Sorry about the delay in bringing you this update... it's been a busy week. On to the news:

Note to UK viewers: the broadcast time for May 21's episode, The Empty Child, on its original run on BBC1, has been changed due to that evening's transmission of the Eurovision Song Contest. "The Empty Child" will air at 6:25pm (to 7:10pm) on BBC1.

The BBC Press Office has today posted its programme information for the week 21-27 May. The Features section (note: PDF file) includes a photograph of Christopher Eccleston and Richard Wilson in The Empty Child, captioned "The Doctor and the doctor ... Christopher Eccleston and Richard Wilson, as Dr Constantine, star in Saturday's action-packed Doctor Who, set in wartime London (BBC One)". Saturday's highlights document (also a PDF file) includes a (slightly spoiler-y) preview for The Empty Child, which is to be broadcast at 6.25pm. That spoiler summary is located in the spoiler tag below.

The BBC Press Office has also posted press releases for various items in its Commercial section today, including a press release on the Doctor Who Exhibition in Brighton, plus the new series radio documentary Project Whorelease on CD as well as the release of the classic serial The Crusade on audio.

Canadian ratings this week: "World War Three" had 936,000 viewers tune in for this past Tuesday's broadcast, the second highest number of viewers (behind "Rose") of the new series in that country. It appears to have been fourth in the overall ratings for the evening and second in its time slot.

Transmission of the May 17 broadcast of the series in Canada, for the episode "The Long Game," will be preempted that week in one province, British Columbia, in place of coverage of the BC provincial elections. However, tentative plans have been reported for CBC to rebroadast the series on Sunday evenings in June, so Canadian fans in BC will have to wait until then, if it happens, to see it. Meanwhile, the CBC website has replaced the trailer for the long-delayed documentary "Planet of the Doctor" with excerpts from the first three of an expected six episodes, including "Who is the Doctor?" "Fandemonium," and "The Adventures of Doctor Who." Broadcast is not quite scheduled yet... but at least it's something more than the trailer. No indication as to when the full episodes will be posted.

Issue 131 of SFX is released next week. The issue comes with a free set of nine postcards, five of which feature images from the new series: Chris and Billie, the TARDIS interior, and the gold Dalek. Inside the issue itself is a five-page Doctor Who feature, the bulk of which is made up with SFX's interview with Christopher Eccleston. It was carried out shortly before the announcement was made that he wouldn't be returning for a second series, but it still contains some interesting hints as to what may have informed his decision. He talks quite candidly about how exhausting the job was, for one thing: "If you play the Doctor, the hardest thing is: you can't have a life. You CANNOT have a life. You can't socialise. It's like having a TARDIS in your skull and every time you open your mouth you see a TARDIS. There were days when I got psoriasis, I got eczema. My face blew up in the Dalek episode - I looked literally disfigured with tiredness and my skin." The feature also includes short interviews with Mike Tucker and guest star Simon Pegg. For full details of the issue, check out the SFX website. You can also read SFX's ongoing reviews of each episode here.

Christopher Eccleston is making new waves on the football front: the Doctor Who star has stumped up ú10,000 to help stop Manchester United being sold to American businessman Malcolm Glazer. "Christopher couldn't bear the thought of his beloved team falling into the hands of Glazer so dug deep to put an end to the team being take over," says Sky News. "The United fan's donation may sound like a lot, but it's merely a splash in the water considering the ú100 million that is needed to save the club. ... Eccleston's money went to supporters group Shareholders United, who plan to block Glazer's plans to bid for the club in July." The story has also been reported atBBC News, ESPN,Red Issue, Belfast Telegraph, Tribal Football, The Times, the Daily Mail, Manchester Online, and ContactMusic.

David Tennant will play Brendan Block, a man with disturbing psychotic tendencies, in "Secret Smile," an ITV1 drama adapted from Nicci French's bestselling novel of the same title. ITV executives apparently believe they have pulled off a casting coup in securing Tennant prior to his trip in the TARDIS which starts filming this summer. Secret Smile goes into production next week and will be broadcast on ITV1 in two 90-minute episodes. The story's covered in The Guardianand in print editions of various papers.

