Confirming rumors that have been flying around for months, BBC Wales has issued apress release today that Billie Piper will be leaving her role as Rose Tyler at the end of the current series. "Billie Piper who has played Rose Tyler, the feisty young companion of both the ninth and tenth doctors, will leave Doctor Who in a nail biting series two finale. Over the past two years Rose has been on an adventure of a lifetime, travelling across the galaxy with the Doctor. She's visited far-off futuristic cities in the year five billion and beyond; landed on space stations where she's been a contestant in a deadly version of ‘The Weakest Link'; travelled back in time and met Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, Madame de Pompadour and her dead father; she has battled against the Doctor's deadliest foes the Daleks and Cybermen; taken on Slitheen, Sycorax and Krillitanes and survived the end of the world and the blitz. Now, in what is set to be the TARDIS's most terrifying adventure, The Doctor and Rose will face their biggest challenge to date. Back on Earth the human race rejoices as the ghosts of loved ones return home. But as the Doctor, Rose and Jackie investigate Torchwood Tower, a trap is being sprung; an almighty invasion is being put into motion which is set to destroy the whole of modern-day Earth."

The press release continues: "Billie Piper says: 'Rose and I have gone on the most incredible journey with Russell T Davies and the cast and crew of Doctor Who over the past two years. It has been an amazing adventure, and I can confirm it comes to an end, for now at least, as series two climaxes. I am truly indebted to Russell for giving me the chance to play Rose Tyler, and to all the Doctor Who fans old and new who have been so supportive of me in this amazing role. Thank you so much.' Russell T Davies writer and Executive producer adds: 'It has been a wonderful experience working with Billie -- we will miss her -- and wish her all the success in the world for her future. However, the Doctor Who team have had a whole year to plan this final scene and have created a stunning exit for Rose Tyler. The Doctor lives a dangerous life and when Rose joined him on his adventures she was aware of this. With a series climax called Doomsday on its way, I can't guarantee who will survive and who won't, but I can assure you the TARDIS is going on its scariest journey yet!' Since taking on the role of Rose Tyler, Billie has received both critical and popular acclaim. She was awarded The National Television Award for ‘Most Popular Actress' 2005 and The South Bank Show's ‘Breakthrough Award for Rising British Talent'. Billie is currently filming the BBC's adaptation of multi award-winning writer Philip Pullman's The Ruby In The Smoke in which she plays the title role, Sally Lockhart. Filming on the second novel The Shadow In The North will commence later this summer. Doctor Who series three also starts filming again later this summer and will return to our screens with a Christmas special in 2006 and another series of 13 episodes for 2007."

There have been rumors circulated for nearly a year that Piper would be leaving at some point during the second series;Dreamwatch magazine originally made this statement last summer, though its report was discounted, while various tabloids suggested that Piper's tenure on the series would come to an end this year. Some news outlets are reporting the character might be killed off, although the BBC Wales press release suggests an air of mystery and does notstate that Rose will be killed (taking Piper's comments that her trip "comes to an end" somewhat literally), although the release does ask the question, "Does saving the world mean the death of Rose Tyler?" (noting that "Billie Piper who has played Rose Tyler - the feisty young companion of the ninth and tenth doctors - will leave Doctor Who in a nail-biting series two finale"). The "death" report appears to originate in the Sun's early report today, being merely speculative. However, the production is being very strict about information regarding the finale; in fact, there may be no advance press screening of "Doomsday" to prevent the surprise from being released.

There are rumors elsewhere that this was a recent decision (including speculation on some fan sites that this was a dispute over money) although Outpost Gallifrey has been told that Piper's departure was planned as early as last autumn and that the script for "Doomsday" as originally written did contain the departure for the character (instead of a hasty rewrite that would have been needed if it had been a recent choice). A new co-star for David Tennant will likely be seen in the 2006 Christmas special.

The official Doctor Who website is carrying this story. The first report came from The Sun, and it has been reported today at a variety of sources including BBC News, CBBC News, The Times, Ananova, Manchester Evening News, Daily Mail, The Scotsman, Irish Examiner, Sky Showbiz, The Is London, Evening Echo, Ireland Online, The Stage, Hollywood News, Waveguide, Daily Mail, EntertainmentWise, U.TV,ITV, ITN, RTE,Contact Music, Edinburgh News. Also CBBCNews is asking viewers, "Are you gutted?" with reader responses to be posted soon. (Thanks to all of our readers who have been sending in news clips all day!)

Series Two Coming to Canada?

There appears to be movement on the CBC Website in Canada, with clues pointing to possible good news for Canadian fans in the near future. Says one of our correspondents, "For the longest time the CBC's Doctor Who website was fronted by a page for the Christmas Invasion. Last week I noticed that the page had been replaced by a white screen with text saying something like 'Link Disconnected. Transmission interrupted...' (I can't remember the exact verbage). Today, I notice there is a new Macromedia Flash page up there with the TARDIS parked on a landscape looking very much like the Apple Grass fields of New Earth. There are no links are any text whatsoever, but something tells me that along with the impending end to the Stanley Cup playoffs, there may soon be an announcement of Series Two in Canada." The website's Flash animation is indeed a photo from "New Earth". Meanwhile, there are repeats (presumably of series one) starting June 20 at midnight.

Australia DVD Confusion

We've had several reports from fans in Australia that EzyDVD is listing a "Complete First Season Boxed Set" with all of the 1963 Doctor Who episodes on it, including the missing ones! Alas, this seems to be merely an issue of confusion on the retailer's part, as there are no plans for this boxed set, for obvious reasons!

Sycorax Sword Charity Auction

Lancasters Armourie is auctioning the original prototype of the Sycorax sword in aid of Great Ormand Street Hospital. Says the information sent to us, "As if owning this unique piece of Doctor Who merchandise wasn't enough Lancasters have been aided in their fundraising effort by the generosity BBC Wales and actors David Tennant and Sean Gilder who have provided their signatures for engraving on the blade. The sword will be auctioned via ebay and Lancasters tell us they 'are not shy about the fact that we want this to make as much money for GOSHCC as possible.'" Says Clive Lankford of Lancasters Armourie, "Last year our company made the swords for TCI. We are now selling the prototype with all of the proceeds going to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. This sword was due to go on sale at Easter this year but was held up as we were short of the most important signature... I now have them both on the sword and it is up on eBay. ... This sale is not just for UK peeps I have advertised it worldwide on eBay and as long as the winner pays the postage I will send it any where." You can find the auction by going to eBay (direct link) while Lancasters Armourie also have their own websiteas well.

Love & Monsters Pre-Publicity

Publicity for this weekend's episode began almost immediately after The Satan Pit had finished, with a 20-second trailerairing on BBC One between Casualty and Viva Blackpool last Saturday. The trailer, which has been shown every day this week, uses the same selection of clips as the 'Next Time' sequence shown at the end of The Satan Pit, but culminates in an appearance by Peter Kay as the Abzorabaloff; the trailer can be seen via the officialwebsite.

On Tuesday, the new Radio Times concentrated on, as its cover announced, "Peter Kay joins Doctor Who as the 'orrible Abzorbaloff!" Two pages of Doctor Who Watch, "Careful What You Wish For", was illustrated with several photgraphs of Kay as or being made up as the Abzorbaloff. The accompanying article deals with the monster's origins in last summer's Blue Peter Design a Monster competition, and notes that during his set visit contest winner Wiliam's reaction to the creature was "Oh. It was supposed to be the size of a double-decker bus." Russell T Davies responded that William "didn't actually say that on your bit of paper". Davies also says of the episode: "Very different: different style, different feel. It's an experimental script. Not so experimental that people will run away screaming from Saturday-night BBC1, because you can experiment too much." As usual, Doctor Who also featured in the magazine's recommendations for the week's best television, as Drama of the Week ("Quirky, atypical episode that takes a sad turn. Peter Kay plays a gross baddie, and Marc Warren is terrific as an obsessive who finds love") and again as Pick of the Day for Saturday: "Marc Warren ... turns in a terrific, sparkling performance as a shy, sweet and naive geek who finds love. ... Davies has fashioned a curious, elegaic and rather sad exploration of love and loss in which the Doctor and Rose play only peripheral parts. ... It's a highly unusual episode, full of Davies's trademark quirks." The Saturday listings pages also have a couple more shots of the Abzorbaloff in action, the listing itself reading: "An ordinary Joe's obsession with the Doctor and Rose turns into a nightmare at the hands of an enigmatic being." Elsewhere in the magazine, former Doctor Tom Baker is quoted as saying, "I did watch a little bit of the new Doctor Who an I think ... Tennant is excellent. My only disappointment is that they didn't ask me back. I would have liked to play the Master." Russell T Davies meanwhile also crops up in a feature on Battlestar Galactica, which begins on Sky Three next week; for Davies, BG "does everything I want a sci-fi show to do, which is to treat its audience quite respectfully."

The Observer was among the Sunday papers looking ahead to Love & Monsters, with its television Pick of the Day for next Saturday saying: "Forget those who would try and tell you that Doctor Who is for kids: Russell T Davies's revived sci-fi stalwart and its new star, the very suitable David Tennant, only get better as this second series goes on. Initially at least, the thrill and chill factors which ran high through last week's ... Satan Pit have been taken down a notch in Love and Monsters. Davies wrote the episode himself, and it is shot through with that humorous, self-referential charm which have made the series such a gem."

The Sun says, "It's monster munch...as Doctor Who dangles a big steak in front of his latest foe. The Time Lord (David Tennant) tries to lure the vile alien with the piece of meat in upcoming episode Love and Monsters. It stars comic Peter Kay, left, as evil, power-fuelled maniac Victor Kennedy -who turns out to be hiding a big secret. It's the Doctor and sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) who come to the rescue as usual. So the alien isn't pleased to meat them..."

CBBC features Lizo's review of the next episode: "Love & Monsters is the most bizarre episode since the series returned last year. There's not much of the Doctor and Rose in it, and the story instead focuses on a new character called Elton. He's trying to find out more about the mysterious Doctor, and joins a group called L.I.N.D.A. where all the members meet regularly to swap the latest information about him. The series is really carried by the Doctor and Rose, so when I heard that they didn't appear much, I was seriously worried. I had no need to though. Love & Monsters is a superb episode, and one of the best of the series. Writer Russell T. Davies manages to make us quickly fall in love with the group of Doctor-obsessed characters on whom the episode centres. And there are plenty of laughs even before funnyman Peter Kay turns up as the sinister Victor Kennedy. The people who'll get most out of this story are those who've watched it regularly last year - there are flashbacks to the events of some previous stories. And, of course, quick mentions of both Torchwood and Bad Wolf. There are even a few songs. No, really. With the members of L.I.N.D.A. belting out a few numbers by 70s band The Electric Light Orchestra. It might sound like a bit of a mess, but thanks to Russell T. Davies's sparkling script it ends up as a hugely enjoyable show about Dr Who, rather than a straight Dr Who adventure. ... Four and a half out of five."

The official Doctor Who website assumed its Love & Monsters guise from around midday on Tuesday, with the usual updated homepage and photo gallery. The Tardisode and trailer were put up on Saturday, along with commentary, video diaries and more photos for The Satan Pit, and a new 'Escape the Ood' game.

The Abzorbaloff will also feature on Blue Peter on Wednesday 14 June at 5pm, this edition showing William's set visit to see the monster he designed in action.

