Overseas sales of Doctor Who and Torchwood have helped give BBC Worldwide record profits.

The corporation said today that its commercial arm enjoyed record pre-tax profits of 111.1m pounds - a rise of 24 per cent on 89.4m pounds.

A report by BBC News says total sales to March 31 rose from 785.1m pounds to 810.4m.

It adds that Doctor Who and Torchwood were among the notable success stories.

The story is illustrated with a still from The Runaway Bride, with the caption saying more than 1.9 million Doctor Who DVDs have been sold across the globe.

However, losses from digital media widened from 1.6m to 3.9m.

Income from the sale of BBC content and its other commercial ventures goes back into programme-making.

Also reported by Media Guardian (free registration may be required) andDigital Spy.

According to reports, Series Two of Doctor Who and the BBC's revival of Robin Hood, which co-stars Sam Troughton, grandson of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, were two of the best-selling programmes.

Meanwhile, the Independent published an article on Sunday which examined the budget issues the BBC is facing after an expected 2bn pound deficit from the licence fee. Entitled "Who will be exterminated as the Beeb slices back?", the item mentions that Director General, Mark Thompson is resisting across-the-board cuts but could be overidden by the BBC Trust.

The trust has been presented with a number of options for the future, which include "cutting entire services, making thousands more staff redundant, slashing expenditure on lowbrow daytime television shows and slicing budgets across the corporation.

"Headline proposals include merging the six and 10 o'clock news on BBC 1 with the rolling news channel BBC News 24, and making fewer hours of original dramas like Dr Who, Torchwood and Hustle."

FOOTNOTE: The chief executive of BBC Worldwide is called John Smith . . .

(Additional reporting by Chuck Foster)

In the run-up to The Runaway Bride's Australian debut tonight on theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation(Thursday June 28, 8.35pm), the Australian media have had a number of features on Doctor Who. The Sydney Morning Herald has a Michael Idato interview with David Tennant as does the Brisbane Courier-Mail. In the Courier-Mail interview, which includes audio, there is mention of Tennant having a breakfast meeting with the BBC Head of Drama.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph also has an interview with Tennant, where he says that his 'childhood love for Who stems from a childhood adulation of superheroes.' Their TV guide describes the Runaway Bride as 'a monumental Who adventure that barely takes its foot off the pedal.'

The SMH's online TV guide also previews the Runaway Bride while Robin Oliver describes the Christmas Special as 'a clarion call for series three'.

Torchwood has also been receiving plenty of attention from the Australian press.Ruth Ritchie of the Sydney Morning Herald reviews the show and the Daily Telegraph interviews John Barrowman. The Telegraph's latest TV guide also says: 'Torchwood - if given the right promotion by its network - should prove a stable hit. Fun viewing for time travellers and mere mortals alike.'

Channel Ten also mentions the ratings success of the show's debut in its weekly press release. Channel Ten's Torchwood website is also featuring online episodes of Torchwood Declassified.

Ratings update 29 June 2007: According to the SMH's Tribal Mind the Runaway Bride rated 846,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. It was beaten by Channel Nine's RPA: Where Are They Now? and Channel Ten's Law & Order: SVU in the 8.30pm timeslot.

Meanwhile, Crikey TV commentator, Glenn Dyer, has described the Runaway Bride as 'entertaining and good TV. 846,000 viewers agreed with me . . . [I]t was one of the best bits of TV this year for me.'

The UK digital channel UKTV Drama will be running a special Doctor Who weekend on the 14th-15th July, and as a part of the proceedings fans will be able to vote for their favourite Doctor in an online poll.

The vote can be made from the UKTV Drama website between 29th Junethrough to 13th July.

Britain's newspapers and blogs are beating the drums for The Sound of Drums.The Stage's blog calls the episode "a bonkers, brilliant beginning of the end for the third series of Doctor Who." Saturday's Times squeezes in three Doctor Who references: first, a preview of the episode in TV Choice says, "The second part of this fiendishly involved story by Russell T. Davies involves John Simmmasquerading as the Prime Minister. His style is presidential and he treats the Cabinet with contempt. His policies may lack substance, but everyone voted for him because, as Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) says: "He always sounded good - like you could trust him." Second, an article in the main section of the paper discusses the Vote Saxon campaign and outlines Mr. Saxon's electoral manifesto. And finally, Caitlin Moran puts things into perspective by pointing out that Britain will be saying farewell to Tony Blair this week and to Doctor Who next week: "Obviously we know which is the more significant - is the Prime Minister on the cover of the Daily Mirror’s We Love Telly supplement? Hashe ever killed a Dalek? Considered in this light - which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is the right light - it seems amazing that Channel 4 Newshas even mentioned Blair’s resignation."

