According to the ABC Shop website, October 2004 is the tentative release date for The Leisure Hive on DVD in Australia. It's likely that a New Zealand release will follow within a few weeks as usual. It appears from recent releases that the Australia DVDs are following on about 3 months after the UK versions, in a one-every-two-month pattern. (Thanks to David Dungey)

The late-year release of the "orphan" Doctor Who episodes on DVD now has a name: the Lost in Time Collection, according to Galaxy 4; it's due in November. The boxed set will include all 18 'orphaned' episodes including the recent "Daleks Master Plan" episode 2.

According to Planet Who, "CGI effects house The Mill have been commissioned to work on the new series, according to reports. The company have worked with the BBC on a number of projects, most recently they provided effect work for 'The Nile' (BBC2), and a spectacular recreation of D-Day recently shown on BBC1."

New series writer Rob Shearman appeared at Time 2, a convention organised by the DWAS. He revealed on stage that his script for episode 6 contained the words dog and food, but admitted this may be edited out! He could now visualise the new Doctor's costume and said it was not as "dressy" as those from the previous Docs. Shearman noted he'd read the first script and said to himself, "Wow, this is fantastic." Asked about his own notions of fantasy guest casting, Shearman commented that he wanted Hellen Mirren to play a character in his story... a character who was subsequently written out! (Thanks to Antony Wainer)

An article in the June 29 Daily Star says that the new Doctor Who series "will feature historic figures including Shakespeare, Henry VIII and Einstein - who are locked up together inside a Big Brother-style house. Famous housemates will face eviction and death from aliens when the classic sci-fi show comes back to our screens next year. The new series, which stars Christopher Eccleston as Dr Who, is aiming to win over a whole new generation of young followers of the Tardis timelord. Christopher said: 'We can parallel things with science fiction and address what's going on around us to a certain extent for young people without being pompous.' In one of the planned episodes of the hotly-awaited series, some of the world's most famous figures from the past are kidnapped from their time zones by aliens. They are put in a Big Bruvstyle house for extraterrestrial television entertainment." (Thanks to Paul Engelberg)

According to the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine, the director of the first "block" of the new series is Keith Boak, who has directed for Out of the Blue, Wokenwell, City Central, Sunburn, Harbour Lights, The Knock, Mersey Beat, The Royal and Holby City. (There's no explanation of what this "Block One" comprises.) Russell Davies says that Boak "directed one of my first ever paid scripts, a 5-minute piece for the BBC's Def 2 slot". Also named in Davies' new production notes column in DWM 344 is Lucinda Wright, the new costume designer. Davies notes that work has started progressing on the first blcok as of May 17 (pre-production only), with script meetings on May 18 (discussing "Paul Cornell's script... dark and brave and every bit as brilliant as I expected") and a "tone meeting" on May 19... "All of us - producers, director, script editors, the entire design department, costume, casting, special FX, make-up and monster men - packed into one room to talk tone. MEaning what should this show look like, feel like, aspire to? Colour, sound, pitch, key?" Noted in a May 19 casting meeting session discussion in the Davies article, a new character name is mentioned; besides the aforementioned Jackie and the "Moxx of Balhoon," there is a character named Mickey, either a regular or a guest star. Also in the issue, an interview with script editors Helen Raynor and Elwen Rowlands confirms that Rowlands is working with Davies and Cornell, and Raynor with Shearman, Gatiss and Moffat (and "a bit of Russell"), but that they are working together across all episodes "to make sure that continuity works." They comment that 'Rob Shearman is chucking the "ooh" moments around like confetti [and] Paul Cornell's episode is so moving it brought a tear to the eye. Mark Gatiss' script has some hilarious moments and the sheer naughtiness of Russell's Alien's of London had us chuckling away all day. We wait delivery of Steven Moffat's script with bated breath.' Finally, Davies' Production Notes reveals that one episode features a clipboard that "creates a meeting of its own. Is it metal? Plastic? Illuminated? Sentient?... And it's only a clipboard!" This, you see, is Russell's proof that "This programme is barmy." Read all of this, plus a lot more, in the new DWM, issue 344 now on sale. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

