John Barrowman will be a guest on Friday 3 February on London'sLBC 97.3FM with Alison Bell, then will host a half-hour question and answer show answering questions from the audience. Says the press release, "You'll be able to download John's show through the LBC podcast page [on the website]. Whether it's Torchwood, Doctor Who or Dancing on Ice, John's promising to talk directly to fans and answer listener questions, whether it's through texts, emails or on the phone." Barrowman's officialwebsite is also reporting the news and should have more details early this week. (Thanks to Andy Harris, Paul Taylor)

According to a press release from BT Telecom, Tom Baker on Friday became the voice of BT Text, "a new service which lets people send and receive text messages on their home phone. From today, every text message sent to a landline will be delivered as a spoken message by Tom, narrator of the hit comedy Little Britain. Former Dr Who Tom was chosen as the voice of BT Text for his instantly recognisable voice. In a recent poll of celebrity voices, Tom was voted the fourth most recognisable voice in the UK, behind only the Queen, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. Gavin Patterson, BT group managing director, Consumer, said: 'As one of our great British icons, Tom appeals across the generations, for his role as the fourth Dr Who, more recently as the narrator of Little Britain and as Donald McDonald in Monarch of the Glen. He's the perfect choice to be the new voice of text, showing everyone – young and old – how easy and fun it is to send and receive texts on your home phone.' Tom Baker said: 'It's a big responsibility to be Britain's voice of text. What appeals to me most is the thought that I will be bringing good news to people whether it is a cheeky message, a Birthday greeting or just a quick hello. Whatever it is, hopefully my voice will bring a smile to people's faces.' It took about five months to produce the voice from start to finish, with Tom spending a total of 11 days recording every single sound in the English language. It was not a simple case of reading out the dictionary from A-Z. Instead, Tom had to record 11,593 phrases, which covered every single sound in the English language in each of their different contexts. These were then broken down into combinations of sounds that could be separated and reassembled by computer to make new words following the rules of English pronunciation – similar to the way children are taught to read. This means there is no limit to the words the voice can say, even rude ones. It has also been programmed to recognise abbreviations and even text speak such as GR8, CUL8R and 'smilies' like :-) . You could even get Tom to blow kisses to your loved one on Valentine's Day. Text 'xx' and Tom Baker's voice will say 'kiss, kiss' or four or more x's and he'll say 'lots of kisses'. ... Tom will be the voice of BT Text for a limited period of three months." More details about the service are at BT's Celebrity Voice website. Also reported in the Mirror, the Brand Republic, Pocket Lint, icWales Network, Daily Record, Digital Spy. (Photo from the recent Tom Baker signing at the Stamp Centre, courtesy Steven Scott / Scifi Collector)

South Bank Awards

Billie Piper was honoured Friday at "an awards ceremony for her successful breakthrough into an acting career. Piper, who faded from the limelight after her second album in 2000 amid lurid media stories of her rocky marriage to the ginger-haired DJ Chris Evans, was voted the most exciting new face of 2005 by Times readers because of her appearance in the BBC's revival of the classic science fiction series. She impressed audiences with her portrayal of Rose, the Doctor's sidekick, playing alongside Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor in the first and David Tennant in the second series written by Russell T. Davies. Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the Harry Potter movies, handed Piper her prize - The Times Breakthrough Award - at the South Bank Awards today. She said yesterday that she was dedicated to acting. 'I care so much more about acting than I do for music,' she said. 'I'm having the time of my life at the moment and this (prize) just makes it even better. Doctor Who has affected me personally. The stories are amazing, but it's bloody hard work.' The awards, which celebrate the arts from dance to television, have a reputation for highlighting work that has been overlooked for other prizes." The item was reported originally at the Times, and has also been mentioned at BBC News,What's On Stage,icWales, Daily Mail, ITN, Film Guardian, Digital Spy andTiscali UK. (Photo credit given for pic at right by Tiscali is MJ Kim/Getty Images)

Broadcast Awards

Doctor Who has won the award for Best Drama Series or Serial at the 2006Broadcast Awards sponsored byBroadcastNow. The BBC won seven awards including the prestigious award for the series.

Book Bestsellers

This week's edition of The Bookseller carries various charts of the bestselling books of 2005. BBC Books' Ninth Doctor novels take two positions in the Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards is at number 18 and The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole is at number 19, with unit sales of 34,429 and 34,336 respectively. The Vesuvius Club, the science fiction novel by writer Mark Gatiss ("The Unquiet Dead") also makes the chart at number 12 (38,750).

Series Two

The Guardian on Friday featured comments from Maureen Lipman, who we recently reported would be in the second series this spring. "The other day," Lipman wrote, "I did six hours as an alien on Dr Who. This will probably earn me my entire year's worth of street cred. We filmed it at the old studio in Alexandra Palace, in north London. It was very cold and the wind blew up my evening dress and rattled my pearls. I was the only actor among a dozen or so technicians and I had to respond to commands such as: "OK Maureen, now could you give us 15 seconds of having every last drop of energy sucked out of you?" It was great. Inevitably, I overdid the screeching and cackling and, back at the theatre that night, found myself hoarse by the end of the play. Thank the Lord for Sunday, that blessed day of rest, bagels, scrambled eggs, friends, the newspapers and the finest four words in the history of literature: "AA Gill is away." "

More websites have been registered by the BBC for the forthcoming season of Doctor Who: it appears they've registered the sites cybusfinance.com and cybusfinance.co.uk as well as cybusproperty.com and cybusproperty.co.uk.