TV Schedules and Coverage

The red-button commentary for The Satan Pit was unavailable for Freeview users again on Sunday, despite being advertised in Radio Times, on the official site and, once again, by that evening's continuity announcer on BBC Three. Unlike for previously absent commentaries, both Freeview BBCi channels were empty at the time of the episode's transmission. In fact, out of 18 Sunday and Friday evening repeats, 8 have not had the advertised commentary on Freeview. Digital satellite users have been luckier, with the commentary available for virtually every episode, one notable exception being the Friday repeat of The Age of Steel on 26 May, during which BBCi reran Rise of the Cybermen with commentary. All the commentary 'podcasts' remain available for download from the official site and via iTunes.

BBC Three's repeat schedule has also continued to be rather erratic, particularly in comparison to last year's more fixed schedules for the programme. Late-night (Sunday/Monday) repeats of the full-length Doctor Who Confidentialinstalments have now been reinstated, just in time this week to compensate for Confidential beginning on BBC Three on Saturday three minutes before The Satan Pit had actually finished on BBC One. This has happened twice before (affecting the third and seventh editions of Confidential), but this was by far the worst instance, since Confidential overlapped not just the end titles and the 'Next Time' trailer but actually managed to coincide with the final few scenes of the episode proper. This weekend (Saturday 17 June), a random showing of the third edition of Confidential (Friends Reunited) has been scheduled to follow the regular tenth edition, The Look of Who.

Next week, BBC Three is running another brief catch-up season on weekday evenings. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 19-21 June) will see fourth outings for The Age of Steel, The Idiot's Lantern and The Impossible Planet at 7pm, followed at 7.45pm by the relevant Cut Down Confidentials. No episode will be screened on Thursday, but The Satan Pit and Love & Monsters comprise a double bill from 9pm, after another live World Cup football match. No Confidential repeats are scheduled to accompany these episode repeats. Thursday's Totally Doctor Who (22 June) is scheduled for only 20 minutes according to Radio Times, again because of football, although the RT website has it listed for its usual 25 minutes, from 5.05pm, after a live soccer match.

Dead Ringers on Monday 5 June included a one-minute sketch in which the tenth Doctor accurately predicted lines and events based on his reading of spoilers in the Radio Times and preview clips on Totally and Confidential. Billie Piper's advertised appearance on GMTV's Entertainment Today on Friday 9 June turned out to be fleeting. The Satan Pit was promoted on BBC One on the Friday and Saturday with a ten-second trailer.

Doctor Who returned to the Netherlands on June 10, with the Dutch broadcasting group VARA broadcasting the series on Nederland 3 weekly at 19.00. "Rose Tyler meets a mysterious alien who goes by the name the Doctor and her life is never more the same. Soon she reaches the discovery that her mother, her friend and the complete planet is in danger. The only rescue is in a strange small blue police box." (That's the literal translation!)

The Satan Pit Follow-Up

The Guardian said this past weekend, "Let's be honest: series 2, so far, has been a bit of a bumpy ride. Even the Cybermen failed to rise to the occasion, and Chris Eccleston's tenure already feels like the halcyon days. Simply, this is no longer essential Saturday night viewing, and that's just wrong. So storylines like these are as welcome as a monogamous, straight-talking politician. With the planet heading toward the black hole, Rose takes on the Ood, as the Doctor makes the ultimate sacrifice. More like this please, and quickly."

The Forester says of scenes filmed for "The Satan Pit," "Clearwell Caves boss Jonathan Wright and his children won't dare hide behind the sofa on Saturday when they hear the Doctor Who theme tune. They will be glued to the screen to see the tourist attraction get prime time BBC1 coverage. Scenes for the episode The Impossible Planet were filmed in the bowels of the caves, where the doctor is confronted by the Devil who has been locked in a pit for millions of years. Jonathan says his 10-year-old daughter Beatrix and her little brother Wilfrid, six, were already big fans of the revived show before new time lord David Tennant called in for his second film shoot. He was there last year filming for the Christmas special. 'It's really made it special for the children having met the stars,' said Jonathan. 'The producers were very secretive this time so it will be interesting for us to see what he finds. They were shooting in our biggest cavern.' The episode, which is the second part of The Impossible Planet, is screened at 7pm on Saturday."

US Transmission Concludes

TV Guide said of the US finale, "The Parting of the Ways," "Wow! The Doctor survived the Daleks, a moral crisis, and the absorption of the time vortex to save the Earth. Just to finish up, he regenerated into a new identity with new teeth. What more can you ask for from a season finale? Not since 1969's 'The War Games' has there been such a satisfying regeneration episode. It began with the Doctor coming to save Rose from the Daleks, who never doubted him for a moment. ('I did,' he quipped.)This led to a face-to-face encounter with the Dalek Emperor, who resembled a pickled squid sans the charm. But the Doctor knew the Daleks feared him. (They gave the Doc the nickname 'The oncoming storm.') And the little pepper shaker bastards had every reason to---for the Doctor had come up with a way to kill them all: the Delta Wave. Trouble was, if he used it, he'd kill everyone on Earth as well (including Rose). 'If I am god of all creation,' taunted the Emperor, 'What does that make you, Doctor?' ... No argument here. I will miss Christopher Eccleston's juxtaposition of all-over-the-place energy and cold resolve. As Rose told Jackie and Mickey, this Doctor showed how life should be lived. (Indeed his hologram message to Rose ended with him wishing her a good life.) He had wit, charisma, guts up the wazoo, coolness under pressure and brains beyond comprehension. What more can you ask for? Can't wait to see Eccleston as Number Six in ITV's new version of The Prisoner. Of course Eccleston had help from the writer. The brilliance of a script can often be found in the number of great little snips of dialogue and situations. Russell Davies's was packed with them. ... This show is THAT gooooood. Just one minor quibble. How is it that Rose survived exposure to the Time Vortex and the Doctor didn't? (I know he regenerated, but she didn't.) David Tennant is now our Doctor with the new teeth. He said something about Barcelona (the planet, not the Spanish city where Manuel came from). I'm lucky in that I have copies of Tennant's first season, and I can say without fear of reproach that he too kicks ass in the Time Lord department. We also get to see the return of Harriet Jones, MP-turned-PM. I can't wait to blab about those adventures. Until then, I thank you for indulging me these last several months. I learned a lot, particularly that I couldn't ask for a better group of blog pals. Screw American Idol---we Whovians rule, thank you very much."

More US press coverage of the finale: the Cincinnati Enquirer called the episode its "Must See", while USA Todaycalls it "an easy-to-enjoy British import starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. For his last adventure, the Doctor tries to save the universe without sacrificing Earth or himself." ZAP-2-ITsaid, "the long-running British series that returned to the U.K. airwaves in 2005 (and subsequently to the States earlier this year) wraps up its season tonight. The fate of the universe is resting in the Doctor's (Christopher Eccleston) hands -- and he is forced to decide whether to sacrifice every human being on Earth so that the evil Daleks are finally stopped. In the meantime, Rose (Billie Piper) is sent home to London; unhappy with this arrangement, she uses the TARDIS to find the Doctor again, and hijinks ensue. As with every other season of 'Doctor Who,' this episode sets us up for a whole new Doc -- though Eccleston was pretty cool, I must say." And TV Guide said, "Holy space opera! The good news is that the Daleks have found religion. The bad news: those overturned trash cans are still lethal, and hell-bent on turning Earth into their idea of heaven. Tonight's season fnale has everything a sci-fi fan could hope for from a TV series: drama, humor, action and surprises — ranging from the jaw-dropping Dalek siege to our beloved heroes making some truly heart-wrenching decisions. Sit down and strap in because this TARDIS ride is going to be bumpy one."

People

David Tennant and Billie Piper say that "they are getting such big names on the show, they can take a back seat. Billie said: 'We've got Peter Kay coming up soon as a villain and the lovely Marc Warren. We're not even in those episodes so much.' They said the next episode, called The Satan Pit, was 'as dark as it gets' staying in line with the rennaisance in the programme and its fan base. Tennant added that there is also a very exciting episode coming up that he described as 'The Exorcist meets Brookside'. And as to rumours that Billie is planning to leave the show, she dismissed them as pure speculation. She said: 'Well I've never actually said that I am leaving or anything like that but every time there is a new series, the same old stories come out.' Tennant joked: 'No it is true, wee Jimmy Krankie is taking over soon'." Reported atITV, ITN, and Channel 4.

Billie Piper and Julie Walters are to star in a BBC1 adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Ruby In The Smoke, the first book in a quartet that charts the adventures of Sally Lockhart (Piper), a feisty young Victorian heroine. It's adapted by Bafta-winning writer Adrian Hodges, directed by Brian Percival (North & South, Clocking Off). The Lancashire Evening Postasks, "Who's that girl visiting a Lancashire coastal landmark? Pop star turned actress Billie Piper was at Sunderland Point, near Lancaster, to film her latest TV drama – but this time she left the Tardis at home. Billie, who plays Rose Tyler in Doctor Who, is also starring in new Victorian drama The Ruby in the Smoke. The series, based on a book by multi award-winning writer Philip Pullman, also stars BAFTA-winning actress and comedian Julie Walters. Billie plays Sally Lockhart, described as a 'feisty heroine on a journey to discover the truth behind her father's death.' The Ruby in the Smoke is said to be a 'gripping tale of mystery, danger, puzzling letters and a jewel soaked in blood.'" The Daily Star notes that "Life is a drag for Billie Piper as she films her new telly drama. . . dressed as a Victorian heroine. The Doctor Who babe, 23, looked like she was stuck in a timewarp yesterday as she recorded scenes for new BBC drama The Ruby In The Smoke. She plays super-sleuth Sally Lockhart in the TV adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels. Billie was snapped yesterday enjoying a sneaky ciggie on the set near Morecambe, Lancs." People also says "Lovely Billie Piper appears totally laidback while filming her latest BBC telly role. The Doctor Who beauty, 23, bent over backwards as she waiting to go in front of the cameras. An onlooker said: 'Billie looked amazingly supple as she warmed up. She seemed to ease backwards like a super-fit gymnast.' But Billie, who plays a Victorian orphan in the period drama Ruby In The Smoke, pulled off another remarkable twist. She wore curlers and hairnet in between takes in Morecambe, Lancs - without looking awful!" Piper also appeared on last Friday's GMTV's 'Entertainment' show on Friday Morning.

The Sun says that Piper "wants to take time out from her acting career to backpack around India and Africa. The Doctor Who actress is keen to explore more of the world - and doesn't want to do it in five star style. She told OK!: 'I'd like to travel. I've done a bit but I want to explore India and Africa and have a proper experience. I don't just want to go for ten days, I want to go for three weeks or a month and just live it and experience it all.' Billie, 23, has already seen much of the world with former hubby Chris Evans but now says she wants to do 'the traveller thing'. She said: 'I don't see the point in going to these incredible places and then staying in luxury hotels with air-con and room service. I really want to get to the heart of it all and slum around which will be so much more fun.' She added: 'I definitely need a couple of months off which I'm looking forward to. I want to allocate a considerable amount of time to travelling and then come back and hopefully get a job.'"

William Russell (Ian Chesterton from the first years of the classic series) was featured on the BBC's Saturday afternoon coverage of the first England World Cup 06 game ("World Cup: Match of the Day Live"), which began with Russell narrating the Henry V rallying the troops speech.

Tom Baker tells the Daily Express that "he may have left the Tardis in 1981 when he regenerated into Peter Davison, but he now wants to come back as the Doctor's arch enemy The Master. 'I think the new fellow, David Tennant is excellent, ' says Tom, 72, now narrator of cult comedy Little Britain. 'My only disappointment is that they didn't ask me back to play [renegade Timelord] The Master. He and the Doctor are like Holmes and Moriarty: two sides of the same man. That would turn a few heads.'"

