While we have no confirmation as yet, this weekend's transmission of the third episode, "The Unquiet Dead," may be pushed back a little, to instead air at 8pm on Saturday instead of 7pm due to the rescheduling of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles wedding due to the death of the Pope; the wedding in turn caused a reschedule of the Grand National Horse Race which may affect the transmission of Doctor Who. If and when we have more concrete information on a possible reschedule (it's not certain at this point!) we'll let you know.

Meanwhile, the FAQ page on the new series of "National Lottery Come and Have A Go" states that the show starts at 7.45 pm on Saturday 23 April, which means that the broadcast of episode five, "World War Three," won't be delayed after all. It appears that the 7.20pm timeslot which we previously reported on was due to some inaccurate writing on the part of the National Lottery, who actually appear to have meant that the 7.20 pm timeslot refers to the time when viewers can access the website to begin playing the game on-line (the blurb does refers to the show "from 7.20 pm") and not the time of broadcast.

According to Play.com, the new Doctor Who DVD series that we previously announced would feature the releases of Volume One (episodes 1-3) on May 16 and Volume Two (episodes 4-7) on June 13, have now been joined by Volume Three (episodes 8-10) on August 1 and Volume Four (episodes 11-13) on September 5. These "vanilla," no frills DVDs will be the episodes only. However, a boxed set will be released on November 21 which will include extras and feature all thirteen episodes. Play.com has posted a thumbnail of the cover illustration and the interior layout for the box, which you can see below. (Note: images removed; better versions are in April 8, 2005 news story, above.)

Radio Wales representatives contacted Outpost Gallifrey to let us know that the radio documentary series Doctor Who - Back In Time now has its ownwebsite; click the link to go to the site. Says Lisa Aguiar at Radio Wales, "The Listen Again section of the website allows you to listen to the previous two episodes of Doctor Who - Back In Time and just a little reminder that the final episode will be transmitted on BBC Radio Wales on Bank Holiday Monday - May 2nd at 13.10."

European viewers, take note: the FAQ pages of BBC Prime, the cable and satellite network widely available throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is now noting their intention to broadcast the new series when they get the opportunity. "We will be showing the new series of Dr Who at some point in the future however, we do not currently hold the rights to the series and they are unlikely to be made available until the show has been broadcast in the UK." It asks that viewers keep an eye on the website for details of possible future transmissions. On the other side of the globe,PrimeTV in New Zealand is still confirming that they're carrying the new series, and now notes it on their website... at some point "this winter," meaning likely after the Australian ABC broadcast. (Debut is likely scheduled for June or July.)

The official BBC Doctor Who website has been updated again with a new theme matching the next episode, "The Unquiet Dead," complete with theatrical banner board!

The purchase of the new Doctor Who series in Australia which we reported on yesterday was mentioned on the BBC Press Office website, as well as the official Doctor Who site. It's also been extensively covered today by the press, including News.com.au, The Advertiser (Adelaide), The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), Daily Telegraph Australia,The Australian, Melbourne Herald Sun, The Age, C21 Media, Bordermail, The Mercury,Worldscreen.

The Radio Times website lists an extra repeat for the fourth edition of Doctor Who Confidential ("I get a side-kick out of you"). In addition to the previously listed screenings at 7.45pm on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April, it can also be seen at 3.40am on the night of 16/17 April.

On the heels of yesterday's release, yet another press release, Press Pack Four, was issued today, this time an interview with actress Penelope Wilton, who plays Harriet Jones in the two part story starting on August 16, "Aliens of London". "Penelope Wilton is one of Britain's most distinguished actresses, with credits including everything from acclaimed stage and TV productions to successful feature films. But she had no qualms about throwing herself into a double-episode story in the new Doctor Who - which features a surfeit of passed wind and sees her being chased by green monsters! 'What attracted me to the role was the quality of the writing,' she explains. 'I'd worked with Russell T Davies on Bob and Rose, and I really do believe he is one of our very best television writers. The episodes I'm in are extremely exciting and terribly funny.'" She notes that her character "represents some remote constituency and is as straight as a die - I think she's the kind of caring politician that anyone would like to have. Harriet also shows tremendous resilience and courage when these awful creatures, the Slitheens, make themselves and their plans known." She says she would enjoy a return to Doctor Who - if the script is right. "The Doctor looks into the future and sees Harriet as a future Prime Minister, so you never know - she might be back one day..."

Canada's airing on CBC Television took place last night... and we're happy to confirm that CBC broadcast the first episode in widescreen format! Also during the broadcast, a promo spot aired with Christopher Eccleston introducing himself (and the show) to North American audiences. He also popped up between commercial breaks to let viewers know about a "Doctor Who" contest CBC's currently running. He made mention to having "the coolest space ship in the Universe".

A new trailer has been airing on BBC television channels for this Saturday's episode; like the one for "The End of the World," this begins with "D'you wanna come with me?" before a selection of clips from the episode, most of which are from the "Next Time" section at the end of the previous episode.

This Is Gwent has a feature today on the filming done last year in Monmouth for the episode airing this Saturday. "It looks like a scene from Dickensian times," says the article. "Tight security surrounded the set as fake snow was poured onto the streets, and many residents watched in awe as the town was whisked back to the Victorian era. A large team of set builders dressed Beaufort Arms Court to become the entrance of a funeral parlour in Llandaff, Cardiff, and adapted St Mary's Street and White Swan Court to look as they might have done in the century before last." The article quotes Simon Callow, who plays Charles Dickens: "l get sent a lot of scripts which feature him as a kind of all-purpose literary character, and really understand little, if anything, about [Dickens]. But, as well as being brilliantly written, the script was obviously the work of someone who knows exactly what Dickens is all about, and the script very cleverly connects his idealism, which ends up being restored by his experiences, with The Doctor's desire to save the world." It notes that the first scene filmed in Monmouth involved an elderly woman, dressed in black, and wailing... which Outpost Gallifrey notes is actress Jennifer Hill, who plays Mrs. Peace (and whose portrayal of the moment was captured in several photos taken by fans at the filming last year, as seen in our New Series Photo Gallery.)

Actor Ronnie Corbett ("The Two Ronnies") would like to be included in the selection process for the new Doctor, according to today's Times. "Ronnie Corbett might be 74 but he is hoping age will be no barrier to the BBC considering him for the role of Dr Who after Christopher EcclestonÆs abrupt exit. 'I'd love to be considered for the part,' he said. 'Mind you, the episodes are likely to be somewhat shorter.' Boom, boom."

David Tennant, the noted favorite to play the role after Eccleston, is noted in tomorrow morning's review of "The Quatermass Experiment" in theGuardian. "This was a useful dummy run for David Tennant, who is heavily backed to be the next Doctor Who, playing a doctor confronted with a man eating vegetable. Tennant can do wide eyed with, so to speak, his eyes shut but, when the world is about to be destroyed, I think he should take his hands out of his pockets. It's the sort of thing that happens in a live production."

An article that ran last week in the Wishaw Press interviewed Jimmy Vee, who played the Moxx of Balhoon in last Saturday's second Doctor Who episode, "The End of the World." "I got the part through a friend that was working on the prosthetics and things for Doctor Who," said Vee. "He got a list through for the characters heÆd have to make, and a list of what kind of actor theyÆd need to play each part. He then let them know he knew someone who would be suitable for the part. I was told nothing about the part before I got it. All I had to do was travel down to Cardiff, turn up, learn the lines, I was put inside the costume, and then had to shoot. IÆm not allowed to say too much about it all." He noted that it took over three hours to put on his costume, and featured a two-foot head weighing more than half a stone. Once the outfit was on, Jimmy couldn't go to the toilet for 10 hours and its weight meant the pounds were falling off him. "I must have lost a stone in a week, even though I was drinking to rehydrate constantly. As soon as I got out, I had to eat everything I could get my hands on. It took me about three-and-a-half hours to put the costume on, and it was quite heavy."

Billie Piper apparently found herself battling with the British transport system after a night out on the town with a couple of friends at the weekend, says today's Express. "The soon-to-be-ex Mrs Chris Evans was spotted in London's Soho in the wee small hours trying to negotiate a good deal for a taxi home. 'We expected her to have a lift all sorted but nope, she was sticking her head through car doors trying to get a cheap cabbie to take her home - just like I was,' says a fellow partygoer. 'She wangled a good deal before I did anyway,' sighs the informant." Where's the TARDIS when you need it?

Today's Western Mail talks about Cardiff Theatrical Services, "the Welsh set-building company which helped regenerate Doctor Who is looking to enter a new dimension of growth." It notes that CTS is hoping that it will be commissioned to work on the second series of Doctor Who. "It was a really satisfying contract to win," said Simon Cornish, CTS construction manager, "even though we had been sworn to secrecy about the design. The creative vision behind the Tardis was in the same vein as many of the opera designs we have worked on over the years but this time it was faded hi-tech, not faded elegance. The structure itself would have been impossible to build even 10 years ago without the use of the kind of computerised templates for each piece of the steel structure we are able to call upon now."

Richard E. Grant topped the list in a Sky Showbiz Online poll asking who the next Time Lord should be. "A poll by Sky Showbiz Online revealed the Withnail and I star is the clear favourite to replace Christopher Eccleston," says the report. Comedian Eddie Izzard took second place, Bill Nighy third, Robbie Williams fourth and David Tennant fifth. Ananova also reported on it.

This is Bolton notes that Christopher Eccleston is "taking time out from travelling through space to take up a more down-to-earth cause. The actor ... has put his name behind a campaign to raise funds for Christie Hospital." Eccleston has provided the voiceover for the commercials which boast "Towards a Future Without Cancer". "I am very proud to be able to support this new campaign - and I hope everyone else will too," said Eccleston. "What is so important about the Christie is that the team is committed to driving research and treatment forward."

Some regurgitated comments from Billie Piper, already reported on in the media some time ago, nevertheless have been part of today's press in theIslington Gazette and subsidiary papers.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Justin Thomas, Marc Price, Dave Greenham, Lisa Aguiar, Robert Booth, Daniel Baum, Greg Miller, Paul Willmott, Ian Warren)

Will Doctor Who soon move to a new time slot... or is its lead in, "Strictly Dance Fever," going to be shifted? That's the big question, as the BBC'sNational Lottery website states that "Julian Clary is hosting The National Lottery Come and Have a Go on BBC ONE, April the 23rd, from 7.20pm." As our correspondent Dominic May wrote, either "Strictly Dance Fever" is considered a flop and Doctor Who moves to an earlier time slot... or perhaps Doctor Who moves to a slot after the lottery show. (Perhaps "Casualty" moves to Sundays?) Either way, it would also impact the transmission of "Doctor Who Confidential." As soon as we know for sure about the time switch, we'll let you know.

Phase Three of the BBC Doctor Who Press Pack was released today. The first segment is an interview with Simon Callow, who plays Charles Dickens in the next episode to be transmitted, "The Unquiet Dead." "When I heard that Dickens was going to be in Doctor Who, my heart rather sank," Simon admits. "I get sent a lot of scripts which feature him as a kind of all-purpose Victorian literary character and really understand little, if anything, about him, his life or his books. But, as well as being brilliantly written, Mark [Gatiss]'s script was obviously the work of someone who knows exactly what Dickens is all about." He also discusses what his career might have held, had the BBC been paying attention: "When the BBC decided to bring Doctor Who back as a feature film a few years ago, one national newspaper ran a poll to ask its readers who should be the new Doctor, and I topped it. Sadly, the producers failed to take note of this highly important statement of public opinion, so I never got my chance!" Writer Mark Gatiss is also interviewed, where he talks about the ideas for his episode. "The original idea came from Russell T Davies, but it was ideal for me - a Victorian ghost story set at Christmas with dead coming back to life! I've always had this thing about possession. Alan Bennett once said that we all have only a few beans in the tin to rattle, and I do tend to keep coming back to the idea of things being possessed. They're always my favourite kind of stories and it really must scare me on some basical level, the concept of being occupied by other entities." Of course, being part of the series was a dream come true for Mark: "Being asked to write for the new series was the best present I've ever had. But having wanted the show to return for so long, it was also a bit daunting and I think we (the writers) all ran around like headless chickens for a while. But then you just have to get on with it and the hard work really starts, but it's always a joy because of the love and loyalty we have for the show."

The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada features an article entitled "Who's Back. And Who's Looking Vastly Entertaining" regarding the debut of the series tonight on CBC Television. "If you've never been exposed to Dr. Who, you're probably wondering why there is all the fuss. Well, there are plenty of reasons for the fandango of interest," says the article. "Tonight's first episode of Dr. Who is terrific. It's wacky, colourful, lively and vastly entertaining. (I'll tell you here that I was never smitten with the series. Even when I saw it as a kid, I thought it was a very square drama.) In fact, it's a great example of a tired concept being expertly revived and cast. The BBC brought in Russell T. Davies, creator of the original Queer as Folk, to write it and he's done a superb job." You can read the full review (note: spoilers!) at the Globe and Mail site. Interestingly, the American newspapers the Detroit Free Press and Seattle Post Intelligencer also discuss the new series briefly; obviously, American viewers close to the Canadian border will likely luck out in this situation. Meanwhile, other Canadian newspapers including the Toronto Star and The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario) are covering the series' debut in their print editions.