Friday's Daily Star asks, "Who's this smitten couple cuddling up together? Sexy Billie Piper and new Doctor Who David Tennant showed just how friendly they've become during a break from filming the hit sci-fi show in Cardiff. Gorgeous Billie, 23, gazed adoringly at David, 34, before they tenderly hugged each other. And he kept a close eye on the babe, who plays Timelord's assistant Rose Tyler, as she burst into a fit of the giggles. The fun-loving pair have forged a close bond since they started shooting the new series, which will be shown at the end of March. Meanwhile, their Who pal Captain Jack, alias Dancing on Ice star John Barrowman, 38, has bought G-strings for all the blokes on the show. The cheeky gay actor snapped up the skimpy undies so the guys could let their lunch boxes 'breathe more easily' as they skate around in tight leotards. His saucy secret was revealed by Bill actor and fellow skater Stefan Booth, 26, who let slip: 'John has bought all the lads G-strings to help make it easier for us to be flexible!'" Can you say free publicity...?

People

Saturday's Mirror interviewed Bonnie Langford about her role on TV's "Dancing on Ice". "Tonight, as she takes to the ice in a revealing orange catsuit in front of 10million viewers, former child star Bonnie Langford will be interested in the verdict of one audience member most of all. 'It's my daughter Biana who has given me the confidence to do this,' Bonnie says, during a break from rehearsals of ITV's hit celebrity skating show, Dancing On Ice. 'As a mother, how can you say to your daughter 'Have a go, try new things' if you're too scared to try new things yourself? Biana has changed me from someone who liked to be in a comfort zone. She came skating with me the first time I went on the ice three months ago. She gives me the courage to do it.' Dancing On Ice - a surprise ratings hit which Bonnie has won two weeks in a row - is in its third week now. But this will be the first time Biana has come to see her mother perform. ... It's all a long way from Bonnie's childhood, when normal five-year-old stuff was packed with auditions and rehearsals. ... Still, you sense that Bonnie wants her daughter to be a child rather than a small adult. 'Her childhood is very important and I want to spend as much of it with her as possible doing normal things.' ... She has worked non-stop since but aside from a spell on TV as Dr Who's sidekick, mainly in musical theatre - and you wonder if the appeal of Dancing On Ice is the opportunity to let the public see the real, unlisping, unannoying Bonnie Langford. 'It is a way for the public to see who we are, I suppose,' Bonnie says. 'You know, from our dressing rooms at Elstree we can see the Big Brother house and we spent ages wanting to break in.' Careers have been made and broken in that house since Dancing On Ice began. 'What stopped me is the thought I might get stuck in there,' Bonnie says. 'I couldn't take being in the spotlight all the time.' It seems a curious admission for someone who has grown up in the public eye but Bonnie says she is actually a private person. 'The pushy, showbiz kid thing was always the performance not the person. I'm very solitary. I don't like socialising.' ... Dancing On Ice is a way of revisiting a childhood neither Lena nor Bonnie really had. 'I'd never gone as a kid to an ice rink,' Bonnie says. 'There was always that fear that I'd break my leg and it would affect my career.' Now she just keeps falling on her head. 'I've had a couple of nasty knocks and it has affected my confidence. I've been wearing a crash helmet in rehearsals. There's that danger element all the time. Even Christopher Dean has fallen over.'"

Thursday's Guardian had a piece on Penelope Wilton, "an actor with a long stage career, [who] has won new fame as the prime minister in Dr Who. (Previous television roles include a wonderful Homily in a 1992 BBC dramatisation of Mary Norton's The Borrowers.) Last year she was with the National Theatre in The House of Bernarda Alba and now she is off to tread the boards with the other lot: next month she will be at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, playing Livia in Women Beware Women, one of those early 17th century plays lots of English undergraduates read but rarely see."

John Levene (Sergeant Benton in the original series) recently filmed cameo appearances for two upcoming feature films, including the retro-styled independent science fiction film "Automatons" and a sequence for the upcoming "Satan Hates You". Both films are written and directed by James Felix McKenney, who first cast Levene in the 2002 feature, "Cannibalistic!" "Automatons" is expected to begin screening at festivals this summer. More details can be found on the production company's website.