Other Press Items

The Norfolk Eastern Daily Press said on June 8, "An army of evil monsters is heading to Norfolk with a mission to exterminate a world record. A summer invasion of Dr Who and other sci-fi characters is set to happen at Holt on June 24-25. And organisers are hoping to set the world record for the largest number of Daleks in one place. The current record stands at 57, and the Norfolk event hoped to smash that by attracting up to 100, said co-ordinator Nigel Pearce. The gathering, after a 1pm parade through town on the Sunday, will be checked by Guinness Book of Records officials and independent witnesses - town council chairman Philip High and council member Jean Corbett-Jarvis. 'They must be full size Daleks , between 5ft and 6ft tall, and stay in one place for 10 minutes,' explained Mr Pearce."

The Evening Herald says that "A Totnes youngster is to appear in the BBC1 television show Totally Doctor Who on Thursday. Catherine Roberts, aged 12, won the chance to be part of the TV spin-off show after proving that her knowledge of the hit science fiction series was second to none. The King Edward VI Community College, Totnes, pupil, who lives in South Brent, contacted Totally Doctor Who via email, with three interesting facts about the award-winning drama. Totally Doctor Who, presented by Liz Barker and Barney Harwood, returned Catherine's call and, following a telephone interview, invited her to take part in the Who Ru section of the show to discover the week's greatest Doctor Who superfan. The programme will be shown on BBC1 this Thursday at 5pm. 'Catherine was going mental just to get the phone call from the BBC to interview her,' said her father Mike Roberts. 'Despite being told that she'd have to wait until they interviewed other fans, they were back on the phone in about five minutes saying she would be on the programme.'"

The Winston-Salem Journal says that "In terms of longevity, it's hard to beat Doctor Who. The show has been around for 28 seasons, over the course of more than 40 years. And the lead character is still spry at the tender age of 900-something.... 'It's such a coveted brand for the BBC that, unlike some other properties, it's really monitored by a group that are Doctor Who specialists,' said Megan Branigan at BBC Home Video. Those specialists, the Doctor Who Restoration Team, painstakingly clean up prints of old episodes, find lost interviews and assemble bonus material for each DVD. The U.S. branch of BBC Video puts out eight DVDs a year in addition to occasional special releases. Two new DVDs of classic Who stories, Genesis of the Daleks and Revenge of the Daleks, were released this week. A second new season has already started in England, with David Tennant taking over as the 10th Doctor."

The Comet says, "Standing in the corner of a small factory is a figure that has ignited fear in children and become a famous figure in a cult TV series. The Dalek is an integral part of Dr Who, but now you don't need to be a time traveller to meet one of the monsters. One model is currently in Jack's Hill, Graveley, where it is undergoing industrial surgery to restore to pristine condition. The model is of vintage BBC stock having appeared in an edition over 30 years ago and now normally resides in the home of its owner in Stevenage. But for the owner of Finishline, Chris Bray, it is just another product that needs his urgent attention. Currently getting new coats of paint in his workshops alongside Dr Who's greatest enemy are a couple of racing Porches normally seen at the Nurburgring and worth a cool £250,000 each, and a classic of the 1960s a VW camper van that had spent all its life in the USA. 'I must say the Dalek has certainly attracted a lot of attention in the workshop,' said Mr Bray, from Upper Caldecote. 'People come in here and see the great cars we have being repaired and sprayed and then see the Dalek. It needed a lot of TLC. It is made out of wood and the filler had contracted so we have rebuilt it and it looks great. It belongs to a guy in Stevenage who has it as an ornament at home. It now looks as good as new and one guy who came in said it could be worth as much as 4,000.'"

The Evening Herald says, "Being killed by a Cyberman was a dream come true for a Plymouth sci-fi fan who featured in the latest series of Doctor Who. Jules Burt has been a fan of the series since he was a boy, so was overjoyed to be offered a walk-on part in the episode Rise of the Cybermen, which was aired on BBC1 in May. A dealer in sci-fi memorabilia, the 36-year-old from Lipson says acting is only a hobby but he could be swayed to take it up more seriously after his Doctor Who death scene. Jules is a member of city theatre group the Western College Players, and through an agent has snagged roles as an extra in a wide variety of projects, from movie King Arthur, with Keira Knightley, to Casualty and an advert for TSB. But it was his appearance as a cameraman in a party scene alongside David Tennant and Billie Piper that has most inspired him. He said: 'We filmed at midnight and it was very atmospheric. Eleven Cybermen crashed through sugarglass windows and more filled the doorways. I had to duck between them and try to escape. I had to pinch myself. I kept thinking 'I'm really in Doctor Who'. It was a once in a lifetime experience. The scene ended when I got grabbed by a Cyberman in the corridor. It took two hours to film - just me and the Cyberman. I had to scream and fall back on the crash mats when I died. It was brilliant.' While filming in Cardiff last November, Jules even had a chance meeting with the Doctor. 'I was queuing up at the burger bar and David Tennant was standing behind me. I got a snap with him and had a chat,' he said. He's a nice guy and we talked about how amazing it was to be there and how much he really enjoys being the Doctor. He's also been a fan of the show for years and like him, it's a dream come true to be in it.'"

The Bath Chronicle says "former Bath and Trowbridge student Will Thorp will be gracing the BBC's screens in yet another hit Saturday night show. He will appear in the second episode of a two-part special of cult favourite Dr Who. His first Dr Who appearance came last Saturday, when he was seen as a character named Toby, described as a nasty archaeologist, in an episode named The Impossible Planet, with this week's conclusion The Satan Pit. A former City of Bath College performing arts student, Thorp, 28, is best known for his role as Woody the paramedic in Casualty, from which he landed a place in last year's Strictly Come Dancing line-up. But working alongside the new doctor, David Tennant, is not his only experience of the time travelling Doctor. Thorp is currently touring the UK in a play alongside the sixth doctor, Colin Baker. The pair appear in Strangers On A Train, a psychological thriller which was made into a film in 1951 by Alfred Hitchcock. Thorp's memories of the Doctor are fond, and he said of his latest break: 'My character is one of a crew of space explorers trapped in this strange world when the Doc and Rose turn up.'"

A New Zealand tabloid, Sunday News, gets our award for most ludicrous news report: "Lucy Lawless is hot favourite to take over the Tardis and become the first female Dr Who. Current stars Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant are both relinquishing their Time Lord status after one series and the cult show is now considering the idea of 'guest doctors' Landing Lucy for the role would be a major coup for the BBC. She has a massive international following and even became a gay icon because of her screen relationship with her Xena: Warrior Princess sidekick Gabrielle, played by Renee O'Connor. While diehard fans would probably love to see the two together again as time travellers, it is likely Billie Piper would carry on her role as Rose. It's not know if there will be 'chemistry' between the new Doctor and Rose." Sorry, but this is bunk.

The Wigan Observer says that "An amazing time machine has materialised in a Wigan garden. Curious neighbours have been peeping through the privets after Doctor Who fanatic Ian Mellor unveiled his latest homage to the sci-fi series. His full sized Tardis, accurate in every detail, has taken six months of work to complete. Although painted in official police blue specially mixed for the project, its actually rather green – because he has constructed it almost entirely out of timber off-cuts sourced from building sites across the borough. Now Ian, 26, of Moor Road, Orrell, who continues to battle against ill health, hopes that the universe's most famous police box will follow the two Daleks he made and be captured by fellow Who'vian enthusiasts. Or it could even end up being snapped up by a Wigan store who want an unusual accessory in their foyer on which to advertise 'out of this world' prices. Ian says that the 'sheddy' structure of the Tardis made it a much easier proposition to build than the Daleks, with their tapered cylindrical shape, button mouldings and death ray plunger."

ITN says "A host of celebs have been telling us if they are supporting England this World Cup - and for Scottish actor David Tennant the choice is easy. The Dr Who star said: 'I don't get football it just leaves me cold. It's got nothing to do with England, Scotland anyone else, I just don't get it. I know there's the traditional Scottish thing that you can't support England but I've lived here for 12 years so I've got to try.'"

The Cambridge Evening News asked, "What would the late Mary Whitehouse (God rest 'er) have made of last week's Doctor Who episode -- surely the most terrifying thing seen on TV at 7 o'clock on a Saturday night since Chico did the Time Warp' ? I don't know what affect this was having on the nation's 10-year-olds, but Mr and Mrs Square Eyes were both hiding behind cushions at this point. (In Doctor Who, even doors can be scary ' especially when they start saying things like 'He is awake ' he bathes in the black sun.') Angry parents from Tunbridge Wells will no doubt be pinging off emails to Points of View as I speak, complaining about soggy mattresses and demands to sleep with the light on. But everyone knows that kids love to be scared. And television as thrilling and imaginative as this ' British television at that (think how many hours your little 'uns spend soaking up American 'cultural values') can only be a good thing. They should put Doctor Who on the national curriculum."

Other items: Now Playing Magazine reviews "The Impossible Planet" (link); the official site has created a "Guide to the Classic Series of Doctor Who";TV Squad, IF Magazine and UGO review "The Parting of the Ways"; BlogCriticsreviews "The Age of Steel" (link), "The Idiot's Lantern" (link) and "The Satan Pit" (link); the Daily Record calls volume two of the Series Two DVD releases their "Best Buy".

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Peter Weaver, John Bowman, Bas Pierik, Tristian Phipps, Rodney Hrvatin, Keith Armstrong, Paul Kirkley, Chris Clarke, Tom Jennings, Jonathan Grills, Tom Dart)

Coming soon from Panini Books is The Doctor Who Storybook 2007, a collection of illustrated stories featuring the tenth Doctor and Rose from the publishers of Doctor Who Magazine. The 80-page book will be released in August. The press release is below; click on the image at right for a larger version of the cover. (Thanks to Clayton Hickman at DWM)

The following TARDIS Report is a summary of press coverage, news items and clips from the past ten days (or so). There's still a lot more to cover from the backlog, and that'll be included as part of future TARDIS reports for the rest of the week; here are the highlights:

Television Coverage

A ten-second 'The One to Watch Tonight' trailer for The Idiot's Lanternaired throughout Saturday from 11.29am on BBC One. A slightly longer version of this trail was also shown over the closing credits for Neighbours on BBC One on Friday at just before 6pm.

Maureen Lipman was interviewed by Andrew Marr on Sunday AM the morning after 'The Idiot's Lantern', discussing the poor state of television drama today, though being very complimentary about Doctor Who. A couple of clips from Saturday's episode accompanied the piece. The programme can be seen online until Saturday on the BBC News Player, via this link, with Lipman's 5-minute appearance about 30 minutes into the programme.

K9 will be making an appearance on Blue Peter on Wednesday 31 May (5pm, BBC One).

Official site update

The Doctor Who website was updated as usual on Saturday evening after transmission of The Idiot's Lantern, with the regular downloadable commentary this week by Ron Cook (Mr Magpie), Louise Paige (Costume Designer) and Sheelagh Wells (Make-up Designer). The photo gallery was updated with ten new pictures alongside the ten available since last Tuesday, and there are three short video diaries about the location manager, art direction and period props, as well as behind-the-scenes photographs and the TARDISODE for The Impossible Planet. This week's spin-off game, Defeat the Wire!, involves finding hidden messages amongst dozens of brief clips from various television and radio shows; it can be found direct from the official site or from the Who is Doctor Who? site, updated this week by 'A Friend', since Mickey Smith is no longer around to do it. It's possible that 'A Friend' is "David R. aka DeffyD79", a pupil at Deffry Vale ('School Reunion') and "The Voice of Deffry Vale's Youth" (see here andhere).

