went out so we had a breakfast party at my flat and invited some of my nearest and dearest around to watch it, but I’d forgotten how scary it was. I found it hilarious watching my friends’ reactions to the weeping angels in the final episode – people in their late 20s cowering behind pillows, it was brilliant.”

And what of Rory and Amy? What does Arthur think happened to them after they were sent back in time?

“I think they have a very quiet life – which is quite sad after having such an adventurous time – but they’re just happy to be together. Obviously it doesn’t run smoothly as they’re stuck back in quite a horrible place but they’ve got each other and that’s all they really need.”

“I think it was such an emotional ending, it was really fitting – I saw Steven the other night and told him I thought he’d written a brilliant story. I think the final episode affected a lot of people – I’ve had lots of fans telling me I’ve made them cry but then that was the desired effect…”

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The flame-haired actress – who plays the Doctor’s assistant Amy Pond in the BBC sci-fi series – admits filming her final scenes, which take place in her on-screen character’s family home, were troublesome because she got tired watching him rush around the house doing chores.

She said: “In some ways the Doctor would be a fantastic guest as he is so quick and has loads of energy so you would never be bored. However, you would also be very tired. He has the energy of a child, but quadrupled. It was actually quite exhausting watching Matt act it all out, cleaning, mowing the lawn, but he did them pretty well.”

Amy will exit the show in episode five of the current series, and she admits the read-through prior to filming was the “hardest” part.

She added: “The read-through for the last episode was actually the hardest bit to do, just because it was such a good script – such a good exit, and it was like, ‘Oh this is how it is going to happen! Really surprising, but the best exit ever.”

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‘Doctor Who’ was named Best Family Drama at the TVChoice Awards in London tonight (10.09.12).

The BBC sci-fi series – starring Matt Smith as the leading character – beat musical TV show ‘Glee’, fantasy series ‘Merlin’ and school-based drama ‘Waterloo Road’ to take home the prize.

The show’s creator Steven Moffat was one of the night’s big winners, with his creation ‘Sherlock’ being named Best Drama Series and its leading star Benedict Cumberbatch – who has made the jump into Hollywood, filming ‘War Horse’ and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ recently – being named Best Actor.

Miranda Hart won the Best Actress trophy, and the series in which she debuted her dramatic talents, ‘Call The Midwife’, was named Best New Drama.

In the soap category ‘EastEnders’ Shane Richie won Best Actor for his portrayal of Queen Vic landlord Alfie Moon, while ‘Coronation Street’s Michelle Keegan was named Best Actress. ‘EastEnders’ was named Best Soap.

Other winners at the event at the Dorchester Hotel included ‘Celebrity Juice’, which beat ‘The Graham Norton Show’ to win Best Entertainment Show and ‘The Hairy Bikers’ Bakeation’ which picked up the prize for Best Food Show.

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Doctor Who writer Toby Whithouse has praised guest star Ben Browder.

The Farscape actor will play cowboy Isaac in Wild West adventure ‘A Town Called Mercy’.

“It’s amazing that Doctor Who can attract these international stars,” Whithouse told SFX. “He was fantastic. I was really, really pleased that we got him because it’s an odd part – that character Isaac.

“Ben has this rather beautiful innate nobility that he manages to just convey, very simply and very economically. It was absolutely how I saw the character, so I was really thrilled with him, and delighted with his performance.”

Whithouse also joked that he had avoided Doctor Who‘s previous jaunt to the Wild West – 1966′s William Hartnell adventure ‘The Gunfighters’.

“I thought about [watching] it, and I think either Steven [Moffat] or Mark Gatiss forewarned me and said not to bother,” he explained. “They said it’s not exactly the jewel in the crown, so probably best to steer clear!”

Doctor Who continues this Saturday (September 15) at 7.35pm on BBC One. In the US, the series airs on BBC America.

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BBC Three controller Zai Bennett has spoken about his decision to axe Doctor Who Confidental at this year’s Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Bennett blamed the behind-the-scenes show’s cancellation on BBC cuts, suggesting that it had come to the end of its natural run.

“Doctor Who Confidential had run for six series,” he argued. “It was a show about a show. There wasn’t much more to say about how they make Doctor Who.”

He added: “We are pulling back from pre-watershed TV because of BBC cuts – I’ve got to make every pound count.”

Bennett explained that his focus as head of BBC Three is on “unique programs”.

“I don’t want to make loads of extension shows, a la ITV2,” he said.

Since assuming the role of controller, Bennett has axed a number of BBC Three series, including The Fades, White Van Man, Ideal and Mongrels.

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I for one still do not agree with the cancellation of DWC, what do you guys think?

Doctor Who fans will want to bookmark the show’s official website before next week, when a mini-series about companions Amy and Rory Pond will begin airing online ahead of the sci-fi drama’s return to BBC1.

Pond Life, which stars Matt Smith as the Doctor alongside Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as the Ponds, is a five part mini-adventure which will be stripped daily across the week on the BBC’s Doctor Who page from noon on Monday, before being made available on TV in its entirety via the BBC’s red button service on Saturday 1 September.

Written by Doctor Who and Torchwood screenwriter Chris Chibnall, the show will explore the impact of the Doctor dropping in and out of the Pond’s lives

Chibnall said: ‘Pond Life provides us with a lovely opportunity to catch-up with Amy and Rory since we saw them at the end of the last series.

“It opens with the Ponds at home and gives us an insight in to just what happens when the Doctor drops in and out of their lives. Travelling with the Doctor is one of the greatest things you can do, but it’s fun to spend a few moments looking at the chaos he can also bring.’

