Some notes on general TV series merchandise this week:

The first batch of novels featuring the Tenth Doctor is published by BBC Books this Thursday, but the three novels have been appearing in the shop over the past week.

The Doctor Who Celebration Cake, previously available only at Sainsbury, is now in most UK supermarkets.

The 10th Doctor/remote controlled K9 (5" action figure range) from Character Options has also started to appear on the high streets.

The BBC Shop homepage is currently dominated by a flash animation directing customers to "Monster savings" at the Doctor Who store - this features a 'New Earth' publicity shot and the TARDIS interior.

Amazon UK is listing a new CD for release from BBC Audio in October:Doctor Who: Monsters on Earth will be published on 2 October with a retail price of £40.

Amazon.com appears to have advance information on BBC Books' second batch of Tenth Doctor novels, listing The Nightmare of Black Island by Stephen Cole (September), The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole (October) andThe Last Museum by Jacqueline Rayner (November). At this point, these titles, authors and release dates are likely to be at best provisional.

There was literally a ton of press coverage over the weekend and late last week, so to get started we focus on reports from the weekend. The Outpost Gallifrey news page will on Tuesday carry more from last week's other press and magazine mentions (the editor's still getting caught up with the backlog!)

This Weekend's Launch

The official Doctor Who website has been updated with a front page now themed like the first new episode, New Earth.

Also, says the site, "BBC One's brand new series Totally Doctor Whostarts on Thursday 13 April at 5pm, as part of Children's BBC. Hosted by Barney Harwood and Blue Peter's Liz Barker, Totally Doctor Who will give younger viewers a glimpse of the thrills and spills coming up in the new series. "

Tooth and Claw

There's lots of coverage of episode two of the new season, Tooth and Claw, the past few days. BBC News says that "The latest Doctor Who series, starring David Tennant, will see BBC One's time traveller and his sidekick Rose tackle predators including a werewolf. The second episode sees the Doctor face the creature - a man transformed into a wolf - in Scotland in 1879. Tennant had his first outing in the role for last year's Christmas episode. The new series begins on Saturday. He and co-star Billie Piper attended a Glasgow preview of the werewolf show although it was filmed in Wales."

The Sunday Herald says that "On-set in Cardiff, Tennant is nervous energy personified. While waiting to film a scene, he jumps up and down on the spot and waggles his fingers, then attempts the dance routine from the latest Rachel Stevens video. Today, they are filming the second episode of the new series -- Tooth And Claw, which is set in the Scottish Highlands. In it, Queen Victoria's train derails and she seeks shelter in the mansion of a former friend of Prince Albert's. Unfortunately, the grand country pile has another house guest -- a werewolf. The Doctor and his travelling companion Rose are around too, a Tardis malfunction seeing them fetch up in 1879 when they were actually attempting to attend an Ian Dury gig in 1979. 'It's a bit confusing today,' says Tennant, while waiting for the cameras to roll. 'Lots of running up and down corridors. You tend to forget which you are in. But it's a Doctor Who tradition, running up and down corridors.' He's wearing the brown pinstripe suit that is his Doctor Who outfit ('Jarvis Cocker had this look 10 years ago'), and leaning up against the scenery. There's a deer skull screwed to the wall above him, and a candelabra nearby. One woman has the job of keeping the candles lit, which is bad news for Billie Piper -- Rose in the show -- who sets her hair on fire while running past, but quickly pats it out. 'I've got so much hairspray on as well!' she cackles, clearly amused. She walks around, getting the cast and crew to smell her singed locks. 'Mmm,' says Pauline Collins, who is playing Queen Victoria. 'I love the smell of burning hair.' Such incidents offer much-needed excitement on-set. While it's thrilling to watch, Doctor Who is gruelling to make. Filming began on this new series in July 2005 and continued until the end of March. Cast and crew work 12-hour days, and much of today is taken up with simply running up the corridor towards the camera. There isn't even a werewolf chasing them. That's a special effect which will be put in later. In the meantime, to give the computer animators a guide to work towards, the cast are pursued by a man in body-hugging white Lycra, complete with hood. He looks exactly like one of the sperms from Woody Allen's film Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask. During a break in filming, David Tennant sits down with a cup of tea to talk about starring in Doctor Who. He has been a fan since he was a child growing up in Renfrewshire and is one of those people who know more about the show than is strictly healthy (his earliest memory is of seeing Jon Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker), so to actually become his boyhood hero has been rather overwhelming. 'It's a bit surreal,' he nods. 'It doesn't seem plausible that you should suddenly get your own Tardis. It seemed fantastically unlikely when they asked me to do it. I just laughed.' When Christopher Eccleston agreed to play the Doctor it was a leap of faith -- one of Britain's most serious actors opting to portray a character who had become a kitschy, culty joke, smelling of cheese and mothballs. Tennant, on the other hand, faces a different kind of pressure -- meeting the high standard set by his predecessor. 'I owe Chris a lot because he was part of creating a phenomenon last year, and his very presence gave the show a mark of quality which some people didn't expect,' he says. 'My problem is I have to live up to that and not be the reason that this year it falls to bits. So it's not so much a leap of faith for me as a leap of hope. I've got much further to fall now that the show is such a big hit. It is intimidating. You think, 'What if I'm the George Lazenby of this?' But then you think, 'I can't not take it on.'' ... In fact, by far the most disturbing moment of the previous series of Doctor Who was the least grisly -- The Empty Child, a two-parter in which the gas mask-wearing ghost of a little boy killed in the Blitz haunts his gymslip mother. Something of its skin-crawling spirit looks to have been captured in New Earth, the first episode of the new series, in which a cats dressed as nuns seek antidotes to diseases by testing them on captive humans. Written by Davies, the episode is a spin on MRSA and animal vivisection (with un-intentional shades of the recent drugs-trial horror) and demonstrates his alchemical knack for turning headlines into plot lines. Under his influence, Doctor Who has become enjoyably liberal, featuring an inter-racial relationship and an alien whose extreme horniness has no regard for gender or indeed species. 'One of the great pleasures of the first series is that we did manage to do that at seven o'clock on a Saturday night and nobody batted an eyelid,' says Phil Collinson . 'Five years ago, if we'd put a bisexual character in a series that has a huge children's following there would have been a massive storm of protest, and I think it is a genuine reflection of our times that that is not the case now. As a society we are more liberal and accepting, and I think what Russell's writing does brilliantly is reflect real life. Even though this is science fiction, we are dealing with real people with real emotions.'"

The Western Mail says that "With its speed, thirst for blood, menacing eyes and evil looking teeth and claws, this is the enemy the Doctor must face in one of the scariest episodes ever. The sight of a werewolf trapping the Doctor is guaranteed to send children fleeing for the safety of the back of the sofa during episode two. Fans of Doctor Who, which returns next Saturday, are used to being scared by the likes of the Daleks, Sea Devils and the Zygons. But the realistic nature of the CGI werewolf, the main monster in the episode Tooth and Claw, could rival a Hollywood horror movie. The episode, starring Pauline Collins, sees Rose and the Doctor transported back to Scotland in 1879. Collins' Queen Victoria meets the pair while en route to the Torchwood Estate, but when they arrive they discover that a group of monks - skilled in martial arts - are hiding a dark secret. Written by Russell T Davies, the episode takes on a sinister bent when the secret is exposed to be a werewolf who wants something belonging to the Queen. For 45 minutes the beast stalks the corridors of the estate, which is Craig-y-Nos Castle in disguise, at one point trapping Rose and the Doctor in a drawing room while it claws at the woodwork. With the beast's thirst for blood, Davies admits it's 'as scary as we ever get'. But the new Doctor, David Tennant, insists it's all in the programme's tradition. He said, 'Being scared is part of growing up. That's what Doctor Who has done since 1963 and I'm glad to see it continue. The show has had horror for as long as I can remember.'"