UK ratings - latest updates

A correction to yesterday's report on Saturday's overnight ratings figures: the 5-minute breakdowns do not show a peak of 7.78m for Doctor Who. The 15-minute peak for The Idiot's Lantern was 6.7m between 7.30 and 7.45pm (against Soccer Aid's 6.8m in the same quarter hour); the 5-minute peak for Doctor Who was in fact 6.72m at 7.35-7.40pm. The figure of 7.78m was in fact the peak audience for Soccer Aid, occurring immediately after Doctor Who had finished at 7.45pm.

Sunday's 7pm rerun of The Idiot's Lantern had overnight ratings of 635,800, a 4.6% audience share and at the higher end of the ratings achieved by Doctor Who in this timeslot this year. Once again, the episode was first in its timeslot (multichannel) and third in the day's multichannel chart. The Cut Down Confidential that followed was seen by 374,000 (2.6%), eighth for the day in the multichannel chart.

Last week's early evening repeats on BBC Three had the following overnight audience ratings and shares:

New Earth Monday 22nd May 7pm: 237,000 - 1.2% share
Tooth and Claw Tuesday 23rd May 7pm: 253,000 - 1.3%
School Reunion Wednesday 24th May 7pm: 267,000 - 1.6%
The Girl in the Fireplace Thursday 25th May 7pm: 239,000 - 1.4%
Rise of the Cybermen Friday 26th May 7pm: 144,000 - 1%

The regular 9pm repeat of The Age of Steel on BBC Three on Friday was watched by 384,000 (2%). This repeat, as on the previous Sunday, had no red-button commentary for Freeview audiences, with extra material from the Chelsea Flower Show being shown across BBCi. On Sunday 28, the first repeat of The Idiot's Lantern was also missing its advertised commentary, a concert by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers being BBCi's sole extra on Freeview. (These commentaries were available for digital satellite viewers, and are of course accessible on the official Doctor Who site and on iTunes.)

Today's Media Guardian asks, "Where have the viewers gone? BBC1's Doctor Who revival has been lavished with critical praise and awards, but there are signs midway through its second series that viewers may be tiring of the time travelling sci-fi drama. Saturday's Doctor Who, the seventh out of 13 episodes in the second series, was the lowest-rated yet since the show returned last year to rave reviews and big audiences. ... A fairly typical Doctor Who storyline then, but one which only attracted 6.3 million viewers and a 32% audience share. Doctor Who has shed 2.3 million viewers and 10 share points in two weeks, since the Cybermen episode of May 13, which got a ratings boost to 8.6 million by following the Liverpool v West Ham FA Cup final on BBC1. A week later the second and concluding episode of the Rise of the Cybermen two-parter dropped to 6.9 million viewers and a 36% share. One possible explanation for Doctor Who's ratings decline could be the show's scheduling. After being delayed by 20 minutes, to 7.20pm, on May 13 because of the FA Cup going to penalties; the following Saturday's instalment went out nearly an hour earlier at 6.40pm, to accommodate the Eurovision Song Contest. Last Saturday Doctor Who was at 7pm and the show is scheduled at the same time for the next two weeks. But after that the show could face further scheduling disruption because of BBC1's World Cup coverage. Doctor Who has also faced stiffer competition from ITV1 in the past couple of weeks, with The Prince's Trust 30th anniversary concert and Soccer Aid scheduled against it. Before that, ITV1 had put movie repeats against Doctor Who, with disappointing results. Last year Doctor Who was more consistently scheduled at 7pm, with only one episode, on FA Cup final day, starting at a different time, 6.30pm." Also reported in theIndependent.

Yahoo News reports that "The BBC said it was pleased with Doctor Who's performance after Saturday's viewing figures fell to 6.3 million. The seventh episode in the second series of the show, which was relaunched last year, had a 32.8% audience share and peaked at 6.7 million viewers. The episode featured the Doctor and his sidekick Rose fighting an attempt by an alien to feed off the minds of people watching on TV the Queen's 1953 coronation. MediaGuardian.co.uk reported that the figures were the lowest-yet for the show. But a BBC spokeswoman said: "We are delighted with the viewing figures that the second series of Doctor Who has received so far. The series is proving to be incredibly popular with audiences and has continued to outperform strong competition from its competitors week on week. However, episode seven did transmit over a Bank Holiday weekend when more people are likely to be away."

The Impossible Planet Coverage

Heat's reviewer gives this Saturday's episode the max 5 stars and writes: "If you've been wondering why a Time Lord with access to all the places in the universe and the whole of time to choose from keeps ending up on Earth within a two-century range of history, blame series producer Russell T Davies - he likes to keep the Doctor close to home so that the kiddie viewers can be frightened by familiar things. But he can't keep the Doctor in Cardiff - or wherever Cardiff is standing in for - every week, so over the course of this two-parter we get one of the Tardis' occasional trips further afield. The Doctor and Rose drop in on an extraterrestrial mission group from (where else?) Earth, who have journeyed across space to visit a crummy, rock-strewn planet spinning round a black hole. With only the thoroughly ugly Oood for company (imagine an egg eating a squid - or save yourself the effort and just look at the picture above), our plucky travellers have to contend with something very old and very pissed-off living beneath the planet's surface." (reviewer: Chris Longridge). The magazine also has Doctor Who at number six in it's top 10 Best TV shows for the week.

Closer has The Impossible Planet as one of their top Choices for Saturday: "Imagine the scenario - you go into space, get stuck on a planet and end up right next to a black hole. Bummer! This is the tricky situation Rose and the Doctor find themselves in tonight, along with uptight archaeologist Toby (Strictly Come Dancing's Will Thorp) and a team of space explorers. Even worse, there's something nasty below the planet's surface that isn't happy at being disturbed."

Reveal gives this week's eppy 4 (out of 5) stars and list it as one of their 'Must Sees': "The time travellers are trapped on a desolate planet orbiting a black hole, where they encounter a sinister race of aliens and a team of human explorers." And on guest star Will Thorp: he was "last seen waltzing and jiving on Strictly Come Dancing, but the ex-Casualty star ... plays Toby, a friendly soul who has the misfortune of being possessed by a demon!"

Star magazine's preview mentions: "In the first episode of this two-part story, our poor little Rosebud finds herself stranded on the dreadfully desolate world in the orbit of a Black Hole. The weary time-travellers then have to contend with strange rumblings from beneath the planet's surface..."

People

Sky Showbiz quotes Billie Piper as wanting "to see Dancing on Ice star and former Doctor Who assistant Bonnie Langford back as a guest on the show. 'I think it would be hilarious to see the two people who have worked with him at war,' said Billie."

According to Sky Showbiz, "Dancing On Ice star John Barrowman is the man you girls want to sit in with the lovely Fern Britton on This Morning. John stepped in last month for a few days and the switchboard went into meltdown. The plan is to get him back as quickly as possible."

Another article says that "Peter Kay may have just appeared in the hit show Doctor Who as a baddie, but I hear that the Bolton-born comic is keen to land the role of the main man when David Tennant moves on. He told me: "I think the doctor should come from Bolton next time; he's always been a bit posh for me liking." This is Lancashire says, "This is Bolton comedian Peter Kay as you have never seen him before. The Phoenix Nights star has swapped Brian Potter's wheelchair for green skin and pointy ears as he plays a new Jabba-the-Hut style villain in Dr Who. The creature, named Abzorbaloff, kills its victims by absorbing them into its massive body. Their faces can be seen through its translucent green flesh. He first appears as a man called Victor Kennedy then reveals his true evil identity. ... The Bolton comic was given the role in the second series of the sci-fi hit after he wrote a fan letter to Doctor Who creator Russell T Davies saying how much he enjoyed the first series. The Abzorbaloff was designed by nine-year-old William Grantham, of Colchester, Essex, for a 'Design a Doctor Who Monster' competition held by Blue Peter last year. Kay had to endure five hours in make-up to emerge as the flabby horror. Russell T Davies said: 'We are delighted to welcome Peter onboard the TARDIS! The casting of Peter came about after he wrote me the most brilliant letter to say how much he'd enjoyed Series One of Doctor Who. 'From, that point on, we started talking about a guest appearance. However, this is not a comedy turn. Peter is a versatile actor who has appeared in Paul Abbott's Butterfly Collectors and The Secret Life of Michael Fry.' Mr Davies said the hand-written note was signed 'Yours sincerely, Peter Kay. PS garlic bread', after one of Kay's famous catchphrases. Kay joins an array of well-known actors who have already signed up to the series including; Pauline Collins, Anthony Head, Maureen Lipman, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Sophia Myles, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Danny Webb. On Monday, Kay topped a list of the 100 funniest people alive in a survey by lads' magazine Zoo." Other coverage of Peter Kay's appearance can be found in the Manchester Evening News.

The Guardian has comments from Maureen Lipman, complaining about her new haircut and wondering if she can blame it on Doctor Who! "I'm normally very happy with my hairdressing arrangements. Danny does a brilliant cut for 28 quid and I've sent so many friends to him that these days I can't get an appointment. But I shall have to grovel next time I go, or pretend the make-up girls did it on the set of Doctor Who to make me look more alien."

People says of Camille Coduri, "She's fiddled with Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver, starred as a kinky stripper and will soon sizzle as an ex-porn star. Curvy Camille Coduri even adds a certain sexiness to playing time traveller Billie Piper's mum. But the actress insists she's an old-fashioned girl at heart. Happily married and a devoted mum to two kids in real life, Camille enjoys looking sexy but has strong views on screen nudity, steamy photo shoots and pornography. 'You don't need to get your bra off to prove yourself,' says the actress who, at 40, has a string of impressive film and TV roles to her name. 'A lot of these young actresses who do it are really beautiful and talented and I just think... have a bit of dignity.' Camille's latest role - as an ex-porn star in a new BBC3 series called Sinchronicity - has also given her strong views on that subject. 'I went on the web to research the role and it shocked me 100 per cent. I didn't think that I could be shocked until then,' she explains. 'But pornography upsets me and winds me up because it is for men and as long as that is going on women will never be equal.' ... Camille also loves being part of Doctor Who. 'It has definitely been one of the happiest times in my life,' she says. 'It's hugely funny to film. More often than not you are tearing down the road screaming when you really want to be wetting yourself laughing.'" The Manchester Evening News also interviews Coduri briefly about her new show. "Doctor Who star Camille Coduri, who also happens to be a Manchester City supporter, plays pregnant mum Janice, wife of Lennie and mother of both Sammy and teenager Nicky (Nicola Bland). 'Janice is very different from Rose's mum, Jackie, in Doctor Who,' she maintains. 'It's funny how you slot right into the time and the era. Obviously, the clothing and make-up help, but we were all behaving in that London sixties way. It's all the little details that go into something like this - the string shopping bags, the retro wallpaper and so on.' Now working in Manchester on a new BBC3 drama series, called Sinchronicity, Camille has nothing but praise for young Imogen, who, along with Pickles, is the star of the show. 'The dog wasn't really interested in you, unless you had a sausage up your sleeve,' she smiles."

