Inevitably it was moments after Matt Smith was announced as the Doctor that the press published its first reactions to the casting. As one might expect, the initial reports were mainly based around the BBC Press Release and comments within Doctor Who Confidential itself. However, as the evening/morning progressed further media comment began to emerge, a selection of which are reported below.

Andrew Pettie of the Telegraph commented on how Doctor Who is a 'savvy multi-million-pound brand' and how casting has become a major news event. "... Doctor Who is a success primarily because it is so effortlessly entertaining. This is in large part due to the elasticity of its sci-fi premise. Thanks to the Tardis, the Doctor can travel anywhere in space or time. One moment he's rubbing shoulders with Shakespeare, the next battling aliens far in the future. And the Doctor has a further ace up his sleeve: the ability to change not just the actor playing him, but the nature of his character. ... Which is why Matt Smith is such a bold and exciting choice as the next Doctor. His relative lack of fame shouldn't matter a jot. It's hard to recall now, but before he regenerated as the Doctor, Tennant's most high-profile TV role had been in the BBC3 drama Casanova, written by Davies. Indeed, the key to Tennant's success as the Doctor has been how the crackle of his performances has matched the exuberance of the scripts."

The Independent commented on what fandom might think of the casting: "Smith is not black and he's not a woman, which left some fans wondering why a more daring decision had not been made; but he is the youngest of the 11 actors to have played 'official' versions of the time-travelling Doctor who first stepped out of that battered blue police box called the Tardis in 1963. ... Smith now faces the challenge of winning over two passionate camps: the families who sit together to watch on the sofa on a Saturday night and the hard-core Whovians, some of whom still complain that the lavish effects, high production values and often superb scripts of the modern version are somehow a betrayal of their hero. The Doctor Who Forum online was so busy last night that only veteran contributors could get in. Elsewhere, blogging fans admitted they didn't know much about Smith. 'He's so young,' said one. 'They must be going for the Twilight market.'"

The Sunday Herald also carries opinions on the casting, with Antony Wainer from DWAS commenting: "It's a different choice and I'm delighted by it. But I do think it has taken some people by surprise. The shadow of David Tennant looms large. He was so great, which makes the job for the next person even harder. But here's someone who is younger, and with that youth comes more enthusiasm. It is the only way you could trump Tennant." Also from Glasgow South MP and Who fan Tom Harris: "In the Whovian community there's a huge amount of respect for Steven Moffat because he's been the best writer for the past three or four years. So any people with reservations will give Smith the benefit of the doubt because he was Steven's choice."

Matthew Sweet commented in the Guardian: "The idea of a black or woman Doctor is something we only seem to be able to enjoy as a tease. When Tom Baker left, for example, there was speculation about Joanna Lumley taking over. There is a little part of me that's disappointed the Obama effect hasn't reached Gallifrey yet. This was one of the best kept secrets. Matt Smith has got a fascinating face. It's long and bony, with a commanding jaw. He looks like someone who could have been in Duran Duran. He has a quality of the old man trapped in the young man's body. I suspect he might be a more sensual character than David Tennant, who had no kind of dangerous sexuality about him. There's something Byronic about Matt Smith – he's got the lips for it." The paper also carries a comment by former companionSophie Aldred: "I'm delighted. I'm so pleased that they haven't chosen a big name but gone with someone who's obviously a good actor but not well known to the public at large. He's got a very interesting face and a fantastic presence. It's going to be a difficult job to follow David Tennant, but I think he'll be a safe pair of hands."

The News of the World decided to lead with Smith's intimate appearance alongside former Doctor Who companionBillie Piper in her show, The Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Other reports on the casting may be read from: Times(1), Times(2), Telegraph, Mail, Sun, Sunday Mirror,Scotsman, Glasgow Sunday Mail,Wales on Sunday. You can find many more media reports on this and other topics in the Doctor Who Forum's Media Watch thread (linked below)!

Following the broadcast of last night's Christmas special episode of Doctor Who, "The Next Doctor", on BBC One, various newspapers and websites have been publishing their reactions both to the episode itself and its high position in the Christmas viewing charts.

The Telegraph's Christmas television review praises the episode, claiming that "As Morrissey's Doctor said, it was complete and utter nonsense, but wonderful nonsense, nevertheless." In The Mirror, critic Jim Shelley wrote that BBC One's Christmas schedule as a whole "From 2pm through to 11.35pm... was perfect viewing." He wrote of "The Next Doctor" that: "David Morrissey threw himself into the part and showed that if he gets the call he has the gusto to make a classic old-fashioned Doctor Who... Up against all this, the other channels simply rolled over." TV Scoop, meanwhile, was less impressed, calling the episode "something of a swing and a miss."