David Tennant has told of his delight at playing a Scot in the new series of Doctor Who. A feature piece for the UK's Press Association, circulated for Scotland only, runs as follows: "Doctor Who actor David Tennant has spoken of his joy at getting to play a Scot in one episode of the new series. The star was in Glasgow for a preview of episode two from the second series. The episode, entitled Tooth and Claw, sees Tennant time travel to Scotland during Queen Victoria's reign and save the monarch from a werewolf on a Highland estate with help from his companion Rose, played by Billie Piper. The 34-year-actor, who trained at Glasgow's RSAMD, ditched his Scots accent to take on the role of the Doctor at the request of writer Russell T Davies. But he gets to use his own accent in the new episode as he pretends to be a doctor trained in Edinburgh. Although the filming was still done in Wales, Tennant said he found the valleys used in the episode were remarkably similar to landscapes of Scotland. Tennant, who grew up in Paisley, attended the viewing with Piper and also took the chance to meet up with his father, former minister Sandy McDonald. He said he had enjoyed the last nine months filming the series in Cardiff and was looking forward to a welcome break before returning for the third series of the BBC Wales production. On getting to play Doctor Who in his own accent, Tennant said: 'It wasn't a specific ambition, I think it's just great to bring in a Scot for personal reason. Also storywise, it is nice to keep moving it around, taking the character to different places. 'Obviously it's filmed in Wales, so Cardiff has had a shot so I was quite keen that Scotland got a shot and that obviously has some personal ramifications, it's nice. 'I wasn't disappointed at not getting to use my Scottish accent, that was what I was asked to do. It didn't bother me one way or another. I've always felt that part of working as an actor is being happy to take on different roles. 'It doesn't make me feel any less Scottish because I don't always work in a Scottish accent but it was nice to know that we got this one episode with the doctor slipping into the accent.' On getting to play the role of the Time Lord, the self-confessed fan said: 'I'm delighted to be here, it's a huge privilege to be here. I'm having a ball.' "

The UK's Press Association filed a story to media headlined "Doctor Who saves Queen Victoria - from a werewolf' In it, showbusiness editor Anita Singh wrote: "Doctor Who must rescue Queen Victoria from a werewolf's clutches in the Time Lord's latest adventure. The Doctor (David Tennant) and sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) end up landing their Tardis in the Scottish Highlands in 1879. There they encounter Queen Victoria, played by Pauline Collins, and join her for a stay at the Torchwood Estate. But a mysterious creature is lurking in the cellar - and the Doctor battles to save the Queen from a nasty fate. The episode, called Tooth and Claw, is the second of the new series which begins later this month. Tennant and Piper attended a special screening in Glasgow. Although set in Scotland, the episode was actually filmed in Wales. Tennant, 34, grew up in Paisley but ditched his Scottish accent for the role of the Doctor. He gets to use it in this episode as he pretends to be a doctor trained in Edinburgh."

The Evening Times discusses an appearance by David Tennant and Billie Piper in Glasgow, discussing the debut of the second series. "But Tennant, the Paisley boy who attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, proved as enigmatic as the iconic television character he is playing. He neatly dodged inquiries about his girlfriend, actress Sophia Myles, who played Lady Penelope in the movie Thunderbirds. And he was a little guarded about the fact he doesn't use his own accent when playing the Doctor. But he did reveal that when he was offered the part his first reaction was not to take the job because of the profile it carries. 'I thought 'Oh no!' A show like this does attract so much attention. But a couple of days later I changed my mind. And now I think it's a huge thrill and a huge privilege to play the character. I am having a ball.' Billie Piper blushed when asked whether David or previous star Christopher Eccleston was the best Doctor. She said: 'David's is more emotional while Christopher's was more intense - but I've had great fun working with both.'" In another report, Tennant says that "the Windsors were turned into big, bad werewolves after Queen Victoria was attacked by a bloodthirsty hound. The Doctor lands his tardis in the Queen's residence of Balmoral to help save the day after it emerges that the tainted blood could be passed on to future generations, even the current monarchy. But cheeky Tennant, 34, said he wasn't worried about a royal backlash. He said: 'They are werewolves aren't they? Maybe we will be done for treason, but I hope they don't get too upset.' And his sexy sidekick said she was sure the Queen would see the funny side. Billie, 23, said: 'I've heard the Royals are fans of the show and I hope they still are, even after this episode.' ... In the second episode, set in the 18th-century Highlands, Tennant gets to speak with his Scottish accent for the only time in the series - the Doctor normally has more of a London twang. But the actor said he was not bothered that his Dr Who is not Scottish. He said: 'I was asked to do a certain accent and that is what I did. I don't think it is important really. I was just happy that this episode has a Scottish flavour for my own obvious personal reasons.'"

The Independent says that "British drama is in 'genuinely good health', the writer behind the revised version of Doctor Who believes, but if there is a problem, it is writers who are to blame. 'If there's a paucity, I think it's the fault of the writers, because the commissioners are desperate for good material,' says Russell T Davies. 'The greatest censor at work is the writer sitting at home saying, they'll never accept that on BBC1 or ITV. ... It's daft to say you won't watch anything at nine o'clock. Those people running at nine o'clock now were us 15 years ago. They might have to write a Midsomer Murders to get to where they need to be in the industry to have a bit of clout. 'I got The Second Coming on to ITV, about the return of the son of God, at the end of which God was killed and atheism conquered the world. I was very lucky to get that made. But then again, luck is just hard work a lot of the time.' ... As chief scriptwriter on Doctor Who, overseeing the work of fellow scribes of the calibre of The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss and Coupling creator Stephen Moffat, Davies has, true to his word, removed the shackles from his imagination. A sinister race of catwomen, an encounter between Queen Victoria and a werewolf, the devil and a terrifying squid-like monster all feature in the second series. Alongside action-packed adventure sequences, Davies also explores the Doctor, now played by Scottish actor David Tennant, and his assistant Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper, on a more intimate level. 'Stephen Moffat has written what is practically a love story for the Doctor in episode four. That's never been seen. It's very understated, very beautifully done, but it's nonetheless a Time Lord falling in love and Rose's reaction to him falling in love with someone else.' Elements of the old Doctor Who, including the Cybermen and K9, make a comeback in series two, following the reappearance of the Daleks in the first series, when Christopher Eccleston brought a wry northern charm to the part of the Doctor. Davies is a great believer in the backstory. 'If you're doing Dracula, you want the crucifixes and the brides and the bats and the howling wolf. Every science-fiction series has its race of robots on the rampage, so you might as well use the Cybermen.' ... A lifelong fan of Doctor Who, Davies refuses to pander to others who share his addiction. He fears a lot of science-fiction writers, particularly in America, pay too much attention to what is written on fan websites. 'I think it's a huge mistake. If you came to me and said 'You've made a brand new programme, I'd like to run it past a focus group of 2,000 people,' I'd say, 'No way, no good drama has ever been made that way.' He has even less time for professional television critics, believing they fail to engage with television as popular culture because they watch shows like Doctor Who on a VHS tape on Tuesday morning, rather than at the point of transmission on Saturday night, making for a completely different atmosphere. ... He hopes to do just that with Torchwood, which is set in Cardiff in 2006 with a strong Welsh cast and crew - although there are also some English actors, including Burn Gorman, fresh from playing Mr Guppy in BBC1's Bleak House. "The more you can get that accent on screen, the more normalising it is," he explains. Is it an attempt to get more Welsh voices on to network television by stealth? He lets out another of his trademark huge guffaws. "It is a stealth campaign," he agrees gleefully. "Stealth Welsh."

