Sorry about the delay in bringing you this update... it's been a busy week. On to the news:

Note to UK viewers: the broadcast time for May 21's episode, The Empty Child, on its original run on BBC1, has been changed due to that evening's transmission of the Eurovision Song Contest. "The Empty Child" will air at 6:25pm (to 7:10pm) on BBC1.

The BBC Press Office has today posted its programme information for the week 21-27 May. The Features section (note: PDF file) includes a photograph of Christopher Eccleston and Richard Wilson in The Empty Child, captioned "The Doctor and the doctor ... Christopher Eccleston and Richard Wilson, as Dr Constantine, star in Saturday's action-packed Doctor Who, set in wartime London (BBC One)". Saturday's highlights document (also a PDF file) includes a (slightly spoiler-y) preview for The Empty Child, which is to be broadcast at 6.25pm. That spoiler summary is located in the spoiler tag below.

The BBC Press Office has also posted press releases for various items in its Commercial section today, including a press release on the Doctor Who Exhibition in Brighton, plus the new series radio documentary Project Whorelease on CD as well as the release of the classic serial The Crusade on audio.

Canadian ratings this week: "World War Three" had 936,000 viewers tune in for this past Tuesday's broadcast, the second highest number of viewers (behind "Rose") of the new series in that country. It appears to have been fourth in the overall ratings for the evening and second in its time slot.

Transmission of the May 17 broadcast of the series in Canada, for the episode "The Long Game," will be preempted that week in one province, British Columbia, in place of coverage of the BC provincial elections. However, tentative plans have been reported for CBC to rebroadast the series on Sunday evenings in June, so Canadian fans in BC will have to wait until then, if it happens, to see it. Meanwhile, the CBC website has replaced the trailer for the long-delayed documentary "Planet of the Doctor" with excerpts from the first three of an expected six episodes, including "Who is the Doctor?" "Fandemonium," and "The Adventures of Doctor Who." Broadcast is not quite scheduled yet... but at least it's something more than the trailer. No indication as to when the full episodes will be posted.

Issue 131 of SFX is released next week. The issue comes with a free set of nine postcards, five of which feature images from the new series: Chris and Billie, the TARDIS interior, and the gold Dalek. Inside the issue itself is a five-page Doctor Who feature, the bulk of which is made up with SFX's interview with Christopher Eccleston. It was carried out shortly before the announcement was made that he wouldn't be returning for a second series, but it still contains some interesting hints as to what may have informed his decision. He talks quite candidly about how exhausting the job was, for one thing: "If you play the Doctor, the hardest thing is: you can't have a life. You CANNOT have a life. You can't socialise. It's like having a TARDIS in your skull and every time you open your mouth you see a TARDIS. There were days when I got psoriasis, I got eczema. My face blew up in the Dalek episode - I looked literally disfigured with tiredness and my skin." The feature also includes short interviews with Mike Tucker and guest star Simon Pegg. For full details of the issue, check out the SFX website. You can also read SFX's ongoing reviews of each episode here.

Christopher Eccleston is making new waves on the football front: the Doctor Who star has stumped up ú10,000 to help stop Manchester United being sold to American businessman Malcolm Glazer. "Christopher couldn't bear the thought of his beloved team falling into the hands of Glazer so dug deep to put an end to the team being take over," says Sky News. "The United fan's donation may sound like a lot, but it's merely a splash in the water considering the ú100 million that is needed to save the club. ... Eccleston's money went to supporters group Shareholders United, who plan to block Glazer's plans to bid for the club in July." The story has also been reported atBBC News, ESPN,Red Issue, Belfast Telegraph, Tribal Football, The Times, the Daily Mail, Manchester Online, and ContactMusic.

David Tennant will play Brendan Block, a man with disturbing psychotic tendencies, in "Secret Smile," an ITV1 drama adapted from Nicci French's bestselling novel of the same title. ITV executives apparently believe they have pulled off a casting coup in securing Tennant prior to his trip in the TARDIS which starts filming this summer. Secret Smile goes into production next week and will be broadcast on ITV1 in two 90-minute episodes. The story's covered in The Guardianand in print editions of various papers.

A review of the series in the Wessex Scene: "When I tuned in to see the first episode of the new Dr Who I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is really quite good. Writer Russell T Davies, whose most famous creation aside from Doctor Who is Queer as Folk, the controversial Channel 4 series, ensured that the general tone of the show contained drama, character development and good-natured, self-mocking cheesiness in equal measure. Eccleston's impressive CV shows that he's an accomplished actor, and this was certainly apparent in the show. He seemed to give the Doctor charm with depth, and brought out the enigmatic qualities of his character so well that I wanted to tune into the next episode just to find out how much of the character he will reveal next. Piper, though best known as a teenage pop singer and ex-wife of Chris Evans, appears to be a genuinely good actress, as her recent acclaimed performance in The Canterbury Tales would suggest. Judging by the first episode, her character is more of a co-star than a sidekick to the Doctor, and it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops."

The Times Online has reviewed Russell T Davies: Unscripted, the biography of the executive producer of the series."A naughty big, gay cuddly man from Swansea, Davies is a writer and the executive producer of this new Doctor Who series and generally one of televisionÆs greatest assets. Russell T. Davies Unscripted (BBC Two) was a short romp through his career to date, featuring lots of hand-waving and self deprecation from the man himself, as well as insightful asides from various former bosses and that stalwart of the British arts scene, Mark Lawson. ... The programme had clearly been made to coincide with the start of the new Doctor Who series, as much was made of DaviesÆs love of the original Doctor, William Hartnell. Davies remembered watching this at the age of three, in particular the feeling of being scared out of his wits. Overseeing the injection of emotion and self-doubt into a DalekÆs brain before having it blow itself up must, therefore, have been somewhat cathartic for him. It is also, in some ways, a metaphor for his career."

More coverage: Billie Piper's personal life is under scrutiny (again) in theMirror and Megastar; a Derby fan reflects on Doctor Who at Derby County; BBC News reports on the reelection of Vernon Coaker, the Labour candidate told off for using a Dalek in his campaign; FemaleFirst reports on the fluffing of Simon Pegg's lines for this weekend's episode; and Milton Keynes Today reviews this past weekend's Collectormania event.

Finally today, a note of relevance to Doctor Who fans: Tim Collins, Conservative MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, narrowly lost his seat to the Liberal Democrat party. Whatever your stance or party affiliation, you may realize Tim's devotion to the series has kept it in the public eye - most notably when he spearheaded a letter to Michael Grade last year asking for assurances that he would not interfere in the show. So here's a shout out to Tim from Outpost Gallifrey for helping keep the spirit of the show alive.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Ian Wheeler, Jamie Austin, Dominic May, Jonathan Grills, Ian Berriman, David Farmbrough, Jonathan Massey, Geoff Wessel, Tom Beck, Rod Mammitzsch, Matthew Wilson, Bob Furnell, Benjamin Elliott)

Posted this afternoon at the BBC Press Office is the sixth 'phase' of the new series press pack, this week concentrating on Episode 7, The Long Game and comprising two parts - an episode synopsis and an interview with Simon Pegg - illustrated with a couple of photographs, one previously unseen. For once, the episode synopsis avoids any major spoilers. The Simon Pegg interview refers to the 'tongue-twisting' line of dialogue mentioned in the latest Radio Times, refers to Pegg's longstanding love of the series and even manages a brief plug for the Big Finish CD Invaders from Mars on which Pegg appeared in 2002. "Actor Simon Pegg isn't likely to ever forget appearing in Doctor Who - and certainly won't fail to recall the tongue twister line he had to deliver in his role as The Editor," says the press pack. "I had to say: 'The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe' which is the name of The Editor's alien boss. I will never forget that - ever - as I had enormous problems saying it. It is absolutely and without question the toughest line I have ever been given to say in anything I have done - it was hilariously arcane and quite purposely so. I could sense everyone's buttocks clenching every time we got to shooting that bit - it was quite distressing! It is a really hard thing to have to say and I kept blowing it. Everyone was being very supportive and I could feel everyone willing me to get it right each take, and in a way that was worse - I wished they had just shouted at me! I got it right in the end and that's the one they will use." Pegg notes that he grew up watching the seies and was keen to be in it. "Doctor Who was a big part of my childhood so it was a great honour to be in it. I'd got into Doctor Who just before Jon Pertwee regenerated into Tom Baker, and as a kid I never remember the special effects being as primitive as they were. It scared the hell out of me but I loved it. I particularly recall monsters like the Sontarans, who had very strange heads; the giant insects in The Ark in Space and in one episode, Julian Glover tearing his face off to become this one-eyed creature." There are some spoilers about the episode and it even notes that he'd been in "Doctor Who" previously, doing "Invaders from Mars" for Big Finish. You can read the full press pack update here.

The Canadian broadcast of World War Three on CBC last night had an unfortunate (and likely accidental) cut... everything prior to the credits, which included the recap of the previous week's episode as well as some other important information. Canadian viewers who missed how last week's cliffhanger was resolved can go to the DWIN website (the Canadian national fan club) where you'll see a brief note recapping what happened.

Books Update: The official Doctor Who website has now reported on the books story we reported a few days ago, but has a notable change: Mike Tucker's "Rain of Terror" is nowhere to be found (perhaps delayed until a subsequent batch?) while the site says that the third book released in September will be The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons ("The Space Age," "The Crooked World").

Regarding Doctor Who Confidential, a clarification: the programme shown this past Sunday, and presumably for future Sundays, was indeed called"Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down". (Not watching the Sunday installment, the editor had no idea!) Readers have let me know that "It was mostly the same material, but re-edited for the cut down version. Even the title was in a different place (i.e. "The Daleks" was written centre-screen on the first show, but placed at the bottom of the screen on the cut-down.) It was not just the classic series material that was cut, lots of stuff about the current series was removed too." Also, "The running time of the Saturday showing was more than 28 minutes. The cutdown version was only 12. Not only was all of the past Doctor content removed but also significant parts of the making of content. The rest of the 15 seconds was taken up by two sets of trailers and 60 Seconds News." Of course, you can always find the full episode on the official Doctor Who website.

In the Times Literary Supplement, there's a review of the series in general by Roz Kaveney: "The first three episodes are at once enjoyable in themselves and a celebration of the show's past -the trip to the far future and the terrifying Victorian ghost story are both plots the show repeated time and again; a repetition known, when viewed favourably, as playing to your strengths rather than a mere obsession. Christopher Eccleston is a hipper, sexier Doctor than we were used to in the past - less a scarily dour grandfather or wonderful mad uncle than a friend's very cool elder brother. But the show's principal strength is Billie Piper as Rose, the new companion. She is clearly a post-Buffy consort, the type who can swing on a rope and knock an animated shop-window mannequin flying. Rose is attractively vulnerable, seeing the wonder of the Earth's end, but also being upset by it, and possessed of common sense that counterpoint's the Doctor's sometimes na?ve idealism. She is also what is commonly known as a 'Mary Sue' - an uninronic reflection of the writers' and fans' desire to get in there and help the Doctor out (while managing to stay pretty). At the same time, she is a modern working-class woman, with an affecting back story - a childhood on a London estate as the only daughter of a needy, single mother."

More "Dalek" reviews. Tuesday's London Evening Standard reviewed the episode, with columnist Victor Lewis-Smith -- "renowned as one of the most caustic reviewers around" according to our correspondent -- enjoying the episode. "By turns dramatic, imaginative, ironic, allegorical - and touching - the storyline never faltered from first to last. ... For once the BBC haven't put a foot wrong, and have even improved on the original. There are clever, funny, and challenging scripts here, fine ensemble acting and direction, Ron Grainer's theme tune and a backlit Billie Piper to get yet another generation of Doctor Who nerds rushing off to find the kleenex." Also, on Monday's "Thought for the Day" on Radio 4, the speaker talked about 'Dalek' and commented that it seems even this evil race has a hope of redemption. Apparently the speaker was reaching for the Kleenex by the end of the episode - clearly a reference to the moving Dalek moments; not the reaction of the 14-year-old boy fans watching Miss Piper.