The show’s executive producer Caroline Skinner said: “Chris has written a beautiful, heartfelt and wickedly funny piece about the adventures the Ponds have been having with the Doctor since we last saw them on-screen.

“It’s not long till the series itself will be back with a vengeance – but in the meantime, Pond Life is a truly heart-warming piece about our best-loved companions and their madcap relationship with their raggedy Doctor.”

It was announced earlier today that Doctor Who will return to BBC1 at 7:20pm on Saturday 1 September.

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Doctor Who exec Steven Moffat has admitted that he struggled with Amy and Rory’s final moments.

Moffat told Digital Spy that he “completely” rewrote the pair’s last scenes in upcoming episode, ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’.

“I completely changed the ending as I was writing it, thinking ‘No, I’ve got it wrong… I’m on the wrong emphasis’ – but it’s a good one and it’s properly emotional,” he promised.

Of the final script, Who star Matt Smith said: “I was very moved, very moved indeed, because not only is it two characters that I love, it’s two actors that I love working with. To see them go – and I think go so beautifully… it’s moving.”

Karen Gillan – who plays Amy – added: “I instantly phoned Matt [when I read the episode] and I was crying and laughing hysterically… because it’s so good!”

“It was like getting the last chapter of the best book you’ve ever read and being really surprised by the ending… and really satisfied,” explained Rory actor Arthur Darvill. “It was pretty emotional.

“It’s Doctor Who – I’m so proud of being part of such a big show. The show is bigger than all of us and it will outlive all of us… I’m really proud to have been a part of it.”

Jenna-Louise Coleman will come on board as the Doctor’s new companion in the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas special.

“It’s one of those things, especially in Who – things change, people regenerate, companions come and go,” said Smith. “And we welcome Jenna-Louise Coleman – who’s doing fabulously well.”

Moffat agreed: “She brings a kind of speed, a wit, a sort of unimpressed-ness which has the Doctor dancing a little harder than he’s used to.”

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There will be tears when Karen Gillan bows out of Doctor Who in an adventure that sees her come face to face with the weeping angels in New York.

The star, who plays the Timelord’s sidekick Amy Pond, will leave in the fifth episode of the new series along with on-screen husband Rory played by Arthur Darvill after a showdown with the sinister, silent aliens.

Gillan said: “I always knew that Steven had an ending for Amy Pond and when I met with him a year or so ago it was kind of like, so what are the plans for the character and we both said that she should go at this point.

“It was such a fantastic mutual decision and completely the right time for Amy to leave. I will miss her, but I can’t wait for fans to see what happens.”

She will be replaced by Jenna-Louise Coleman who is set to play the doctor’s new companion alongside Matt Smith.

Smith said: “We knew it was coming, but just didn’t believe it. It is one of those things like when you are on holiday and you suddenly realise it is Friday and you are going home on Monday. But that is what the show is about, evolution and regeneration, and we now have Jenna who is lovely and great.”

Despite the sadness, the actor said he enjoyed filming Gillan’s last scenes.

He said: “I am such a fan of New York, and we got to use some properly iconic locations, like Central Park. There is nothing quite like running through Times Square trying to shoot a scene.”

Show supremo Steven Moffat admitted it would be difficult to imagine the programme without the pair who have become “part of the landscape for me”.

He said: “It was just traumatic to consider a future without them. Amy is everything I admired, and sometimes feared, about strong, clever, reckless women, and Rory is the man I’d like to be – so strong he never has to show it.”

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Matt Smith has promised to stay on as Doctor Who for some time yet – as the first show in the latest series of the Time Lord’s adventures was given its premiere.

While the starting date of the new series of the BBC Wales-made show is yet to be confirmed, fans already know the Doctor’s mortal enemy, the Daleks, are to make a return thanks to a dramatic trailer that has been screened over recent days.

The trailer for the new series also reveals glimpses of dinosaurs and an episode set in the Wild West.

The red carpet event at the British Film Institute in London’s South Bank before the screening saw Smith, who plays the Doctor, and Karen Gillan, who plays his sidekick, Amy Pond, swamped with questions about the new series.

Speaking of the Doctor’s legacy in Wales, Smith said: “The Doctor Who Experience is wonderful, and there are certainly more lookalikes around, especially young kids. The attention certainly makes trips to Tesco all the more interesting.”With this series looking likely to be the biggest ever series of Doctor Who, the adventure is certain to continue into 2013 – which will be the 50th anniversary of the show.

And Smith said he would be sticking around in the role for a little while longer.

“I’m not an idiot, I’m not going to leave the show in Doctor Who’s biggest year,” he said.

“I don’t know where this talk of the 2014 contract came from though, I haven’t signed anything new.”

The new episode has twists and turns in high measure and plays with the classic themes famous in the show.

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Steven Moffat has hit back at critics of recent series of Doctor Who, claiming that fans should celebrate the show’s more complex plotlines.

The showrunner also claimed that he got no “actual feedback” from viewers that the show had become too complicated.

Moffat did acknowledge that the criticism existed among fans, but claimed that none of it came from children who watched the show, which satisfied him.

“It’s demanding television, but isn’t that something to celebrate?” Moffat told Richard Bacon’s BBC Radio 5 Live show.

“We are doing the opposite of dumbing down. Shouldn’t that be celebrated and not criticized?”

Commenting on the subject of whether the BBC sci-fi series is a children’s show or an adult drama, he joked: “Everyone by the end of the opening music is a kid!

“It is watched by more adults than kids, but there is something at its heart, which belongs to children.

“All the best stuff is children’s. You look at a risotto on a menu and you see the children’s menu and there’s sausage and chips. All the good stuff belongs to children.”

Doctor Who‘s new series starts soon on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US.

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