The BBC News story about the TUC conference (see mention in Press Clips, below) made a surprising mention today in its last paragraph. The paragraph originally read "A Christmas special is due to be broadcast on Christmas Day, followed by a 13-part series next year" but has been altered later on Wednesday to state "A Christmas special is due to be broadcast at Christmas, followed by a 13-part series next year." Outpost Gallifrey believes that the item was merely an error and was later corrected, as we have reported that the current information we have suggests transmission the day after Christmas, on Boxing Day, December 26.

An article in the Sunday Times interviews Andrew Marr, former BBC political editor, and discusses his appearance in Doctor Who this past season. "The cameo role on Dr Who, however, shed shade on Marr's often stated, old-school concern for the corrosive modern interplay of celebrity personality and journalistic propriety. ... 'I loved doing Dr Who. I was presenting a news report about an alien invasion. They took hours and hours to light it, which was bizarre, because they were mimicking something I normally do in five minutes with one cameraman.'" Also in today's Sunday Times, in the Biteback column: "Dr Who fans, while generally enthusiastic about the latest series, felt it had too many episodes set in the UK. I gather Stephen Fry has written one of the 13 episodes of the next series, and it is likely to be set in the 1930's England. To retain viewers' interest, he has been promised some of the series' best special effects."

BBC News interviews John Barrowman about "why he swapped Doctor Who for a role in West End play A Few Good Men alongside Hollywood star Rob Lowe." The article talks to Barrowman about gay rights, confirms that "I won't be in Season 2 but I will be back for Season 3... There was talk of me coming back for the next series, but because of the commitments I have it just wasn't going to work out" and talks about the new show "Simply Musicals" that he will soon take part in. "It's important to bring theatrical stuff back to television," says Barrowman. The article asks, "So what will the Whovians say when they see Captain Jack sing? Barrowman is sure they'll approve. 'Science-fiction is not that far from musical theatre,' he says. 'In the end, it's all just heightened reality.'"

Colin Baker opines on the new series in the newest issue of "Dreamwatch" magazine, where he praises the series in a two-page article that mentions "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" as his favorite story and Annette Badland and Florence Hoath as the season's best guest actors. "It was great to sit down and watch the new Doctor Who from the very first moment, knowing I was not in it," Baker wrote.

Peter Davison appeared this week on Look North, a BBC regional news programme. He was shown visiting The World of James Herriot, an exhibition in Thirsk in Yorkshire, which is dedicated to the author on whose books All Creatures Great and Small was based. Davison is also in the news at Yorkshire Today when he recently visited a set from the other series he's well known for. "One of the stars of All Creatures Great And Small said things had not changed all that much when he visited the vets' surgery that inspired the famous tales. Yesterday Peter Davison, who played Tristan Farnon in the long-running BBC series, called in at the World of James Herriot in Thirsk. The award-winning attraction opened in 1999 at 23 Kirkgate û the 'Skeldale House' of the Herriot books û and original surgery of Herriot creator and real-life vet Alf Wight. 'Last time I came it was still a working practice, when Alf was still working here,' said Mr Davison. 'Even then the waiting room was full of American tourists with copies of books to sign.' A global TV audience of 460 million is estimated to have seen All Creatures since the first of 88 episodes was broadcast in 1978, but Mr Davison said at the beginning the producers had no inkling of how popular the show would be. 'They did not know it would be so successful and zipped through the first books too quickly,' he said. 'Some stories could have made an entire episode but there were four or five stories in each episode.'" Davison is currently on location in Northumberland, filming a second series of Distant Shores, which will be broadcast on ITV in the New Year.

Corey Johnson, who appeared as Van Statten in "Dalek," will be appearing in next week's season-opening two-parter of "Spooks", playing the part of 'Richard Boyd'. The episodes, which kick off the fourth series of the spy drama, are being shown on Monday 12 September and Tuesday 13 September at 9pm on BBC One.

An article at BBC News from Ssaturday notes that Russell T Davies will take part in this weekend's annual gay and lesbian Mardi Gras on Saturday in Cardiff, alongside such notables as singer Charlotte Church. Also noted at .

The BBC Press Office has put online a small press pack for the new Verity Lambert-produced comedy/drama "Love Soup", due to start this autumn on BBC One. The series is also notable for starring Tamsin Greig, the Nurse from "The Long Game".