The Sun reported Friday that "Kidulthood," the new movie written by and starring Noel Clarke which it called a "violent new movie about happy slapping" was "facing calls to be banned last night. Campaigners fear Kidulthood, which features scenes where yobs film attacks, glamorises teenage violence. The movie came under fire days after teenager Chelsea O'Mahoney was jailed for filming pals kicking to death a man when she was 14. Her gang killed barman David Morley, 37, and O'Mahoney also filmed attacks on seven other victims on the same night in London. Lucy Cope, who founded Mothers Against Guns after her son was shot dead in 2002, last night led calls for Kidulthood to be banned. She said: 'I felt sick to the pit of my stomach when I heard about that man being killed by happy slappers. This film should be stopped — it glamorises violence. Youngsters will want to be like them.' The low-budget movie features suicide, teenage pregnancy, bullying and drug use. It stars Noel Clarke, who played Billie Piper's boyfriend in Dr Who, and is due for release on March 3."

Wednesday's The Sun said that David Tennant was "joining a starry line-up for a cartoon flick by Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg. David, 34, will voice Hamish in Free Jimmy, which also features Cheers's Woody Harrelson, Quadrophenia's Phil Daniels and actress Sam Morton. The film sells itself as 'Four stoners, five vegans, three mobsters, four hunters and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant.' What, no Daleks?" Meanwhile, Wednesday's Daily Star said that Tennant "claims he has his eye on some desirable props from the hit show. Joker Tennant, 34, said: 'Bits of Tardis just come away in your hands sometimes - I mean there's a pension in there, isn't there?' A spokesman for the BBC said: 'We'll look into it but I'm sure we would notice if bits of the Tardis went missing.'" He was also mentioned briefly in the New Statesman: "Peter Ackroyd's scintillating new three-part documentary series The Romantics (Saturdays, 8pm)... The first programme's theme was 'Liberty'. ... this series has more special effects than Star Trek. The poets, dressed in half-modern, half-period clothes, were beamed into fields and restaurants. Appropriately, the actor who played Rousseau was none other than the new Dr Who, David Tennant. ...Besides the rescue of a stranded whale beneath Albert Bridge, anything pales, but The Romantics was compel-ling television, too.'"

Special Events

Qdos Entertainment has a feature about The Chuckle Brothers in 'Doctor Who'. It says that "children's favourites, Paul and Barry Chuckle, will be embarking on a national tour of their new show – Doctor What and the Return of The Garlics! The boys set off on a galactic trip thinking it is nothing more than an unusual holiday and end up on another amazing adventure fighting for good against evil but stopping along the way for egg and chips and a cup of tea. 'Doctor What' follows the hugely successful tour of 'Pirates of the River Rotha' which broke all previous box office records last year."

Hyde Fundraisers says that "Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Cybermen and Daleks will be descending upon Buxton on February 4th at the launch of the Surestart centre. Also making an appearance are the infamous 'Billarettes' that will be leading a lunchtime aparade. Other activities at this community event include Penalty Shootout, Art activities and of course - meeting some of your favourite Sci-Fi characters courtesy of Hyde Fundraisers. The event will raise awareness of services available to the local community and will also benefit our nominated charities. The event takes place at the Surestart Building off Victoria Park Road, Fairfield, Buxton between 11am - 2pm." Although the article doesn't mention Buxtonian Bruno Langley ('Adam'), he is mentioned (and pictured with virtual Daleks in June 2005) in the Tameside Reporter/Glossop Chronicle in their article (5 January 2006) on Hyde Fundraisers' 20th anniversary flyer.

Miscellaneous

The official Doctor Who website has some downloadable content for mobile phones and portable media players, including items featuring David Tennant, Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke.

Sunday's Times says that the paparazzi are everwhere. "Celebrities beware: thanks to a website, any member of the public armed with a camera can now put you on the front pages. ... But some of the successes appear to have taken even MacRae by surprise: 'The highest single-value picture we've sold so far was of the new Dr Who monster, Sycorax. A Dr Who fan was watching the filming in June in the Forest of Dean, and this monster came out of the dressing-room trailer, so he took a photograph of it. Then the security men came out and said, 'no pictures' and closed the set down. 'We got the picture and sat on it. To be honest I didn't really know what to do with it. But the photographer was very persistent and kept insisting that it was being talked about on all the Dr Who blogs. Eventually we sold it as an exclusive for 2,000 pounds. I was flabbergasted. 'That's a good example because it was just an opportunistic moment. Nobody was hurt. Nobody killed. No damage done. The photographer made a thousand quid just before Christmas. He was delighted.'"

Thursday's Daily Express asks, "Is the bloke making a comeback? ... The future looks tough and manly, in an old-fashioned kind of way. In everything from sport to politics to Bond, we have passed through the designer-label age of smooth. It is time to return to the Age Of The Bloke – the full-grown man who feels quite at home in a sheepskin coat, or propping up a bar with a pint of bitter – what some would call a man's man. ... Who brought Dr Who into the 21st century? Christopher Eccleston, rough and rough-spoken, a world away from the cut-glass William Hartnells and Patrick Troughtons, time travellers when time travel was more genteel."

