Channel Ten's decision to move Torchwood to a midnight timeslot has attracted some local media comment. Michael Idato of the Sydney Morning Herald says 'Ten has no one to blame but itself' for the 'critically acclaimed' programme's failure to develop an Australian audience. He writes that 'rather than let Torchwood go where it belongs - to the ABC as a companion piece to Doctor Who ... Ten bought it with the most disingenuous intention: to deny its science fiction roots and pitch it as a cop show.' Meanwhile, Andrew Mercado in the Sydney Sunday Telegraphcomments that the show has 'been dumped to midnights on Tuesdays ... confirming every sci-fi fan's worst fears that the 'Doctor Who' spin-off would eventually end up in late-night hell, along with The 4400 andBattlestar Galactica. Couldn't Ten have given it one last try in prime time on a Saturday night instead of those unimaginative Law & Orderand NCISrepeats?' Ian Cuthbertson of the Weekend Australian also writes that 'viewers enjoying Torchwood ... will find they have been stiffed. Not doing as well as Ten would have liked, the program has been uprooted and transferred to midnight [Tuesday]. How very sci fi.' Glenn Dyer of Crikeysays Ten is a 'loser . . . for sticking the underwhelming Torchwood at Midnight. Just 98,000 viewers. It's better than that, but it's not Dr Who-like. Why not a Friday night at 9.30pm and try and make it a cult show?'

Meanwhile Keith Austin, also of the Sydney Morning Herald, writes of 'The Lazarus Experiment', that the title character is 'played by great relish by the League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss, a long term 'Doctor Who' fan who has written some of the best episodes of the series' latest incarnation.'

Finally, in the ratings, 'Doctor Who' is on the rise: 'Evolution of the Daleks' scored 874,000 viewers in the 5 major capitals while 'The Lazarus Experiment' scored an even better 895,000 viewers, coming a close second to the Dame Edna Treatment on Channel Nine and the show’s best Aussie ratings since 'Smith and Jones'. For more ratings details see theSydney Morning Herald’s Tribal Mind.

Thanks to Theta Sega MP for the Sunday Telegraph piece.

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat, writing on Outpost Gallifrey's own discussion forum, has dismissed the rumours circulating in recent days concerning the casting of Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt as the 11th Doctor. Moffat's comments are reproduced below for our readers' information.

The Sun has released an article today which speculates on some cast and production team changes coming after Series 4. Please Click on the Spoiler link below to view the article.

Australian media coverage of Doctor Who and Torchwood continues. Kelsey Munro of the Sydney Morning Herald previews 'Daleks in Manhattan', which Ian Cuthbertson of the Weekend Australian describes as 'finely made, with the production values of a feature film and starring those seemingly eternal 'Doctor Who' villains in top form.' Meanwhile Robin Oliver, also of the Sydney Morning Herald, writes that 'Evolution of the Daleks', 'features the most spectacular Dalek action in Doctor Who's history' and that 'writer Helen Raynor provides unusually strong dialogue, which David Tennant employs with great effect.' Fergus Shiel also notes Tennant's amusing appearance onParkinson on the same Saturday night (28 July, ABC, 10.15pm) where he is introduced as 'Doctor Wow!'.

The Melbourne Age's AnnMaree Bellman in previewing Countrycide says 'it's Famous Five Go Camping meets The Blair Witch Chainsaw Massacre'. Ian Cuthbertson also notes that this episode has 'a terrifically creepy beginning to an equally creepy episode . . . Lonely crofters cottages will never look innocent again.'Naoko Mori has also started appearing in Channel Ten 'I believe . . . seriously' promotional trailers, in addition to the similar Ten trailers featuringJohn Barrowman and Eve Myles.

Meanwhile in the Aussie ratings, 'Daleks in Manhattan' scored 839,000 viewers in the 5 major capitals, coming second to the Dame Edna Treatment on Channel Nine. Meanwhile, Torchwood's 'Countrycide' scored 673,000 viewers, these ratings probably affected by a twenty minute delay in its start due to an overlong episode of the local version of Big Brother. For more ratings details see the Sydney Morning Herald's Tribal Mind.

ANI is reporting that Doctor Who producers are keen to get former British PM Tony Blair in for a cameo on Series Four of Doctor Who.

"Everyone knows Blair did The Simpsons and has appeared with Catherine Tate who is the new companion for the Doctor. So we're sure he'd be more than open to the offer of a cameo on the show," a BBC insider said.

syfyportal.com, citing the Paisley Daily Express, reports that filming of"Voyage of the Damned" will be delayed this weekend so David Tennant can attend his mother's funeral.