Yahoo News says that "Soap lovers will spot a couple of famous faces in the returning stage favourite Me and My Girl.Sylvester McCoy and Trevor Bannister are lined-up for a theatrical stint, and both have appeared in various soaps. McCoy is best known for playing Doctor Who during the late 1980s, but he's also cropped up in Hollyoaks, The Bill and Casualty. Bannister will be remembered by many for his role as Mr Lucas in sitcom Are You Being Served? Taking the lead role will be Richard Frame, who played Father Damian Harrison in Family Affairs last year. In Me and My Girl he'll be performing as Bill, a cockney bloke who discovers he's the heir to a fortune. ... The production begins its tour in Plymouth in August, and will call at such places as Sheffield, York, Edinburgh, Bradford and Brighton before finishing its run in Southampton at the end of April 2007."

Paul O'Grady interviewed Jamie Foreman on his show on 26 May before his debut as Eddie Connolly in The Idiot's Lantern. A few quotes include: 'The costumes are fantastic.' and 'It's such fun to do.' On being asked if his character was a goodie or baddie, Jamie would only say that he is: 'very misunderstood... is 53, just got back from Burma.' On the latest Time Lord: 'I think David Tennant will be one of the best Doctors ever.' On Doctor Who: 'It's like watching a Spielberg movie.' (they also showed a short clip showing a confrontation scene between Jamie Foreman's character and an angry Doctor demanding to know what's going on.)

The UK Press Association says that "Casualty veteran Will Thorp is to feature in a Doctor Who adventure beginning on June 3. He admits he was delighted to receive a couple of scripts from head writer and executive producer Russell T Davies. 'I would have said 'yes' to it whatever (the part) was,' Thorp said recently. In The Impossible Planet, the Doctor and Rose arrive on a desolate world orbiting a black hole. They find themselves trapped with Toby (Thorp), a twentysomething archaeologist. However, something ancient lurking beneath the planet's surface begins to wake, and our heroes face a race against time to prevent themselves being whisked off into oblivion. The supporting cast includes Ronny Jhutti, who played Sohail Karim in EastEnders from 1988 to 1990, and the conclusion can be seen on Jun 10. Will, a massive Doctor Who fan, had to keep pinching himself while making the episodes to check if he wasn't dreaming. 'It was like being in the playground,' he laughs. Thorp is currently working on a touring version of Strangers On A Train with another Doctor Who veteran, Colin Baker."

The Financial Times wrote on 27 May, "Tom Baker walks into a central London hotel bar wielding a walking stick, dismissing journalists as traitors and uttering emphatic expletives. He is a big man, tall and well-built, with a good head of white hair. He doesn't want to sit in a quiet corner but rather in the thick of it, where he can 'see human life'. He slides into a faux-leather armchair, catches the waiter's attention and orders a drink in his deep, resonant, theatrical voice. 'A Bombardier, thank-you, sir.' The beer arrives and Baker pours it carefully into a pint glass. 'Good health to you. Nice to see you.' Here is an actor still going strong at the grand age of 72; in fact, he is enjoying a renaissance late in life. He may always be best remembered for being one of the popular incarnations of Doctor Who (between 1974 and 1981) but in recent years Baker has become highly fashionable again. After a few decades of cameo roles in various modern TV comedies, Baker became the narrator in the phenomenally successful Little Britain. He is not quite ready, however, to discuss his work. Instead, he takes a moment to enjoy the drink then produces a copy of Philip Roth's novel Everyman and waves it in the air. 'I'm getting deeper and deeper into this new Roth. God, it's so sad. So, so sad. He's 74, I think. Usually his novels are much bigger than this. It's a meditation on death. When people don't have any religious faith, death becomes obscene.' He barely pauses for breath. 'This bar is a good place to meet a pal. [In] the pubs round here it's hard to finish a sentence without some tosser from the BBC saying 'Tom! Do you remember doing some programme or other with me?' Or some girl saying 'Don't you remember me, Tom. We used to be married?'' ... When I ask about Christopher Ecclestone and David Tennant as the most recent incarnations of Doctor Who, he says: 'I always get sweet messages - not from Christopher Ecclestone, who I was very surprised to see leave so soon; he's a very powerful actor - but from the little chap. David what? Oh yes, Tennant. When I was in Monarch of the Glen, a make-up artist friend of his asked me to send him a card, which I did. He sounds very sweet.' Whenever he's in London, Tom Baker is stopped in the street by fans of Doctor Who. Is it a relief to escape to France? 'It doesn't drive me mad. People are willing to share things with me because they think they love me. Fan love is quite different because it endures. When I used to see a disintegrating George Best or some great old cricket player like Denis Compton, the nostalgia would always catapult me back to my youth. People who talk to me in the street make quite affecting little speeches about what I meant to them. There are plenty of actors more distinguished then I am but I bet that never happens to them.' ... Would Baker like to be offered a part in the new Doctor Who? He shrugs. 'I've done my time but if the BBC had any bloody flair, if they had real genius, they'd have brought me back to play the Master.' He seems a little hurt that no one has even offered a cameo and, as is his style, quickly moves on to something else." More of the interview at the site.

The Idiot's Lantern Reactions

The Guardian blog: "This week's episode, the Idiot's Lantern, attracted 6.3m viewers, the lowest of the year to date. I'm sure it is no coincidence that it was also the worst episode of the year thus far - a satire of the brain rotting properties of television set in 1953 during the Queen's coronation. It exhibited all the worst attributes that have been turning the series into a smug pantomime. ... At least the villainous Wire on the weekend, played by Maureen Lipman, was a proper evil baddy, in the episode titled the Idiot's Lantern written by League of Gentleman co-creator Mark Gatiss, but the plot was pretty thin, with no time to develop - another major problem of the modern series - everything is so rushed. While it's pretty clear David Tennant is a better Doctor than Christopher Eccleston ever was, the series redeeming features are in danger of getting swamped by self indulgent, self satisfied output that suggests that the production team is producing the show for their mates and not the audience. Maybe success has all gone to their heads

CBBC News: "'I heard they rot your brains. Rot them into soup and your brain comes pouring out your ears, that's what television does!' So says an elderly woman in the pre-title sequence of this week's episode. Officially, I suppose I should be offended as I've spent most of my working life involved in TV, and most of my non-working life watching it. Indeed, this episode is even called The Idiot's Lantern - a nickname for TV sets. Unsurprisingly then, TVs have a key role in the plot. ... This is a very different episode, written by Mark Gatiss, who penned last season's Unquiet Dead. It rattles along well enough, but unfortunately doesn't have the energy that previous episodes have had. It has a slightly clumsy sub plot about equality between men and women, and a villain who's never really satisfactorily explained - I much prefer us to understand more about their background. That said, there's some nice stuff in here. The revelation of what's happening to the victims is fabulous (hats off to the special effects wizards at The Mill). And it's good to see Rose well entwined in the nastiness that's going on. Every series has to have its peaks and troughs though, and after the frantic excitement of the Cyberman episodes, this was always going to be a smaller, less epic adventure where the mystery was wrapped up very quickly. And many will enjoy its more intimate nature. But I'm now really looking forward to the next two-parter which Billie Piper told me was the most frightening thing they've done yet!"

BlogCritics: "After the big Tom MacRae 'Rise Of The Cybermen'-'The Age Of Steel' two-parter, Mark Gatiss' 'The Idiot's Lantern' seemed more underwhelming than overwhelming. While too many plots were happening in the former, there didn't really seem to be a plot with the latter - or at least one that was tied to everything well enough. ... There's a nice little nod to 'Logopolis' with the final chase/fight scene on the tower. Wouldn't it have been interesting to have that as a cliffhanger rather than the RTD Cybermen two-parter a few episodes away? The Doctor could simply fall off after being exhausted from fighting The Wire and cut to credits, as it appeared he was seemingly out of breath. On second thought, it probably would have been terrible given the spoilers that he would come back in the next few episodes of the next season. After being tight on the accents with the past few episodes, we return to more grumbling. This time the fault lies with Jamie Foreman's Eddie, whose language is so thick I couldn't figure out if that was a character trait or the lack of ability to convey his words. Tennant did that a few times himself, which is even more irritating since the show is about The Doctor. Understand, this is not a demand for British actors to speak clear English -- I just want to be able to hear the words coming out of their mouths. The London Police bits seemed a bit tagged on. Rather than use them to store all the faceless, Gatiss could have easily stuck them in one of the houses that had a large basement or something that wouldn't have involved having to tag on more characters. The less of them you have, the more centered you can be on the plot at hand, something Doctor Who often loses when it adds on the baggage. I almost couldn't review this episode because it seemed so blah." (BlogCritics also reviews the two part "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel.)

Other Press Items

Influential UK multi-channel TV guide What Satellite and Digital TVannounced the results of its annual readers' awards on May 24 and Doctor Who won "Best Sci Fi Show".

The Western Daily Press noted that "They are virtually indestructible, have a fearsome arsenal of weapons and millions of them want to destroy all human beings - oh, and they raise a lot of money for charity by opening village fairs. Yes, the Daleks have arrived in the West with the formation of a new group of Dr Who-hating, terrifying machines, on a mission to raise cash for a cancer charity. Three Dr Who fans have spent months painstakingly recreating the contraptions, complete with motorised movement, moveable weapons and Dalek-voice machines. And the first on their list of communities to exterminate this summer was the normally quiet and picturesque village of West Lavington in the heart of Wiltshire. And amid the schoolchildren maypole dancers, beer tent and sea scouts displays, the three Daleks cut an eerie and slightly terrifying sight after they opened the village's May Fair."

BlogCritics says that Americans should give the new series a chance. "I haven't been on Outpost Gallifrey in months as a regular poster (I lurk mostly) - I don't need to be overwhelmed by dozens of threads that usually go over ten pages long on the same subject. Some of the subjects lose their point in petty fighting and the like, but some make valid points. One of the most eye-opening ones was merely these words: 'Why is Who doing so badly in the U.S. (United States) ratings?' There are lots of reasons given in the thread why the show is doing badly (which is currently airing on the Sci-Fi Channel with Series 1): timeslots, language differences, and the rather strange narrative that the show has had for its entire run since '63. It could just be that Americans largely dislike foreign shows because they don't have a clear and concise explanation of what their show is about right away. It requires too much energy for them (although this same audience watches the often headache-inducing 24 and Prison Break on Fox). For me, it's a matter of the script and who writes it. In my reviews of 'New Earth' and 'Tooth and Claw', one of my chief complaints was the clear lack of understanding of the words spoken by the actors, David Tennant especially. Those, however, are under the pen of Russell Davies. Under someone such as Steven Moffat, there is a sense of clarity in not only the dialogue, but even in the story itself. Things got better with his episode, 'The Girl In The Fireplace,' as well as the current Tom MacRae Cybermen two-parter that just finished. I suppose 'School Reunion' deserves a mention, too. If the show keeps displaying good work and a clear sense of what's being said and done on the screen, the show will eventually win U.S. viewers. As it stands right now with Series 1 being aired in the United States, we may not give ourselves a chance to find that out. Oh well, there's always DVD and the old VHS tapes."

