David Tennant is to make his US television debut when he plays the title character in a hour long pilot for NBC called Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.

Tennant plays Rex Alexander, a top Chicago lawyer who begins suffering panic attacks and takes up coaching clients to represent themselves in court.

Written by Andrew Leeds and David Lampson the pilot is directed by David Semel, who directed the pilots for "Heroes" and "Life". The project has been in development for two years with casting for the lead actor taking place over several months until Tennant clinched the role in August.

Tennant will hope to follow the success of another established British TV actor with virtually no American TV experience, Hugh Laurie, as the lead on Fox's medical drama "House."

The British Board of Film Classification has passed the extras for two upcoming DVD releases.

The Curse of Peladon. Confirmed UK release 4th January 2010

• The Peladon Saga:Part One:The Market and the Miners
• Jon and Katy
• Photo Gallery
• Storyboard Comparison
• Warriors of Mars

The Masque of Mandragora. Expected UK release 8th February 2010

• Bigger on the inside
The story was the first to use the wood-panelled secondary control room.
• The Secret of the Labyrinth
• Photo Gallery
• Beneath the Masque of "The Masque of Mandragora"
• Now and Then - The Locations
The Story was filmed at Portmeirion in Gwynedd, Wales.
• Trails and Continuity

TV Tonight blog reports The Waters of Mars will make its Australian debut on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during the week beginning Sunday 6 December 2009 on ABC1. This follows the ABC 'fast-tracking' the last two Doctor Who specials broadcast in the UK.

TV Tonight also reports that Torchwood: Children of Earth will make its Australian free-to-air debut during the week beginning Sunday 3 January 2010 on ABC2.

Update 8 Nov: TV Tonight has since confirmed that 'The Waters of Mars' will indeed debut on ABC1 on Sunday 6 December 2009 at 7.30pm.

Thanks to TV Tonight.

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith received an AI score of 87 for Part One and 89 for Part Two. Both episodes got the highest AI scores on any of the main four channels for the two days.

The two scores are the highest received for the series which also received the highest viewing figures on BBC one at this timeslot for this year.

The Appreciation Index, or AI, is a measure of how much the audience liked the programme. It is a score out of 100, based on responses from a carefully selected panel including a large childrens section. The average score for children's television is 72. A score in excess of 85 is regarded as excellent while a score below 60 is poor.

Doctor Who is up for an award from The Writers' Guild of Great Britain.

It has been nominated in the television drama series category, where it faces competition from fellow BBC series Being Human and Little Dorrit.

The awards will be announced on November 29 at the Free Word Centre in London.

Series Three of Doctor Who was named best TV series in the guild awards of 2007, while in 1975 season 11 of the show (Jon Pertwee's last series, which aired between December 1973 and June 1974 and comprised The Time Warrior, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Death To The Daleks, The Monster of Peladon and Planet of the Spiders) won a guild award for best writing in a children's serial.

The guild is a trade union for professional writers and the awards are deemed to be special because the work of writers is honoured by their peers and colleagues.

It follows the news that spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures has been nominated for a Children's BAFTA. These awards will, again, be given on November 29 in London.

(Thanks to John Bowman)