Says the Independent, "An effort to persuade Britain's spotty ranks of science fiction fans to vote Labour tomorrow has rather gloriously backfired. Vernon Coaker " a Dr Who fan, and Labour candidate for Gedling " has spent recent weeks parading a replica Dalek around his constituency, highlighting Tory plans to 'exterminate public services'. Unfortunately, the Daleks are a registered trademark, owned jointly by the BBC and the estate of their late creator, Terry Nation. Labour HQ has therefore received a stern letter ordering them to withdraw the pepperpot- shaped villain. 'The BBC takes very seriously the unauthorised use of its brands,' explains a spokesman. 'We've written to Labour asking them to stop this, and will take further steps if necessary.' Coaker was unrepentant yesterday. 'It was supposed to be a fun way of getting our message across,' he said."

More coverage of ITV's loss of ratings to the BBC in today's Mirror andIndependent (the latter accidentally noting that "Celebrity Wrestling" only got 800,000 viewers instead of lost that many!); and BBC News discusses a Cyberman helmet up for sale.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, Chuck Foster, David Traynier, Benjamin Elliott, Michael Stead, Faiz Rehman, Nat Titman, Chris Goater, and Simon Lydiard)

The BBC's official site has had its weekly refurbishment and now has a Long Game theme. The front page comprises sixteen 'screens', each cycling through a series of images which at various stages form complete larger images of the Doctor, the Editor, Rose or Adam. At different times, the individual screens form links to other areas of the site and to the Clive/Mickey site and the spoof Geocomtex site launched last weekend. Intriguingly, the screen in the bottom right corner, when highlighted, turns red, with an image of a wolf and the text "badwolf, badwolf, badwolf..." This seems to be a link to a forthcoming area of the site or possibly to another spoof site we have yet to see. The Episode Guide section has been updated for The Long Game and, as usual, currently offers the 'Next time...' trailer from Episode 6 and a photo gallery - this with sixteen new photos, mostly of the TARDIS crew. Also promised for after the episode has broadcast are the usual photo stories and video diaries, including one from Bruno Langley.

Today's edition of Radio Times is published today, and promotes this weekend's episode The Long Game, although there is slightly more Dalek content. The second token for the giant Dalek poster is on page 3 (and a bonus token is apparently on the Radio Times website). As ever, this week's episode is the top choice for Saturday in the week's best television (page 4) - a photo of the Doctor and Adam, and a brief blurb: "A lively, if haphazard, outing for the Time Lord (and a shifty new 'companion', Adam) takes a gruesome peak at the future of journalism." There's a letter from a Slitheen (page 9), as Elizabeth Frost corrects the impression that there were only two performers inside the costumes: "In fact there three! Two six-foot men and me, a five-foot-seven woman. Although my contribution was small, I would like to think it makes a tiny stand for intergalactic girl power!" This week's behind the scenes feature (page 17) concentrates on the inside of a Dalek and includes three photos of the "cuddly creation"; only a quarter of the page is given to The Long Game and concentrates on guest star Simon Pegg and the trouble he had saying one of his lines. There's also another plug for the forthcoming Monsters and Villains book. A large feature on VE Day includes comments from Christopher Eccleston and Richard E Grant, both of whom are contributing to the concert on Sunday. Alison Graham has Tamsin Greig as "This Week's One to Watch" (page 63) noting that she is playing "a neurosurgeon of the future in this week's Doctor Who story." Which is, again, one of Saturday's choices (page 64), although with a rather mixed view: "... a slavering nightmare of which Gerald Scarfe would be proud (send tots to bed though). But despite bubbling with great ideas, the story doesn't quite hang together, and with a dateline that far away, you'd expect a greater leap of imagination from the design department." Saturday's BBC1 listing is headed with a photo of Bruno Langley as Adam ("Milky Way kid", apparently; page 66). The episode blurb reads "Simon Pegg guest-stars as teh sinister Editor. In the future, he oversees the entire Earth Empire. But who is he working for?" The listing for Doctor Who Confidential says that "The evil genius has been a feature of Doctor Who throughout the years, and he made a welcome return to the series earlier this evening, in the form of the Editor, alias Simon Pegg. Here, he discusses the role he's always wanted to play." Also, "One Final Question" (page 146) this week interviews David Warner and asks about his Doctor Who connections - he gives a plug for the Big Finish Unbound CD Sympathy for the Devil, in which he played the Doctor, and is asked whether he was interested in replacing Christopher Eccleston on television: "No, no. It was never mooted for me. I'm 63 and these are issues I don't think about much - it's not as if I'm trying to establish a career! Would I accept Doctor Who? I don't know. I should be so lucky to be asked - then I could consider it." Meanwhile, the Radio Times website is running a competition to win a cardboard life-size cut-out TARDIS and new Doctor Who books - UK readers only can simply submit their details and vote in a poll for best villain (Dalek, Darth Vader, etc) before 10 May and the first names out of the hat will win. The competition is on the website here.

Regarding Doctor Who Confidential, Radio Times listing confirms the Sunday timeslot for the second repeat of the documentary is only fifteen minutes, so "Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down" (not the official title, of course) would seem to be the format for Sundays from now on. Last weekend's "Confidential" aired as normal on Saturday but was cut to 15 minutes on the Sunday repeat for the first time in order to fill a one hour slot on BBC3.

Film Focus had a brief interview chat with David Tennant last night at the European premiere of "Kingdom of Heaven." They first chatted about his latest film project: "I'm playing Barty Crouch Jr. in the new Harry Potter film," he told Film Focus. "it should be good. I think I've done all my stuff, as far as I know, but I'm really looking forward to seeing it." He then turned his attention to the current series of Doctor Who: "It's very exciting and very daunting, in equal measures. Just the amount of attention it gets is quite overwhelming. But there's no better show in the world. We start shooting in July." The article says (perhaps their own speculation) that Eccleston will return for the Christmas special that will introduce Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, but Tennant has no plans to outdo Eccleston's Doctor. "Christopher Eccleston was so brilliant. I shan't be trying to steal his thunder. I'll be trying to do something different."

Book Update: The "Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts" hardback from BBC Books that we reported on yesterday will actually be published on October 6, not the 31st.

Politics: The statement promoting Labour featuring David Tennant, as we reported yesterday, has been reported inBrand Republic, while the Labourofficial site quotes Tennant's statement ("voting will take you 30 seconds and will last five years"). The Labour Party election broadcast featuring Tennant in two brief clips did indeed go out Tuesday; it also featured Richard Wilson (who appears as Dr. Constantine in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" later in the season). Finally, an article at the Milton Keynes website notes that the 2005 General Election "has had a much-needed boost with the emergence of the Dalek Party. The metal monsters chose Central Milton Keynes to launch their campaign wooing would-be voters at the Collectormania event at the weekend. Their local candidate told the Tuesday Citizen, in a quavering screech, their policies included free space travel for pensioners, home rule for Skaro and zero tax on sink plungers. More controversial are strict controls on Time Lords, and the conquest of the galaxy. 'This election we aim to put the X in ex-ter-min-ation,' he said before checking behind sofas in John Lewis for floating voters."


Ratings: Several sources are reporting on this past Saturday's "ratings disaster" for ITV. "ITV had a disastrous Saturday night after all of their five main evening shows failed to attract even a fifth of viewers," reported theDaily Record. "More than 800,000 deserted Celebrity Wrestling as ratings slumped to three million after just two weeks. The BBC triumphed as 7.8 million people watched Dr Who take on the Daleks. ITV have been unable to find a replacement for Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, which regularly pulled in up to eight million viewers." The Daily Record quoted an "insider" as saying "'Saturday nights have turned into a total disaster and there's pressure for big changes to be made" although an ITV spokesman said "There are no plans to reschedule Saturday nights. It just isn't happening." The editor of Broadcast magazine said: "It's very bad news for ITV1. How long can they keep it in that slot? They would do better with a movie. ITV is clearly under a lot of pressure on Saturday nights. Doctor Who is absolutely trouncing them." This was also reported in Media Guardian (and again in a second article), the Scotsman, and Broadcast Now (registration required). However, to redress the balance, Broadcast Now have reported that the ratings for BBC on Monday were their worst audience share ever: "BBC1 suffered its worst overall share for a day's viewing yesterday with an average of 2.4 million (18.8%) from 9.30am - 12.59am. It was also its second worst peak time share this year of 21.2%."

More reviews of Dalek today. The Mirror says that "Before its recent return to our screens, there were two legacies of Dr Who's 42-year history that remained universally loved - the Daleks and the theme tune... The theme tune remains flawless. As for the Daleks, I'm not so sure. As is the way with television these days, the Daleks were given a makeover. ... The comeback series has been a success because it has been fun. It has been bold and vigorous and - if you're seven - even quite scary. The scripts have been witty and knowing, choc-full of references to everything from Star Wars, ET and Alien, right up to The X Files and Buffy generation. ... The much-heralded chase scene, in which the Dalek got to float upstairs, was so slow it was a damp squib." The Western Daily Press: "Daleks never frightened me, although I knew the BBC meant us to be terrified by these curious motorised dustbins adorned with plastic balls. ... So I had a queer turn when I saw the new hightech, digitally-enhanced, super de deluxe Dalek... I'm also warming to Christopher Eccleston's doctor, although he does have annoying mannerisms, including breaking into a dopey Stan Laurel smile when the tension lags. Meanwhile the special effects are getting better and Billie Piper's transformation from sultry popette to nothalf-bad actress is remarkable to behold. The stories are good, too, and Saturday's drama held my attention from start to finish as the doctor took on the Daleks deep below Utah." In theSentinel: "On Saturday night, in a King Kong-esque kind of way, I couldn't help but be moved by the plight of the last [Dalek] around. ... Hang on, this isn't an episode of Dr Who, it's an advert for the Welsh Tourist Board. In the end, overcome by the futility of its existence alone, it topped itself. I wasn't crying. I'd just poked myself in my eye."

Other press stories today: continued discussion of the Davison-disses-Eccleston story at Manchester Online; and theDVD Times weblog discusses "Dalek".

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Paul Hayes, John Bowman, Cameron Yarde Jr., Gregg Smith, Scott Andrews)

The long-awaited radio adaptation of former Doctor Who writer/script editorDouglas Adams' fourth and fifthHitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxynovels, "So Long and Thanks For All The Fish" and "Mostly Harmless," billed as the Quandary and Quintessential Phases, begins tomorrow, May 3. The eight-part radio serial follows on from the previous three radio series (eighteen episodes of the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Phases, available on CD fromAmazon.co.uk) and airs every Tuesday starting May 3 at 6.30pm on BBC Radio 4. The BBC Cult site also has information about it as well as links to listen live to Radio 4 online as well as their "Listen Again" feature and trailer downloads.

Ratings News

Great news for Doctor Who and BBC3. Saturday night's Doctor Who Confidential had 504,051 viewers according to ViewingFigures, with 175,740 viewers tuning into the 12.15am repeat of Dalek early Sunday morning and 105,800 viewers watching the 1.00am repeat. "Confidential" once again performed excellently on BBC, being number one in the multi-channel timeslot with a viewing share of 4.1%, beating the previous week's winner "The Simpsons" by over 200,000 viewers.

On Sunday night, 543,960 viewers tuned in for the 7.00pm repeat of "Dalek," with a 4.6% viewing share, and 339,970 viewers were watching the Sunday night repeat of episode 6 of "Confidential".

"Father's Day" Spoilers

The Daily Star today posted information on the episode airing on May 14, "Father's Day," written by Paul Cornell. This includes some major spoilers about the storyline and the names of the aliens involved; click on theSPOILERS tag at the bottom of this article to see them!