The Independent says that "Doctor Who is accustomed to renaissance. He clutches at his hearts, announces that this is the end and, in a blur and blaze of Colour Separation Overlay, becomes a man with an entirely different Equity number. That's nothing, however, to the renaissance currently being experienced by Doctor Who: Russell T Davies grinning his big Welsh grin all over the BAFTAs, ratings so huge that they have altered industry prognoses about the future of TV drama; a nation enthralled by the chavvy, chipmunky majesty of Billie Piper. My tutor at university used to say that one of the most significant things about the Renaissance was that it was the moment at which it became impossible for one person to have read every book in existence. What era can we be said to have entered when it is no longer possible for a single person to have consumed every text bearing the Doctor Who logo? This month, the tally of new material includes four episodes of the new Saturday night series on BBC1, four instalments each of the cable spin-offs Doctor Who Confidential and Totally Doctor Who, one issue of Doctor Who Magazine, two issues of the Doctor Who Adventures comic, two audio-only dramas on CD, three hardback novels, one paperback novella, seven mass market non-fiction books and one academic study by the Professor of Film at Leicester University. So to participate completely in the cultural practice of Doctor Who, you would have to devote every waking hour to it. You would have to give up your job and renounce family and friends. You would have to stay hunched in your room for days at a time. (If you've just thought of an unkind joke about Doctor Who fans, hush your mouth - at least they don't go on the rampage through city centres when they don't like the result on Saturday.) James Chapman is not the first academic to subject Doctor Who to seminar-style analysis. That honour goes to a double act, John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado, whose Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text (1983) applied the theoretical discipline of the Frankfurt school to Doctor Who's melodramas of alien invasion, alien possession and alien killer plastic inflatable armchairs. As Chapman observes, this approach caused so much amusement in the Doctor Who production office that one of the book's more impenetrable sentences made it into the series. In the 1987 story 'Dragonfire', a glum-looking heavy asks Sylvester McCoy's Doctor: 'What do you think of the assertion that the semiotic thickness of a performed text varies according to the redundancy of its auxiliary performance codes?' The Doctor, for once, is speechless. When The Unfolding Text was published, Doctor Who non-fiction existed principally to tell you what the acronym TARDIS stood for, and that Patrick Troughton played the central part in the style of 'a cosmic hobo' - whatever that was. The potential readership just wasn't ready to investigate the hermeneutic coding of William Hartnell's astrakhan hat. And, judging by Chapman's book, neither are they now. Chapman's approach is unpretentious, readable, solidly authoritative and self-consciously anti-theoretical. 'The Doctor may have conquered Daleks, Cybermen and Ice Warriors,' he argues, 'but would he survive an encounter with Foucault, Derrida or Deleuze?' ... Doctor Who isn't just 28 seasons of television drama and one TV movie with Paul McGann in a dodgy wig. It's also 43 unbroken years of comic strips, 100-odd audio dramas, 300-odd novels, thousands of web pages and a mixed bag of stage plays, radio plays, webcasts, feature films, annuals, sketches and story anthologies. More importantly, Doctor Who is something that we do as well as watch or read. Its concepts and metaphors have invaded our language. It has colonised the British consciousness more effectively than any race of rubber-skinned aliens. It is a monstrous, unstoppable, ever-growing discourse. So what would happen if, on some time-trip to the Left Bank in the 1970s, Deleuze , Derrida and Foucault encountered Doctor Who? That's easy. It would simply slide on top of them like a giant green blancmange with a four-foot phallus."

icNewcastle writes, "A Doctor Who fan's lifelong dream has become a reality after appearing on the popular TV show. Lecturer John Paul Green, 33, has watched the long running sci-fi series ever since he was in nappies. He said: 'I'd watch the show every Saturday and be captivated all afternoon.' John, who works in the arts, design, media and culture department at Sunderland University, even wrote to Jim'll Fix It as a seven year old, begging Jimmy Savile to get him a part, to no avail. But in a bizarre twist of fate 26 years later, it was an old pal who fixed it for him. Matthew Pardo, who studied at the Wearside university with John and is now a journalist living in Bath, got wind of Dr Who auditions because of links with the casting agency involved. John said: 'I was over the moon. This was my chance to become a part of Dr Who history.' He was among 40 extras who got a job and then, to his delight, was chosen as the one person to appear in a close-up with the two stars . . . David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as his assistant Rose Tyler. The 12-hour shoot took place in Cardiff in January and the result was his appearances in The Rise of the Cybermen and the Age of Steel broadcast on May 13 and 20. John plays a human in the early stages of being turned into a ruthless Cyberman. He said: 'Billie was lovely, really warm and down to earth and made an effort to talk to the extras. David Tennant's a great Dr Who. He really gets into character the moment the cameras are rolling. The hardest thing was keeping it a secret from everyone.' The only people to know about John's brush with fame were his partner Kay and his parents. Then, when the first episode he appeared in was aired, John arranged a barbecue for all his friends and then announced that watching Dr Who would be part of the night's entertainment . . . without telling them beforehand about his role. He said: 'People commented `that looks a lot like you', and then the penny dropped. They were all utterly shocked and couldn't believe I'd managed to keep it from them.' John claims he's not obsessed with Dr Who, but when his mobile rings during our interview the tone is the theme tune of the show. He also wrote his Masters degree dissertation on the programme, and got it signed by 15 former stars of the series. And he's met his favourite doctor, Tom Baker. So what's next for John? He beamed: 'I'd love to appear in the next big Bond film.'"

The Evening Express asks, "Is There a Doctor in the house? Because I know a Time Lord who is desperately in need of treatment. To describe the second series of Doctor Who as 'disappointing' is a bit like describing the Titanic as a wee mishap at sea. The storylines are already repetitive. Instead of the undead in Victorian London we get werewolves on Victorian Deeside. The menace of the Daleks is replaced with the stomping of the Cyberman. Sorry, but Trigger from Only Fools And Horses isn't what I expect in my evil genius. Tonight's episode will see eerie forces at work in post-war London, just like the eerie forces at work in wartime London. It's too early for Russell T Davies and his team to be re-treading themes. I mean, how many more times is Rose going to go running after alternate versions of her dead dad? That poignant, plinky-plonky music is grating. Last year's series was a brilliant updating of Doctor Who, giving the classic themes a new, surprising twist. But this series is just stale. And central to the problem is the Doctor himself. Chris Ecclestone brought a dark edge to his Time Lord. There was a tormented soul under that gleeful bonhomie. You were never sure what he was going to do next. But I can tell you exactly what David Tennant will do. He'll shout. He'll go all wide-eyed (one wider than the other) and stare. He'll cackle with laughter and call himself a genius. Pass the ham. The only tortured souls now are those of us who wish we had a Tardis to bring back the Doctor who breathed magic into the character."

Other press items: Bella Online comments on the recent BAFTA wins;CityPages has a brief article about the new series from the perspective of a mock fan; the Bucks Free Press covered an event with writer Gareth Roberts; Now Playing Mag talks about Doctor Who comics; the North Devon Gazette talks about a Dalek who "drops in at bookstore".

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Peter Weaver, Paul Hayes)

A brief catch-up on the stories from the past two days; detailed coverage of last week's press is coming tomorrow.

The Idiot's Lantern Pre-Press

The official Doctor Who website has revised its front page with items aboutThe Idiot's Lantern including its "Fear Factor" segment and new photographs.

Heat magazine's reviewer Chris Longridge comments on The Idiot's Lantern that: "The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss is backin the writing chair for this new historical adventure (he also wrote last year's Charles Dickens episode) as the Doctor and Rose travel back to 1953, the year of the Queen's coronation. While Rose is busy stocking up on petticoats, the nation is gathered round its new TV sets to watch the event, unaware that there are nasties lurking in the set." He gives this eppy 5 stars, and Heat ranks this as 8 in their top 10 Best TV Shows of the week.

Closer has this week's episode as one of their Choices for Saturday: "It's back to the '50s tonight for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A seemingly innocent event you'd think - until the Doc shows up (his knack of stirring up trouble is even better than Miss Marple's!). As sooon as he lands his Tardis, monsters and aliens start roaming the streets and it's the usual race against time to get Rose out alive." (reviewer: Hannah Wright).

One of Reveal's Must Sees, the magazine writes: "The time-travellers touch down in 1950s London as the nation prepares for the Queen's Coronation. Instead of celebrating, Rose and the Doctor set to work battling the monsters rumoured to be stalking the streets." (Reveal gives it 4 out of 5 stars).

Sneak has this episode as one of it's Must-See TV shows: "...It's the Queen's coronation and monsters are everywhere. Funny how no one noticed at the time."

Star magazine gives the Idiot's Lantern 4 (out of 5) stars) and notes: "It's 1953 and the Doc and Rose are back in London again, just in time for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. As people are preocupied with the big event, they fail to notice something a lot more sinister - a threat of monsters on the streets." (reviewer: KH) (This eppy is also one of the mag's Top 10 terrestrial TV shows).

Love & Monsters

In this week's issue of Heat magazine, they have exclusive pics of Peter Kay's character in Doctor Who. The article reads: "Comedian lands his dream role. Yikes! It's hard to believe, but somewhere lurking inside this slimy alien is Peter Kay. The Phoenix Nights funny man's transformation was for an upcoming episode of Doctor Who, and these are the first exclusive pictures. Peter was so desperate to star in the classic BBC sci-fi series that he wrote a letter to creator Russell T Davies asking for a part. In the episode, entitled Love and Monsters - to be screened next month - Peter plays Victor Kennedy who morphs into Abzorbaloff, a creepy monster that absorbs humans into its skin. Scary stuff!" At right is one of the images; for a larger version, and more photos, pick up the issue now on sale.

People

Visual effects artist Mike Tucker, who has worked on both the original and new Doctor Who series, was awarded a BAFTA award on May 19 for Best Visual Effects along with his colleagues Red Vision and Gareth Edwards, for their work on the BBC One documentary "Hiroshima".

Bonnie Langford joins Tim McArthur this week on TheatreRadio, and recalls her time as the Doctor’s assistant during the interview. 'Tim McArthur Interviews…' is repeated twice daily at 2pm GMT and 10pm GMT until Sunday 28th July. "This week on TheatreRadio, Tim McArthur is joined by Bonnie Langford, who is currently starring as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre. As well as playing some fantastic music, Tim has a pair of tickets to give away, so make sure you tune in. Bonnie was thrilled to take part in ITV1's hit Saturday night show 'Dancing on Ice' where she undertook perhaps one of the most chilling challenges in her career so far. Partnered by the US figure skating champion Matt Evers and coached by the world famous Olympic Ice Dance Champions, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Bonnie skated her way into the final with spectacular, daring and beautiful routines. ... With a range of theatre classics and more contemporary tracks, TheatreRadio provides a unique blend of music and is accessible to everyone wanting to listen to musical theatre."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Peter Weaver, Andrew Norris, Ceri Laing, Steve Roberts)

Here's a quick recap of the major news items of the past few days; the rest of the press from the past eight days will be included in a proper (and quite large) TARDIS Report column on Sunday.

Latest Schedule Changes

The first showing of The Age of Steel this Saturday on BBC One is now confirmed in a 50-minute 6.35pm to 7.25pm timeslot, overlapping with CBBC's repeat of Totally Doctor Who 6 from 6.30pm that evening. Doctor Who Confidential follows immediately at 7.25pm on BBC Three, repeated on Sunday night/Monday morning at 3.25 am. A Cut Down version will be shown on Sunday 21st at 7.45pm and on Friday 26th at 9.45pm - both of these follow repeat showings of 'The Age of Steel' at 7pm and 9pm. There are also two more chances to see BBC Four's Time Shift documentary, Machine Men, on Friday 19th/Saturday 20th at midnight and 2.50am.

