A few update items on the forthcoming second series of Doctor Who to share:

According to the latest issue of the UK SF magazine "Starburst", the first episode of the season (beyond the Christmas special) is entitled New Earth, and will guest star Zoe Wanamaker, who returns from the first series. Doctor Who Magazine recently denied that the first episode was called "The Sunshine Camp"; no word on whether this new reported title is the real deal.

Broadcasting update: This Saturday (3 September)'s full-length Doctor Who Confidential 7. The Dark Side is now scheduled from 7.20 to 7.50pm. The following weekend's schedule of new series repeats, according to the Radio Timeswebsite has been substantially revised. There is no longer a full-length rerun of Doctor Who Confidential 8. Time Trouble scheduled for Saturday 10 September. On Sunday 11 September, a full-length rerun of Doctor Who Confidential 9. Special Effects is now scheduled from 7.00 to 7.30pm, followed by a double bill of The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances from 7.30 to 9.00pm, with no Cut Down version shown for that evening. DWCC is also absent from its usual Wednesday evening slot on 14 September. Oddly, DWC9 was not shown in Cut Down form during the initial March to June run either; the schedule for Friday 16 September is not yet confirmed, so it may yet appear!

On-location photography at Duffryn High School in Newport for the third episode, School Reunion, has completed as of yesterday (Friday). Of course, if the first series is any indication, production on the episode will continue for some time (as the episodes are being made in blocks with multiple episodes blending together for production).

Tenth Planet have told Outpost Gallifrey that the second collection of Doctor Who novels featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose (and now, Jack Harkness too) are now in release: Only Human by Gareth Roberts, The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards and The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons. Full details and cover illustrations are on our releasespage.

The BBC Gloucestershire website recently printed a short article about recent filming on the forthcoming special, The Christmas Invasion, tentatively scheduled for broadcast on 26 December, at Clearwell Caves. "Aliens have invaded Clearwell Caves! Well, sort of. Scenes for the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas special have been shot at the popular Forest tourist attraction, and although its plot remains a secret it's a safe bet that extra-terrestrials are involved." "They wanted the largest underground cavern that they could find in this part of England," says Jonathan Wright, who co-runs the site, to BBC Gloucestershire. "(We're) quite surprised at the scale of it, it's taken up the entire car park." The site has an audio feature available for listening as well as the story itself; visit the site for more details.

John Barrowman was interviewed on Friday's edition of BBC Breakfast, in which he spoke about the play he's currently in, "A Few Good Men" (starring alongside Rob Lowe) and about his recent experiences on "Doctor Who," confirming that he would not be back for the second series but was told he would be back for the third. Barrowman also confirmed that he didn't know the reasons why Eccleston left (and indicated that it was the actor's business, not his), and joked that he owed David Tennant a kiss (referring to the brief exchange last season). He also noted recent conventions he had done and indicated some upcoming appearances including in Clacton and early next year in the US (in Los Angeles).

In the recent issue of "Dreamwatch" magazine, designer Bryan Hitch confirmes that we will see one additional TARDIS room besides the console room this year, and that the fundamental design of K-9 hasn't changed (but there are hints that he will have been tweaked a little). The Cybermen design will be updated, however, and the design is expected to remain a closely guarded secret.

The Planet Who website has photos of some of the new products coming out this year including the sonic screwdriver and the 3D character walkie talkies.

The transcript for David Tennant's CBBC webchat is finally up, at the CBBC website.

(Thanks to Jon Preddle, "Noetic_Concordance", Matt Kimpton, David Bailey, Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, John Bowman)

Additional reports about Mr. Sheard's passing are on the official Doctor Who website and at Manchester Online,ITN,Paramount Comedy, The Sun, Reuters, SFGate (which runs the AP press report, carried in many papers). Also, the BBC Newssite is carrying a tribute page for reader comments.