A review of the series in the Wessex Scene: "When I tuned in to see the first episode of the new Dr Who I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is really quite good. Writer Russell T Davies, whose most famous creation aside from Doctor Who is Queer as Folk, the controversial Channel 4 series, ensured that the general tone of the show contained drama, character development and good-natured, self-mocking cheesiness in equal measure. Eccleston's impressive CV shows that he's an accomplished actor, and this was certainly apparent in the show. He seemed to give the Doctor charm with depth, and brought out the enigmatic qualities of his character so well that I wanted to tune into the next episode just to find out how much of the character he will reveal next. Piper, though best known as a teenage pop singer and ex-wife of Chris Evans, appears to be a genuinely good actress, as her recent acclaimed performance in The Canterbury Tales would suggest. Judging by the first episode, her character is more of a co-star than a sidekick to the Doctor, and it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops."

The Times Online has reviewed Russell T Davies: Unscripted, the biography of the executive producer of the series."A naughty big, gay cuddly man from Swansea, Davies is a writer and the executive producer of this new Doctor Who series and generally one of televisionÆs greatest assets. Russell T. Davies Unscripted (BBC Two) was a short romp through his career to date, featuring lots of hand-waving and self deprecation from the man himself, as well as insightful asides from various former bosses and that stalwart of the British arts scene, Mark Lawson. ... The programme had clearly been made to coincide with the start of the new Doctor Who series, as much was made of DaviesÆs love of the original Doctor, William Hartnell. Davies remembered watching this at the age of three, in particular the feeling of being scared out of his wits. Overseeing the injection of emotion and self-doubt into a DalekÆs brain before having it blow itself up must, therefore, have been somewhat cathartic for him. It is also, in some ways, a metaphor for his career."

More coverage: Billie Piper's personal life is under scrutiny (again) in theMirror and Megastar; a Derby fan reflects on Doctor Who at Derby County; BBC News reports on the reelection of Vernon Coaker, the Labour candidate told off for using a Dalek in his campaign; FemaleFirst reports on the fluffing of Simon Pegg's lines for this weekend's episode; and Milton Keynes Today reviews this past weekend's Collectormania event.

Finally today, a note of relevance to Doctor Who fans: Tim Collins, Conservative MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, narrowly lost his seat to the Liberal Democrat party. Whatever your stance or party affiliation, you may realize Tim's devotion to the series has kept it in the public eye - most notably when he spearheaded a letter to Michael Grade last year asking for assurances that he would not interfere in the show. So here's a shout out to Tim from Outpost Gallifrey for helping keep the spirit of the show alive.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Ian Wheeler, Jamie Austin, Dominic May, Jonathan Grills, Ian Berriman, David Farmbrough, Jonathan Massey, Geoff Wessel, Tom Beck, Rod Mammitzsch, Matthew Wilson, Bob Furnell, Benjamin Elliott)

Doctor Who did it again in Canada with over 899,000 viewers for the CBC broadcast yesterday of episode two, "The End of the World." Doctor Who came in fourth for the evening primetime slot behind programming's usual suspects: American Idol, Amazing Race, and Law and Order: SVU. As in the UK, the Canadian viewership is slightly down this week, but that was to be expected.

BBC Television issued a response to a complaint (reported as widespread, but in actuality it was limited to only a small handful of comments, if that) about the violence in episode three, "The Unquiet Dead." "Doctor Who is famously remembered by adults as being the family teatime programme which they watched from behind the sofa as children. The series has always been shown in the early evening and, while the monsters may be scary, the content is carefully considered for a pre-watershed audience," says the BBC response. "The programme sets out to balance the right amount of humour, drama and suspense in each episode. In The Unquiet Dead broadcast April 9th, the comic character of the Welsh undertaker and a larger than life Charles Dickens together with the laughter and bravery shown by the Doctor and Rose in the face of danger were, we believe, vital elements in putting this "ghost story" into the right context for a family audience. This is a balance we will strive week by week to maintain and remain vigilant about. Doctor Who has never been intended for the youngest of children and in line with the BBC's scheduling policy, the later a programme appears in the schedules, the less suitable it is for very young children to watch unsupervised. We would suggest it would be a programme which 8 year olds and above would enjoy watching with their parents. Programmes for very young viewers are clearly indicated in the listings. The programme is well trailed giving a clear indication of its content." News services covering this report include the Daily Record and the Times.

