Unofficial overnight figures give Episode Four, Meat, an audience of 2.9 million viewers, which was a 11.2% share of the total television audience.

The programme was again the highest rated on BBC2 for the day, ahead of The Weakest Link which got 2.6 million viewers.

The programme is repeated in an edited version on BBC2 in England and Wales on Thursday evening. It is available to UK viewers for the next seven days via the BBC iPlayer.

Fans are treated to a Torchwood double bill next Wednesday with Episode Five, Adam being shown on BBC2 at 9pm, and Episode 6, Reset making its debut on BBC3 at 9.50pm.

Further information about the DVD extras of the forthcoming release of The Brain of Morbius has today been revealed on the BBFC website. Along with a documentary, "Getting a Head", and features such as "Designs on Karn", "A Letter to Robert Holmes" and "Set Tour", the disc contains a trailer for the forthcoming releases of 1977's The Invisible Enemy - which saw the first appearance of the robot dog K9 in Doctor Who - and the 1981 spin-off K9 and Company, which stars Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.

It is not yet clear whether or not this joint trailer indicates that the two stories will be released together in a double pack.

Posted By John Bowman

The British Board of Film Classification today passed more than 32 minutes of extra features for the release of the six-part Fourth Doctor story The Invasion of Time, giving them a U rating.

Among them are five deleted scenes: one from episode five and four from episode six.

There will also be two mini-documentaries: The Elusive David Agnew and The Rise and Fall of Gallifrey.

'David Agnew' was a pseudonym for producer Graham Williams and script editor Anthony Read, who wrote the story together.

This site reported last month that a release of The Invasion of Time was in the pipeline. A date for it has yet to be announced.

The latest Doctor Who Magazine is available across the United Kingdom from Thursday 7 February 2008.

The magazine confirms a couple of previously unreleased episode titles for Series Four.
Episode Two, which was partly filmed in Rome last year, will be The Fires of Pompeii. The previously unplacedMidnight will be Episode Ten. Episode 6, which is still unnamed will be written by Stephen Greenhorn.

The magazine also reveals that the March DVD release of Voyage of the Damned will include both the Children in Need Special Time Crash and the Christmas edition of Doctor Who Confidential.

The BBC has issued a Press release confirming that The Sarah Jane Adventures will return for a second series.

The first series, shown on BBC1 and CBBC achieved high ratings and audience appreciation figures. The programme is the highest rated show ever shown on CBBC.

The Guardian reports the recommissioning of the series in the context of the announcement coming on the same day as the cancellation of CBBC's 30-year-old children's drama Grange Hill. The paper suggests that The Sarah Jane Adventures is one of several dramas being used by CBBC to replace the long-running programme.

Thanks to GracieLizzy and Lizo

BARB has released final ratings for the week ending 27th January, giving Episode Two of Torchwood, Sleeper an official rating of 3.78 millionviewers.

The programme was once more the highest rated on BBC2 for the week. Episode One still stands as the second highest rated programme on the channel for the year, with episode two currently at 5th place.

Posted By John Bowman

The Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius is to be released on DVD in the UK.The British Board of Film Classification today passed three episodes of the 1976 four-part story, giving them a PG rating.

They were passed without any cuts ordered. Consumer advice given for episodes one and two was that each had "scary scenes".

The fourth episode will, undoubtedly, be passed shortly.

A release date for the DVD has yet to be announced.

UPDATE (February 7): Episode four of The Brain of Morbius was today passed uncut with a PG rating by the BBFC, with the consumer advice that it contained "mild fantasy violence and horror".

(With thanks to Tony Clark)

Posted By John Bowman

People

David Tennant reveals some of his forthcoming work schedule in the February 9-15 edition of Radio Times. In a feature about the listings magazine's annual party for its cover stars, he says he will have all of May off and start rehearsing Hamlet for the RSC in June. (NB: Tennant is also appearing inLove's Labour's Lost in October and November, although he doesn't make reference to that in the feature.)

He appears in Hamlet from July until January 9, 2009 and says he will be back in Cardiff on January 10 to commence next year's Doctor Who specials, adding: "After that, I really don't know. Nothing has been decided . . . honestly!"

Tennant, Freema Agyeman and John Simm are all pictured at the bash.

Sophie Aldred was interviewed by BBC Norfolk while making a guest appearance in the area.

In the lengthy feature, she tells how she tried - unsuccessfully - to persuade Christopher Eccleston to attend conventions. The interview is also in three parts in an audio format. In addition, it includes video interviews with Terry Molloy and Elisabeth Sladen, as they are referred to in the piece, although these may not be playable by overseas visitors to the BBC site.

Meanwhile, BBC South East Today ran an interview with Tommy Knight, who plays Luke in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Broadcasting

Radio Times also reveals that the February 15 edition of EastEnders will feature the storyline in which the characters Stacey and Bradley visit a Doctor Who exhibition in London. The location filming for this was reported by this site in December. (Information elsewhere suggests that the February 14 edition may also include this storyline.)

The teaser for the following week's Radio Times (February 16-22) mentions the character Martha Jones joining theTorchwood team, suggesting there will be a feature about it in that edition. Her debut Torchwood episode will be shown on BBC3 on February 13 at 9.50pm. It will, presumably, be shown on BBC2 on February 20 as part of the series' run on that channel.

The February 13 edition of Late Junction on BBC Radio 3, to be broadcast from 11.15pm to 1am, will include music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and is believed to be a feature about 50 years of the workshop, including its realisation of the Doctor Who theme. UPDATE (February 7): Although the February 13 edition will indeed include music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop archive, it has been announced that it will be the February 12 editionthat will mark 50 years of the workshop with, among other items, a look at the Doctor Who theme. The show will be broadcast in its usual slot, from 11.15pm to 1am.

(With thanks to Tony Clark)

SABC2 in South Africa has picked up The Sarah Jane Adventures. The 10 half-hour episodes from Series 1 air weekly beginning this Saturday at 3:30PM Central African Time (CAT).

Posted By John Bowman


The highly acclaimed actor Kevin Stoney has died at the age of 86.

He made striking contributions to Doctor Who, playing the villains Mavic Chen in the epic story The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66) and Tobias Vaughn inThe Invasion pictured (1968).

So impressive was Stoney's portrayal of Chen that the Daily Express named the character Villain of the Year.

His final contribution to the series came in 1975, when he played Tyrum inRevenge of the Cybermen.

Stoney also appeared in many other well-known series over the years, including I, Claudius, The Tomorrow People, Bergerac, All Creatures Great and Small and Blake's 7, which was created by Terry Nation.

There is a short obituary on Rogues and Vagabonds.

(With thanks to Tony Clark)