The 'fast-tracked' The Next Doctor has debuted in Australia to disappointing ratings. The 2008 Christmas Special averaged only 738,000 in the five major capital cities, compared to the 1 million plus viewers who regularly watched Series Four in 2008. The lower ratings are probably explained by the summer 'non-ratings' period, the Australia Day long weekend and the 1.745 million viewers who watched Australian Jelena Dokic's remarkable progress to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Channel 7. Meanwhile the Australian Broadcasting Corporation will start repeats of series two on ABC1 on Tuesdays at 8.30pm, starting with 'The Christmas Invasion' on 27 January 2009. The national broadcaster will also broadcast the corresponding episodes ofConfidential Cutdown for series two, starting with 'New New Doctor' on Tuesday 3 February 2009 at 9.15pm. This will be the free-to-air debut of this series of 'Confidential' on Australian television.

Meanwhile, in the local media, Patricia Maunder of The Age calls 'The Next Doctor' a 'bit of a tease'. TV Tonight in its preview of the same episode also writes that 'ultimately, this Christmas edition feels like the universe, or 'WHOniverse', is undergoing great change – rather like some of the plots we've enjoyed before. With Donna Noble's tale concluded in 2008, The Doctor is now sans assistant. As enjoyable as it tries to be, the writing in this episode is no better or worse than a weekly episode, upstaged by the 2007 Titanic special featuring Kylie..' Meanwhile Ian Cuthbertson ofThe Weekend Australiawrites of 'The Next Doctor' that 'it would be hard to go past a sensational line-up on the national broadcaster this evening, which has a little something for everyone.'

Thanks to the contributors to the Australian forums.

The BBC have confirmed the casting of Michelle Ryan in the Planet of the Dead, the first of four Doctor Whospecials which will air in 2009.

Ryan, who is best known for her roles as Zoe Slater in EastEnders and Jaime Sommers in the recent remake of Bionic Woman, will play the mysterious Lady Christina de Souza, who joins David Tennant, as the Doctor, on a bus trip which takes a very unexpected detour into danger. She said "I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who and very excited to be joining David Tennant and the Doctor Who team. It is such a fantastic show and I can’t wait to get started!"

British comedy star Lee Evans will also be joining the cast playing a character called Malcolm, whose life becomes connected to the Doctor's under extraordinary circumstances.

Noma Dumezweni returns to the series as Captain Erisa Magambo, last seen helping Rose and Donna save the world in Turn Left.

Executive Producer and writer Russell T Davies said "Michelle is one of the most sought after young actors in the country and we are delighted to announce that she will be joining the team. As always the script is being kept strictly under wraps however we can reveal that Lady Christina is a woman with a mysterious past who's going to have a huge impact on the Doctor! "

The episode will be screened at Easter.


UPDATE:
Lee Evans will be appearing on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, 10:35pm on BBC1 tonight.

Several newspapers have covered this casting news, including The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian, as well as BBC News.

The Doctor Who News Page has learned that actor and comedian Lee Evans has been cast as "a Professor" in one of the forthcoming special episodes of Doctor Who, four of which will be broadcast during 2009 and into New Year 2010. Evans confirmed his casting during this afternoon's studio recording of tomorrow's edition of BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, saying that he had been approached a few days beforehand and was delighted to be working on the series.

Evans has worked as both a stand-up comic and an actor, appearing in several Hollywood movies. His films include MouseHunt, There's Something About Mary and The Fifth Element. On stage, he appeared in the 2004-05 London run of The Producers, as Leo Bloom.

The news of his casting has also been reported at Chortle.co.uk.

UPDATE, 18.15 GMT: Evans's comments during the Jonathan Ross recording have been confirmed in a BBC Press Release.

Following on from an earlier blog report from The Guardian, the Dubai-based newspaper 7DAYS has reported that filming for one of the forthcoming Doctor Who specials will take place in Dubai. There has been no official word from BBC sources; the7DAYS article quotes an unnamed "BBC insider" confirming that the series will be filming in Dubai "later this year". The same article also states, "At least one other episode will be shot in the US, it was disclosed."

The newspaper also created a few images of Doctor Who aliens and villains in Dubai scenes; one of these is at right. The rest can be seen in the "e-paper" available on the7DAYS website after (free) registration.

Thanks to "chelwood" of the Doctor Who Forum.

Since Matt Smith's announcement at the beginning of the year, media speculation has moved onto who the companion to his Doctor will be for the next series. Whilst the media has speculated on a number of names for the role, such as Lily Allen and Rachel Stevens, most recently they have turned their attention towards former EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan.

Betting company William Hill had initially placed the odds on the actress at5/1; however the Sunday Mirror reported last weekend that Ryan had been "in secret talks with BBC bosses" over the role of companion to the eleventh Doctor, and that an announcement would be made by the BBC very soon (also reported by Digital Spy, Coventry Telegraph, Marie Claireand Den of Geek).

