There are several rumors going around that the Sci-Fi Channel has purchased, or will be purchasing, the rights to broadcast the new series in tandem with the rights to rebroadcast the original. According to a letter sent to "This Week in Doctor Who" from Maryland Public Television, this is the case; however, sources at the Sci-Fi Channel (and its parent company, NBC/Universal) have denied that any deal has taken place. In fact, no deal has been signed at this time to broadcast the series in America and is not expected to happen until much later this year or early next year.

ABC TV Australia has brokered a deal with the estate of Terry Nation, and will start showing Dalek serials as part of their re-run of the entirety of Doctor Who, starting with "Death to the Daleks" on 15th September 2004. No Dalek episodes previously skipped in the schedule due to the licence issues will be screened, however. (Thanks to Piers Johnson)

BBC Four is reshowing its documentary on the 1960s, Fantasy TV, including Doctor Who clips, this Saturday night at 8pm. Still no news of a non-digital showing, though! (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Further to our earlier story, The Web of Fear Episode 1 will be airing on BBC4 on Saturday June 26 at 8:50pm. This broadcast, from restored masters, is part of the BBC's Sixties event; see earlier news reports for details. (Thanks to David Harold)

A recent posting by one of the hosts on the BBC Four message boards confirms that Episode 1 of The Web of Fear, the classic Patrick Troughton serial in which said episode is the only extant segment of the story, may be broadcast as part of the forthcoming Sixties Season event on BBC4 on June 26. "We are attempting to clear The Web of Fear, but it's not been confirmed yet; we're trying," said the forum host. We know that the Restoration Team recently lent out a cleaned up episode to be transferred for broadcast; meanwhile, the Sixties Season section of the BBC Four website has had a Cyberman as part of that particular week's lineup, but no confirmation of a Doctor Who story as yet. We'll keep you posted. (Thanks to Barry Piggott)

According to This Week in Doctor Who, Sky One will air the 1960's Dalek film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150ADstarring Peter Cushing late Saturday, May 29. Meanwhile, Showtime Greats in Australia has added a note to the info on the May 24th airing of the film, indicating that it was the final appearance of the movie on their channel. The movie had aired a number of times on the network since last year, back when it was Encore Australia. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott)

The 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie starring Paul McGann will soon air on the Starz/Encore suite of premium channels in the US starting in June. This may mean that the US Sci-Fi Channel's rights to the movie (where it aired a few times over the past couple years) have expired. Nine broadcasts are scheduled on the Starz Mystery Channel, and three on Starz' MOVIEPlex channel. The following are the scheduled airdates and times; if you have one or both of these channels, remember to determine which Feed(s) you have access to and adjust for local time. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott at "This Week in Doctor Who")

Thursday 3 June 9:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Thursday 3 June 4:45PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 7:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 3:20PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Sunday 13 June 11:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 7:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 8:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 4:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 5:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 11:10PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Late Friday 18 June 12:10AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Tuesday 29 June 2:40PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery

Today's Daily Express notes that the new Doctor Who series may indeed be "the jewel in the crown of the BBC Christmas schedule," proposing that BBC1 will launch the series early, screening the first episode on Christmas Day 2004. There have been rumors of broadcast in early January, but this is the earliest report so far. "The Doctor Who project has lifted off with the kind of momentum no-one could have anticipated," the Daily Express quotes an unnamed source. "I don't think anyone knew how interested people would be or indeed what a huge fan base there is. The BBC are already working out what to put where and Doctor Who is on top of the list for Christmas Day." The article says that a decision on casting for Rose Tyler is still yet to be made, and states that Anna Friel ("Brookside") and Keeley Hawes ("Spooks") are two of the finalists... and also mentions that the Doctor will, in the first episode, battle "one of his most fearsome enemies - the terrifying automatons," obviously a slight misquote but definitely referring to the reported appearance of the Autons in the first story. Indeed, today's Daily Star also refers to the launch in an article entitled "Guess Who's On Xmas TV," which says that BBC1 chief Lorraine Heggessey is "turning to three old favourites with a new look in a bid to win the festive ratings battle" and mentions that the Doctor will battle the Autons in the first episode. It also features some of the same quotes as the Daily Express article. These reports have been picked up today by the Sky Television news service and Sky's online Sky News newsfeed, as well as online at Yahoo! UK News, quoting the Sky News reports, and Digital Spy. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg and everyone who wrote in to let us know!)

An article in today's Guardian by John Plunkett, called "Forsyth leads BBC1 into Saturday night scrap," discusses the new dynamic being employed soon for Saturday night programming in the UK. "[BBC1 controller] Lorraine Heggessey turned to tried and tested talent to win the Saturday night ratings battle," it says, and notes that Bruce Forsyth is returning to BBC1 on Saturdays with "Strictly Come Dancing, a revamped celebrity version of the classic ballroom dancing show that began just four years after the end of the second world war." The lineup will also "see Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen reunited for the first time since The Big Breakfast in a new House Party-style show in front of a live studio audience" and notes that Graham Norton, who was acquired from Channel 4, will make his BBC debut sometime this autumn. It then goes on to mention six new entertainment shows as well as the return of Doctor Who. "We are trying to grow the next generation of shows but it is really difficult to get entertainment right," Heggessey told the Guardian. "The only way we are going to do that is through a process of trial and error. We would love to guarantee that every one will be a hit but sometimes it takes two or three times to get it right. We are trying to ring the changes and we want to bring freshness into the early evening." Other shows are mentioned in the article, including EastEnders and Fame Academy. (Thanks to Korvin Mobberley)

BBC Kids, which airs Doctor Who across Canada, has announced a slight change in their broadcast schedule. "Due to a technical issue, our current weekday broadcast of 'Kinda' (on February 20th & 23rd) and 'The Visitation' (on February 24th & 25th) were pre-empted. Both stories will be included in the next weekday run of episodes. Our weekend showings of the Davison years remain uninterrupted. Both stories will run on their regularly scheduled weekend dates: 'Kinda' (all four episodes) on Saturday, February 28th at 1:00am & 3:30am 'The Visitation' (all four episodes) on Sunday, February 29th at 1:00am & 3:30am".