The BBC have announced that Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson will be moving to BBC Manchester to assume the role of Head of Drama. He is expected to begin his new job after the completion of Doctor Who's fourth series.

Peter Salmon, Chief Creative Officer of BBC Vision Productions, said: "Phil Collinson is a terrific addition to a brilliant top team working on in-house drama throughout the UK. His signing reflects renewed ambition and confidence here at the end of a stunning spell of output. BBC Drama Production is at the top of its game and Phil brings yet more experience and flair to in-house programme making. His arrival also marks the BBC's renewed commitment to Northern drama talent, at a time when its base in the North West of England is to be strengthened considerably throughout. BBC Drama Production will play a major role at the new BBC centre at mediacity:uk through Phil and his team."

Russell T Davies said: "Phil has been the secret hero of Doctor Who for the past four years, and we'll miss him more than I can say – but the most exciting thing about this new job is that so many more producers, writers and actors will get to work with him. I envy them!"

Full details may be found in the BBC's press release, and the news is also covered by the Guardian and The Stage.

On Thursday, two UK radio stations broadcast interviews of people connected with Doctor Who. Colin Baker spoke toBBC Radio Ulster about his role in "She Stoops to Conquer"; near the end of the interview, he talks about how the revival of Doctor Who has given him new respect in his own household. The interview can be heard here (it begins approximately 10 minutes 6 seconds into the program).

And Gary Russell, script editor on the new series and author of Doctor Who in many different media, spoke toResonance FM's "Panel Borders" about the new Doctor Who comic book from IDW and the history of Doctor Who in comics. The interview is available as a podcast here.

Thanks to Brian Deane and Alex Fitch.

Posted By Brigadier Bill

In an interview with Sci Fi Wire John Barrowman spoke candidly on how long he will stay as Captain Jack.

"If I was asked to do Jack for the next five or six years I would do it with a big smile on my face, because I absolutely love playing him," Barrowman said in an interview. "When the time comes for us to close the page on Torchwood and Jack Harkness, I'm also then happy to do that when that decision is made. But I think it's got a bit of a life out there. Let's hope we get [season] three, [season] four and, hopefully, [season] five."

Barrowman also talks about the direction of series two and the differences between time travel on Doctor Who andTorchwood.

Sixth Doctor Colin Baker is currently playing Mr. Hardcastle in a UK tour of the eighteenth century comedy She Stoops to Conquer. The play is co-produced by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (where the play opened last year) and the Touring Consortium, which has an education programme about the play available here. Dates and links to theatres' websites are listed below.

22-26 January: NOTTINGHAM, Theatre Royal

29 January - 2 February: BELFAST, Grand Opera House

12-16 February: EDINBURGH, King's Theatre

19–23 February: GLASGOW, Theatre Royal

26 February-1 March: ABERDEEN, His Majesty's Theatre

4-8 March: EASTBOURNE, Devonshire Park Theatre

11-15 March: CARDIFF, New Theatre

18-22 March: RICHMOND, Richmond Theatre

25-29 March: CAMBRIDGE, Cambridge Arts Theatre

1-5 April: GUILDFORD, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

8-12 April: CHELTENHAM, Everyman Theatre

15-19 April: DARLINGTON, Civic Theatre

21-26 April: BATH, Theatre Royal Bath


The Nottingham Evening Post has a brief review of the production.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's recent production of King Lear, starring Sir Ian McKellan in the title role and featuring Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy as the Fool, was filmed for HDTV, reports www.theatermania.com.

The production began in its run at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 2007 before embarking on an international tour. It recently concluded its run in London's West End.

The show will be broadcast by American PBS stations in autumn and Channel 4 in December, in addition to being carried by a number of other international stations, such as NHK Japan. Plans are also in place to release the production on DVD internationally.

CORRECTION: Although theatermania.com reported that the production would be aired on "BBC Channel 4", this appears to be an error. The Stagereports that the adaptation was commissioned by Channel 4, not BBC4.

(Thanks to Ian Robinson for the correction.)

Posted By John Bowman

People

John Barrowman will be returning to the National Theatre on Monday, February 11 at 6pm for a 45-minute talk about his career. He will then sign his autobiography Anything Goes. Barrowman played Dumaine in Love's Labour's Lost and Billy Crocker in Anything Goes at the National.

Barrowman also has autobiography signings scheduled across England and Wales in January and February. OnThursday, January 24 he will be at theBirmingham branch of Waterstone's from 11am; on Tuesday, February 12 he will appear at Costco in Watford from 1pm. He will be signing at theBrighton branch of British Bookshops and Stationers on Wednesday, February 13 between 1pm and 2.30pm. On Thursday, February 14 Barrowman will be signing at the Waterstone's in Bluewater, Kent, from 5.30pm (the Kent News has coverage of this appearance). OnFriday, February 15 he will be signing at the Borders in Oxford from 5.30pm (noted in The Oxford Mail). OnSaturday, February 16 Barrowman will appear at the Borders inCardiff at 1pm. More details can be found onBarrowman's website.

Anneke Wills, who played companion Polly in the classic series, will be at the Who Blackpool TV memorabilia and toy store in Victoria Street onSaturday, January 26 from 11am for autographs and photos. A week later, on February 2, actor Eric Potts, who played Oliver Charles in Aliens of London, will be there for a similar session, again from 11am.

DVDs

tvshowsondvd.com reports an announcement by HBO Video that it will be releasing the Extras Christmas Special, which includes David Tennant in a spoof scene from Doctor Who, as an individual Region 1 disc on February 26.

