Torchwood actors James Marsters and Gareth David Lloyd are joining forces this weekend for a concert special in London.

Gareth and his band, Blue Gillespie, will be supporting James at the Union Chapel in Islington on Saturday.

James, who has just appeared in the movie Dragonball Evolution, will be performing an acoustic special followed by a concert at the 100 Club in London on Sunday..

Go to www.jamesmarsterslive.com for further details.

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I’m very pleased to announce that there are now over 200,000 images in the gallery here at The Medusa Cascade!

It is a huge achievement and I can’t wait to continue bringing you more and more images!

Also, now with the gallery this established, there will be new features coming very soon so stay tuned

Millions of children, and adults for that matter, have an appreciation of orchestral music without even realising it. Thanks to their favourite TV shows, adverts and blockbuster films, hundreds of pieces have become subtly familiar.

Whether its people carriers or costume dramas, most subjects have their own accompanying themes, but few inspire the imagination of composers more than the fantasy of sci-fi.

This concert brought together some of the best loved intergalactic works of the past four decades, with one very earthly attraction – a real life Dr Who assistant. And not just any assistant; one for whom many of the older male element of the audience clearly still harboured a boyish crush.

Presenter Elisabeth Sladen, as Sarah Jane Smith, has had the unique experience of time travelling in the company of not one but three doctors. First in the 70s with Jon Pertwee, then the 80s with fellow Liverpudlian Tom Baker, and most recently with David Tennant.

But on this occasion it was alongside her off-screen partner, husband Brian Miller (voice of the Daleks) that she introduced a selection of compositions from big and small screens, including her own spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures.

A full house, made up of all ages from under-fives in fancy dress to teenagers and more time-served sci-fi fans, was treated to a first half dominated by composer John Williams, the man who created scores for the original Star Wars trilogy.

And if this was a first foray into the world of live orchestral performance for many of the smaller audience members then the introduction was made all the more fun by the arrival of several favourite villains to infiltrate the party.

Dr Who baddies Davros, scarecrow, Sycorax and Ood all stalked the aisles, along with Darth Vader and a handful of stormtroopers, although it was a shame there were no film clips to illustrate the music.

The second half was more varied, including the Thunderbirds march, Star Trek theme, music from Red Dwarf and a world premiere of The Adventures of Sarah Jane Suite. But it was left again to five-time Oscar winner John Williams to provide a rousing finale with the theme from ET.

The RLPO were wonderful as always and conductor Ian McMillan even joined in the fun with a little light sabre baton action.

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British science fiction drama Doctor Who has been declared the winner of a poll conducted to find out the best sci-fi TV theme tune of all time.

The poll, by sci-fi website Totalscifionline.com, placed the show, which first aired on the BBC in 1963 and ran for 26 years starring a
succession of different actors in the title role, in the number one spot.

Doctor Who was picked up again by the channel in 2005 when first Christopher Eccleston and then David Tennant took on the role of the mysterious Doctor.

Red Dwarf, starring Chris Barrie and Craig Charles, came in second place, while The X-Files, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, rounded out the top three.

The original Doctor Who theme was composed by Australian-born composer, Ron Grainer in 1963 and arranged by Delia Derbyshire.

Derbyshire produced the iconic theme tune by combining a tape loop of a struck piano string with the sound of test oscillators and filters.

The theme tune has been reworked a number of times over the years, with the current version arranged by Murray Gold.

Matt McAllister, editor of Totalscifionline.com said: “The poll result proves that in addition to being one of the most popular science fiction shows ever created, Doctor Who also boasts the most iconic
sci-fi theme tune.

“Grainer and Derbyshire’s theme manages to convey the outlandish quality of the show and is instantly recognisable to fans throughout the world just by its opening bars.”