"Dalek" Reviews

In the Daily Mirror by TV critic Ian Hyland: "Yes. The Daleks were back. And for 30 pant-sh*ttingly wonderful minutes, BBC1's new Doctor Who was the best thing on telly. Ever. Then they went and spoilt it with a load of symbolic, sentimental, one world, one-universe, war-what-is-it-good-for nonsense. But before the meddling, it was getting crowded behind the sofa."

DigitalSpy: "The return of Doctor Who has been far more successful than I imagined but I had been harbouring reservations as to why they needed to saddle the show with a Dalek episode. ... Robert Shearman was the writer tasked with coming up with a story that would live up to the status of what is, however tarnished, a cultural icon and he seems to have pulled it off. Had we got an episode steeped in Dalek mythology I think I'd have been bored to tears; what we actually got was something akin to Beauty and the Beast via Silence of The Lambs and it turned out to be the best episode so far. The idea of having the Dalek being tortured by its human captures helped to turn the relationship between the audience and the creature on its head and by the episode's end, our sympathy lay with it rather than the Doctor in fine piece of storytelling."

The Independent: "I'm not sure that anyone has ever created a less frightening monster than the Dalek, the homicidal bumper car that can only invade planets that are in full compliance with disability access legislation. In fact, the only thing that gets even close for risible lack of threat is a Cyberman, the implacable enemy of humanity that comes with its own built-in carrying handle. And yet, both of them apparently stirred the viewers so deeply that they can do the television equivalent of a comeback concert. Which is the bigger news for the coming week: the general election or the return of the Daleks in Doctor Who? Radio Times just couldn't call it, so they split the difference with a 'Vote Dalek' cover, the Houses of Parliament providing a backdrop for the latest model, which comes in a rather chavvy bronze and copper colourway.... Robert Shearman, who scripted this episode, had some fun with the robot's famous limitations as a killing machine. 'What are you going to do, sucker me to death?' scoffed a museum curator when menaced with the rubber plunger, which then shot out and fixed on his face with a prehensile grip. He also did the staircase gag, with the fleeing humans gratefully scampering up a set of steps only to discover that this Dalek could levitate."

The Times: "Was anyone ever truly frightened by the monsters in Doctor Who? Even giving them names such as the Giant Spiders of Metebelis III didn't work when they still looked like something you'd get from the joke shop to scare your little sister. Yet the return of the Doctor's old foe, the Daleks, on Saturday, was clearly a major television event -it doesn't get any bigger than having a Radio Times fold-out front cover. ... All the Daleks' dubious design features were gleefully addressed by Robert Shearman's script for Saturday's story. So there were references to 'space dustbins,' the Dalek's sink plunger sucked someone to death, and there was no escape in running upstairs because it took to the air. No wonder the body count was alarmingly high. Shearman also continued to strike the right balance between the respect and renovation displayed by the series... Instead we got a surprisingly poignant story. And Eccleston's combination of blokiness and otherworldly intensity came into its own here, but I can still see why he's already decided to leave the show. Just look at the Daleks -you don't see them in any other line of work."

Garry Bushell, writing in The People, was full of praise for Dalek. "An old familiar menace has returned to haunt Saturday night telly. Cold, full of hatred for humanity and armed with tired old catchphrases, everything about this creature is joyless and old hat. But enough about Julian Clary... wasn"t that Dalek terrific on Doctor Who? Anyone who ever loved this show as a kid must have cheered the roof off when the chained killer realised who it was up against." He noted that the episode "worked in a way most of the previous ones didn't. It was well-written, not pointlessly camp, with a decent story". His piece was accompanied by a small pic of the Dalek. Elsewhere on his two-page TV round-up, he lists the Dalek as being "hot on TV", although, strangely, he also says "shame he didn't exterminate Russell T Davies". The feature also quotes Andrew Alexander as saying "Dr Who: Designed for young people, enjoyed by adults. Just like Billie Piper."

The Guardian: "The Daleks are back on BBC1, Ian McKellen is starring in Coronation Street and beautiful people are ripping each other's clothes off for our entertainment on ITV1. If this isn't the golden age of TV, then what is? After all the build-up, the return of everyone's favourite squawking pepperpot to Doctor Who (Saturday) could have been an anti-climax, and in truth it was a curiously subdued affair. But who could have guessed that ... it would turn into a sci-fi Socratic dialogue?"

The Daily Express: "I think it's fair to say that this was the one we'd all been waiting for... A splendidly scary but rather sad (and politically laboured) story ended with the Dalek exterminating itself because it had taken on human characteristics and was no longer motivated to kill everything that moved. As usual, the script fizzed with good jokes. ... Now, bring on the Cybermen. But go easy on the anti-war rhetoric, please." (Incidentally, cheers to the Daily Express which noted that "Daleks have surmounted the problem of stairs before - See Remembrance Of The Daleks, 1988.")

Newsquest Media Group: "In the old days, these metal creatures rattled around pointing that egg whisk they call a weapon at people and screaming 'exterminate, exterminate'. This new story showed their softer side. ... Christopher Eccleston's Doctor is a troubled time lord. It's becoming increasingly clear that his relationship with Rose, a girl young enough to be his daughter, is not the usual Doctor and travelling companion one. His feelings towards her seem more than paternal. I look forward to seeing how they develop."

The Socialist Review, the monthy political magazine of the Socialist Workers Party, has a review of the return of Doctor Who in its May issue. The review is online here

People in the News

New series star David Tennant is to co-star in a BBC Radio 4 revival of the classic BBC Television police series Dixon of Dock Green. The series, which originally starred the late Jack Warner, ran on BBC Television from 1955 to 1976, and was a spin-off from the 1949 feature film "The Blue Lamp", with Dixon recovering from the notable obstacle of having been killed-off in the movie. Says the report: "The new shows will feature Bramwell actor David Calder as George Dixon, and the forthcoming Doctor Who and Casanova star David Tennant as his sidekick Andy Crawford." Many sites covered this today; the BBC News site ironically didn't mention Doctor Who at all, but others did, including the Scotsman, UTV,WaveGuide, The Independent, and The Guardian.

The Sunday Mirror renewed the Eccleston leaving debate this week. "He quit Doctor Who to head for Hollywood û but is Christopher Eccleston too miserable to be famous? When the BBC announced Christopher Eccleston was quitting Doctor Who after just one series, it caused shock waves. Only one episode of the new series had been screened, to huge ratings and critical acclaim, and his departure took the gloss off the success for the BBC. It also means all the merchandise planned for Christmas will be saddled with a previous incarnation of the Time Lord û by then, Casanova star David Tennant will be the man accompanying Billie Piper through space and time. Chris is rumoured to have rejected huge cash offers û a large advance on his ú1 million salary û but his decision to leave may have been a smart move after all. ... He could simply be being honest, or maybe he's just being awkward. Christopher did once admit, æI am not known for my charm... I think I'm seen as a grumpy old sod.' Born in Salford, Christopher went to the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London, but after leaving, worked on building sites, in between periods of signing on the dole and working as an artist's model. A few years ago, he moved back to Manchester from London, saying, æThe beer's better up here, the women are better looking û and the football is better. United is in my blood.' Christopher has always passionately professed his loathing of the showbiz establishment and associated actor-type pretensions. æI'm not into the celebrity circus û I'm close to my family and prefer time with them,' he says. A friend says, æChris takes his work seriously, but he also takes his roots seriously.' Or could it be he just takes himself very seriously? After all, this is the man who spoke of bringing a æweight and ambiguity' to the role of the Doctor, and said, æEverything about the daleks tells you about the duality of people'. Rather æluvvie' comments for this most non-æactorish' of actors. As for how the star will cope with the gaze of the world on his Salford retreat, only time will tell."

The Times yesterday made some interesting observations about Eccleston's departure: "According to a mole within BBC Wales (which makes Doctor Who), however, Eccleston quit after being presented with a fait accompli: the unappetising choice of starring in only half the next series (not enough) or another two full series (far too big a commitment). Who knows what really happened? The show's executive producer, Julie Gardner, wouldn't comment."

The People had a full-page interview with Camille Coduri, headlined "I've got the hots for DR WHO . . but I want to flirt with DR NEW". No prizes for guessing the angle of that piece. The paper calls her "telly's dalektable flirty mum" but the feature does settle down from time to time to include a bit more insight, with comments from Coduri such as: "Christopher Eccleston was superb. Sometimes I'd have to look away because he'd make me laugh so much. It's a shame he's not doing the second series but people forget he'd been working on it for practically a year. I don't blame him for wanting to move on." She adds: "David Tennant will bring a different dimension to it and he and Billie Piper will work brilliantly together." Later in the piece, Coduri says: "Billie really shines. She's one of the leading actresses of her generation - divine, funny and witty." Elsewhere in The People, it is reported that Simon Callow gave a repeat performance as Charles Dickens from Doctor Who to shoppers at a London store last Sunday, although the Sunday Express merely says he was reciting from his show The Mystery of Charles Dickens while at upmarket grocers Melrose and Morgan.

Bruno Langley spoke to April 30's Daily Post. "Not everyone can claim to have been chased down a corridor by a Dalek screaming 'Exterminate!', but for Bruno Langley - best known for his role as Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street - it was all in a day's work on the set of Doctor Who. 'When they brought the Dalek onto the set, it was really exciting and everyone was taking photos,' the 22-year-old remembers, though he admits he missed out on seeing the Doctor's legendary adversaries in action the first time around. 'I do remember Doctor Who being on, but it was a bit before my time. I liked Alien and Terminator and stuff like that.' And while it wouldn't be Doctor Who without the appearance of a Dalek, fans will be pleased to hear that the creatures are now more than a match for more recent alien counterparts - especially when it comes to tackling stairs. 'When you watch it, it's a bit like the Terminator films, when something's chasing after you and you can't stop it. You can use that as a metaphor for a lot of different things,' says Bruno of the scene in which his character, boy genius Adam Mitchell discovers that stairs are definitely not a problem for the evil oversized pepperpots. In fact, it's also rumoured that Adam, who helps the Doctor and his assistant Rose through their traumatic Dalek encounter, may also develop an evil streak. 'I do end up on the wrong side of the tracks,' admits Bruno of the inquisitive Adam. 'I get the Doctor and Rose into a bit of trouble because I like meddling with things. Him thinking he's a genius gets him into bother.' But, while Christopher Eccleston has confirmed he won't be returning to play the Doctor, Bruno reveals that the door is left open for Adam. 'There's a chance of me coming back if the storyline allows it. I'd love to do it,' he smiles, having clearly relished his two months on the Doctor Who's Welsh set And he readily admits that flirting with Billie Piper was a high point: 'We got on great - I was working with her for two months. 'She's a great girl. I think she's really got a lot going for her. She should probably make her way to America soon,' he says of his famous co-star, though he's quick to add that there was no romance either off or onscreen for the duo. I think Adam's more interested in the technology side of things,' he adds. 'Of course he fancies Rose, she's a gorgeous girl, but he's got more on his mind.'"

The SF Crows Nest website has posted five interviews conducted by Jessica Martin, who has previously conducted interviews with cast members. They include writer Rob Shearman, actor Bruno Langley (Adam), Dalek vocalistNicholas Briggs, writer Mark Gatiss, and actor Simon Callow(Charles Dickens).

Several reports in today that David Tennant has joined the mix of celebrities promoting Labour for this week's elections. "I will be voting Labour this time because the alternative is a disaster area," Tennant says, and also notes that it takes only 30 seconds to vote while the consequences last for five years... The story's covered by icScotland (and indeed all of the iC network websites), the Mirror and Scotsman.

Miscellaneous Coverage

The BBC's Doctor Who website front page has changed. Before, it showed the Dalek in chains; now it shows the Dalek having broken free and pointing its weapon at us.