Newsquest Media Group says that "a Wordsey family is calling time on a TV-inspired home improvement with a difference. Dr Who fan James Callaghan added a TARDIS to the top of his porch as an unusual Christmas decoration but the family have now decided it is time for the blue police box to dematerialise. Teacher James, aged 32, built the replica of the famous time machine for a play at Pens Meadow school, where he works. The performance, by 57 pupils with learning difficulties at the school, told the story of a grandmother who travelled through time with the Doctor, played by James. Construction of the TARDIS only took five hours but James spent several weeks writing the play and preparing his costume, based on his favourite doctor, Peter Davidson [sic]. After interest from national press and TV, James has now decided to transport the TARDIS off the porch to his recording studio in Dudley. The addition to the house was a hit with their four-year-old son, JP who is also a fan of the time-travelling Doctor. James's wife Sarah said: 'Over Christmas all his school friends said `we have got lights' and he said `we have got a TARDIS on our roof'.'"

CBBC News says that "Doctor Who has transported back into Your Charts this week - being the newcomer in two categories. The Internet has dropped off your list of fave things and the time-travelling Doctor has crept back in. And in the celebrity chart, Narnia star Anna Popplewell is off the list to be replaced by the new Time Lord, David Tennant. And Doctor Who is still in the TV programme chart, which is headed up by The ever-popular Simpsons. Dancing On Ice falls off the list with Coronation Street joining the voting."

Tory MP, former Spectator editor and "Have I Got News For You" guest presenter, Boris Johnson was being interviewed by Simon Mayo on Five Live Friday afternoon regarding his new documentary series about ancient Rome. In the subsequent phone-in, one caller wanted to know if it was true that Johnson had been offered the part of Doctor Who. Boris said that he would have been 'honoured' but there was no truth whatever in the story!'

Other items: the Independent and Telegraph report on David Tennant's role of Richard Hoggart, the star witness in the Lady Chatterley trial, in a new screenplay by Andrew Davies;

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, John Bowman, Peter Weaver, Wayne Barry, Scott Matthewman, Cliff Chapman, Karen Davison, Joe McGill, Jim Sangster, Andrew Barrett, Mark Gardiner, Bob Schaefer)

Dark Horizons today featured an exclusive interview with Sophia Myleswoh is currently starring in the new film "Tristan and Isolde" and will feature this season in "Doctor Who" as Madame du Pompadour in the episode "The Girl in the Fireplace". Says Myles in a very brief mention of the series, "It was fantastic, I did one episode... I mean it is a bit like being called...when you get asked to do Dr Who it is a bit like being called to Jury service you can't really say no I mean it runs through the veins of the British public and it's Doctor Who."

The official Doctor Who website now features a short discussion with executive producer Julie Gardner about the sale of the series to the Sci-Fi Channel in the US. Gardner mentions that she went over to America just before Christmas to tell Sci Fi what the episodes were all about and what the production team's hopes were for the show. Gardner also says that she's happy Sci-Fi is carrying the show and how they "just really felt like the right people [to air the show]. They really did get it. They were happy with how British it is, they really liked the humor. They really, really got it. And that was the most important thing." She also expects about two more months of shooting for the second series (noting that they're filming episodes with Cybermen currently, and that they've been marching in formation on the streets of Cardiff) and that they expect the show to air "in the Spring," and that she's seen some finished episodes already and that they look "really really beautiful and really exciting."

TV Zone Magazine features a new interview with Russell T Davies, who "ponders the challenges of regenerating the Doctor, reviving classic monsters, and coming up with something more Christmassy than The Christmas Invasion…" "It's bizarre, isn't it?" Davies tells the magazine. "Who'd have thought, this time last year… it's just inconceivable. You've seen BBC launches; you don't get the Controller of BBC 1, you don't get the Controller of Drama standing up and giving a speech at the beginning. It's quite extraordinary; that's how much they're behind it. You ask for the time and you ask for the money, and you ask them for facilities, and that's how supportive they are. ... It would be a thrill to go to the cinema and see [a film] happen but literally there wouldn't even be time to think about it right now. I do think in the future it'd be lovely to do a middle range, Serenity-sort-of-level film – like, 'We don't need that much money, just give us enough so we can see what we can do'. It's tempting, but there's no time to be tempted by it! Like I say, maybe when it's all over, then the dust might settle – then again, the movie people would say the impetus has gone! And we wouldn't, at the moment, hand it over for them to do that. I mean, very clearly, if they poked their head in now and said, 'We want to make a film with David now,' we'd say, 'No'. ... Especially when you're used to the history of Doctor Who, and you get told those stories [about casting] about how they all gathered in meetings and decided on, 'the cosmic hobo', and things like that. We didn't! They just said, 'Off you go and write the next episode, and write the regeneration'. It's the thing about having great actors; you don't have to describe it to them; you don't have to say, 'He's left handed, he says his lines in a funny way, he says his lines sarcastically, he's sad on this line'; all those stage directions that bad writers always put in – 'brackets, he's sad, close brackets'. You do a bit of that in every script, obviously, but with great actors you just let them fill the space. Mainly what you're writing is the story... I mean, he's reborn, he's full of energy. He's got rid of some of the baggage of the Time War, he's a new man. So you don't simply go, 'What are this Doctor's habits?', you go, 'What is the story, how does he develop through the story?' It's drama writing as opposed to genre writing; you don't get hooked up on 'the cosmic hobo', and all that. You don't sit there going, 'Who is the Doctor, what is he?', you say, 'In this story, how could we fulfil the best dramatic impact?' And that's what you're writing; you wait 40 minutes for him to arrive and when he does, he gets a round of applause!"

