Mark Gatiss, the writer recently announced to be part of the first season's new writing team, appeared on this evening's edition of BBC Radio 4's daily arts programme "Front Row". Among the items Gatiss mentioned: Although perceived as an SF series, the strength of Doctor Who was always horror, and the team would "love to get back to 'proper scares'" as well as appeal to a mainstream audience. Gatiss feels that the best moemnts of Doctor Who involve wanting to travel with the characters of the Doctor and his companion, and he cited the Tom Baker / Elisabeth Sladen relationship versus the bickering of later TARDIS crews. When Gatiss was pressured on who he visualized when writing his script, he jokingly replied "Me, only me!" (Gatiss is an actor as well as writer), but mentioned he didn't know who would play the role of the Doctor (but we may know soon). His choice for the role? David Warner, who he has mentioned in the past. Gatiss is currently working on the first draft of his script. Update March 6: The radio program is archived online; you can listen to it by clicking here; there is also a transcript in our Forum (you must be a member to view).(Thanks to Vin Marsden Hendrick, Christian Coulter, PaulParanoid)

According to the Green Guide TV Guide in Melbourne, Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation will not be screening The War Games, the final Patrick Troughton story, due to the BBC being "unable to resolve the TV rights of the Daleks with Terry Nation's agents," despite the fact that a Dalek appears only in a glimpse in part ten. Notably, the ongoing rights issues (which are more for Nation's entire estate, versus simply the Daleks themselves) has not stopped the ABC screening William Hartnell's three Dalek stories in the recent past. (Thanks to Glenn Robinson)

Issue #341 of Doctor Who Magazine is out and features news on an important discovery (one we've been waiting for the issue's release to report on): a full set of telesnaps from six of seven episodes of the lost Doctor Who serialMarco Polo have been recovered. "Marco Polo" is the only story from the show's first season that is missing completely from the archives, other than extensive behind-the-scenes photographic evidence... but not visuals from the actual broadcast itself. Fan Derek Handley was instrumental in the recovery, having contacted serial director Waris Hussein recently and discovered that Hussein did indeed have telesnaps from the six episodes he was responsible for directing in his possession (Hussein did not direct episode 4, "The Wall of Lies," and therefore does not possess telesnaps from the story.) The prints themselves are beautiful, and include such lost treasures as the legendary moving map that Mark Eden (as Marco Polo) narrated over during the story. The telesnaps - originally shot by John Cura as photographic evidence for the story's director, in the days far before VCRs - were arranged to be returned to the BBC and Hussein negotiated directly with Doctor Who Magazine to be able to run them; DWM will run all six episodes' telesnaps in sequence, one per issue, starting with #342. Hussein also possessed old videotapes of other items he directed for the BBC (but none of them are Doctor Who.) Further details on the recovery of the Marco Polo telesnaps can be found in this month's issue of DWM.

Both Doctor Who Magazine #341 and an internal BBC magazine, Ariel, have announced the writers signed for the first season of the new Doctor Who series. Joining producer Russell T. Davies, who will pen 8 episodes himself, are:

• Mark Gatiss, best known as the writer and co-creator of "The League of Gentlemen" and the author of several Doctor Who stories including the novels "Last of the Gaderene," "St. Anthony's Fire," "The Roundheads" and "Nightshade" and the Big Finish audios "Phantasmagoria" and "Invaders from Mars," and who penned several of the P.R.o.B.e. videos for BBV
• Steven Moffat, the creator of BBC2's popular comedy series "Coupling" which won "Sitcom of the Year" at the British Comedy Awards, and whose previous Doctor Who credit was the teleplay for the Comic Relief special "The Curse of Fatal Death" with Rowan Atkinson, Julia Sawalha and Jonathan Pryce
• Paul Cornell, the popular writer whose work includes episodes of "Casualty," "Wavelength," "Doctors," "Children's Ward" and "Springhill," and whose Doctor Who works include such novels as "Happy Endings," "Love and War," "The Shadows of Avalon" and both the screenplay for and novelisation of BBCi's "The Scream of the Shalka"
• Rob Shearman, an acclaimed playwright and stage writer who has written Big Finish's most popular Doctor Who audio teleplays including "The Holy Terror," "The Chimes of Midnight," "Jubilee," "Scherzo" and "Deadline," and who was awarded Writer of the Year at 2003's Doctor Who Magazine awards in London in November

Producer Mal Young told Ariel, "I've never received so many requests from writers and actors to be involved in a drama series, as I have had for Doctor Who." Added producer Julie Gardner, "Finding writers for the new series of Doctor Who has been one of the best jobs I've ever had. The talent available was exceptional." Davies himself noted that he believes that he has "the best people in the business now working on the best show. They'll be writing stories ranging across the whole of time and space. The Doctor and Rose already have the best allies on their journey - brilliant writers with brilliant scripts. It's an honour to work with these people who are so talented; they shouldn't be allowed to travel together!" Outpost Gallifrey has learned that one of these newly confirmed writers will pen two scripts for Davies; another unnamed participant decided to withdraw at an earlier time (solely due to schedule complications). All are said to be working off of "very basic" ideas - rather than full outlines, as has been reported elsewhere - from Davies, who will generate the major framework of the first series and is leaving the actual details to these experienced TV writers. Filming on the new series begins "in the spring." More details as we get them. (Thanks to BBCi and DWM)

The BBC Radio Collection will soon release Douglas Adams at the BBC, "an A to Z of Douglas Adams' career at the BBC," a tribute to the life and work of the famous British author among whose many accomplishments are the immortalThe Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, and script editing and three screenplays for "Doctor Who". The release (2 CD's according to the BBC Shop, but 3 CD's according to Adams biographer MJ Simpson) will include archive clips and radio interviews with linking narration by Simon Jones (who played Arthur Dent on TV and on the radio). Says Simpson: "Among the gems on offer are: all three of DouglasÆ Burkiss Way sketches including æKamikazeÆ; extracts from Last Chance to See; æSheilaÆs EarÆ, the infamous ælostÆ mini-episode of HitchhikerÆs Guide; the æParanoid SocietyÆ sketch from the BBC2 broadcast of the Footlights revue Chox; Douglas singing on the John Dunn show; Douglas on Quote...Unquote; and a slew of other appearances, writing credits and interviews. Also included is So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, the Radio 4 tribute programme to Douglas from September 2001." The CD release is due out on September 6. (Thanks to MJ Simpson and Magrathea; thanks to Rich Kirkpatrick for letting us know!)

A new article on the restoration of The Green Death for its forthcoming DVD release has been uploaded at the Restoration Team site. "2004's third DVD release is 'The Green Death'," says the article, "which, as 'the one with the giant maggots,' is one of the few Doctor Who stories remembered by the general public and is well deserving of its status as a true classic." You can read it at the RT site now.

A quick piece of gossip from Gallifrey 2004: apparently Bill Baggs of BBV recently negotiated with the BBC over the rights to the Autons, the plastic invaders from the Doctor Who serials "Spearhead from Space" and "Terror of the Autons". The BBC apparently negotiated rights with Baggs (who produced three Auton films) in order to procure them for an upcoming project... perhaps the new series itself? Stay tuned!

As we reported yesterday, the Dalek Tin is indeed being discontinued; however, according to BBCi, both Power of the Daleks and Evil of the Daleks will be released individually on CD on August 2.

The MP3 CD release of The Daleks' Master Plan will be out in March in Australia & New Zealand (thanks to Liam McNicholas)