So go vote and let me know what you think of the new layout!

Also, I am currently working on updating some of the site’s pages – right now all of the actors’ filmographies are up to date and I’m in the middle of updating the characters’ quote pages to include quotes from the first half of Series 7. You can also expect the gallery to be updated with Series 7 images before the new episode airs on Christmas Day.

Waterloo Road adds Tommy Lawrence Knight to its regular cast in this week’s episode as he takes on the role of a newcomer at the school.

The Sarah Jane Adventures star has been cast as pupil Kevin Skelton, who initially seems to be a troublemaker thanks to some mischievous behaviour in lessons. However, Chalky soon suspects that the new boy could be more intelligent than he’s letting on…

Digital Spy recently caught up with Tommy to hear what fans can expect from Kevin’s arrival and the character’s future.

How well have you settled into Waterloo Road?
“Settling in was quite easy, actually, as everyone was very welcoming. It sounds like a cliché, but it is a nice little family here – all of us are really good mates and everyone gets on well. I was welcomed very nicely!”

Were you nervous at first, though?
“I was definitely nervous on my first day, which was a few months ago now as it was mid-May when I started. I hadn’t been on a set for quite a while so I had to get back into the swing of things, but after day one I knew that I was going to enjoy this. It was good fun from then on.”

How did the part come about?
“Well, I actually auditioned for the part of Drew, who was in episode one of the current series. That was the script that I read in my audition, but after that I was offered the part of Kevin, which I guess is a bit of an upgrade because he’s a regular.

“So in my audition scenes I was doing a lot of shouting and screaming asking, ‘Where’s my girlfriend?’, and then I got offered this part of a nerdy kid, which is just as good – even better, I think!”

How would you describe the character of Kevin?
“Kevin is a foster child, who’s been through many families and been to many different schools. He’s constantly moving about all over the place, and it seems that he’s been let down a bit in his past, so his expectations when it comes to things are incredibly low. He doesn’t really expect much out of life.

“At the same time, Kevin is incredibly intelligent, but he’s almost shy or ashamed of it, as if he’s been bullied in the past. So he hides that away to start off with – it’s not something that he’s proud of, so he doesn’t answer any of the questions in lessons. He also winds up the teachers and stuff like that. But later on, you find out he’s a bit of an intelligent chap.”

Does he show his true self to any of the other characters as the episodes progress?
“Yeah, he does eventually come out of his shell. He forms a nice little relationship with Chalky, because they’ve both got this mutual fondness for maths and science. That’s when he shows how brilliant he is academically.”

Some of your first scenes are with a troubled student named Morag, aren’t they?
“They are, and these are some of the scenes that I really enjoyed doing, because it kind of shows the nice, gentle side to Kevin. You see in some scenes that he’s winding up the teachers, but then he’s walking along the corridor and poor little Morag’s standing there verging on tears after a really difficult day.

“But Kevin advises Morag not to let other people get to her and cheers her up. At that point, the viewers will see that although he has a certain attitude in lessons, it’s not the person he really is because you see him having this real gentle side to a girl who needs his help.”

How have you found working with Mark Benton, who plays Chalky?
“Oh, the guy is phenomenal. Some of the scenes that we did literally blew me away. He’s the funniest guy I’ve ever met and it’s never a dull scene if he’s in it. I’m just a bit gutted he’s not here anymore.”

Do we find out much about Kevin’s background and why he’s in foster care?
“It’s something that we haven’t really touched upon yet. I think most of that is up to my interpretation, I guess. It’s slightly spoken about, but we’ve never really gone into much detail. Maybe we will in the future.”

Is it true that Kevin becomes good friends with Connor?
“Yeah, those two form quite a nice little friendship together. To start off with, Kevin is showing off in front of Connor quite a bit, because he wants to prove himself. But in the end there’s a great, genuine friendship that those two have together. They become best mates, which is nice.”

Will Kevin become involved in Connor’s dramas with his alcoholic mum Christine?
“Not early on in the series – he’s more of a social mate at school. But later on down the line, he does become quite involved in Connor’s personal life. He becomes like a pillar for him and he helps Connor out as quite a strong sidekick.”

Does Kevin become a popular figure at the school?
“Yeah, he doesn’t really have any enemies as far as I’m aware. Obviously there are a few bullies in the school who lay into everybody, but he doesn’t seem to have any bad blood with anybody. He’s a likeable character and hopefully people will see that.”

Which cast members have you made friends with in real life?
“Literally every single one of these people is incredible. We all live on the same road in Greenock, so we’re constantly going round to each other’s houses and playing Xbox and things like that.

“Shane O’Meara, who plays Connor, was one of the first people to properly take me under his wing. He showed me about the place and really welcomed me. I appreciated that – he’s a nice guy, so we’ve become good friends.”

Are you looking forward to being known for a completely different role now?
“Well, the attention side of acting isn’t really my favourite thing, I’ll be honest! I was out in Glasgow high street a few weeks ago and I was with Kaya Moore who plays Phoenix, and with the amount of attention he was getting, it must have taken us a couple of hours to get down the high street!

“I was standing there thinking, ‘Oh my word’, and I was a little bit worried about it. It’s a bit intimidating as being on Waterloo Road will probably mean the most attention I’ve ever had. I think I’ll be alright, I suppose I’ll just have to see how I feel about it when it happens.”