Colin Baker, writing in his column in the Bucks Free Press, today gave his own impressions of the new Doctor Who series. "I watched the first episode of the new Doctor Who with a mixture of delight and ruefulness. Delight because it is precisely the mix of innovative creativity and connection to the past that the future of the programme needed," Baker wrote. "Christopher Eccleston is absolutely spot on. He looks splendid; that's the costume I would have liked black leather jacket, black T-shirt - although, I must admit it looks better on him. He has just the right mix of humour, passion, quirkiness and single-mindedness to provide the dynamo that is necessary at the centre of the programme. Billie Piper too is an unexpected revelation and has made the perfect start. And the writing, special effects, filmic style and "look" have been pitched at precisely the right level. All of which has contributed to a whole fresh and inspiring feel to the programme." He notes that Eccleston is "following a Liverpudlian (Paul McGann), a Scot (Sylvester McCoy), and another Mancunian (me) none of whom would have been invited, or allowed, to play the role as a northerner," and finishes up with the comment "The Doctor is back with a vengeance."

Simon Pegg is the subject of an article that ran in several places today noting that he "has revealed he has been cast as a villain called The Editor in the new series of Doctor Who." The article notes that (spoilers... select to read): "He makes a cameo appearance in episode seven of the sci-fi show, as controller of the 500th floor of a mysterious building from which time travellers do not return. The Spaced actor is one of several guest stars in the BBC1 drama, featuring Christopher Eccleston as the Time Lord and Billie Piper as his assistant. Pegg, 35, who told Nuts magazine he had been cast as The Editor, said, 'I'm in one episode of the new Doctor Who. I think it's going to be spectacular.'" The article's been carried at This is London, Daily Record,Sky News, Scotsman, RTE, UTV, and Western Mail.

"Doctor Who meets Dickens!" says the cover of today's new edition of Radio Times (9û15 April) and, although there's no front cover picture, the magazine is maintaining its high level of new series coverage. Once again, this week's episode is the first selection in RT's pick of the week's best television (page 4) and a photograph of Simon Callow as Charles Dickens accompanies a short blurb: "Corking episode written by the League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss, when the Doc, aided by Charles Dicken (Simon Callow), fights the spirit world." Reader's Letters (page 9) include three very positive responses to the first episode ("I've not felt so enthused about a TV programme for years") under the heading "Saviour of Earthlings...", while a fourth letter is headed "... or an obvious spoof?" and suggests that "As comedy it was great, but as serious sci-fi, well, pull the other one." A standard publicity shot of the Doctor and Rose is captioned "putting the fun, and fear, back into Saturday nights." This week's "Doctor Who Watch" (page 16) presents an interview with writer Mark Gatiss and features four small photographs from Saturday's episode. (It's worth noting that no other television series gets a weekly feature to itself in this way - even EastEnders is covered as part of a general soaps column.) The Radio Times television editor, Alison Graham (page 61), notes that "The first episode [...] secured nearly ten million viewers and garnered great critical praise. As audiences become ever more fractured, it's heartening to see a genuine piece of popular teatime family viewing. Surely it's good for kids to have a communal TV touchstone that isn't a soap opera." (She does rather ruin things on page 94 when she suggests the presenter of a property show as Eccleston's replacement.) She also notes that Doctor Who was "the obvious winner over Easter", giving ratings for the weekend's other "success stories": Colditz 5.3m, Fingersmith 4.9m, The Queen's Castle 6.5m, Strictly Dance Fever 4.9m. Once we get to the week's listings (page 62), The Unquiet Dead is Saturday's Pick of the Day: with a nice photo from the story, "it's as blackly comic as you'd expect [from Mark Gatiss]. [...] It's all terrific fun and everyone throws themselves into it with gusto. There are genuine shivers, so be warned û tinies may find it disturbing." Another photo (of Eccleston and Callow, page 64) highlights the actual listing: "When the dead start walking and creatures made of gas are on the loose, Charles Dickens proves to be an unlikley ally for the Doctor and Rose". Doctor Who Confidential asks "Where - or rather when - would the Doctor be without the Tardis? [...] the programme looks back over the 40-year history of the intergalactic time machine" (page 65). Meanwhile, BBC Four takes advantage of this week's episode - on Saturday at 8.15pm, the channel is broadcasting The Mystersy of Charles Dickens with Simon Callow as Dickens, and there are other Dickens programmes throughout the week. UKTV Gold is offering The Horns of Nimon for anyone who prefers their Christmas panto a little less Dickensian! And Sunday's TV listings (page 73) confirm a repeat of the third part of Doctor Who Confidential on Sunday, immediately after the second showing of The Unquiet Dead. Finally, Russell T Davies: Unscripted (reported on OG on 4 April) is one of the week's Digital/Cable Highlights on Monday (page 78); it's on BBC Four at 10pm, repeated at 1.10am and 3.25am, and on Thursday 14 April at 11pm, while BBC One's showing of Davies' Casanova with David Tennant continues on Monday at 9pm.

Today's Times features a convincing argument for "why the next Doctor Who should be black." "When it comes to casting black characters, the producers of Doctor Who seem to be on another planet. The BBC should do more to provide positive role models. ... Like, I expect, many black people in the UK I watched the first episode of the new Doctor Who and cringed. When you are watching television, you tend to identify with people like you. Women identify with other women, men with other men, and people from one particular ethnic group with other people like them. The only character from an ethnic minority in this programme was the boyfriend of Rose - Doctor Who's new sidekick. ... There has been a lot of talk about positive role models for young African and Caribbean boys in the UK. Positive role models in society may improve kids' results at school. They offer a sense of belonging and being part of the mainstream. They give you something to aim for. But negative role models marginalise black kids, increasing their interest in other sources of positive affirmation, pride and respect, such as gangs, hip-hop and gun culture. The BBC may think it is doing its bit by having black presenters and other characters on TV. But that is not what inspires people. For that you need black people to be protagonists and heroes. And you rarely find black heroes on TV. ... But here is an idea. Christopher Eccleston, the ninth incarnation of the doctor is giving up at the end of the series. A new Doctor is required. All of them so far have been white men. Why can't the tenth Doctor be black?" The article, written by a societal psychiatrist who specializes in causes of mental illness, racism and social capital, is a very interesting read.

Christopher Eccleston will take part in a televised concert, A Party to Remember, to mark the 60th anniversary of VE Day. The concert, on May 8, will be hosted by BBC presenter Natasha Kaplinsky and GMTV host Eamonn Holmes. Among the other celebrities involved are singer Will Young, Kate Melua, Welsh opera star Katherine Jenkins and Heather Mills McCartney. Articles discussing the event can be found at BBC News, ic Network, theScotsman.

CBBC Newsround has a review of the second episode from one of its teenage readers.

Today's Daily Star has a brief note that mentions that Rhys Ifans, who was Hugh Grant's scruffy lodger Spike in hit movie "Notting Hill," is in the running to play the Doctor... but this could be a simple case of putting the actor's name into the papers.

Several papers and online news sources today carried the story about the BBC's apology to Christopher Eccleston, which we reported yesterday, including Channel 4, CBBC News, MediaGuardian, Manchester Online,This Is London,The Examiner, WaveGuide, ITV News, ContactMusic,The Telegraph, DigitalSpy, BreakingNews, andBrand Republic.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Dominic May, Chuck Foster, Paul Hayes, Louise March, Zoe Hudson, Tony Jordan, Paul Jobber)

Editor's Note: Sorry for the brief couple of days away... I'll be updating my weblog soon about that. In the meanwhile, here's what we've missed the past three days:

The End of the World continued Doctor Who's strong lead over the main ITV competition, "Ant + Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway", with "Doctor Who" being watched by 7,254,214 million viewers according to ViewingFigures, versus 6,021,897 viewers for Ant + Dec, and receiving a 36.05% share versus Ant + Dec's 30.86% share. "Doctor Who" also had a higher audience share than last night's "Casualty." The figures suggest that viewing figures on BBC One and ITV1 were significantly lower last night across the board, and that Episode 2 still performed very strongly despite the lower performance against the first episode. The Daily Record notes today that the Doctor beat his rivals "despite a 2.6million drop in viewers. Saturday's second episode of the new series, starring Christopher Eccleston, attracted an average of 7.3million viewers, compared with 9.9million last week. But the Timelord's adventures still beat Ant and Dec, whose show featuring Tony Blair was watched by six million viewers." CBBC Newsround has an article about the making of this weekend's episode online, noting that the filming done last summer at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff was for the interior photography on this episode.

The new edition of Doctor Who Magazine says that recording on the new series was completed on Monday 14 March, but post-production work will continue "almost for the entire duration of the series’ transmission". It is also confirmed that Rose is the only episode of the run that does not feature a pre-titles opening sequence! There is casting news for episodes 11, 12 and 13. "Boom Town" will feature Mali Harries as Cathy Salt. Episodes 12 and 13 include a cameo appearance from Jenna Russell, as well as Jo Stone-Fewings as the Male Programmer, Jo Joyner as Lynda Moss,Nisha Nayaras the Female Programmer, Martha Cope as the Controller and Sam Callisas the Security Guard.

The BBC Press office has a new Features document up (a PDF copy is here) on behind-the-scenes stuff, largely (possibly entirely) drawn from the Phase 2 press pack of a week or two back. Also, the Highlights for Saturday (PDF again) has photos and a brief write-up for Aliens of London: "The Doctor takes Rose home in Aliens of London, the first of a two-part story. But when a spaceship crash-land in the Thames, London is closed off and the whole world goes on Red Alert. While the Doctor investigates the alien survivor, Rose discovers that her home is no longer a safe haven. Who are the Slitheen?"

The cover illustration for the new Doctor Who series first DVD set is now out; click on the thumbnail at right for a larger version. This cover illustration was found on the BBC Shop website, and the cover suggests that it will indeed carry the first three episodes, "Rose," "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead." These "vanilla" DVD releases of Series One are, according to Doctor Who Magazine, confirmed for May, June, August and September, as is the November box set in TARDIS packaging. As previously reported on OG and elsewhere, only the box set will contain extra material – details remain unconfirmed, but DWM cites Russell T Davies suggesting at the press launch that there will be commentaries, interviews and deleted and alternate scenes, while elsewhere in the issue it is revealed that RTD was using "a state-of-the-art camcorder" throughout filming to capture behind-the-scenes footage for the DVD set. BBC Video stress that it is a deliberate strategy to publicise both the box set and the separate releases at this point, so that "fans will be aware that this is coming out in plenty of time". Also confirmed for this summer: the Penguin range of Funfax, Stickerbook, and Activity Book which is described as containing "a pull-out board game, wordsearches, spot-the-difference games and other puzzles".

Character Options have revealed details of some of the 24 different toys and gifts the company is to release over the next few months. There are provisional illustrations of the radio-controlled Dalek and the Sonic Screwdriver (with flashing lights and sound effects), as well as of a couple of coffee mugs, one of which apparently says "Exterminate!", and the other seemingly makes a TARDIS noise (with luck, only when you pick them up, rather than while they’re sat in the cupboard). The Doctor/Slitheen character walkie-talkies shown recently on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross are also mentioned, as are a "Dalek-killer" LCD game, a TARDIS moneybox that plays sounds when coins are dropped in, key-rings and bottle-openers that make Dalek noises, and "a TARDIS phone-alert desk-flasher". Whatever that is.

Doctor Who debuts this week in Canada with a showing of "Rose" on Tuesday, April 5 at 8:00pm on the CBC Network. CBC now has a dedicatedDoctor Who website featuring news items and downloads, as well as a six-part Doctor Who documentary series, Planet of the Doctor which will feature interviews with Doctor Who stars and comments about the return of the series. (Incidentally, the entire trailer for "Planet of the Doctor" seems to have been shot at our ownGallifrey 2005 convention!)

Blue Peter on Monday, April 4 will focus on Doctor Who: "Simon Thomas and Zoe Salmon try out Britain's newest rollercoaster, and the team demonstrate how to make a Dalek out of a compost bin. Plus, the results of the mural competition."

The BBC4 programme "Timeshift" will be focussing on Russell T Davies for one of it editions (11th April @ 22:00, repeated 12th April @01:10 and 03:25). "Russell T Davies Unscripted" is a "pofile of TV dramatist Russell T Davies, who talks frankly about his controversial career. He began in children's BBC and achieved fame through his C4 series Queer As Folk. Russell is now the main write and executive producer on two key BBC series - Casanova and the relaunch of Dr Who. Contributors include Christopher Eccleston, broadcaster and TV critic Mark Lawson and children's presenter Andi Peters."

The BBC South East Wales site has launched a Doctor Who Locations Guide, which will be updated each week (after TX of the appropriate episode) with details of Welsh locations used on Doctor Who, as well as behind-the-scenes images from the locations, which you can access here. And South East also has a website about their three-part documentary Back In Time about Welsh connections with Doctor Who, previewing the new series, and of course, the Daleks!