The Observer yesterday noted that "The BBC was braced for viewer complaints last night after screening possibly the most terrifying Doctor Who episode ever. In the story, shown on BBC One before the watershed, Time Lord Christopher Eccleston came face to face with his arch-enemy, a Dalek, which then went on a killing spree. In one scene the Doctor was shown half-naked being tortured with electric shocks. Four viewers complained to Ofcom after an earlier episode, claiming it was too scary for children, but the media watchdog chose not to investigate."

The Daily Star Sunday (May 1) ran an article titled "Who's For Starters..." which previewed next week's episode and opened with: "Doctor Who looks a bit tied up to fight off his latest enemy. But the Time Lord, played by Christopher Eccleston, is living out every fella's fantasy - being chained up to sexy sidekick Rose, actress Billie Piper." The article was accompanied by a large photograph from the episode. Also in the same newspaper "The Biz" reveals: "Current Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston has kept the leather jacket he wears in the BBC1 series. But he says he is too scared to wear it in the street in case a show-worshipping geek attacks him for it. He adds: "It could be in the cupboard for a while yet."" A less than favourable review of "Dalek" also featured (titled "D-aargh-lek's wimpy ending").

Says correspondent Rowan Bridge, West of England reporter for BBC Five Live, on our previous report on Nick Briggs' interview: "I was the one who suggested that they cover it. Yeah it was indeed Nick Briggs that did the continuity announcements. There was also an interview with him where he turned himself into a Dalek mid-way through the interview (modulation and all) and back again. It went out twice, just before 0630 (the programme now starts at 0600 on Saturdays) and again at about 0850 or so (just after, in fact, my piece on the M4 motorway protest) You can hear both that interview and Robert Shearman's on the listen again function of the Five Live sitehere."

In the run up to the General Election as part of it's pro-Labour Party stance the Daily Mirror is running an ongoing item called "EXTORY-MINATE!" in which a marginal Conservative Party member is pictured in the sights of a 60s Dalek with details of his/her slim majority. The "Daily Mirror" also ran a similar campaign in the last General Election called "Exterminate A Tory" which had the dome of a Dalek replaced by Conservative Party Leader William Hague's head (complete with eye-stalk protruding from his forehead!).

The Sunday Mirror's page three lead was a picture exclusive of Billie Piper - headlined "Thrillie Piper" - while filming her role as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing on the south coast for the BBC, but with the wind catching her skirt and revealing more than we're used to seeing. It was likened to the famous picture of Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. The paper also had a piece about David Walliams writing for the next series of Doctor Who, which is on the website here

The Sunday Express lampooned the forthcoming general election by tapping into the topicality of the Daleks and having a near-half-page cartoon of the three main party leaders as Daleks chasing a terrified Britannia-type figure to a polling station. Meanwhile, its TV reviewer, David Stephenson, asked if the Dalek had "gone all touchy-feely". Calling Doctor Who "the hit of the year so far", his piece, in which he said he felt sorry for the creature, was illustrated with a decent-sized photo of Rose touching the Dalek. His Quote of the Week, at the bottom of the page, was "Elevate!" from the episode.

Saturday night's Phil Williams show on BBC Radio 5 Live featured (very positive) listener reaction to the Dalek episode plus an interview with former Dalek voice artist Roy Skelton. Skelton talked about his extensive career in voice work, including his years on Doctor Who and Rainbow, and refuted the suggestion that the new episode was the first instance of a Dalek going up stairs. He spoke of his appreciation for the new series and for the work of current voice of the Daleks Nicky (sic) Briggs. The interview, which took place just after midnight, can still be heard by following the link to the Phil Williams show from the 5 Live website.

The Sunday Sport ran a double page colour centre-spread yesterday with an adult-themed headline (think the Dalek cry of "Exterminate" but...) featuring 'the star of last night's Doctor Who' - a Dalek - in about a dozen poses with a topless model. The article that accompanied this covered the return of the Daleks the night before, and revealed that in addition to being able to 'Elevate' up stairs, the Dalek could now apparently copulate, as the pictures attempted to prove.

The News of the World says Christopher Eccleston and Siwan Morris are an item again. It pictures them on holiday in Cornwall taking a stroll, hand in hand, and with bikes near Porthleven.

More press coverage: More on David Walliams writing for Doctor Who atDigital Spy; The Sun interviews Ian Clarke, who is "the only person the BBC has licensed to construct and sell Daleks" with his firm, This Planet Earth; and the Daily Record says that "Britain's best bachelor pad" is available for rental next door to Billie Piper's flat in Cardiff.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, John Bowman, Andy Parish, Jamie Austin, Paul Hayes, Rowan Bridge, Roderick Cobley, Gregg Smith, Steve Hatcher, David Traynier, Mark Gardiner, Rich Kirkpatrick)

According to The Mirror, David Walliams of "Little Britain" fame - and a Doctor Who fan to boot - will be writing a script for the second season of the series, perhaps filling in the gap for the one episode that the last issue of DWM said hadn't yet been assigned. "He was approached after BBC bosses decided his surreal sense of humour would be ideal for the revived show's wacky new storylines," says the Mirror. "A single playboy-about-town who has been linked to Patsy Kensit, Abi Titmuss, Denise Van Outen and Jayne Middlemiss, David took Dr Who star Billie Piper out for dinner to find out more about her character as the Doctor's sidekick Rose Tyler. One TV insider said: 'Russell T. Davies, the chief scriptwriter, is a massive fan of Little Britain. He was impressed by the fact David's comedy writing is always full of really original ideas. David jumped at the chance and is taking it very seriously.'"

The BBC's official site has another spinoff website tieing into the new series:www.geocomtex.net, featuring Harry van Statten's company from "Dalek".

"Dalek" Reviews Pour In

Says The Times: "Tonight's episode may not have the zany, off-the-wall humour associated with the ones written by Russell T. Davies, but Robert Shearman's script -and I can't believe that I'm about to say this -is strangely moving. It concerns the last surviving Dalek, which is being held in chains in an underground museum in Utah. Daleks, as we know from the lessons of history, are programmed to hate. But, amid all the excitement, tonight's episode manages to sneak in a message about the redemptive power of human kindness and the way in which victims can turn into oppressors. This new Doctor Who is an unqualified triumph."

The Guardian: "Robert Shearman's script bamboozles expectations, offering a fresh take on the famous metal drama queens, here both more formidable and sympathetic than we've ever seen them in the past. Claustrophobic and suitably melodramatic, this should hopefully show 2005's kids what was always so wonderful about the iconic tin-rotters."

The London Evening Standard: "This week's episode title- Dalek- may crush the surprise the script clearly hoped to generate around the return of the killer pepperpot, but that's the only disappointment here. ... At its best, science fiction is supposed to be a metaphor. It's not a theory that always pans out, but here, in the conflict between a murderous intergalactic dustbin and a double-hearted time traveller, we get a powerful look at the way war- whether it's in the Balkans, Iraq or outer space- twists even the best of people. 'If you can't kill, then what are you good for?' the Doctor hisses at the imprisioned Dalek. But by the end, you're left wondering whether it is the Dalek or the Doctor who has been damaged most by the conflict. It's heady, surprising, spiky and occasionally pretentious stuff, but I'll take this over ITV's spandex celeb-grappling any Saturday night."

Ian Hyland in The Mirror: "For 30 pant sh*ttingly wonderful minutes BBC1's new Doctor Who was the best thing on telly. Ever."

Weekend Press

In The Sun Doctor Who is "Watercooler TV": Climb behind your sofa and stay well out of sight - the Daleks are back on TV screens across the nation tonight. Doctor Who's dreaded foe makes his big and much-anticipated return, although as I revealed he turns out to be a big old softy. And there's a truly explosive ending - don't miss it." The accompanying "TV Mag" features a small picture of the Dalek on the cover ("Exterminate. The Daleks Are Back!") and a one-page article, interviewing Mike Tucker, Barnaby Edwards and Bruno Langley. "Doctor Who" is Pick Of The Day.

The Daily Mirror television magazine "We Love Telly!" has a Dalek as pride of place on its cover, standing before an explosion with the line: "Be afraid! Hide behind the sofa as the Doctor's deadly foe returns". Inside is a full-page article ("The Last Dalek") with a "Dalek Databank" (Dr Who trivia), a review of the "Claws Of Axos" DVD ("Time lord-tastic!") and a Reader Rant: "Dear We Love Telly! The new Doctor Who is trendy, infantile and utterly vacuous. Russell T Davies obsession with passing wind is a disgrace to the memory of 26 years of family entertainment".

The Daily Star contains a two-page article ("Exterminate The Wrestlers: Daleks To Floor 'Em") about tonight's ratings war with "Celebrity Wrestling" and how "Doctor Who" is likely to come out on top. "Star TV Mag" features a Dalek on the cover ("Ex-ter-min-ate") with a third-of-a-page article inside (" A Step-Up For Daleks") giving details of the episode and more "Dr Who" trivia. The episode is the TV pick, with a five-star rating. The newspaper also begins a promotion today called "Sci-Fi Saturday" to run for three weeks. As part of this next week the newspaper will contain a free "Sci-Fi Sounds" CD which will feature an arrangement of the "Doctor Who" theme by Mark Ayres.

Says Newsquest Media, "They're back at last! Or rather, it's back. Doctor Who faces his old arch enemy once more with the return of a Dalek to the cult TV series on April 30. There's only one so far, but it's enough to worry the Timelord, as this week's episode sees him trapped in an underground museum with a relic from the past. And there's a twist - this Dalek's had a major upgrade, and doesn't need a stairlift to get off the ground floor. Long-time fan of the show Nick Wade from Sandbanks is a big Dalek fan and is delighted to see one of the megalomaniac rust-buckets square up to the Doctor once more. 'It's what a lot of people have been waiting for. Doctor Who without the Daleks is like Star Trek without Mr Spock,' he said. 'It can work but it's just not the same.' ... But Nick believes this updated Dalek won't be a laughing matter. 'One of the things about Daleks that used to make people laugh was that they couldn't go up stairs. But this time, the Dalek can fly. I'm sure there will be a lot of people watching, especially children. I think it would be good if they brought back some of the other old enemies too.' Nick, who landed a role as an extra in the hugely successful new series starring Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper, has also picked up a full-size remote-controlled Dalek built by a special effects designer."

The Scotsman reports that "the BBC is hoping the dreaded Daleks will exterminate the opposition in the ratings war when they make their return to the nationÆs TV screens tonight. ... Although only one of the metal menaces will appear, it is rumoured that more Daleks will return later in the series." The Scotsman reports in another article that the "Daleks Learn to Fly on Their Deadly Return"... "and this time the Daleks are even scarier." Says writer Rob Shearman, "People want to see the Dalek again, in all its glory, being taken seriously and killing rather brutally. I donÆt think itÆs any great spoiler to say thereÆs an awful lot of death in my episode... You wonÆt like what they do with their sink plungers now, I promise you."

Radio and Television

Next Thursday's Dead Ringers: Election Special is being promoted with a trailer that spoofs Eccleston's "Trip of a life time" trailer. The trailer, featuring impressions of the leaders of the three main UK parties, is accompanied by the new Doctor Who theme and has been running on BBC1 from at least the evening of Thursday 28th April.

The Now Show (Radio 4, 29th April) again featured Doctor Who, including reference to complaints regarding the apparently inappropriate language used in the upcoming Dalek episode.

BBC Ceefax has "Dalek" as its TV Choice for 30th April, running as follows: "So what was it the Doctor promised Rose at the end of last week's episode? Something about a glorious joyride through interstellar space. But here we are back on Earth. Again. Still, the old show often argued that it was more scary to see monsters in England than in outer space somewhere. And it's the monster that matters tonight, as the Doctor meets a Dalek. By the end of the show, you'll no longer think that Daleks are silly and that's quite an achievement."