Top Ten Sci-FI TV theme tunes:

1. Doctor Who
2. Red Dwarf
3. The X-Files
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
5. Star Trek
6. Thunderbirds
7. The Twilight Zone
8. Battlestar Galactica
9. Quantum Leap
10. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

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Matt Smith has revealed that he is keen to appear alongside John Barrowman on the next series of Doctor Who.

The show’s new lead actor recently told Barrowman that he is a huge fan of his alter-ego Captain Jack, who has already teamed up with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant’s Doctors.

In an interview with Radio 2′s Steve Wright In The Afternoon, Barrowman confirmed: “I like him. I was doing publicity at the BBC and he was also coming in to do stuff himself.

“We sat down and had a conversation, he seems like a really nice guy and he’s really up for it. I think he’ll do really, really well.

“He said: ‘One thing John, I’d really love it if Captain Jack and my Doctor cross paths’. I said: ‘Well, we have to leave that up to the writers’. Who knows?”

Smith will take over from Tennant in the fifth series of the BBC One sci-fi show, which airs in 2010.

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To thousands of Doctor Who fans she is Sarah Jane Smith, the confident and attractive companion who has given up travelling in his little blue box to battle aliens on Planet Earth will the help of a gang of schoolchildren.

But to the actors and staff of the Playhouse Theatre, some 40 years ago, she was just Elisabeth Sladen, the young assistant stage manager.

“It was a most fantastic company,” recalls the Liverpool- born actress. “They were doing The Long and The Short and The Tall, which had sand all over the stage and you had to clear it every night because the actors would be rehearsing the next morning.

“I can remember when I was really young telling my parents I wouldn’t mind washing the stage and I bloody did. Absolutely, literally.”

Her first acting role, if you could call it that, was a corpse. It was more difficult than it sounds – her husband-to-be, Brian Miller, made her giggle in the middle of the scene by whispering into her ear.

“Very naughty,” she comments in her schoolmarm tones.

Sladen, now 61, stayed at the Playhouse for around a year, during which time it was closed for redevelopment and rehearsals moved to St Helens. When its assistant director moved to the Manchester Library Theatre, she and Miller agreed to go with him.

Her big TV break came in 1973, when she clinched the role of the Doctor’s assistant at an audition she assumed was for a much smaller part. She remained as Sarah Jane for three seasons, first with Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor and then with Tom Baker as the Fourth.

She is one of the few characters to return to the show – in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors and more recently in the 2006 series starring David Tennant.

“I have different feelings for different doctors at different times in my life,” reveals Sladen, who attended Liverpool‘s Elliot Clarke drama school. “Because I worked with Tom the most that is my ‘relationship doctor’, but I absolutely adore David, everyone does.”

The middle-aged Sarah Jane was such a success that current writer Russell T Davies created her own show, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

“It was a different type of character than they’d had before. She had to be someone who had a mind of her own,” says Sladen. “She was Earthbound, she wasn’t a space character, so you’re grounded in a reality as such, if you can say that.

“There was a certain point when Doctor Who seemed to catch the imagination, when it was with John and Tom, and I came in at that time which was fortunate for me.”

Reprising such a well-loved role has been a true pleasure, she adds.

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There is more to the interview but it is too long to post all of it here.

Torchwood star John Barrowman has been giving his verdict on the new Dr Who, as well as talking about his latest entertainment show Tonight’s The Night.

You starred as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who. How do you think Matt Smith will get on as the new doctor?

I was doing some radio publicity for this show and he was brought into the press office. He came over to me and we sat down and talked a little bit.

He’s a nice guy. He’s really excited about it. I think he’s going to bring his own kind of flavour to it.

In the world of Who we’re used to the doctor re-generating. That’s what happens. The public go: ‘We’re going to miss him’.

But then they go right with the next guy. It’s the series that’s iconic.

Is Jack likely to make an appearance?

Jack will always return to the Tardis if the doctor is in need to help save the planet or conquer an alien race trying to invade. That’s all I can say. You know how secretive we are.