Also, in addition to the report earlier about the MSNBC cable network mentioning Doctor Who in the story about the Charles-Camilla wedding, we've had reports that this same report was also featured on yesterday morning's Today show on the NBC network here in America.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Rod Mammitzsch, Sara Neale, Paul Hayes)

Contrary to previous reports, it appears that the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles will not have an impact on transmission of "The Unquiet Dead" on Saturday. BBC One seems to have dropped an earlier programme from its schedules, allowing Strictly Dance Fever and Doctor Who to start on time.

The precise viewing figures for "Rose", episode one of the new series, have finally come in from the BARB. According to their official listings, the actual viewing figure for "Rose" is 10.81 million viewers, putting it at #3 in the BBC1 chart, and #7 overall for the week, beaten only by four episodes of "Coronation Street" and two "Eastenders" episodes. ("Doctor Who" is actually #3 in the top ten individual shows for the week, combining the "Coronation Street" and "EastEnders" episodes.) "Doctor Who"'s main competition, "Ant + Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway," came in at #20 for the week (#9 on the overall individual episodes list.) These figures exclude repeat/omnibus showings (e.g. the BBC Three repeats of EastEnders and Doctor Who) but do include figures for people who have recorded the show and watched it within seven days. "Rose" is also the third most watched non-soap show in the UK of 2005 so far, behind early March's "Comic Relief" and the New Year's Day special of "The Vicar of Dibley".

Some additional ratings information: Doctor Who was a huge success inCanada this week: 989,000 viewers watched the CBC broadcast of "Rose" on Tuesday, April 5. Says the Doctor Who Information Network, "Compared to the 9.9 million in UK this number might seem small...but for Canadian television numbers, and for the CBC this is HUGE, and exactly where we wanted the show to come in at." Also, the BBC3 repeat of episode 2 of "The End of the World" last Sunday at 7pm was watched by 402,980 viewers, according to ViewingFigures, representing a 2.78% share of all multi-channel viewing within the early evening time slot (6pm-8pm) and ranked 16th out of all the available multi-channels in the UK. This is another great performance considering there are over 250 multi-channels.

Russell T Davies appeared today at the Celtic Film Festival, in fact interviewed by his co-executive producer Julie Gardner, in the Balmoral Suite of the Holland House Hotel just outside the centre of Cardiff. Russell was interviewed on stage by BBC wales Drama chief Julie Gardner. the well-attended session commenced with an eight-minute montage of clips from Russell's work - including a lengthy clip from the Aliens of London story. Russell spoke at length and in great detail about his career, from his first drama writing credit on Dark Season (which he feels particularly fond of), through Queer as Folk and its attendant controversy, the Second Coming, Mine All Mine (the failure of which clearly baffles and frustrates him) and, of course, Doctor Who. An 'open mic' session finished off the discussion and several Who-slanted questions were forthcoming from the audience. A tabloid journalist asked if Chris eccleton's leaving the show had been a disappointed and both Russell and Julie stated unequivocally that it was always planned that he would do just one season and that the end of episode thriteen was supposed to be an enormous surprise for the audience - a surprise now blown. Russell stated that he ahd a very clear vision of how he wanted to do the seriesd, he spoke of some of the difficulties on mounting such an enormous production and when asked if they had favourite episodes both Julie and Rusell said their favourites changed from day to day. Russell said that 40-somethings would love the Dalek episode for the way it answered so many questions about the Daleks and said that the two-part story about to be shown is "very dark". Julie did reveal that the last scene of "The End of the World" is her favourite scene in the entire series. No news and details about the Christmas special or season two. We have a report in the SPOILERSsection below from a clip that was shown, along with the BBC Press Release details for the next story (see next item)

The BBC Press Office has this afternoon released programme information for Week 17 (16-22 April). This includes the Penelope Wilton interview from this week's Press Pack Four among the week's highlights features here (note: PDF file) as well as a spoiler-prone preview of Episode 5, "World War Three"(finally confirmed as the title!) in the highlights for their Saturday listing here(also a PDF file) with a preview article on that week's edition of Doctor Who Confidential. Click on the SPOILER TAG at the bottom for details!