Thanks to "springyrice" and "PolyG" of the Outpost Gallifrey Forum.

Channel Ten has been been heavily promoting Torchwood in preparation of its Australian debut on Monday 18 June 2007 at 9.40pm. These promotions have included newspaper and radio advertisements, a weekly $A2000 prize for viewers and both John Barrowman and Eve Myles have been appearing in Channel Ten 'I believe . . .' promotional trailers.

There has also been significant local media interest. The Sydney Morning Herald has a front page banner of John Barrowman entitled 'Dr Who for Adults' and an article by Michael Idato. SMH TV Reviewer Robin Oliver describes the show as 'a stunner.' The SMH's online TV guide also reviews the show whileThe Age and the Brisbane Sunday Mailalso have online reviews. The Sun-Herald TV magazine features a Torchwood front cover and interview with John Barrowman. Rachel Browne gives the programme four stars, describing it as 'highly original and very watchable, it benefits considerably from creator/writer Russell T. Davies' ever-present droll sense of humour.'

On the other side of the Continent The West Australian Newspaper, the main daily paper for Perth, features Torchwood and a photo of Eve Myles on the front cover of its Today entertainment section. Inside is an interview with Eve Myles about Torchwood and its debut on Australian television.

Additional information from Tristan Alfaro 

Ratings Update, 19 June 2007: Torchwood has made a strong Australian debut in the ratings. It averaged 1,003,000 viewers in the five major capitals, winning its (time-adjusted) 9.40pm timeslot over Channel 7 (average 964,000 viewers) and Channel 9 (average 963,000 viewers). It enjoyed a 40% audience share in the 18-49 age group.

It was also Channel Ten's top rating drama for the day, coming second only to its local version of Big Brother.

In the run-up to Torchwood's Australian debut next Monday (June 18), the Australian media have had a few stories about the spin-off. The Sunday Telegraph of Sydney writes about the fact that the series will air on Ten instead of the ABC, the traditional home of Doctor Who in Australia. The Age of Melbourne has a longer feature story, with quotes fromRussell T. Davies andBurn Gorman. Davies talks about the origins of the programme and its attitude towards sexuality, and Gorman speaks about the cast's working dynamics.

The Adelaide Advertiser gives the programme four stars calling the cast 'led by John Barrowman as . . . simply astounding.' Sean Fewster writes that the show 'is cooler than the outside of an Ice Warrior's armour, but one that's bound to attract controversy from the get-go.' The Australian Who magazine also gives the first episode four stars and makes it their 'show of the week'.

Thanks to Adam Kirk for the links and Dr Cat for the Advertiser story.

The following has been reported by United Press International:

MediaGuardian.co.uk, the media news-focused section of The Guardian newspaper's website, has today run a story(subscription link) by reporter Ben Dowell speculating about the possible future of Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies.

The piece, in reponse to a story published in this morning's edition of the tabloid newspaper The Sun, contains a quote from an unnamed "BBC drama spokeswoman", stating that: "Discussions have not begun so we cannot say if Russell will be involved or not" with Doctor Who beyond the end of the fourth series in 2008.

However, the report specifically denies The Sun's story that Davies and other staff on the show have a plan to end the programme at the conclusion of the fourth series. MediaGuardian quotes another source, a similarly unnamed "senior BBC Wales drama source", as telling them that:

"Russell has always said that he wouldn't be with the show forever and he has made no secret that the hours are quite exhausting... But there isn't any way it would be axed even if he left. He loves the show and he does feel that maybe it would benefit from some new blood."

The MediaGuardian states that "if Mr Davies does leave Doctor Who, the BBC will want to keep such a popular show going by bringing in a new executive producer to take over his creative responsibilities."

The Sun has released an article today about a purported change of casting in Series 4.

UPDATE:
The BBC has given an official statement to FreemaAgyeman.com, calling the Sun's story "absolute rubbish".

To read the article, please click the spoiler link.

Speculation over Kylie Minogue's potential appearance in the series continued yesterday with the free London paperStandard Lite carrying a photograph apparently showing the singer's "todo" list carried by her stylist William Baker, including a note to contact the show's executive producerRussell T Davies.

The note in question reads: "When Dr Who script arriving? Russell's number."

Its sister paper, the Daily Mail, also mentions the item this morning, and carries the respective photos in an online article (near the bottom of the page).