People

The Guardian (free registration required) has a very thorough profile of Billie Piper: "Pop star at 15, anorexic at 16, has-been at 17, teen bride at 18, Hollywood wife at 19, drama student at 20, single woman at 21, born-again star at 22 ... it's hard to believe that Billie Piper is still only 24."

Following up on the reports from the Sun posted yesterday, Mizz magazine (issue 562) writes that Piper "is a big fan of the spin-off series, Torchwood. 'Watching it makes me scream, "I wanna do that!"' she tells us. Could this mean a Rose comeback's on the cards?"

And the People pries into Piper's personal life, as the tabloids are wont to do.

SyFy Portal names Russell T. Davies as one of its Top Newsmakers of 2006.

Dalek operator and Big Finish stalwart Barnaby Edwards is profiled at icHounslow. Edwards, who is directing a pantomime Cinderella at Dorking Halls in Surrey this Christmas, says that the biggest barrier for Daleks isn't stairs, but narrow doorways. The article also mentions the upcoming Paul McGann audios on BBC7, which Edwards is producing and co-directing.

The Runaway Bride Coverage

The Herald of Glasgow put David Tennant and Catherine Tate on the cover of their weekly magazine section this Saturday. There's an interview with Tate inside; the cover can be seen here.

Broadcasting

John Barrowman is listed to appear at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Monday 18 December (7.30pm) to sing 'some of his favourite Christmas songs and hits from the musicals'. (source here)

Barrowman is also a "special guest" on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night on Friday 22 December (7.30-9.15pm). He will sing "some of his favourite Christmas songs and hits from the musicals. His credits include Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, Company, Evita, Hair and Phantom of the Opera.'" (source: DigiGuide)

Christopher Eccleston stars in Perfect Parents (written and directed by Joe Ahearne) on Thursday 28 December on ITV1 (9-11pm).

Adam Sherwin looks at the spin-off phenomenon within the BBC in The Times, considering the role Sarah Jane Adventures will play for Doctor Who, as well as other series off-shoots for shows like Spooks and Life on Mars. SaysJulian Bellamy, BBC Three controller, “To launch a series with the scale and ambition of Torchwood or Rogue Spooks, it makes sense to draw on a known brand with a loyal audience. But it doesn’t mean that we aren’t seeking entirely new titles.” The story is also covered at the Western Mail.

There's an article about The Sarah Jane Adventures from the Western Mail at icWales.

Reviews

Writing in the Guardian (free registration required), Sam Wollaston begins his 2006 television year in review by lamenting, "Oh Rose, thou art gone. And that's a serious shame. We got a splendid new Dr Who in David Tennant, but lost the main reason to tune in - the wonderful Billie Piper. She's been an absolute joy in the role of Rose Tyler, one of the reasons Dr Who has become that rare event these days - a show for all the family." The column also includes comments from Russell T. Davies, who says, "I wish I'd had time to write more Torchwoods, because I only wrote the first one. We're hitting a great stretch now with four scripts in a row by women, which in science fiction is practically unheard of. It's been less than a year since David Tennant became the Doctor. It was scary this time last year: Chris Eccleston was brilliant, then he left and there was this big hole. But have you seen the BBC schedules? It's like a Doctor Who Christmas. I'm very pleased, obviously, but it's a bit barmy." Tamsin Grieg (The Long Game) is also quoted, as is BBC Head of Vision Jana Bennett, who cites Doctor Who among the year's successes.

Also in the Guardian, Charlie Brooker calls Torchwood "the Year's Most Jarring Show". Brooker makes an amusing but disturbing analogy about Torchwood's sometimes inconsistent tone, and concludes that the program is "interesting, but possibly aimed at madmen."

Metro mentions Tripping Over, starring Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, as one of the television "lows" of 2006, due to low ratings. The article is culled from Broadcast magazine's 2006 ratings review.

