According to the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine, the director of the first "block" of the new series is Keith Boak, who has directed for Out of the Blue, Wokenwell, City Central, Sunburn, Harbour Lights, The Knock, Mersey Beat, The Royal and Holby City. (There's no explanation of what this "Block One" comprises.) Russell Davies says that Boak "directed one of my first ever paid scripts, a 5-minute piece for the BBC's Def 2 slot". Also named in Davies' new production notes column in DWM 344 is Lucinda Wright, the new costume designer. Davies notes that work has started progressing on the first blcok as of May 17 (pre-production only), with script meetings on May 18 (discussing "Paul Cornell's script... dark and brave and every bit as brilliant as I expected") and a "tone meeting" on May 19... "All of us - producers, director, script editors, the entire design department, costume, casting, special FX, make-up and monster men - packed into one room to talk tone. MEaning what should this show look like, feel like, aspire to? Colour, sound, pitch, key?" Noted in a May 19 casting meeting session discussion in the Davies article, a new character name is mentioned; besides the aforementioned Jackie and the "Moxx of Balhoon," there is a character named Mickey, either a regular or a guest star. Also in the issue, an interview with script editors Helen Raynor and Elwen Rowlands confirms that Rowlands is working with Davies and Cornell, and Raynor with Shearman, Gatiss and Moffat (and "a bit of Russell"), but that they are working together across all episodes "to make sure that continuity works." They comment that 'Rob Shearman is chucking the "ooh" moments around like confetti [and] Paul Cornell's episode is so moving it brought a tear to the eye. Mark Gatiss' script has some hilarious moments and the sheer naughtiness of Russell's Alien's of London had us chuckling away all day. We wait delivery of Steven Moffat's script with bated breath.' Finally, Davies' Production Notes reveals that one episode features a clipboard that "creates a meeting of its own. Is it metal? Plastic? Illuminated? Sentient?... And it's only a clipboard!" This, you see, is Russell's proof that "This programme is barmy." Read all of this, plus a lot more, in the new DWM, issue 344 now on sale. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

The next issue of Doctor Who Magazine, #345 interviews Russell T Davies on his quest to find "the perfect new companion for Christopher Eccleston's Doctor: 'It wasn't exactly the search for Scarlett O'Hara, but it was close! Billie Piper was perfect - shining and clever and independent...'" Also, new script editors Elwen Rowlands and Helen Raynor are interviewed and Davies discusses the "tone" of the new series ("and you can find out which
episode contains the words 'zig-zag,' 'Hannibal' and 'decanter'!"); a tribute to Master actor Anthony Ainley; the final episode of the current comic strip, "Sins of the Fathers," conclusion of the series examining the workings of the Doctor's TARDIS, an interview with the series' first director Waris Hussein, part five of "Marco Polo" in telesnap form, and the usual news, views and previews. DWM 345 is on sale on June 24. (Thanks to Clayton Hickman)

Award-winning comics artist Bryan Hitch, the man behind titles such as The Authority and The Ultimates and winner of last yearÆs SFX Reader Award for Best Comic Book, is the concept artist for the new series. Says Russell T Davies, "This is entirely thanks to SFX. The Head of Drama at the BBC had talked about getting a concept artist right from the start, so we were already beginning to think about it. Then out of the blue Nick Setchfield at SFX got in touch, saying that Bryan Hitch had heard about the new series of Doctor Who and wanted to help. Now, IÆm an old comics fan... and I couldnÆt believe this was the Bryan Hitch. IÆve got the Ultimates collection, and that beautiful hardback of The Authority. ItÆs just brilliant... I showed Julie and Phil [producers Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson] the comics, they went mental, we summoned the Hitch, and here we are... Now Bryan can give us concepts and wild ideas to spark us off in new directions. Thank you SFX, itÆs really appreciated!ö Hitch will be in charge of the signature look of the new series, working alongside production designer Edward Thomas; the two will develop the TARDIS interior, new aliens and technology for the series. Hitch's previous Doctor Who work was a one-issue comic strip in DWM 139 and the cover for Mad Norwegian's "I, Who 2". More details are in the new SFX, due out June 9. (Thanks to SFX Magazine)

The new DWM has information about both BBC Books' plans for 2005 as well as the rest of the year's Big Finish anthologies. On the BBC Books front, March through May will feature the frist three tie-in novels with the new series' characters, while Lance Parkin's book is due out in June and now has a name, The Gallifrey Chronicles. Barry Letts pens The Island of Death in July, a Third Doctor/Sarah novel, while August sees the Sixth Doctor book Future Nostalgia by Gary Russell. Richards tells DWM that they're still in the planning stages of the "ninth Doctor adventures," working with the production team to make sure the characterizations are correct; they will be distinct from the regular series for both fans and new viewers, but may have elements from the regular series crop up within them.