Says ic Wales, "Drinkers would have been forgiven for spilling their pints when they saw a troop of Cybermen marching outside a pub. But the only thing the streets of Cardiff were under attack from was a film crew, as scenes for the new series of Doctor Who were shot. Fans looking through the windows of The Gatekeeper yesterday evening were able to see all the action taking place on Womanby Street, parts of which were closed off to the public. Celebrity spotters were lucky enough to get a glimpse of new Doctor David Tennant and sidekick Rose, played by Billie Piper, as scenes for the BBC Wales series were filmed around The Horse and Groom and The Gatekeeper pubs. But the metal robots, which have caused countless children to hide behind sofas, didn't seem quite so scary when the actors playing them were seen in anoraks."

Doctor Who fan Ian Levine, who for years has been involved in campaigns to locate and return to the archives classic episodes of "Doctor Who" that had been purged from the BBC archives in the 1970's, today noted on the Restoration Team forum that after years of searching, he's located a favored source. For two decades, Levine has searched for a man namedTom Lundie, whose off-air video recordings of several classic Jon Pertwee episodes, including "Terror of the Autons," "Doctor Who and The Silurians" and "The Daemons," were instrumental in their eventual restoration for video release (specifically, the colorization of these stories for video); Lundie also possessed the only color footage known to exist from "The Mind of Evil," a clip later placed on the BBC video release. Levine has contacted Lundie again to borrow his off-air recordings to see if there is anything additional that can be salvaged.

Today's Mirror notes that John Barrowman was told he was "too straight" for TV sitcom Will and Grace, "even though he's about to marry his gay partner. And the 38-year-old actor, who came out in his 20s, said the fact that the part of Will eventually went to straight actor Eric McCormack is typical of 'homophobic' Hollywood. 'And the sad thing is it's run by gay men and women,' he added. Glaswegian John - who plans to formalise his 10-year relationship with architect boyfriend Scott Gill - has become a household name as bisexual Captain Jack Harkness and even has a BBC3 spin-off Torchwood. And tomorrow, John will battle in the rink with other celebs, including David Seaman and Kelly Holmes, in ITV1's new show Dancing on Ice. 'Tonight I won't sleep,' said John. 'If you fall, you gotta get back up and finish. There's no bulls****ing.'" Other reports on this story at Ananova,Contact Music, Hecklerspray.

The latest issue of Programme Extra - a collection of interviews, previews and information that wraps around each programme in the Nimax Theatres group (London's Apollo, Duchess, Garrick, Lyric and Vaudeville theatres) - has a 2-page interview feature titled "John Barrowman: when, where and why." As well as discussing his early roles ("I created a stir"), theatrical superstitions ("If there's a ghost I'll say hello to them. A bar of soap in my dressing room when I leave the building because there's a superstition that if you leave something in the room you will return"), his most embarrassing experiences on stage and who he would invite to a fantasy dinner party (Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Queen Victoria, Kevin Costner and Ann Miller), he answers the question 'What projects are you most looking forward to in 2006?' with a hint that he may yet be back for series two: "The Sound of Musicals which I've just filmed for the BBC because I am so proud to be a part of bringing musicals back to television. I cannot wait to start Torchwood which is my own spin off series as Captain Jack and also my return to the Tardis for Doctor Who."

Says Daily Snack, "Doctor Moooooo! Sexy Billie Piper has revealed how she got a real beast of a Christmas surprise when a friend gave her two cows. Billie - who plays Doctor Who sidekick Rose Tyler - sneaks off to visit the pair in between filming for the smash hit show. The 23-year-old blonde fell in love with the heifers, so they are stopping at a friend’s farm instead of heading to the slaughterhouse. Billie said: 'The best Christmas present I ever got was two cows. Yes that’s right. Cows. As in moo cows. Because it was Christmas and they are both female I called them Mary and Josephine. Seriously that’s true. The cows are in a farm and I see them now and again.' Shapely Billie has obviously been bitten by the animal bug. She’s nicknamed her new co-star David Tennant - who plays The Doctor - 'Bambi'. She thinks the 34-year- old actor is a dead ringer for Disney’s baby deer. Billie tells the official Doctor Who Magazine: 'David is a lot more different in the role of The Doctor than Christopher Eccleston was. He dances more with the role. I guess he’s a bit more like a baby deer. He’s my little Bambi.' The BBC1 show returns in the spring and writer Russell T Davies, 42, has lined up a host of top stars. Comedy favourite Roger Lloyd Pack, 61, Anthony Head, 51, of Little Britain and My Family’s Zoë Wanamaker, 56, will all appear. K-9, the Cybermen and old assistant Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen, 57) will also return."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, John Bowman, Kevin West, Gary Custer, John Hutton)

According to BBC News, both John Barrowman (Captain Jack from last season) and Bonnie Langford (Mel Bush from seasons 23 and 24) will be featured as contestants on "Dancing On Ice" which debuts on ITV1 on Saturday 14 January. Among the other contestants are former ice skating pair Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Stefan Booth of "The Bill," television presenter and executive Andi Peters, Coronation Street's Sean Wilson and GMTV's Andrea McLean.