Miscellaneous Mentions

The MediaGuardian's "Media Monkey" diary column (requires free registration to view) contained a passing reference to yet another instalment in the long-running Michael Grade / Doctor Who saga on December 13th. Says the column: "New ITV chairman Michael Grade could be having a few interesting conversations around the dinner table with his niece, Lesley Land... Lesley, the daughter of Michael's sister and agent Anita, was handed the Doctor Who brief when it was outsourced to PR company Taylor Herring earlier this year. Grade famously axed Doctor Who when he was in charge of BBC1 in the 80s. Monkey doesn't doubt that Land will have more commitment to the show than her uncle did."

Playwright Mark Ravenhill, profiled in the Independent, is asked, "What do you cling on to from childhood?" He replies, "My loyalty to Doctor Who has remained undimmed through the years. I watch all the DVDs of the old Doctor Whos and keep up to date with all the new ones, which are fantastic. And I buy Doctor Who Magazine, which I did then and I still do now. Tom Baker was my favourite Doctor Who, this weird, flamboyant guy, with Elisabeth Sladenplaying Sarah Jane - a classic combination."

The Lancashire Evening Post reports on items for sale at the annual Harris Exhibition, which includes a "giant Dr Who Tardis". The exhibition runs until next Friday.

A "Tardis House of Fun" was one of the suggestions made by young people for the regeneration of Lowestoft and surrounding area, the Lowestoft Journal reports. "Building on the success of the Doctor Who television programme, imaginative youngsters at Meadow Primary School encouraged people to come through the door to 'experience the wonders of Tardis land.' Jacob from the school said: 'Dr Who is my most favourite thing I watch on TV and so I had the idea for little children, not big ones, so that they could play safely.' "

"Aiden added: 'We thought of the Tardis Fun House because loads of people like Dr Who and we thought it would be good to make a play area for kids who can't travel, because they have no transport and they can be left there on their own because the Cybermen would look after them.' "

(Additional material by Paul Hayes, Chuck Foster and Peter Weaver; thanks to "PolyG" of the Outpost Gallifrey Forum.)

United Kingdom

A timely reminder to viewers in the UK that 2005's Doctor Who Christmas special The Christmas Invasion (starring David Tennant and Billie Piper and directed by James Hawes) is being repeated on BBC1 today at 4.25-5.25pm. This is the first time in many years that BBC1 has broadcast a Doctor Who repeat.

A repeat of episode 11 of Robin Hood, directed by Graeme Harper, follows straight after. Interestingly, this episode is called Dead Man Walking, the working title for episode 9 (Random Shoes) of Torchwood and the actual title of episode 9 of Torchwood: Declassified.

In a late change of schedule (according to Sky's EPG), the BBC3 repeat of Robin Hood at 7.00pm and the followingTorchwood Declassified at 7.45pm have now been replaced with a showing of last year's one-hour special Doctor Who Confidential, One Year On, which was first broadcast on BBC3's Doctor Who Night on 9th April.

The current issue of the Radio Times (16-22 December, the one with Tennant as the Doctor on the cover) has a two-page article about this year’s Christmas special The Runaway Bride (starring Tennant and Catherine Tate and directed by Euros Lyn), which starts thus:

"The traditional family Christmas. It used to go roughly like this: presents, relatives, turkey/trimmings, snooze, argue over what to watch on telly. Now it’s easier: presents, relatives, turkey/trimmings, snooze, Doctor Who Christmas special. How great is that?" How great indeed!

United States

The Sci-Fi Channel's Christmas Movie Marathon includes a broadcast of The Christmas Invasion on Christmas Day at 3:00 p.m. ET. They have slotted 90 minutes for the movie so it will remain as close to the original broadcast as is possible.

Canada

French language cable and satellite channel Ztele from Quebec, Canada, will be repeatingL'invasion de Noel (The Christmas Invasion) at 11:00pm EST on Friday December 22nd, 2006. A repeat showing of Le Seigneur du temps (the 1996 TV Movie) will follow at 12:00am EST. There are no plans for an English-language repeat of The Christmas Invasion on the CBC.

(Additional reporting from Chuck Foster, Bill Albert, Mike Doran.)

Doctor Who Coverage in Local News

It seems like every local newspaper in Britain has a Doctor Who-related story this week.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald announces Billie Piper's return to her hometown of Swindon for a signing of her autobiography. (Incidentally, there's another passing mention of the book's slow sales at The Guardian.)