The big story of the week, overshadowing the second series and Christmas special, was the resignation of Christopher Eccleston at the end of the first series. The Times reports that "Casanova star David Tennant is the corporation's choice to become the 10th Doctor Who after the sudden departure of Christopher Eccleston" (p.23). The Daily Mirror says that "Christopher Eccleston was ordered back on set to re-shoot crucial final scenes after his decision to quit Doctor Who" (p.11) and has a profile of David Tennant (pp.26–7). "BBC bosses are furious over Christopher Eccleston's decision to quit as Doctor Who after spending millions on merchandising carrying his image," according to the Daily Mail (p.12), and The Sun agrees that "Fury erupted at Christopher Eccleston's decision to quit as Doctor Who" (p.9). There was a ton of coverage including many newspaper and online articles including Reuters, Scifi.com, Cinescape, Sci-Fi Online,Megastar, ContactMusic, Evening Times, Scotsman,Register, BreakingNews, BigNewsNetwork,Pittsburgh Live,SyFyPortal, DeHavilland, RealityTVWorld, Macleans, The Great Link, CBC TV, Monsters And Critics, Victoria Herald Sun, Xtra MSN,The Edge, Filmforce/IGN, Gulf Daily News, Express News Line, theNew York Times, Yorkshire Today, Dark Horizons, Canoe.ca,ProFindPages, Yabedo, Canada.com and many other news and print sources.

The Western Mail says that "Dr Who actor's departure will unfold on screen," noting that "the news Christopher Eccleston has quit as Doctor Who just days after the new series started may have come as a shock to fans, but the show's writer says the actor had never intended to stay long term. And Russell T Davies says he wrote the scripts for the 13-part series around Eccleston's decision to leave once it had been filmed. 'This had all been planned,' said Swansea-born Davies, pictured, about the announcement Eccleston is leaving. 'You will see the story [of his departure] unfold on screen and it's brilliant. We've got 13 episodes of the best Doctor in the world - he [Eccleston] worked himself to death on the show.' There has been speculation about who should replace Eccleston as the Time Lord and one of the early favourites is actor David Tennant, the star of BBC3's Casanova, also penned by Davies. The BBC has confirmed it is in talks with Tennant. But the Doctor Who writer is remaining tight-lipped on who he wants to take over. 'I couldn't possibly comment but there are talks going on. It's very exciting.'" The article also mentions the second series and Christmas special, quoting Davies: "I'm delighted the show is working. It's wonderful there will be more work for people in Cardiff. Everyone thinks we already secretly knew there would be another series but we didn't."

sThe Sun dealt Eccleston him a severe bashing following his decision to quit with a page nine lead, "Dr Who Do You Think You Are?" with the subhead "Viewers and Beeb furious at Eccleston exit". The story focuses on the backlash among fans, while a Beeb "insider" is quoted as saying: "The BBC has shot itself in the foot. It spent considerable money and energy on him as the new Doctor." The paper claimed that questions were being asked as to why Eccleston wasn't contracted for a second series. Sun TV Editor Emily Smith adds a footnote saying: "It's a huge slap in the face for ten million fans who eagerly awaited the big-budget new series . . . He's Time Lord-ing it over us." It was illustrated with a picture of Eccleston with a superimposed Dalek exclaiming: "Well, that Doctor didn't put up much of a fight. We barely got to say 'Exterminate!' and he was off. And I thought some of his performances were a bit mechanical." The piece also said David Tennant was the most likely replacement, and had a picture of him as well. Page 11, meanwhile, which is devoted to columnist Richard Littlejohn's various rants, has a cartoon of Prime Minister Tony Blair, dressed in Tom Baker costume of hat and scarf, stepping out of the Tardis while clutching a piece of paper and saying: "And the date of the election is . . . ". The piece is about how Blair is beyond parody in relation to his media campaign. It finishes by mockingly suggesting that Blair might put himself forward for the role of the Doctor, and says: "And don't be surprised if Blair turns up on Monday in a long scarf on the doorstep of the Tardis and announces the election will be held on May 5 in the year 2525."

Plenty of coverage about the merchandising chaos caused by Eccleston's departure, too. The Daily Mail says that "a Who collectors item featuring Christopher Eccleston will still be made available for sci-fans - even though the Salford actor may not be in the role by the time they are released. ... The BBC, who are planning A Doctor Who Christmas special with Eccleston, have already developed a range of toys - including a remote controlled Dalek - which are expected to take the High Street by storm. Toy distributors Character Options, based in Lees near Oldham, who have worked on the innovative new range, say the decision by Eccleston to quit Doctor Who will not affect them. A spokesman said: 'We're involved in producing everything from themed Doctor Who mugs and key rings to a remote-controlled Dalek, and it doesn't really matter who is playing Doctor Who. The remote-controlled Dalek we're working on is just awesome. We're going ahead with an image of Christopher Eccleston as Doctor Who which will be available at Christmas. This can always be updated if there is someone else playing the character.'"

David Tennant was in the news this weekend after his name was linked to the new series... and the possibilities are open that Tennant may be in place by the end of the first season. The Times profiled Tennant in an article that notes that "from Bathgate, West Lothian, Tennant previously took a lead role in the BBC One musical drama Blackpool, appeared in the Stephen Fry movie Bright Young Things and on stage in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet. A BBC insider said: 'Tennant was the only name in the frame to take over. It is a matter of agreeing terms with his agent at this stage.' A long-time fan of Doctor Who, Tennant voiced a role in an internet episode, Scream of the Shalka, in 2003 and claims that his earliest memory was of seeing the Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker. The BBC wants Tennant in place to shoot a 'regeneration' scene at the climax of the 13th and final episode of the revived sciencefiction classic. He is then expected to make his first appearance as the Doctor in a Christmas special, in which he will team up with Billie Piper, who plays his assistant, Rose. The BBC wants to secure Tennant for the high-profile role before his film career takes off. He is playing the part of Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which will be released this autumn."

The Mirror, meanwhile, has an article on David Tennant's career, and his thoughts on maybe being Doctor: "'It would be a great role to play,' he declared this week," says the article. "It would also have another, less obvious benefit for David - no sex scenes. Because if there's one thing he hates, it's stripping off for the cameras... 'All the time, you're worrying about what the other person is thinking,' he said. 'When you finish, you think: 'Is that what everybody else does, or is it just me?' ... I do get told I'm nice quite a lot and I'm happy about it. But you do wonder if it makes you a little bland, a little unsexy. I have my dark moments but basically I'm content.' Playing Doctor Who may be a strange transition for him - off the chaise longue and into the Tardis - but there is little doubt that, even as the chaste Doctor, his appeal to female viewers will be as strong as ever. ... It was highly unlikely before but if, as expected, the BBC unveils David as its next Doctor Who, it is certain he'll never need to contemplate an alternative career."

But will they actually refilm the end of the first season? The Mirror says that "Christopher Eccleston was ordered back on set to re-shoot crucial final scenes, following his shock decision to quit as Dr Who after just one series. The 41-year-old actor had already filmed one dramatic ending (span for spoiler content) in which the Time Lord escaped unscathed from the Daleks. But after Eccleston's surprise announcement, BBC1 bosses hastily scheduled a specially re-written climax to pave the way for a new star to take his place in the next series. The alternative ending is believed (spoilers) to show the doctor disappearing into the ether - watched by his horrified assistant Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. An insider said yesterday: "The doctor and Rose escape to the Tardis and launch themselves into the Universe. Then he tells her, 'I've taught you all you need to know - now you can do it yourself'. The Doctor is then sucked out of the control room into space. But, of course, given his alien powers, he can always come back in another form." A Beeb spokeswoman confirmed: 'We have filmed two different endings for the series finale, but we don't want to give anything away. You'll just have to wait and see.'" TheSunday Independent says that "Doctor Who fans who don't like to have their plots spoilt should look away now. But the fact is that the writing was on the wall for Christopher Eccleston (pictured) in his brief stint as the Time Lord even before he announced he was quitting. The final episode of the new series already gives something of a clue, with the title "The Parting of the Ways". ... The word is that the plot is open for his assistant to revive him in another guise when the show returns for a Christmas special." This contradicts a statement on the BBC Doctor Who website as it says "His last appearance as the Doctor will be in a sixty minute Christmas special," although to be fair this may simply be what the site editors were told.

Christopher Eccleston's departure from "Doctor Who" was covered in an item on March 31's children's show Newsroundat 5.25pm. Eccleston's departure was described as "...a big surprise because the new TV show is proving such a big hit". The reasons for his departure are cited as him wanting to leave to pursue other projects "...and he also confessed to us ("Newsround") he found the filming hard work". In a brief on-set interview Chris' comment is: "...Working six day weeks, fourteen hour days, for nine months and I'm finding... finding that really tough". The report goes on to state that the new Doctor hasn't been chosen "...but the rumours are...": David Tennant, Bill Nighy, Richard E Grant, David Thewlis or Alan Davies. Also of note is that the report was well represented by clips from unscreened episodes and included a plug for Saturday's behind the scenes show. On the "Newsround" website, children have been suggesting who they believe should be the next Doctor. Also on the website are picture galleries of new monsters and the Doctor/Rose. It's also possible to watch an 8 minute "Newsround" showbiz special from last Saturday introducing "Doctor Who" to a new generation.

The Daily Mail said that "BBC bosses are furious over Christopher Eccleston's decision to quit as Doctor Who after spending millions on merchandising which carries his image. They had hoped to cash in on the show's popularity by exploiting the lucrative Christmas market with toys and other merchandise with the actor's distinctive features." The article noted that "BBC Worldwide licensed Manchester firm Character Options to design more than 20 items. And a 12in action figurine of him is ready to be in the shops by October. But by Christmas, Eccleston will have already been long departed as the Doctor - his last appearance on television being in June - and will have already been replaced by a new Docousfor the second series, rendering the merchandising obsolete." The article also hints at other reasons why he left: "Last night friends said one reason Eccleston decided to quit Doctor Who was because he thought the part was 'too effeminate'. They said he had grown uncomfortable playing such a 'fey' Doctor and was concerned that if he continued, he would lose out on gritty serious roles later in his career. One source close to the actor said: "Chris thought playing such a flamboyant Doctor was a laugh for a while and a real challenge. "But he soon realised that being so outrageously camp in such a mainstream popular show was going to kill his career as a seritor-actor. 'Russell wrote a very fluffy, effeminate script, which is great for the show, but where does an actor go after that? Chris didn't want to be typecast as the camp Doctor Who.'" Other sources carrying the news about BBC 'furor' include Sky News, Ananova,InTheNews, The Observer, theTimes ("Who the hell does he think he is?"), and the Sunday Mirror, which quotes a 'BBC insider' as saying, "Bosses were fuming about Christopher walking out. He had made a gentleman's agreement to stay for at least another series. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth."

The Express and Star called for a new Doctor to have a little more forethought. "Despite universal acclaim, new Dr Who Christopher Eccleston has announced he is to quit after just one series. He is worried about typecasting. Which makes one wonder why he took such a high profile job in the first place. Perhaps, as a highly strung actor, he got the willies from those nasty Daleks - after all, the new models have apparently learned to get up and down the stairs. Whatever his reasons, Mr Eccleston will now have to join the rest of us, cowering behind the settee, as someone else takes up the mantle of the nation's favourite Time Lord. Let's hope that this time the good people at the BBC use their brains and realise it just might be a good idea to sign up the next candidate for more than one series."

Last Thursday's "PM" on Radio 4, about 53'45" in, featured a piece about Eccleston leaving, ostensibly about actors' fears of typecasting. They interviewed Jonathon Morris (Snakedance), George Jessel (in the US), and Julie Goodyear (British Soap Star from Coronation Street) about typecasting. Jonathon Morris (they say) was considered for the role as the Doctor. Also, on this weekend's "Now Show," Mitch Benn performed a song about Eccleston leaving the show as well as being the voice of a Dalek in some of the sketches. And on April 1, GMTV had a brief chat about Eccleston going, and then a preview of End of the World ("pick of the day"); while BBC Breakfast news had an article on the live Quatermass for Saturday, with Mark Gatiss in studio and also talking about Who!

While Ladbrokes mentioned odds earlier in the day, William Hill won't accept any as they believe the role of the next Doctor will be David Tennant's if he wants it! Spokesman Graham Sharpe says at the William Hill website: "I'm afraid that it is a question of Dr No for Dr Who punters. It appears that the BBC has moved quickly to secure David Tennant's services following the departure of Eccleston - and it seems that the role is his should he want it, which makes it impossible for us to open a book."

Outpost Gallifrey was itself part of the news cycle over the weekend; theMirror ran an article noting that the site's Forum had closed for two days "after fans fell out about the show's star quitting the role. Popular online forum Outpost Gallifrey was swamped with strongly worded emails from fans furious over Christopher Eccleston's shock departure from the programme. As fans accused the actor of using the show to boost his profile, his supporters defended him, leading to bitter clashes on the forum. Website editor Shaun Lyon said: 'Tempers have become incredibly heated. Perspective on the subject has been lost and some incredibly poor- spirited exchanges have taken place. Sometimes emotion and sentiment boil over to extremes. Many Doctor Who fans who should have been rejoicing in the renewal of the series have instead found themselves dealing with the news that Eccleston isn't returning to the role. Some of what's transpired in the past two days has been an embarrassment. It's the first time we've had to do this.'" The story was also covered by the Daily Record.