Doctor Who, and more specifically the return of the Daleks, was a topic of conversation on Weekend Breakfast on BBC Radio 5 Live this Saturday, which runs on the station from 6.30 to 9am. A recorded interview with Robert Shearman was played at around 7.20am and there were regular Dalek continuity announcements telling listeners not to change station or they would be exterminated, which sounded as if they were done by Nick Briggs himself. Also, throughout the show presenters Brian Alexander and Rachel Burden were taking e-mail and text message suggestions from listeners as to what the Dalek's first line to the Doctor should be tonight. As the subject of waiting times to see National Health Service doctors has become an issue in the British General Election campaign over the past couple of days, many suggestions tied in with this, i.e. "It's been years since I last saw you - you must be an NHS doctor!"

Nick Briggs was on BBC 'Breakfast' on Saturday (from 08:53 to 08:56) on BBC 2. He was interviewed by Bill Turnbull behind a large image of the dome of the Dalek from tonights episode. There was a clip from the episode (of troops being exterminated, with the Dalek rotating its mid-section to do so) followed by Nick demonstrating the Dalek voice with the Ring Modulator; firstly, talking normally through the modulator, secondly talking with a 'Dalek voice' his examples being:and There was a brief chat about how the ring modulator worked, then the item ended with Bill Turnbull doing his next link through the ring modulator.

The Blue Peter website contains details of what was on the 27th April edition, in addition to a Dalek picture in the photographs from rehearsals section and a competition for children to win a radio controlled Dalek.

According to the Newsround website "The Doctor Rules In Your Charts". In their online poll "Doctor Who" has been voted the most popular TV show, beating "The Simpsons" into second place after a year of the cartoon reigning supreme. In the TV/Film section of the site is "Exterminate! Check out our new Dalek pics!" which features 8 photographs from today's episode. In addition, yesterday's "Newsround" promoted today's "Newsround Showbiz" on the CBBC channel with clips from "Resurrection Of The Daleks" and "Dalek".

ITV Teletext has "Doctor Who" as a Pick Of The Day.

BBC news 24 on Saturday morning showed clips of "Dalek" from this weekend's episode with an new force field it used to stop an array of bullets in their tracks, and its new trick of moving the centre part of it shell independantly of the rest. Also, the Dalek trailer was played, half-screen over the end of Neighbours on Friday 29th April just before 6pm. Significant as it didn't relate to the programme and wasn't the next programme to be shown, indicating the BBC's increased promotion for the episode.

For once Friday's Newsround didn't manage to crowbar a DW item into the headlines, but did describe WeeMan (a three tonne robot sculpture made of electrical items, representing the amount thrown away by the average Briton in his lifetime) as looking 'like something out of Doctor Who'. It went on to note the people behind the educational display, meant to promote recycling, hoped to 'exterminate' the problem.

ABC TV in Australia has shown its first full length promo for the new series stating "Doctor Who is coming to YOU!". The promo showed clips from "Rose" and "The End of the World"

Other Stories

The May issue of Limelight, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's magazine focusing on the arts, literature, theatre and film has announced that the June issue will feature articles and interviews with the stars, writer and designers of the new series of Dr Who. The magazine will be on sale at newsagents on May 18.

The Mirror notes today that Ray Cusick, "the man who designed the Daleks," was paid just ú80 by the BBC. "Instead, royalty payments go to the family of the late Terry Nation, who wrote the first Dalek script. Raymond Cusick has revealed that he came up with the design for the Daleks over lunch in the BBC staff canteen. Cusick told The Mirror, 'We went to lunch in the canteen and I was scribbling on the back of napkins the ideas of the Daleks. I picked up what could have been a salt pot and moved it around the table. I said, 'It moves like that, without any arms or legs.' The design was already partly on paper and partly in my head at the time.'" The story was also picked up by Digital Spy.

Other stories of note: The Belfast Telegraph has a story about the return of the Daleks, interviewing fans at Forbidden Planet; the Mirror discusses Billie Piper's filming of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing";

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Jamie Austin, Paul Hayes, Chuck Foster, Garry J/"Facethemusic", Stewart Carswell, Widya Santoso, John Paul Street, Daniel Lamb, Russ Port, Mark Williams, Ian O'Brien, Michael Davoren, and Matt Kimpton)

Doctor Who has won the ratings war every week against ITV after all: according to the BARB final numbers on the ratings for Aliens of London, Doctor Who had 7.63 million viewers, compared to 7.37 million for the season finale of "Ant and Dec". Originally, Doctor Who had fewer reported viewers in the overnights, but the BARB figures - the final total ratings for each broadcast - add in timeshifted viewing. This means that Doctor Who has won its timeslot in every broadcast since the debut on March 26.

In Canada, yesterday's ratings for episode four, "Aliens of London," scored 849,000 viewers on the overnight reports, a small slip from the previous week's 878,000 but nothing major. "Doctor Who" is still #2 for the timeslot across Canada and #4 in all of primetime for Tuesday nights.

According to Yahoo News (and also mentioned in the Independent),Christopher Eccleston is becoming an ambassador for the learning disability charity Mencap. "Learning disability used to be known as 'mental handicap' but times change and people with a learning disability now find the old term offensive," says Eccleston. "I am very proud and excited to become an ambassador for Mencap and will do my best to justify such an honour." Eccleston first became aware of the issue when he researched his role in the 1991 film, Let Him Have It.

Issue 14 of British Cinematographer, the April 2005 edition, features a two page piece: "On the job - behind the scenes of the new Dr Who series with Ernest Vincze BSC".

The Brighton Evening Argus yesterday noted that "Daleks will invade pier in summer" discussing a Doctor Who exhibition taking place at Brighton's Pleasure Dome from May until October. We hope to bring you further details on this exhibition shortly. The Daleks will also appear at an exhibition at the Churnet Valley Railway this bank holiday weekend; a full-size Dalek will be looking for humans to exterminate in the waiting rooms of the railway's Cheddleton, Kingsley and Froghall stations on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, and details on that are available at the railway website.

Newsquest Media Group today has a story about an extra in next week's "Dalek" episode. "Aspiring actor Oliver Hopkins gets exterminated on his first-ever television appearance - and he couldn't be more delighted. For 19-year-old Oliver's assassins are none other than the deadly Dr Who villains, the Daleks! Meeting his fate at close proximity to some of the small screen's most famous baddies has been a thrilling experience for the former Greenhill School and Pembrokeshire College student. 'I'm on the book of Phoenix Agency in Swansea and had a day's work as an extra for the filming of Dr Who, in Newport,' explained Oliver, of Cambrian Cottages, Stepaside. 'It was really good fun.' As well as meeting the show's stars, Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston, Oliver was able to see the workings of a Dalek and stood inside the famous Tardis. Now he is keeping his fingers crossed that his TV debut gets screened. 'I'm pretty realistic about the fact it could be edited out, or you might only get to see my arm,' he admitted. 'But even so, I've had a brilliant experience and it won't look bad on my CV.'"

David Tennant was interviewed briefly by phone on the XFM radio station this morning. Amongst other things, he suggested that Casanova was his audition for Doctor Who and he didn't actually need to audition for the Doctor. He's excited but daunted by being the Doctor, thinks Eccleston and the new series are fantastic, and managed to plug Big Finish in the same breath as knocking the 'rubbish' that's appeared in the press in the last few weeks. You can hear the full interview at the XFM website.

Other press mentions: a vicar is ready to swap the pulpit for the TARDIS according to the Northwest Evening Mail; more reports of Peter Davison's comments about Christopher Eccleston, which we reported yesterday, atDigitalSpyand WaveGuide; the Sun comments further on the ratings win over Celebrity Wrestling and the upcoming "Dalek" episode; "Let Doctor Who give us a fright" says the Bristol Evening Post; and more news about ABC's pickup of the new series in Australia at the Courier Mail.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Rod Mammitzsch, David Guest, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, John Bowman and Mike Noon)

A year ago, a new radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy secured the front cover of the Radio Times; this week, the next batch of radio episodes, a rerun of the 1981 television series and the release of the movie - along with the UK general election - all have to make way for VOTE DALEK! The foldout cover recreates one of the classic 1964 "Daleks invade London" shots (and is also being made available as a double-sided "giant" poster available to readers in exchange for a couple of tokens from the magazine. Daleks are everywhere in this week's edition, beginning with the Editor's Letter (page 3), which reckons that the real choice next week is not whether to re-elect the government but whether to cast your vote for the Daleks by pressing the button for BBC1 on Saturday. "The week's best television" (page 4) is headed by Saturday's episode: "One of the television's greatest icons is back on the box - and it's not very happy. But we are, just to see a Dalek head to head with the Doc once more." There are a couple of reader's letters (page 9) of interest, one complaining that Aliens of London's cliffhanger "was immediately spoilt by the preview of the second half of the story", another noting that the final moments of Casanova were ruined when "some crass programmer decided that was the moment to plug the return of Phil Mitchell to EastEnders." (This issue is also commented on by Alison Graham on page 61, with a nice photo montage of Phil Mitchell apparently attacking Casanova.) David Tennant, kilted, glass in hand and leaning against a poster of the Radio Times TARDIS cover of six weeks ago, is the main photo in a feature on the Bafta TV awards; he "revealed that he'd landed the role [...] months ago: 'It's been very hard keeping it a secret.' And would he last longer than Eccleston? 'I would love to do hundreds of episodes, but let's get through the first year before we think about that.'" (This may well be the first accurate transcription of what he actually said that night!) The big feature on Dalek begins on page 18 - four pages of photographs, details about the new Dalek design, an interview with Rob Shearman and comments from Bruno Langley, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and Nick Briggs. "When I wrote the first Dalek episode, I wasn't sure that 'Ex-ter-min-ate!' wasn't a bit silly. So I put it in a couple of times but I didn't really want it to be ranted," says Shearman, who admits his "softly softly" approach didn't go down well with executive producer Russell T Davies. "Russell's notes came back saying, 'Why not? I want to have kids in the playground saying Ex-termin-ate! all the time.' Of course, he was right." There's also a plug for BBC Books' Monsters and Villains paperback, available to order from RT Direct (ú7.99 incl. p&p). Dalek also restores Doctor Who to Pick of the Day in Saturday's Choices (page 62), with a large photo and preview: "So, the story we've all been waiting for, and it's a dream set-up [...] The mechanised monster has been majestically refurbished, and has some new tricks hidden under its beefed-up carapace [...] It's full of intriguing backstory and cool effects, but it's also quite intense [...] How great to see the Dalek back, though. CE-LE-BRATE!" The same page has a short piece ("The Inside Story") on the brief period last year when "it looked as if the Daleks would never be back". Rob Shearman is quoted again, saying, "We came up with a major villain that would have made the series slightly different [...] I daresay Russell will bring it back. He won't want that surprise spoilt." A Dalek heads the BBC1 listings column for Saturday (page 64), the blurb for the episode itself reading: "Rose finds herself caught in the middle of a fight to the death when the Time Lord's oldest and deadliest enemy rises once again." Doctor Who Confidential is listed on the facing page: "The Daleks have been the nemesis of the Time Lord since they first appeared - complete with sucker, ray gun and bad attitude - in 1963. Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Christopher Eccleston are among the Doctors talking about four decades of attempting to avoid extermination."

Ratings are in for the weekend's other broadcasts: according to ViewingFigures, Doctor Who Confidential on Saturday night had 425,350 viewers, with 355,500 watching the Sunday repeat, while the repeats ofWorld War Three (episode five) scored 168,000 viewers in the overnight broadcast (shown after midnight on early Sunday morning) and 477,030 viewers for Sunday at 7pm. Once again the figures were high in the multi channel ratings; "Confidential" was second in its timeslot with a 3.35% viewing share, beaten only by "The Simpsons" on Sky One, while the repeat showings on Sunday of "World War III" and "Confidential" were placed third and fourth with a 3.50% and 2.34% viewing share, again beaten only by programs from Sky One. We are also told that the figures on BBC3 for Doctor Who are the best the channel have had since it was launched.

