2entertain have given some details of a new 8 part series called Tomorrow's Times looking at contemporary press reaction to the Classic Series of Doctor Who.

The series is produced by Marcus Hern and which will be issued as part of the extras on some future DVD releases. The first part is presented by Mary Tamm who played Romana alongside Tom Baker. A rough clip had been released on the classicdw twitter account.

The Doctor Who Restoration Team have published details for the forthcoming DVD release of The Masque of Mandragora. The article has details about the clean up of the story and full details of the extras included on the disc. The DVD is due for release in the UK in February.

Toby Hadoke's solo comedy show, Moths Ate my Doctor Who Scarf, continues its tour around the UK. Dates have been added for Barnsley, Stockton, Whitehaven, Newport, Pitlochry and Bath. More details here.

Many papers have covered the BBC press release reporting that the BBC iPlayer has reached over 100 million requests since its launch on Christmas Day 2007, and the headline fact that a total of 1.3 million requested The End of Time.

For a full press roundup see our sister site Doctor Who in the Media.

The British Board of Film Classification has cleared the Fourth Doctor story The Creature from the Pit for release on DVD.

The story, originally broadcast in the Autumn of 1979, stars Tom Baker as The Doctor, along with Lalla Ward as Romana and David Brierley as the voice of K9. Others in the cast include Myra Frances as Lady Adrast, Eileen Way as Karela and Geoffrey Bayldon as Organon.

The story was written by David Fisher and directed by Christopher Barry.

Extras cleared for the story are

• Christopher Barry: Director - 19'01"
• Team Erato - 14'46"
• Photo Gallery - 4'48"
• Animal Magic - 2'34"

No release date has yet been confirmed.

The British Board of Film Classification has passed a number of extras for the March release of the two William Hartnell stories The Space Museum and The Chase.

The Space Museum

• Defending the Museum - 9'26"
• My Grandfather The Doctor - 10'3"
• The Space Museum - Picture Gallery - 4'24"
• A Holiday for the Doctor - 13'59"

The Chase

• The Thrill of the Chase - 10'24"
• Doctor Who - Follow that Dalek - 11'58"
• Give A Show - Slides - 12'13"
• Shawcraft The Original Monster Makers - 16'57"
• The Chase Photo gallery - 5'7"
• Last Stop White City - 13'14"
• Beyond the Screen - 21'54"
• Easter Egg - 2'48"
• Daleks! Conquer and Destroy - 22'36"
• Untitled - 12' 43"

The stories are due for release in the UK on 1st March 2010.

The Board have also cleared the three documentaries Doctor Who - Greatest Moments, which were shown on BBC Three in the summer. These documentaries appear to be included as extras in the February release of Dreamland.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine reveals that The TV Movie will be re-released on DVD as a special edition in 2010.

The special, which stars Paul McGann in his only television appearence as the Eighth Doctor, was first shown in 1996. The new release will be part of the "Revisitaions" box set, which will consist of new editions of stories that were previously released in the early days of the DVD range.

The TV Move special edition will include a documentary called The Seven Year Hitch, which looks at producer Philip Segal's long quest to get the project into production and talks to Segal himself, as well as writer Matthew Jacobs and the then-BBC One controller Alan Yentob.

There is no confirmed release date for the Box Set, nor is it known if the story will finally be available in North America.


Also in DWM is news that Jamie and Zoe will be reunited in a new three-part Big Finish story in 2010. Wendy Padbury will join Frazer Hines in a Sixth Doctor story starring Colin Baker. The first story, City of Spires by Simon Bovey, will be released in April and guest stars Georgia Moffett. It will be followed by The Wreck of the Titan by Barnaby Edwards and Legend of the Cybermen by Mike Maddox.

Amazon are advising their customers that the UK January release of Peladon Tales is being delayed by two weeks. No information is available from 2 entertain to confirm this and it is not known what effect any delay may have on the rest of the 2010 schedule.

Meanwhile TV Shows on DVD is reporting that The Next Doctor will be "upconverted" from standard definition to HD for the upcoming Blu-Ray edition of the 2009 Specials box set. This is the first time a Doctor Who episode that hasn't been produced in HD has undergone this treatment.

The website also confirms the extras which will be included on The End of Time's DVD/Blu-Ray release. The information is for the North American release, but is expected to be identical to the UK edition.