The TV biz section of yesterday's The Sun leads on ITV launching a sci-fi offensive against Doctor Who, reporting that Patrick Stewart will star in the drama "Eleventh Hour" as a trouble-shooting professor defending the country. The story also mentions that the channel is to show Primaeval, which, according to The Sun, will see a scientist sent through time. Outpost Gallifrey has previously reported on Primaeval as ITV's response to Doctor Who. The new BBC3 series Torchwood, starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness (incorrectly called "Harness" in the piece), is also mentioned. The Sun says it will start in the summer and states that Doctor Who returns in the spring.

Today's Manchester Online says that TV medium Derek Acorah has been cast in the new series. "Whether you believe in spiritualism or not, there is no doubting that Derek's programmes, including Most Haunted, The Antiques Ghost Show, The Three Mediums and, most recently, Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns, have brought great viewing success for satellite channel Living TV, attracting more than two million viewers a show. And, far from taking himself too seriously, Derek can laugh along with the best of them - he is scouse, after all. 'I've just filmed Dr Who,' he reveals. 'It's a bit of a mickey-take. The Doctor finds that spirits and ghosts have invaded the whole of the galaxy, so he gets me along to see what we can do about it. It's only a small part, but there's a bit of fun to it. I'm there saying, `I might as well go now, they're all out there and I can't do anything about them. I'm redundant!''"

icWales interviews artist Mike Collins, who "has been sharpening his pencils and starting from scratch to capture the face of the new doctor, David Tennant" in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine. "Fans of Doctor Who saw the first episode featuring the new Timelord on Christmas Day and this week the monthly Doctor Who Magazine features its first adventure using the face of Tennant. He replaces Christopher Eccleston, who lasted just one series, and who Mr Collins admits he was just getting used to capturing in cartoon form. 'I had just got to the stage when I could draw Christopher Eccleston quite comfortably,' said the Cardiff-based artist, who has three daughters. Mr Collins said he thought that Tennant made a great doctor, and thoroughly enjoyed his debut appearance on Christmas Day. 'It made for wonderful TV. I had got out of the habit of watching telly over Christmas but this time the whole family sat down. It was great, whether you were a sci-fi fan or not.' He promises more adventures for fans of Doctor Who in the new strip that features in the magazine. 'It is his first big adventure set on an alien world, and it follows on from the Christmas special.' But hinting at the adventures to come, Mr Collins added, 'There are no Daleks this time. We have managed to bring the new doctor to one of the older villains - from the Jon Pertwee era. That's all I am going to say. But drawing this villain for the first time has been an absolute joy for me. I am a big sci-fi fan so it is great to get paid for something I love doing. But David Tennant has a great face, and I had to get it right as he is a big fan and is going to read it.'"

According to the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, a 'one-off' performance of "A Dog's Life" in the studio Theatre of Epsom Playhouse will take place on March 25th at 7.45. Effectively 'an evening with' former Doctor Who actorJohn Leeson, who played the voice of K9 during the original series and in Big Finish and BBV's audio series, and has recently returned for the "School Reunion" episode of the forthcoming second season, the event will feature Leeson talking about his varied and often amusing career as an actor and, of course, his days behind the scenes on Doctor Who. More details on the Epsom Playhouse website.

Today's Daily Record featured some 'astrological predictions' for various celebrities, mentioning Billie Piper: "We all know she isn't going to be the Doctor's assistant for much longer, so what will this Virgo princess be up to in 2006? She may return to music or a project she shelved to take up the role of Rose in Doctor Who. But one thing is sure. She will have to give her choices some thought as illusion is all around her working life, especially early on in the year when promises made may not be promises kept. Love is best in February and could get serious very quickly - something she may be used to."

Today's Guardian notes that "Doctor Who" has come in first place in their poll of favourite television series of 2005. Other series on the list include "Lost" at #2, "Extras" at #3, "Spooks" at #5, "Battlestar Galactica" at #12 and David Tennant's "Casanova" at #18.

The BBC's official Doctor Who website has a few updates. The "Fear Forecasters" commentary for "The Christmas Invasion" has been updated; there's also a new 30-second snippet of Murray Gold's updated theme (for those who couldn't hear it over the announcer's voice during transmission!).