Sylvester McCoy will be appearing in the panto Aladdin in Reading this Christmas, reveals the Reading Evening Post.

The Exmouth Herald reveals that a Cyberman showed up at the Exmouth Indoor Market last week -- advertising a local science fiction club, the Devon Seaside Devils. It's just as well that the Cyberman stayed in the south-west; if he had travelled to the North, he might have run into a 10-foot Dalek at an art gallery in Preston, Lancashire. TheLancashire Evening Post covers the art exhibit, which also features a giant TARDIS.

And finally, Luton Today has a story about a supposed Billie Piper look-alike. Slow news day?

Miscellaneous Stories

Digital Spy has culled some Catherine Tate quotes about The Runaway Bride from the Radio Times articles. Tate says that keeping the secret of her surprise appearance at the end of Series 2 was "like being a spy."

The Western Mail expects Doctor Who to be at the top of the Christmas television ratings again this year. The same paper also has a story about the eBay auction of a Torchwood script signed by writer Helen Raynor and theTorchwood cast, previously mentioned on this page; the auction is raising money for Cardiff and District Samaritans.

Metro has a short blurb about former EastEnders star Joseph Millson's appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures: he is playing the single father of one of the young characters.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Fiona McCabe questions David Tennant's "Favourite Doctor" victory over Tom Baker in Doctor Who Magazine, guessing that it was because most of the voters "are 12 years old and think Christopher Eccleston was the original doctor." (The actual magazine points out that Tennant came second to Baker among voters over 30.)

Unusual Blog Mentions

There are plenty of Doctor Who blogs out there, but it's interesting when blogs whose subject matter is farther afield make a Who reference. For example, the graphic design blog Noisy Decent Graphics discusses a recent trip to the Cardiff School of Art and Design, which included a presentation by Edward Thomas and the Torchwood design team.

A slightly more bizarre Torchwood reference shows up at eggbaconchipsandbeans, a blog about cafes and the food they serve, written by Russell Davies -- not Doctor Who's own Russell T. Davies, this Russell Davies. He's clearly aware of his namesake's work, though, and describes one plate which includes "an extra dark brown dollop of sauce which looks slightly like a proto alien from Torchwood, something that's just an interstellar blob at the moment but which the special effects folk will soon transform into something sinister."

Across the pond, the American environmental blog Seeing the Forest writes: "Your GOVERNMENT spending tax dollars to "debunk" global warming "alarmism." ... The press release reads like a parallel universe of a weird cult. My wife says it's like Dr. Who, and you travel in the Tardis and arrive in America in 2006 in December, but everything is strange. Some alien force is in control of things. ... We need the Doctor."

From environmentalist voices for the wilderness to the original voice in the wilderness: Solomon, I Have Surpassed Thee, a blog written by the administrator of Westminster Cathedral, makes a somewhat odd transition from watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa to John the Baptist.

Finally, this is partly a Doctor Who blog, but it's made a noteworthy observation: Exigency in Specie notes thatMurray Gold's Doctor Who soundtrack album has been at the top of the UK iTunes Music Store's charts this week.

(Additional material by Kenny Davidson; thanks to "Superted" of the Outpost Gallifrey forum.)

The traditional Christmas double issue of the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine has begun to become available in the UK, with full availability across all regions due by Tuesday the 12th. As expected, the magazine devotes extensive coverage to the Doctor Who-related programming available across the BBC over the Christmas period, as well as containing the first part of their free Doctor Who audiobook CD giveaway.

The Runaway Bride special itself, scheduled for Christmas Day at 7pm on BBC One, is previewed in a two-and-a-half page feature, which includes an image of the 3D effects model of the Empress of Racnoss, viewed in profile. Interviewed for the feature, David Tennant names a new villain for the forthcoming third series of the show - the Carrionites.

The "Today's Choices" page for December the 25th features the familiar publicity image of Tennant holding out the sonic screwdriver as Catherine Tate as Donna displays her wedding ring, accompanied by some Robot Santas. The listings page for the evening's viewing on BBC One is topped by a picture of Tate from the special.