The Sun says that "A howling man turns into a werewolf and threatens to take over the world in a scary new episode of Dr Who. The Doctor (David Tennant) and assistant Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) encounter the beast on a time-travelling trip to 1879 Scotland. They find the werewolf kept in a cage by monks and soon realise it is out to get Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins). The pair rush to protect her -- but find themselves trapped in a room as the hairy monster scratches at the walls. Dr Who creator Russell T Davies said of the episode — part of a new BBC1 series which begins next week: 'It's very British — that Oliver Reed, Hammer Horror thing.'" The Sun also has some photos from the second episode.

People

David Tennant will be interviewed on Virgin Radio on Wednesday April 12 on the "Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show".

Says the Sunday Mail, "Doctor Who star David Tennant has revealed his scariest TV moment - an on-screen cook-off with his dad. Tennant faces terrifying monsters when the new series of the sci-fi drama starts this week. But he said going on Ready, Steady, Cook with his dad, Sandy McDonald, was scarier. The 34-year-old actor said: "Our episode of Ready, Steady, Cook is going out on Wednesday. You genuinely do it in 20 minutes. I was surprised because whenever I've seen it I think they do it in four hours and then cut it together. It was the most tense 20 minutes I have ever spent in my life. I was with Brian Turner and my dad was with Nick Nairn, so they did the whole Scottish thing. The worst part is when Ainsley starts talking to you. The chef will go, 'Chop them into thin strips,' and I'm desperately trying to get this right while Ainsley wants to chat about Daleks. I wanted to say, 'I can't multi-task like this! I am really tense right now.' And all the time I'm also worrying about whether my dad's going to embarrass me.' ... He said: 'It's really tricky - your brain clicks into one way of thinking and it's hard to switch. There is one scene where I am talking about a telescope and I turn round to Rose and speak in the doctor's voice. Then I turn round again and speak in a Scottish voice. It was confusing and I had to run through that in my bedroom a few times.'"

The Mirror says that Christopher Eccleston will return to the TV in an ITV1 thriller called "Perfect Parents."

The Mirror says that "If Doctor Who sidekick Billie Piper had a real-life time-travelling Tardis, she'd probably spend some more time with her boyfriend. Poor old Amadu Sowe. His gorgeous girlfriend spends nine months of the year in Cardiff filming one of Britain's most popular TV shows with a desirable young actor, and he sees her about as often as the viewing public will do - once a week. But his loss is our gain as the former wild child throws her energy into her much-loved portrayal of sidekick Rose Tyler, back on our screens on Saturday with the new Doctor, David Tennant. 'I see David more than I see my family and my boyfriend,' confesses the 23-year-old beauty. 'Amadu visits me quite a lot - not as much as I'd like - but enough. This year I'm in a hotel with room service every night. We work 12 to 13-hour days, so there's not much chance to do anything after work.' And her weekends are little different. There are no wild parties for her and Amadu when she returns to the London flat they share. 'I just sit on the sofa for two days. I don't really want to talk to anyone at the weekends. I like to sit in my flat and be completely selfish. I watch TV, eat far too much and drink some beers.'" Also reported by The Sun, Channel 4, ITV, ITN, Ananova,Fametastic, Female First.

Various quotes from Billie and David at the press launch last week can be found in the Sunday Mail, the Cleveland Plain Dealer,

The Mirror also notes that "Doctor Who boss Russell T Davies has banned ex-Time Lords from appearing on the show. The writer has vowed former Doctors will never come back for the sci-fi drama's anniversary specials as they have done in classic BBC episodes. It means that Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Christopher Eccleston won't return to the show. Davies, 42, said: 'I don't like past Doctor adventures. I've never liked it when Doctors met other Doctors because I think it's an actors' parade. You're not watching the Doctors, you're watching party pieces - so it won't happen.' ... Christopher Eccleston was unlikely ever to accept any approach after he fell out with the BBC over his departure. All the same, some fans are outraged at the ban. Graeme MacIntosh, 37, from Glasgow, said: 'I grew up watching Tom Baker and Peter Davison. Russell has done a brilliant job in resurrecting the show, but he's also a fan and knows an old Doctor's return is event TV.' A spokesman for official fanclub the Doctor Who Appreciation Society said Da vies was correct, though a lot of die-hard followers would be disappointed. He said: 'I'm sure a lot of fans would like to see multi-Doctor stories. But we agree with Russell. Viewers new to the show can feel excluded by references to 20 years ago. We'd rather see more adventures with the new Doctor, David Tennant.' Writer Davies also defended the return of old companions Sarah Jane Smith and robot dog K9 in the new series. Billie Piper's character Rose gets jealous, thinking Sarah Jane is the Doctor's old flame. 'We brought back Sarah Jane and K9 to tell a Rose story, and it works fantastically well.'"

icWales says that "David Tennant has turned his sex symbol status on its head by admitting he wore saggy Steptoe thermals while filming in Wales! The 34-year-old actor - who should be used to the cold seeing as he hails from Scotland - has revealed he wore two layers through the Cardiff winter, which left him feeling more than a passing resemblance to Albert from Steptoe & Son. Timelord Tennant said: "It's something to do with the way the crotch on the second pair drops wearily towards your knees and the strange silky material rucks across your chest to give the impression of scrawny, tired flesh." He confesses he's even taken to wearing tinted moisturiser to beat the weather: "In Baltic February there is more need for a bit of tinted moisturiser at the start of the day!"

Quick Season Two Bites

icWales says that "the days of wobbly sets and cardboard aliens on Doctor Who are long gone. Instead, kids really will have a reason to hide behind the sofa when they see this snarling werewolf in the new series of the sci-fi drama. But even though it's been a ratings hit, there are whispers of disapproval inside the Beeb, with some suggesting Swansea producer Russell T Davies has been seduced by special effects - and betrayed the spirit of Doctor Who. While Tom Baker took on the low-tech Daleks and aliminium foil Cybermen in the 1970s, the return of the Timelord in the 21st Century has seen state-of-the-art computer generated imagery. The terrifying werewolf, which comes to your living room in Tooth & Claw, the second episode of series two, which starts on Saturday, is just one of the fantastic special effects which have transformed the Doctor into BBC One Wales' prime-time thriller. But all may not be well in the Tardis. Tongues were wagging last week when Russell raised the curtain on the new season at a VIP premiere attended by Doctor David Tennant and his co-star Billie Piper, who plays Rose. Some of the show's crew members questioned whether a hairy, scary creature was a step too far. As guests partied into the small hours at Cardiff's plush Holland House Hotel, some asked whether Russell was too flash, taking the show far away from its original family concept. The criticism came after he defended his decision to raise the show's fear factor, saying: "The werewolf is vile to look at but even Harry Potter has a werewolf in it now. It's the temperature of modern family film. This is the scariest it gets. There is no blood. You don't see a single drop of blood anywhere. It looks scary and feels scary but never terrifying. We don't want to scare kids. That's a bad state of mind to get into. We are careful with it. We would be daft not to because mum and dad would switch off and that's the last thing we want. You have got to be responsible. You have to very mindful of kids watching." BBC Wales declined to comment."