Yesterday's South Wales Evening Post mentioned the press screening of "The Christmas Invasion" back in December in a story about the holidays: "One major piece of pre-Christmas excitement for me, though, was going up to London to see the press screening of the Doctor Who Christmas special. Before this the highlight of my social calendar had been an afternoon at the Llandyfaelog agricultural show. So this was a pretty big deal for me. All the stars were there - David Tennant, Billie Piper and the legendary Russell T Davies. I sat and watched, amused as all those arty types hugged, kissed and called each other dahling - and that was just the fellas. When I got into the screening room I clocked the lovely, totally down-to-earth Edward Thomas from Swansea. He is the production designer for Doctor Who, and I had recently interviewed him for the paper. He invited me to go and sit with him which was a bit of a result as he was sitting one row back from the front. All the stars sat in the front row. I ended up sitting right behind Billie Piper - how exciting. Even more exciting, I had a quick chat with Russell T Davies after the screening. He was surrounded by people wanting to talk to him but said: 'I've always got time to speak to the Evening Post.' What a nice man and what a credit to Swansea."

The current issue (December 31 - "The Most Intriguing People of 2005") of Australia's WHO Magazine contains lists of the best and the worst TV, films, fashion etc for 2005. In the TV section the top ten best includes Doctor Who at number 8 and says "Having impressed in The Second Coming, Christopher Ecclestone [sic] gained more fans as the Doc-ster."

The Christmas edition of Time Out London (a weekly arts and entertainment magazine, although this one covered two weeks) featured artwork of David Tennant on the front cover and a spoof article inside by Russell T Davies. The 2 page article, titled "The Timelord [sic] is our shepherd" features the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack discussing some of the programmes on British TV over the Christmas break. There are 2 further pages of digital images of the 3 lead characters courtesy of David Angel.

Other items: Mirror insists that Billie Piper "hid inside her favourite parka near her North London home (or was she just doing her impression of South Park's Kenny?)" in a story about actors who have been sighted wearing furs, contrary to movement against the fur industry; the Mirror and theIndependent note Christopher Eccleston's turn in "The School of Night" (see earlier stories); RTE mentions the new ITV bid to unseat Doctor Who courtesy Ant and Dec (aka "the guys who lost out big time to Doctor Who already last year"); DigitalSpy mentions John Barrowman's forthcoming civil partnership.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, John Bowman, Peter Anghelides, Neil Matthews, Nick Seidler, Cameron Yarde Jr, Murray Harper)

Christopher Eccleston, last seen as the Doctor in June, has what appears to be a new long-term job: he is to star as Christopher 'Kit' Marlow in "The School of Night" by Peter Whelan, an historical whodunit set in 1592 in which Marlowe, fresh from the success of Doctor Faustus, encounters William Shakespeare. It will play at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End from 16 February and, assuming it is a success, Eccleston is committed to at least 22 weeks. (Thanks to Dominic May)

Annette Badland (Margaret Blaine) will star as Queen Elizabeth 1 in "The Elizabethan Beauty Law," a play written by Lizzie Hopley (Gemma Griffin from Big Finish's "Terror Firma"). It also features Amanda Root, Tom Burke, Toby Longworth and Alan Cox. The audio play airs on BBC Radio 4 this Friday, 9 December at 14.15, according to the Radio 4 website: "During Elizabeth I's reign, the Embellishment Law ruled that any woman trapping a man into marriage through self-adornment could be tried as a witch. Florence Buckley is a plain woman of 39 and very much in love - until her new husband removes her carefully constructed clothes on her wedding night."

Tracey Ann Oberman (soon to be seen as Yvonne Hartman in series two) was on the Richard And Judy show on Channel 4 on 6 December. Oberman mainly discussed her departure this week from "Eastenders" but also mentioned "Doctor Who," where she noted that the production is "more secretive than the 'Eastenders' team." She noted that she plays a baddie and that her character is in charge of a large organisation, and that she has great dress sense. (She also used an American accent, but this might not be related to the series.) She noted that David Tennant is "doing well" as the Doctor and that he brings and "intelligence" to the role.

David Tennant - as well as his father - will be guests on a future episode of Ready Steady Cook, being recorded on Friday 16 December, according to the ticket agency booking the audience, Applause Store. There is no word as to when this episode will air.

Tennant is also profiled today's The Independent, including the first fresh interview with him since the widely carried press release material of last week, although there are signs that the interview was conducted some time ago ("I don't know how I'm going to play [the Doctor] yet"). Asked about his accent in Doctor Who, Tennant says, "There'll be a bit of a story behind my English accent - it's not that straightforward. But anyway, I'm used to doing English accents ... I don't feel any great nationalistic need to be Scottish." He describes on-set nerves as "a regular visitor ... Everyone else on set always seems much more relaxed and confident than me." He doesn't mind people coming up to him in the street – "as long as people aren't unpleasant or violent or rude" – and confides he's "done nothing with the money yet. Maybe I'll store it up for the future when I'm back working in Dundee rep."

