TARDIS Report: Tuesday

Books

At right is a thumbnail-type image of the cover of The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner, due out 13 April. "The Stone Rose" is the only book of the four BBC Books Doctor Who fiction releases that month (which also include "The Resurrection Casket" by Justin Richards, "The Feast of the Damned" by Stephen Cole and "I Am A Dalek" by Gareth Roberts) for which a high-resolution copy of the cover has not yet been released. As soon as it is, we'll let you know.

On Television

Doctor Who was featured on the ITV show 100 Greatest Websearchesthis past Monday. Tracey Ann-Oberman (guest starring in the forthcoming second series) talked about her expectations of the series coming back without Chris Eccleston and said that she'd worried it might not be done well, but in fact it was and she praised the series' return. The piece showed clips (including one from 'Dalek') and also discussed Doctor Who's "cyberspace life" including mentioning the multitude of websites out there on the Internet.

Series Two

icWales today has a brief report on yesteerday's filming at Florentia Street in Cathays, Cardiff (for which we featured two set reports yesterday). "Residents of a city street were faced with a blast from the past when they opened their curtains to see Doctor Who being filmed outside," says the article. "Florentia Street, in Cathays, Cardiff, has been decked out with bunting and turned into a scene from the 1950s. Vintage cars were parked on the street and on a wall was an old advert for HP sauce. Curious passers-by were amazed to see the television series stars Billie Piper and David Tennant and the Tardis itself made an appearance. Evan Chapman, 39, of nearby Tewkesbury Street, who works at the National Museum and Gallery, said: 'I didn't know what was happening so I came down for a look. I'm surprised to see all the bunting, I'd presumed the road was closed for the gas board. It will be curious to see the area on television.' Gareth Jones, 28, from Llanedeyrn, said: 'It's all good fun - although it does look a bit strange.' Florentia Street, which was changed to the fictional Florizel Street, and parts of adjoining Monthermer Road, have been closed to traffic while the filming, due to finish tomorrow, takes place. Diversions have been arranged and traffic is being made to stop for a minute at a time so modern vehicles don't get filmed.'" At left is an image of Billie Piper that was included with the article.

Interestingly, it has been pointed out on our Forum that Florizel Streetwas the original working title for the long-running soap Coronation Street.

Yesterday's South Wales Evening Post said that "Eight youngsters have become the envy of their friends after going on a journey with Doctor Who. They are all taking part in the highly-anticipated second series of BBC Wales's smash hit. The first series, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, was a regular Saturday night hit. Now youngsters from Neath and Port Talbot will be able to watch themselves on screen in the second series, now being filmed. But despite being understandably excited about their big break, the youngsters cannot say much about it. Such is the secrecy surrounding the smash sci-fi show, they have had to sign confidentiality agreements with the BBC. The second series of the revived drama is due for transmission in the spring, and stars David Tennant as the new Doctor, with Billie Piper returning as Rose. All eight children, whose ages range from nine to 15, are members of the TDM Stage School, which runs classes in both Neath and Port Talbot. It is the latest success for school founder Terry Michael, who has also seen one of his young proteges, Thomas Drewson, appear in new British movie Route 66 and another, Dominic Wood, in an Asda advert. He said: 'I took a group of 25 children up to the Doctor Who auditions and I was really delighted when eight of them were chosen.'"

Miscellaneous

The Sun says that "John Barrowman has blasted the Dancing on Ice judges for talking 's**t' after giving him the chop. In the latest round of bitching to hit the show, he launched a scathing rant after losing a skate-off with Hollyoaks star Stefan Booth. Gay Doctor Who actor John, 38, moaned: 'I gave the judges what they wanted and they slapped me in the face with it. I felt I was wrongly judged. To me, the three judges — Nicky (Slater), Karen (Kresge) and Robin (Cousins) — were just talking s**t.' He also had a dig at Stefan, saying: 'It’s a bitter-sweet thing for him because he’s got a lot of pressure on him now. One of the better skaters has gone and he’s now got to prove that he’s worthy of staying.'" The article says that Barrowman "also had a pop at the other remaining contestants on the ITV1 show: Kelly Holmes, Bonnie Langford, David Seaman, Gaynor Faye and Sean Wilson. He said: 'What may happen now is that it could leave the competition with two skaters who are incapable of doing the Bolero.' However, John, who is due to film Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood as bisexual Captain Jack Harkness, was nice about bitchy judge Jason Gardiner -- a friend of his. Jason told the show’s 11 million viewers Kelly was like a man in drag and accused GMTV weathergirl Andrea McLean of dancing like a 'giraffe having sex'. But John said: 'Jason tells the truth.'"

Another mention of Tom Baker's BT job at icLiverpool.

(Thanks to Matt Gaynor, David Rafer, Peter Weaver, Paul Engelberg and Steve Tribe)