The BBC's Torchwood website has confirmed that three new Torchwood radio plays have been recorded, and will air on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play prior to the television broadcast of Torchwood: Children of Earth. A previous Torchwood radio drama, "Lost Souls" by Joseph Lidster, was broadcast on Radio 4 last September, and is now available for purchase on CD and download. The BBC says that the new plays will "bridge the gap between Torchwood: Lost Souls and the upcoming Torchwood: Children of Earthtelevision series."

The new plays star John Barrowman as Captain Jack, Eve Myles as Gwen and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto. Each play will be 45 minutes long, and will air at 2:15 pm in the "Afternoon Play" slot. They will also be available as downloads and on iPlayer for 7 days after their initial broadcast. Broadcast dates have not yet been announced.

Titles, authors and summaries for the three plays are as follows:

UK news service The Sun is reporting that former James Bond star Timothy Dalton will appear in one of the final specials starringDavid Tennant as the Doctor.

Dalton, star of The Living Daylights and License to Kill, is reportedly playing a villain in the Who episode.

As always, treat all such reports as rumour until confirmed from official sources.

BBC America has begun airing short commercials promoting their airing of the new Torchwood series, Children of Earth. According to their commercial, Children of the Earth will be broadcast in July, although specific dates have not been revealed. This seems to indicate that they will not be showing it simultaneously with its airing in the UK.

May 9 - UK Cable/Satellite network Watch has removed the paragraphs discussing their Torchwood plans for June. The following paragraphs were originally in the June Monthly Highlights, giving fans momentary hope that the BBC had decided on the UK airdate for Torchwood. The BBC has made no announcement on the UK airdate.

--------

Torchwood
Weeknights, 10pm (from Monday 15th June)
With brand-new Torchwood on BBC One, Watch continues the Torchwood flavour with stripped episodes every week night. ...

In the first episode, a brutal murder leads WPC Gwen Cooper to Torchwood, a journey that will change their lives forever. With four more episodes from series one across the week, fans can enjoy brand-new Torchwood on BBC One, as well as classic Torchwood on Watch straight afterwards.

A new teaser for Torchwood: Children of Earth was broadcast on Australia's UKTV today, in conjunction with the final episode of Torchwood Series Two. UK readers can see the teaser on the BBC's Torchwood site.

"Torchwood: Children of Earth" is a five-part miniseries, which will air this summer on BBC One and BBC America. An official air date has not yet been announced, but the British Film Institute will host a preview of the first episode in London on Friday, 12 June, at BFI Southbank(formerly known as the National Film Theatre). This preview will be followed by a question and answer session with members of the cast and crew.

The BFI has released a summary of the preview, which can be seen in the spoiler box below.

(Thanks to "xanderl" of the Doctor Who Forum.)

Final figures released by BARB give Planet of the Dead an official rating of 9.54 million viewers, making it the 5th most watched programme of the week.

The rating is over a million higher than the initial overnight estimate. Final figures are more accurate than the overnight number and include people who record the programme and watch it within seven days.

Planet of the Dead is one of only eight episodes in the programme's long history to make the top five.

An additional 200,000 viewers watched the programme in High Definition on BBC HD as a simulcast with BBC1. This is the highest figure ever achieved by BBC HD.

The Sunday repeat on BBC3 was watched by 0.91 million viewers.

UK residents can now buy the latest Doctor Who special, "Planet of the Dead", at Apple's iTunes store. The programme can be purchased in either high definition or standard definition here.

All other new series episodes and many classic series serials are also available at the UK iTunes store. The US iTunes store has several classic stories and new series episodes through "Journey's End".

"Planet of the Dead" is scheduled to be released on Region 2 DVD on June 29, 2009.

In addition to the previously reported DVD extras for Enlightenment, the BBFC has classified DVD extras forMawdryn Undead and Terminus. The three stories, starring Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, are listed as part of The Guardian Trilogy box set. The extras indicate that there will be an option to view these stories with new CGI effects.
Mawdryn Undead:

00:00:55:03 (CONTINUITY)
00:05:13:15 MAWDRYN UNDEAD - DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES
00:03:25:14 (FILM TRIMS)
00:05:33:02 MAWDRYN UNDEAD - OUT TAKES
00:00:47:23 (EASTER EGG 1)
00:00:32:10 (EASTER EGG 2)
00:24:29:11 (WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?)
00:01:25:10 MAWDRYN UNDEAD SET PHOTO GALLERY
00:07:18:24 (LIBERTY HALL)
00:07:28:08 MAWDRYN UNDEAD PHOTO GALLERY

Terminus:
00:03:25:16 TERMINUS - UNUSED MODEL SHOTS
00:01:50:07 DR WHO - TERMINUS
00:00:30:04 (EASTER EGG 1)
00:00:51:16 (EASTER EGG 2)
00:06:26:05 ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSE
00:22:49:17 BREAKING POINT

Additional Disk:
00:02:08:22 BBC 1 - DOCTOR WHO - ENLIGHTENMENT (CONTINUITY)
00:03:30:11 RUSSELL HARTY: CHRISTMAS PARTY - BROADCAST - 21 DECEMBER 1982
00:05:32:00 ENLIGHTENMENT - FILM TRIMS
00:14:20:09 RE-ENLIGHTENMENT (FEATURETTE)
00:02:33:18 ORIGINAL EDIT COMPARISON - ENLIGHTENMENT - PART THREE
00:08:28:00 FINDING MARK STRICKSON (INTERVIEW)
00:07:44:21 FINDING SARAH SUTTON (INTERVIEW)
00:01:57:15 PHOTO GALLERY - MAKING THE GUARDIAN TRILOGY DVD BOX SET (EASTER EGG)

No release date has been announced for this set.