The Beast Below has debuted in Australia to very respectable ratings. TV Tonight reports that the episode averaged 851,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. Again it was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news (By comparison, the mini-series Burn Up only rated 367,000 viewers for the ABC in the following 8.30pm timeslot). The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a respectable 536,000 viewers in the five major capitals.

Meanwhile in local media, Ruth Ritchie of the Sydney Morning Herald writes of The Eleventh Hour that 'a very, very young Doctor, with an almost childlike first take on his new body, is now an obvious choice to engage younger viewers. Smith already displayed an adorable alien quality in Party Animals. Our introduction to him through the eyes of Amelia Pond, a lonely little girl who hears voices through the cracks in her walls, is vintage Doctor Who. He unsuccessfully samples baked beans, bacon, yoghurt and most of the pantry in a display of adult food-spitting we've not seen since Tom Hanks in Big. After a feast of fish fingers dipped in custard, Smith's Doctor Who takes us on a wild and witty science-fiction ride.' The Sunshine Coast Daily also features an interview with Matt Smith where he indicates he might visit Australia next year. No incumbent Doctor has visited Australia since Peter Davison in 1983.

After thousands of complaints about the trailer featuring an animated Graham Norton promoting Over The Rainbow during the closing moments of Doctor Who last night, the BBC have apologised for the occurrence.

In an article on the BBC News site:

The BBC received around 3000 complaints about the incident which affected viewers to BBC One in England.

Graham Norton's second appearance in Doctor Who has provoked a storm of complaints, with many viewers upset at the appearance of a cartoon version of the Irish comic over the cliffhanger of the BBC One showing of The Time of Angels.

The appearance seems to be a bid by the BBC to prevent viewers leaving the channel once Doctor Who has aired. Last week nearly two million viewers left BBC One at the end of Victory of The Daleks. The appearance came at the climax of the episode, covering part of Matt Smith's face. Once the credits were rolling another promo for the Dorothy programme was broadcast.

A number of comments on Twitter have complained about the intrusion with critic Charlie Brooker tweeting "Why don’t the BBC just wipe s*** all over the screen during the final scene of Dr. Who next week? I hope Moffat is bellowing down a phone to someone right now." Simon Pegg, who starred in The Long Game, added "Congrats to the BBC for ruining the climax to Doctor Who with a cartoon Graham Norton telling about another xxxxxx talent show."

Graham Norton first made his presence felt during the first showing of Rose, when crossed wires resulted in a audio feed of his BBC Three programme being transmitted across the first episode of the relaunched Doctor Who series.

Anyone with strong feelings on the appearance can make a complaint via the BBC website, or by phone to 0370 010 0222.

The MediaGuardian website has made available a video of a new BBC One ident for its Saturday night line-up, created for the channel by Aardman Animations, the company behind the award-winning Wallace and Gromit series, amongst many other successful projects. The ident - used to identify BBC One and provide a backdrop to continuity announcements introducing each programme - features the Eleventh Doctor assisting Graham Norton in battling a Dalek attack on BBC Television Centre, and highlights Doctor Who along with its Saturday night stablemates Total Wipeout and Over the Rainbow.

The BBC Press Office has released details for the sixth episode of the new series, The Vampires of Venice.

The Toby Whithouse story, which stars Helen McCrory as Rosanna Calvierri, is scheduled for Saturday 8th May.

Meanwhile schedules for 1st May have been confirmed with the second half of the Weeping Angels story, Flesh and Stone, being shown at 6.25pm on BBC One and BBC HD. ITV1 offers You've Been Framed! as an alternative, with BBC Two showing Newsnight. More News can be seen on Channel 4 while Five has the feature film Two Mules for Sister Sara starring Clint Eastwood.

The first week in March saw the recording of the French translation of David Tennant's final adventure, The End of Time. The recording took place at the Dubbing Brothers studios in Brussels, Belgium, with dialogue written by François Dubuc, and the session directed by David Macaluso.

The role of the Doctor was assumed by David Manet, who has played both the Ninth and Tenth Doctors throughout the series' return. However, the Eleventh Doctor finds a new 'voice' in the form of Belgian stage actor and dubbing artist Marc Weiss. Similarly returning is Franck Dacquin as the Master - he has been John Simm's 'alternative' since Life on Mars.


