Glee and Frozen star joins Doctor Who

From Glee to Frozen and Hamilton to Doctor Who. Award-winner Jonathan Groff is cast in a mysterious role in the long-running BBC sci-fi series.

On joining Doctor Who, Jonathan Groff said: “I am so thrilled to jump into the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies and watch the incredible Ncuti Gatwa soar in this iconic role!”

Showrunner, Russell T Davies said: “This is an incredible coup, and a great honour, to get such a huge star striding on to our set. So strap on your space boots, this is going to be a blast!”

Groff's no stranger to sci-fi after starring in The Matrix Resurrections.

Doctor Who returns for three 60th anniversary specials, starring David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), this November on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland. Ncuti Gatwa takes over control of the TARDIS during the holiday season.

Are you looking forward to the new series of Doctor Who? Let me know in the comments below.

Supergirl flies from CBS to The CW for second season

Supergirl's got a new home and it's with The CW in Canada.

The DC Comics live-action television series will join stablemates Arrow, The Flash and DC's Legends of Tomorrow from next season. More crossovers are bound to follow under the auspices of prolific producer Greg Berlanti.

This is quite the mission statement from The CW, co-owned by CBS and Warners Bros., and bolsters the network's superhero portfolio as Netflix continues to capitalise on the success of Marvel's Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Alas, ABC's Marvel's Agent Carter didn't fare so well after relocating from New York to Los Angeles and won't be renewed.

Crisis on Infinite Earths, anyone?

Melissa Benoist, like fellow Glee alum Grant Gustin, is a charismatic lead and it'll be interesting to see her character further involved with alternate realities and timelines, which is something The Flash has become most adept at. The latter's second season has been a barnstormer and, whilst I won't post any spoilers, the Zoom/Earth-2 storyline has cemented the series' status as my favourite genre show on television.

Sky 1's scheduling of DC Comics' small screen adventures every weekday evening, from Tuesday to Friday, has been a masterstroke in the UK.

Are you glad Supergirl's saved to fly another day? Let me know in the comments below.

Supergirl soars onto Sky 1

Supergirl is to join DC Comics stablemates Arrow and The Flash on Sky 1 this October.

Melissa Benoist is following fellow Glee alum Grant Gustin, who plays Barry Allen in The Flash, into heroic adventures on the small screen as the titular Supergirl.

Adam MacDonald, director of Sky 1, is excited for the new series: “I am delighted to announce Supergirl is coming to Sky 1. We’ve already seen in the success of The Flash and Arrow that comic-book characters are a big hit with our customers, and with this fresh, fast-paced new series, we’re giving them another sure-fire superhero smash.”

Supergirl starts on Thursday 29th October at 8:00PM on Sky 1.

You can subscribe to Sky 1, Sky Atlantic and more on NOW TV. No contract.

Dominic Purcell joins Arrow/Flash spin-off series

Whilst Marvel reigns supreme on the big screen, DC Comics has conquered television with its ambitious animation and live-action series.

Arrow spin-off The Flash accelerated out of the Hood's shadow, with charismatic characters, and will soon be joined by a second spin-off series, which sees stars from both shows and all-new DC Universe characters.

Dominic Purcell, best known for his role in Prison Break, is set to reprise his role as Heat Wave in the upcoming spin-off. Purcell joins a cast that includes Victor Garber (Alias), Brandon Routh (Chosen), Caity Lotz (Stalker) and Prison Break co-star Wentworth Miller.

If that's not enough. Supergirl will soon return to television screens with Glee alumni Melissa Benoist in the lead role.

Glee goes Star Wars in 3 Minutes

Glee’s Harry Shum Jr. shows off his lightsaber skills against Stephen Boss in this short film directed by Ross Ching.

Watch 3 Minutes. Trust me, it's cool.

Glee's social media gleekery

E4's Misfits was a game-changer! The producers embraced transmedia storytelling from the get-go! Read the Six to Start case study here.

Fans of the critically acclaimed US television drama Mad Men had previously leveraged the power of social media and created fictional Twitter accounts for the Drapers and creative folk at Sterling Cooper. But, the network baulked at the idea and tried to close the profiles and blogs down, which was, ultimately, counterintuitive and self-defeating. The fans won a reprieve once the studio understood the positive benefits of raising awareness via the social media space. When there's goodwill, it's a win-win.

It's no surprise to see hit series Glee (Popular meets High School Musical) utilising social media:

Official Glee on Twitter
Glee

Official Glee Cast on Twitter
Cory Monteith
Lea Michelle
Amber Riley
Harry Shum, Jr.
Chris Colfer
Naya Rivera
Jenna Ushkowitz
Dianna Agron
Dijon Talton
Kevin McHale
Mark Salling
Matthew Morrison

Official Glee Characters on Twitter
Quinn Fabray
Rachel Berry
Sue Sylvester
Kurt Hummel

Official Glee Cast on Tumblr
Harry Shum Jr.
Dianna Agron
Matthew Morrison

Sue Sylvester is a compulsory follow as suggested by @petehotchkiss. This list is by no means definitive. If I've missed any, please put them in comments or @johnhood, and I'll update. Thanks in advance.

E4, an independent commercial network in the UK, even went as far as using #glee4 during television trails for Glee S1. That's a masterful mashup of old and new media marketing.

Purchase Glee merchandise from Amazon.co.uk, Play.com and iTunes.