Doctor Who non-fiction author Mark Campbell ("Dimensions in Time and Space") tells Outpost Gallifrey that he recently had a chance to ask UK Prime Minister Tony Blair if he used to watch Doctor Who and whether he would be watching it when it returned. Campbell posed the question after the PM had delivered an education speech at London's Institute of Education on July 7. A slightly bemused Tony Blair replied, "No, I'm afraid I was never really a fan of it." Can't win 'em all... (Thanks to Mark Campbell)

Visit the website of National Public Radio to see pictures of a few exhibits at the new Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, one of which is a gun prop from The Happiness Patrol. (Thanks to Matt Chayt)

BBC 1 soap opera EastEnders contained a nice Doctor Who joke on Friday July 9; character Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham, who appeared in "Resurrection of the Daleks"), when asked by wheelchair-bound Ian Beale how he was doing, replied "better than you by the look of it Davros!"

The handiwork of Doctor Who makeup artist Dorka Nieradzik, who worked on many of the series' later stories, can be seen in the new blockbuster film "King Arthur". (Thanks to Brent Johnson)

The new edition of the Radio Times published today has a competition to win a DVD player and a selection of new BBC DVDs, including The Leisure Hive (and the magnificent House of Cards trilogy). The question is tricky: there's apparently going to be a new series of something called Doctor Who - who's going to play the title role? It's a UK-only competition, entries by phone. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Though BBC Worldwide for some reason won't officially confirm any sort of UK release for the forthcoming Lost in Time Collection, the collection of orphan Doctor Who episodes coming out this November (despite the fact that retailers already have an early November date for sale), BBC Worldwide America not only has confirmed it but has released cover illustrations for the North American release, also due in November, and details about the individual sets. Below are the cover illustrations for the complete North American edition, which is two DVD sets packaged together, as well as the individual versions on sale here, one with each Doctor. (We don't know if they're being offered separately in the UK, but apparently the North American edition is done so.)

BBC1's show South Today is featuring segments all this week, as previously reported on Outpost Gallifrey, about locations in the south of England where Doctor Who episodes were filmed. The first part was shown Monday, with subsequent airings through Thursday on BBC1. Earlier installments featured Seeds of Doom at Athelhampton House and Revelation of the Daleks at IBM Portsmouth. According to producer Bill Baggs, four of these miniature films were commissioned; you can go to the BBC's South Today website to download the most recent version, and the earlier ones will hopefully be repeated soon. The BBC's Southampton website has a number of features, pictures, e-cards and a quiz; a picture gallery has some shots from the recent filming, and there is word that Sylvester McCoy will be doing a web chat on July 15 from 7-8pm BST. (Thanks to Bill Baggs, Steve Tribe)

Raymond Cusick, designer of the Daleks in 1963 while working as a BBC special effects person, tells the Sun "Don't let the BBC exterminate my evil pepperpots" on July 8. "It'll be very sad if the Daleks are exterminated. When people remember Dr Who, they remember Daleks, it's as simple as that," he told the paper. "Good on The Sun for campaigning to bring them back." Cusick went into the creation of the Daleks for the article: "Terry [Nation] wrote the Daleks into Dr Who but no one knew what they'd look like. He gave me an hour to come up with something. There was a pepperpot on the table in front of me and I started sliding it and then did a couple of sketches -and the Daleks were born! I wanted them to glide along in a creepy manner. But we didn't have any money and couldn't rely on gizmos to move them around -so they had to be operated by a man sitting inside."

"Billie Begs Chris: Let's Move to L.A." says an article in the July 9 Daily Star, which says that "the 21-year-old Swindon-born star" and future Doctor Who companion "has set her heart on being Wiltshire's answer to Catherine ZetaJones and Chris [Evans, her husband], 38, is leaving nothing to chance. ... They're spending a lot of time in their home and she wants it to be their full-time base. She knows there are lots of good looking girls prepared to put themselves on the party circuit and flirt to get a deal. The only person Billie is prepared to woo to get a film role is Chris, so she pleaded with him to start up their own film firm too." The Sunday Mirror also noted, on July 11, that Billie and Chris have "hit a rocky patch". Says the Mirror, "When Billie Piper hooked up with Chris Evans, 16 years her senior, people doubted it would last. Nearly four years down the track, the pair are still together - but could Billie's new-found acting success bring about the end of their relationship?" Of course, it could all be just hype...

Billie Piper disappeared from the set of her new horror film "Spirit Trap"... with none other than Patrick Troughton's grandson, Sam Troughton, according to a July 12 Newsquest Digital Media report. "Starlet Billie Piper created a drama of her own while filming in Romania," says the article. "Film bosses panicked when Billie, who is the leading lady in the film, disappeared for three hours in Romania but later returned. Both Billie and Troughton were said to be embarrassed by the incident."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe)

An article on the MSNBC website called "Beyond æBuffyÆ: State of sci-fi on TV" discusses the current state of affairs in science fiction TV, and one of the articles concentrates on Doctor Who. The article segment focusing on our show is as follows (with thanks to MSNBC.com):

CGI effects house The Mill are involved in the effects for the new Doctor Who series, according to a forthcoming article in issue #120 of "Dreamwatch" Magazine (and possibly also in next week's new "Doctor Who Magazine" as well). As soon as we have confirmation of this, we'll bring it to you!