The May issue of SFX Magazine, Issue 131, in the shops on April 13, includes a set visit from episode six of the new series, "Dalek". SFX was there on "Dalek Day", as Christopher Eccleston filmed the scenes where the Ninth Doctor confronts his mortal enemy for the first time. The SFX website will also be making a full transcript of their interview with director Joe Ahearne (conducted on the day of the set visit) available online, and they're running reviews of each episode of the new series as it airs. Issue 131 also comes with a pull-out A3 poster. one side of the poster features Billie Piper as Rose!

Meanwhile, the issue of TV Zone magazine released yesterday includes interviews with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, and an in-depth look at the new Dalek, featuring Mike Tucker and Nicholas Briggs - and new photos from Episode Six, Dalek! The issue also includes special reviews of Rose from the TV Zone staff, plus opinions from guest reviewers Rob Grant (creator of Red Dwarf) and Sci-Fi author Stephen Baxter. The issue also includes interviews with the director of the new Quatermass Experiment, Sam Miller, and star Isla Blair, a special Flashback feature on the work of Nigel Kneale, and features on The West Wing and the new Captain Scarlet. You can order it using these links: UK Order and US Order.

The CBBC channel's Newsround Showbiz at 3.50pm on Saturday appears to be including a behind-the-scenes feature on the new series again - this is the third one, so it look like a series...

ITV Teletext today has an article titled "The monsters who take on Doctor Who" which begins by interviewing Mike Tucker who discusses working with scale models: "You do spend a lot of time making models and setting them up only to destroy them in a matter of seconds, but it's part of the job." He goes on to add: "And I got to work on the new Dalek - what a bonus!" Mike goes on to say that Doctor Who works now because it is so up-to-date. Meanwhile, 'Special effects specialist' Neill Gorton discusses how he had no idea what a big job creating monsters for Doctor Who would be. He explains that Doctor Who monsters are planned well in advance from such descriptions as "green, 8ft baby-faced monsters" and are a team effort. Discussing the challenge of designing the inside of the new Dalek he states: "It was glimpsed in an old Tom Baker episode, but only as a blob-like being, so we were really starting from scratch, and Russell T Davies had some very strong ideas about it... We went through a lot of concepts and designs. They were about 80 per cent Russell's ideas and 20 per cent mine. He always wins when he wants to!"

Buxton Today features an article about Bruno Langley, who appears in two episodes of the series playing the role of Adam. The article interviews his sister, Lakshmi Langley, who mentions that "Bruno spent two months filming the episodes in Cardiff ù which feature the Daleks ù and he had an absolutely brilliant time. He got on so well with Christopher, saying he was an amazing actor. Bruno's character is one of the good guys. He plays a sort of intellectual college boy ù a genius ù which made us all laugh." Diane Langley, Bruno's mum, said: "This will be something quite different for him. He wants to explore different sides of his profession and not just stick to the same things."

The media player on the official site has been updated to include "The Seventies", the second in the series of clips and contemporary music (and originally part of the "Doctor Who Years" video shown at DW conventions in the UK.) According to the site, the 35-minute programme includes "clips from each story, there are also some interesting off-cuts, including an almost unbelievable appearance by Tom Baker on Swap Shop." Also on the official site... very subtle additions to the BBC Doctor Who Who Spy portion of the website that may or may not be noticed by many. They are clarifying the exact placing of each photo and where it fits in to the series.

Reports in the Daily Record, Alien Online and icHuddersfield, among others, note that Patrick Stewart will be playing a role in "Eleventh Hour," a ú4.5m production being billed as ITV's answer to Dr Who and is written by Stephen Gallagher, who penned the classic Doctor Who series episodes "Warriors' Gate" and "Terminus".

The Metro's Green Room reports that the BBC will no longer put up posters for the new series, as they keep getting stolen! Says a BBC source: "... they are just getting steamed off and collectors are selling them on the Net."