Meanwhile, Tom Baker has been announced as making a rare UK signing appearance on October 20 to co-launch the regular edition of the biography. Baker will be joined by Courtney and actorFrazer Hines (Jamie) and other guests. Further details will be announced soon at the Scificollector website. (Thanks to Steven Scott)

The new series will return to BBC television in October, as the digital channel UK Gold acquires rights to rebroadcast the first season. UK Gold will screen "Rose," "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead" starting at 7pm on Sunday, 23 October; each subsequent day will feature two more episodes, with the final two on 28 October. Weekend repeats of each episode will begin immediately thereafter, broadcasting on Saturdays at 6pm and Sundays at 9pm. Meanwhile, UK Gold is now running an advert for the return, entitled "The Good, the Gay and the Ugly" (the middle section referring to the series 'Little Britain'); says our correspondent, "this is trailing the reruns of the 9th Doctor series on UK Gold (the Moxx of Balhoon is used to represent 'the Ugly'). No transmission times or dates are given in the advert, though." (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Mark Francome)

Rumors that Anthony Stewart Head will play the Master in the second Doctor Who series now filming are false, despite Internet reports to the contrary.

The Blue Peter Prom, which features a new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme and a guest appearance by a Dalek, will be shown on Wednesday's edition of Blue Peter at 5.00 pm on BBC One.

BBC7 has debuted another new trailer for its series of Paul McGann Doctor Who audio stories. Running for 1 minute and forty seconds, the trailer again features new material recorded by Paul McGann giving a brief history of his TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimensions in Space" in this version), and it was broadcast after the final part of "Storm Warning" at just before 7.00pm on Saturday and again at midnight.

Big Finish has discreetly added some material to the Cybermansection of its website, including a video trailer for the new miniseries, which plays with Windows Media Player.

Overnight ratings figures are in for the current run of repeat showings of the new series on BBC Three:


While these figures don't put the repeats in BBC Three's Top Ten (currently reaching 250,000-400,000 viewers), they are comparable to what the channel has achieved with other programmes in the Friday 9pm timeslot (about 140,000), and a marked improvement on the 78,000 achieved by T in the Park on 10 July, the Sunday before the repeats started. The Doctor Who repeats are also achieving a similar or slightly improved audience share to other BBC Three output in those slots. (Thanks to Nick Salmond, Steve Tribe)

According to a press release from the BBC Press Office,John Leeson will reprise the role of the robotic sidekick K9, last seen during the original series in the twentieth anniversary story "The Five Doctors" in 1983, in the new series. The appearance of the robot dog was rumored on Outpost Gallifrey as far back as early July, but this is the first official confirmation of the appearance. "Today David Tennant, the Tenth Time Lord, will be reunited with two of his favourite and most iconic companions - Sarah Jane Smith and the faithful robot dog, K9," says the press release. "K9, who was the loyal friend to Tom Baker's Doctor between 1977 and 1981, joins Sarah Jane Smith, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey in a fight against the evil Krillitanes. John Leeson, the voice of K9, says: 'I am delighted to have been invited back on board the series - and a little gathered rust is no object to a fully functional K9!' Producer Phil Collinson adds: 'It is great to be welcoming K9 back to Doctor Who. A whole generation fondly remember him as an ever-faithful companion and best friend to Tom Baker's Doctor. I hope the new generation of viewers will fall in love with him in the same way. I'm sure he's going to prove an invaluable help to the Doctor in the fight against intergalactic evil.'" Leeson joins Elisabeth Sladen, previously confirmed returning to the role of Sarah Jane Smith from the original series. Says Sladen, "I am so thrilled to be back and I feel so empowered by the affection that [the whole team] have for Sarah Jane Smith and for the programme. Toby Whithouse's script is wonderful - it's an absolutely truthful progression of Sarah. I just hope I can live up to their expectation, and I hope I can still run as fast after 30 years!" The episode, "School Reunion," "sees the team investigate sinister events at a modern-day comprehensive school, and also stars Anthony Head (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Little Britain)." Also reported at the official BBC Doctor Who website and at CBBC,BBC News, The Mirror.

The 'considerable archive' of items belonging to John Nathan-Turner, the final producer of the 'classic' Doctor Who series who oversaw seasons 18 through 26, and who passed away in 2002, has been acquired by the British Film Institute's National Library, who has named him a "Donor in Focus". The archive is part of the BFI National Library's special collections; access is restricted to those who already have BFI Library annual library membership, for which there is a fee, and have to be consulted in the BFI study room. We're not sure exactly what this archive entails, but we imagine Doctor Who scholars are currently looking into it. (Thanks to Neil Marsh, Matthew Kilburn)