For reasons that have yet to be made clear, the release of the Series One Boxed Set in the US and Canada, originally scheduled for February 14 as announced by both the official Doctor Who website and Doctor Who Magazine, has been postponed. No explanation has been given, but Warner Home Video, the distributors of the discs, had not released any information on their distributors' site, and inquiries to BBC Video have gone unanswered. The TV Shows on DVDwebsite reports that they were informed by a BBC PR rep that there were "complications" with the set. We hope to have more information about a rescheduled date on this soon.

Warner Home Video has released the full cover illustration for the forthcoming North American release of The Beginning, the boxed set comprising the classic Doctor Who series' first three stories, "An Unearthly Child," "The Daleks" and "The Edge of Destruction". Click on the thumbnail for a larger version of the cover. "The Beginning" is due out in the US and Canada on March 28, 2006 (and is available for pre-order at Amazon through the Outpost's affiliation if you'd like to help the site; see banner above.)

Issue #365 of Doctor Who Magazine has more news of Series Two, including official confirmation that the episode being written by Stephen Fry and formerly scheduled as Episode 11 will now appear in Series Three; the writer of its replacement is confirmed as Matthew Graham, co-creator of "Life on Mars", which is about to begin transmission on BBC One. Graham's participation was first noted in a BBC press release in December which mentioned him as one of Series Two's writers. Russell T Davies explains to DWM that Fry's episode has been rescheduled because it fits better with his overall season outline and "to allow extra time to plan some of the FX and prosthetics". As with Series One, the eleventh episode was "left blank" in Davies' outline, and Graham's script was actually commissioned at the same time as Fry's, always with the possibility that it would appear in Series Two not Three, and its first draft was delivered on 20 September. The episode will be made as part of production block four, directed by Euros Lyn, with Mark Gatiss' ‘The Idiot's Lantern' (Episode 7).

Also, as well as confirming Nicholas Briggs return to the series for voicing of the Cybermen (which was previously announced here), DWM reveals that the Cybermen two-parter (Episodes 5 and 6, the first of which we've reported bears the title "Rise of the Cybermen") will feature Mona Hammond as Rita-Anne and Raji James as Dr Singh. Both actors are known to UK audiences for regular roles in EastEnders. Block Three -- Episodes 5 and 6 and/or two other episodes, which Outpost Gallifrey believes is the final two-parter, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" -- will also featureHadley Fraser as Gareth, Oliver Mellor as Matt, Rachel Webster as Eileen, and Takako Akashi, Hajaz Akram, Maddi Cryer, Anthony Debaeck, Paul Fields, Kyoko Morita and Andrew Ufondu in unspecified roles.

Additionally, joining the cast of Block Three episodes is David Warwick, playing the Police Commissioner. Warwick is the latest actor from the classic Doctor Who series to return to the series in its new incarnation; Warwick played Kimus in Douglas Adams' 1978 serial "The Pirate Planet" starring Tom Baker, and later appeared in two audios for Big Finish, "The Harvest" starring Sylvester McCoy and "Gallifrey: A Blind Eye" featuring Lalla Ward and Warwick's real-life wife, former Doctor Who companion Louise Jameson (Leela). (Warwick will also appear, as Outpost Gallifrey readers will note, at next month's Gallifrey 2006 convention in Los Angeles alongside Jameson.)

For more details on these and other stories, pick up issue 365 of Doctor Who Magazine, now available on newsstands (and see the blurb about and cover of the issue in this news column below, dated January 3).

Australia is about to lose the classic series. As Outpost Gallifrey has learned, the show will complete its run on Australia's ABC TV in a few weeks. The broadcasts on ABC started with "An Unearthly Child" (September 2003) and conclude with "Survival" (February 2006). We should have more about this story in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Canada has a second Doctor Who outlet: the first season of the new series (or at least, "Rose") has appeared on Quebec's Z-Tele network, according to their website. It's unclear if it's been dubbed or is merely subtitled.

Update: According to Ztele's website, the episodes are dubbed and they're showing at least the first three, "Rose," "The End of the World (La Fin Du Monde)" and "The Unquiet Dead (Des Morts Inassouvis)" during several airings each in January. The French language trailer is located here.

(Thanks to Craig Wellington, Sean McGuire, Benjamin Elliott, Doug A Scott)

Actor Joseph Furst passed away at the end of November, according to news from the Doctor Who Restoration Team today. Furst was born in 1910 and had a widely varied career that included both television and film, including appearances on "The Saint," "The Champions," "Doomwatch" and "The Persuaders," but is best known to Doctor Who fans as the mad Professor Zaroff, the villain of the Patrick Troughton serial "The Underwater Menace".