There is currently no information as to when The End of Time (or its predecessor The Waters of Mars) will be broadcast in France.

The K9 series is coming to Five in the UK this Autumn.

The series, developed by Bob Baker and Paul Tams, is currently showing in the UK on the Disney XD channel. The broadcast on Five will bring the show to a much wider range of viewers. Disney XD is only available on subscription to digital viewers, whereas Five is a terestrial channel available free to air in most of the UK.

The 26 part series was made by Stewart & Wall Entertainment in Australia.

The BBC has released a trailer for Episode Four of the new series, The Time of Angels.

The episode is written by Steven Moffat and stars Alex Kingston as River Song, Simon Dutton as Alistair and Iain Glen as Father Octavian. It can be seen in the UK next Saturday at 6.20pm on BBC One and BBC HD.

The Eleventh Doctor has debuted in Australia to excellent ratings on both TV and the internet. TV Tonight reports that The Eleventh Hour averaged 1.033 million viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks, including the final of The Biggest Loser. It was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news (By comparison, Part Two of The End of Time only rated 840,000 viewers in the five cities back in February). The episode and the corresponding Confidential Cutdown have also debuted on the ABC's iView service. TV Tonight reports that 'The Eleventh Hour', which appeared on iView almost two days before its televison debut, was also a big internet hit for the national broadcaster, having 112,000 views over the weekend (By way of comparison, the iView service had a total of 224,000 visitors, 540,000 visits and 2.8 million page views in the week ending 18 April). Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have also appeared in especially filmed ABC trailers directly inviting viewers to tune into ABC1 to watch the program on Sunday evening.

The debut of Matt Smith has also attracted considerable local media, including a number of interviews with the star on ABC Local Radio (including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney local ABC) and the national ABC youth radio network Triple J, during which Matt has reflected on the long history and enduring popularity of 'Doctor Who' in Australia. In an amusing interview with TV Tonight, Smith even asks if an Australian version of Doctor Who has ever been considered! The actor has also been interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald, the Sunday Telegraph and TV Week where he expresses the hope of filming a future episode in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald has rated 'The Eleventh Hour' its 'show of the week' with Michael Idato writing that 'the real surprise is the manner in which Matt Smith owns the role completely from the very first frame. Any fear there might be teething problems or some lingering affection for his predecessor...failed to materialise. The verdict? Great, big, wallopy, timey-wimey brilliant.' Dianne Butler of the The Daily Telegraph also gives the program four stars, while Kerrie Murphy of the The Weekend Australian writes it 'is a pretty darn fantastic first full outing for the 11th doctor...Not only is Smith great but so is the story, which sees the Doctor crashing into the life of a feisty young girl who is visited by an unusual escapee prisoner. It nails the Doctor Who formula, mixing comedy with genuine tension and emotion.' Scott Ellis of the Sunday Age also writes of the new Doctor that he 'will take some getting used to but, by the end of this first adventure, Smith shows he has what it takes to reinvent the character again.' The Sunday Age also makes the episode one of its picks of the day also writing, 'Steven Moffat - the man who brought us two of the best-ever Doctor Who eps (Blink, The Girl in the Fireplace) is now head boy. Add the fabulous Matt Smith to the mix as the new Doctor and we're set for a superb series.' Moffat is also interviewed by David Knox of TV Tonight.

Canadian Broadcaster SPACE have announced they will be showing the documentary Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide at 8pm ET this Saturday, immediately before the Canadian premier of The Eleventh Hour. The documentary is also being shown on BBC America and is described as an original, all-access look inside the world's biggest, most successful sci-fi television program.

The network have uploaded the recent Skype conversation with Steven Moffat, which took place at the recent screening party in Toronto. Matt Smith also gave an interview to Q, CBC Radio's mid-morning broadcast. The interview begins about 22 minutes into the podcast.

Press coverage of the imminent arrival of The Eleventh Doctor to North America continues with items in the Chicago Sun-Times, Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and Reuters.