Tennant's mother, Helen McDonald, died on Sunday, July 15th after a long battle with cancer. She was 67, and was a founding member of Paisley's ACCORD Hospice, where she spent her final days. The funeral will take place at Renfrew North with the Very Rev. James Simpson -- a chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II -- officiating.

Filming is expected to resume next week for the Christmas special which will premiere on Dec. 25 on BBC One. The fourth season of "Doctor Who" will air in early 2008, with the third season currently airing Friday nights in the United States on SciFi Channel.

According to the Sun, Doctor Who and Torchwood star John Barrowmanhas been tipped to host a new Saturday night show for the BBC. The Kids Are Alright is a primetime show in which adults battle super-smart kids.

The new show will see a team of seven brainy kids battling against four adults in a series of challenges. For every event the adults win, they pocket thousands. The kids can also get top prizes.

The show is being made as a pilot but will become a series if it goes well. No word yet on air date and time.

John Barrowman will also be guest host on the Friday Night Project on Friday 27th July, on Channel 4. In previous series, David Tennant and Billie Piper have appeared as guest hosts, alongside regular presenters Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins.

The Sun, The Mirror and The Western Mail have published pictures today that were taken during location filming for Voyage of the Damned.

They feature an alien played by Jimmy Vee, who has previously appeared in The End of the World and Aliens of London as the Moxx of Balhoon and the space pig respectively. A few additional details can be found below.

The Australian media continues its coverage of Doctor Who and Torchwood. Tim Hunter of the Melbourne Ageinterviews Freema Agyeman and Fergus Shiel in previewing Gridlock says 'David Tennant's second series as the Time Lord is shaping up as one of the best.'

Meanwhile Adam Richard, writes in the Age's Green Guide, that Torchwood is 'a bit of spooky sexy sci-fi fun. Like all British drama, it still has a bit of tongue lodged in its cheek, so it's not as overwrought as 'Supernatural' or 'Lost'. Plus it features scads of girl-on-girl action for the boys, boy-on-boy action for the girls and boy-on-girl-on-purple-smoke-creature action for the exhaust fans that might be watching.'

The Sydney Morning Herald's Keith Austin also writes of Torchwood's 'Small Worlds' that it has 'a wonderful but doomed love story, terrific titles, good use of music and the CGI for the scary fairies is marvellous. Nice to see, too, that they didn't shy away from a difficult ending.'

Meanwhile in the Aussie ratings, 'The Shakespeare Code' scored 806,000 viewers in the 5 major capitals while 'Gridlock' rated 792,000 viewers. Both episodes were up against very popular repeats of Harry Potter movies. Meanwhile, Torchwood's 'Cyberwoman' scored 756,000 viewers and 'Small Worlds', up against the season final of 'Brothers and Sisters' on a rival network, scored 768,000 viewers. For more details see the Sydney Morning Herald's Tribal Mind.

The BBC has today released the first official publicity photograph from the forthcoming 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, production of which began in Cardiff earlier this week. The image, seen at right, shows David Tennant as the Doctor along with the episode's main guest star Kylie Minogue, who according to a report on the official BBC Doctor Who website will be playing a character named Astrid, a waitress on board the Titanic. A larger version of the publicity picture can be found on the same page.

The BBC report also confirms casting details for the special, including two names reported earlier by Outpost Gallifrey, classic series veterans Geoffrey Palmer (who plays the Titanic's Captain) andClive Swift. Additional actors in the episode are Gray O'Brien,Debbie Chazen, Clive Rowe, Russell Tovey, George Costiganand Jimmy Vee, previously seen in the programme as the Moxx of Balhoon in series one.

Reports on the publicity picture can also be found at BBC News Online, The Sun, The Times, the Daily Mail and This is London.

The MediaGuardian's report on the image runs in their Media Monkey diary column (requires free registration to view), which also quotes BBC One controller Peter Fincham on the subject of Doctor Who from today's press launch for his channel's forthcoming autumn season line-up. "Today at the BBC1 autumn launch the channel's Cyber controller Peter Fincham dodged a question about the casting of Catherine Tate, depriving viewers of Martha Jones, one of the few black role models on television. 'They want to top each previous series with the new one,' Fincham told hacks. 'I wouldn't put pressure on Russell in any way to do anything,' Fincham said. We kind of guessed that from the overblown season finale this year, Pete."