The British tabloid, The Daily Star, is reporting that Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page is to appear in two future episodes of Doctor Who.

Episode Eight of the new series of Doctor Who will be broadcast at 6.15pm on Saturday 22nd May.

The programme has a new lead in this week, a repeat of the Alan Sugar Junior Apprentice series. It is followed once more by Over The Rainbow. On ITV viewers can see The Whole 19 Yards while BBC Two has Golf: PGA Championship followed by Coast. Channel 4 has Come Dine with Me followed by Channel 4 News, with Five showing the film How the West Was Won, a 1962 Western with James Stewart and John Wayne.

Meanwhile the Press details for the second part of this two part story have been released by the BBC Press Office.


Full series information can be found here.

The Daily Mail has provoked a comment on the new series from an organisation with a long track record of expressing concerns about the classic series, Mediawatch-UK.

Mediawatch is the successor to the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, the organisation founded by Mary Whitehouse in 1965. Whitehouse was extremely critical of Doctor Who during the period produced by Philip Hinchcliffe between 1975 and 1977. She made complaints about several of the serials during this era, particularly The Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, The Brain of Morbius, The Seeds of Doom and The Deadly Assassin.

The latest comment comes in a Daily Mail article which claims 'dozens' of fans are upset with the BBC, accusing the production team of trying to 'sex up' the programme to attract more adult viewers. The main focus of the complaint is the final scene in Flesh and Stone, a scene which the Daily Mail was convinced would worry viewers when it previewed the episode last Saturday. In the article, Vivienne Pattison, of Mediawatch UK, is quoted as saying "I have to say the scene was slightly out of place in a children's programme. I thought it sailed pretty close to the wind."

The BBC is also quoted in the article, confirming that it had received 43 complaints about Saturday's episode. A spokesman said "Millions of Doctor Who fans watched and enjoyed last Saturday's episode, including the lighthearted and humorous scene in which Amy kissed the Doctor."

The Doctor Who Proms have sold out on the first day of ticket release. The two proms will take place in July at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Tickets went on sale Tuesday morning and the event was sold out by lunchtime. Over 500 Arena and Gallery tickets will be available on the day to members of the public queuing at the Royal Albert Hall. The Saturday Prom will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and recorded for future broadcast on BBC Three.

Discworld creator Terry Pratchett has questioned Doctor Who's Sci-Fi credentials. Talking to SFX magazine, the best selling author admits he finds the series very, very entertaining, with "its heart in the right place" but thinks "its head is often in orbit around Jupiter". "I just wish that it was not classified as science fiction. Doctor Who’s science is pixel thin."

Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has said he will like to turn his hand to comedy. Eccleston who has recently completed a John Lennon biopic for BBC4, told the Radio Times he had not worked since last year as he selects his TV roles so carefully. "I'm more slapdash about the film choices I make, whereas I choose my TV projects very carefully. But it's a tough time and I haven't worked since December because I'm choosy. I would actually like to do comedy for the rest of my life and surprise everyone and myself."

The BBC have uploaded the Graham Norton reference to Nortongate to their YouTube site.





The full programme, which features Karen Gillan as a guest, can be seen on BBC One Monday evening.

Press reviews for Flesh and Stone are appearing with The Telegraph praising it as a rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills. The reviewer is less sure about the final scene but feels quite a few viewers might have been rather jealous of the position Matt Smith was put in.

The Guardian says it was a classic episode, perhaps even the greatest episode of Doctor Who there has ever been, with an iconic sequence every couple of seconds.

Shadowlocked feels that Flesh and Stone wasn't able to repeat the creepiness of last week's encounter. although it praises some elements of the story it feels the story exited on a desperate note, and in a positive flurry of lucky chances.

Den of Geek calls it a blockbuster episode, a thrilling and really entertaining Saturday night adventure although the reviewer feels River Song was rather under used.

Anglotopia calls the episode hot, a perfect balance of fear, excitement, sadness and triumph.

The Daily Telegraph reports a renewed surge in popularity of bow ties thanks to Doctor Who. A spokesman for Topman says sales have shot up by 94% since The Eleventh Hour was aired. The Guild of Tiemakers chairman, John Miln, said he was pleased the unusual trend had been kicked off by the show.

Critic Charlie Brooker has continued his criticism of 'Nortongate', with a rant against the schedulers for the intrusion of the cartoon Graham Norton over last week's cliffhanger. He talked about the incident on his Channel 4 programme You Have Been Watching, calling it a travesty. The programme can be seen on 4oD.

Journalist Penny Andrews has written a long blog on the launch of Doctor Who - The Adventure Games in Sheffield last week, while TalkTalk spends five minutes in the company of Alex Kingston and TV.com asks what makes Doctor Who special.

The BBC have issued a press release reporting the launch of a new website for the weekly magazine Doctor Who Adventures.

The website has been designed by Monoroot and built by BBC Worldwide's web team, and is aimed at the magazines target readership (6-12 year olds). It is expected to be updated every day whilst the series is still broadcasting, covering features like wallpapers, competitions, updated on the current magazine, and also a blog from the magazine team.


Moray Laing, editor of the magazine:

The Telegraph has released more details of its Audio Adventures give-away starting this weekend, first reported here.

On Saturday the paper will include a brand new adventure for the Eleventh Doctor, The Runaway Train read by Matt Smith, followed on Sunday by part one of Pest Control, read by David Tennant.

Over the following week the paper will print vouchers which can be exchanged in WH Smith for a range of Doctor Who Audio Adventures.

The Doctor Who promotional tour of the states continues with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan making appearances ahead of the series launch on BBC America this Saturday.

The official site has a report on the preview showing of The Eleventh Hour at the Village East movie theatre on Wednesday night. The event, attended by Smith, Gillan and executive producer Steven Moffat, drew fans from around the country with the queue forming as early as 6.30am. The Daily Mail reports on the event, continuing its fascination with the outfits of Karen Gillan. BBC America have uploaded video of Matt Smith signing his first head to their Facebook page.

Meanwhile the Paley Centre for Media has uploaded a video of the question and answer session which took place last Monday, and there is a report on the event on Newsarama. BBC America have uploaded a video of Smith and Gillan at the Apple store in SoHo.

The stars have also given interviews to a number of local TV stations such as WCSH6 based in Portland, Maine, with Steven Moffat talking to FilmSchool Rejects.

Doctor Who was even mentioned on the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight, when a guest from Washington said the leadership debates, taking place in the UK tonight, may draw an audience as big as that achieved by the arrival of a new Doctor Who.

In Canada a special preview of The Eleventh Hour took place last week and is covered by The National Post. Steven Moffat talked to the event via Skype. We understand a 9 minute clip of The Eleventh Hour is available as a free download from iTunes Canada.

On the other side of the world the new series also launches in Australia this weekend. Fans are reporting that the ABC is so heavily promoting the fact that the first episode will be available online from midnight on Friday via its iView service that a lot of viewers are missing the fact that it will actually be shown on ABC1 on Sunday, with ABC announcers specifically mentioning the iView showing but not the Sunday one.