The Daily Mirror featured a story called "Who's In Da Hood?" on Tuesday: "She might be trying her hardest to remain incognito, but there is no disguising Who this actress is... Dr Who star Billie Piper was clearly in no mood to be spotted yesterday. She emerged from a North London branch of Waterstones with her face hidden deep inside a fur-lined hoodie and obscured by a big pair of specs. Clutching a bag of books and talking into her mobile, 22-year-old Billie seemed determined to avoid being seen or engage in any eye contact. 'She looked like she was in a really bad mood,' said an onlooker. 'Billie obviously didn't want to be recognised. Still, what did she expect wearing such a conspicuous jacket?' Never a hood idea, love." Of course, the Mirror's online version forgot to include the photo...

Manchester Online features a preview of David Tennant's new two-part drama series, "Secret Smile". "Parts in Casanova, the live broadcast of The Quatermass Experiment and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have helped turn him into a major heart-throb. ... Fans of the Scottish thespian can catch him in action in this two-part drama based on Nicci French's novel. But, rather than play a likeable soul, the actor for once goes against type by portraying a charmer without a heart of gold. He heads the cast as Brendan Block, an entrepreneur who enjoys a 10-day fling with Miranda Cotton, played by Shaun of the Dead star Kate Ashfield. His creepy behaviour makes her end their relationship, but it seems he won't let her go easily, and plots revenge by seducing her sister Kerry. Five weeks later, the new couple announce their engagement."

There's more coverage of the BBC's Winter/Spring press release at The Stage, BBC News, EntertainmentWise,Brand Republic.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Peter Weaver, Rob Edwards, Bob Grist, Faiz Rehman and Joseph Lidster)

Billie Piper appeared on television on Sunday evening on her ex-husband Chris Evans' new chat show, OFI Sunday. Says our correspondent Paul Hayes, "Piper seemed very cheerful and perky throughout, entering into the spirit of her ex-husband’s somewhat zany humour. They reminisced about their first ever meeting, which had also been on a television programme, Evans’s old Channel 4 show TFI Friday, and a clip was shown from that very edition back in 2000. Evans got the audience to cheer the fact that they are officially still married. He then asked her, much to everyone’s amusement, 'Why did you decide to leave m….usic for acting?'... He later asked her some so-called 'proper questions'. He asked her about how she prepares for doing a take when she’s acting. He told her what a great show Doctor Who is and the audience agreed... Piper was also a part of a game section of the show called Mine or Not Mine? in which she paraded various household objects the audience or phone-in contestants had to guess whether they belonged to Evans or not. Further embarrassing inanity followed for pretty much all of the rest of the show, such as Piper revealing 'this week’s fascinating fact!' that you only breathe out of one nostril at a time and they switch every twenty minutes." Says another correspondent, Peter Weaver, "After getting a big round of applause from the studio audience for her role in Doctor Who and agreeing that she was loving being in the show, Evans commented that there was one aspect of Doctor Who that she was not quite happy with. Piper hesitantly replied 'I don't know . . . Go on' to which Evans said: 'Well, it's Christmas time and they've done a Rose Tyler doll, haven't they?' Piper responded: 'Oh God, I know.' Evans asked her why she wasn't happy with it, and Piper said: 'Because I look like Master Splinter. You know, the giant rat from the (Teenage Mutant Ninja) Turtles, and I know I've got big teeth but this really takes the mick.' Evans then produced the offending item - the radio-controlled Dalek battle pack featuring the Rose action figure - which elicited a shrieked 'And I've got a gammy eye!' from Piper. He commented that Piper had been allowed approval of the doll, to which she replied 'Apparently I approved it - I can't remember.' Evans suggested that perhaps she had been 'a little bit tiddly' when she gave it the nod, to which Piper laughingly commented 'Possibly!' ... As a side note of possible interest, the Bewitched-style animated opening titles for OFI Sunday had a caricature of Piper on a billboard with the words 'Billie Piper in Professor Who?' coinciding with the sung lines, relating to Evans, 'He's taller than you think when you meet him in real life/He gets on ever so swell with his ex-wife.' The couple still have a year to go before they divorce." There are news reports about the appearance at BBC News. Also, The Sun features Evans/Piper gossip. (Thanks to Paul Hayes, Peter Weaver, Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg)

Nicholas Briggs is interviewed by BBC Wiltshire on audio, in which he announces that he will return to the series for its second year to voice the Cybermen. Says the website, "The recent revival of cult BBC1 sci-fi series Doctor Who was a huge hit with viewers when the 13-part series starring Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor was shown earlier this year. One of the most popular aspects of the new version of the show was the return of The Doctor's most fearsome foes - the dreaded Daleks whose terrifying catchphrase 'EXTERMINATE' sent an whole new generation of young viewers scurrying behind the sofa. The man who provided the voices for The Daleks in the new series is life-long Doctor Who fan Nick Briggs who is not only a Dalek expert but an actor and producer of Doctor Who audio stories. On the day of the launch of the DVD box-set of the recent series of Doctor Who, Nick spoke to BBC Radio Wiltshire's Afternoon Show presenter Mark Seaman about what it was like to work on the new series. He also demonstrated a piece of equipment called a ring modulator which is used to distort his voice into that of a Dalek. And Nick exclusively revealed he is to appear as the voice of another old enemy of The Doctor's when the series returns in the New Year." (Thanks to Daniel Garrett)