Maureen O'Brien, who played Vicki in the early years of "Doctor Who," is interviewed in the Bucks Free Press as she directs the play "Structures" at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham. Maureen admits that, although she and the cast are busy rehearsing in London, she did have time to watch the first episode of the latest of the series. "I really liked it. They really have something going for them and the casting is perfect. Christopher Eccleston reminds me so much of William Hartnell. All of the other doctors had something of a silly quality about them, that seemed to lesson the show somehow but, like Bill, Christopher is a really frightening, dangerous Dr Who. Slightly off-the-wall. And I think the reason why Billie Piper's goes off with him is great. I used to try and make my character, Vicky, a proper character but I don't think the 1960s were quite ready for that."

A snippet in the April 1 issue of Guardian, shopping section, titled "Dr Who's leather jacket": "Shame on you, Christopher Eccleston. No, not for quitting after one series. Shame on you for bringing the previously unimpeachable style of Dr Who into disrepute. Eight successive Doctors have steered the timelord's wardrobe through tricky sartorial waters, and now, after one single episode, Eccleston has stripped the Doctor of his style credentials. Gone is Tom Baker's long striped scarf legacy of the1970s. Its replacement? A shabby black leather peacoat. Nothing about this coat is stylish - it doesn't suit the cropped haired Doctor. We can only hope that now that Eccleston has bowed out, the jacket will be retired from duty too."

Express NewsLine says "The BBC's latest episode of Doctor Who is set in Cardiff, Wales, even though producers shot the sequences in Swansea. The episode set for broadcast Saturday portrays the Welsh capital in 1869, but a lack of period architecture drove the BBC team to Swansea, which has far more Victorian buildings than Cardiff, icWales reported Thursday. The show features Christopher Eccleston's battle with the eternal ghost-like aliens known as the Gelth and was written by author Mark Gatiss, who penned 'The League of Gentlemen.'"

"Who's back. And Who's looking vastly entertaining" says the Globe and Mailthis week, reviewing the first episode of the new series that was just transmitted in Canada. "Yes, the most distinctive theme music in the history of television is back, because that fella Dr. Who rides again," says the article. "Tonight's first episode of Dr. Who is terrific. It's wacky, colourful, lively and vastly entertaining. (I'll tell you here that I was never smitten with the series. Even when I saw it as a kid, I thought it was a very square drama.) In fact, it's a great example of a tired concept being expertly revived and cast. The BBC brought in Russell T. Davies, creator of the original Queer as Folk, to write it and he's done a superb job. ... Given the vast weight of the history of Dr. Who, the light, vaguely comic touch is absolutely necessary.

Manchester Online and BBC News report that Christopher Eccleston will star in the latest commercial created by the McCann Erickson agency for Manchester's Christie Hospital. The new campaign is part of a re-brand for the Christie charity and Eccleston will take part. "Scientists in Manchester say a cure for all types of cancer could be available on the NHS within five years," says BBC News. "The world's first patient trials in a technique which genetically engineers cells will take place at the city's Christie Hospital later this year."

Says icNorthWales, actor Rhys Ifans is not in line to play the Doctor, succeeding Christopher Eccleston. "I haven't the time," he jokes..

Billie Piper is profiled in Hello! Magazine, with details of her history and career to date.

Following up our story about CBBC presenter Devon Anderson wanting to be the next Doctor, BBC News is now reporting on the "campaign". "Describing himself as "a Doctor for the youth of today", Devon has been using his CBBC presenter slots to show how good he would be as the 10th Doctor."

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Mount, Dominic May, Paul Hayes, Craig Mullin, Dan Knight, Jamie Austin, Peter Weaver, Andy Parish, Rod Mammitzsch, David Farmbrough, Tony Jordan, Eddie Brennan, Stephen Graves and Ian Berriman)

The new Doctor Who series makes its debut tonight in Canada, the first country outside the UK to see the series' broadcast. Episode one, "Rose," will air this evening, Tuesday, April 5, at 8:00pm on the CBC network (8:30pm in Newfoundland). Canadian viewers can check out the CBC's website which includes information on the "Planet of the Doctor" web documentary and other general information about the series broadcast, or the website of Canada's national Doctor Who fan group, The Doctor Who Information Network, for further details.

