Today saw This Morning cover the costume auction at Bonhams. The Fourth Doctor costume was discussed, where it was clarified that the costume wasn't used in the series itself, but was used by Tom Baker for public appearances like conventions. It was estimated at about 2,000 pounds. A velvet coat worn by Patrick Troughton was also mentioned, and is expected to make 10,000 pounds.

Jon Culshaw appeared on yesterday's This Morning, during which he debated whether to phone up Foreign Secretary Margeret Beckett as "Doctor Who" and try to sell her dimensional stabilisers for her caravan.

Tuesday 27th February saw BBC1's Breakfast discuss whether crying is good for you or not; the insert featuring opinions from the public was also interspersed with clips of Rose crying from Doomsday.

Charlie Brooker briefly mentioned Doctor Who's new 'rival' Primeval on Monday's Screen Wipe, during which he also compared their use of scary moments in domestic settings; he added that he felt it was better drama than Torchwood.

Back to last week, and Thursday's GMTV saw TV columnist Richard Arnold discussing the story about Hugh Grantregretting turning down Doctor Who; Friday's Comedy Connections covered the series Just Good Friends and linked actor John Ringham to his appearance as Tlotoxl in The Aztecs; whilst Billie Piper appeared on The Charlotte Church Show, during which she admitted that her favourite Doctor was David Tennant.

Don't forget that Billie Piper is on our screens again this weekend on Top Gear (Sunday 8:00pm BBC2)

The Sun today has a short picture piece about David Tennant and John Barrowman filming Series Three in Cardiff.

It also makes reference to a comment made in Doctor Who Magazine by Barrowman about Tennant, and says the pair were filming with Freema Agyeman.

There are no spoilers.

Peter Davison is the focus of a short but career-spanning article in today's edition of The Mirror. The article, entitled "All Roles Great and Small," covers (not in any depth) Davison's early days as an actor, some of his most prominent roles (The Tomorrow People, All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who) and his current comedy series Fear, Stress and Anger.

To read the article, visit The Mirror's website.

Runaway Bride co-stars David Tennant and Sarah Parish were interviewed in a filmed insert shown on BBC1'sBreakfast throughout this morning's edition about their new drama Recovery, which will be broadcast on BBC1 this coming Sunday at 9:00pm.

Blue Peter ran an item on how to make a TARDIS bird feeder on the 14th February edition of the programme; full details on how to make it are available on the CBBC website.

12th February saw actress Angela Griffin (Waterloo Road) "beg" to be in Doctor Who on the Richard and Judyshow, after presenter Richard Madeley thought she'd be great in the show!

Billie Piper can currently be seen as a schoolgirl in the Walkers walkears.com advert for this year's Comic Relief.

Meanwhile, next week, Penelope Wilton, Sophie Okonedo (Scream of the Shalka) and James Fox (BBCi/Big Finish's version of Shada) are some of the stars in Harold Pinter's Celebration, which can be seen on More4 on 26 February.

Various online sources are reporting that actor Hugh Grant has expressed his regret at not taking on the role of the Doctor when the BBC Wales production team offered it to him on the off-chance back in 2004, as detailed in Russell T Davies's Doctor Who Magazine "Production Notes" column at the time.

"I was offered the role of The Doctor a few years back and was highly flattered," Grant is quoted as saying onSyFyPortal, amongst many other websites. "The danger with those things is that it's only when you see it on the screen that you think, 'Damn, that was good, why did I say no?'"

However, Grant added that he may yet appear in the series, and is apparently in discussions to guest star in an episode. "I'm in talks about a one-off role. I'd prefer to be a baddie. They're always much more fun to play."

Also reported at: ContactMusic, TeenTelevision, Bits of News and Digital Spy.

It would not be the first link with the show for Grant - in 1999 he was one of the star names to play the Doctor in the Comic Relief TV spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, which was written by Steven Moffat.

The Magazine is holding a Dalek Building Contest.

The craft-oriented contest is open to Canadian residents under 18 years of age.

Prizes include one of four copies of the Doctor Who Series Two DVD box set and the grand prize is a remote control Dalek.

The Magazine is Canada's best-selling monthly youth entertainment publication.

Monday's edition of The Sun has picked up on the furore over remarks by John Barrowman.

It follows sexual comments made by Barrowman in Doctor Who Magazine, which prompted letters of complaint and an apology.

The 39-year-old Torchwood and Doctor Who star made certain references about himself,Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Torchwood director Ashley Way in a previous edition of the magazine.

DWM reader Robert Mitchell from Brighton had a letter published in the current edition in which he said: "The magazine is called Doctor Who Magazine and not Gay Times."

The Sun lifts part of the response by editor Clayton Hickman, quoting him as saying: "We consider the magazine is for older readers, but some of this content may have overstepped the mark. Apologies."

Saturday's edition of The Sun reports that former Hollyoaks actress Elize Du Toit has been cast in Series Three.

It says the 25-year-old is to play the character Miss Dexter but does not reveal which story she will be in.

The article features spoiler information about Dexter as well as another character in the forthcoming series (although they are not necessarily in the same story). Click on the tag below to read more and for the link to the Sun story.

The Sun is claiming that Tom Ellis has been cast in the new series of Doctor Who as the character Tom Milligan. (Warning - the link contains spoilers.) He appeared in EastEnders as Dr Oliver Cousins, and has also appeared inWaking The Dead, Holby City and Love Soup, among many other programmes.

A BBC source has told the Sun that "Tom plays a crucial role in the season finale of Doctor Who." He is apparently due to begin filming next week.