Dalek, episode six coming this weekend, is reviewed by this week's The Observer. "At last we have an episode of Doctor Who to cherish and it's no coincidence that it features the return of one of the Doctor's oldest and most ruthless foes: a Dalek (above).... Veteran Who writer and Dalek enthusiast Robert Shearman has delivered a polished script which eclipses all those which have preceded it in this series.... Excellent." Yesterday's News Of The World also had an article about 'Dalek' which included two picture spoilers, one of which was a large image of the Dalek with its casing open.

The Press Association newswire featured a story today interviewing Bruno Langley, who plays Adam in the next two episodes of the series. "Not everyone can claim to have been chased down a corridor by a Dalek screaming `Exterminate!', but for Bruno Langley - best known for his role as Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street - it was all in a day's work on the set of Doctor Who," says the article. As Langley says, "When they brought the Dalek onto the set, it was really exciting and everyone was taking photos. I do remember [Doctor Who] being on, but it was a bit before my time. I liked Alien and Terminator and stuff like that." Langley notes that his character, boy genius Adam Mitchell, notes that stairs aren't a problem for the Daleks. "I get the Doctor and Rose into a bit of trouble because I like meddling with things. Him thinking he's a genius gets him into bother." He also notes that the door is left open for Adam. "There's a chance of me coming back if the storyline allows it. I'd love to do it." He and Billie Piper "got on great - I was working with her for two months. She's a great girl. I think she's really got a lot going for her. She should probably make her way to America soon. I think Adam's more interested in technology side of things. Of course he fancies Rose, she's a gorgeous girl, but he's got more on his mind."

In today's Express: "BBC bosses, obliged to advise under-eights to watch the new Doctor Who with their parents following complaints that the show was too scary, should have extended the warning to yellow-bellied MPs. Shadow education secretary Tim Collins, 40, a well-known fan of the Timelord, admits: 'I love the new series - I find it scary. I'm still running behind the sofa in the same way I did when I was a child.'" The Express on Sunday, meanwhile, printed spoilers this past weekend about the forthcoming episode, but also comments from Christopher Eccleston: "The Daleks are burnt into our consciousness as children, " says Eccleston. "I must admit, the first day I walked on set and was confronted by a Dalek, my heart missed a beat." Mark Gatiss, who wrote "The Unquiet Dead," sayid that "No series would be the same without [the Daleks]. When Chris Eccleston tells you they're terrifying, they're terrifying." And Nick Briggs, who did the voices, says, "I love the Daleks because they're truly scary. Of course, if a dustbin came into this room, you'd laugh but if it then spoke in that terrifying voice about exterminating you and blasted away at you with its ray-gun, you wouldn't be laughing any more."

Christopher Bidmead, former Doctor Who script editor in the late 1970's/early 1980's, wrote an article for today'sDaily Telegraph. "'This is quality television,' my 13-year-old daughter Evie cried out in the middle of episode three of the new Doctor Who series. Like me, she's been impressed by the delicious special effects, the fast-moving action and the witty juxtaposition of street cred and fantasy sci-fi. Yes, OK, quality television indeed. But is it 'Doctor Who'? I ask her. And, of course, she doesn't understand the question. At the end of 1979, as Tom Baker was nearing the end of his time as the Doctor, the BBC invited me in to talk about the post of script editor for the upcoming series. I'd been scriptwriting for a commercial TV soap opera, and had done a few science features for New Scientist. Somebody at the BBC had jumped to the conclusion that this combination might equip me to steer the Doctor in his adventures through time and space for a season or two. That someone turned out to be executive producer Barry Letts. I got the job, I think, because Barry and I saw eye-to-eye on one important point - during the '70s Doctor Who had become just too silly. A distinguished producer of the show in earlier days, Barry recalled the ideas behind its launch: the Doctor exemplified for young viewers the power of scientific thinking to solve problems. Science stretched into fantastic future shapes, yes, but the show had a serious social purpose. It must never be silly, never be mere magic. In the following months, I sweated away behind a row of telephones in Union House, Shepherd's Bush, recruiting my contingent of writers. (Nigel 'Quatermass' Kneale, the first candidate on my ambitious list, hated the show and hung up on me.) Inevitably, the influence of earlier seasons still hung over us, and much of the work was stripping out those tendencies from the new scripts. Instead of 'bafflegab' that allowed the good Doctor to rescue his party by deftly 'reversing the positron flow', we tried to build our stories on solid, if fancifully extended, scientific ideas. Ironically, the previous Doctor Who script editor, Douglas Adams, had crammed his own Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with real scientific concepts, although stretched to their breaking point and beyond. But, when it came to Doctor Who, it seemed he was happy for the show to continue along the psychedelic course set for it through the '70s. Our purging of silliness from the show wasn't just political correctness. It made the stories much better. The Doctor's 'sonic screwdriver', for example, was magical baggage we had to lose. A pen-sized gizmo that could blast through tempered steel, translate Azurian into English, and fend off the Karturi by generating an impenetrable neutron dome might be just the ticket in real life, but in fiction was a sure-fire story-killer. We didn't want our audience shouting out from behind the sofa 'where's the sonic screwdriver?' whenever peril threatened. We wanted a strong narrative line, and we relished the way our storylines could arc over four episodes, bristling with cliffhangers. All of which seems to be missing from the current season. Perhaps it's fear of a short audience attention span that has contracted the stories to single or double episodes. To compensate, we get snappy dialogue and a couple of cracking lead actors who do a lot of running around. If a quarter of a century ago the first two laws of Doctor Who were 'Science' and 'Story', then the third was 'Keep It Special'. It might be a super sight gag, or a spooky spine tingle, but if it had shades of Benny Hill, or The Prisoner, out it went. And that, for me, is why today's Doctor Who just isn't Doctor Who. But every time my daugher Evie spots this season's debt to something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for her it just adds to the fun. So what do I know?"

The Mirror notes that Christopher Eccleston "has come under fire from former Doctor Who star Peter Davison for quitting after just one series. He accused the 41-year-old actor of 'letting down' the show as fans won't enjoy it as much knowing that he is leaving. Davison, 54 - who played the doctor from 1982 for three series - added: "He is letting down the programme. His commitment should have been for at least a couple, maybe three, series. I hate to see, after all the effort that went into getting the programme back on TV, Doctor Who scuppered by an actor saying 'I don't want to do this anymore'. ... It is now difficult for people to watch knowing he has walked out on the show. I don't think you can engage with the new doctor in the way you should be able to.'" Sky News, Contact Music and Ananova have also picked up the article.

Today's Mirror also notes that "Billie Piper hasn't been studying her Dr Who handbook. The actress was quizzed by Christian O'Connell on his Xfm breakfast show about the return of the Daleks in next week's episode. But, embarrassingly, the 22-year-old - who plays the Timelord's sidekick Rose Tyler in the hit BBC1 show - didn't have a clue that Davros was the evil creator of the Daleks. Billie said she hadn't watched any of the series. 'I'm usually out socialising. I'm going to wait and watch the whole box set in one go,' she said. But when Christian asked her if Davros is still in charge of the Daleks, she answered: 'Who's that?' O'Connell replied: 'Oh Billie! Have a word with yourself.'"

An interesting letter in yesterday's South Wales Echo corrects information reported earlier in the paper about location filming on "The Unquiet Dead," episode three. "I would like to point out that not all the episode was filmed in Swansea... A great deal of the internal and some external scenes were actually filmed at the Headlands National Children's Home in Penarth," writes school principal Dave Haswell. "We would like to thank the BBC production team for allowing our children and staff here at Headlands to view the film sets and props that were used, our children found them amazing. The principle actors Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and Simon Callow were only too happy to sign autographs and chat with our children between filming. We at Headlands wish the Doctor Who series all the best for the future."

The Sunday Times political gossip column, "Atticus" reported yesterday that the Labour Party had made an informal approach to Christopher Eccleston to elicit his support for the election campaign, but had been politely refused û on the grounds that as a high profile BBC TV star, he had to remain neutral. It also suggested that the Tories thought he might support them (!) on the grounds that Tim Collins had thrown his weight behind the show. Also, in the Time's "Culture" magazine, Doctor Who is selected as one of the "Set Your Video For This" items, with the simple tagline: "One Word For You: Daleks"!. It also appears in the picks of the day for Saturday 30th April, with a mention of the Daleks ability to go up stairs.

Russell T Davies is interviewed in the May edition of Gay Times magazine. In the two-page article he discusses the ratings success of the new series ("No-one ever expected those viewing figures. No-one in even the most drunken meeting ever thought that."), why he didn't watch 'Rose' when it aired on BBC1, the Dr Who-obsessed character Vince from the original U.K. version of Queer As Folk, the appeal of Dr Who to gay men, and the presence of sexuality in the new series. On the first showing of 'Rose' on BBC1 he says: "Some friends asked me to come over so I ended up going to their house and getting pissed. We didn't watch it. The week before, we screened the first episode for the DVD trade mags - and that was the 373rd time for me. That's when I thought, 'I'm sick of seeing it'. But I'd shown it to my friends a couple of months before, and they really liked it." On Vince from Queer As Folk: "He was an easy character to write because I knew what he'd go home and do. And I was sick of seeing Doctor Who fans on TV with long scarves, so I wanted to take a really sexy young man and make him a Doctor Who fan - and, most importantly, have all his friends know about it. He wasn't in the closet about it at all, he could talk openly about how he really loved 'The Tenth Planet'." On sexuality in the new series, he says: "We do get someone calling the Doctor 'gay' for the first time in Doctor Who's history. He's moaning about just being slapped by someone and he's going on about it, so Rose says, 'You're so gay'. There we are: that's a first. The whole thing is set in 2005, so there's a much more open understanding of sexuality [than in the original series]." And he makes a couple of comments about one of the characters from later in the series, Captian Jack: "The story doesn't discuss it explicitly, but quite obviously he'd sleep with anyone. One of my favourite bits is where Jack thinks he's going to his death, and he does a big 'goodbye' speech to Rose and gives her a kiss, then does a big speech to the Doctor and gives him a kiss. Just a little kiss. His character's from the 51st century, so I thought, 'If we're not like that in the 51st century, when will we be?'. No-one's made a fuss about it, because it's been done really naturally and it's really funny, as well." Russell also praises up-coming guest star Bruno Langley, and then finally concludes that, "The whole show is stunning; it's everything I ever wanted to make. It's so colourful; so big and bold - and you wouldn't think it was shot in Cardiff."

The Guardian says that "BBC1 floors Celebrity Wrestling," reporting on the weekend's ratings debacle for ITV: "ITV1's audience share fell below 17% on Saturday when its two new entertainment shows were trounced in the ratings. Celebrity Wrestling, despite all the pre-launch hype, failed to topple BBC1's Doctor Who, while ITV1's Hell's Kitchen sank to its second lowest audience so far. ITV's decision to replace Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway with a string of grappling D-listers failed to pay off - Celebrity Wrestling attracted just 3.8 million viewers and a scant 21% share. Ant and Dec signed off with a bang last week, beating Doctor Who for the first time in four weeks and helping ITV1 to an all-hours share of 20.8%. Saturday Night Takeaway, averaging an audience of more than 7.1 million, nudged ahead of Doctor Who, which pulled 7 million viewers, its lowest audience to date. This week, however, BBC1's timelord attracted nearly twice as many viewers as Celebrity Wrestling." Broadcast Now also covers this.

A CBBC News poll shows that Doctor Who and The Simpsons are tied for first place on "What is your favourite TV programme?" (at least, at press time). Both shows lead with 15.25% of the vote.