An article at IC Wales discusses the various lines of toys coming soon including the "12-inch radio-controlled Dalek, a sonic screwdriver with a built in UV light to reveal secret handwriting and walkie talkies in the shape of Doctor Who characters. And, according to retailers, demand for the toys is so high they're worried they won't be able to keep up. Alan Vaughan, assistant manager of Cardiff's Comic Guru Presents, a shop that specialises in Doctor Who merchandise, said, 'We have people coming in two to three times a day asking about when the new toys are going to come out, everyone's waiting for them. When they come in we expect them to start flying out the door. In between now and Christmas that's what everyone will be wanting. ... It's a nostalgia thing. Everyone remembers it and, even if you haven't watched it, you know what a Dalek looks like.' The toys, which will be the first official merchandise to accompany the new BBC series, were supposed to have arrived in the shops at the beginning of this month. But the toy's manufacturers, Character Options, said although they are now being distributed there were a lot of delays partly due to massive demand. They are now expected to arrive by the middle of September. Managing partner of Galaxy4, one of the UK's leading suppliers of Doctor Who merchandise, said demand for Doctor Who products has increased by 15% over the past year. But he said the brand is unique in being able to attract new fans without alienating older ones. He said, 'Doctor Who is unlike anything else. The new series has attracted a new fan base. But they've also managed to retain their older fan base, people who have been fans for over 20 years. That's a remarkable achievement. We've already had thousands of preorders for the new range. The most popular toy so far seems to be the sonic screwdriver, because it's something kids can keep in their pocket, and they can play the role of the Doctor, or Rose. But there's also lots of collectors, people in their 60s who will be buying them as well.' One such collector is John Campbell Rees, member of Timeless, a Doctor Who appreciation society based in Wales. The assistant librarian from Treherbert said his earliest memory is of watching Doctor Who and he has been collecting memorabilia for more than 30 years. His collection includes more than 300 books, DVDs and toys and he said he can't wait to see the new range."

In reaction to the new 'police boxes' used in Glasgow, BBC News says that the boxes aren't amenable to blind people. Says a correspondent, "The centre of Glasgow has seen the the arrival of the new Strathclyde Police information system in the style of an old police box. But instead of a policeman inside, it is just electronics. As a totally blind person, I went down to see what all the fuss was about following the press coverage the 'Tardis' received. Sorry, I am visually impaired, there is no emergency. As it was recently designed, I was hoping that it might talk, after all it was there to provide information to the public. I walked from St. Enoch underground station with my cane and finally bumped into the large steel structure. I felt my way around the object, touching the screens and buttons. They were sunk into the casing, so were quite difficult to feel."

The new edition of "emagazine", a UK publication for teachers of English Literature and Language, has David Tennant as its cover star. He is pictured in a scene from the recent production of John Osbourne's 'Look Back In Anger'. An article inside the magazine contains two other pictures of Tennant in the role of Jimmy Porter.

Additional links: more coverage of Barrowman's appearance on "Simply Musicals" at The Stage, Whats On Stage,PlayBill; more on Barrowman in "A Few Good Men" at PlayBill, The Evening Standard; additional coverage of Eccleston's win of the TV Quick/TV Choice awards at DeHavilland, In The News, Hello Magazine, Monsters and Critics.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, John Bowman, Joe McKee)

Big Finish has informed listeners that both September audio plays, Thicker Than Water by Paul Sutton and Live 34by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown have been delayed slightly "due to a slight delay at the pressing plant" and will both be out at the end of September. Also, the prologue to the novel The Coming of the Queen by Iain McLaughlin and Claire Bartlett is now available at the site for download; the novel is a biographical work about Erimem, the companion who joined the Fifth Doctor and Peri for recent adventures as played by Caroline Morris.

The Web Planet, which was due out this month in the UK on DVD, has apparently been delayed for a month, and is now being listed on various retail sites like Play.com as being out in early October. The discs have already been pressed and packaged, according to a post on the Restoration Team forum, and there is currently no official word as to the delay. We'll keep you posted...

A brief update for the second series of Doctor Who: various of our sources have been reporting the past few days (and we think, quite believably) that the title of the fourth episode of the new series, written by Steven Moffat, is The Girl in the Fireplace. While it's not official (like "New Earth," the rumored title of the first episode), we think that it's likely the current working title for the episode.

Memorial services for Michael Sheard have been announced; a public memorial/funeral will be held at the Isle of Wight Crematorium this Wednesday 7 September at 3pm, and all are welcome. (There is a private wake afterwards for family and close friends only.) The family has requested that any donations in place of floral tributes be sent to the Earl Mountbatten Hospice, Halberry Lane, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 2ER. Sheard passed away last week as we previously reported.

John Barrowman can be seen on the ITV chat show "Loose Women" hosted by Kaye Adams on Tuesday 13 September at 1.30pm.

Doctor Who is now available on the NTL On Demand Service. Says our correspondent, this means "you can catch the week's BBC3 episode whenever you want to, the week after transmission. If you have digital NTL, select channel 106 and press the red button. You should (eventually) get a menu bar down the side of the page. If you select 'TV Pick of the Week', Doctor Who should be listed alongside episodes of Eastenders, Casualty and the like. Select it and you can watch the week's episode, as well as being able to fast forward, rewind and pause."

