Billie Piper has been confirmed to star in forthcoming BBC One drama A Passionate Woman.

The Doctor Who actress will appear alongside Sue Johnston, Alun Armstrong and Frances Barber in the Kay Mellor-penned romance.

Piper will play Betty, a young wife who falls in love with Polish neighbour Alex Crazenovski (Theo James) in the 1950s. Two decades later her affair will be exposed on her son Mark’s (Andrew Lee Potts) wedding day.

Johnston is cast as Betty in the 1980s, while Armstrong will portray her devoted but dull husband Donald. The younger version of Donald will be played by Armstrong’s real-life son Joe.

Rachel Leskovac and Barber will feature as the younger and senior versions of Betty’s sister Margaret.

“I am thrilled that we are bringing this beautiful drama by Kay Mellor to BBC One,” said BBC commissioning editor Polly Hill. “It has its roots in something very personal for Kay, but it’s also an epic love story that is played across four decades.

“We are delighted that the script has attracted such a wonderful cast led by Billie Piper and Sue Johnston and we are sure it will prove a real treat for the audience.”

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The new season of The Sarah Jane Adventures won’t just guest-star outgoing Doctor Who David Tennant — It’ll also serve as a launch pad for the new Doctor Who animated series Dreamland, according to the series’ head writer.

Following a preview screening of opening story-arc “Planet of The Judoon” last week, head writer Phil Ford revealed that “events in the first story of season three of the Who spin-off will have a direct link into the events in the upcoming Doctor Who animated series,” according to British magazine SFX. Sadly, Ford didn’t elaborate on exactly how the “fantastic romp” episodes – which aren’t the ones with a David Tennant appearance (That’d be “The Wedding of Sarah-Jane Smith,” the fifth and sixth episodes of the season) – would tie into the animated story about the Doctor visiting Roswell in 1958, besides the fact that he’s writing both.

Sarah Jane Adventures premieres on BBC One in the UK on October 15th.

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There have been some updates made to the site, most notably the quotes pages for each of the characters. Not all the quote pages are up or complete but I’ve made some great headway. If you have any suggestions for quotes or sections to be on the pages that aren’t there, please feel free to send them in.

And, as always,  new updates are coming to other sections of the site as well as the gallery so stay tuned!

Doctor Who actor David Tennant is to guest-host the Absolute Radio breakfast show for a week in November in the run-up to his final appearance as the Time Lord.

Tennant, who will step down from his role as the doctor after three specials that will air towards the end of this year, will co-host the show with his friend and regular frontman Christian O’Connell.

O’Connell said on his Twitter page: “All done deal – David Tennant will be co-hosting the Absolute Radio Breakfast Show with me for a week in November! And i mean in from 6-10am!”

Tony Moorey, Absolute’s programme manager, added: “It’s hard to think of a celebrity more loved by the British public. When you combine that with David’s sense of humour and the on-air relationship he’s formed with Christian O’Connell in recent interviews, it’s clear that these shows will be must-listen makes. Seriously, who wouldn’t give Doctor Who a show?”

Tennant’s appearance is part of Absolute Radio’s new autumn schedule, which will also see Iain Lee take up a new weekday evening show, Frank Skinner on Saturday mornings and Dave Gorman on Sundays.

Absolute Radio, which was previously called Virgin Radio, will also celebrate a year since it was rebranded by closing Regent Street in London for the first time to stage a concert on 27 September with the band Madness.

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Actor John Barrowman has taken on the role of Robin Hood in a Christmas (09) pantomime – in a bid to save his local theatre from closure.

The star of cult sci-fi TV show Doctor Who and Torchwood has turned real-life hero in a bid to revive the fortunes of Cardiff’s New Theatre in Wales.

More than 35,000 tickets have been sold to fans eager to see Barrowman, who will star in the show twice-daily over the Christmas and New Year period. A spokesperson for the theatre says, “John saves the world in Torchwood, now we hope he can save our theatre.”

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The upcoming third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures will air twice a week on BBC One.

The move means that stories will start and conclude in the same week. “We’ve been planning this for a very long time now,” exec producer Russell T Davies told Doctor Who Magazine. “The whole of Children’s BBC is excited by this transmission pattern. It feels like the old days, when Doctor Who would transmit twice a week!”

The third series, which was shot in HD, will begin on BBC One on Thursday, October 15. New episodes will air Thursdays and Fridays thereafter.

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John Barrowman has said that he was recently forced to turn down major roles in US shows House and Grey’s Anatomy.

The Torchwood star told thelondonpaper that he could not accept the parts because of his commitment to the West End production of La Cage Aux Folles.

Barrowman said: “I’m going to be completely honest. Over the last two weeks, I have been offered Grey’s Anatomy, a major part. I’ve been offered a major part in House.

“I’ve turned them down because I’m doing La Cage. And yes, I met with the creator of Desperate Housewives and he talked about writing a role for me… So who knows?”

Barrowman will star as drag queen Zaza in La Cage Aux Folles at London’s Playhouse from September 14 until November 28.

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Musical theatre star and TV talent show judge John Barrowman has called on the theatre producers who work with series such as How do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Grease is the Word to put a greater focus on the after-show care of contestants.

Speaking to The Stage, he said that while he would encourage aspiring or established performers to apply for TV talent shows in a bid to boost their careers, he believed a greater emphasis needed to be laid on offering guidance after the programmes, when the contestants go on to appear in live productions.

“When they come out of our show, it’s then the responsibility of the producers who are doing that show to look after them,” explained the Torchwood actor, who is soon to appear in La Cage aux Folles in the West End.

“If you don’t look after them, they’re going to get sick. They need some help and more guidance, which, to be honest with you, Cameron [Mackintosh] did brilliantly with Jodie [Prenger - winner of I’d Do Anything]. She went and did a course at RADA. Some people might agree that was right or wrong, but it was experience, you take the opportunity.

“They’re looking after her. I have to be careful, but there are certain people who have gone into those shows who haven’t been looked after. They haven’t had the guidance.”

The comments follow similar criticisms of the TV shows by West End musical supervisor Gareth Valentine and choreographer Stacey Haynes – both of whom worked on Channel 4 show Musicality. They complained that subsequent BBC and ITV series had failed to offer the level of training to contestants which Musicality – the original musical theatre talent show – had included.

Connie Fisher, the winner of the first BBC musical theatre talent show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, was forced to pull out of two weeks of performance of The Sound of Music in 2007, due to strained vocal cords.

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The gallery is currently back online. To get it back online and be able to keep it on it’s current server (meaning I don’t have to move the entire gallery and not have it down for a few days and/or pay more money), you currently have to register to view the gallery. I am hoping this is a temporary solution because I want the gallery to be available for everyone to see but for now this is the way it has to be.

I am very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but please keep in mind that this is so that the gallery can stay up and running.

I’m sorry to say that the gallery is currently down. I am working on getting it back up but I do not know when it will be back up. I’m so sorry for any inconvenience this has caused but I have no control over the situation.