Some stories you may have missed recently in the press ...

Comparisons between Doctor Who and ITV's new show Primeval have been cropping up in a variety of sources.Heat magazine said "... it's not a fair comparison - where Doctor Who is quirky, playful and very British, this glossy adventure is more in the American style, with spectacular effects, fancy locations and less larking about ... For all it's slickness, Primeval would be improved by the presence of a David Tennant or a Billie Piper. But what wouldn't?". Closermagazine commented that, "Doctor Who proved that decent sci-fi drama can be a huge family hit, so you can't blame ITV for wanting a piece of the action."

John Barrowman has been "celebrating the best of Broadway, Hollywood and the West End" by sitting in for Elaine Paige on Sunday 11 February on BBC Radio 2 at 1-3pm, and will be carrying on the presenting duties on the following Sunday, 18 February, at the same time. You can listen again for 7 days here. The first show included radio play forLove Don't Roam and discussion of Torchwood filming, as previously reported on the News Page.
Barrowman will be hosting The National Lottery: Saturday Draws on BBC1 at 9.25 on 24 February.

A short Q & A interview with Barrowman appeared in London Lite on 9 February.

A home-made Doctor Who time machine was the star attraction at a space-based literacy day on Saturday 20 January at the Langworthy Cornerstone, aimed at improving English. Doctor Who author Stephen Cole also attended, conducting a writing seminar and judging the winning entries in the story competition.

The Mirror has reported on the investigation of a BBC Wales executive for fraud in "A Doctor Who Swindle", claiming the executive "was in charge of a multi-million pound budget at the Cardiff HQ where Doctor Who is made" and is under investigation for a series of payments he authorised. Any Doctor Who link may be largely geographical, however, as the executive who resigned in April 2005 was head of operations for BBC Wales, and was responsible for technology, outside broadcasts, studios, post-production, facilities management, and BBC premises.

According to Sky Showbiz (A. Montini), Hugh Grant "got offered a role in the revived version of Doctor Who. Not sure what put him off the role - the hard work or the show being shot in Cardiff ... Either way he said no."

Many celebrities have been revealing their love of Doctor Who.

Take That singer Mark Owen told Sky Showbiz he would like to appear in Doctor Who, saying that "I never missed it and loved the show the first time around. I think there is room for us on the show to do a concert on another planet, but we would have to return, of course."

Inside Soap (3-9 February)also reveals that Carrie Grant (of BBC2's Safari School) says that the Doctor is the TV/movie character she would most like to be - "The idea that you could just go anywhere you wanted in the whole universe ... Oh yeah!"

The winner of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Connie Fisher, has been stating her case for a role in Doctor Who. According to Sky Showbiz, she said, "I never miss the show and think that it would be great for me as it's totally different from what people know me as."

Scottish designers Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan said that they would: "... love to be in Doctor Who - David Tennant is magnificent and we're big fans of Christopher Eccleston." source: Metro

British comedian Al Murray (currently hosting Al Murray's Happy Hour on ITV) comments on Doctor Who that his children "love it and I do, too. I think it's been the most amazing thing on TV in recent years." (Heat magazine, issue 412)

People

Marc Warren (Love and Monsters) and Yasmin Bannerman (The End of the World) both appeared in the first episode of the second series of Life on Mars, broadcast on BBC 1 on the 13 February. Written and co-created byMatthew Graham (Fear Her) and starring John Simm, episode 2 in the current series was written by Chris Chibnall(Torchwood).

Peter Davison is to star in a new BBC 2 comedy Fear, Stress and Anger.

David Tennant and Sarah Parish can be seen together in Recovery, a one-off 90-minute drama written by Tony Merchant, following a man who suffers a head injury, currently due to be transmitted on BBC 1 from 9pm on Sunday, 25 February. Tennant is due to appear as a guest for Clive Anderson on Radio 2 on the 25 February between 11am and 1pm. The show will be available online for the following 7 days here.

Meanwhile, readers of New Woman magazine have voted Tennant number 13 in it's 100 Hottest Men on the Planet poll. Last year, he came in at number 20.

Billie Piper is to star in the adaptation of Belle de Jour for Channel 4, according to BBC News. Piper is also to guest on The Charlotte Church Show, which screens on Friday, 23 February at 10pm on Channel 4 (UK). Piper was interviewed by Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4's Front Row on 13 February.

Christopher Eccleston made his first appearance as Claude in Heroes in January. The creator/producer of Heroes,Tim Kring, described how Eccleston became involved in the show in an interview at Crave Online: "I had seen his work mainly in Elizabeth and I had seen him in 28 Days Later. I knew who he was and I had originally wanted a British [actor]. I saw the character as a kind of Fagin kind of character. I wanted a big sort of sloppy Brit with a working class accent who is this curmudgeonly invisible guy, a real misanthrope. So the casting people said, "Well, Christopher Eccleston is actually living here now in America. He’s just moved here and he’s trying to get work here." So it was one of those fortuitous things where it was like, "Oh, I love that guy. Let’s go after him." By the time we had a part for him, he was really a fan of the show."

Eccleston is also due to start filming shortly on The Dark is Rising, an adaptation of the fantasy book by Susan Cooper.

Penelope Wilton appeared on the 14 February edition of Front Row (BBC Radio 4).

Mark Gatiss and Arabella Weir (who plays a female Doctor in the Doctor Who Unbound audio Exile by Nicholas Briggs from Big Finish) will be guest starring in Radio 4's Down the Line on 20 February.