Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling to co-star in Doctor Who episode

Dame Diana Rigg (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and her daughter Rachael Stirling (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Snow White and the Huntsman) will co-star in an episode of Doctor Who in the sci-fi show's new series.  The story, specially written for the pair by regular TARDIS scribe Mark Gatiss, will also feature Matt Smith's (Christopher and His Kind, Bert and Dickie) new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman (Emmerdale, Captain America: The First Avenger).

Filming for the episode began this week, on July the 2nd. The Press Release on the Doctor Who website reveals that Rigg will play a "Yorkshire local" and that the script will "recreate their off-screen relationship" of mother and daughter. It will be the first time that Rigg and Stirling have worked together as actresses. Stirling explains that previous projects offered to them as a duo "have not been tempting". Clearly the world of Doctor Who, and a plot which head writer Steven Moffat suggests could be terrifying, was tempting enough to finally bring about a professional partnership.

In other Doctor Who news, the first episode of the new series, to be broadcast later this year, has been unveiled as Asylum of the Daleks. The return of the Doctor's arch enemy was perhaps inevitable, but on this adventure the Time Lord will face every type of Dalek he has ever encountered.

Do you think the new series is looking promising? We welcome your thoughts and comments below.