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Tuesday, 30 March 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The Welsh newspaper Wales on Sunday is revelling in the fact that the news series of Doctor Who is being produced in the Principality, and appears to have started a weekly "Doctor Who" column. This week, with an article entitled "Exterminated?" it is reporting on-going legal tussles between the BBC and the estate of Terry Nation over the use of the Daleks in the new series. (The Wales on Sunday journalist Jon Harry claims this as an exclusive for the paper, but the report was actually rehasing what's been reported elsewhere). There is also a sub-article, which in 200 odd words sums up the career of Terry Nation, emphasizing the fact that he was born in the Welsh cathedral city of Llandaf. (Thanks to John Campbell Rees)

The new Radio Times, out today, also features an item about Piper, but this one has a direct quote from Piper's agent: "It may be that the idea has been mooted, but it's not a conversation I have had." They go on to quote a "BBC spokeswoman" who said "an announcement wasn't expected for another two months". The rest of the article catches up on the Eccleston casting, with Eccleston saying he's "delighted" and Tranter's quote about being a modern hero taken from the press release. Another report at the "This is Somerset" site of the Western Daily Press rehashes the same rumors that Billie Piper may play the role of Rose Tyler. "Billie, married to DJ and TV producer Chris Evans has told friends she would dearly love to work on the new series of the cult show watched by audiences across the globe," it says. "The BBC remained tight-lipped yesterday but told the Western Daily Press it is not ruling Billie out for the part of the Doctor's glamorous sidekick Rose Tyler despite her limited acting experience." (Thanks to Chuck Foster, Paul Hayes, Steve Tribe)

Today's Daily Star newspaper features an article, on page 3, entitled "Return of the Daleks." The paper says that the rights issues have been resolved and that they've been completely redesigned (the paper says "they'll look more like something out of the Terminator movies"). Quotes the Star from a BBC source: "We spared no expense to get the Daleks and we're going to drag them into the 21st Century". The Daily Mail on Monday also included a piece on this, entitled "Exterminate exterminate!", and suggested that the BBC came to an agreement last Friday in a deal that they paid "well over the odds" for, for a "ratings guarantee" that the Daleks will bring; it also suggests that the budget for the series is a million pounds per episode, apparently "the costliest drama" the BBC have ever done. Of course, at this point we've heard that the negotiations over the Daleks, and other rights issues with the Terry Nation estate, have not yet been resolved. A website called DeHavilland repeats the Dalek reports and the Billie Piper rumor. (Thanks to Phillip Madeley, Paul Mount, Mark Smith)

Other coverage of the series this week have been in TV Times and TV Quick; in the latter there is news about Tom Baker joining the cast of "Monarch of the Glen". In Canada a short article appeared in the newspaper the Globe and Mail on Monday. Titled "But will this doctor have a long scarf?" Meanwhile, a piece from the Australian newspaper The Advertiser on Billie Piper and some other reports on Christopher Eccleston and the new series; all of these will be up at the Cuttings Archive in the next day or two. (Thanks to Roger Anderson)




FILTER: - Press - Radio Times