BBC Three's weekday evening repeats of Series Two begin on Monday 22nd at 7pm with New Earth (not The Christmas Invasion) and continue through to Rise of the Cybermen at 7pm on Friday 26th, ahead of that evening's 9pm repeat of The Age of Steel. There have been wildly different versions of BBC Three's schedule available from the Radio Times website and other online listings guides. The print version of Radio Times, however, lists five editions of Confidential Cut Down at 7.45-8.00pm each evening, covering first showings in this format of New New Doctor, Fear Factor and Friends Reunited, as well as Script to Screen and Cybermen. Since this is the schedule that seems to make the most sense, it's the one Outpost Gallifrey is using in our Broadcast Calendar on this page, although it obviously remains subject to change. It is not known whether these BBC Three repeats will include the red-button commentary now available on BBCi with the regular Sunday and Friday repeats.

Radio Times

This week's Radio Times selects The Age of Steel as its 'Drama of the Week', calling it "very possibly the best episode yet". A sequence from the episode is also Alison Graham's 'Moment of the Week', with her short write-up managing a fairly comprehensive spoiler for the scene in question. The magazine also previews the episode as "the best yet", commenting that David Tennant is "such a good actor. It's instructive to see how utterly at home he is in a role he's made his own. Frankly, it's impossible not to sigh in sheer admiration." The episode listing runs: "The continuation of last week's story. Terror mounts as the Cybermen seize London. Can a daring raid stop them in their tracks?" The accompanying 'Doctor Who Watch' feature is just one page this week, most of which focuses on Mickey Smith, with Noel Clark commenting that this is the episode "where his development really takes shape. He sees what he could become and he becomes it." The same page (and the magazine's cover, the seventh cover mention in eight weeks) promotes the latest selection of free stickers, which this week come glued to Mickey's face on the Doctor Who Watch page. There's also another letter, this time praising School Reunion and The Girl in the Fireplace as giving "a moving new dimension to an already timeless character." Finally, a three-page article on this year's BAFTA winners includes photos of and comments from David Tennant, Russell T Davies and Billie Piper. The Radio Timeswebsite has a number of photographs and video footage of the BAFTA-carrying stars at the after-show gathering. The site's Doctor Who section (link here) has been updated to include a Cybermen photo gallery and a competition running until 2 June to win Dalek posters and an iPod nano.

Blue Peter and Other TV Coverage

Monday's Blue Peter feature on the Cybermen can be seen online from the official site or from the Blue Peter site. Following that feature, K-9 made a very brief appearance on Tuesday's edition of Blue Peter to confirm that he will be accompanying presenter Gethin at the 'Bark in the Park' event - details at the Blue Peter website. In next Tuesday 23 May's edition, "Gethin investigates the real-life story of the invention which inspired the clockwork monsters" in The Girl in the Fireplace.

As Outpost Gallifrey reported on 27 April, David Tennant has donated a signed script to a charity sale in a church in Scotland, and the story has since been covered in a number of press and online reports, including CBBC Newsround on Tuesday. The next day's BBC One edition of Newsround included a quick report on the story, played over clips from The Christmas Invasion.

Noel Clarke was scheduled to "takes time out to chat about his Doctor Who character" on GMTV's Entertainment Today from 8.35am on Friday 19 May.

The Age of Steel Pre-publicity

There have, so far, been no trailers for The Age of Steel on BBC television this week, although the episode (and its earlier timeslot) has been promoted by continuity announcers during several programme links.

The official website was updated on Tuesday lunchtime, its new flash-animated homepage accompanied by the sound of marching Cybermen and links to some of the series' spin-off websites (Cybus Industries and Vitex). The photo gallery for the Cybermen story has been expanded to 37 pictures, and a range of sounds are avaiable for download, as well as Tardisode 6 and a Fear Factor rating of 5 (Terrifying).

Guest star Roger Lloyd Pack has been interviewed by BBC Norfolk, including a slide-show from the episode this weekend.

BBC One's listings for the week say of The Age of Steel: "The Cybermen take control of London and start converting the populace. While Jackie falls under Lumic's control, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey are reduced to fugitives in a world of terror. A last, desperate attack on the Cyberfactory is their only chance - but will they all survive?" (Link here) The same site says of this week's Totally Doctor Who: "Camille Coduri, better known as Rose Tyler's mum, Jackie, is back for more juicy gossip. Plus Andrew Hayden-Smith joins us on the sofa to talk acting, presenting and Cybermen! The Companion Academy turns up the heat as the cadets are put through another testing task when they are told to Face Your Fears. Liz takes a trip to The Mill, where the amazing computer generated Doctor Who effects are brought to life. And we go totally behind the scenes to see how a BIG explosion can be done on a very small scale."

In this week's Heat magazine, reviewer Chris Longridge notes that: "You won't be too shocked to learn that the gang survive last week's cliffhanger. With Trigger from Only Fools and Horses poised to take over the city via his earpods (imagine what he could do with an earpod nano), the Doctor infiltrates his robofactory - formerly known as Battersea Power Station - while Mickey literally has a word with himself and bucks up enough to finally do something useful." He gives The Age of Steel 5 stars, and Heat places it at number 9 in its Top 10 Best TV Shows of the week.

Closer magazine writes that: "The Doctor, Mickey ad Rose are still stranded in parallel London, and those pesky Cybermen are still clunking around the capital, trying to "upgrade" the population. The Doctor and his merry band of resistance fighters must launch one last dangerous assault to save the day. It's a tough episode for Rose too as she sufers not one, but two, heartbreaking goodbyes."

Star magazine has The Age of Steel as one of their Picks of the Day - "In the conclusion of this two-part episode, the dreaded Cybermen are running amok in London. Jackie is already under Lumic's control. Meanwhile the Doc, Rose and Mickey are fleeing for their lives. Their only hope for survival is an attack on the Cyber factory."

Other Press Items

Broadcast Now reports that "BBC1 is the UK’s most creative channel, according to Broadcast’s first Creative Report, an analysis of the most acclaimed British programmes, producers and broadcasters over the last year." The report says that "the channel's dominance in the drama series category is fuelled by hits such as Doctor Who and Bleak House." Doctor Who takes third place (behind Sex Traffic and Little Britain) in its chart of the top 10 most creative programmes, and topping the list of most creative new programmes (first shown in 2005). The report surveyed 300 programmes, taking into account awards wins and nominations over the 12 months to May 2006.

Great news for all Russell T Davies fans and British viewers who grew up watching Children's BBC in the early 1990s. Davies's two highly-regarded children's fantasy serials, 1991's Dark Season and 1993's Century Fallsare due to be released on Region 2 DVD in the UK by 2entertain Ltd on July 17. Dark Season, Davies's first full drama script for television, co-stars a young Kate Winslet, while according to former Children's BBC presenter Andi Peters on BBC Four's Russell T Davies - Unscripted documentary in 2005, Century Falls was regarded as so potentially disturbing for younger viewers by BBC bosses that they forbade any repeat screening. Neither serial has been released on VHS or DVD before, and while Dark Season was repeated on BBC One in 1994 and the CBBC Channel in 2001, Century Falls has remained in the vaults since 1993.

Various sources are reporting that on Saturday, ITV suffered the worst audience share in its history. Says the MediaGuardian (http://media.guardian.co.uk/overnights/story/0,,1775328,00.html subscription link): "Saturday's FA Cup final has been dubbed the greatest ever and the BBC1's near three hours of nailbiting live football helped condemn ITV1 to its worst ever daily audience share. ITV1 had a share on Saturday of just 11.8%, half a percentage point lower than its previous record low on July 2 last year, when BBC1 was showing live coverage of Live 8... Overall, BBC1 had an all-day share of 36.4% against ITV's 11.8%. Channel 4 came third, with 8.1%, followed by BBC2, 7.4%, and Channel Five, with 5.2%."

Says BBC News Online's coverage: "An ITV1 spokesman said: 'A big sporting occasion like the FA Cup Final will often cause a ratings blip.' A BBC One spokesman said: 'We are delighted that the thrilling FA Cup Final and the Cybermen's return to Doctor Who proved a winning combination to BBC One viewers.' Some 8.6 million watched Doctor Who. Last week, ITV announced plans to axe a string of programmes in a bid to refresh its main channel's schedule."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, Peter Weaver, John Bowman)

This week's Programme Information from the BBC Press Office previews the episode The Impossible Planet with an interview with Will Thorp, guest starring as Toby in both this episode and the second-half airing the following week, "The Satan Pit". "Former Casualty and Strictly Come Dancing star Will Thorp is drawn to the dark side in the second, two-part story of this season's Doctor Who. In The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit he plays Toby, an archaeologist in a team of space explorers from Earth trapped on a planet in the orbit of a Black Hole. After leaving Casualty's Holby General, and honing his dancing skills on Strictly Come Dancing, Bristol-born Will could hardly believe his luck when he received a couple of scripts from Doctor Who executive producer and lead writer Russell T Davies and producer Phil Collinson. It didn't take much for him to decide to accept the part. 'I would have said 'yes' to it whatever [the part] was,' says Will. 'It was the fact that it was Doctor Who! I read the script and it was a fantastic part, especially as I had previously been playing a regular role of a cheeky chappy - he's an intense, moody guy. To be sent a couple of scripts doesn't happen that often, and certainly not for something like that. I feel really lucky to have got the role.' In the two-part story, penned by Matt Jones, the Doctor and Rose arrive on a desolate planet in the orbit of a Black Hole, and soon find themselves trapped with Will's character, Toby. 'Toby is a twenty-something uptight archaeologist, and he's one of a crew of space explorers,' explains Will. 'They've been on a mission in space, exploring certain planets, and they get stuck on this planet which is right next to a Black Hole. Bits of the planet are coming off and being sucked into the Hole, which make it impossible for them to leave, so they set up base there. They've made a space station, and have basically spent the last couple of years just exploring the planet, digging and seeing what is around. And it seems that there have been signs of life in the past - that there was a life form millions and millions of years ago.' The group come to realise that they are in danger, as something ancient beneath the planet's surface begins to awake, and it's soon a race against time for the Doctor and Rose to prevent them all from being sucked into oblivion. And for Will, the experience of working on Doctor Who was, indeed, almost out of this world. 'It was surreal, really! You're kind of sat there, with the Tardis in the corner, a couple of Cybermen stacked up… I had to keep on pinching myself to make sure it was real. It was like being in the playground,' Will says laughing. 'Can we play on the Tardis for 20 minutes before we do any work?' A massive Doctor Who fan, Will watched Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) as he grew up, and made sure that he tuned in for the series' return last year. 'I watched the very first episode and I thought it was great. When you bring back a series and it's been successful, there's a risk it can flop, but I think because it has someone like Russell T Davies, executive producer Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson behind it, what they managed to do, which is incredible, is that they captured the essence of Doctor Who. They won the Bafta recently, which was brilliant, and it will just go from strength to strength. Every episode in this series is a winner.' Currently, Will is on an 18-week national tour, performing in the play Strangers On A Train, a psychological thriller which was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. But Will can't shake off the Doctor Who connection. 'Funnily enough, I'm working with Colin Baker [the Sixth Doctor] – he's in the play. So that was really strange - I finished seven weeks filming Doctor Who, I had one day off, started rehearsing the play, and I'm with one of the old Doctors. It was weird – a very small world'"

The Programming Information document for Saturday 3 June features details on the episode as noted below.

Rise of the Cybermen Publicity

As well as this week's Tardisode for Episode 5, a 20-second trailer for Saturday's episode debuted last Saturday night on the Doctor Who media player on the official website, as part of its update for "The Girl in the Fireplace". Composed almost entirely of footage shown in Episode 4's 'Next Time' trailer, this trailer was first broadcast on BBC One on Sunday afternoon and has been shown frequently throughout the week. Mid-week, it gained an extra line of text noting the series' BAFTA-winning success this week.