However, with production having now commenced on the first Doctor Who special Planet of the Dead, fans who have been watching events unfold in Cardiff over the last few days have reported on Ryan being involved with this episode. This was confirmed last night with the actress being seen performing with current Doctor David Tennant. Though there has been no official confirmation of her role from the BBC as yet, it is believed that she is playing the part of companion to the tenth Doctor for this special, with The London Paper today reporting her character name as 'Lady Christina de Souza'.

Ryan has recently been seen on television in the BBC's Saturday night fantasy series Merlin, and the short-lived re-imagining of The Bionic Woman. She also appeared in Doctor Who's new head writer Steven Moffat's previous series on the BBC, Jekyll.


Update 2200: further coverage of casting in Den of Geek and Daily Mail.

(with thanks to Lee Tucker and the Cardiff Kinda Group)

For the first time since the completion of material for "The Next Doctor" in April 2008, BBC Wales have resumed the production ofDoctor Who. Work began yesterday, on Monday the 19th of January, with director James Strong helming material for the forthcoming special Planet of the Dead at Museum Avenue and Park Place in Cardiff.

As has become the custom, the shooting of Doctor Who has attracted the attention of fans, several of whom have been down to the location to observe activity and take photographs, one of which is reproduced at the right. The Doctor Who News Page will avoid giving any spoilers for episodes while they are in production, but those interested in finding out more about the production in Cardiff can follow the link to the set reports thread in the Doctor Who Forum by clicking below.

Picture by Scooty of The Doctor Who Forum

The seventh annual award ceremony for the Visual Effects Society is taking place on the 21st February, and Doctor Who has been nominated for two awards:

In the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special, the Christmas special The Next Doctor has been nominated for its effects for the Cyber-King; it will be up against 'Generation Kill', 'Knight Rider' and 'John Adams'.

For Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial we seeSilence in the Library nominated, up against 'Generation Kill' and 'Merlin'.

The VES is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. The VES is the entertainment industry's only official trade organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives.

(with thanks to The_Iceman2288)

Big Finish Productions are to release the third series of the Eighth Doctor adventures as a series of downloads every Saturday from 7th March 2009.

The full-cast audio Adventures feature Paul McGann as the Doctor travelling with his companion Lucie, played by Sheridan Smith. Each 30-minute episode will be available on Saturday night, with the complete two-part story subsequently available on CD. There will be eight stories produced over a 16-week period. There will be a bonus ninth adventure which will be released as a Christmas special in December 2009, entitled Death in Blackpool.

The season will see the Doctor and Lucie facing some new foes and a number of favourite and iconic Doctor Who monsters, including the Krynoids (killer plants from the 1976 TV story The Seeds of Doom), the Wirrn (deadly insects from the 1975 tale The Ark in Space) and the Giant Spiders of Metebelis III (from the 1974 Jon Pertwee story Planet of the Spiders).

Big Finish have lined up an impressive list of guest actors for the series, which includes: Andrew
Sachs (Manuel in Fawlty Towers), Laura Solon (Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul), Nigel Planer (The Young Ones, The Colour of Magic), Lysette Anthony (Dark Shadows, Dracula: Dead and Loving It), Miriam Margolyes (Happy Feet, the Harry Potter films), Samuel Barnett (The History Boys, Beautiful People), Colin Salmon (Resident Evil, Die Another Day and Dr Moon in Doctor Who: Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead), Daniel Anthony (Clyde in The Sarah Jane Adventures), Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny in the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies, Ms Wormwood in The Sarah Jane Adventures), Phil Davies (Bleak House, The Curse of Steptoe, Lucius in Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii),Phill Jupitus (Rex the Runt, Never Mind the Buzzcocks), Stephen Moore (Brassed Off, Mersey Beat and Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy), Sophie Winkleman (Peep Show) and Sanjeev Bhaskar(The Kumars at No 42, Notting Hill).

The website of The Guardian newspaper has published an article by Gareth McLean, attacking the alleged decision of the BBC to carry out location shooting for one of the forthcoming Doctor Who specials in the state of Dubai.

Although the shooting in the United Arab Emirates has not yet been officially confirmed by the BBC, McLean quotes the Corporation as having told him that "There are no restrictions governing the filming of BBC drama in Dubai." McLean attacks the possibility of the programme being filmed there, on the basis of the country's human rights record.

Says McLean: "Though Dubai might be doing an effective job of presenting itself as a glitzy tourist destination, a place associated with mind-boggling decadence and the embodiment in glass and steel of the determination of the human spirit, the fact is, you may run out of fingers counting the ways in which filming even some of Doctor Who there is wrong."

Posted By John Bowman

Catherine Tate can be seen spoofing Doctor Who this weekend on entertainment showThe Sunday Night Project.

She is the guest host on the Channel 4 programme on January 18, and as well as delivering a monologue she puts on a wig, sideburns, suit and overcoat to assume the guise of the Tenth Doctor. The show's format also sees guest hosts facing questions from the studio audience.

In addition, regular co-host Justin Lee Collins portrays a bride, echoing Tate's first appearance as Donna Noble in Doctor Who.

The programme will air at 10pm.

David Tennant, Billie Piper and John Barrowman all guest-hosted during the show'sFriday Night Project incarnation.