The high viewing figures attained by the episode have been covered across a wide variety of media. BBC News, along with several other outlets, has ranked the Christmas Day programmes in order of peak rather than average viewing figures, placing Doctor Who third rather than second. The main thrust of most media reports of the Christmas ratings, nonetheless, is BBC One's resounding victory over their main rival, ITV1. This is the angle taken by the Daily Mail. Other outlets covering the ratings results include The Guardian, The Sun, TeleText, CBBC and Digital Spy.

With transmission of the latest new episode of Doctor Who, the Christmas special "The Next Doctor", due tomorrow evening on BBC One, the past few days have, as usual, seen a flurry of coverage of both the episode and the series as a whole across the UK media. As ever, these articles may contain spoilers, so do be warned before clicking on any of the links below.

The Telegraph, always keen to run Doctor Who stories in recent years, claim that David Tennant has backed the idea of Next Doctor co-star David Morrissey succeeding him in the show's lead role. Radio Times, IO9, The Mirror, The Daily Record, The Telegraph, TV Scoop and The Quietus all look ahead to "The Next Doctor", with preview features. BBC News have also run a preview on television, available to UK internet users on the BBC YouTube page. The TorrenttFreak website has an article on Australian fans getting ready to download the special online.

The idea that there could possibly be a Doctor Who musical mounted for television or theatre has excited some comment over the past few days, apparently emanating from some off-the-cuff remarks made by David Tennant. The Telegraph picks up on the idea, as does Contact Music.

Russell T Davies is interviewed by Metro, and for BBC local radio. David Tennant, meanwhile, spoke to Heart Radio this morning. Elsewhere, monster actor Paul Kasey has been interviewed by The Stage.

Thanks to PolyG, Chuck Foster and all on the media thread at the Doctor Who Forum.

With just a few days to go now until The Next Doctor airs on BBC One, Last Broadcast has uploaded an interview with Velile Tshabalala, who plays Rosita in the Christmas special.

It was conducted last month but embargoed until now. In it, Tshabalala discusses the audition process, working with Davids Tennant and Morrissey, her costume, and performing stunts in the episode.

The actress opens in pantomime on December 20, appearing in Dick Whittington And His Cat at The Compass Theatre in Ickenham, Middlesex. The show runs until January 3.

Also in panto this festive season is Elisabeth Sladen, playing Mrs Darling in Peter Pan at the Theatre Royal Windsor. The production, based on the J M Barrie tale, is on until January 11.

With thanks to Jeremy Bentham

Margot Van der Burgh has died at the age of 73. She had two roles in classic Doctor Who. Appearing with William Hartnell in the 1964 story The Aztecs she played Cameca, who provided a rare love interest for the Doctor. She later appeared with Tom Baker in the 1981 story The Keeper of Traken, in which she played Katura. Margot Van der Burgh had a long and distinguished career in British television appearing in many classic serials such as Anna Karenina, Edward the Seventh and Great Expectations.

The Doctor Who Sound team of Julian Howarth, Tim Ricketts, Paul McFadden and Paul Jefferies won the Royal Television Society award for Best Sound on a Drama for the episode Midnight. The judges said "The winning entry delivered its dramatic impact through an impressive and sophisticated soundbed of interwoven sounds. The jury felt this was both innovative and masterly in its execution."

Student Times has an interview with Noel Clarke, while The Rutherglen Reformer has a rare interview with Andrew Smith who wrote the 1980 story Full Circle.

Advertising in the UK for the release of the Season Four DVD boxset featured large images of Dalek smashing through the wall on a variety of buildings in Cardiff and London. One building featured was Battersea Power station which featured in the second Dalek story The Dalek Invasion of Earth as well as the 10th Doctor story The Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel.


Thanks to Zoidberg, Tom Lingwood, ksmith

The last week or so has seen odds on Paterson Joseph fall dramatically, with many bookmakers no longer accepting bets on the actor! As of today, Betfair are only offering 7/17! Both Den of Geek and Comic Book Resources suspect that he will soon be named. As reported earlier, the actor won't be drawn on his prospects, telling BBC News: "I'm afraid I can't make any comment on it. I'm not a gambler. And I don't approve of gambling unless it's for the Grand National."

Earlier in the month Colin Salmon (seen as Dr Moon in The Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) was also being considered by the media;Wiredsuggested that he would be announced on Children in Need, though in the end the only comment on potential casting was made by presenter Terry Wogan on David Morrissey's appearance in the Christmas Special preview. (Further Colin Salmon coverage from Now Magazine, What's on TV, Flick Filosopher and One India).

