New Series Press Coverage

A general roundup of some of the press coverage from the past two weeks (courtesy Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, Mark Irwin, Steve Stratford and Roger Anderson):

Billie Piper is in this week's Arena magazine in a photo shoot, where she also discusses the new series and her husband, Chris Evans, from whom she is separated. "Chris is a genius and anyone who spends time with him is lucky," she told Arena. "I always thought it was weird, exes that hung out. But now I'm doing it myself I understand it. We've been through a lot. There's been no pressure. It's almost nicer now because there are no harboured feelings, no resentment. We're still best buds. More pictures and the full feature appear in the April issue.

Over budget and behind schedule? That's what March 2's issue of The Sun says. "The show ... will struggle to meet its scheduled March 26 debut date. A source said: 'There were ten extra days of shooting with special effects and that cost a fortune.'"

It's apparently all about the Daleks, according to the Liverpool Daily Post on March 2, in preparation for the new series. "EXTERMINATE! Exterminate! Dalekmania threatened to take over the universe. After giving Dr Who a lot of bother and forcing Britain's under-10s to quiver behind the sofa, these weird alien invaders became the thing to have, whether in toys, comics, books or on television. They even had their own comic strip series which ran in TV Century 21 for 104 issues - not bad for what were essentially dustbins on wheels."

Drama is to play a greater role in BBC daytime television, according to The Stage. The BBC's new drama unit in Birmingham is producing a series of ten short stories from up-and-coming writers due to broadcast later this year called Brief Encounters, which "aims to give new talent an opportunity to develop their scripts with the help of experienced mentors" including EastEnders writer Tony Jordan, Andrew Davies, who adapted Pride and Prejudice, and... new series producer Russell T Davies. The report also notes that Head of Daytime, Alison Sharman, is "tipped as favourite to become controller of BBC1, after Lorraine Heggessey resigned from the position to take over as chief executive of independent production company TalkBack Thames". Heggessey, of course, is the BBC1 Controller whose comments to the media in September 2003 were the first official word that Doctor Who was returning.

John Barrowman ("Captain Jack Harkness") will be appearing in the Royal National Theatre's revival of Anything Goes, which is scheduled to play Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre later this year, with John Barrowman repeating his London role of Billy Crocker. "And it's not hard to imagine the production moving on from there to New York," says Broadway.com.

Attitude Magazine, magazine for "gay professionals," recently featured a large article on Doctor Who, headlined with Who's the Daddy. It covered the age old topic of why Doctor Who is a 'gay pastime' and it also covered the programmes appeal in general.