The Daily Star said yesterday that Billie Piper "got her revenge on estranged husband Chris Evans - by setting the Daleks on him. She got one of the telly baddies to shout: 'Exterminate! Exterminate!' down the phone at him. The sexy actress kept playing the prank on the 38-year-old media tycoon at the height of their marriage troubles while she was filming the hit BBC sci-fi series. Billie, 22, who plays the Doctor's sidekick Rose in the show, kept asking the man behind the Daleks' voices on the show to speak into her mobile. He would give callers - including Evans - a shock by uttering the evil Daleks' notorious catchphrase. Actor Nicholas Briggs, 35, revealed: 'Billie came up to me on set with her mobile and she'd tell the person on the other end, "There's someone to speak to you." Then she'd hand over the phone and I'd go, "Exterminate! Exterminate! You are an enemy of the Daleks!" She did it with all her friends. Billie also asked me if I'd record her voicemail message, so she could tell callers they'd be exterminated if they didn't leave a message." It also notes that Barnaby Edwards, who operated the Dalek, said Billie spent hours chatting to him about her life - while he was stuck inside the mechanical monster. "Billie was great. She would lean on the Dalek and we'd chat about all sorts. I can't reveal what, though!"

"Take me to your earth leader. Exterminate!" says today's Times. "So what has Russell T. Davies, chief writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, got against Tony Blair?" the newspaper asks, discussing a plot point about the aliens in the two-part story "Aliens of London" and "World War Three"... and saying that the aliens have a habit of "only revealing their true selves when they lie." We must wonder exactly who at the Times is watching the show... since the idea that the aliens reveal themselves when they lie was a rumor reported last summer -- and it's not true, as the rumor was later debunked by Russell T Davies!

Some additional press clips today: the Guardian notes that "Christopher Eccleston's replacements are already auditioning on ITV," discussing the ITV series "Hit Me Baby One More Time" which shows on Saturday nights; today'sDaily Record repeats interview comments from David Tennant; the Cool Stuff section in this weekÆs Sci Fi Weekly is all about the new Dr Who miniatures, written by fan writer Sean Huxter; the Ask Men website currently features a Doctor Who montage as their video of the day from April 18 (but it's still available now); Leeds Today discusses the police box that has "put a little corner of Yorkshire in the spotlight," noting that "Wetherby Police Station's old-fashioned 1950s style police box is a dead ringer for Dr Who's Tardis û and is attracting a flow of visitors and fans of the time lord"; theDaily Record says that "Billie Piper wishes she had a sofa to hide behind as a Dalek has her in its sights" discussing this weekend's new episode; and theofficial Doctor Who Website has once again been updated to include photos and details on "Dalek" in advance of the broadcast.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Andy Parish, Simon Mapp, Adam Williams, Steven Perry, Assad Khaishgi, Sean Parnell)

The BBC Press Office has posted new program information and highlights for Week 19 (7û13 May). The Featuresdocument (a PDF file) does not have a Doctor Who article this week, although it does include a short snippet on David Tennant: "David Tennant, confirmed as the 10th Doctor Who, declares: 'I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own TARDIS.' Tennant, whose recent credits include BBC Three's Casanova, BBC One's Blackpool and He Knew He Was Right, will star alongside Billie Piper, who returns as Rose Tyler." The 7-day document ofhighlights (again, a PDF file) previews Saturday 7 May's The Long Game, in usual spoiler-ish manner... which we've placed in the SPOILER tags below for your convenience. (This is also available as part of the smaller Saturdaydocument).

BBC News has a great article up about next weekend's episode, "Dalek", including several photos from the episode. "The new series of Doctor Who has seen Christopher Eccleston fight living dummies, restless spirits and aliens disguised as MPs, but he has yet to face his mortal enemies The Daleks," says the article. "That will be rectified in a forthcoming episode entitled simply Dalek, in which the Time Lord finds that one of the metal killing machines has been collected by an unsuspecting billionaire." It notes the licensing problems that nearly prevented them from appearing in the series, as well as quotes from several people involved in the production. "The Daleks of the 1960s and 1970s would not make the grade today," says director Joe Ahearne. "They would be seen as comical rather than frightening. We couldn't have that." Mike Tucker of the model unit says, "We have taken all the perceived weaknesses of the Dalek and made them deadly," while Barnaby Edwards, who occupies the Dalek model itself, says, "I was inside the Dalek for as many shots as possible, so Chris had someone to play off rather than just talking to an empty shell." Says Nick Briggs, who voices the Dalek, "Roughly a third of the lines in the episode are either spoken by the Dalek or Rose. It never shuts up!" And cast member Bruno Langley, who plays Adam, says, "It was great to appear in such an important episode. My character gets on very well with Rose, which of course makes the Doctor jealous."

Interviewed on GMTV on Friday, Noel Clarke (Mickey) says he'll return for the second season. No word as yet on who else will be joining the cast for the second year...

The tenth Doctor... in a kilt? The Sunday Mail says that David Tennant "wants to be the first Time Lord to wear the kilt. The Paisley-born actor, 33, said it was time the character had a new dress code." "I would love to be the first Time Lord to wear a kilt," Tennant says. "And I intend to speak with a full Scottish lilt when I make it into the Tardis." Also reported at Digital Spy,

From what we can gather, BBC Radio One and BBC television will be doing some rather extensive publicity for the forthcoming Dalek episode starting today (Monday). The BBC have begun to promote next Saturday's episode with a 30 second trailer. The trailer opens with the TARDIS in the vortex, before moving into a clip of the Doctor's first encounter with the Dalek. As the Dalek is revealed and speaks the theme comes in. The trailer ends with a shot of Billie and Chris in the TARDIS from one of the specially shot trailers. The trailer was shown Sunday, immediately after "Points Of View", at approx 5.05pm.

Play.com are running a "Doctor Who" DVD promotion which is highlighted on their DVD home page with a small picture of Tom Baker and Terry Molloy's Davros, under the banner "Doctor Who Classics". Following the link opens a page headed with the line "Doctor Who? Remind yourself of why we all love the time travelling dalek-fighter so much with these timeless classics!"

On 24th April BBC Ceefax ran a 5-page TV Feature entitled "New Guise For The Doctor's Assistant" which was an interview with Billie Piper, opening with: "For singer-turned-Dr Who actress Billie Piper, coming to terms with the scale of her new show was a gradual process." Billie is quoted as saying: "I did have an idea of how big it was going to be... But I made a conscious effort not to think about the sheer amount of work and all the anticipation and expectation surrounding the show. It's only now I'm starting to see it. And it's quite scary." The item moves on to discuss her split with husband Chris Evans ("I would never ever say that Doctor Who is responsible for my divorce"), acting opposite alien creatures ("It was quite funny...to see all those grown men just fall to the floor when they saw the Dalek"), missing out on other high profile roles ("I audition a lot and there's so much I don't get") and her close friendship with Christopher Eccleston ("Me and Chris shared a lot together... The last eight months have been heavy both in terms of schedule and personal life. So we've been forced together and joined at the hip. It's been a very intense relationship").

Saturday's The Guardian reported on Christopher Eccleston doing a voiceover for the Channel 4 documentary "Porn Shutdown," which airs Monday at 11.05pm, "as lucid and informative an introduction to the Californian sex industry as you could want. If you knew absolutely nothing about modern pornography this programme could leave you speechless and disturbed." Eccleston narrates the very frank documentary.

The MediaWatch website reports on a story that ran in the 18 April 2005 edition of the Daily Express. Under the headline "Dr Who crucifixion really spoons Beyer off", the story reads: "TodayÆs Express reports that episode six of the BBCÆs hit series Dr Who contains some foul language and offensive imagery, despite its pre-watershed scheduling. According to The Express, 'Media watchdogs' - ie John Beyer of Mediawatch UK - have condemned the show, which depicts an evil character telling one of his henchmen to 'canoodle and spoon' with the DoctorÆs assistant, Rose. Van Stratten also tortures the Doctor by binding him to a crucifix with metal shackles. Beyer has branded the BBC 'irresponsible' for including such inappropriate imagery and language: 'This is not a programme designed for children [à] I am surprised the BBC have gone with this, they should have been more attentive to youngsters....Apparently a certain religious group believe they have a patent on that particular form of torture, and regard anything resembling it as a breach of copyright. This grants them the opportunity to take public offence."

The current edition of the Pink Paper (issue 871) - the national UK free LGBT newspaper - has a story on page 3 entitled "Who-ray! the doctor is in" (accompanied by a colour photograph of the TARDIS). The story reports that a fund-raising auction is to be held on 1 May at the Cardiff Mardi Gras Pink Ball: "One lucky Doctor Who fan is to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the infamous Tardis and meet the cast of the new BBC series courtesy of Cardiff-Wales Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras." The story goes on to say that postal bids for the prize are also welcome, which must be sent by 25 April together with name, address and telephone number to Matthew Bailey (Doctor Who auction), Safer Cardiff, 2nd Floor, Terminus Building, Wood Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EQ. The story is also highlighted at the top of the front page of the paper - again with a (part)photo of the TARDIS - under the headline "BLUE IS THE COLOUR: Gays to win trip in Tardis. The online version of the Pink Paper, is currently running an edited version of this story on its front page under the headline "Who-ray- the Doctor's in".

The May edition of the magazine "Cult Times" carries a 3-page interview with Billie Piper: "Billie Piper on her hopes for a musical episode" states the cover. On the musical episode itself Billie says: "I love Buffy. And I love Buffy the musical. That's a really great show. I'm trying to convince Russell to write one, and I think he will as long as he can star in it."

Saturday evening's new series "National Lottery Come And Have A Go", which immediately followed "World War Three", showed a clip from next week's Dalek episode. Several trailers have been seen playing on BBC stations in the UK. Meanwhile, "Doctor Who" references continue to crop up on ITV's "Ministry Of Mayhem". On Saturday's edition characters used a bigger-on-the-inside MFI cupboard to 'transport' themselves from the studio to the car park, making the "Doctor Who" link obvious with the line "Who needs a TARDIS?".

Doctor Who has once again appeared on the BBC's popular satirical news quizHave I got News For You. This time the series appeared as part of the "Odd one out" round where the four choices were Andrew Marr, Peter Purves, The Beatles and Rodrey Morgan. Any fans watching will have telegraphed the Doctor Who connection immediately, as did Paul Merton who is slowly revealing some whovian leanings. He also mentioned how much he enjoyed last weeks episode, provoking regret from Ian Hislop for not seeing it himself upon hearing that the Prime minister disapeared - something he and a lot of us really wish might happen. (Oh and the odd one out was Rodrey Morgan, as the others have appeared in the series and he almost appeared when mistaken for an extra a while back...)

The CBBC's Newsround website has the poll "How Scary Is Doctor Who?" ("Do you hide behind the sofa or laugh your socks off?") on its homepage, allowing site visitors to vote in four categories: Terrifying!, Quite Scary, A bit tame or It's rubbish! . As of Saturday, the winning vote was Quite Scary with 39.50%.

ITV Teletext's "TV Plus" section had Saturday's episode as it's 'pick', billed as "Dr Who's Timeless Excitements" and contained a brief preview in which it describes last week's episode as "vintage Dr Who" and ends with: "Peppered with in-jokes, hilariously hum-drum details and Russell T Davies's trademark dialogue, this is pacy, satisfying television, which remains just the right side of kitsch.". In addition the letters page of the same section is headed "Brit sci-fi is TV's future" and contains a letter in praise of "Doctor Who".

Some other weekend press mentions: another Scotsman article about David Tennant, about his role in "Horace Can't Help It"; icWales interviews someone whose grandfather may be the real creator of the Daleks; theicSouth Londonsite discusses reactions to Eccleston's departure from some local viewers and fans, the Sutton Whos; a review of this weekend's "World War Three" can be found in the Herald; and the Sun reports on today's ratings debacle for ITV's Celebrity Wrestling, Doctor Who's competitor in the 7pm Saturday time slot.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Jamie Austin, Chuck Foster, Dean Braithwaite, Bill Albert, Faiz Rehman, Robert Booth, Tim Austin)

The official ratings for The Unquiet Dead were released by BARB: 8.86 million viewers officially watched the show; it was the fifth most watched program of the week, beaten only by multiple episodes of "Coronation Street," "EastEnders," "Emmerdale" and "Heartbeat." The show actually came in at number 15 for the week, though three of the other four series (except "Heartbeat") show multiple episodes weekly. These final ratings include viewers who recorded the program for viewing later in the week.