Digital Spy says "Daleks may not be back for second 'Dr Who'". "BBC bosses have yet to secure a deal allowing the Daleks to appear in the next series of Doctor Who. Daleks creator Terry Nation negotiated a deal with the BBC for the latest series, and the Doctor's scariest enemies will be back soon. However, a spokesperson for The Terry Nation Estate has revealed that the BBC will have to negotiate another deal for the second series. 'We decided to see how this first run goes before deciding anything,' the spokesperson told The Sun. The BBC will now be left to decide whether to reach an agreement for the next series, or continue the show without the Daleks next year."

The latest edition of Cult Times has an interview with Russell T Davies, in which he discusses pretty much the same things as he has in every other interview. Although it's now something of an academic issue, he does though clarify his thoughts on a McGann-Eccleston regeneration: [...] Was there ever the intention to do a regeneration scene? "Absolutely none. I didn't even consider it for a second. Do you know, we never even discussed it at the BBC either..." [...] How about going back at some point and showing it? "No, to be honest. I think that'd be weird. If it ever happens on screen, for a new audience, it's new... for a new audience that would be a phenomenal event. To flash back to another actor saying 'I was once someone else' just doesn't make sense. That would never happen - not when I'm on it anyway."

Yesterday's Daily Express on the possibility of Eddie Izzard being the 10th Doctor (we've been down this road before, haven't we?): "Comic Eddie Izzard has claimed that former Doctor Who actor Tom Baker wants him to take the role of the Time Lord. The cross-dressing comedian said yesterday: 'Tom Baker said it would be a fun idea.' ... He told BBC1's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross yesterday: 'There isn't enough time and I'm not being asked.'" Of course, we were looking at Izzard as a rumored Doctor more than a year ago!

On the official Doctor Who site, there's some small updates to the site itself, plus the "Who is Doctor Who?" website (click on "Lies" at the bottom) has also been updated. The planned live chat with Russell T Daviesscheduled for this past Saturday was abruptly canceled, with no explanation offered. Today's edition of Heaven and Earth, which was to feature Doctor Who coverage, was also rescheduled to 11.30am due to continuing coverage of the death of the Pope.

Anthony Stewart Head spoke to the SciFind website, which asked him if he'd ever take the role of the Doctor if asked. "I think there have been rumors of me doing it since, well for a long time. I think it is very unlikely that they will ask me as I was the readers choice in the 'Radio Times' and that is enough to put any producer off actually coming to me to ask if I'll do it. I don't know to be honest. I've done one character in a 'cult' series [in Buffy] and I don't want to get a reputation for doing that. But then never say never."

The April 1 Canterbury Adscene said that "bosses at Marks & Spencer have been forced to remove window dum mies from their Canterbury store after last Saturday's Doctor Who TV show. More than 50 worried parents contacted the city centre store this week after their children said they were terrified of going inside. They claimed the opening episode of the new Time Lord's adventures, which showed plastic mannequins coming to life and attacking humans, had given their children nightmares." April fools, anyone? Or maybe not...

A rather harsh article on Spiked Online says that "the Tardis has been knocked off course by 'fanwankery'." "I'm a lifelong fan of the science fiction series Doctor Who. Yes, that kind of fan - the kind who revels in the minutiae and trivia of the Doctor Who mythos, who goes to conventions (although I draw the line at dressing up), and who as a youth once wrote a letter to the BBC demanding that it resurrect the programme. Now us fans have had our wish granted - a new season of Doctor Who is now showing on BBC1, and a follow-up season has already been announced, albeit with a different lead actor. What to make of all of this?" It notes that "Audience figures for the first episode of the new series were high, while the fan reaction was largely favourable. Personally, I don't care for this approach at all. I prefer to willingly suspend my disbelief, rather than being corralled into an ironic perspective by some insecure smartarse. And I like it when programme makers have the good grace to take material like Doctor Who seriously in its own terms, regardless of how ridiculous those terms are. But maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, who's spent too much of his life absorbed in fanwank. Apparently, it can make you blind. In any case, the series still has potential. It always will. With a premise as flexible as 'alien travels through time and space righting wrongs', the possibilities for making either brilliant or dire TV are pretty much unlimited."

The Globe and Mail features an article about the series' return to Canada. "It's a new beginning that will be scrutinized closely by Doctor Who fans in Canada -- although perhaps not as closely as it was in the U.K. where the show is an institution. (This is a country that issued a postage stamp in the 1990s featuring a Dalek, a favourite Doctor Who villain shaped like a life-sized salt shaker and intent on exterminating everything in its path.)"

Says the Evening Mail, Bruno Langley who will appear in several episodes of the new series, "will headline this year's Stafford Festival Shakespeare. The 22-year-old will play the part of Romeo in the open air production of Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet, set against the dramatic backdrop of Stafford Castle. The role will be the first theatre performance from Bruno, who is also due to star in The League of Gentlemen"s film Apocalypse and Brit-Asian Romantic comedy Halal Harry. The play, part of Stafford"s 15th Shakespearean festival, will run from June 30 to July 16 at the impressive venue." For tickets telephone the box office on 01785 254653

During a recent airing of "CSI" on Australia's Channel 9, during one of the ad breaks there was an ad for the ANZ bank - specifically advertising their customer help phone centres and the fact that they are staffed by people and not computers. The ad starts with the Robot from Lost in Space, who picks up the phone and says something like: "Your call is important to us, please hold..." He then passes the phone to the Robot from Forbidden Planet: "Your call has been placed in a queue. Your call is important to us..." Then a Dalek takes over and (by this point i was laughing too much to really hear but): "You will be Exterminated! Exterminate!" The ad then cuts to a human phone operator and the ad launches into its speel about how if you call the ANZ Call Centre you will be helped by a human, not a machine...

Some other web articles from the past couple of days: the Dundee Courierdiscusses a Dalek helping Dee4Life campaign; Terry Wogan makes comments about Doctor Who in this weekend's Telegraph; People discusses Chris Evans' comments blaming Doctor Who for his marriage breakup with Billie Piper, while Billie says precisely the opposite toWales on Sunday and Digital Spycommenting on that; Digital Spy also comments on Eccleston's comments to the MIrror saying he would stay for 3 years on a now-removed BBC website interview; a negative review at Blogcritics and a positive one at DVD Times; the Evening News, on the Eccleston figure remaining as collectors item; Darlington and Stockton Times on the new series measuring up; and "The real Doctor Who is a Welshman", says the Western Mail. And a couple of April Fools comments: Monsters and Critics on Orlando Bloom as the Doctor (with companion Prila Loof - get it?), and WaveGuide on Jordan being in the next series.

(Thanks for this monstrosity of an update goes to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, John Bowman, Rick Mawson, Brian at SciFind, Jamie Austin, Andy Parish, Keith Armstrong, Barry Housman, Reverend Kathy Smith, Graeme Burk, Don McKinnon, Paul Jennings, Robert Booth, Matthew Harris, Steve Rogan, Paul Scott Aldred, James Hellyer, Martin Montague, Michael Jones, Robin Shannon, Andrew Wong, Drew Johnston, Kenny Davidson, Paul Rees, Peter Anghelides, Mustafa Hirji, Andrew Flynn, Gareth Drawmer, Simon Bishop, Alan Darlington, Darren Powis, David Traynier, Peter Shaw, Adam Richard)

As previously reported Doctor Who was the big winner on Saturday night: the final numbers out for the top twelve Saturday night programs note that the show received 9.94411 million viewers, a 43.20% share of the audience, and at times peaked up to 10.5 million. The show's competition, ITV's "Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway" received a 31.38% share with 7.17512 million viewers to be the night's third highest rating program, after "Casualty" (with 7.45706 million viewers/33.21% share).

Also, Doctor Who: A New Dimension scored great ratings for its timeslot and genre; the 5.25pm documentary that aired on BBC1, produced by the same people as "Doctor Who Confidential," received a 26.08% share with 4.05670 million viewers, number eleven on the night's viewing charts.

Meanwhile, BBC3 scored a big night with their broadcast of Doctor Who Confidential, which according to ViewingFigures received 820,630 viewers (or 5.45% audience share). The numbers are said to be "huge" for a documentary on BBC3. BBC's Sunday night repeat of "Rose," the first episode of the new series, scored 484,020 viewers (or a 3.51% share).

With the imminent broadcast of the new series in Canada, the Canadian edition of TV Guide Magazine, the most widely-read magazine in North America, carries Doctor Who on its front cover. Click on the thumbnail at right for a larger version of the cover. Meanwhile, the Canada.com website has an article about the show; nothing really noteworthy beyond a vague description on how the Daleks have been updated in their look, and Phil Collinson stating that he thinks the series must be "adapted to the times."

Italy is the latest confirmation as a broadcaster of the new series, as a story in today's Media Guardian makes note that "the programme has been sold to CBC in Canada, Prime TV in New Zealand and Sky Italia's entertainment channel Jimmy." It also mentions Australia in the article: "Production sources said that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which is currently broadcasting every Doctor Who episode since the beginning, would shortly buy the series after it has viewed all 13 completed episodes."

The official Doctor Who website now has the trailer for episode 2, The End of the World, on their site; click here for the media player to watch it. They've also made some, er, changes to their "Who is Doctor Who" site... the page "formerly" run by Clive from the first episode. Go to the front page of the Doctor Who site, and look next to Billie Piper's hands for a secret entrance to Clive's site.

Doctor Who Uncovered is a radio program to be broadcast after the BBC3 repeat of "The Unquiet Dead" on Sunday, April 10 at 7.45pm. The program lasts 15 minutes (running to 8pm). There's currently no word on the content of the program.

More broadcasting updates: Christopher Eccleston is scheduled to be a guest on "The Heaven and Earth show" on BBC1 at 10.30am on Sunday, April 3. One day earlier, on Saturday April 2, the CBBC Channel will be doing a feature behind the scenes on "End of the World" at 15.50 on the programme "Newsround Showbiz".

The new edition of Radio Times (2û8 April) is published today and continues its heavy promotion of the new series. Once again, Doctor Who is at the head of the recommended viewing for the week (page 4), with a small picture of Jabe and a brief description: "Rose learns the hard way on her first time-travel trip with the Doctor in this fresh, funny romp. Bizarre aliens ahoy, including Jabe." On page 10, there is a letter from a viewer complaining that the Mastermind special was won by the contestant with the lowest score in the Doctor Who round ("I was horrified..."). This week's big "Doctor Who Watch" feature runs on pages 12 to 15 and goes behind the scenes on creating the various aliens for episode 2, with comments from Phil Collinson, Neill Gorton, Davy Jones and Lucinda Wright, as well as eight colour photographs. (There's also coverage of both Quatermass and Casanova, featuring Mark Gatiss and David Tennant.) Saturday's televison pick of the day is illustrated with the Face of Boe, and a write-up that mentions that no preview tape was available, "so we can't tell you whether the promise of the excellent thrilling opener is realised and sustained." The listing for the episode (which includes a credit for Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler) at 7pm has another alien's mugshot. The listing for Doctor Who Confidential says that "the focus is on the memorable monsters from the past 40 years of the show". UKTV Gold is listed as showing The Creature from the Pit and Nightmare of Eden in its weekend omnibus slots; BBC1's Heaven and Earth Show (Sunday, 10.30am) has an interview with Christopher Eccleston; BBC4 is reshowing its Fantasy 60s documentary, which deals briefly with Doctor Who, at 11.40pm on Saturday. Finally, on Monday 4, at 5pm, Blue Peter on BBC1 shows "how to make a Dalek out of a garden compost bin."

Heat magazine have more support for the new series in their new issue. In the Picks for Saturday night they have a joint pick for Doctor Who and Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway: "Doctor Who/Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, BBC1, 7pm/ITV1, 6.45pm. Now that you've seen the first episode of Doctor Who, or made your mind up sight-unseen on whether it's your particular cup of Saturday-evening tea, the nation can divide itself into Who people or Ant people - so to speak. We could all just use our videos or Sky+, but we don't all have time to press confusing buttons. On BBC1, it's the year five billion AD and someone's using spider-things to bump off the alien spectators who have gathered to watch the sun explode and destroy the earth. Will the Doctor and Rose sort it out in time? On ITV1 it's 2005 AD and Emma Bunton is stitched up like a blonde, musical kipper on Ant and Dec Undercover, Ainsley Harriott joins in the Grab the Ads fun in the studio and And and Dec go head-to-head in Kirsty Gallacher's Ant versus Dec challenge from last week. Not to mention the weekly treat that is Little Ant and Dec's celeb interview. Make your choice now! "

Fans on the air: Timothy Farr of TIMELESS (the DWAS local group South Wales) and Julia Raysight of the Guardian were on the BBC Radio Wales morning programme "Good Morning Wales" at 8:55am chatting about the success of the weekend. Also, on BBC Radio Five Live, Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogerty discussed the series on their "Breakfast" show with Boyd Hilton, edtitor of Heat Magazine, at 8:55am. Its around 02:51:00 in on Radio 5 Live's Listen Again Service (Monday). And the Preston Doctor Who group in England appeared on BBC Radio Lancashire today to review the first episode. The 20 minute segment formed part of the Ben Thompson show at 2.15pm. It was a follow-up appearance to a show in December 2004, again discussing Doctor Who.