The Radio Times for 13-19 May, published on Tuesday 9 May, featured Doctor Who's fifth cover in just over a year (see OG News, May 10), with a five-page Doctor Who Watch feature with several photographs of the new Cybermen design and comments from Neill Gorton (special make-up and prosthetic effects) and Edward Thomas (production designer). "We wanted to bring the Cybermen into the 21st century ... and give them a uniformity that they didn't have previously," says Gorton. "Russell T Davies was adamant they had to look like steel ... We ended up doing it as 'cold-cast metal': you take a powdered metal, add it to a resin and brush that into your moulds, then put fibreglass behind that." Edward Thomas reveals that "The whole design concept of the episode was that it was going to be Art Deco, so we kept the very Art Deco lines [for the Cyberman design] ... it all has to feel as if it clips together." The actors playing Cybermen wear a Lcra suit underneath the cyber-costumes, and actor Paul Kasey says that "It took about half an hour [to put it all on], the first time. By the end of the shoot I'd got it down to about ten minutes." Also shown are a couple of the initial alternative designs for the new-look Cybermen. Writer Tom MacRae is interviewed, commenting, "We've gone to the root of what's scary, which is that they come and they take you and they don't kill you, but they turn you into one of them. That's the story." Alison Graham selects Rise of the Cybermen for her moment of the week: "It's the noise that attracts everyone's attention. The steady thud, thud, thud of metallic feet crunching inexorably towards a country house where Britain's powerful people are enjoying a party ... They're back, and they're terrifying." Graham also previews the episode as one of Saturday's choices: "Gripping though all this is, the real interest of tonight's episode is the return of the Doctor's old foes ... There's a big build-up to their first appearance ... If anything, they're more scary [now], and there's a geniune dread as they clump, clump, clump towards the Doctor and Rose, ready to take over the world." According to Saturday's listings, "The Tardis is trapped on a parallel Earth and an old enemy is about to be reborn." Also noted in the magazine is a Blue Peter feature on Monday 15 May at 5pm, "How [show presenter] Gethin played a Cyberman in Doctor Who", which is previewed more fully in the Kids' TV section. There's also a letter following up on last week's correspondent, correcting the idea that K9 mark 3 was not built by the Doctor.

A trailer for the episode has also been broadcast on BBC radio since midweek. It shares several scenes with the TV trailer, but also includes a brief piece of Cyberspeech. It can be heard via Radio 4's Listen Again on the BBC's Today programme for Wednesday May, about 1 hour 30 minutes in, for six days after broadcast (you can find it here).

Wednesday's regular update to the official site introduced a noisy Cybermen flash animation to the homepage, with a picture gallery of 13 photos, mostly publicity shots of Cybermen. Also, the BBC homepage has a Cyberman on the front, along with various links to Doctor Who items.

The episode preview on Totally Doctor Who on Thursday (repeated Saturday, 6.30pm, CBBC) comprised a fairly long continuous scene, with Lumic unveiling a Cyberman - which speaks to him and correctly identifies him.

The CBBC Newsround site now features several new promotional pieces on Rise of the Cybermen. A behind-the-scenesarticle appeared on Thursday, and includes an interview with Cyber-actor Paul Kasey. Lizo's weekly episodepreviewwas posted on Friday afternoon - it includes some possibly mild spoilers for later in the series, as well as some conversation with Russell T Davies, mostly confined to dismissing certain theories about the series' story arcs as "Nonsense!" Intriguingly, most of said theories appear to have originated with Davies himself, in various interviews! At the same time, aquizquiz on the Cybermen debuted at Newsround's Doctor Who mini-site (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/doctor_who/default.stm).

On the review side, Heat magazine's reviewer Chris Longridge awards Rise of the Cybermen the max five stars and writes that: "We've been lucky enough to have nothing but one-off eps so far this series, but now we have to cope with one of those cliffhanging two-parters that make us every bit as frustrated as they did when we were kids. We join the Tardis as it crash-lands on an alternative Earth, where Zeppelins are the only mode of transport for the well-to-do. Mickey is London's most wanted terrorist and Rose's dad is alive - and successful enough to have his own annoying catchphrase. As you may have read elsewhere, the big threat comes from the Cybermen - an old enemy of the Doctor's who are essentially humanoid Daleks, but instead of shouting "Exterminate! Exterminate!", prefer the altogether wackier, "Delete! Delete!" (Come on, chaps, you could have tried a bit harder there.) But where do these robo-bastards come from? Well, the episode contains a coded warning about the prevalence of a popular media accessory called an "earpod". Are they trying to tell us something?" Heat places this week's episode at number 3 in their week's Best TV Shows.

Closer comments that: "The monsters in this series of Doctor Who have been a bit namby-pamby so far.So tonight it steps up a level, when the Doc stumbles upon an old enemy, in fact he stumbles on about 100 of them. Enter the Cybermen, who are very, very scary. Rose, the Doc and Mickey land the Tardis back in London - but not London as we know it. this is the big smoke in a parallel world. The two-parter ends on a real cliffhanger, and while Roger Lloyd-Pack is brilliant as the baddie, to us he will always be Trigger from Only Fools and Horses." (reviewer: Hannah Wright).

New magazine has this week's episode at number 5 in their Top Ten Picks and writes: "The Doctor and Rose come face to face with an old enemy when they travel to a parallel Earth. There, they meet an army of Cybermen created by evil genius John Lumic. It's an emotional experience for Rose, because int his world her dad is still alive. Concludes next week." (reviewer: David Bell)

Reveal writes: "Since being handed the keys to the Tardis last year by Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant has become a firm favourite with fans of the sci-fi series. So far in this run, he's seen the return of Sarah Jane and K-9, and fought several particularly nasty baddies. In this first of a two-part adventure, hwoever, he faces his toughest challenge yet as he takes on some of his deadliest ever foes. The Time Lord and his intrepid sidekick arrive back in the rpesent day to find history has been dramatically altered, with Rose amazed to learn her father is still alive in this alternative reality. She must quickly put her elation to one side, though, as the Cybermen are planning to take over the world. Roger Lloyd-pack guest stars." The magazine gives this episode 4 stars and it's their Must See - Pick of the Day.

Star magazine gives Rise of the Cybermen four (out of 5) stars and it's their Pick of the Day. "After the Daleks, the Cybermen were teh most legendary of the Doctor's foes back in the early days. They get a revival in this mammoth two-parter. The Tardis crashes and ends up trapped in an alternative world - one where Rose's father is still alive, she is a Yorkshire terrier and the wealthy live in Zeppelins! Her father is entangled with a powerful businessman, whose enterprises involve downloading information into peoples' heads. He's dying and the only way to save himself - and spare the world from pain - is to create Cybermen, immortal, unfeeling types." (reviewer: KH) (the magazine also has this ep at number 3 in their top 10 terrestrial TV shows)

BBC Books Sales and Audiobooks News

All three Tenth Doctor novels have spent the past fortnight in the top six of the Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers chart, published by trade magazine The Bookseller. This week, The Resurrection Casket remains at number 6, while The Feast of the Drowned has moved up one place to number 4, and The Stone Rose has slipped from number two to number three. As The Bookseller notes, this was a week that saw "a feast of new entries" in the chart, but the Doctor Who sales have remained steady at around 3,000 copies of each book per week. The total sales for the three novels in the past four weeks are: The Stone Rose 12,923; The Feast of the Drowned 10,836; and The Resurrection Casket 10,699, still substantially ahead of sales figures for the initial Ninth Doctor releases in May 2005.

The next batch of novels expected in the autumn (see OG News, 21 April) are also due to be released on audiobook, according to listings at Amazon.co.uk. There is no news yet of who will be reading them, but Amazon lists all three CDs for release on Monday 2 October.

BBC Books' contribution to the Quick Reads literacy initiative, I Am a Dalekby Gareth Roberts, is now beginning to appear in shops in the UK, a little ahead of its official publication date of 18 May.

The Girl in the Fireplace Post-publicity

The official site update after Saturday's episode The Girl in the Fireplaceincluded a larger number of video diaries than have featured over the previous three weeks: there are interviews with Sophia Myles (Reinette), Louise Page (Costume Designer), and a horse (the horse), as well as features on the making of the clockwork men and the eye camera. This week's new game, via Mickey's 'Defending the Earth' official spin-off website (http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk), is called 'Tick Tock' and involves defeating clockwork men to locate missing crystals from various eighteenth-century locations. As usual, it is preceded and followed by short video messages from Mickey Smith.

The commentary this week was by writer Steven Moffat and actor Noel Clarke. Available for download from the official site, it was also a red-button extra on the BBC Three repeats on Sunday and Friday evenings - now a regular BBCi extra, and listed as such in the Radio Times.

Added to the CBBC Newsround site on Thursday was an interview with Jessica Atkins, who played the young Reinette in The Girl in the Fireplace.

This week's Totally Doctor Who interviewed Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Jessica Atkins and Sheelagh Wells (Make-up Designer), and had behind-the-scenes features on the fire extinguisher/ice gun used to stop the clockword droids and the costumes used for the episode.

The episode was enthusiastically reviewed by Slade's Noddy Holder on the Mark Radcliffe show on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday evening at about 11.30pm. (This should also be available on Listen Again on the BBC Radio Player).

Series Two Repeats (Already)

According to the Radio Times website, BBC Three will be running consecutive weekday repeats of The Christmas Invasion and the first three episodes of Series Two from Monday 22 May at 7pm, with a 7.45-8.00pm cut down Confidential after each episode. This scheduling is clearly provisional - The Christmas Invasion is shown incorrctly as running at 45 minutes, and the same Confidential episode is listed for all four evenings.

Other Media Items

Wednesday's Marina Hyde column in The Guardian newspaper references the episode Tooth and Claw in a piece discussing the recent revelations of Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten about his private life, titled Never mind battling demons and consulting a shrink. "This failure to assume anything puts me in mind of a recent episode of the majestic Doctor Who," writes Hyde, "in which the Doctor, Rose and Queen Victoria are en route to Balmoral, and use the house of a highland lord as a staging post. Little do they realise that the owner's wife has been taken prisoner and his staff replaced by psychotic, shaven-headed men, who force him to act as if nothing is amiss. Towards the end of the episode, when the day has been saved, his lordship asks the Doctor why he didn't realise sooner that something was up. 'Well,' comes the cheeky reply, 'your wife was away, you were surrounded by bald, athletic men... I just thought you were enjoying yourself.' Ah, beware the simple answer, Doctor! As the Time Lord eventually discovered, the wife and servants were in fact being held hostage by a werewolf-worshipping cult. If only Mr Oaten had cared to name the psychiatrist he has been seeing for all these years, I would call him and moot the possibility that the MP and his family were in the thrall of some terrible evil - possibly lupine - and advise him to flag down the Tardis without delay."

The website of the Belfast Telegraph newspaper is carrying a news story about David Tennant having visited the city recently, and taking in a Derry City football match while he was there. He was evidently visiting as part of the making of his forthcoming episode of the BBC geneology show Who Do You Think You Are?, and has a connection to the Derry City football team - according to the article, "His grandfather Archie McLeod was a record goal-scorer for the side in the 1930s." Derry City's Chairman, Jim Roddy, is quoted as saying that "He is a quiet, decent fellow and very proud of his roots - I think he was very humbled by the whole experience."

Outpost Gallifrey will feature a recap of the rest of the week's press coverage (nothing major, but mentions here and there) in our next TARDIS report.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, Peter Weaver, John Bowman, Chuck Foster)