The Norfolk Eastern Daily Press has a story about Elisabeth Sladenwho "was in Norwich yesterday for a fans' convention - answering questions and signing autographs for devotees of the long-running BBC series. The actress gave tantalising hints about an episode of the new series this month - starring David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as his assistant - in which she appears along with another Dr Who favourite of yesteryear, the robot dog K9. So how does the new Doctor compare to Jon Pertwee and the scarf-clad Tom Baker? 'David brings a whole new generation with him,' Ms Sladen said. 'This Doctor Who is far more for a youth culture that's been brought up with today's television. Even down to the training shoes the Doctor wears. David is the cool Doctor.' The new episode, due to be screened on April 29 and called School Reunion, brings together Ms Sladen and Billie Piper - so how do the Doctor's assistants get on? 'I think you're going to have to wait to see that,' she said. Ms Sladen was also coy about whether her return to the series is a one-off or whether Sarah Jane Smith will be joining the Doctor on further adventures. ... Ms Sladen was joined at the convention by Terry Molloy, who played the creator of the Daleks, Davros, in the 1980s when the Doctor was played by Peter Davidson, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. But Mr Molloy is also familiar as the voice of milkman Mike Tucker in The Archers. 'Dr Who has become part of the British psyche - the Doctor is like an intergalactic Biggles who solves things with a bit of sticky tape,' Mr Molloy said. 'The adventures aren't solved by hi-technology, it's by derring-do and good old grit and determination. It's just tapped into the consciousness of the nation. It's great that there's a new series bringing along a new generation who will grow up watching the show from behind the sofa during the scary moments just like their parents did.' So is Mr Molloy going to return to the nation's TV screens as Davros in future episodes of the series? 'You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment,' he said with a smile."

Sci-Fi Wire (the news service of the Sci-Fi Channel) says that the second season "builds on the strengths of season one (currently airing on SCI FI Channel Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT) . 'A lot of it was 'more of the same,'' Davies -- who plotted out the entire season as well as writing half of the episodes himself -- said in an interview. "The temptation of the format is to keep being too different, but it's easy to forget that for a lot of people, it's a brand-new series. Even for the oldest, most dedicated fan, it's a new series. So we've got some new elements and some new elements that I want to become regular elements, including what I call the 'celebrity historical.' Doctor Who always did historical stuff, so last year, we met Charles Dickens [in the episode 'The Unquiet Dead'], and this year, we meet Queen Victoria [in episode two, 'Tooth and Claw']. Next year, there will be another one of those stories, because I really love that Dickens episode, and I absolutely adore the Queen Victoria one this year. So that's a little format within a format.' ... Davies added: 'There's also the big end-of-season climax, which seems built into every show these days, and even though it's a much less British thing to do that, we've kept it very much the same.'"

Broadcast magazine says that "Visual effects outfit Mill TV has once again provided the special effects for the forthcoming series of Doctor Who, which kicks off on Easter Saturday (15 April). The company used Maya, Shake 4 and Flame to create the effects for characters such as the Werewolf and the Krillitanes - bat-like creatures who masquerade as teachers in a school. As well as being commissioned to do the effects for the third series of Doctor Who, Mill TV is also working on the upcoming spin-off series, Torchwood, starring Captain Jack (John Barrowman) from series one. The 13 x 50-minute series will air after the watershed due to its darker content and sexier storylines, and starts in the autumn on BBC3. "

The Daily Star says that "Doctor Who is set to become a cosmic Casanova. New Time Lord David Tennant, 34, has already played the 18th century lover in a BBC drama last year. And he said: 'Of course, there's much less s**gging in Doctor Who. But we may change that. Stay tuned. We'll have some interplanetary s**gging.'"

Miscellaneous

Hemel Today says that "Just a week before the new Dr Who series starts, another clue has come in as to why two of the original Daleks visited Hemel Hempstead in 1964. The mystery started last month after a researcher into the Daleks found a picture in Hemeltoday's local history section of a Dalek at a children's Christmas party in the town in 1964. He identified it as one of the 'original' Daleks from the 1960s Dr Who series and is trying to find out what happened to the original six. This weekend an email brought more information on Hemel's link with Dr Who. Another 1960s picture showed the actor William Russell who appeared in the series pictured with Hemel schoolchildren and the Dalek they had made. Our emailer identified the schoolchildren, their school and says Mr Russell's daughter went to the school. "

icWales has more from the initial press launch, including questions put to David Tennant and Billie Piper; SyFyPortalcovers the broadcast of the TARDISodes on mobile phones; brief mentions of season two about to start at About.com.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, Assad Khaishgi, John Bowman)

"This week's Radio Times has a unique 16-page supplement all about the new series," says a press release issued by Radio Times and the BBC. "As well as a stunning gatefold (see attached pic) cover featuring K-9, the Cybermen and of course the Doctor and Rose, we've also managed to secure an episode by episode guide from series writer, Russel T Davies. There are also interviews with David Tennant and Billie Piper, plus some incredible behind-the-scenes photos and an amazing group cast and crew shot. As if this wasn't enough, RadioTimes.com will be hosting video footage of the cast and crew group shot and how it was achieved online from tomorrow." The cover illustration is at right; click on the thumbnail for a higher-quality copy of the full wraparound cover.

The publicity for the new series has been increasing this weekend, with the main series trailer (in its two edited versions) running across the BBC, alongside a 15-second trailer for the Tardisodes and a 30-second Totally Doctor Who trailer, which debuted on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. The return of the series and the Tardisodes have also been heavily promoted on the BBC.co.uk homepage, and the BBC Televisionhomepage. On Saturday morning, digital television viewers could press the red button to see a CBBC Extra show on BBCi, a 12-minute looped video package promoting Totally Doctor Who, featuring interviews with show presenter Barney Harwood and with David Tennant and Billie Piper, contributions from children, and extensive clips from the first episode, New Earth.

The final shape of the television schedules for the new series now seems clear. Each episode will likely debut at 7.15pm on BBC One on Saturdays; BBC Three will repeat the episode on Sundays at 7.05pm and on Fridays at 9pm. BBC Three'sDoctor Who Confidential will follow the episode transmissions on Saturdays and Sundays, while Totally Doctor Who will be shown on BBC One each Thursday at 5pm, with CBBC's regular repeats running on Saturdays at 6.30pm and Mondays at 1pm. There is no word yet on the possible 'red-button' availability of commentaries for the BBC Three episode repeats, mooted in the latest DWM, nor any indication of any 'cut down' versions of Doctor Who Confidential.

