Additional reports about Mr. Sheard's passing are on the official Doctor Who website and at Manchester Online,ITN,Paramount Comedy, The Sun, Reuters, SFGate (which runs the AP press report, carried in many papers). Also, the BBC Newssite is carrying a tribute page for reader comments.

Meanwhile, Tom Baker has been announced as making a rare UK signing appearance on October 20 to co-launch the regular edition of the biography. Baker will be joined by Courtney and actorFrazer Hines (Jamie) and other guests. Further details will be announced soon at the Scificollector website. (Thanks to Steven Scott)

The new series will return to BBC television in October, as the digital channel UK Gold acquires rights to rebroadcast the first season. UK Gold will screen "Rose," "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead" starting at 7pm on Sunday, 23 October; each subsequent day will feature two more episodes, with the final two on 28 October. Weekend repeats of each episode will begin immediately thereafter, broadcasting on Saturdays at 6pm and Sundays at 9pm. Meanwhile, UK Gold is now running an advert for the return, entitled "The Good, the Gay and the Ugly" (the middle section referring to the series 'Little Britain'); says our correspondent, "this is trailing the reruns of the 9th Doctor series on UK Gold (the Moxx of Balhoon is used to represent 'the Ugly'). No transmission times or dates are given in the advert, though." (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Mark Francome)

The 'considerable archive' of items belonging to John Nathan-Turner, the final producer of the 'classic' Doctor Who series who oversaw seasons 18 through 26, and who passed away in 2002, has been acquired by the British Film Institute's National Library, who has named him a "Donor in Focus". The archive is part of the BFI National Library's special collections; access is restricted to those who already have BFI Library annual library membership, for which there is a fee, and have to be consulted in the BFI study room. We're not sure exactly what this archive entails, but we imagine Doctor Who scholars are currently looking into it. (Thanks to Neil Marsh, Matthew Kilburn)

According to Amazon, BBC Audio will release the complete soundtrack of the classic story The Reign of Terror on February 6, 2006. "The Reign of Terror" is the final story of the first season, and will join the other serials already released on CD, with linking narration (likely provided by William Russell, who has voiced others in the series). (Thanks to Gareth Jelley)

The BBC Kids advance online schedule shows a promotion for Doctor Who in the lineup effective Monday 29 August. On weeknights, Doctor Who will now air twice - Midnight and 5AM EDT, replacing the previous 2AM EDT only broadcast. 2 episodes per day as before. First story in the new time periods - Snakedance. On weekends, Doctor Who will continue being shown in complete stories one time at 2AM EDT. With this change, the weeknight showings will be easier for Canadian viewers to tune in and watch. Not easy, but the best it has been since at least 2003. For the various Canadian time zones: Newfoundland: Weeknights 1:30AM and 6:30AM (2 episodes), Weekends 3:30AM (complete stories). Atlantic (ADT or AST): Weeknights 1AM and 6AM (2 episodes), Weekends 3AM (complete stories). Eastern (EDT or EST): Weeknights Midnight and 5AM (2 episodes), Weekends 2AM (complete stories). Central (CDT or CST): Weeknights 11PM and 4AM (2 episodes), Weekends 1AM (complete stories). Mountain (MDT or MST): Weeknights 10PM and 3AM (2 episodes), Weekends Midnight (complete stories). Pacific (PDT or PST): Weeknights 9PM and 2AM (2 episodes), Weekends 11PM (complete stories). (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott / This Week in Doctor Who)

At long last, the UK's City of Death DVD release has some official information attached to it. The release will be two discs, as mentioned in an article at the Restoration Team website which discusses the restoration of the footage, including audio repairs, and notes the large number of extras being included on it (hence the double disc set). Unfortunately neither Tom Baker or Lalla Ward were able to take part in the commentary or featurettes, it says, but the commentary is done by two of the story's main guest stars, Julian Glover (Count Scarlioni/Scaroth) and Tom Chadbon (Duggan), along with the story's director, Michael Hayes. The 45-minute featurette "Paris in the Springtime", written by Jonathan Morris and produced by Ed Stradling, and narrated by Toby Longworth, "goes behind the scenes on the production of the story, with a particular emphasis on the contribution of Douglas Adams" and features interview clips with Adams, Glover, Chadbon, Hayes, Catherine Schell, script editor Anthony Read, writer David Fisher, director Pennant Roberts, and writers Steven Moffat and Rob Shearman. The documentary also includes illustration by Jason Lythgoe-Hay to reproduce the original storyline, "A Gamble With Time." A 20-minute featurette, "Paris, W12" is also included, with extracts from the recording sessions; "Prehistoric Landscapes," a montage of landscape and effects for the story; "Eye on... Blatchford," a regional-interest program; plus the 1980 Doctor Who Annual in PDF format, photo gallery, floorplans, easter eggs and production notes. The story is due out on DVD in November in the UK.

BBC America's webshop have announced the final two Doctor Who DVD releases this year: City of Death starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, and The Claws of Axos starring Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning. Both discs will be out on November 1. More details and cover illustrations when available.