Monday's issue of the Daily Express has yet more coverage of the new series. A quarter-page photo of a smiling Billie Piper on the front cover is captioned: ôBILLIE HELPS YOU KNOW WHO WIN THE RATINGS WARö, promoting a full-page feature on page three which covers the ratings victory. The page three headline is ôBillie the Whizz Kidö with ôDr Who wins Saturday night TV ratings warö. The article is accompanied by a large photo of Billie, a smaller inset photo of Chris and Billie from the second promo photo, and a picture of Ant and Dec. Amusingly itÆs a recent photo of the ITV pair (Dec has his arm in a sling from a recent injury) and is captioned ôLOSING OUT: Ant and Dec were TV warÆs casualtiesö. Perhaps a little unfairly though, the article compared Doctor WhoÆs peak figure with Ant and DecÆs average, saying: ôITV wheeled out a line-up of celebrities, including soccer star David Beckham, but the BBC pulled in an audience of 10.5 million compared with Ant and DecÆs Saturday Night Takeaway at 7.2 million.ö On page 13, the paperÆs TV reviewer Charlie Catchpole gives the episode a glowing review, his only complaint being the new arrangement of the theme tune. The review is headlined ôThis Doctor is the right prescriptionö, and his comments include: ôThe Tardis has landed. The Doctor is among us and allÆs well with the world. Or pretty much all. Christopher Eccleston makes a marvellous new Doctor Whoà The special effects are dazzling, the script by Russell T Davies is sharp and wittyà The opening episode was perfectly in tune with the showÆs traditions but it could just as easily have stood alone.ö Then on page 24, the newspaper has its top 10 ôOK Magazine Celebrity Chartö, with Christopher Eccleston equalling his No. 2 position from the week he was cast as the Doctor last year, and Billie going straight in at No. 3 (they must be so proud, eh?). The write up for Chris is ôThe Salford-born actor is showered with praise as he brings Doctor Who back to television screens as the ninth Timelord.ö And for Billie: ôThere is praise too for Billie, who plays Doctor WhoÆs companion Rose û with critics impressed by Chris EvansÆ estranged wifeÆs acting talent.ö They were both beaten out by David Beckham at No. 1. Interestingly, the Daily Expres also quoted from a review posted at Outpost Gallifrey by David Farmbrough (using the words 'Billie's performance is spot-on, and very easy on the eye' from it) to indicate that fan reaction to her has been positive.

Monday's Times had a bottom-page panel with a pic of Piper and Eccleston and the headline "Happy landing" and sub-heading "New Doctor Who wins acclaim - and an audience", directing readers to page nine where it was the page lead under the headline "Who's the daddy as 10m find time to see the Doctor". Readers were also invited to e-mail their comments on the subject "Is Dr Who the way forward for the BBC?" to debate@thetimes.co.uk - a section (separate to the Letters page) where readers' views are printed. In today's debate@thetimes.co.uk section, the invite is repeated, albeit worded slightly differently, saying "What do you think of the new Dr Who?" - the responses will appear in the next day or two. Page 20 of The Times also had a cartoon utilising a Dalek chanting "Exterminate" inside Conservative HQ while someone exclaims "Crisis? What crisis?"; it's a comment on the latest Conservative party turmoil and borrowing a phrase misattributed to former Labour premier Jim Callaghan - whose death was announced straight after Rose had aired on Saturday. By one of those strange Doctor Who-world coincidences, when Callaghan (who was born in Portsmouth - where I'm writing this) was ennobled in 1987, he became Lord Callaghan of Cardiff, which, of course, nobody needs reminding is where the new series was made! Reviewing the weekend's TV in The Times, Paul Hoggart gave the show a definite thumbs-up, calling it "a joyful, exuberant reinvention".

Monday's Daily Star made the show's ratings triumph against Ant and Dec its page one splash, with the full story on page six. It was the lead piece in a two-page feature that also had two other (non-DW) programme-related stories. The headline, stretching across pages six and seven, was "Who's The Daddy!" and the strap was "New look Doctor makes dummies out of Ant 'n Dec as the fans go wild for a trip in the Tardis and another monster showdown". There was a positive review by Peter Dyke and a negative one by Iain Burchell. There was also a preview pic story for episode two that mentioned Rose likening Cassandra to Michael Jackson because of the number of cosmetic ops she's had! (I don't think that counts as a spoiler, does it?) Charlie Catchpole's piece in the Express is repeated - with a slight edit - on page 15 in the Star (both newspapers are owned by the same organisation).

Many other new series episode reviews have been published the past two days, including at the following sites: The Great Link, icWales, the Mirror (a very negative review, sadly), Leeds Today, Logicvoice, Blogcritics, two articles in the Times here and here, and the MediaGuardian. Other papers such as the Leicester Mercury and Daily Express also carried printed reviews.

Several papers have run stories about the wide variety of merchandise marketing that will be done, including some quotes of up to 70 pieces of merchandise for the new Doctor Who series alone: Daily Record, MediaGuardian (also noted for its broadcast info, above), and Telegraph (with another story here).

Lots of additional coverage of the ratings for the first episode: Times Online ("Who's the Daddy?"), the Mirror("Decterminate"), icWales, Sky News, IGN, RealityTVWorld (also here as well), Brand Republic, the New York Times, Express Newsline, This is London, Express and Star, MediaWeek, Yabedo, Leeds Today,Monsters and Critics, DeHavilland, Sydney Morning Herald, InTheNews and ContactMusic.

Some general articles germaine to the new series: The Western Mail ran an article about the various locations used in the shooting of the episode "Rose". Yorkshire Today ran some of Christopher Eccleston's comments from previous papers. The Sun ran a brief version of its paper story on a burnt up police box! And BBC News ran an article about a "Tardis builder [who] awaits new Daleks".

The April issue of the horror magazine Rue Morgue (the one with "The Amityville Horror" on the cover) is on newsstands now and contains an extensive article on Doctor Who examining the classic seriesÆ relationship to the horror genre, with particular attention to the Hinchcliffe-Holmes era, written by our correspondent Joe O'Brien. You can find out more at the website.

BBC Radio 4 still has "The Now Show" available on their 'listen again' feature. From 2 minutes to 3 minutes in they sing a nice acoustic ditty called 'Call me during Dr Who and I'll kill you...'

And finally... The Sun on Tuesday still reckons Doctor Who makes good copy, for it carries a woeful tale (apparently an exclusive) about Washington DC fan Richard Briggs, 47, who flew over to recover a plywood Tardis said to have been used by the BBC in 1983 and left behind after filming at Plas Brondanw, north Wales (presumably during the Five Doctors shoot) - only to discover that the gardener who had been keeping it in his shed had got fed up with it and dumped it on a bonfire two weeks beforehand. Story was accompanied by a pic of Briggs and a mock-up of, er, what a police box would look like if being consumed by flames. (Presumably readers' imaginations needed that bit of extra help.)

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Paul Hayes, Chuck Foster, John Bowman, Mike Doran, Graeme Burk, David Farmbrough, Joe OÆBrien, Robin Shannon, Michael Luchka, Paul Wheeler, Mick Snowden, Tim Harrison, Jonathan Massey, Macfadyan, Peter Nolan, Ken Moss, Robert Booth, Mustafa Hirji, David Brodie, Andy Davidson, and Liam Burch for the TV Guide scan)

March 28 Note: Taking a well-deserved break today; back tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29. Meanwhile, last evening's editorial note:

Over the past three weeks, Outpost Gallifrey has been updated every single day with news stories, sometimes three or four times per day. Needless to say, it's been tiring and sometimes very excruciating, doing the updating before work, during the day and in the evenings, knowing the next morning will bring more stories to sift through (sometimes on the order of a hundred or more!) It's been even more difficult when you realize that I'm not in the UK, and therefore rely upon the good will of our readers. I'd therefore like to thank everyone who's been credited the past few weeks for their diligence in reporting information up to and including the new series press launch, the various trailers, the live TV and radio appearances and this weekend's transmission of "Rose"... every person credited herein has been integral in gathering these news reports (hopefully I've managed to credit everyone!), and especially Steve Tribe and Paul Engelberg for gathering news stories, updating the calendar and forwarding every single report they could find. Also, special thanks to Chuck Foster of DWAS for all the links, John Molyneux, Paul Hayes, John Bowman, everyone who sent in screen caps and writeups, and our readers from all over the BBC in the TV, radio and Internet divisions (you know who you are!) who have kept us up to date. And, of course, thank you to everyone involved in the production of the new series (especially Russell, Julie, Phil, Chris and Billie) for such a marvelous debut. Now that the show's aired in the UK, I hope things settle down... just a little!

The past two days have seen a whirlwind of press, much of it regurgitating each other over and over. Here's a quick recap of what's transpired late Saturday, all day Sunday, and into Monday morning's press:

A large collection of papers (many of which do not have online versions) have printed reviews. Internet-accessible ones include BBC News with a review by Sylvester McCoy!; The Herald ("Cracking script makes this a welcome visit from the Doctor"), Scotstman (includes comments on ratings), also reviewed here; The Observer; The Independent; TheSunday Herald; Times Online; CBBC, a special page on children's first reactions to Doctor Who; Express Newsline, India; The Telegraph; the Sunday Mail (a review by the "McInnes Family");

Summing up what many of the papers said today:
• "I was hooked from the outset. The whole thing thing was stuffed with in-jokes I wasn't sure I was fully getting, but I laughed anyway" - Guardian.
• "After 16 years locked in the warp-shunt fantasies of the plasters-on-specs brigade, Russell T Davies has breathed new life into an old favourite. The doctor got his girl and BBC1 found itself reacquainted with an old pal.Quality. Brilliant." - News of the World.
• "The current incarnation of the Time Lord has barely moved on and the one thing the future can't afford to be is old-fashioned" - Sunday Times.
• "The new Who is poorly cast, badly written, pointlessly northern, relentlessly silly and, fairly crucially, the sci-fi is thoughtless and throwaway." - The People. (They also manage to insult Billie Piper; the writer obviously thinks he's quite clever, when he's not.)
• "The new Doctor Who succeeded in establishing its own reality: skewed, sprightly and assured, without ever taking its audience's attention, or goodwill, for granted." - Sunday Telegraph
• "The much-vaunted special effects with which the series has been retro- fitted struck me as being as clunky as ever, and Ecclestone's performance was a bit too reminiscent of a nerdy teenager, but it has a real heartbeat... or perhaps even two." - The Independent
• "After such a fanfare, Doctor Who could hardly fail to disappoint. But amazingly, it didn't. OK, the monster was feeble and the lack of a cliffhanger ending was a shame. But Christopher Eccleston portrayed a far more complicated Doctor character than we've become used to seeing, certainly since Jon Pertwee - and far more interesting as a result." - Independent on Sunday
• "Dr Who, with Christopher Eccleston in the title role and Billie Piper as his comely assistant, was ill received in the Highland home where I spent Easter. The much-hyped special effects were considered a prodigious waste of money by the BBC." - Daily Mail
• "If it's all the same to you BBC1, I think I'll stick with Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. But thanks for trying." - Mirror (spoilsports!)
• "An alien form, called entertainment, has been discovered on Saturday nights. It's a thoroughly bizarre, glossy new concoction called Dr Who." - Sunday Express. (There's also a positive little review of "Project: Who" in the radio review column on page 63)

Lots of coverage of the ratings (which we reported on as early as we could this morning!) Many stories on this includingBBC News, Media Guardian, The Sun, ITV, CBBC, Times (mentions Outpost Gallifrey!), Telegraph, Scotsman, with commentary about what it means for the BBC, Daily Record, Guardian, Pittsburgh Live, Washington Times, Channel 4, WaveGuide, Big News Network, Manchester Online (with fan review). The Daily Mail and other papers also covered this (articles not online).

Photos of a flying Dalek appeared in today's "News of the World" (actually, a photo of the Dalek as seen in the latest trailers, as well as a photo of the underside of a Dalek on a staircase). The tabloid mentioned the return of the Cybermen, too; however, we know that this is only a rumor that's been discounted already (they aren't in this season... well, not exactly.) A photo of the Gelth, the aliens from episode 3, "The Unquiet Dead," appeared in yesterday's The Sun.

Lots of places commenting on last night's gaffe with the Graham Norton voice in the BBC 1 broadcast. Says BBC News: "The Time Lord had Graham Norton breathing down his neck too, as a technical problem meant the sound from Strictly Dance Fever was briefly played over the opening scenes of Doctor Who. 'There was a technical problem which was resolved as quickly as possible,' a BBC spokesperson said. 'We apologise if it affected viewers' enjoyment of Doctor Who.'" Says the Sunday Express: "The BBC was last night probing an embarrassing technical blunder which allowed the voice of Graham Norton to drown out Dr Who's triumphant return to the small screen" they happily exaggerate. However, they do go on to point out that "...last night's technical problems echoed technical difficulties with the very first episode of Dr Who." A BBC spokesperson says that "It was a technical problem which meant the voice of Graham Norton - who had been presenting Strictly Dance Fever on BBC1 - continued faintly when his show transferred to BBC3 on digital. It only affected the first few minutes of Dr Who and we apologise to any viewers whose enjoyment was in any way impaired." BBC3 did run the show this evening without the voiceover... but of course, with the BBC THREE logo emblazoned on it for the entire broadcast!