The full running schedule for each week (presented four weeks forward from today's date) is listed on the Outpost Gallifrey news page in the left-hand column for easy reference. Items in boldface are premieres, notably each week's first airing of the new episode, the Confidential documentary and Totally Doctor Who. (Note that the weekly US premieres are also in boldface.)

Programme information for Week 17 (22-28 April) has now been released by the BBC Press Office, confirming that Episode 2, 'Tooth and Claw', will retain the 7.15pm timeslot established for 'New Earth' on 15 April, subject to any late running of a live football match that immediately precedes the episode.

As well as noting the launch of the new Tardisodes, the PDF documentfeatures a lengthy episode preview that concentrates on the return of Pauline Collins to the series after forty years. Commenting that Patrick Troughton (whom she worked with in 1966) was "a wonderful Doctor", Collins says that "having seen David Tennant in action, I believe he is going to be the best Doctor ever [...] He seems to combine authority and humour and quirkiness which, in a way, is an amalgam of all the very best Doctors. He’s terrific in it and I think he’ll be great." The interview also reveals that the episode's computer-generated werewolf was based on the movements of "two performance artists who demonstrated for us the sort of movements that the werewolf would do."

Further information on the episode (also a PDF) states: "The Doctor and Rose travel back to the year 1879 when an encounter in the Scottish Highlands with Queen Victoria and a band of Warrior Monks reveals a deadly trap, dating back centuries. Perhaps the local legends about a werewolf could really be true. David Tennant plays the Doctor, Billie Piper plays Rose Tyler, Pauline Collins plays Queen Victoria,Tom Smith plays The Host, Derek Riddell plays Sir Robert and Michelle Duncan plays Lady Isobel." The publicity material also includes a couple of previously uneen stills from the episode.

Finally eliminating the confusion surrounding the timeslot for the first broadcast of the series two premiere, New Earth, on BBC One, the homepage of the BBC Doctor Who site states: "Doctor Who 7.15pm, Saturday 15 April, BBC One. Doctor Who Night 7pm, Sunday 9 April, BBC Three." The Radio Times website has also now been updated to reflect this with complete schedule information for the Easter weekend debut.

The first edition of the second series of the documentary Doctor Who Confidential will be transmitted at 8pm, as soon as 'New Earth' finishes on BBC One. A BBC Three repeat of Episode 1 is now listed for 7.05pm on Sunday 16 April, and this is again followed by Doctor Who Confidential from 7.50 to 8.20pm.

There will now be three opportunities to see the first installment of theTotally Doctor Who series following its BBC One debut on Thursday 13 April: it is repeated on the digital CBBC channel at 6.30pm on both Friday 14 and Saturday 15 April, and again on Monday 17 April at lunchtime. The Digiguide listings service indicates that the Friday repeat may be a one-off, with Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays being the regular slots for the children's show.

Note: The broadcast schedule on the news page will be updated later today.

C21 Media today reports that Canada's CBC network announced at the MIP broadcasters' conference in Cannes that it has agreed to become a co-production partner on Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff series, which it had already done for the main show. "The Canadian pubcaster, which is already a copro partner on series one and two of Doctor Who, has also agreed to partner a third season of the Timelord's adventures. Series two is due to air on CBC in fall 2006." The tagline reads: "Torchwood and Doctor Who are both produced by BBC Wales for the BBC in association with CBC."

Ratings for the broadcast of Doctor Who's fourth new episode, Aliens of London on Sci-Fi, its first US transmission, on March 31 are in. The episode had a 1.20 household rating with an average viewing audience of 1.5 million viewers, a slight drop from the previous week of 1.55 recorded for "The Unquiet Dead". The latest episode was down across the board; the show has experienced a total loss of 21% of household viewers and 16% in audience average since the first episode's transmission, although this was expected because of the curiosity from the episode's first broadcast. Meanwhile, for the rebroadcast of "The Unquiet Dead" immediately prior, 0.65 million viewers tuned in.

While your editor was away for the weekend, the press and web were hopping with a ton of new Doctor Who material:

Series Three Writers

The writers company The Agency appears to have spilled the beans on two writers assigned to pen episodes of the third series of Doctor Who. Fan favorite Paul Cornell, whose first season episode "Father's Day" was just recently nominated for a Hugo award by the World Science Fiction Society, is apparently slated to write a two-part story (which meshes with recent rumors that Cornell would be attached to the show for its third year), whileTom MacRae, author of this season's two parter "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel", is also signed up for one episode. The next issue of Doctor Who Magazine, due out late this month, is said to have the full list of series three writers.

Official Tie-In Sites

There's another new tie-in web site, for Millingdale's Organic Ice Creams, linked from the Leamington Spa site which we reported on late last week. The Millingdale site claims the company was established in 1860, and the main page plays the Doctor's theme (as used in the 'world is spinning' and stepping through the fan blades scenes in season one) as if it where the tune on an ice cream van.

There's now a new game linked from Who Is Doctor Who, in which Mickey asks the player to take remote control of a robot in the Leamington Spa Museum and look through the artefacts there to find one left over from the Sycorax Invasion. It's vaguely similar to the Dalek game, though the robot has no weapon.

Doctor Who Adventures

This week's launch of Doctor Who Adventures from BBC Magazines has garnered extra publicity through its poll of six- to twelve-year-olds, which has found that Winston Churchill is the historical figure most children would like to meet if they had a time-travel machine. A BBC Worldwide press release also reveals that Elvis Presley takes second place: "Winston Churchill has been voted the number one person people would most like to meet in a 'time-travel' poll conducted to celebrate the launch of Doctor Who Adventures magazine, a new fortnightly title aimed at 6 - 12 year olds, launching on 5 April. Elvis Presley rocked into second place as Churchill's closest competition, followed by Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Martin Luther King Jr. 1000 people took part in the time-travel themed survey, asking 24-45 year olds, which famous person they would most like to meet, if they could travel back in time. Other favourites included Ghandi, Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Isaac Newton, Queen Elizabeth I and John Lennon. The survey also asked people what time in history would they most like to be part of and the swinging sixties came in as the top choice, followed by a large number of people more than content with right now, as 2006 made it into second place. Victorian times was a strong favourite at three, with football fans voting in the 1966 World Cup as their time travel choice at four and the 1800's at five." There has been some press coverage of the poll result from the Scotsman and Sky News, and a press release was also sent to various Doctor Who fan sites about the item.

Broadcasting

The Sun on Saturday noted that ITV presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, aka Ant & Dec, "were not so pleased to meet The Sun's Dalek after Dr Who went head to head in the telly ratings with their Saturday Night Takeaway show last year. The boys hope to exterminate the Beeb with their new series." Last year's big television story regarding Doctor Who's broadcast was the defeat of the Saturday night ITV juggernaut in their head-to-head ratings battle.

Dutch broadcaster NOS will be broadcasting the second series in the Netherlands according to an announcement at a broadcasters trade show. Says the BBC Worldwide Territory Manager for the region, "BBC Worldwide has long enjoyed a successful and important relationship with audiences and broadcasters throughout the Netherlands. These new agreements further strengthen those relationships, continuing to offer Dutch audiences the best of our leading catalogue."