Michael Deacon from the Telegraph wasn't too keen on Paterson Joseph or David Morrissey as the Doctor, citing Rhys Ifans as his favourite for the role: "He can do funny. He can do charisma. He has a sense of danger about him. He looks good enough to appeal to kids and mums, and he's a serious enough actor to appeal to longstanding Whovians."

The Mirror reports on Spooks actor Rupert Penry-Jones, explaining why the role doesn't appeal: "I haven't been asked to take over in Doctor Who. I took over from someone in Spooks, and I was never quite comfortable with that... so I wouldn't like to take over something else. I'd like to stick with original things."

The Stage is running an occasional look at who could take on the role of the Doctor, and have so far covered Serenity and Inside Man actor Chiwetal Ejiofor,and Benedict Cumberbatch, seen recently playing Stephen Hawking in BBC's Hawking and Stephen Ezard in The Last Enemy. Writer Liz Thomas also considers women in the role.

The Coventry Telegraph has offered up two more choices for the Doctor, picked up from the Birmingham Memorabilia that took place last weekend.Warwick Davis (most recently seen as Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films) mentioned that he was interested in the role: "I had a great idea: Doctor Who is going to change, regenerate, but something goes a bit wrong. For just a couple of episodes it would be me as the Doctor, they go in the Tardis and inside it's not vast, it's tiny and they all bang their heads!" Meanwhile, former Davros performer Terry Molloy has a different suggestion: "My idea of the new Doctor is Liz Smith, who plays the grandmother ('Nana') in the comedy The Royle Family. I think we ought to have a really old, crabby woman. She'd be great. Like William Hartnell but female. She'd soon send the Daleks packing."

Other names bandied about in the media include James Frain (Herts and Essex Observer), Robert Pattinson (Chicago Tribune), Dexter Fletcher(Times), and Big Brother winner Pete Bennett (Daily Star). Further articles on casting from Digital Spy, RTD comments from Evening Post, John Simm doesn't want to be the Doctor from The Times, and no decision to be made until next year from tv.com.

The Telegraph is running a new interview with Martha Jones actress Freema Agyeman about her three new shows: Little Dorrit, Law and Order: UK and the remake of Terry Nation's Survivors.

She also talks about her appreciation for the role Doctor Who played in the furthering of her career.

Read the interview here.

Actor Paterson Joseph, the man held by many media reports to be one of the favourites to land the role of the Eleventh Doctor, has spoken to the BBC News website about the speculation surrounding his possible casting.

"His [the Doctor's] parameters are so vast. I don't see why he can't have more regenerations than the 13 that those who know think a Time Lord can have," he told the website. Joseph previously appeared in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" as Rodrick, and the BBC reports that bookmakers are offering 3-1 odds on him becoming the first black actor to play the Doctor.

Joseph also claims to be a fan of the sci-fi genre, claiming that: "In no other genre can you be believable as an immortal character. I love sci-fi for that, so yeah - I'm a big fan."

Posted By John Bowman

Dalek writer Robert Shearman has won a World Fantasy Award for his short story collection Tiny Deaths.

A Doctor Who-related play is coming to Hobart, Tasmania, in February 2009. Who Knows, which is written and directed by Paul McIntyre and centres on a character called Russell Lambert, is billed as "a tribute to the sci-fi classic, bringing TV nostalgia, heartwarming comedy and megalomaniacal machinations from time and space to the Tasmanian stage". It is being staged by The Old Nick Company at an as-yet-undisclosed venue from February 18 to 28. The cast will be at The ABC Shop Centrepoint in Hobart on November 23 from 12.30pm to mark Doctor Who's 45th anniversary and to publicise the play.

Actor John Ringham, who played Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Blake in The Smugglers and Ashe in Colony In Space, has died aged 80. The Daily Telegraph ran an obituary.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has produced a webcast featuring Jane Tranter who, while Controller, Drama Commissioning, gave the green light to the return of Doctor Who as well as the go-ahead for Torchwood. In the webcast, she talks about her career and the future of TV drama. She also explains how the advancement in TV special effects and the support of Russell T Davies led her to commission a new series of Doctor Who. "Once Russell said he wanted to do it, there was never a moment of looking back," she says. She also presents clips from her most successful programmes. You can view the webcast here.

The Knightsbridge saleroom of Bonhams is holding an entertainment memorabilia auction on November 25, which will see the following up for sale: Jon Pertwee's jacket from Planet of the Daleks, a 1960s Cyberman glove, props from The Moonbase and Arc of Infinity, a rehearsal script from The War Games, a prop that is listed as "The Doctor's Stellar Signal Receiver" from an unidentified story, a quantity of Doctor Who merchandising, annuals and printed ephemera, autographed scripts from The Claws of Axos and The Trial of a Time Lord (it is not stated who signed them), Magnus Greel's robe from The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and a blue-face Terileptil head from The Visitation.

