The BBC Press Office have released details of Episode Two of Series Four, The Fires Of Pompeii.

The episode will be broadcast on Saturday 12th April on BBC1, and features guest stars Peter Capaldi, Phil Davis and Tracey Childs.

Following its BBC One broadcast, the Season Four Cinema trailer is now available on the officialBBC Website as well as in high quality on the BBC YouTube channel.

In addition to the Cinema trailer, a short tease was shown on BBC One just before the late News, featuring upcoming monsters from the new series. Different versions were shown in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All three versions are now on the Doctor Who Websiteand on the BBC YouTube Channel.

Link One
Link Two
Link Three

Due to licence restrictions the clips may not be available outside the United Kingdom.

The BBC has confirmed that the Season Four cinema trailer will make its debut on British Television on Saturday 22nd March 2008. As well as being shown on BBC One around 7pm, the preview will be available on the official BBC Website.

With David Tennant and Catherine Tate now confirmed as guests on the BBC1Jonathan Ross show on Friday 4th April, it is looking likely that the series will return to BBC1 on Saturday 5th April 2008.

18th March Update: The new edition of the Radio Times has the trailer listed asDoctor Who Series Four Preview, between the film Toy Story and casting showI'll Do Anything at about 7:05pm.

(note: the BBC website have corrected a previous broadcast date of 29th March as reported yesterday)

Posted By John Bowman

A special party with star guests possibly in tow is to be held in London the night Series Four starts - and readers of this page could be joining in the fun.

The free event is being organised by Doctor Who historian Jeremy Bentham, who has 100 tickets up for grabs.

Very much an informal occasion, similar parties that he has held for the start of the previous three series have proved hugely popular - last year's, for instance, saw just under 1,400 applications for tickets.

Bentham said: "We will be showing Partners In Crime, plus any other related Doctor Who programmes that are on that day, live on a big-screen plasma projection system with full surround sound - and who knows who else may drop in to join the fun and festivities?"

Among the star names at last year's party was Nicholas Courtney. Pictured at the event is a Dalek built by prop-maker Julian Vince, who also supplied a police box that materialised during the day.

This year's party will start at 3pm and finish late. A cash bar and full food menu will be available throughout the afternoon and evening, plus from 10pm onwards there will be free admission to the venue's nightclub.

Bentham said: "A draw for the tickets will take place three weeks before the confirmed series launch date, which is currently expected to be one of the Saturdays in early to mid-April."

And he stressed: "Please only apply for tickets if you know for sure that you'll be available to come to London for the party whenever Series Four starts. Alternatively, please state any Saturday dates when you will not be able to come, so that I can ensure tickets go out to those who can definitely make it."

Party hopefuls should send a postcard stating their full name, address, daytime contact number and the number of tickets they would like (maximum of two) to: DW Launch Party 2008, 13 Northfield Road, Boreham Wood, Herts, WD6 5AE.

All party entrants must be aged at least 18 and no admission will be allowed without a valid ticket. Winners will be notified by post during the week following the draw.

Doctor Who

The South Wales Evening Post reports that Doctor Who is filming at a disused library in Swansea. This filming is forSteven Moffat's two-part story, which involves a mysterious abandoned library.

The estate of Terry Nation, the writer who created the Daleks, has vetoed a humorous clip featuring a Dalek from being included on the forthcoming "Five Doctors" DVD. The clip, from a 1983 edition of BBC Breakfast, featured a Dalek being interviewed by astrologer Russell Grant, to the amusement of Peter Davison and Patrick Troughton. However, the Nation estate has forbidden the use of the clip, fearing that it detracts from the Daleks' threatening image.The Sun and Metro both carry the story.

Torchwood

Burn Gorman talks to iF Magazine about his character Owen Harper. "I hope that in series two he's a changed man," says Gorman.

The Daily Mirror published a detailed preview of "To the Last Man" before it aired in the UK on Wednesday, andDigital Spy has a review.

Digital Spy also has an article about the Torchwood interactive adventure hosted on bbc.co.uk/torchwood.

The South Wales Echo has a story on Torchwood's ratings success.

