According to several on-line retail sites, the early part of 2010 will see a bumper number of Doctor Who DVD releases. The schedule looks very crowded and it is possible one of the listed releases has been delayed until later in the year, but retailers have yet to catch up.

According to the sites January 4th will see the previously announced Peladon box set on sale, to be followed on 1st Feburary by a Myths and Legends box set. No details are available for this set, but it has long rumoured to consist of the Third Doctor story The Time Monster, and the Fourth Doctor stories Underworld and The Horns of Nimon. The Time Monster was first shown in 1972 and features Katy Manning and Roger Delgado. Underworld was shown in 1978 and features Louise Jameson and John Leeson, as well as Alan Lake, while Horns of Nimon was shown over the New Year period of 1979/1980 and features Lalla Ward and David Brierly as K9, with an appearance by Janet Ellis.

One week later, the Fourth Doctor story The Masque of Mandragora is scheduled for release on 8th February. This story was first shown in 1976 and features Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.

The Seventh Doctor's first story, Time and the Rani, is due for release on 1st March. As well as being Sylvester McCoy's first story, this 1987 adventure features Bonnie Langford as Mel and Kate O'Mara as The Rani.

Finally, fans of the new series will see a release of final episodes of David Tennant's reign as the Doctor when The Specials are released on both DVD and BluRay on 11th January.

All dates are subject to conformation by 2-entertain and are subject to change.

Voting is now open for the 15th National Television Awards, which will take place at the O2 centre in January 2010.

Doctor Who and Torchwood are both nominated as Best Drama while David Tennant, John Barrowman and Eve Myles are all nominated for Best Drama Performance.

Doctor Who has always performed well in the awards, which are voted on by the general public. The series has won the Best Drama award for the past four years, with the lead actors taking the best Drama performance.

You can now follow the Doctor Who News Page on

This month's Doctor Who Magazine confirms the title of David Tennant's swansong to be The End of Time. The final episode will be 75 minutes long, with the penultimate episode running to 60 minutes. Former James Bond, Timothy Dalton will play The Narrator in these final episodes where he is joined by Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, June Whitfield playing Minnie Hooper, Catherine Tate returning as Donna Noble and John Simm as the Master.

The magazine once more features the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, on the cover, the first time since issue 258 that Baker has featured on the cover two months running. Inside can be found the second part of DWM's interview with the longest running Doctor, in advance of his return to the role, with the release of Hornets' Nest next month. The magazine was present at the recording and gives a full report on proceedings, including interviews with the cast and crew.

Also in the magazine

• Sixth Doctor companion actress, Nicola Bryant takes her turn to delve into the TARDIS tin!
• The Doctor turns sleuth as he races to save New Old Detroit from the ominously-named World Bomb in the complete new comic-strip adventure, The Deep Hereafter with words by Dan McDaid and art by Rob Davis.
• Everything you need to know about the Doctor’s Sixth and most colourful incarnation in one easy package, thanks to The Watcher and his continuing guide to the lives of our favourite Time Lord.
• Step back in time to 1974 with The Fact of Fiction and take a look at the Fourth Doctor’s first adventure, Robot.
• The Time Team’s Richard, Peter, Jac and Clay turn their square eyes to The Curse of Fenric and share their thoughts on this terrifying tale of World War II espionage, vampires and chess games.
• Mary Tamm, who was the first incarnation of the Fourth Doctor’s companion, Romana talks to DWM about writing her autobiography and being a grandmother.
• Outgoing Doctor Who supremo, Russell T Davies reflects on life in America, (including the revelation of chicken sausages) and his thoughts on the Eleventh Doctor’s costume.
• There’s a photo special in this month’s Gallifrey Guardian rounding up all the pictures and coverage for the first day of filming for next year’s Series One, starring Matt Smith.
• Neil Harris celebrates the unseen heroes of Doctor Who, including Leonardo Da Vinci who has the honour of not appearing in the series on two separate occasions!

Torchwood: Children of Earth comes to North America this week, with the series being broadcast in Canada and the United States.

BBC America will be screening the series at 9pm Eastern time from Monday to Friday. The series has been given a 75 minute slot, meaning American viewers will see the full version of the episodes. The 10pm showing of BBC World News America has been shortened to accommodate the series. As well as the main episodes, BBC America will be showing a number of documentaries going behind the scenes of Torchwood. Each episode will be repeated several times throughout the day.

In Canada, The Space Channel, will be broadcasting the series at 10pm Eastern time, also in a 75 minute slot. The series is repeated at 2.15am the following day.

In addition Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead comes to Canada on Saturday, with The Space Channel broadcasting the episode at 9pm Eastern, followed by a repeat of The Next Doctor.

The BBC's offical Doctor Who site has now been updated with more information on the forthcoming Autumn special, The Waters of Mars, with a preview gallery, wallpapers, and a video clip of a scene from the episode - with a note to say that some people might find the scene upsetting!

Various news sources online and in print - including science-fiction website io9 and British tabloid newspaper the Sun - have in recent days been running a picture from behind-the-scenes of David Tennant's forthcoming two-part finale in Doctor Who. The image, apparently a screen grab from a video, shows Tennant along with guest star Timothy Dalton and another actor, whose presence in the story may be considered a spoiler, so his name is given in the spoiler box below.

Dalton's role in the forthcoming specials is not currently known.

UK news service The Sun is reporting that former James Bond star Timothy Dalton will appear in one of the final specials starringDavid Tennant as the Doctor.

Dalton, star of The Living Daylights and License to Kill, is reportedly playing a villain in the Who episode.

As always, treat all such reports as rumour until confirmed from official sources.

Final figures released by BARB give Planet of the Dead an official rating of 9.54 million viewers, making it the 5th most watched programme of the week.

The rating is over a million higher than the initial overnight estimate. Final figures are more accurate than the overnight number and include people who record the programme and watch it within seven days.

Planet of the Dead is one of only eight episodes in the programme's long history to make the top five.

An additional 200,000 viewers watched the programme in High Definition on BBC HD as a simulcast with BBC1. This is the highest figure ever achieved by BBC HD.

The Sunday repeat on BBC3 was watched by 0.91 million viewers.

UK residents can now buy the latest Doctor Who special, "Planet of the Dead", at Apple's iTunes store. The programme can be purchased in either high definition or standard definition here.

All other new series episodes and many classic series serials are also available at the UK iTunes store. The US iTunes store has several classic stories and new series episodes through "Journey's End".

"Planet of the Dead" is scheduled to be released on Region 2 DVD on June 29, 2009.