Just a reminder that the new series of Doctor Who - starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond - premieres in Australia, Canada and the US this weekend.

In the US, The Eleventh Hour, by Steven Moffat, hits TV screens on BBC America tonight (Saturday), at 9 p.m. ET. The opening episode will be preceded at 8 p.m. ET by Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide, a documentary introducing the world of Doctor Who to new viewers.

Canada premieres The Eleventh Hour tonight (Saturday) on SPACE, also at 9 p.m. ET, with Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide showing before it at 8 p.m. ET.

In Australia, The Eleventh Hour will be broadcast on ABC 1 on Sunday (April 18) at 7.30 p.m. The series has already premiered in Australia on ABC iView, the station's Internet broadcasting service. Also, Series 1 of K9 continues to be broadcast weekly on Saturdays on Channel Ten.

The new series is receiving masses of press attention in all three countries. Digital Journal continues its coverage, running three separate pieces for the US launch, the Canadian launch and the Australian launch.



Meanwhile, in the UK, Matt Smith's Series 1 (Doctor Who, Series 31) continues tonight on BBC 1 at 6.30 p.m. with Victory of the Daleks, by Mark Gatiss. A report on the history of the metal menace has appeared on BBC News. As reported by us yesterday, immediately after this episode, there will be a trailer on BBC 1 for the fortcoming downloadable episodes of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games. Episode 3 of Doctor Who Confidential follows on BBC 3 at 7.15 p.m.

Friday's BBC Three repeat of The Beast Below had an audience of 0.48 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight figures. The programme was the 6th highest rated for the day on multi-channel television.

The cut-down version of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.35 million watching and was the 18th most watched multi-channel programme.

Doctor Who has set a new record for BBC's iPlayer downloads. The Eleventh Hour has achieved the highest number of requests in a week, with 1.27 million requests to view seven days after it was screened by the BBC. An episode of Top Gear was the most watched programme of 2009 with 1.6 million views, and it is possible The Eleventh Hour could exceed this figure when final figures are calculated.

As reported earlier this week, over 10 million watched the initial broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD.

Meanwhile Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have continued their wooing of the American media with a appearance on Fox News's Strategy Room talking about the series and explaining how the sonic screwdriver works.

Canadian Broadcaster SPACE have announced they will be showing the documentary Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide at 8pm ET this Saturday, immediately before the Canadian premier of The Eleventh Hour. The documentary is also being shown on BBC America and is described as an original, all-access look inside the world's biggest, most successful sci-fi television program.

The network have uploaded the recent Skype conversation with Steven Moffat, which took place at the recent screening party in Toronto. Matt Smith also gave an interview to Q, CBC Radio's mid-morning broadcast. The interview begins about 22 minutes into the podcast.

Press coverage of the imminent arrival of The Eleventh Doctor to North America continues with items in the Chicago Sun-Times, Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and Reuters.

The BBC Press Office has released details for the second part of the Weeping Angels story, Flesh And Stone. Episode 5 of the new series will be shown in the UK on Saturday 1st May. The episode summary contains spoilers for part one of the story.

Meanwhile schedules for the 24th April have been confirmed with the first half of the story, The Time of Angels, scheduled for 6.20pm on BBC One and BBC HD.

The programme is once more scheduled between Total Wipeout and Over The Rainbow. ITV1 will be offering the Best of You've Been Framed with Harry Hill. Viewers not wanting to face a Weeping Angel can face Jeremy Paxman on BBC Two in a special Saturday election edition of Newsnight with Channel 4 offering Channel 4 News. Five will be showing the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Doctor Who Confidential will be at 7.05pm on BBC Three and at 8:25pm on BBC HD and reports on Matt Smith being photographed, scanned and 'rotoscoped' for the new online Doctor Who Adventure Games.

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.

This article asks: “Is this the Doctor Who general election? And are Labour hoping that some of the popularity of the show will rub off on them?” The forthcoming UK general election and Doctor Who do seem to be becoming evermore interlinked.

The new issue of Radio Times, harking back to its 30 April to 6 May issue from 2005 (opposite), shows the Daleks in the colours (blue, red and yellow) of the three main UK political parties, David Tennant, earlier this year, declared his support for the UK’s Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the party’s current leader. Earlier this week, the Labour Party turned to the Doctor and a son of the Doctor in it’s campaign to win re-election in the contest.

The first party-election broadcast of the campaign premièred on YouTube before airing on UK television channels. In the Labour Party broadcast, The Road Ahead, the third Doctor Jon Pertwee’s son, Sean Pertwee, appeared, while the tenth Doctor David Tennant provided the voice-over.

See our earlier story about this week’s Radio Times and the interview with Brown, who reveals that Tennant is his favourite Doctor, and that he saw him recently in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In recent months, both Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat have separately warned against David Cameron’s Conservatives winning the election, fearing the future of the BBC would be under threat. Citing Moffat’s comments, the Daily Mirror claimed that Saturday’s episode, The Beast Below, featured a message blasting the Tories:

In February, the Sunday Times claimed that writers wove anti-Tory propaganda into Doctor Who scripts in the 1980s.

As for the Liberal Democrats, their candidate for Blaenau Gwent, Wales, is one Matt Smith!