Last night's Tommy Boyd Show on BBC Southern Counties radio apparently had a great response. The folks at the Tommy Boyd Shrine wrote us to say that "For those who missed Dalek mastermind among many other features, we have the show up on the site now," so click on the link.

The Independent says Doctor Who puts his sonic screwdriver to work to boost BBC funds: "The mysterious silver gadget has helped to keep the Daleks and assorted life forms at bay for hundreds of years - when it actually worked. Now Doctor Who's unreliable sonic screwdriver is expected to become one of the must-have toys this Christmas."

Today's Sunday Herald and This is London mention that "a Doctor Who fan prompted a security alert when he posed as a Dalek outside the Houses of Parliament. Ken Meikle, 46, from Barrhead, Renfrewshire, was filming a promotional video for a stage version of the sci-fi classic. But armed Metropolitan Police officers suddenly confronted the "alien invader" as he approached Parliament over London's Tower Bridge."

Oh, and the "Can Doctor Who Be Gay?" article reran in today's Sunday Independent...

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Paul Hayes, Andrew Hearne, John Paul Street, David Traynier)

The Scotsman says that "People could be mistaken for thinking they have been transported to a different time dimension if they stumble across a Doctor Who Tardis. In fact, there are 237 blue police call boxes (PCBs), on which the BBC modelled the fictional time lord's transporter. Ordnance Survey has tracked down the locations of all former PCBs using a digital master map of Britain - technology which may well have delighted the creators of the sci-fi classic. The curious-looking cubes can now be found disguised as coffee kiosks since personal radios made them redundant in 1969. But just as the television show is being resurrected, police are experimenting with bringing the boxes back, although now they are more hi-tech." The Sun also picked up this story, as did icWales.

Leeds Today says it's "16 years on, and fans can't wait for return of the Doctor". "Sixteen years after being exterminated by Beeb bosses, look Who's back. Doctor Who fans in West Yorkshire are gearing up for the return of the nation's favourite timelord. ... Leeds teacher and Doctor Who fan Chris Hoyle admitted he was "giddy" with excitement . He said: 'It's a shame that a whole generation of kids haven't had a doctor to grow up with, but now that's going to change.'" Other fans are interviewed.

The London News Review says that "In short: episode one ("Rose") is wonderful, and we only have one and half niggles. The chief beef is Murray Gold's incidental music. Gold did a fine job of reworking the theme tune. And his trendy/derivative music was entirely right for Queer As Folk, which is presumably why he was recruited by the man behind that show and the new Who, Russell T. Davis. But his incidental music in 'Rose' sounds like bad library CDs from the 1990s. It's the only thing that makes the fantastic new episode already seem dated." (Outpost Gallifrey begs to differ...)

The Birmingham Evening Mail says that "Doctor Who fans can't wait for the future to come in the shape of Saturday night. Suky Singh, a member of the Dr Who fan club the Wolves of Fenric, based in Wolverhampton, said: 'People just want to spend Saturday evening in front of their television and not be distracted.' ... The return of Dr Who has rekindled some affectionate and frightening memories. The Evening Mail took to the streets of Brum to gauge public reaction. Graham Taylor, aged 54, ajournalist from Droitwich, said: 'The new Dr Who looks quite exciting and more up-to-date. I certainly won't miss the old effects.' Angela Bowyer, 63, from Stoke-on-Trent, said: 'I have lots of memories of children being frightened but it was also good fun.' Her husband Peter Bowyer, 69, added: 'It will be interesting to compare the old and new programmes.' David Dai, 23, a graphic design student who lives in Harborne, said: 'I don't know Dr Who. I will be watching it, but I usually watch Channel 4 and Five.' Rashila Lad, a 33-yearold window dresser from Kings Heath, said: 'When I was a kid I was scared of the Daleks.' Lucy Stacey, 23, a window dresser from Great Barr, said: 'My older brother Danny used to make me watch it with him because he was scared.'"

The Spectator jokingly reviews the series: "I'm not sure which aspect of his latest incarnation, as written by Russell T. ('Queer As Folk') Davies, I find most objectionable: his new pink headquarters on the planet Stifado One, his mincing young assistant Julian or that his foppish, vaguely Edwardian kit has now been replaced by a pair of leather chaps, a studded belt and an enormous black codpiece with a little holster on the side for his sonic screwdriver." Later he changes tune a bit: "Davies is such a dedicated Doctor Who fan that he even carried on watching in that difficult period after Peter Davison had gone, when it apparently went down and down. If anyone on this planet was ever likely to breathe new life into an aging Time Lord, then Russell T.was surely the man. And, sure enough, he has, with extremely unlikely support from the actor playing Dr Who ù Christopher Eccleston. Eccleston, I get the impression from all those non-interviews he gives, is an actor who takes himself very seriously. You just know if you sat next to him at a dinner party he'd bang on about the Kyoto Agreement, or some such, and never once vouchsafe any juicy asides like fun actors do about which thesp has the biggest penis, which has the best coital one-liners ('Tom's in now, ' is popular with one, I gather), which is secretly gay and so on. The idea of him summoning up the lightness of touch required to play the Doctor seemed about as remote as the Daleks of conquering the universe when they can't even walk up staircases." He ends with a positive note: "Why ever didn't they think of it earlier?"

Scotland's Evening Times says that "Scotland fans stuck at home could miss the start of the vital World Cup clash with Italy because of Doctor Who. BBC bosses have scheduled coverage of tomorrow's game to begin at 7.45pm - the same time as kickoff. And if earlier programmes run late, the Milan match could have started before the closing credits in the new series of Dr Who. Ironically, the game was brought forward weeks ago to suit Italian TV chiefs. But despite the alteration, BBC are sticking to their original schedules. The move has angered fans who can't make the journey." Priorities!

Curiously, the Daily Star says the Cybermen won't be back. "One of Doctor Who's greatest enemies, the Cybermen, have been killed off because TV bosses think they are out of date. And in their bid to give the SF series a fresh look, they claim the Time Lord is more likely to go up against iPod-man. Fans had been hoping that the silver-suited aliens who enjoyed many a battle with the Doctor would return now the show is back on our screens tomorrow. But writer Russell T Davies claims that although he's happy to bring back foes like The Daleks, the Cybermen are to be banished into cyberspace. He said: 'I am afraid aliens like the Cybermen would be somewhat dated. I think you're more likely to see the Doctor fighting iPod-man.'" Though Davies has, of course, gone on record several times saying that if the show goes on long enough, he might want to bring back the Cybermen. The Daily Star also ran a Doctor Who quiz: "Are you a Timelord or a Sci-Fi Dunce from the Dull Dimension? Dare you try..."

The Coventry Evening Telegraph says "Two, four, six, eight, Who do we appreciate?" and it's Doctor Who, of course. "Doctor Who fans across Coventry are eagerly awaiting the return of the cult science-fiction show this weekend after a 16-year absence from our screens. ... And computer programmer Wes Campbell, of Beausale Croft, Mount Nod, is looking forward to seeing Dr Who updated for the 21st century. Mr Campbell, 39, a member of a Dr Who fan group called The Warwickshire Who Group, said: 'It's good to see that the writers haven"t just slavishly tried to recreate the old Dr Who. They are trying to create something new and exciting, not just an extension of the old series.' In particular the show's famously ropey special effects have been ditched in favour of impressive new graphics."

In today's Times, in the People section: "After all the fuss about the new Doctor Who, you would think that Christopher Eccleston would be glad to associate himself with the role. But asked in The Stage about a second series, he replied: 'I'll have to think long and hard about it ... It could be a poisoned chalice.'" That is, of course, a quote from Eccleston in the recent past, also regurgitated today by the Daily Express: "I'll have to think long and hard before I make a final decision."

Newsquest Digital Media says that "Unless you've been hiding behind a sofa for the past month (and be honest, has anyone ever done that?) you'll be aware that a new series of Doctor Who is upon us from Saturday. I'm looking forward to it, not least because one of my relatives is getting exterminated in a later episode. Of course, one of the main concerns that people (the sort who inhabit TV list programmes and just pop up as "experts on popular culture" as if that's a proper job) put forward is that it won't be like it was in the good old days - to which I say, good. I was very fond of the Doctor's adventures when I was a kid, and some of it was very good indeed, especially given the production values of the day. But a lot of it was shambolic tosh, with wobbly sets, school play special effects, and pantomime acting. It shows you what a slower, gentler world we lived in, when simple plots could be stretched out over four half-hour episodes (episode three = everyone runs up and down suspiciously-similar corridors a lot). I doubt the new version will be as complete a regeneration as the excellent new "reimagined" Battlestar Galactica series. But as long as Doctor Who can be watched without the aid of nostalgia-tinted glasses, it should be a step in the right direction. (OK, I've mentioned wobbly sets and hiding behind the sofa... now if I can only step into something and have it disappear to the sound of the Tardis and a bad dematerialisation special effect, I can get a job as a regional news presenter... )"

Today's The Forester (Forest of Dean) says "Doctor Who has returned to the Forest to rediscover his roots. Ninth Who Christopher Eccleston and his side-kick Billie Piper shot scenes for the new BBC1 series, which starts at 7pm on Saturday, on the western flanks of the Dean in Monmouth. Billie, who stars as the Doctor's companion Rose, told the secret to Radio 1 listeners. Last week, The Forester revealed the Doctor first visited the Forest in 1974 to film on the River Severn at Broadoak."

The Express and Echo (Exeter) says that "Exeter youngsters with an appetite for time travel are appealing to new Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston to help them put the finishing touches to a school play based on the famous TV time lord. On the eve of the return of the classic BBC series this weekend, children at John Stocker Middle School in St Thomas are rehearsing their own version of the much-loved sci-fi show. The musical, Where's Who?!, was written by head teacher John Palmer and his wife Ann in the early 1980s when Doctor Who, - with its police-box-cum-time-travel-machine the Tardis and robotic aliens, the Daleks - was still being regularly screened. First staged by pupils at Willand primary near Cullompton where Mr Palmer used to be deputy head, the play featured an opening speech delivered by former Doctor Who actor Colin Baker, recorded especially for the production. Now John Stocker children - who weren't even born before the TV show was last aired in 1989 - have written to the latest actor to portray the Doctor to ask whether he would make a similar recording. Mr Palmer, an amateur actor himself, explained: "When we originally did the play the opening speech needed to be done by Doctor Who. We just wrote to the BBC and sent the script off and Colin Baker recorded the speech which was only about a minute long. We're trying to get Christopher Eccleston to do the same thing but so far we have not had a reply. "The play is about the children having just come out of school for their summer holidays and going up to their den which is a cave. It turns out that the cave is a Tardis and as they approach they hear a crackly radio message which is Doctor Who saying: 'Help me! The Zeldons have captured me and my Tardis and banished me to the rubbish heap at the end of the universe'. This is what was recorded by Colin Baker. The children then have to punch some co-ordinates into a computer to try and get to the Planet of the Zeldons but get the numbers wrong so end up travelling into the future and then the Pyramids in Egypt. Their mission is to find the Tardis and rescue Doctor Who."

The Evening Times (Glasgow) says "If we can accept Worzel Gummidge as a timelord we can easily accept Shallow Grave star Christopher Eccleston. Where the new series differs is the investment in character developments. Writer Russell T Davies has created a timelord with a Salford accent, an enigmatic smile and a short temper. Overall he's a very human alien, whose two hearts seem to be in the right place. His assistant, Rose - played by former teen popette Billie Piper - is also real. She is bored with her life as a shop girl, fed up with her childish boyfriend and her man-mad single-parent mother. We can readily believe why Rose would run off around the universe with a bloke who looks like a social worker and is old enough to be her dad. What's difficult to grasp is that Dr Who has gone outdoors. The storyline takes us around London, to shopping centres and cafes. And without that sense of studio-based claustrophobia of old, it all looks worryingly much less malevolent than the 1960s efforts." A downer at the end: "Doctor Who has enough character base to be a success with Buffy-loving teenagers but perhaps it simply can't appeal to grown-ups who grew up with the original. Back then, the strong storylines and weak special effects prompted the imagination to work overtime. Or perhaps we recall too fondly the time of our lives when we could be so easily terrified. And to overcome that nostalgia is asking a little too much of television."

Today's Sunderland Echo has a two-page centrespread on DW, under the title 'Time, gentlemen, please!'. It features your usual brief-history-of-the-Doctor alongside a photo montage of the nine TV incarnations and a couple of small photos from the new series. There's also a box-out about the novels and audios alongside a montage of a Dalek, Cyberman and an Ice Warrior. Another box-out features an interview with Wearsider William Russell, talking about his time on the show, his reading of 'The Daleks' CD, and his delight at the return of the TV series.

The Bolton Evening News has four pages dedicated to the show, thanks to the deputy editor Ian Savage being a long-time fan. Large cover photo on the weekend supplement (the familiar Doctor/Rose publicity shot) Two page preview with photos from Rose and End of the World. Then a one page episode guide with some more photos familiar from other newspapers this week.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, who needs sleep as much as I do, plus Steve Tribe, Mick Gair, Chuck Foster, Paul Hayes, "gazhack")

There's been a massive amount of media coverage and news today, so let's get to it...