The new Doctor Who series will be seen in Finland starting around the end of August or beginning of September, according to a rep from TV Ohjelmapalaute in an email sent to an Outpost Gallifrey reader. "I'm sorry to let you know that Doctor Who doesn't have a fixed transmission date just yet,' says the report from YLE International Programme Acquisitions. 'It is scheduled for the autumn season. My guess would be somewhere around the end of August / beginning of September. ... As for which seasons we'll broadcast. At the moment the YLE TV2 has acquired only the first season, 13 episodes. This is more likely due to the fact that our contacts usually air their productions themselves before they start selling broadcasting rights abroad. However, I'm fairly confident that YLE will buy the second season as well in due time."

No Film For Who?

icWales also says that "Doctor Who genius Russell T Davies has put the Tardis in a spin - saying he won't work with the BBC to turn the Time Lord into a movie icon. Swansea-born Davies transformed Saturday night TV last year when he brought the Doctor back to life. But any big screen hopes have been ruled out by the writer who says he would never join up with BBC Films. Davies, now busy writing a third series, said: 'We would not have time to do a movie at the moment. Maybe if it was all over and still popular, but I would not be desperately keen to work with BBC Films myself. I'm not supposed to say this... but I can't bear them! 'I am in no rush to work with them whatsoever personally, but I suppose the BBC could have a go.' And he is in no rush to work with glamour model Jordan either. 'You open the papers sometimes and read how Jordan wants to be in Doctor Who and you think 'No chance' - bless her, but no way.' But Davies says the Tardis is always open for Charlotte Church, after dismissing reports that she is to star in the Who spin-off Torchwood. 'Charlotte was never going to do it,' he said. 'I love her though, I'd put her in.'"

Series Two

SFX Magazine features a joint interview with David Tennant & Billie Piper in which they both answer questions and joke extensively. "Fortunately we get along. We all get along, and we need to, really, because it's long months and it's quite intense and we're shooting 13-hour days," says Piper. "You're thrown together all the time. I feel like I've made a friend for life. ... Rose is growing-up. She's 20 this year and she's come on in leaps and bounds, I think, since the first series. She's a lot more proactive and she saves the day quite a few times. It's just a natural progression, really. And it's worked out really nicely." Says Tennant, their first scene shot together was "at the end of the Christmas special. We were both in it together, but we didn't have a lot to do together. It's when I tell Harriet Jones to go and stuff herself. That was the first scene we ever shot." Piper notes of Tennant and her previous co-star Chris Eccleston, "They're different men. ... Both great. I had a longer kiss with [Tennant], which I really enjoyed." About their relationship on screen, Tennant says "I think it's like all these relationships, like Mulder and Scully and Moonlighting, you know. Moonlighting jumped the shark when they got together, didn't it? I think you have to be very careful. Which doesn't mean to say that we don't see the relationship developing and becoming something that it maybe hasn't before. But I think you have to be very careful with those things." Piper says, "It's very cool being in Vogue. I like that. It's an exciting time for me to be alive and then to do something that I've wanted to do since I've been a kid. That means so much to me. And being here tonight and watching it. I just can't quite believe that it's all really happened and I'm really liking it and loving it and want to continue to do it for years. All of those things are just a bonus, really. The fact that I'm working everyday as an actress makes me really happy." Tennant says of the English accent he's donned, "It was what Russell had schemed, really, and there was an idea that the Doctor would imprint on Rose, like a sort of newly hatched chick. He would adopt Rose's way of speaking. And this was all explained in the Christmas special... The scene never got made because we ran out of time. So we're just sort of left with it now. I don't know. It's how Russell wanted to take the show and it's how he wanted the Doctor to be. ... Because Chris so brilliantly reinvented it by being Northern and being unashamed about that, it could have got a bit 'touring the regions', you know. But you're going to have to ask Russell what the thinking was behind that. ... You feel like the new boy until you start, because there was months of build up, months of waiting for it to start, months of people speculating about it and asking you about it and asking what you're going to be like and what you're going to be wearing – you didn't know." As for Tennant staying with the show, he says "Well, if I survive the end of episode 13." On Elisabeth Sladen, Tennant says, "It's interesting how the episode works, I think. If you know about Sarah Jane Smith, you kind of watch the episode from the point of view of the Doctor. And if you are younger or don't know that Lis Sladen was in the show before, you kind of watch it through Rose. And funnily enough, that was reflected in our own experience, because I grew up watching Lis in the show." Piper says that of herself and Sladen, "We have a great bitch-fight. And, it starts off... I mean, we're just waiting to go at each other. And we're both quite jealous, I think, which we find it quite hard to cope with... but we're straight in there. And it's good. And in the end Rose actually asks her questions about what it was like being with the Doctor and should she stay on as a companion. Is she going to be burnt? Is she going to be left behind? All of these things. She confides in her. So it was nice, nice to play."

Yahoo News takes something else away from the SFX Interview: "He gets to travel through time and kiss Billie Piper - but David Tennant has hinted that playing Doctor Who was not quite what he thought it would be. The Scottish actor, 34, has been a Doctor Who 'junkie' since his childhood. As a teenager, he wrote an essay about his addiction to the show and queued to meet former time-traveller Tom Baker. It was watching the sci-fi show in its early days that made the young Tennant decide to become an actor. But asked whether the reality of playing the TV icon matched the picture Tennant had imagined, he said: 'What I realised when I came to do this was that any sort of fantastic notions one might have had about this, were just that - fantastic notions.' He told SFX magazine: 'When you have to come and make real decisions about it, it's a different thing. Actors often say that the best bit about getting a job is a phone call that says you've got it, because at that moment it is all potential, and it could be anything. It's all possibilities, and as soon as you start making decisions it starts becoming reality, which is never as much fun.' Tennant also promised that the Doctor's relationship with Rose, played by Piper, would hot up in the second series. ... He said: 'It's a love story without the shagging! I think, it's explored quite deeply (in series two), certainly more deeply than any Doctor assistant relationship has been to this point ... It's great.'" Also reported on the ic Network of news feeds and in the Scotsman and This Is London.

The Sunday Mirror says that "The man who revived Dr Who says the inspiration behind his most ghoulish alien character was..film star Nicole Kidman. Writer Russell T. Davis he says he got the idea for villain Lady Cassandra - who exists only as a layer of skin with a brain tank attached - after watching the stick-thin beauty arrive at the Oscars. He feels it's wrong for Cold Mountain star Nicole, 38, to be so scrawny. 'Cassandra came about after I watched the Oscars,' he told the Sunday Mirror. 'It was horrific seeing those beautiful women reduced to sticks. Nicole Kidman struck me in particular. 'Nicole is one of the most beautiful women in the world. But she looks horrifying because she's so thin. 'It's like we're killing these women in public. We watch while you die.'"