The magazine's listings also confirm the main opposition that The Runaway Bride will face in its 7pm timeslot - a repeat of the Queen's Christmas message followed by a repeat of the sitcom Porridge on BBC Two; a special edition of the soap opera Emmerdale on ITV1; the game show Deal or No Deal on Channel 4 and a Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on Five.

The free Feast of the Drowned audiobook CD is affixed to a double-page advertising feature for the release, as well as being trailed with a strapline across the bottom of the magazine's front cover. The Radio Times will be giving away the second part of the story, followed by another Doctor Who audio, in the three issues following the Christmas special.

The Sarah Jane Adventures is highlighted by a brief interview with Elisabeth Sladen, promoting the production. There are also small preview paragraphs for the concluding three episodes of Torchwood on BBC Three.

In radio, the Radio 1 three-hour special presented by Jo Whiley receives only a simple listing on the December 25th radio page. However, the BBC7 audio adventure Blood of the Daleks is promoted with a special illustration in the digital radio listings. The preview for Blood of the Daleks also makes a surprising revelation about the new Eighth Doctor radio series, detailed in the spoiler section at the bottom of this report. [UPDATE: John Ainsworth from Big Finish, who are producing the audio serial, has denied the spoiler from the Radio Times, suggesting that the guiding description of 'set prior to his regeneration' has been taken too literally by someone at the magazine.]

The magazine also highlights the contributions of various Doctor Who alumni to the Christmas schedule. Following theRunaway Bride preview feature is a one-and-a-half page preview of the Billie Piper-starring Philip Pullman adaptationThe Ruby in the Smoke, and a picture of Piper in Victorian dress appears on the "Today's Choices" page for Wednesday the 27th of December. Also on that page, a small picture of Piper and Christopher Eccleston accompanies a box-out mentioning the number of Doctor Who actors featuring across the schedules this Christmas.

Eccleston himself stars in Joe Ahearne's Perfect Parents on ITV1, alongside former Big Finish "Unbound" Doctor David Warner and Warner's Big Finish Sapphire and Steel co-star (and Paul McGann's partner) Susannah Harker.

The Girl in the Fireplace actress Sophia Myles is pictured to promote Dracula, in which she co-stars with Love and Monsters guest star Marc Warren, in the listings for December the 28th.

(Many thanks to David Ryan and Eddie Robson).

The preview for Blood of the Daleks runs:

"In the first of eight new dramas, taking Paul McGann's one-time TV-movie Doctor up to the point where he regenerates into Christopher Eccleston, McGann is struggling not only to reawaken human memories of why Daleks should never be trusted but also has to deal with a mouthy new assistant (played by Sheridan Smith) mysteriously imposed on him by his fellow Time Lords."

Please note that this spoiler has been denied subsequently by Big Finish, who are producing the serial for the BBC.

According to the editorial in the new Radio Times, two audio Dr Who books will be given away free, across the next four issues, starting with the next Christmas Double Issue. The double CD 's, given away a single one at a time, feature stories read by David Tennant and start with part one of The Feast of the Drowned, written by Stephen Cole.

Christmas News

The official Doctor Who site has some excerpts from a Radio Times story about Catherine Tate and her upcomingDoctor Who appearance in The Runaway Bride.

Coverage of the BBC's Christmas schedule at icWales includes mentions of The Runaway Bride and the adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke starring Billie Piper. These programmes and the debut of The Sarah Jane Adventures are also mentioned in another icWales story focusing on critic Garry Bushell's dissatisfaction with the Christmas schedule. (Apparently family science fiction isn't enough for Bushell -- he wants a family comedy.)

And, still at icWales, there's another story about the strong sales of the Doctor Who Annual and the Doctor Who 3D Model Making Kit.

POST SCRIPT: Yet another icWales story mentions the surprise visit by a Dalek to the Cardiff Lord Mayor's Children's Christmas Party. Of course, the Dalek wasn't the first alien in the Cardiff Lord Mayor's office...

Series Three News

One scene in the 2007 series of Doctor Who will show the Doctor and his new assistant Martha Jones in bed together -- flirtatious but fully clothed. The scene appears in a preview seen by members of the press and covered by The Daily Mail, Monsters and Critics and UPI.