BBC Kids in Canada is adding the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who episodes to their late night lineup starting April 16. "Spearhead From Space" airs late Saturday April 16, while the first 4 episodes of "Doctor Who and the Silurians" air late Sunday April 17. This is the first time that Pertwee episodes have aired on the digital Canadian cable network - previously they have aired the Tom Baker and Peter Davison stories. BBC Kids airs Doctor Who 7 days a week at 2AM Eastern (11PM Pacific). 2 episodes air weeknights, 4 episodes air Saturdays and Sundays. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott and This Week in Doctor Who)

CBC Television in Canada has issued their official press release for the forthcoming new Doctor Who series, due out on April 5, below. (Thanks to Rod Mammitzsch and DWIN)

The CBC network in Canada this evening aired a teaser trailer for the new series during a broadcast of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," which displayed the previously announced (but not then fully confirmed) broadcast date of April 5, 2005, at 8:00pm. So it's true, Canada will indeed get the series about 10 days after the UK broadcast.

The new Doctor Who series will air beginning Tuesday, April 5 in Canada, according to a solid airdate confirmation from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and from several sources including Benjamin Elliott's "This Week in Doctor Who." According to the report, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has scheduled Doctor Who for Tuesday nights at 8PM starting April 5, 2005. So far only the April 5th broadcast (without episode title) is showing. They have put up a temporary webpage up for their Doctor Who broadcast, though there's nothing there.

If you live in Canada or are in a border section of the US with access to the CBC, the Doctor has a home on April 5. And this should put to rest any worries that the show will broadcast earlier in the UK...

TBI Buyers' Briefing, a weekly information service sent to over 6,000 worldwide TV executives, this morning features a news item: "BBC scout gets feet under US table: Dr Who US sale being finalised". Among the various items mentioned in the report, which is mostly about the move of BBC Worldwide executive Paul Telegdy from London to the US, is an impending sale of the new series to this, the largest television market for the new show. "One really exciting franchise on both sides of the Atlantic that audiences know and love is Dr Who," Telegdy is quoted as saying in the report. It mentions that he is talking to an "interested party" and is confident it will be sold to a US network in the near future. "We're discussing the ratings potential of the show," he explains. He is likely referring to a cable network, not to one of the over-air broadcast networks.

Meanwhile, the UK trade paper Broadcast also mentions the Canadian acquisition of the show in an article in yesterday's edition. "Canadian public broadcaster CBC Television has become the first channel to buy the new series of Dr Who, months before it is due to air in the UK." (This doesn't mean it will air before the UK, only that it's been bought months before the broadcast.) But CBC Television executive director programming Slawko Klymkiw does state, "This was an exciting opportunity for CBC to bring Dr Who to fans new and old alike across the country. We are pleased to be working closely with BBC to bring Canadians this exceptional new series." (Thanks to John Freeman)

A press release on the BBC Press Office website today confirms the news Outpost Gallifrey recently noted: that an agreement has been signed with Canada's CBC network to broadcast the new Doctor Who series. "BBC Worldwide today concluded its first major pre-sale for the new Doctor Who series with Canadian public broadcaster, CBC Television," says the press release. Producer Russell T Davies notes that "Doctor Who has a remarkable 'fandom' but equally itÆs the new audience that I care about. Someone who has never heard of a TARDIS or a Dalek, whether in Toronto or Swansea, will be able to start with this new series, climb on board with Christopher and Billie, and travel the whole of time and space." Slawko Klymkiw, executive programming director of CBC Television, is quoted as saying, "This was an exciting opportunity for CBC to bring the popular Doctor Who to fans - new and old alike - across the country. We are pleased to be working closely with BBC to bring Canadians this exceptional new series," and Hilary Read, Chief Operating Officer, BBC Worldwide Canada adds, "The CBC is the perfect partner for this fantastic new production. We're delighted to be bringing such a classic series to new audiences." There is no information about when the series will air on CBC, but it will likely be sometime relatively soon after the new series is broadcast in the UK. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)