BBC Worldwide and BBC Audiocall have released a new polyphonic ringtone of the new series theme tune in the UK. The ringtone is the only one officially licensed by the BBC, and details will appear on www.audiocall.co.uk/doctorwho(which is hosted by BBC Worldwide). However, the ringtone ordering information will not be available until the minute the first episode finishes on Saturday - 7.46pm in the UK.

The BBC has named Peter Fincham, outgoing chief executive officer of Talkback Thames, as the new controller of BBC1, replacing Lorraine Heggessey (the woman who commissioned the new "Doctor Who" series) who is leaving the BBC for Fincham's former job. "The BBC is going through big changes, but BBC1 remains its flagship channel and reinterpreting and reinvigorating it for new audiences is about as exciting a challenge as it gets," Fincham said. "I grew up watching BBC1 and the first programmes I made as an independent producer were for BBC1, so it's enormously flattering to be asked to take over as channel controller from Lorraine Heggessey. I am used to being responsible for a wide range of programmes and BBC1 stands for range, quality and integrity. It also has a unique breadth of appeal." Talkback Thames is responsible for shows such as Da Ali G Show, I'm Alan Partridge, The Bill and Pop Idol and has made various programmes for the BBC including They Think It's All Over, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and the Bafta-award winning drama The Lost Prince. Some of the reports quote him on the topic of Doctor Who as well: "I'm of that generation that is old enough to remember a world when there was only the BBC to watch and in our house BBC was the default setting. I grew up with BBC1 and cowered behind the sofa when Dr Who was on." It was great that his name was being announced just a few days before the Time Lord returns to the small screen, he added. The story's also been picked up in the Edinburgh Evening News, Evening Standard, the Independent and other locales.

Today's Xchange on the CBBC channel showed two clips from "The End of the World" including a CGI space station shot and the Doctor and Rose together. The Mill's Will Cohen also talked about special effects on the new series and some incidental music was heard.

Choices Direct have now listed the first two DVDs for the new series. They state that the first three episodes will be out on May 16, and episodes 4-6 on June 13; you can see the listings here and here. This is the first retailer listing of the new series with dates, which have been rumored by various websites over the past few days.

Various press agencies commented on the BBC's official statement about the leak of "Rose" (which Outpost Gallifrey printed in its entirety yesterday), including the Mirror (no link), The Register, The Guardian, The Inquirer andBBC News.

Several papers ran stories about Shona McLaren, a mother who said "her life has been ruined because she is terrified of Daleks. McLaren... is sent into a blind panic if she even hears the words 'exterminate.' The mum-of-two claims her life has been wrecked by her bizarre phobia." Um.... indeed. The articles were run in the Daily Record, as well as the Daily Star and the Daily Express as well as other locations.

A short item about the new series was included yesterday on The Richard And Judy Show on Channel 4. This short item featured an interview with Clayton Hickman and the well known impressionist and Doctor Who fan Jon Culshaw. Host Richard Madely was "rather mocking in his tone" says our correspondent, making jokes about Daleks going upstairs and asking Hickman what he'd filled the magazine with for so many years without a new series (Clayton, however, remained calm and
positive about the effect that Doctor Who has upon people.) At the end of the item viewers were treated to Jon Culshaw's first public impersonation of the ninth doctor, something that will probably become a regular feature on his show Dead Ringers.

Today's Leicester Mercury profiles Paul Kasey, an actor who's been in the sci-fi blockbusters Blade II and 28 Days Later... "and the chances are, you've never heard of him. That could be about to change, though, for former Bagworth boy turned movie bit-parter Paul Kasey. ... 31-year-old Paul is set to enter the annals of cult TV history by playing a Doctor Who monster. In fact, he plays four of the Timelord's enemies - plus a goodie robot too - in the spanking new series starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. It says he plays a Slitheen ("Aliens of London"), an alien whose name he can't remember, and one of the, shall we say, bad guys from the first episode (you probably know which ones but we'll still protect the spoilers here!) "A Slitheen is a very large green alien, about 8ft tall. It's also quite cute and quite sweet to look at. It's like ET. He was quite ugly, but quite cute at the same time. I also play an android robot. That was totally different again. It was also a she. That was fantastic, but really hard to play. The costume was so hard; we were basically built into it. It was a full body costume in lilac and cream. As soon as you were in, you were in for good, although you could take the head off while the crew wasn't working. Each character was totally different, and I like the challenge of bringing all these characters and creatures to life. They chose me for my movement. Because inside you can't see very well, it tends to make most people freeze or clam up. In Blade, they chose me for my look. Out of all of them, I did enjoy playing the female robot - it was good in a typically Doctor Who way."

Newsquest Digital Media toady profiles York pastor Mark Troughton, son of Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor. "Mark was six when his dad landed the role, taking over from William Hartnell. And unwittingly, he was responsible for what became one of the great icons of early children's TV. Troughton senior was looking for a gimmick to make the part his own. 'And I was learning to play the recorder,' Mark says. 'So I taught him to play.'" He discusses the classic series: "What carried the whole programme was the fact that the scripts were very strong, and the acting was strong. It was really frightening. And what made it even more exciting was that you were kept in suspense for seven days, waiting to find out what happened. That was awful. ... We used to sit down waiting for dad to come on the telly. And then at about 10.30pm dad would walk in after a hard day's work being beaten up by Cybermen or Daleks." So what kind of person was his dad - and did he enjoy playing the Doctor? "He was generous hearted, with a great sense of humour. He loved playing the Doctor and had great fun doing it. He was a great corpser, and was giggling all the time. He thought if you're going to act the fool - and he did in one sense, he had that sort of clownish character - then you had got to play it for laughs." It mentions that Mark Troughton will be watching this weekend as the new show starts: "You bet. And I'm sure my kids will too," he says, commenting that his six children have gotten to know their grandfather, who they never met, by watching videos of his old episodes. "It will be interesting to see it!"

Today's Guardian carries an article written by Sylvester McCoy about the new series. Some excerpts: "Everybody says now that when Doctor Who was on, they were so frightened they would hide behind the sofa. I did, too, back in my day as the Doctor, but only because I couldn't face watching myself. Now I'm a mere mortal, it's nice to relax on the couch, instead of behind it, and let it wash over me. I was a bit worried that the new series might not work. Paul McGann played the doctor in the big-budget American film version of 1996 and although I enjoyed it, something about it did not quite gel. But this new version with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Billie Piper as his assistant, Rose, is just wonderful. Part of its charm is the way in which it makes a sly wink to earlier series. ... But if there is one thing that is going to get the Whovians going crazy on the web forums, it is the new tardis. They have changed it! For one thing, it is brand, spanking new, as if it has come straight from the shop. My tardis, the original one, was so battered and bruised it would have been condemned as unsafe, but this one doesn't have a scratch on it. ... You can tell that the writers love Doctor Who, because of all the references to the old days, and the writing is crisper than ever. It is sharp and often very witty, but not overblown. ... There are clever, subtle nods to current affairs too - the mannequins coming to life and massacring people on the streets touches on the modern fear of going shopping and being gunned down by terrorists. And there is a scary Jabba the Hut-type creature, a sort of jelly monster intent on destroying humanity by turning everything into plastic, because it needs all the plastic in the world to survive, which touches on ecological issues. ... It is very scary, just like in the old days, but now children will be frightened of mannequins. And dustbins - there's a wonderful bit where a wheelie bin attacks someone and sucks them in before eating them up. ... Eccleston makes a fabulous Doctor. Within minutes you truly believe that he has been around for 950 years. ... And Billie Piper as Rose is awesome, just wonderful to watch.... All I know is that she is so right for the part. Russell T Davies says she is going to be our next great Hollywood export and on the basis of this performance, I can well believe it."

Fan reactions to the new series are noted at BBC News: "The show has attracted a huge number of followers since William Hartnell first stepped out of his Tardis in 1963 - many of them members of fan clubs and attending gatherings around the globe. Yet it seems most will be staying home to watch Christopher Eccleston's debut as the time-travelling Doctor." The story says that "International Doctor Who website Outpost Gallifrey lists a very full calendar to keep even the most dedicated of fans, known as Whovians, busy all year... No sooner have you emerged from the Doctor Who weekend in Somerset's Wookey Hole than it is time for a swift Sci-Fi Sea Cruise around Europe, a Whovention convention in Sydney and Chicago Tardis 2005. When not doing that, groups such as the Sisterhood of Khan [sic] dress up as their favourite villains and heroes from the series, including the sinister Cybermen." "It is time to sit down on your sofa, aim your remote control and enjoy it," says Antony Wainer, spokesman for the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. "If this was a movie we would hire a cinema and if it was made for the internet we would gather around a computer screen. But we want to see the show in the way it is intended - in our homes up and down the country." Ian Chandos of the Sisterhood of Karn (it misquotes as "Khan"), "an Earth-based group of gay people united by their interest in Doctor Who and cult TV" says that "We all want a chance to watch the first episode in its entirety then meet up the following week to discuss it. Having said that, we'll probably all be on the phone to each other as soon as it's over."

There are many teasers in the papers today, mostly promoting the series for Saturday night. The South Wales Echo asks "Who's going to scare you the most?" today: "Get ready to dive behind the sofa again! Doctor Who will once again battle against a host of weird and wonderful monsters in the new series..." BBC1 Radio Entertainment also has a mention.

Sky News ran with a piece called "A Look Into Billie's World", which has various facts about Billie Piper. "She sang for Bill Clinton, had a No.1 hit by the time she was 15 - and a failed marriage to one of Britain's biggest media moguls by the age of 22. Now Billie Piper stars alongside Christopher Eccleston as Rose Tyler, in the long-awaited return of Doctor Who. It opens the latest chapter in her remarkable life... check out our Billie fact file." There are a variety of facts and figures about the actress/singer. Today's "This is Wiltshire" also has some of the quotes.

The Sun yesterday wants to know if you're terrified yet with the return of the evil Doctor Who monsters? "We have a large Epsom sofa from MFI worth Pounds 595 for you to win -and hide behind! To enter just call 09063 612237. Leave your contact details and answer this question: Who is the new Dr Who?" Calls apparently cost 60p a minute "and last no longer than two minutes. Lines close at 8pm tonight. Winner chosen at random."

Today's The Northern Echo biographies Christopher Eccleston. It starts with his film and television roles, then: "None of which would have suggested asking him to play the Time Lord in the BBC1's hotly-anticipated revival, especially as Eccleston has always been a very private actor who shied away from publicity and parties. You couldn't imagine him welcoming the barrage of press and public recognition that playing the doctor would bring." It says that Eccleston had a taste of media interest after being romantically linked by the press with Billie Piper: "Maybe I felt I was able to handle it now, " he says of becoming public property. "Only time will tell. There are still ways to remain private. I've always felt that there were some people in the industry who will use their personal life to further their career, rather than their actual performances and I don't think that's right. What my dad taught me was, basically, do your job properly. I hope my privacy remains and that my performance will get me another job and that will be enough. I do think, actually, that readers and viewers really aren't that interested. If you give them a performance, they'll invest in you, whether you're sleeping with a goat or whatever." It says that "As a child, he preferred Star Trek to Doctor Who. Now, he's a fan of the Time Lord. 'I finally allowed myself to watch Tom Baker in a DVD of The Talons Of Weng-Chiang. I drank two bottles of red wine and thought, 'right, I'll watch it'. I knew then what the role entailed and how difficult it is to play. It's great, all the profile you get, but it's a difficult thing to do. You're the motor for every scene, and you have to deliver a lot of pseudo and scientific jargon and give it some charisma and wit.'" It does mention next year: "Whether he would play the Doctor again if the BBC commits to another series has yet to be decided."

A preview of this weekend's "The Spectator" dated March 26 profiles Russell T Davies: "Davies is such a dedicated Doctor Who fan that he even carried on watching in that difficult period after Peter Davison had gone, when it apparently went down and down. If anyone on this planet was ever likely to breathe new life into an aging Time Lord, then Russell T.was surely the man. And, sure enough, he has, with extremely unlikely support from the actor playing Dr Who ù Christopher Eccleston. ... For me, though, the true star is Russell T. Davies. It was he who got Eccleston on board, and it's his reverence for tradition (e. g. , ensuring that the Tardis still looks like a Fifties police phone box) combined with his understanding of what it will take to win over a blas? new audience (fart jokes, breast-implant jokes, a breathless pace) which is going to make this revival such a massive triumph. He has even, you might have heard, solved the Dalek problem. The evil buggers have now developed the ability to fly, which means they can conquer earth after all. Why ever didn't they think of it earlier?" (Well, of course, they did, but no one seems to remember...)

Today's Daily Star profiles many of the former assistants and guest stars -- all of the female gender. "[Billie Piper's] not the first sexy side-kick to act as the time traveller's gorgeous right-hand woman. Since the show first began back in 1963, there's been plenty of ballsy babes who have taken on awful aliens and scary monsters." Profiled are mostly companion actresses with a few guest stars (such as Honor Blackman and Rula Lenska) thrown in.