Meanwhile, Big Finish's Short Trips: Monsters, due out this summer and edited by Ian Farrington, features the following short stories: "Feeding Time" by Samantha Baker, "How I Stopped Trying to Kill the Doctor and Learned to Love Myself" by Nev Fountain, "The Secret of Fire" by Matt Grady, "Categorical Imperative" by Simon Guerrier, "The Touch of the Nurazh" by Stephen Hatcher, "Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life" by Anthony Keetch, "Trapped" by Joseph Lidster, "The Colour of Monsters" by Steve Lyons, "Best Seller" by Ian Mond & Danny Heap, "Chiaroscuro" by Jim Mortimore, "The Last Rites" by Marc Platt," and "Screamager" by Jacqueline Rayner. Meanwhile, the next Short Trips folume after that will be Short Trips: 2040 edited by John Binns, with stories by David Bailey, John Binns, Andy Campbell, Xanna Eve Chown, Matthew Griffiths, Alexander Leithes, Rebecca Levene, Kate Orman, Lance Parkin, Marc Platt, Jacqueline Rayner, Richard Salter, Tara Samms, Gareth Wigmore and Huw Wilkins. Finally, Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury is due out in December and is edited by Paul Cornell, with the author list to be announced soon.

The new issue of DWM features an interview with new series production designer Edward Thomas. "As Production Designer," Thomas tells DWM, "I will be responsible for the overall look and feel of all 13 episodes... I will have lots of help in the form of art directors, illustrators, set designers, CGI and a whole host of other creative people who will assist me in introducing a brand new look, whilst retainging a few of the most unforgettable features." He also talks about what the TARDIS will be like ("Big ... On the inside that is!") and about the interior of the time ship.

Also in the issue, Russell T. Davies gets to the bottom of whether or not the Eccleston Doctor is the ninth incarnation. "Of course he bloody is!" writes Eccleston. "There is no official, co-ordinated BBC policy on this, and never will be; but ... Chris is number nine." He also discusses the number of the episode (it will start with #1) and season ("it's Series One"), and says that he's just finished writing the fourth episode. On the subject of production codes, Davies says, "Because the forthcoming series has shifted base to BBC Wales - and on a simpler level, because no one involved in the production would even stop to worry about this - then the Production Codes are brand new. They don't continue from the 1996 movie, or the 1989 series. The new series is not called Season Twenty-Seven on any documents, it's Series One. And the first episode is officially episode one, not episode 697." However, he goes on to suggest that time, reference books, fans, etc "will take care of this and simplify... see you here in 20 years." For more details and to read the full interviews with Davies and Thomas, check out DWM #345 which hits newsstands tomorrow.

The next issue of Doctor Who Magazine, #344 is due out May 27 in the UK. In the issue is more news about the forthcoming show including Russell T. Davies production notes and an interview with the new show's production designer. Meanwhile, "DWM celebrates its 25th anniversary with a trawl through the back issues in the first part of Happy Times and Places! Comic strip adventure in Sins of the Fathers as Space Monkeys attack! Andrew Pixley examines the Doctor's natural home of Saturday evenings on BBC1 in Part 4 of Scheduled for Success! The Telesnap Archive continues with Part Three of Marco Polo! The Time Team meet the boggle-eyed Fourth Doctor as their quest to watch every single Doctor Who episode continues! Plus all the Reviews, News and Previews to keep you sated for another four weeks!" The cover is at right. (Thanks to Tom Spilsbury/DWM)

JK HASN'T GOT THE TIMELORD says today's Daily Record, which quotes the recent Doctor Who Magazine interview (yet another press pickup from the DWM story) as saying that Harry Potter creator/author J.K. Rowling has "turned down the chance to bring some magic to the new Dr Who series." Says the article, the BBC wanted her to write an episode, but she's too busy writing the sixth Harry Potter novel, due out next summer. The interview that DWM conducted with producer Russell T Davies quoted him as saying, "I asked JK Rowling if she would like to write an episode for the new series. But she told me she was amused by the suggestion but simply doesn't have the time... I wanted her to write just one episode, but unfortunately she had to turn it down. She told me she was absolutely charmed to have been asked but was so busy at the moment she just couldn't accept. It was slightly disappointing to say the least." You can actually read the whole interview in this month's DWM.

Big Finish updated their website with details they released earlier in the week, including the cover for the anthology Short Trips: Life Science (at right; click for a larger version), the cover blurb for next February's The Juggernauts (not Jugganauts or other spellings as DWM and other websites have incorrectly reported), which features not only the return of Terry Molloy as Davros but also guest stars Paul Grunert (Bonnie Langford's husband) in one role, and the cover and details for the first Dalek Empire III serial, which bears the subtitle "The Exterminators," as well as the subsequent five chapters. The article on the site also corrects the proper name of the December 2003 serial as being The Next Life (not "Rassilon") and notes why the planned end of the Divergent universe storyline in the McGann serials was moved up. Says producer Gary Russell, "The arrival of a new series on TV in 2005 has caused us to move things around our schedule somewhat," explains Big Finish Doctor Who co-producer Gary Russell. 'With hopefully lots of new viewers coming to the show next year, Big Finish, like BBC Books and everyone else, are hoping they'll want to investigate the past of the show as well and thus we thought it might not be the best time to have running through the early part of the year an ongoing series of plays with running themes, alternate universes and no TARDIS. I think it's very important to make potential newcomers welcome to the stories and not feel as if they've missed out on so much they can't ever catch up." Russell also told Outpost Gallifrey that, despite comments in DWM and the BF site, he (not Nick Briggs) is directing "Faith Stealer" and the other McGann audios.