The Sun and Digital Spy cover the news that Jessica Stevenson will appear in Series Three.

People

The official Doctor Who website, CBBC Newsround, The Daily Mirror and Digital Spy discuss David Tennantwinning Doctor Who Magazine's "favourite Doctor" poll.

Tennant also made New Musical Express's 2006 "If Only They Rocked" list of the "most rock 'n' roll" people not currently performing in rock bands. Tennant was #3 on the list, after Andy Nicholson (former guitarist for the Arctic Monkeys) and Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány -- which explains why the story is covered by Hungarian underground newspaper Pestiside.hu.

Billie Piper will appear in the Christopher Hampton play Treats, touring in Windsor, Malvern, Bath and Richmond before a planned March transfer to the West End; it's mentioned at Whatsonstage.com and the Evening Standard.

On December 18, John Barrowman will be singing Christmas songs and musical theatre hits at Queen Elizabeth Hall, alongside the Crouch End Festival Chorus and the BBC Concert Orchestra; so reveals the Hornsey and Crouch End Journal and the Crouch End Festival Chorus's website.

The Daily Record, apparently confusing actor with character, upbraids Barrowman for Captain Jack's joke about British teeth in a recent episode of Torchwood.

Broadcasting
The BBC is developing a new Merlin series, which will air in the same 7:00 Saturday slot as Doctor Who and Robin Hood; BBC One chief Peter Fincham confirmed to The Stage that Merlin will not replace Doctor Who or Robin Hood, but join them in seasonal rotation. The story is also covered at Variety.

Digital Spy has a few small spoilers for upcoming episodes of Torchwood and a quote from the debut of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Miscellaneous

The Daily Mirror includes Doctor Who in a list of great comebacks.

The Sun has picked up the story of fan Andrew Simpson's homemade Dalek threatening noisy students, previously mentioned in other sources.

The Hampstead and Highgate Express mentions The Very Best of The Navy Lark, starring Jon Pertwee, as one of its top audio picks this Christmas.

And finally, Metro's "Cool Video of the Day" is a demonstration of the scientific phenomenon of standing waves, which produces images similar to the old-school Doctor Who titles. (Metro's reporter says, "I keep expecting Jon Pertwee's head to come flying out at me from the centre of it," but hard-core geeks like this reporter will note that it's closer to the William Hartnell titles.)

(Additional material by Kenny Davidson; thanks to "Superted" of the Outpost Gallifrey forums.)

Doctor Who appears on the cover of the pre-Christmas edition of Radio Times, on sale in the UK tomorrow (click on the preview below to see a larger version). Their website also reveals something nice coming in the Christmas Double Issue.

The Christmas bumper edition will feature a free CD inside; part one of "The Feast of the Drowned", read by David Tennant. If this freebie is in the same style as last year's Christmas present from Radio Times, then the second part will be available free in the following issue of the magazine in the new year. This however is yet to be confirmed.

A pop-up preview of a partially wrapped Christmas cover suggests it will be a traditional seasonal painting with a Dr Who splash along the bottom promoting the free CD.

(Thanks to TaraLivesOn from our forum)

BBC Video and 2Entertain have released full details about the forthcoming New Beginnings DVD boxed set due out in January in the UK, featuring the classic Doctor Who serials The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Anthony Ainley as the Master.

Below are the full list of extras as posted on the official Doctor Who website recently about the three DVDs included.

Additionally, clickable below are each of the cover illustrations for the three discs.

The Radio Times online shows The Christmas Invasion scheduled to air on BBC One (all regions) at 4:25PM GMT on Sunday 17 December. This marks the first time that a Doctor Who episode has been repeated on BBC One since Planet of the Daleks was shown in 1993, and the first ever repeat of a new series episode on the programme's home channel.

The latest edition of the UK listings magazine TV Times - the longtime rival of the BBC's Radio Times - has the results of its reader-voted television awards for 2006. Doctor Who was voted Best TV Show, with David Tennant taking the award for Best Actor.

(Thanks to 'PolyG' from the Outpost Gallifrey forum).