The Daily Express also profiles Billie Piper today: "As she makes her debut as Doctor Who's new sidekick this Saturday, former teenie pop favourite Billie Piper admits she has been nursing a few bruises after struggling to perform stunts on the show. 'I've had a bit of a nightmare with the stunts. I'm clumsy but I want things to go well. I overcompensate and it ends in tears.' That's what you get for taking on Daleks, Billie"

"Doctor Boo!: Why the Timelord should stay in his Tardis" says an article in the Sun today, which does a "who's who" of new monsters and also runs a piece of fluff about the theme tune ("Dun da dun da dun da dun da dun da dun da di di di di... Ohh-wee-ohh. Weeeee-ohh...") It basically regurgitates reports from the past several days. The Daily Star also discusses the new monsters today in an A to Z of them, mentioning the usuals like Daleks, Cybermen and Autons, but also Borad, the Haemovores, the Kandyman, the Nimon and the Vervoids.

"Doctor Who: funny he never married" says today's Telegraph, which wonders that cliched question "To put it more bluntly, is Doctor Who gay?" "Before considering the case for the prosecution (or defence, depending on your point of view), let us make one thing clear: we are not questioning the sexual orientation of the actors who played the role... But the Doctor himself is apparently not the marrying kind of Time Lord. ... The obvious answer is that the Doctor, not being human (he has two hearts, for example), is not turned on by homo sapiens of either sex, any more than we are by Cybermen. A more intriguing possibility is that, just as he has no idea what he will look like when he regenerates - Pertwee's Doctor shrieked when he looked in the mirror - so he does not know in advance for which team he will be playing, as it were. In which case, perhaps he ought to keep two photographs next to his bed in the Tardis: one of Scarlett Johansson, say, and one of Justin Timberlake. When he regenerates, all he has to do is look at both of them and discover which one makes his hearts beat faster." Riiight.

There's a report on BBC News that says that "Finally, the Sun reports that Dr Who's faithful robot dog K9 has been tracked down to a dogs' home in Devon. Apparently he was bought at a BBC auction four years ago." It quotes Derek Hambly of the Tenth Planet story, who says: "I'm amazed he's in Devon. He was last seen on the planet Gallifrey."

This week, Manchester's listings and lifestyle magazine City Life has given its cover over to the new series. Inside, there's a two page interview with (Manchester resident) Russell T Davies on 'who and Casanova, and a one page interview with (Salford born) Christopher Eccleston: "It was my idea to bring a bit of Northern realism to the whole thing".

Net4Nowt analyses the scheduling of the new series: "By scheduling Doctor Who in the prime timeslot of 7:00PM Saturday night, BBC One is evidently hoping to capture market share from Ant and Dec's popular 'Saturday Night Takeaway' series. An analysis of Internet searches for both 'ant and dec saturday night take away' and 'new doctor who' suggests that BBC One has a fighting chance: despite Ant and Dec's solid audience base, share of searches for their show online have decreased in the lead-up to the resurrection of Doctor Who. The share of Internet searches for the phrase 'new doctor who' overtook 'ant and dec saturday night take away' two weeks ago, and the phrase is currently receiving 50% more searches than its rival. This spike in interest can't be explained away by the online leak a couple of weeks ago of the first episode, titled 'Rose'. Following the leak, fans rushed online to search for 'doctor who rose download'. Since the week of the leak, interest in the download has plummeted while interest in Doctor Who remains strong." WebUser also runs the story.

Sheffield Today says that "there is one place where residents would probably shocked to hear of the notorious reputation of Daleks - and that is the streets around Anchorage Crescent, Sprotbrough. Every Halloween, a procession of youngsters follows one of the monsters around the village as part of a trick or treat tour. It has even taken detours past children's Halloween parties as a special favour to entertain them. For most of the year, it lives in Doctor Who fan Grant Belshaw's shed." The article discusses that this man's Dalek prop was originally used at the Longleat exhibition.

Doctor Who is featured on the cover of long-running Welsh-language weekly Golwg this week (published this past Wednesday). The cover is a publicity shot overlaid on a photo of Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The translated byline is "Dr Who - Cardiff's big project" and ties in with a larger feature on celebrating the centenary of Cardiff's city status. Inside, the series is covered in their centre colour section with a short article, a description of a set visit by the press, along with some quotes from designer Ed Thomas and photos.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the principal biographical reference work for the British past will be marking the start of the new series of Doctor Who on Saturday by having Jon Pertwee as the 'Life of the Day'. The article, first published in print and online in September 2004, is written by David J. Howe. Most of the online edition is subscription only, but the Life of the Day is free to non-subscribers for that day and for a few subsequent days. It has normally appeared by 0100GMT on the day in question. A link will appear on the front page at www.oxforddnb.com.

Today's East Anglian Daily Times has a half page article on Billie Piper and the new series. It includes comments from Billie about her career to date and Doctor Who. The article finishes with promise of an interview with The Doctor in tomorrow's edition.

The Croydon Guardian is looking for "any Doctor Who fans planning anything special to mark the Timelord's return to our screens this Saturday (March 26). Perhaps you and your assistant will be throwing on Cybermen costumes or building your very own cardboard Tardis? If you are crazy about the guy from Gallifrey, dotty about Daleks or mad about the Master then we want to hear from you" and suggests you send email here.

The Chicago Tribune discusses the "Rose" leak: "Building online buzz by putting full episodes online has become such a hot marketing tool that there's speculation the BBC was behind the recent 'unauthorized' online release of an episode of its new 'Dr. Who' series. But the BBC denied to Wired News that an in-house 'viral marketing' plan was responsible for the show's premature online debut." Of course, the BBC's also denied this speculation to everyone...

Some other press notes: Today's Sun includes a monster comparison, eg. Anne Robinson vs Lady Cassandra and Jade Goody vs Moxx of Balhoon here; Megastar comments on Sylvester McCoy's review of the series; the Daily Recordcomments on Billie Piper accidentally swearing on yesterday's Chris Moyles show (two articles, here and here); theMirror has more comments on the various assistants over the years; and a brief Who comparison to Joe Cole in the Times Football section here.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Paul Hayes, Ceri Laing, Chuck Foster, Matthew Kilburn, Rajiv Awasti, Craig Hinton, Nick Smale, Stephen Woollen, Guy Lambert, Barry Bridges, Alex Wilcock, Gareth Humphreys, Matthew Kilburn, and Andrew Jackson)

BBC Radio Wales have some further details on their website about their Dr Who documentary, Back In Time. "This weekend Doctor Who returns to BBC One Wales. BBC Radio Wales has been granted exclusive access behind the scenes for a two part special called Dr Who: Back in Time. This Saturday at 13:05 we look at the links between the Time Lord and Wales, including Dalek road signs in Llangollen." The two parts air on consecutive Saturdays, March 26 and April 2 at 1:05pm, with repeats on Sundays, March 27 and April 3, at 5:30pm.

ITV's This Morning program that aired, er, this morning, featured by far one of the best, and funniest, interviews with Russell T Davies to date. It showed clips from "Rose" including the Doctor peering through Rose's cat-flap and the "That's who I am" clip betwen Eccleston and Piper shown widely. It may also have included one of the first released shots from "The End of The World" showing The Doctor and Rose in front of a large window filled with flames and asteroids. The Doctor says "come with me" and takes Rose's hand. Shots were included of Chris and Billie on set, and interviews with them took place in front of TARDIS and Dalek. The presenters Phillip Schofield and Fern Briton interviewed RTD on the sofa, and showed shots of "Who's who in Who" from today's papers. The main picture was of Simon Day as "The Steward" who has 10 minutes of screen time (and then meets with an interesting fate which we won't spoil here...) Schofield claimed that Eccleston was the eighth ever actor to play the Doctor, obviously unaware of Paul McGann. And Davies mentioned that he made up alien's names by sitting at home with a glass of whiskey!

BBC 2 today ran an episode of The Daily Politics which featured a 10 minute segment on Doctor Who with three guests: political correspondent Andrew Marr, who appears in "Aliens of London"; Tim Collins MP, Shadow Spokesperson for Health and Education and well-known Doctor Who supporter; and Barry Letts, former series producer during the 1970's. The crux of the feature, although a thinly veiled excuse to talk about Doctor Who (of which Andrew Marr and Tim Collins are huge fans), was about how Doctor Who, especially in the 70's provided much political comment as the basis for many stories. Issues of environment, tax and Government bureaucracy were illustrated by using parts of 'The Green Death', 'The Sun Makers' and Pertwee at odds with a government Minister. They had a clip of Helen A (they were comparing her to Thatcher) from "The Happiness Patrol" as well. Marr confirmed aliens would be taking over MP's in an episode to be transmitted between now and the general election (May 5th).

Ratings war on the horizon? As of April 2, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Doctor Who's timeslot rival on ITV, moves forward to 6.45pm in the schedule,
giving it a 15 minute jump on our show. The gauntlet's being lowered now...

The official site has been updated today with a new "Media Player" that now features the latest Doctor Who trailer (narrated by Christopher Eccleston), the "Project Who" radio broadcast and other goodies, as well as clips from the 'classic' series. Also, on the front page of the official site is a link simply called "Lies", which goes to another site that has a certain tie-in appeal to the first episode, "Rose" (if you see the episode, you'll know what it's about!)

The Project: Who? CD, due out later this spring, is at number 3 in the BBC Shop bestsellers list (up from number 8 a week ago!). Meanwhile, the banner advertising it and other Doctor Who productions is on the front page of the BBC Shop site with an interesting catchphrase: "Saving the Earth, every week on BBC One. If you think TV is missing a hero, then you haven't met the Doctor. He saves planets for a living - more of a hobby actually, as he's very, very good at it. He's saved us from alien menaces and evil from before time began - but just who is he? Well, Rose Tyler is about to find out. She's 19 and she's not travelled much. But all that's going to change..." Also noted in that BBC Shop area is alisting for the new Doctor Who series DVDs, although without any information as yet.

Today's New Statesman features a story about the new series and its lack of a regeneration sequence: "To deprive us of a scene in which the doctor regenerates into Christopher Eccleston must have been one of the first decisions Russell T Davies made while writing his comeback episode. His reasons are sound enough. Most of the target audience of children will never have even heard of Doctor Who, let alone know that eight actors have played the role since 1966. It would have made a puzzling and slow start. Instead we plunge into young Rose Tyler's worst day ever in her menial job in a trendy West End department store." The review portion is a bit heavy-handed (noting that Doctor Who may now be "a bigger proposition than it looks").

Update on our report yesterday about Doctor Who in the Netherlands: according to the Spits newspaper, the show will indeed be broadcast on the Nederland 3 network "next year".

Creative Match analyses the new series and its visual effects. "The Mill have been working on the special effects. After their Academy Award for the effects on Gladiator there is no doubt that this will be a more sophisticated treat than the original. Chief Executive of The Mill Robin Shenfield has commented on the work, 'Visual effects can be the tail that wags the dog, but with Doctor Who the storytelling was so good we knew it was something we really wanted to do. It's soul-destroying to do great effects work on a project lacking in other areas because when it gets panned, it feels like your work is being panned, too. Whether we take something on really depends on the quality of the scripts and the team that's working on it.'"

An article called "Well, he took his time" appeared in today's Herald, which actually plays up the whole notion of being a Doctor Who fan, including discussions with Mark Gatiss, Phil Collinson and the Edinburgh Doctor Who group.

Some other news clippings today include a briefer version of yesterday's Sun article on the Sun website, a two page article in the Western Mail, a "Guide to the new series monsters" in today's Mirror (which mentions some new aliens in "End of the World" beyond the ones we already know about, including "Spark Plug," "Hop Pyleen" and "The Steward," which we now know is Simon Day's character), and an interesting article at BlogCritics called "What BattleStar Galactica Can Teach Doctor Who About Television In The Digital Age."

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Paul Engelberg, Sergio Ferr?, Wayne Barry, Ceri Laing, Mark Wright, Paul Blakemore, Karen Bryan, Michael Spence, Graham Kibble-White and Bas Pierik)

Coming soon: the release of a BBC licensed TARDIS CD/DVD Box collectible; the provisional artwork for the box packaging is at right (click on the thumbnail for a larger version.) Says the press information: "This is the most accurate model Tardis ever produced commercially, and is based upon the prop used throughout the 1980s. The scale is 1:5 (same as the remote-control Daleks), so it is 55cm / 22 inches tall. The box includes an A2 wall-chart, with images of the various Tardi used through the years, and a history of the TV props. It can store either 28 DVDs, 60 CDs, 20 novels, 36 audio cassettes, or 14 videos, or be used as a bread-bin, medicine cabinet, bedsit larder, etc. Each box has a unique numbered plaque. Doors can open inwards and outwards. There are two adjustable shelves. The lamp can be lit - details of flashing unit to be confirmed (available seperately). Made in Britain, by Cod Steaks Ltd - a large model-making company in Bristol, currently producing the miniature sets and props for the forthcoming Wallace and Gromit animated feature film 'The Great Vegetable Plot.'" This TARDIS box was featured in the newest issue of Radio Times and will be available in May. (Thanks to Anthony Sibley and Matt Sanders)