The Doctor Who bookshelf of awards eyes up Canada next, with a number of nominations in the categories for the Constellation Awards.


Former Doctor David Tennant is up for his third award for Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode with The Waters of Mars; he previously won in the 2006 and 2007 ceremonies. This time he is up against Gareth David Lloyd for his performance as Ianto Jones in Torchwood: Children of Earth (Day Four). Other nominations include Jenson Ackles (Supernatural), John Noble (Fringe), Misha Collins (Supernatural), Robin Dunne (Sanctuary) and Ron Livingston (Defying Gravity).

The Best Female Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode sees guest star Michelle Ryan nominated for her role as Lady Christina in Planet of the Dead. This was won last year by Catherine Tate for her role as Donna Noble in Turn Left, and in 2008 by Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow in Blink). Michelle's competition includes Agam Darshi (Sanctuary), Alona Tal (Supernatural), Amanda Tapping (Sanctuary), Erin Karpluk (Being Erica), Laura Harris (Defying Gravity) and Lena Headley (Sarah Connor Chronicles)

Doctor Who is (of course!) up for Best Science Fiction Television Series of 2009 for the fourth time, having won this category in all three previous ceremonies. This year it is up against the likes of Sanctuary, Supernatural, Stargate Universe, Defying Gravity, Flash Forward and Being Erica. (The series also won the Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television at the first ceremony in 2007.)

Best Overall 2009 Science Fiction Film or Television Script sees Torchwood: Children of Earth (Day One) nomimated; last year this was won by the Doctor Who episode Silence in the Library. Torchwood is up against Stargate Universe, Defying Gravity, Being Erica, Flash Forward and District 9.

In addition, the Best Female Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series category yields an unusual entry in the form of actress Aurora Buchanan, who has been nominated for the fan-made film Doctor Who: Victimsight. This is the only fan production to make the entire award nominations, and Aurora is up against major Hollywood actresses/entries like Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince), Zoe Zaldana (nominated twice for both Star Trek and Avatar), and Dakota Fanning (Push).


The Constellation Awards are Canada's annual science fiction awards, and focus on rewarding excellence in science fiction film and television. This is the fourth year of the Awards, which are voted for by the Canadian public; it will take place at the Polaris 24 convention on 17th July 2010.

The BBC has published a number of documents from its extensive written archive, detailing audience reaction to the arrival of a new Doctor, as it occurred over the years.

Viewer comments are contained in various letters and reports contained in the archive, showing viewers' reaction to each new face of the Time Lord. The papers, which span 40-plus years and are published online for the first time, reveal the difficulties of bedding in the new Doctor. Internal memos show that his first transformation was originally envisaged as a drug trip. "It is as if he has had the L.S.D. drug and instead of experiencing the kicks, he has the hell and dank horror which can be its effect", said one memo.

The change from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton didn't please some viewers. "Once a brilliant but eccentric scientist, he now comes over as a half-witted clown," said one viewer of Troughton's new role, although another praised Troughton for rescuing the show from the "mess it had degenerated into". Some viewers were fed up with the Daleks and felt they were no longer a novelty.

When Jon Pertwee came along in 1970 some viewers complained it didn't measure up to another Science Fiction programme. 'Hardly an adequate substitute for Star Trek, and by comparison rather childish' was one comment, although most thought Pertwee had made a most acceptable and satisfactory 'new' Doctor. The debut of Tom Baker, who went to to be one of the most highly regarded Doctors, also drew much criticism. "General opinion was that the new Dr Who is a looney," said one viewer. Others however said the new Doctor had "more life and humour" than the last and seemed likely to "buck the series up".

Peter Davison's arrival in 1982 was met with general approval although there were a couple of suggestions that he should stick to being a vet. Colin Baker was met with mixed reaction with some viewers feeling the new Doctor was so totally different in character from others who had gone before him that he seemed 'unreal'. Sylvester McCoy had one of the most difficult starts with poor appreciation figures. The report noted that there are "a core of loyal and enthusiastic fans of Doctor Who remaining", although it said, "their number seems to be decreasing with each successive series".

The site also has a gallery of actors who nearly became the Doctor.

The new items available join those already online looking at the Genesis of Doctor Who.

Roly Keating, the BBC's director for archive content, said: "As we welcome Matt Smith and Karen Gillan into the Tardis, it's the perfect moment to remember his predecessors and also to celebrate the work of the BBC Archive in preserving these documents and photographs for future generations."

The material can be found at bbc.co.uk/archive.

In just a fortnight since gracing the front cover of the Radio Times for the series launch, this week sees not just one but three covers devoted to the Doctor's greatest enemy, the Daleks - with the three main political parties engaged in the current UK election campaign reflected in red, blue and yellow livery!

Inside, the magazine chats to Victory of the Daleks writer Mark Gatiss about his fascination with the Daleks, and explores their timeless appeal. Plus, an exclusive first look into the BBC’s online archive to find out its top Doctor Who secrets - the first ever access to audience research reports on previous Time Lords from Jon Pertwee to Sylvester McCoy.

This week also sees an interview with current Prime Minister Gordon Brown, plus a quickfire round of questions including Doctor Who: