TARDIS Report: Early Week

Radio Play: Dalek, I Love You

On Saturday 11 February, BBC7 will be broadcasting a new drama, Dalek, I Love You at 6pm and midnight, as part of its regular "Seventh Dimension" sci-fi strand. (There is currently no information on casting or production.) The thirty-minute programme is described on the BBC7 website: "A young Dr Who obsessive gets more than he bargains for when he meets his very own Dr Who Girl. But is she real or imagined?" It can be heard online at the BBC7website and will be available for seven days on the BBC's Listen Again service.

Other Items

Tom Baker wrote a short column for the Sunday Times this weekend. "When I was in the army as a young man I was in the medical corps and saw some terrible consequences of car crashes. It turned me into a timid driver, although I've had a few knocks over the years. About five years ago I was driving near my home in Kent in my Citroen Berlingo Multispace. It was bright daylight and as I came round a corner I saw a car coming towards me on the wrong side of the road. There was no time to do anything so the car banged into me with a sudden jolt. It was clearly the other driver's fault, but she hopped out of her car in a blinding fury. But her fury evaporated as soon as she saw me. She said: 'Don't worry about the crash -I've loved you all my life.' I often have things like that said to me. There's a whole generation of fortysomethings who were sweet on me when they were kids and I was playing Doctor Who. The front of my car was banged in and headlight glass was scattered over the ground. But when I said: 'What are we going to do about this?' she seemed so enamoured with me she said she didn't really care, so we put it down to the insurance. We later became pals."

The drama series Life On Mars made a reference to Doctor Who this past Monday in a story surrounding a football match between Manchester United and Manchester City. "Y'know the whole time travel, out of body experience thing," says one character, to which the other replies, "Well, I went to see Doctor Who, he err prescribed me some pills..."

John Barrowman was briefly interviewed on BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat on Tuesday 7 February. With filiming on Torchwood "about to start", the short piece concentrated on Barrowman's laughing assertion that, with so many beautiful cast members, he'd be asking for more sex scenes - "Wouldn't you?!"

The first wave of five-inch action figures from Character Options have begun to appear in small numbers in a few UK shops (and, of course, on eBay). The available figures so far are: the Tenth Doctor (with coat and sonic screwdriver), the Tenth Doctor (in suit), Rose and K9, a Slitheen, and a Sycorax. The main arrival of stock into high street stores is apparently expected later in February or early March.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chris Moore, Daniel O'Malley, Peter Ware and Stuart Ian Burns)