People

Leeds Today on Saturday noted that 'former timelord Christopher Eccleston beamed his way into Leeds. The man, who played Doctor Who in the last series of the revived BBC show, was in the city for the launch of the First Floor project -- helping youngsters develop their acting skills. First Floor, which is being developed by West Yorkshire Playhouse, will provide a permanent arts facility for young people to take part in activities, including drama workshops, storytelling and dance. The star of numerous TV programmes and films including Shallow Grave, is patron of the scheme. 'I am very excited to be here to see the beginnings of what is going to be a very valuable project,' he said. 'I know how much myself and others from my background would have benefited from a much earlier exposure to the arts because as a 20-year-old halfway through drama school training in London, I struggled with seeing myself as belonging in the arts.'"

icWales says that "David Tennant may be the housewives' favourite, but it's Billie Piper who gets sent knickers in the post! Piper, who revives her role as Doctor's assistant Rose in the new series of Doctor Who, revealed all to Roast at the launch of the second BBC One series this week. 'I have had some ladies knickers in the post,' confessed Piper at Tuesday's party at the Wales Millennium Centre, where the first episode of the sci-fi fave was premiered. And her confession left her Casanova co-star red-faced, saying: 'I can only dream of women's knickers in the post.' But despite losing out, Tennant said he was chuffed to be voted a gay icon. The 34-year-old Scot was recently named the Pink Paper's 'sexiest man in the universe' in its annual poll, ahead of Brad Pitt and David Beckham. But despite setting men's pulses racing, Tennant says the only thing he gets sent are scarves. 'Somebody sent me a Tom Baker scarf. It had the right colours and everything, it is quite weird but lovely that someone spends all that time knitting it.' And on his gay icon status, he said: 'How can you react to something like that? If you start playing up to it you would immediately become less attractive to the people who thought you were attractive in the first place. It's flattering to come ahead of Brad Pitt and Beckham. It's a mystery to me but I am very proud of it.'"

Sunday's Guardian Weekend magazine Fashion section featured David Tennant, although he gives no info on the new series. 'As Casanova he donned flouncy blouses, as Dr Who he gads about the cosmos in Converse trainers, but what does actor David Tennant like to wear? Hadley Freeman finds out.' The article was accompanied with various photos of Tennant in different garments.

Miscellaneous

Media Guardian asks, "Has Doctor Who lost out to snobbery? Let me first of all acknowledge that this might appear as a most outrageous piece of corporate cross-promotion. But it wouldn't worry the BBC, so here goes. On this week's MediaGuardian podcast (available at an online iTunes store near you) lead writer Russell T Davies and BBC drama commissioner Jane Tranter complain about how Doctor Who is being treated by awards juries. Davies puts a perceived lack of nominations down to 'snobbery', contrasting the enthusiasm of ordinary viewers with industry attitudes. He says it makes him 'angry' and that if the show doesn't win some craft awards he will be 'furious'. Tranter says she is 'very disappointed' and goes on to liken making popular drama to having children - in that 'you must give and never expect to receive'. Serious stuff and no doubt there is something in what they say about the attitudes of fellow professionals. But what this little outburst really illustrates is something about the BBC in general and the drama department in particular. The BBC had historically been the home of some outstanding popular drama - All Creatures Great and Small, Bergerac, as well as Boys from the Blackstuff to name but a few. But from the late 1980s onwards BBC drama was cast into the shadows by rampantly successful ITV fare - Heartbeat, Cracker, Morse, Peak Practice, Prime Suspect, and it took on a tendency to be serious and often dark. Popular drama came to be regarded with great suspicion as akin to scraping the bottom of the barrel in search of ratings. Even the word 'popular' was frowned on. It is one of the reasons that Nick Elliott - ITV's controller of drama and one of the past masters of creating the kind of very high quality popular programming the BBC needed - only had a short stint at the corporation. But the flipside of the dominant 'snooty'culture was a kind of crusading, 'chippy' solidarity amongst those committed to the cause of popular programmes. Mal Young - ex of Brookside - was initially regarded as a barbarian invader when he became a senior executive at BBC drama. But he plugged away, kept EastEnders and Casualty in rude health, launched Holby City and went on to champion Daziel and Pascoe, Judge John Deed and Waking the Dead. Meanwhile others were creating Spooks, Hustle and other quality dramas unashamed about being popular. The fact is, BBC drama has been almost completely reinvented, not least through the efforts of Tranter, and now stands some way ahead of much of the competition in terms of popularity and quality. Having chaired the Bafta jury for drama series this year, I must say that the overall quality of entries (including Doctor Who) was fantastically high and that I can't imagine BBC drama ever having had a stronger slate. There really is widespread appreciation of how far BBC drama has travelled. I can also say that I did not detect the faintest hint of snobbery amongst the jurors but if you look at the shortlist of nominees you will see that we were spoilt for choice."

The Sunday Mail has a contest in cooperation with BBC Magazines: "To celebrate the launch of the new Doctor Who Adventures magazine, we've arranged a fantastic contest with BBC Magazines to give signed Doctor Who merchandise to five budding time travellers. Just write your own Dr Who story and you could win prizes signed by the Doctor (David Tennant), Rose (Billie Piper) and series writer Russell T. Davies. Each lucky winner will receive a copy of the first Doctor Who Adventures magazine, a DVD box set of the first series, a Doctor Who electronic board game and the Doctor Who Annual. Two runners-up will win a six-month mag subscription. ... Just send us a short story based on Doctor Who to: Dr Who Contest, Fun On Sunday, Sunday Mail, One Central Quay, Glasgow, G3 8DA, to arrive by April10. The five winning stories selected by our judges win the first prizes. The next two receive a six-month subscription to the Doctor Who Adventures magazine. Editor's decision is final."

The Daily Star proposed "some female candidates for The Doctor we'd like to see on screen" this weekend. Among the choices proposed as the Doctor by the paper (remember, last week Russell T Davies said he wouldn't be opposed) were Charlotte Church ("Voice of an Angel would be a sound hit in the Tardis"), Sigourney Weaver ("Russell T. Davies has already admitted he's a fan"), Angelina Jolie ("Would definitely give the ratings a massive boost. Brad could have a role"), Davina McCall ("A bit of a disaster with her chat show, so maybe she would like a trip in the Tardis"), Kiera Knightley ("Hottest young Brit actress would become an even bigger star") and even Billie Piper ("It would stretch the imagination a bit, but maybe Rose could somehow morph into the Doc").

