Reviews of the UK première of The Waters of Mars are now available online.

NB The reviews have been published after the showing of the episode in the UK. Please do not click on the links if you want the plot to remain unspoiled. Reviews are available from The Guardian, The Mirror, TV Overmind, Den of Geek, Digital Spy, Coventry Telegraph, Express and Star, Metro, Monsters and Critics, Unreality TV

The podcast to accompany the episode, featuring Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and David Tennant, is now on the BBC iPlayer.

The BBC has launched the new Dreamland blog, detailing the production process behind the six-part animated adventure due later this year.

The story, voiced by David Tennant and written by Doctor Who writer Phil Ford, takes the Time Lord to Roswell, where he stumbles upon a mysterious alien artefact that leads him on a mission to rescue Rivesh Mantilax from the threat of the Viperox and the clutches of the American military.

Commissioned by BBC drama multiplatform, the series will be available on Red Button and on the Doctor Who website. CBBC will then show the entire 45-minute animation on BBC Two this autumn, as will the BBC HD channel.

Rosie Allimonos, drama multiplatform commissioner, said the series ‘presents an amazing opportunity to expand the multiplatform storytelling potential of Doctor Who’.

The Doctor will be joined by a new companion, Cassie Rice, played by Georgia Moffett, who played the Time Lord’s daughter Jenny in Series Four. David Warner stars as the leader of the ruthless Viperox.

In the run up to the animation, fans will be able to visit the Doctor Who website and follow a behind-the-scenes production blog on the making of Dreamland, giving the opportunity to follow the progress of the animation as it develops.

Produced by Brighton-based animation company Littleloud, the animation is being executive-produced by Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Piers Wenger. ‘Dreamland is a remarkable project and I'm thrilled with it. Phil Ford is a wonderful writer and promises to send the Doctor into a whole new visual dimension,’ Davies said.

Outgoing executive producer Russell T Davies featured as a character in Wednesday's Afternoon Play on BBC Radio 4.



As well as Davies as a character, the play features the TARDIS and a Dalek. It can be heard worldwide for the next seven days on the BBC iPlayer, and is repeated on Radio 4 next Tuesday.

Thanks to gazhack of Gallifrey Base

This month's Doctor Who Magazine confirms the title of David Tennant's swansong to be The End of Time. The final episode will be 75 minutes long, with the penultimate episode running to 60 minutes. Former James Bond, Timothy Dalton will play The Narrator in these final episodes where he is joined by Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, June Whitfield playing Minnie Hooper, Catherine Tate returning as Donna Noble and John Simm as the Master.

The magazine once more features the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, on the cover, the first time since issue 258 that Baker has featured on the cover two months running. Inside can be found the second part of DWM's interview with the longest running Doctor, in advance of his return to the role, with the release of Hornets' Nest next month. The magazine was present at the recording and gives a full report on proceedings, including interviews with the cast and crew.

Also in the magazine

• Sixth Doctor companion actress, Nicola Bryant takes her turn to delve into the TARDIS tin!
• The Doctor turns sleuth as he races to save New Old Detroit from the ominously-named World Bomb in the complete new comic-strip adventure, The Deep Hereafter with words by Dan McDaid and art by Rob Davis.
• Everything you need to know about the Doctor’s Sixth and most colourful incarnation in one easy package, thanks to The Watcher and his continuing guide to the lives of our favourite Time Lord.
• Step back in time to 1974 with The Fact of Fiction and take a look at the Fourth Doctor’s first adventure, Robot.
• The Time Team’s Richard, Peter, Jac and Clay turn their square eyes to The Curse of Fenric and share their thoughts on this terrifying tale of World War II espionage, vampires and chess games.
• Mary Tamm, who was the first incarnation of the Fourth Doctor’s companion, Romana talks to DWM about writing her autobiography and being a grandmother.
• Outgoing Doctor Who supremo, Russell T Davies reflects on life in America, (including the revelation of chicken sausages) and his thoughts on the Eleventh Doctor’s costume.
• There’s a photo special in this month’s Gallifrey Guardian rounding up all the pictures and coverage for the first day of filming for next year’s Series One, starring Matt Smith.
• Neil Harris celebrates the unseen heroes of Doctor Who, including Leonardo Da Vinci who has the honour of not appearing in the series on two separate occasions!

As previously reported, David Tennant, Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Euros Lyn have sent two "audio postcards" from America to BBC Radio Wales. An extended version of the first postcard can be heard here, and the second postcard can be heard here. In the second postcard, David Tennant discusses driving in Los Angeles and his first Hollywood audition, Euros Lyn and Russell T Davies chat about Muscle Beach, and Julie Gardner explains the dangers of doggie bag culture.

Details posted on Amazon.co.uk reveal that a new edition of The Writer’s Tale, Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook’s detailed account of the making of series four of the new Doctor Who, is to be released in January 2010. The book, which takes the form of collected e-mail correspondence between Davies and Cook, proved extremely popular on its original release in late 2008. The new edition will contain over 300 pages of new material, detailing the conclusion of Davies’s time on the programme, culminating in the final special episodes to star David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

BBC Radio Wales featured one of its regular "radio postcard" broadcasts from Russell T Davies in Los Angeles this morning, and was joined by Julie Gardner, David Tennant and Euros Lyn to discuss the recent ComicCon. The broadcast will be available from BBC's iplayer for the next seven days (approx 2hrs 20min into the show).

There will be another 'postcard' on Monday.

See: BBC Wales Press Release

Doctor Who has been awarded its second Guinness World Record, for Most successful sci-fi series. The award is based upon the show's perfomance in ratings, DVD and book sales, and downloading popularity.

The award was presented to Russell T. Davies by Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday at the San-Diego ComicCon on Sunday. Glenday said: "It's the longest-running sci-fi show on TV. But that's not quite enough, it's too good a show to have a longest-running record. Based on things like CD sales, downloads, illegal downloads, we've realised that Doctor Who is the most successful sci-fi show on TV full stop."


The show's first record entry is for Longest running sci-fi series.

Reported by: Digital Spy, CBC, IF Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Guardian
France: Tele7, Tout le Cine, Allocine

The UK media website Digital Spy has published a summary of today's Doctor Who discussion panel at the ComicCon event in San Diego, which featured Russell T Davies, David Tennant, Julie Gardner and Euros Lyn discussing their time working on the programme, taking questions from the audience and previewing the forthcoming special episodes.

Among the topics raised was the possibility of a Doctor Who feature film, which the panel stated is not a project on which any of them are currently working. The panel also featured a presentation from Guinness World Records, declaring Doctor Who to be "the most successful sci-fi show on TV full stop".

The comics news site ComicMix is reporting that an unnamed BBC America executive at ComicCon has confirmed that the BBC has ordered a fourth series of Torchwood. There is as yet no independent confirmation of this; however, a Torchwood panel is scheduled at ComicCon tomorrow, with star John Barrowman, writer/executive producer producer/show creator Russell T Davies, executive producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn. Presumably, if the report from ComicMix is correct, the news will be confirmed at this panel.


(Thanks to poster "InigoMontoya" from Gallifrey Base.)