People

The Arran Banner, the newspaper of the Scottish Isle of Arran, has found a 16-year-old David Tennant in its archives. Young Tennant was on Arran 20 years ago filming a short play for the children's series Dramarama. The article is accompanied by a small picture.

Christopher Eccleston was one of three judges for BBC Four's Pioneer World Cinema Award 2008. The award was given to the dark Spanish-language fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth"; Variety and Digital Spy have the story.

Another award panel, this one for the Red Planet Prize (awarded by Tony Jordan's Red Planet Pictures for new writing talent in the UK), was composed of Jordan, Doctor Who executive producer Julie Gardner, Doctor Who actor and writer Mark Gatiss and polymath Stephen Fry (who appeared in the Doctor Who webcast "Death Comes to Time" and was scheduled to write a script for Doctor Who Series Two before scheduling commitments forced him to withdraw). The Stage covers the award.

New Car Net recalls Third Doctor Jon Pertwee's road safety public service film with the unforgettable slogan "Splink". (If you don't know what "Splink" means, there's an old story with video on the BBC News site.)

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has rejected two complaints about risqué advertisements for Billie Piper's ITV2 series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl". The ASA ruled that the poster, which featured Piper wearing a bra and panties, was "not dissimilar to that which children would be exposed to in other advertising, for example for lingerie and designer fragrances." The ruling can be read here; Brand Republic has a story (but requires free registration to read it).

The Daily Mail finds it newsworthy to have a photographer follow Billie Piper and her husband Laurence Fox while they're grocery shopping and walking the dog.

Digital Spy has a story culled from John Barrowman's recently published autobiography "Anything Goes", in which Barrowman compares working withChristopher Eccleston and David Tennant. In the book, Barrowman writes: "I found the set to be a lighter one with David than it had been with Christopher in the lead role. I think David is a happier person, whereas I found Chris to be a bit angsty." (Digital Spy miscorrects "angsty" to "angry".)

There are reviews of "Anything Goes" at Country Life magazine and the Daily Telegraph.

TV Guide has published the second half of its interview with James Marsters; there's less about his Torchwood role here, but Marsters speaks about other roles he's playing.

Leftist Internet magazine Spiked has cited Ofcom's investigation into complaints about Catherine Tate's Christmas special as an example of "institutionalized prudishness", and notes that the 28 people who complained about the special represent 0.0004375% of the program's audience.

And This Is Hampshire has an interview with comedian Toby Hadoke, creator of "Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf".

(Thanks to Andrew Brookes, Sean Elliott and Ben Rawson-Jones.)

Posted By John Bowman

A new 90-second trailer for Series Four will start showing at cinemas across the UK from February 1, it has been reported.

According to Digital Spy, it will run at Empire, Odeon and Cineworld venues.

Naomi Gibney, the head of marketing at BBC Vision, is quoted as saying: "This is a great opportunity for the BBC to reach new audiences with an exciting preview of the new series of Doctor Who."

Trailers for Voyage Of The Damned were shown at cinemas in December.

UPDATE: The BBC Press Office has now put online more details concerning the trailer. It says the deal is part of a BBC test with Carlton Screen Advertising to showcase BBC content. It covers 837 Odeon screens, 736 Cineworld screens and 142 Empire screens. The trailer will be shown before some of the most anticipated new releases, including Cloverfield,Juno, John Rambo and There Will Be Blood.

Inmates at the Woodford Correctional Centre have created a full size, ride-in Dalek to be auctioned off. Proceeds are going to support the Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane. The inmates were helped by Mike Burrell, Trade Instructor from Woodford Correctional Centre.

"It took six months of occasional time when we were in between production" says Burrell. "It was made mostly out of ply but there are a lot of technical difficulties. Ply's flat and most of the Dalek is round and lumpy so it was difficult. It was set up to help them with their skills and technical abilities." The dimensions of the Dalek are 1.6m high, 1.3m front to back, and 0.8m wide. It's on wheels for easy transportation and can fit through a standard sized door.

ABC Brisbane reporter Brooke Carrigan was allowed an inside look at the finished product. "I'm inside the Dalek. And then you look up and it's got this voice-altering mechanism" Carrigan explains. "I can push and pull all these things and if you lift your feet up, we've actually been cruising through the children's hospital here, up and down the hallways".