An article in The Independent says "Stand up for the man who made the BBC's golden age possible"... "As the television industry celebrates the 50th anniversary of the arrival of multi-channel television - Britain went from one channel to two with the arrival of ITV in 1955 - there has been a lot of speculation about who has had the most influence over British television in the years since the BBC launched the world's first television service in 1936. ... My vote for top slot wouldn't have gone to Murdoch, but instead to Hugh Carleton Greene, who was director general of the BBC from 1960 until 1969. He was also the man responsible for the creation of British television, as we know it today." The article notes that Greene was the man who set about "home-grown programmes that were both challenging and accessible; programmes like Play for Today, Z Cars, The Forsyte Saga, That Was the Week That Was, Dr Who and dozens of others." The full article is available at the link.

This week's print issue of The Stage will feature an interview with Rob Shearman, who talks about his new play "Toward the End of the Morning" (see update September 2) as well as his other radio, TV and theatre projects -- and there's a little mention of his time writing "Dalek"; plus a feature on Big Finish audios and their transition to broadcast on BBC7; and an obituary for Michael Sheard. The articles will only be available in the print edition for a short time, but will soon follow up on the web, with the Big Finish article much expanded (probably); we'll let you know the links when we get them.

According to Yahoo News, stars from Emmerdale - including Frazer Hines - will be appearing in a variety of pantomimes this year, as usual. Hines will appear in "Peter Pan" at the Palace Theatre in Newark.

TV Fodder covers 'The Regeneration of "Doctor Who"' today. "The key to the success of 'Who' lay in the clever invention of the main character's ability to regenerate. William Hartnell was the first actor to play the Doctor, and when he left the program it easily could have been curtains for the whole shebang. But it wasn't, of course. Three years after his initial appearance, the Doctor regenerated into a new body and was suddenly portrayed by a different actor: the inimitable Patrick Troughton. Five more thespians would step into the enviable role for the original series. There would be a couple of highly regarded films starring Peter Cushing (hunting daleks rather than vampires for a change) and an American television movie starring Paul McGann and Eric Roberts. Outside of novelizations and radio broadcasts, that was about it. Until 2005, that is. Enter Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Billie Piper as his assistant, Rose: the two main ingredients in the resurrected 'Doctor Who' series that recently finished airing its first season. The special effects are a lot better than in the classic program, and the episodes tend to move along at a more accelerated clip (there was actually a six-hour story back in the '80s!), but Doctor Who fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief, as the new series is every inch a chip off the old block. Season one is over now, and so is Eccleston's stint as the renegade Time Lord. But there's no sign that the program is in any danger of fading out. Great writing and a sky-high production value have formed a solid foundation for the new incarnation of 'Who.' If producer and writer Russell T. Davies is smart--and he seems to be--he'll build on that foundation to take the program into even more daring waters for its second season." Read more of the article at the website.

The Telegraph discusses the plummet of BBC1 ratings this summer toward an all time low. "Figures produced by Barb, the Broadcast Audience Research Bureau, for the week ending August 14 show that the channel had only six programmes in the national top 20 - four of which were editions of its ailing soap, EastEnders. Even this flagship programme is struggling to maintain its position. The highest rating edition of the show, which was actually the channel's most popular programme, peaked at number six in the national chart. [BBC Controller] Peter Fincham said that although ratings were important they were not the sole measure of a channel's success - and insisted that a total eradication of repeats from the channel could be counter-productive. 'The use of ratings as the only way of measuring programmes is old-fashioned,' he said. 'We have so many different ways of measuring the impact of programmes. Let's take a programme like A Picture of Britain, which was accompanied by A Digital Picture of Britain on BBC4. More than 85,000 people sent in pictures to that programme. Hits on websites, which we can now measure, have also produced some extraordinary figures. Dr Who, for instance, gets millions of hits.'"

Billie Piper was mentioned in the "Evening Gazette" in which she discusses her health regimen. "It's hard to believe that she was called Billie Bunter at school. 'I was always struggling with my weight,' says the 5ft 5in singer-turned-actress. You won"t find her in the gym working out, but she does visit a health farm occasionally and goes for long walks. She is also keen on yoga exercise and swimming. 'I was brought up on bread and butter as a kid and have at least two slices every meal - no wonder I had weight trouble at school,' she says. She made an effort to keep trim in her pop star days, but after marriage to Chris Evans in 2001, she piled on the pounds because she says she ate and drank the wrong things. When she was offered the role as Doctor Who"s assistant Rose in the TV remake, she went on a strict diet. 'The pounds rolled off and I actually dropped a dress size.' Now she is very careful what she eats. 'And if ever I relent and succumb to something I shouldn't have, then I make up for it by watching my intake afterwards.'"

Other notes: coverage of Russell T Davies' appearance at the Mardi Gras Fringe Benefit in Cardiff next week aticWales; the DeHavilland site and Digital Spy talk about Barrowman in the "Simply Musicals" series on BBC1.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, David McIntee, Paul Hayes, Joey Reynolds, Paul Phipps, Scott Matthewman, Peter Weaver)