TV presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have selected The Writer's Tale, by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, for their Christmas presents book strand, and Stephen Fry will be appearing on Madeley and Finnigan's UKTV Watch show, Richard and Judy's New Position, on November 26 to review it.

Hyde Fundraisers, who appear around Britain in Doctor Who costumes to drum up financial aid for charities and are supported by the likes of Neill Gorton and MFX Replicas, will be appearing at Ashton's Central Library on November 22 to round off their efforts for 2008 and hand over a cheque for 15,000 pounds for BBC Children In Need.

The Series Four episode Midnight has been nominated for a Royal Television Society award for Best Sound - Drama at this year's RTS Craft and Design Awards. Julian Howarth, Tim Ricketts, Paul McFadden and Paul Jefferiesreceive the citation. The ceremony takes place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane, London, on November 24. It is the only category that Doctor Who has been nominated in this year.

Last Broadcast has done an interview with Elisabeth Sladen in which she tells why she won't be doing any more DVD commentaries for 2entertain. Among other topics, Sladen also talks about hating her new action figure, the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures and the possibility of a Christmas special, plus future SJA cast changes. You can read it here.

Glasgow's Doctor Who exhibition will open on March 27, 2009 and run until January 4, 2010, says the official exhibitions website. It is being held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and tickets go on sale fromNovember 17. The site also states that the exhibition begins on March 28, so the March 27 date may be a preview.

(With thanks to Viv Dunstan, Dwayne Bunney, Chris Winwood, David French and Kevin Taylor.)

UPDATE (November 17): The Doctor Who News Page has been advised that the Claws of Axos script being auctioned at Bonhams on November 25 is signed by Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Bob Baker, Terrance Dicks, John Levene, Barry Letts and Tim Pigott-Smith, while the Trial of a Time Lord script, which is also being auctioned there that day, has been signed by Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Nicola Bryant, Michael Jayston, Lynda Bellingham, Tony Selby, Malcolm Tierney, Anthony Ainley and John Nathan-Turner.

FURTHER UPDATE (November 17): In addition, it is now understood that the "Stellar Signal Receiver" being auctioned is from Pyramids of Mars and is the gadget used by the Doctor to decode the message from Mars.

(With thanks to Simon Nuckley and Richard Bignell for the supplementary information.)

Presenter Terry Wogan has reported on his radio show that the next Doctor might be announced in this year'sChildren In Need show. Although nothing has appeared officially to confirm this, Wired suggests that such an announcement would be a good fund-raiser for the event.

David Tennant appeared on BBC's Breakfast on Monday, and during the interview indicated that he wouldn't rule out returning to the show at some point in the future. He also mentioned that Steven Moffat's appointment had almost swayed his decision to leave (something that he and Russell T Davies had agreed upon some months previously). On the inevitable subject of a good female contender for the role, he lightly suggested his former co-star Billie Piper.

Based on the interview, Den of Geek speculated on how he might return to the role, whilst the South Wales Echoconcentrated on the Piper connection - also noting that the odds from William Hill on a female Doctor had now been lowered from 20/1 to 12/1 after the interview. Meanwhile, Lucy Mangan of theGuardian commented on her husband's view of a female in the part and why she thinks it would be a good move for the show. (Other stories related to the Breakfast interview from BBC News, Reuters, Press Association, Wales Online, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Now,Melbourne Herald)

Meanwhile, speculation on who would take up the mantle continues apace in the media!

Back in 1999, DWM ran an article in which well-known fans at the time commented on how they'd like to see the Doctor return. One of those was new head writer Steven Moffat, in which he suggested an older actor for the role, a "grandfather" figure. In spite of a decade between this and the production of Moffat's series next year, this hasn't stopped The Sun from revitalising these anecdotes! (Story also taken up by MyPark Magazine and BBC America'sAnglophenia)

The Mirror reports that ex-EastEnders actor Tom Ellis is under consideration - Ellis was previously seen in the series as Tom Milligan in Last Of The Time Lords. (Story also taken up by RTE and Now)

Additional news on Tennant leaving and speculation on casting can be found in: Evening Post, Wales on Sunday,io9, Guardian. Update: Raising Kids, Den of Geek.

More articles/references to Tennant leaving and other Who news in the media can be found in the dedicated Media Watch thread in the Doctor Who Forum.