Tegan Jones, Director of Fundraising and Development at Royal Children's Hospital, encourages fans to log onto E-bay to see the finished product. The auction closes on Friday, February 8th.


Thank you to Luke Bartolo and ABC Brisbane for the information.

Doktor Wer?

The Sun reports that BBC Worldwide has sold the first two series of Doctor Who to Germany's ProSieben. The voices of the Ninth Doctor and Rose will be dubbed into German by Frank Roth and Maren Rainer, respectively.

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Despite Elisabeth Sladen's statement to SFX that a second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures has been commissioned, Digital Spy quotes a BBC source saying that no decision has yet been made.

Meanwhile, SFX has updated their report, suggesting that the "24 episodes" may represent two series being filmed back-to-back.

Torchwood

There are still more reviews of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" from the American press: the Chicago Sun-Times (which calls Torchwood "pretty, witty and gay"),The Sun-Ledger (New Jersey), the Orlando Sentinel, Sci Fi Weekly andAbout.com all have largely positive reviews. (Earlier season reviews from the Associated Press and Newsday are also being reprinted in newspapers across the US.)

Eve Myles told Sci Fi Wire that the second series of Torchwood contains both action and romance. And Sci Fi Weekly has a John Barrowmaninterview, portions of which have already appeared in Sci Fi Wire.

Naoko Mori tells the Daily Record (Glasgow) what she loves and hates, and tells The Independent (London) about her week in media.

Finally, the Daily Record also has excerpts from John Barrowman's autobiography "Anything Goes".

(Thanks to "Lianne" of the Doctor Who Forum.)

Doctor Who

Nearly all the Doctor Who press coverage from the last couple of days is related to the classic series. It's like we've gone back in time to 2003.

The Derby Evening Telegraph has a short interview with Colin Baker, who speaks about working with his ex-wifeLiza Goddard in "She Stoops to Conquer" and his visit to the filming of "Voyage of the Damned".

In the West End, Peter Davison will leave the role of King Arthur in Spamalot on March 1; his replacement in the role will be Alan Dale, who also has a guest role in an upcoming episode of Torchwood. The Official London Theatre Guide and Playbill have details.

An actual police box has been installed at the Kent Police Museum in Chatham. The Crawley Observer has the Press Association story and BBC News has video. NB: The police box, which is on loan to the museum from its home in Glasgow, will not be on public display until Sunday, February 10, when the museum reopens.

TVShowsOnDVD.com reports that BBC Video is reducing the price of two dozen classic Doctor Who DVDs in North America.

The only press items at all related to the new series are reviews of the recent adaptation of Mansfield Park starring Billie Piper, which will air in the US on PBS stations on Sunday, January 27 as part of the Masterpiece Classic series (formerly Masterpiece Theatre). The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) review the production.

Torchwood

TV Guide and the Radio Times both have interviews with James Marsters about his role in Torchwood. TV Guidealso recommends the show to US viewers weathering the writers' strike.

There are more reviews of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" from the Boston Herald, The Star-Ledger (New Jersey), the South Bend Tribune (Indiana), The Deadbolt and iF Magazine.

IGN, the Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, New Jersey) and The Globe and Mail (Toronto) have more reviews of the Torchwood First Season DVD box set; the Globe and Mail's review is on the same page as a review of the Criterion DVD release of This Sporting Life, the film which drew William Hartnell to the attention of Verity Lambert.

(Thanks to "Austin39" of the Doctor Who Forum.)

The heavy press coverage of Torchwood continues, particularly in the United States as BBC America leads up to the January 26 debut of Torchwood's second season.

iF Magazine and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette both have interviews with Eve Myles. Sci Fi Wire has a brief interview with Burn Gorman and one with John Barrowman(mentioned in more detail below). And the Kansas City Star also has some Barrowman quotes.

Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, San Jose Mercury News and AfterElton.com have reviews/previews of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", while Newsday raves about the series as a whole. Back in the UK, Digital Spy has a review of the second episode, "Sleeper".

There are also more reviews of the Torchwood Season 1 DVD set, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and News Blaze.

Finally, AfterElton.com has a review of John Barrowman's autobiography, Anything Goes.

(Thanks to Sean Elliott and "Lianne" of the Doctor Who Forum.)