The Sunday Telegraph features an article written by a fan as a set visit to the filming of the upcoming series two episode Tooth and Claw. "Transported five years into the future (by fearful imagination rather than the Tardis), I am wondering whether my newly truculent teenage son will remember that his father once took him to the set of Doctor Who, and so hate me that little less for helping bring him into the world. For the present, Louis is eight and anything but truculent at the sight of a young woman in dungarees entering a room inhabited by a dozen production staff huddled around minuscule television monitors. 'Ooh, ooh, oooooh, look, quick, it's Rose! Here. In the room. Rose! With us. Rose Tyler!' arises a counter-tenor squeal. 'For goodness sake, it's Billie Piper, not Rose Tyler,' comes the instant rebuke, 'and Dad, will you please shut up and stop embarrassing me.' Billie wanders over and welcomes Louis to the set of 'Tooth and Claw' (the second episode of the new Doctor Who series, which starts on Easter Saturday), with a handshake, a grin and a cheery 'Hello darling, you all right?' All right? We're in heaven, both of us, albeit the gauche, mumbling, foot-shuffling, face-reddening heaven of the grievously star-struck. If Billie Piper's progress from teeny pop star to world-class actress seems remarkable, it is probably less so than the regeneration of the series itself, after almost two decades in a state doubtless known to its nerdsome fans as cryogenic stasis. ... The BBC is naturally loath to give much away, but the episode we have come to watch filmed on this crisp morning involves the use, by malevolent monks (doubtless aliens in disguise), of a werewolf in a typically audacious bid at global domination. Queen Victoria, who happens to be visiting this red-brick pile on her way to Balmoral, is in grave peril. For once Her Majesty - in the form of a black-clad Pauline Collins - seems highly amused. What, I facetiously ask, is her motivation? 'My motivation,' she smilingly replies, 'is pretending to be Queen Victoria.' Collins is making a hurried return to the series, she explains, having appeared 'wearing long knickers' in a Patrick Troughton episode in the late 1960s. It's safe to declare that the production values have changed in the intervening 38 years. Where in the past episodes looked like they'd been filmed in two hours on a couple of wobbly camcorders, the process now seems as laboriously perfectionist as a medium-budget movie, and in the eight hours we spend on set only a few minutes of film are recorded. The atmosphere throughout, however, is extraordinarily jolly, thanks largely to the presence of a tall, skinny and endlessly good-humoured man in a brown-and-white striped suit and white pumps. 'David Tennant's coming over,' Louis warns me. 'Please, Dad, don't do your I'm-just-as-old-as-the-Doctor speech. It's very boring, and anyway you're 42, not 900.' ... Tennant appears to be that most precious of beings, the wholly unactorly actor who is entirely at ease with obsessive fans. After lunch in a double-decker bus parked in the grounds of the house, which doubles up as a museum of Victoriana, a middle-aged woman wanders over. 'Excuse me, I'm looking for the Morgan Room,' she says, apparently mistaking him for a tour guide, and he couldn't be more helpful. Later, a couple of theatre buffs sidle up for an autograph. When they mention having seen him on stage, he drops into a pastiche of the queeny theatrical egomaniac, inviting them to agree how simply marvellous he was. ... 'I think he's going to be the best Doctor ever, even better than Eccleston,' Louis whispers when the director is finally satisfied. Rather than the usual second-guessing of a potential audience with endless market research, the BBC has gone back decades by giving absolute creative control to people who evidently love what they are doing. It helps, of course, that Russell T. Davies, the executive producer as well as chief writer, is a rampant genius. His scripts work as well for adults as for children, seamlessly combining wit, pathos, emotional depth and cracking story lines with innate mastery of the sci-fi genre, shards of political satire, the odd slice of homosexual self-parody and a very cute way with ersatz mythologising ('Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek home world?' Eccleston's Doctor asks the titanium pepper pots. 'The Oncoming Storm'). The technical crew are just as passionate as Davies. Upstairs in the art department, a group of Doctor Who nuts (all male, though not all bearded) are hunched blissfully over Apple Macs refining the next tranche of monsters, most notably the new look, bulked-up Cybermen. The room is full of odd bits and bobs - telescopes, sextants, radar equipment - bought from a junk-shop owner who seems to have cornered the market in the broken-up contents of disused plane and boat cockpit consoles. 'Would you like me to show you the Tardis?' asks the head designer. 'The Tardis? Nah, I don't think we can be bother ...' A small hand interrupts my idiocy with a well-deserved pinch and we are led downstairs to the large studio that houses the time ship in its newly organic, petrified forest manifestation. Outside the room stands a Dalek, the one that took its own life in the last series after subsuming Rose's DNA and finding itself unable to cope with the loneliness of being the only one of its kind. Further along the wall is the Face of Boa, a huge, glass-encased leonine head believed to be as old as time itself, and scheduled for an important return in the spring. How could any devoted fan not yield to over-excitement on such a day as this? 'Thank you so much, that was wicked, totally totally wicked,' exclaims a squeaky voice as we shake hands with Billie Piper and David Tennant back at the house. 'Dad, please,' insists a more mature one as we leave them and the Queen Empress to their werewolf. Somehow, though, for all the embarrassment, I doubt he'll forget."

Australia's INS News says, "How sad it's been decided the legendary Dr Who has to be 'raunchy'. It has always captured the imagination of the young and the old without snogging scenes from Billie Piper and Casanova star David Tennant. The steamy scenes occur when the Tardis lands on a new planet in episode one. I suppose it's a sign of the times, however I do feel that longstanding programmes like Dr Who should stick with the same format. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Joking Apart, the early 1990's TV series written by Doctor Who writerSteven Moffat, will be released on May 22 on DVD, according to theJoking Apart fan site.

The latest issue of BBC's It's Hot magazine (Issue 50) is running a text poll: 'Do you prefer the new Doctor (David Tennant) to the old one (Christopher Eccleston)? Text HOT WHO to 80402 followed by YES or NO.' The magazine also has one page of 5 behind-the-scenes pictures (scan attached). It also has a one-page advert for the Doctor Who Adventures magazine with Rose at the forefront and the tag line: 'Not your average girl next door', plus 'Catch Rose's amazing adventures with the Doctor every two weeks! Doctor Who Adventures magazine is packed with the latest Who gossip, amazing time travel, stunning posters, and has a fab comic strip too. It's one big adventure you'll just love.'

Yesteray's Telegraph says that "There was a time not so long ago when the only British television programmes Americans knew or cared about were Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Benny Hill Show and the occasional costume drama shown so late at night that only insomniacs watched. But now, judging by the column inches currently devoted to British television in serious newspapers, there's a big chunk of America that's as au fait with British TV as we are with the plotlines in 24 and Will & Grace. Indeed, on a recent trip to America I spent much of my time answering questions such as: 'Is the second series of Nighty Night as dark as the first?', 'Is Joan Collins really in Footballers' Wives?' and, my favourite, 'Is the new Doctor Who [as played by Christopher Eccleston] really gay?' ... The Russell T Davies-penned incarnation with Christopher Eccleston has taken this BBC drama from nerdy cult to mainstream hit. Shown on Sci-Fi Channel. 'Affectionate, ironic, the show has an essential silliness' - New York Times."

icWales says that Wales "has become a beacon for new film and television projects. Lighting rigs, cameras, directors and A-list stars are now regular sights as the film industry realises the urban settings and sprawling countryside of Wales equals celluloid heaven. Already a host of major films have started filming in and around South Wales, with more international stars due to arrive later this year. Doctor Who star David Tennant said Wales was a perfect alternative to overused locations like London. 'In London people are so hacked off with film crews, they've no time for them,' he said. 'But one of the great things about filming in Wales is everyone is so pleased to see us.' ... Doctor Who has proved filming in Wales can be a big business. The second series alone gave jobs to a 200-strong mostly Welsh crew bringing revenue to South Wales and it has spawned a spin-off, Torchwood due to be filmed exclusively in Cardiff. Writer and producer for Doctor Who Russell T Davies said the success of the show has definitely brought more jobs to Wales. He is proud of the landscape. He said, 'I feel honour bound to show the country.'" Also, News Wales has created a map of film projects in Wales.

The home page of GMTV home page is currently running a 'Whose your favourite Dr Who' poll. As at 9.50am BST today, the Time Lords' scores were Tom Baker at 25%, Christopher Eccleston at 22%, David Tennant at 22%, Other at 18% and Jon Pertwee at 13%.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, Benjamin McKenzie, Steve Jones, Greg Dunn, Aidan Brack)