• Doctor Who Confidential - The End of Time Part One
• Doctor Who Confidential - The End of Time Part Two
• Deleted Scenes
• David Tennant Video Diary - The Final Days
• BBC Christmas Idents
• Doctor Who at Comic Con
• 5.1 Surround Sound

The Specials Collection will include Doctor Who at the Proms.

The British Board of Film Classification has cleared not only The Waters of Mars for DVD release, but also the two parts of The End of Time.

The Waters of Mars has been given a 12 certificate meaning, in the opinion of the Board, the story is not suitable for anyone under that age. No one under 12 can rent or buy the DVD in the UK.

Both parts of The End of Time get a PG certificate meaning the programme is generally suitable for family viewing, but parents should consider the content before showing it to younger or sensitive children. Details submitted include the running time, which for Part One is 59 minutes 42 seconds with the final Tennant episode clocking in at 72 minutes 47 seconds.

Two new Confidential titles are revealed which are listed in the spoiler box below.

Also cleared is a 21 minute feature Doctor Who at Comic-Con International 2009. This may be a feature to be included in the Specials Box Set. The Comic Con was attended by David Tennant and Russell T Davies and saw the first screening of a promo for The End of Time.

The BBFC has also cleared four items believed to be connected to the mysterious Special Project 3 mentioned by Davies in his production notes in DWM.

The Doctor Who Restoration Team have provided details of the restoration of the UK January DVD release, Peladon Tales. Full details of the extras are listed on the groups website.

On his website, Tom Baker has confirmed he recently recorded a commentary for the DVD release of the Season 15 story, The Sunmakers, with co-stars Louise Jameson and Michael Keating and Director Penant Roberts. Note that DVD commentaries are often recorded way ahead of release.

Tom Baker's audio story Hornet's Nest will be released as a box set on the 12 January 2010 on both sides of the Atlantic. The recording co-stars Richard Franklin. Parts 4 and 5 will be released in the UK on 3rd December.

ABC Television in Australia have confirmed that although The Waters of Mars will be shown on ABC HD, it will not be the genuine HD copy that will be seen, but a SD copy up-scaled. The reason cited is cost with ABC's Director of Television, Kim Dalton, saying the priority for the network is the development of SD channels rather than the HD one. There will however be a move to develop the HD output in 2010. The Waters of Mars comes to New Zealand this Sunday and to Australia a week later.

The Evening Standard reports that the new European Union Representative for Foreign Affairs, Baroness Ashton, is the proud owner of a full sized Dalek. The replica was given to her by her husband as a fiftieth birthday present and proudly greets visitors to their home.

Michael Moorcock has written in the Guardian about Doctor Who and his new commission to write a novel for BBC Books first reported here.

BBC Worldwide has won its court case over the administrator of retail chain Woolworths in a dispute over 2entertain, the company which produces the classic series DVD's. BBC Worldwide, which already has a 60% majority stake in 2entertain, now has first option to buy up the remaining shares at an appropriate value. A spokesman for BBC Worldwide told Broadcast Magazine "This latest judgment fully upholds the position we have maintained from the outset, and we now look forward to being able to move ahead with taking full ownership of 2entertain". The dispute is over ownership of the company and will not affect the production of Doctor Who DVD's.

Doctor Who was mentioned in the US TV series NCIS when Tim McGee, the character played by Sean Murray, mentioned that the container trailer they were investigating reminded him of the TARDIS. "A contraption Doctor Who travels in time and space" His companion replies "Doctor Who? Who watches that?"

A revised version of the BBC iPlayer has been launched as a dedicated channel on the Nintendo Wii. The new version is faster and has a full-screen user interface. It is available free from the Wii shop.

The latest edition of DWM clarifies the UK DVD release schedule for the first quarter of 2010.

Following the release of the Peladon Boxset on 4th January and the fourth Doctor story The Masque of Mandragora on 8th February, March will see no fewer than five stories released.

On 1st March the two First Doctor stories The Space Museum and The Chase will be released. A promo for this story was cleared by the BBFC last month. Just four weeks later the Myths and Legends boxset will hit the shops. This is now confirmed as including the Third Doctor story The Time Monster, and the Fourth Doctor stories Underworld and The Horns of Nimon.

The Kameleon Boxset and Time and the Rani, both of which are listed for sale on several DVD sites, have been pushed back to later in the year.

A full release schedule can be see in the sidebar on the right.