As has been widely reported the past several days, the fan favorite the Daleks will not be appearing in the new Doctor Who series, as talks between the BBC and the estate of creator Terry Nation have broken down over issues of editorial control. A BBC spokeswoman told BBC News, "After lengthy negotiations, the BBC and Terry Nation have been unable to reach an agreement on the terms of the use of the Daleks. The BBC offered the very best deal possible but ultimately we were not able to give the level of editorial influence that the Terry Nation estate wished to have." The Nation estate is said to be "bitterly disappointed" while Nation agent Tim Hancock stated that the BBC was trying to "ruin the brand of the Daleks. We wanted the same level of control over the Daleks that we have enjoyed for the last 40 years. If the BBC wanted to re-make any of George Lucas' films, you can bet George Lucas would have something to say about it." Hancock accused the BBC of lying about the reasons a deal had not been made, stating that the BBC had recentrly tried to commission a cartoon series about gay Daleks for BBC Three and that they had allowed Warner Bros. to use the Daleks in the recent big-budget film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" without consulting the Nation estate. "We want to protect the integrity of the brand," Hancock said, and added that the estate would be willing to make a new deal if the BBC accepted the arrangement that had been in place for the last 40 years. Russell Davies told BBC news that he was disappointed by the decision, but that it would not affect the success of the series. "We are reinventing Doctor Who for a 21st Century audience with a fantastic writing team and exciting new challenges," Davies said. "We are disappointed that the Daleks will not be included but we have a number of new and exciting monsters. And I can confirm we have created a new enemy for the Doctor which will keep viewers on the edge of their seats." Elsewhere, an additional comment from agent Tim Hancock noted the following: "IÆm very sorry for Dr Who fans. We accept the Daleks need modernising, and are all for it. All we ask is that they consult us on the designs. But the BBC are not prepared to."

Afterwards, the newspaper The Sun said it was launching a "campaign" to save the Daleks after being exterminated from the new show. The Sun article intimated that the BBC were "desperate hi-tech versions of the Time LordÆs arch-enemies" to appear in the show, but that talks had broken down only last Wednesday when Nation's estate demanded control of Dalek storylines and that they feared producers planned to make the Daleks "too evil". A BBC "insider" told the Sun, "ItÆs hard to imagine Dr Who without Daleks but it seems we have no choice. The Nation estateÆs demands were completely unacceptable. They care a lot about the Daleks. We fear they have been lost forever." The Express ran an article on July 3 that stated that fans in Southampton had staged a protest march, with one fan being quoted as saying, "Daleks were infamous for sending children diving behind sofas in the 1960s and 70s. If an amicable deal isn't reached, the new Doctor won't ever see the Daleks again, which will be a great shame. While most fans are obviously delighted the series has finally come back, there are fears that it may bear very little resemblance to the original. And the Doctor not facing the Daleks is almost unthinkable." Shadow Education Secretary (and Doctor Who fan) Tim Collins said to the Sun, "Dr Who without the Daleks is like fish without chips. It's important the BBC does a deal." And the Manchester Evening News quoted agent Hancock as saying, "Without us the BBC would have screwed up the integrity of the Daleks image years ago."

Commentator John Walsh noted in July 3's The Independent, "It's outrageous that the new series of Doctor Who should feature no appearance by the Daleks. I was one of the original short-trousered Doctor fans who watched through latticed fingers the first gliding steps of the metal myrmidons, and I'm sorry not to see them return. But the way the story appeared in some news pages - the robotic tyrants would not appear because of 'a disagreement over appearance fees' - made it sound as if the Daleks themselves were sulkily refusing to go on TV. The usual reasons, I suppose. They had other commitments; the timing wasn't right for this stage of their career; they weren't in a good place right now; they were scheduled to appear on Broadway, in a musical called Hello Dalek. I pictured them on the phone to their agent, shouting 'Neg-o-ti-ate! Neg-o-ti-ate!'."

Many of the press clippings can now be found at the Cuttings Archive.

Media links and coverage (with thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes):

BBC News The Sun Sky News The Register The Alien Online DigitalSpy ICnetwork

Manchester Online Big News Network MediaDrome The Mirror Waveguide Guardian Online DeHavilland

According to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), the following is the list of running times for the extras being included on the forthcoming DVD release of Ghost Light in the UK, which we've previously reported on.


There are further details in the article on the Restoration Team site about these items, including details on the DVD transfer. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

The Times (London) finally ran an obituary for Anthony Ainley on June 15 (better late than never!) It's the first indication of cause of death, which is listed as cancer (and it also says he was 66, born in 1937... still no confirmation!)

According to a rumor on the SciFi Online site, the multi-disc "orphan episodes" DVD box set due in November we first reported about some time ago won't feature any photo galleries. We've no independent confirmation of this rumor so far. (Thanks to Rich Kirkpatrick)