Are there any similarities between your series Tonight’s The Night and Simon Cowell’s reality shows?

At the end of the show, there’s no prize, there’s no big contract. It’s completely on the night you get your dream and that’s it.

Simon’s shows are about creating new stars, so we’re completely different. We are entertainment, which is the only thing we have in common, which is a good thing.

What if the talent is really good?

If they turn out to be overwhelmingly good, that’s great for us, that’s what this show is about.

We’re not looking for a star out of this.

If someone does see an act or performer who is really good and wants to then make them a star, we’re great to be the ones to have helped them to that position. But we’re not there to make them a star.

How do you help contestants shake off their nerves?

I always make a point of going over to them and speaking to them and telling them to have fun and enjoy their big night. It’s their moment, their big night. I don’t get nervous for them, I’m excited for them.

I get emotional on their behalf because the thought of somebody getting a dream that they could not buy, they could not get otherwise, to see their reaction, it’s overwhelming.

You can be cynical but you cannot deny that it’s emotional when you see it happen.

How ambitious are you?

I’ve always grown up with the ethic that my parents gave me that work creates work and the more that you’re working the more work will come to you.

I do have ambition, I do have goals, but in general as they come along they get fulfilled, I don’t go out and seek it.

You’re not going to see me in four months going over to Hollywood and giving up over here and trying to make it in films.

But if someone comes to me and says: ‘We’d like you to do a film’ I’ll go over and do a film and then I’ll come back to my home.

John Barrowman was speaking to Newsbeat’s entertainment reporter Sarah Jane Griffiths.

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Doctor Who has received nine nominations in the Bafta Cymru awards, which will be held in Cardiff in May.

The hit sci-fi BBC drama, which won six awards in 2008, tops the list again, including as best TV drama and Russell T Davies in the screenwriter category.

The film Edge Of Love is nominated twice, including Matthew Rhys as best actor in the Dylan Thomas bio-pic.

Eve Myles is on the best actress shortlist for Belonging, as the final episode airs on BBC1 Wales on Thursday.

She was nominated for Torchwood last year, which again receives two nominations including best design.

The other Doctor Who stable-mate The Sarah-Jane Adventures is nominated for best children’s programme.

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Ashes To Ashes producer Beth Willis has been appointed as a new executive producer on the fifth series of Doctor Who.

Willis joins showrunner Steven Moffat and Piers Wenger as executive producers for the new run, which will see Matt Smith take over from David Tennant in the lead role.

Meanwhile, Tracie Simpson, producer on Easter special ‘Planet Of The Dead’, and Peter Bennett, producer on the upcoming third series of Torchwood, have been confirmed as producers for series five.

Steven Moffat said of the appointments: “Beth and Tracie and Pete aren’t the A Team, they’re the people the A Team call. Tracie and Pete are the backstage stars of Doctor Who and having them on board as producers isn’t just the best possible news for Matt Smith’s first series, it’s a massive relief.

“And Beth Willis, fresh from the brilliant Ashes To Ashes, is joining Piers and I as an executive so finally there’ll be someone to wear the trousers.”

Pre-production on series five begins next month ahead of filming this summer.

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Here’s a list of gallery updates made over the past couple of weeks.

Doctor Who Series 1 on set
Doctor Who Series 2 on set
Doctor Who Series 3 on set
Doctor Who Series 4 on set
Planet of the Dead promotional images, episode stills and screencaptures
Doctor Who Confidential ‘One Year On’
Doctor Who Confidential ‘New New Doctor’
Doctor Who Confidential ‘Fear Factor’
Doctor Who Confidential ‘Friends Reunited’
Doctor Who Confidential ‘Christmas 2008′
Doctor Who Confidential ‘Christmas Moments’
Doctor Who Confidential ‘The Eleventh Doctor’
Doctor Who Confidential ‘Desert Storm’
Torchwood Series 1 on set
Torchwood Official Magazine Issues 1-14 scans