Streaming

Voyage of the Damned was the most frequently streamed programme via the BBC iPlayer between Christmas Day and January 7, says the BBC Press Office. The Extras Christmas Special, with the previously mentioned brief Doctor Who spoof scene, was second favourite. More than 3.5 million programmes were streamed or downloaded by more than one million visitors to the site. Doctor Who's download success was mentioned by many UK news sources, including BBC News, The Guardian, Reuters, Screen Digest and ZDNet. The story was also reported Down Under bynews.com.au.

Merchandise

The new edition of SFX - number 167 - includes a seven-page feature on Torchwood. The magazine went on set during the filming of episode nine of Series Two. The piece includes interview quotes from Chris Chibnall, Richard Stokes,John Barrowman and Eve Myles, plus some exclusive on-set photography taken on the day.

In the feature, Barrowman says: "The writers have found where we lie. The analogy I use is that last year we were walking, finding our feet. This year we're running. The stories still have the content we had last year, but they're just maybe a little more focused, more particular.

"Last year there were individual stories that had their own beginning and end. This year there's a throughline through it all, 'cos at the end there's a huge reveal and a big cliffhanger."

Meanwhile, celebrity magazine Ikonz carries a lengthy interview with Eve Myles in which the Torchwood star reveals that the word "famous" makes her "want to be sick".

She tells Adam Yosef: "I'm completely not into celebrity and not into doing things for the sake of being famous.

"I mean, the word 'famous' makes me want to be sick to be honest with you. I can't wait to go back to theatre, I can't wait to be back in the West End. I can't wait to go back with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

"Those things really excite me. Also, getting some really good parts, that excites me. But the whole razzle dazzle, if it came about well great but it's not a path I'll be going after."

She adds: "I'm due to go out to LA next year to have some meetings. I will enjoy it, if something comes of it, wonderful but if it doesn't I haven't lost anything."

Finally, the Liverpool Daily Post has a report and video on a company making Tardis sheds.

(Thanks to Jerome Morrow, Alex Frazer-Harrison, and forum members "drwho" and "Minister of Sense".)

Dalek and Big Finish writer Robert Shearman has a press launch for his new bookTiny Deaths, which he describes as "a collection of odd little sci-fi and horror tales". The launch will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday 16th January, at Calder Books, 51 The Cut, Southwark, London. Shearman will be reading one of his short stories, and autographing afterwards. Admission is free.

He will also be appearing on The Book Cafe, the live arts programme on BBC Radio Scotland, on 21st January at 13.15, to talk about the new book and his work on Doctor Who.

Also of note, on 24th January one of his stories, Love Among the Lobelias, will be read on Radio 4 at 15.30 by fellow Who writer and new series starMark Gatiss.

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Sarah Lancashire and Series Four
The Sun has an item on Sarah Lancashire, who will play a character named Miss Foster in "Partners in Crime", the first episode of the 2008 series of Doctor Who. The story says that Miss Foster will be a villain; in the Series Four trailer which followed "Voyage of the Damned", the character is seen wielding a device resembling the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

The newspaper also states, "Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen will recreate their roles as Rose Tyler and Sara [sic] Jane Smith. John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in spin-off series Torchwood, will also be back." The story continues, "The series is the last for star David Tennant, 36, but he will play the Doctor in four special episodes in 2009 and in a movie version." David Tennant said in December that he had not decided whether to continue in the role of the Doctor after the 2008 series, the 2008 Christmas special and three (not four) specials scheduled for 2009. There has been no confirmation of a Doctor Who movie, except a passing comment by BBC Fiction head Jane Tranter that she "would not rule out" a Doctor Who film.

Lancashire's Doctor Who role is also covered by Sky Showbiz, Metro and Hello! magazine.

More on Piper wedding
Sky Showbiz has more photos from Billie Piper's wedding. There's more coverage at The Argus (Brighton, Hove and Sussex), Monsters and Critics,Hello! magazine, Actress Archives, Gossip Girls, MyPark magazine, The Irish Independent, The Arizona Republic of Phoenix, Arizona and The Money Times of India, as well as sites based inCroatia and Estonia plus the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, which is the local weekly newspaper for where she and new husband Laurence Fox live.

Other items
The Evening Express of Aberdeen reviews the recent classic Doctor Who DVD box set "The Davros Collection", calling it "unmissable".

Finally, the South Wales Echo talks to Kai Owen, who plays Gwen's boyfriend Rhys on Torchwood. Owen is playing Prince Charming in a Cardiff panto of Snow White; in the interview, he talks about Torchwood's upcoming second series and mentions some details which might be considered spoilers.

Billie Piper married fellow actor Laurence Fox today.

The ceremony took place at 2pm at St Mary's Church in Easebourne, near Midhurst, West Sussex, where the couple live.

Among the guests were David Tennant and Piper's former husband Chris Evans, as well asKevin Whately, alongside whom Fox stars in the ITV seriesLewis.

Also reported by BBC News, Digital Spy, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, AFP, RTÉ, The Sun, The Press Association, ITN, Sky News,The Belfast Telegraph and even the Toledo, Ohio FOX News affiliate.

BBC News and The Times also carry profiles of Piper on the occasion of her wedding.

UPDATE, 1 January: The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mirror, The Scotsman, MSN and Fametastic have further coverage of the wedding, and The Daily Telegraph has another Piper profile.