Update: the Sydney Morning Herald recently ran a death notice for Mr. Furst, noting that he'd recently resided in Bateau Bay, Australia, and that services were held on Friday 2 December.

(Thanks to Steve Roberts & Greg Miller)

Canada got the new series tonight... and several of our readers noticed that the CBC network wasn't noted as a co-producer this time, but rather was noted with a "special thanks to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation" notice. Meanwhile, Billie Piper hosted the show in much the same way Eccleston did, wearing a red Roots hoodie with "Canada" on the front, and at one point explicitly thanking the viewers for making Series One a success.

The Daily Mail has comments from a BBC1 spokesman on the ratings triumph for the BBC on Sunday: "We are delighted that the audience turned to the BBC to be entertained this Christmas. It has been a wonderful climax to the year for Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing. And once again EastEnders proves to be the jewel in the Christmas schedule."

Tomorrow's Times notes that "science fiction has overtaken reality shows as space-and-time travel becomes the new hit formula on TV. David Tennant’s first appearance as the Doctor in the Christmas Day episode of Doctor Who was watched by 9.4 million viewers, beaten only by BBC One, with more than ten million switching on to EastEnders. In America, entire channels are devoted to big-budget space dramas. Now digital technology has made convincing sci-fi epics affordable on British budgets. ITV is responding to Doctor Who with Primaeval, a 6 million, six-part epic about scientists who travel into prehistoric times through black holes. The team behind Walking with Dinosaurs is creating the graphics. Next year the BBC will follow up the success of Red Dwarf, the sitcom set on a spaceship, which has spawned four million DVD and video sales. A new BBC Two sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive consciously echoes its predecessor, the channel’s highest-rated sitcom with eight million viewers. ... The resurrection of sci-fi has surprised some. Senior BBC figures were sceptical about Doctor Who, believing a revival would fail to reach a mass audience despite a much bigger special effects budget for the 13 million series. In fact there is a large international audience for British sci-fi. The new Doctor Who has been sold to 12 countries, including South Korea and Australia."

The Times also notes that a "pre-Christmas mini-revival that pushed ITV1's audience above BBC One has not stopped Britain's leading commercial broadcaster losing viewers this year, denting its prospects of pulling in advertising in tough conditions. The BBC, which is usually strong over the holiday, has featured shows such as Dr Who this year."

Tomorrow morning's Daily Record says "Thank you David Tennant. The new Doctor Who triumphed over the Sycorax in a rattling good Christmas special. And he did so in a woollen dressing gown and striped winceyette pyjamas and made them sexy - according to a highly scientific poll of females in and around my house. Now, if I can manage a regeneration of my own,by losing four stones and 15 years while regaining a luxuriant head of hair, maybe those aforementioned females will consider me in my night attire to also be 'hot.' As opposed to a sad old git schlepping around in dressing gown and PJs."

More comments on the ratings success of "The Christmas Invasion" are atThe Guardian, The Telegraph, Digital Spy, and the Daily Record. Meanwhile, BBC News has a feature on "Entertainment Year in Pictures 2005" with shots of Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Mustafa Hirji, Brian Newall)

Tenth Planet have sent us the cover illustration for the final BBC Audio Doctor Who soundtrack release, The Reign of Terror, due out next year. "The Reign of Terror," the final story of the series' first season back in 1964, is missing two episodes and was released on VHS only two years ago; this soundtrack recording is narrated by series star Carole Ann Ford. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.

The BBC Press Office today posted a press release officially announcing the audio releases of the classic Doctor Who stories "The Invasion" and "The Tenth Planet", which we previously reported as being in release in January 2006. The press release also mentions the February release of "The Reign of Terror," what it says is "the last of the lost television soundtracks restored for release on BBC Audiobooks." The press release is below. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

The broadcast this evening of Doctor Who: Regenerations on BBC Radio 2 gave away a new episode title and another important detail about the forthcoming second series. We've put them in spoiler tags, so click on the spoiler link below to read them...

Showtime Arabia has apparently become the latest broadcaster to acquire the new Doctor Who series. The satellite service, which is owned by Viacom, will begin airing the first series on its StyleUK channel starting this Friday, 23 December, showing two episodes per weekend, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Showtime Arabia is broadcast throughout the Middle East. (Thanks to Phil Lentz)