Doctor Who is the Hamlet of the television world according to the Oscar-nominated writer Richard Curtis, who just happens to have penned the next Doctor Who episode, Vincent and the Doctor.

Speaking in this week's Radio Times, Curtis says "it is a pivotal, career-making role, to be reprised over the years with different actors, always the same, and yet metamorphosing radically with each new incarnation."

Curtis, admits he was not a childhood addict. "No, I wasn’t very dedicated. I seem to remember I liked the Master more than the Doctor, strangely enough." He says his decision to write an episode was more thanks to the nagging from his four children, now aged from 14 to six. "My kids absolutely love it. We all watched the Christmas special two years ago and my children said I had to do one. Scarlett, our eldest, pointed out that while I’d always promised I would write a children’s movie, by the time I do, she won’t be a child any more. And the great thing about telly is how swift it is by comparison with films."

Final figures for Episode Eight, The Hungry Earth, published by BARB show the story was watched by 6.49 million viewers.

The figure is an increase of over two million on the initially reported overnights, implying many recorded the programme to watch it later. Although the overnight figure was the lowest reported since the series returned, the final figure beats three David Tennant episodes.

On BBC One the programme got 6.01 million watching where it was the ninth most watched programme for the channel for the week. An additional 0.48 million watched on BBC HD. When added together the programme totalled 6.49 million viewers and was the 19th most watched programme of the week.

The BBC Three Sunday repeat did not rank high enough to get into the top 30 for the week.

Full ratings for the series so far can be found in Gallifrey Base.

Cold Blood got an AI or Audience Appreciation Index score of 85.

This puts the programme once more in the excellent category.

Sunday night saw Lewis outrate Doctor Who, putting Cold Blood into 19th place for the week on overnights, a position which will rise when final figures are released next Monday. The episode will be repeated on BBC Three tonight at 7pm, a day later than usual, and on BBC HD at 00.15.

Saturdays's Doctor Who Confidential scored an AI figure of 81.

Doctor Who continues its excellent ratings in Australia. TV Tonight reports that Amy's Choice averaged 973,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, again despite stiff competition from the commercial networks and the Eurovision Song Contest final on SBS. This was the program's best overnight ratings since 1.033 million Australian viewers watched Matt Smith debut in The Eleventh Hour. Yet again it was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news. The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a strong 595,000 viewers in the five major capitals.

Doctor Who got an audience of 5.7 million viewers for episode nine, Cold Blood, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The figure was a million higher than last week although the share was down at 27.2% of the total audience. Up against Doctor Who, on ITV1, The Whole 19 Yards had 4.6 million watching.

Doctor Who was the third highest rated programme of the evening coming behind Britain's Got Talent and just being beaten by The Eurovision Song Contest 2010. With Sunday's ratings to come it is the 18th most watched programme of the week.

On BBC Three Doctor Who Confidential had 0.4 million viewers, a 1.8% share and was the ninth most watched programme on multi-channel Television.

After a brief hiatus, Radio Times is resuming its online Doctor Who story guide.

Radio Times journalists Mark Braxton and Patrick Mulkern with the assistance of Radio Times historian Ralph Montagu are compiling an in-depth analysis of every transmitted Doctor Who story, from a uniquely Radio Times perspective.

There is a wealth of archive material available including links to vintage magazine covers, quirky articles, amusing and occasionally prescient readers’ letters, superb Frank Bellamy illustrations and, from 1970 onwards, every individual programme billing. You can also find some of Radio Times’s own rare photographs.

So far the project covers every story from An Unearthly Child to The Ark in Space, and the aim is to present a new entry on a roughly weekly basis.

Construction company Vinci has been reported as winning the £25m contract to build the new BBC studios. The Construction Enquirer has revealed that the company, chosen by project developers Igloo Regeneration, has beaten other major players in the construction industry to build the the new Media Village at the Roath Basin on Cardiff Docks.

The project is being developed in association with Welsh Government, as reported back in January.

With Amy in peril and an army of Silurians preparing to attack mankind, this weeks Doctor Who Adventures looks back at the best bits from last week’s episode, The Hungry Earth.

There is a sneak peek at the second part of the Silurian story, Cold Blood and an interview with actress Meera Syal, who reveals what she loved about being in Doctor Who.

The magazine also goes behind the scenes on the Croatian set of The Vampires of Venice, and includes a free Doctor Who Yo-Yo and stickers, four Doctor Who posters and a monster memory game.

Fans in the north east of England can meet the Sixth Doctor as a special Doctor Who Day at the Temple Park Centre in South Shields on Sunday 6th June.

Colin Baker will be appearing at the event, which runs from 10.30am - 5pm, along with Sophie Aldred who played Ace in the classic series, Terry Molloy who played Davros and Nicholas Courtney who for many years played Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart.

Entertainment includes:

• Celebs in the hot seat
• Operate a dalek
• Photos with the actors
• Sci - fi merchendise
• Bake your own monster cake
• Fancy dress
• Face painting

Colin Baker will present a separate event at 7.30pm that evening, a concert of popular sci-fi themes, movie themes and TV themes, performed by the dynamic SoundPower Orchestra and supported by the shoeshop Quartet, South Tyneside Youth Choir of Aliens and the Poppleton School of Dance.

Tickets available from Temple Park Centre reception. Details on the website.