Do you get recognised much already?
“It’s toned down a lot recently. When Sarah Jane was first out, I was recognised an awful lot. I used to pick up my little brother from his primary school every day and I remember when the show first aired, it got really hectic around the primary school. I was trying to find my little brother among all these kids going, ‘Sign my contacts book!’ and ‘Sign my face!’”

How does Waterloo Road compare to the work you’ve done in the past?
“There’s a lot more cast members, which means the amount of time I work is slightly less. I’ll have maybe a day off every week which is quite nice – it makes it a lot easier because I’m not in as heavily as I have been before.

“I also think the set is incredible – how the whole production, the behind-the-scenes stuff and the school is all in the one building. On my first day, I was just roaming about the place, going in every door and getting to know my way around!”

Will you watch your first episode when it goes out?
“No, I won’t! I don’t really like watching myself – I can’t enjoy the programme when I’m in it. I’ve watched all of the episodes leading up to this next one, but I think now I’m going to call it quits!”

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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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Arthur Darvill may have left Rory Williams back in Manhattan, but that won’t spell the end for his partnership with Doctor Who co-stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. The three are known to be firm buddies and Arthur has confirmed he intends to work with them again.

“We’ve all said to each other we’ve got to give it five years, but I think they’re two absolutely brilliant actors and I love working with them”, Darvill told RadioTimes.com when asked about the chances of a reunion for future projects.

He added: “Matt and I did a play together called Swimming with Sharks before we worked on Doctor Who and we really get each other. I think we manage to surprise one another quite a bit, and we’ll definitely work together again at some point in the future.”

Well, thank goodness for that… And you’ll be pleased to know the merry trio have stayed in touch since filming in Cardiff wrapped earlier this year. “Karen’s in America doing a bloody movie but we’ve been speaking on the phone when the time difference will allow,” reveals Arthur.

“She’s doing really well out there. And it was really nice to see Matt at the press night for my play Our Boys (co-starring Lawrence Fox and Harry Potter’s Matthew Lewis). We hadn’t properly seen each other since Doctor Who started going out, but it’s so weird to think he’s still filming at the moment. I sometimes phone him in the evening to see what he’s doing and he’s just sitting in his flat learning lines. Nothing changes…”

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Doctor Who‘s Alex Kingston has been cast on NCIS, TVLine reports.

Kingston, who has also starred on ER, will play Miranda Pennebaker, a shady business woman who gets tangled up with Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and the team. The actress, who reprised her Who role as River Song last week, will appear on the CBS procedural during November sweeps.

­Executive producer Gary Glasberg tells TVLine that Kingston’s character is a woman who “deals in everything from high end weapons sales to priceless gems. Her connections go all the way up the ladder of D.C. politics, and Gibbs needs her for this very disturbing, emotional case.”

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Actress Billie Piper revealed that her husband Laurence Fox’s performance in new West End play Our Boys moved her to tears.

Fox, 34, is starring in the production at the Duchess Theatre which follows young soldiers recovering after being injured in action.

“I thought Laurence did amazingly well,” said Piper after the official opening night. “I was particularly thrilled with his ending speech because it really wrapped up his character — I was moved to tears.

“It was a perfect mix of wonderful comedy and low-key humour, but with this really heavy undertone that’s unpredictable.”

The play also stars Arthur Darvill, 30 — Rory Williams, companion to Matt Smith as Doctor Who — and Matthew Lewis, 23, who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films. The three male leads are so popular that since the play opened last week they have been regularly mobbed by women as they leave the theatre, forcing producers to draft in a security guard.

Last night’s crowds were swelled by those who realised that current Doctor Who Matt Smith and his predecessor in the role, David Tennant, were in the audience.

Piper, 30, who has two young sons with Fox, watched as screaming female fans clamoured for her husband’s autograph. The actress, who played the Doctor’s companion, Rose, alongside Christopher Eccleston and then Tennant, laughed it all off, saying she had “been there” too.

Fox, who plays Joe in Our Boys, joked it had to be “a set-up”, but added: “It’s nice to have a positive response to the play. We hope we have done our job well.” The play’s author, Jonathan Lewis, said: “There was a standing ovation. I feel a whole range of emotions — relief, excitement and pride. The boys did themselves justice.”

Fan Quincy Pham, 21, a piano student from Hammersmith, “in love” with Lewis since the first Harry Potter film, said: “I thought he was the most adorable thing ever.”

Psychology student Carol Haver, 20, from Bloomsbury, did not see the show, but “ran” to the theatre after finding out on Facebook that Smith and Tennant were going to be in the audience.

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If anyone would like to know more about Blanka, feel free to head on over to the staff page and read her profile.

On another note, I am still working on screencaptures and images from the latest two episodes of Doctor Who but they more than likely will not be posted before October 5th due to personal reasons. Sorry for the wait!

Images from last week’s episode of Doctor Who, 7.03 A Town Called Mercy, have finally been added to the gallery! There are no preview images to avoid spoiling anyone.

Enjoy!

Gallery Links:
- Doctor Who > Series 7 > Promotional Images > 7.03 A Town Called Mercy
- Doctor Who > Series 7 > Episode Stills> 7.03 A Town Called Mercy
- Doctor Who > Series 7 > Screencaptures > 7.03 A Town Called Mercy
- Doctor Who > Series 7 > Behind the Scenes > 7.03 A Town Called Mercy

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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