Overnight ratings from the Tuesday airing this week of "The Unquiet Dead" on CBC in Canada show that 878,000 viewers tuned in for the episode, down very slightly from "The End of the World." Once again Doctor Who was #2 in it's timeslot and #4 in primetime; the Tuesday night winner was "The Amazing Race" which switched places with last week's winner "American Idol," which now sits in second place for the night.

In Australia, ABC television has started its campaign promoting the new Doctor Who; on Wednesday, April 20, just after they screened the BBC comedy "Nighty Night," they showed a general "trailer" for their broadcast of the new series in May, which included clips from Doctor Who (only from Rose, it seems). Just before the next program, local comedy news commentary "The Glasshouse," they played a five-second teaser which was simply a shot of the TARDIS materialising with green text typing itself on the screen saying "Guess who's back!"

Radio Times will be releasing a Doctor Who special, focused on the Daleks, next Tuesday, to coincide with the broadcast of the forthcoming Dalek episode of the new series. (Radio Times will have a direct advert link from these pages during that time so you'll be able to order it directly if you don't already get it!)

Today's Sun features spoilers for the forthcoming episode "Dalek" which we've reproduced in the spoiler tag at the end of this column. Accompanied by a picture of Rose with the chained-up Dalek and a smaller picture of Billie Piper, both story and headlines give extensive plot details about the episode - due to air in the UK on April 30 - and there are huge spoilers.

Channel 4 chat show Richard and Judy had a 14-minute slot on Thursday featuring Sylvester McCoy and Nick Briggs to promote "Dalek." The section started with a clip from the next episode - World War Three - with the Doctor confronting the Slitheen, which was followed by a pre-filmed insert of a vox pop of members of the public saying how much they liked Doctor Who both old and new style. Asked for his thoughts on the new series, McCoy was generally in favour, commenting that he was envious of the equipment and technology now available. He said that he became hooked after being sent a DVD of the first episode to review for BBCi, but added that he wasn't very keen on the new interior of the TARDIS. Briggs, who voices the Dalek in the episode to be shown in the UK on 30 April, told of the "really lovely atmosphere" on set, and said that there was "proper character stuff" in his dialogue exchanges with the Doctor and Rose. The ring modulator device, used to produce the distinctive Dalek speech pattern, was shown, then later demonstrated, followed by a clip from McCoy's adventure Remembrance of the Daleks. Viewers were reminded that the Daleks' ability to "fly" was shown in Remembrance, and then an "exclusive preview" clip - lasting one minute seven seconds - from Dalek was shown. McCoy was asked what he was doing now (touring in Arsenic and Old Lace) and Briggs managed to get a quick mention for the Big Finish range of audio CDs. The new DVD and BBC CDs were briefly highlighted. At the end of the slot, it was announced that Billie Piper would be appearing live on the show on Friday 29 April. Richard and Judy normally airs at 5pm.

Blue Peter will also have another Doctor Who event on the same day, April 29. "The gang go behind the scenes of Doctor Who, the destination for this year's summer expedition is revealed, Rooster perform in the studio and Meg has an exciting piece of news."

The lead story for TV Biz in today's The Sun says that the stars of top British comedy series Little Britain - David Walliams and Matt Lucas - are to have cameo roles in the next series of Doctor Who, which begins filming in July. According to the Sun story, Lucas - who appeared in Russell T Davies's period romp Casanova - is pals with David Tennant. Walliams is also said to be a Doctor Who fan. Lucas and Walliams won two Baftas on Sunday, and a source was quoted as saying: "David Tennant was mobbed at the Baftas on Sunday night. He had a long line of celebs queuing [sic] up at his table to congratulate him on getting the part. Everyone was begging, 'Get me on the show.'" The story was accompanied by a mock-up picture of Lucas and Walliams sitting in Davros casings, with Lucas in character as Little Britain gay character Dafydd and saying: "I'm the only gay in the Daleks" - parodying his character's catchphrase "I'm the only gay in the village." Walliams's image merely says: "Ahem!" There was no sign of the story being posted on The Sun's internet site. Walliams was also pictured as Little Britain character hotelier Ray McClooney. Little Britain already has a strong Doctor Who link in Tom Baker, who has provided the narration for both series, and both Walliams and Lucas have appeared in "Big Finish" audios ("Phantasmagoria" and "The One Doctor," respectively). The story has also been reported on Ananova which reports that pop star Will Young also wants to make a comedy appearance in the new series, as well as on Sky News.

A clarification about Eve Myles, which we reported the other day was going to appear in "Belonging," a BBC Wales series, according to reports in the Daily Star. Says our correspondent Dean Braithwaite: "The Daily Star piece makes it sound as if this is a new, one-off part for her, which is not the case. Eve has played Ceri Lewis - one of the main characters in Belonging, a BBC Wales drama - since it began in 1999. The current series - series 6 - is airing on BBC1 on Wednesdays at 10.50 pm and the digital channel BBC2W on Thursdays at 9 pm. Series 7 is currently in production. (NB: not to be confused with the one-off ITV1 drama Belonging, starring Brenda Blethyn, which aired in 2004.) Eve Myles is lovely and her character very feisty. Anyone intersested can read more about Belonging at its BBC website where there are biogs and photos of all the characters. Belonging is a brilliant series that, unfortunately, does not air in the rest of the UK. Anyone living in Wales, however, should seek this series out!"

Could Billie Piper leave the series sometime during the next season? That's the rumor on the Popbitch gossip column site, which reportedly notes that actress who plays Rose might leave at some point next season, following in the footsteps of Christopher Eccleston. However, we should stress that this is only hearsay and rumor and hasn't been confirmed anywhere. Piper, meanwhile, was named on the "World's 100 Sexiest Women" poll in FHM magazine this week, coming in at number 62.

Next week's Radio Times features an article regarding the ratings of "The End of the World" and the departure of Christopher Eccleston. "It was inevitable that the second episode of Doctor Who would shed a significant proportion of its viewers. Doubtless, a great number of the 2.6 million people who decided not to bother with episode two had satisfied their curiosity the week before, while others were perhaps enjoying some 'unseasonably hot weather' and doing whatever people do in 'unseasonably hot weather'. But I wonder just how many of those 'missing' 2.6 million people had walked away after taking umbrage with the show's star Christopher Eccleston, who, we learnt just days after his Doctor Who debut on BBC 1, won't be returning to the role for a second series. The outcry after the BBC confirmed that Eccieston wouldn't do a second series was immediate and spectacular. Venom was tipped by the bucketload. Eccieston was pilloried on internet fansites, called 'the most hated man in science fiction', and became the subject of disproportionately huge, spiteful features in national newspapers. The news was disappointing, of course, and the timing of the announcement was poor, leaving viewers to sit through the remaining 12 episodes knowing full well that its star has no wish to return. (It turns out the BBC made the revelation as a response to journalists' questions, and without consulting the actor first about the nature of its official statement.) But treating Eccleston almost as if he's a war criminal shows an absurd lack of perspective, particularly in an age when the 13 episodes he's filmed would amount to two series of most other dramas. Still, despite all the nonsense, there are some lessons here. Audiences can be very proprietorial about their TV heroes, and Doctor Who devotees are probably the most committed of all. (On radio, The Archers is similarly treasured by its fans, who take very personally what happens in Ambridge.) And no one likes their heroes to be slighted or mucked around. If there's one thing to be learnt about the extreme reaction to Eccieston's decision, it's that audiences' affections are not to be trifled with. But the point about heroes is that they endure. Doctor Who survived years in the wilderness after being kicked off air, and he will return in another incarnation. In short: calm down, dear, he's only a Time Lord."

Is Toby Whithouse writing for the second season of the new series? There are rumors that suggest that he might be one of the writers from several sources, although nothing has been confirmed. Whithouse was one of the creators and writers of the Channel 4 series "No Angels" as well as a writer on "Attachments" and "Where the Heart Is"; he's also an actor who appeared in "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "RKO 281". We report only for the sake of completeness...

There has been a small update to the official Doctor Who website, introducing a panel of children aged four to twelve, which they call their "Fear Forecasters," who are giving ratings for the scariness of the episodes.

The BBC Press Office has today released the fifth phase of its Doctor Whopress pack, featuring interviews with Rob Shearman, Bruno Langley and Nick Briggs, with three new colour photographs from episode six. The interviews contain mild spoilers for the episode.

A reporter for the Northern Echo noted this week that seeing Prime Minister Tony Blair on "Ant and Dec" caused the journalist to think to himself, "He should've gone on Doctor Who on the BBC because that programme gets a bigger audience". "But any publicity is good publicity during an election campaign, even if the Doctor shouted, 'If you want aliens, you've got them - they're in Downing Street'," he noted.

The Daily Star notes that the next Doctor, David Tennant, is now involved with Sarah Parish of "Cutting It." "The couple couldn't hide their fast-developing relationship at Sunday's TV bash where they chatted and cuddled in the plush ballroom. And after David, who hails from Paisley, had blagged some freebies they left at midnight to start celebrating his 34th birthday... in private. Sarah, 35, fell for the charming thesp when they played lovers in musical drama Blackpool. They only became an item after filming finished, but the chemistry on set was there for all to see. A source told us: 'All the singing and dancing in the show really lowered inhibitions. It had to because most of the actors had never done anything like it before. ... There was such a rapport between them after that. Everyone was saying they should get together."

The Daily Record comments that Doctor Who has always been a thriller. "So what if kids were so frightened they had to hide behind the sofa?," writes a reader to the paper, discussing the reports about comments that "The Unquiet Dead" was too scary. "Millions of us were scared witless in the '60s, '70s and '80s and were, at times, hiding behind the sofa. As far as I know, it didn't do any of us damage. The real problem is the adults who complained. If they really have an issue about the show why didn't they just switch off immediately? Doctor Who is back for a reason - to entertain, excite and frighten. Surely the adults who complained knew beforehand about the episode, there was plenty in the Press and clips on the TV, even after the previous episode. Doctor Who is here to stay - fresh, exciting and scary. It's fantastic." We say bravo to the writer, C. Watson of Ayrshire.

Yesterday's National Post in Canada printed an article (which was also included in many local papers including the Edmonton Journal and the Montreal Gazette) called "That Dickens of a Doctor" that called Charles Dickens an "action hero" in "The Unquiet Dead." In its review, the National Post said that "watching the confident revival of one of the UK's most silly and beloved serials has been one of the pleasures of the TV year so far. ... Not so long ago, Doctor Who was presumed dead and buried. No one could have anticipated the magnificent journey it has become. Like the hapless Sneed, Doctor Who writer Russell Davies has succeeded in bringing the dead back to life. Who knew?" Also, theToronto Star ran a piece noting that ratings in Canada are up for "This is Wonderland" on CBC, which airs Tuesdays at 9pm, thanks to its new lead-in, Doctor Who. And this week after the broadcast of "Unquiet Dead" on CBC, as usual Christopher Eccleston made recorded comments ("hope you liked this week's Doctor Who"), then introduced some behind the scenes clips while the credits rolled... and during the credits it was noted that the production credit was "BBC Wales in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation," perhaps the first official indication of co-production that's been displayed.

Some other stories of note: FilmForce discusses the rumors about Tennant's salary; the TypePad, Monsters and Critics and Sky Showbiz sites all discuss Eccleston's casting in the "Da Vinci Code" movie (which we've reported about this week); and the Forbidden Planet website has a collection of images of items they state will be official Doctor Who merchandise released later this year.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, John Bowman, Chuck Foster, Steve Hatcher, Mike Doran, Chris Winwood, Ian O'Brien, Dean Braithwaite, Graham Kibble-White, Robert Booth, Michael Davoren, Mustafa Hirji, Simon Burt, Benjamin McKenzie and Rod Mammitzsch)