Colin Baker is the subject of a feature article at the Eastern Daily Press from May 18, in which he discusses his role in the forthcoming "HMS Pinafore". "Colin Baker's two-year stint as the Doctor in the 1980s was relatively short and yet he seems more popular than ever thanks to lending his voice to the Doctor Who audio range in recent years," says the article, which interviews him and also gets his take on the casting of Christopher Eccleston. "I think he is going to be more complicated, more complex...a Doctor who is going to appeal to a brand new audience." Read the full interview at their website.

In addition to their daily runs, BBC Radio's airings of the Jon Pertwee radio dramas are also being repeated each day at midnight. (Thanks to Mick Daniel)

BBC Online appears to have dropped the moniker "BBCi" across the board... of course the official Doctor Who site can still be found here.

Mary Tamm ("Romana") will be starring as the Queen Rat in the Secombe Theatre's forthcoming Christmas Pantomime production of "Dick Whittington" which runs December 11, 2004 through January 8, 2005. Tickets are already on sale, with those booked booked on or before 1st October 2004 are at a special Early Bird price. The Secombe Theatre is the main performance space in the London Borough of Sutton. You can get more details by clicking here. (Thanks to Ian Kildin)

The 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie starring Paul McGann will soon air on the Starz/Encore suite of premium channels in the US starting in June. This may mean that the US Sci-Fi Channel's rights to the movie (where it aired a few times over the past couple years) have expired. Nine broadcasts are scheduled on the Starz Mystery Channel, and three on Starz' MOVIEPlex channel. The following are the scheduled airdates and times; if you have one or both of these channels, remember to determine which Feed(s) you have access to and adjust for local time. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott at "This Week in Doctor Who")

Thursday 3 June 9:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Thursday 3 June 4:45PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 7:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 3:20PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Sunday 13 June 11:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 7:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 8:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 4:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 5:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 11:10PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Late Friday 18 June 12:10AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Tuesday 29 June 2:40PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery

William Hartnell starred in the comedy "And the Same To You" (1960), which will receive its first home video release (VHS and DVD) in the UK on 14 June 2004. The movie is about a clergyman's nephew who decides to become a boxer but must maintain an outwardly religious appearance. Also stars Brian Rix, Tommy Cooper and Sid James. Meanwhile, the thriller "Downtime" (1997), which stars Paul McGann as an ex-police psychologist trying to talk down a suicidal woman on the roof of a building, receives its first widescreen home video release (DVD) in the UK on 7 June 2004. Also stars Susan Lynch and Tom Georgeson. (Thanks to Steve Hill)

The May 18 edition of "UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Lancashire" discussed the now sold-out hardcover Doctor Who book The Legend by Justin Richards. "YOU'VE heard of coffee table books?" said the article. "Well this massive tome is hefty enough to be a table in its own right." It noted that Richards was "a long time fan of the series and actually met second doctor Patrick Troughton on a visit to the set in the sixties at the tender age of eight" and notes that there "are many [photographs] here among the 500 that have never been seen before and some have been borrowed from private collections."

Telos Publishing has released details on the fourth and fifth books in their new Time Hunters spinoff series, which continued the characters and situations from their Doctor Who novella of last year, "The Cabinet of Light". Kitsune by John Paul Catton, due out September 23, "sees Honor? Lechasseur and Emily Blandish in the year 2020 where they find themselves thrown into a mystery as an ice spirit wreaks havoc during the Kyoto's Gion Festival, and a haunted funhouse proves to contain more than just paper lanterns and wax dummies." The Severed Man by George Mann ("The Human Abstract") is due out on December 2, in which "Honor? and Emily investigate the links between a clutch of sinister murders in Victorian London, an angel that appears in a Staffordshire village in the 1920s and a small boy running loose around the capital in 1950 and discover that nightmares can turn into reality." (Thanks to David Howe)

New obituaries for the late Anthony Ainley have finally been turning up, albeit a few weeks late, in the UK press. The UK Newsquest Regional Press, in their "This Is Local London" section on May 21, ran an obit and noted that he died at Northwick Park Hospital. The May 20 edition of "The Stage" ran an obit noting that Ainley was 71 years old (his actual age and birthdate have been the subject of speculation; Doctor Who Magazine's obit in the June issue will attempt to get to the bottom of this.) The Harrow Times and the Guardian have picked up the story as well. May 27th's Courier Mail also ran an article, "Forever The Master, arch-nemesis of Dr Who". (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Andrew Harvey, Francis Moloney)

In early 2005 Virgin Books will publish WhoÆs Next: An Unofficial & Unauthorised Guide To All Of Broadcast Doctor Who, a "comprehensive, critical journey through every episode of Doctor Who broadcast by the BBC on television, radio, and the Internet" by Mark Clapham, Eddie Robson and Jim Smith. Says the press release: "WhoÆs Next will be the immediate, obvious way into the seriesÆ past for new fans introduced to Doctor Who by its imminent return to television as well as offering new perspectives and opinions on the show to those already intimately familiar with it." Says Robson, "This isnÆt a continuity guide or a production history. Not only are such books already available, but also the seriesÆ lengthy history necessarily makes them weighty tomes. We recognise that this can be daunting for the uninitiated viewer and so weÆre aiming to boil it down to the essentials. ItÆs a viewersÆ handbook, the entry point in the seriesÆ vast and rich history. For those who are already very familiar with the series, we offer a fresh perspective on much-dissected material." An email list has been set up for updates and information, and can be found atgroups.yahoo.com/group/whosnextbookinfo. (Thanks to Mark Clapham)