The newest issue of Doctor Who Magazine has now begun circulating and there are several pieces of information (spoiler tagged, below) in the issue. Of course, you can read all the details in the latest issue, #346, on sale Thursday July 22.

Issue 179 of TV Zone magazine will feature interviews with series producer Russell T Davies and visual artist Bryan Hitch. The magazine is due out July 22; at right is the cover illustration. (Thanks to Stephen Graves)

Issue #346 of Doctor Who Magazine will be released on July 22. "Hot from the offices of BBC Wales," says the press release, "DWM meets the folks in charge of Visual Effects, Special Make-Up and Prosthetics, and Models and Miniatures for the new series! Plus there's an exclusive chat with new Doctor Who director Keith Boak, while the show's executive producer Russell T Davies spoils fans rotten with a double-length Production Notes column. He may even tackle the thorny issue of what every episode of the new series is called. Which would be nice. Then people would stop emailing us. There's also an interview with Doctor Who's elusive former script editor, Eric (continuity) Saward, and a purring chat with Oxo-mum and Gallifrey's guardian, Lynda Bellingham. You can also see the rediscovered telesnaps of part six of Marco Polo, discover how Winston Churchill is involved in the length of Doctor Who seasons, and gasp with double Dalek delight as Nicholas Briggs reveals all about the Dalek Empire and The Time Team watch Genesis of the Daleks. Space Applause! Meanwhile, in the comic strip, The Doctor and Destrii arrive in Camden in the first part of epic new serial The Flood. Editor Clayton Hickman promises it's 'sooooooooo brilliant!'" The cover is at right.

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)

Some clarification on the Radio Times Top 40 list we reported on yesterday. Each of the four people we mentioned had some notes about them, as well as quotations. On Lorraine Heggessey, BBC1 controller: "As the awards continue to roll in for BBC shows (State of Play and Canterbury Tales have just won at the Banffs - big in Canada, apparently), the woman at the top of the BBC1 food chain can look back on a year of almost unprecedented success. Under Heggessey, BBC1 drama has emerged as a streetfighting mixture of award-winning fare like the above, with ratings scrappers such as Holby City, Casualty and Spooks guarding against charges of elitism." Actress Amanda Holden said of Heggessey: "A great woman, and very down to earth, I think she's turned BBC1 around and made it a much livelier channel." Radio Times says of Mal Young, head of drama: "Emblematic of BBC drama's leaner, meaner approach of recent times, Young has eschewed the traditional Oxbridge route to the top, having worked his way up from Brookside's shop floor to be the Beeb's soap tsar. He's been instrumental in ransforming Casualty and Holby City into year-round series, which has provided the major bulwark against ITV1's ratings domination. Says Lucy Gannon, 'He's enthusiastic, realistic and has brought a breath of fresh air to the Beeb. A can-do man.'" On new show creator Russell T Davies, "If, as numerous executives contributing to this poll suggest, TV is increasingly dominated by writers, Davies is sitting pretty. Queer as Folk placed him in an elite group of writers with Paul Abbott and Andrew Davies and, as the main writer of the new Doctor Who, his profile looks set to rise even further. 'He has a unique voice, can deal equally well with humour and tragedy, and all that he does is suffused with real compassion and humanity,' says Jane Tranter." And finally, on our new Doc Christopher Eccleston, "His work to date has been impressively eclectic - from messiah to modern-day Iago - but Eccleston's position in this list owes most to the kudos that will come with being the next Doctor Who." Mal Young says of him, "Very few actors can green-light a project but, because of the amazing response I've had from Doctor Who, I'd say he's now one that can." (Thanks to Rich Kirkpatrick)

Radio Times has compiled a list of the top 40 most powerful figures in UK television drama. BBC Controller Lorraine Heggessey, who gave the go-ahead to begin production on the new Doctor Who series, ranked in seventh place, whileMal Young, controller of continuing drama and an executive producer of the new show, ranks at #9. New series creator Russell T. Davies is at #17, while new Doc Christopher Eccleston rounds out the Who celeb list at #19. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg)

The new issue of the fanzine Whotopia is now available, featuring an interview with Maggie Stables, "Chamber of Horrors: An Overview of the Hinchcliffe Era," part three of an article about the making of the Doctor Who reconstructions, "An Unearthly Inception: The Origins of Doctor Who," an article about continuity between the old and new show, plus fiction, a comic feature and other articles. More details are available at whotopia.tvheaven.com.

Publisher David Whittam of Comeuppance Comics contacted us regarding the distribution of the fourth installment ofMiranda, the spinoff comic using the character created in Lance Parkin's BBC Books Doctor Who novel "Father Time," the Doctor's 'daughter'. "Just to clarify - Issue 4 is sitting in Quark XPress form on David's hard drive. He's negotiating a deal with a printer at the moment - converting UKP to Euros seems to be his main task at the moment and then trying to negotiate the price down. We make no bones about the fact we're losing money. A fair bit of money actually, per issue. We're determined you will get all six issues - it might take a little longer than planned, but you will get them. and if you know people who haven't bought it yet - please get them to - it'll speed the whole thing up no end. And extra 500 subs would be very nice. And hey - they'd get the first 3 issues all at once!" For more details visitwww.comeuppancecomics.co.uk.

Issue #69 of Time Space Visualiser, the journal of the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club (and one of the best DW fanzines still in print today, in our opinion!) is out and features Rob Shearman's episode by episode critique of Season 21, Paul Cornell's experiences writing Scream of the Shalka on his New Zealand honeymoon, Fan video productions in New Zealand, Invasion of the Dinosaurs reappraised - with the aid of diagrams, The Horns of Nimon gets taken Beyond the Sofa, Andrew Pixley documents cut script extracts from The Daleks' Master Plan, the full results of the TSV 40th anniversary survey, reviews of the latest DVDs, audios and books and much more. For ordering details go towww.doctorwho.org.nz. (Thanks to Paul Scoones)

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)