According to unofficial overnight figures, Planet of the Dead was watched by 8.41 million viewers, a 39.6% share of the audience. An additional 184,000 watched the programme on BBC HD, the channel's highest rating so far.

Doctor Who was the most watched programme on BBC1 for the day and had the second highest rating on all TV. ITV1 got the highest rating of the night with 10.52 million watching Britain's Got Talent. Up against Doctor Who, Primeval got only 2.71 million. Robin Hood got 5.26 million watching.

This makes Doctor Who the eighth most watched programme of the week so far.

On BBC3 Doctor Who Confidential, got 0.46 million watching, a 2.2% share.

Final figures will be released in 10 days time.

A brief trailer for the next Doctor Who special was shown at the end of tonight's BBC One premiere of Planet of the Dead. The trailer confirmed that the next special, the second of four to be shown this year to round off David Tennant's time as the Tenth Doctor, will be called The Waters of Mars. No specific broadcast date was given - it was stated that the episode will be shown later this year.

For viewers in the United Kingdom, David Tennant's fifth video diary is now online.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the nominees for the BAFTA Craft Awards, and Doctor Who has been nominated in three categories. Russell T Davies has been nominated in the Writing category for "Midnight"; The Mill has been nominated in the Visual Effects category, for their work on the episode "The Fires of Pompeii"; and Philip Kloss has been nominated in the Editing Fiction/Entertainment category for his work throughout Series Four.

Doctor Who has been nominated for the BAFTA Craft Awards several times since its return to television, and has won once. The series received five nominations in 2008, including a win in Writing for Steven Moffat's "Blink" script. Doctor Who was also nominated in two categories in the 2007 awards, and in three categories for the 2006 awards (each honoring television broadcast in the previous year).

The winners of this year's BAFTA Craft Awards will be announced on Sunday, 17 May at a ceremony in London.

Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies has confirmed that Bernard Cribbins will be returning to the series.

Speaking this morning on BBC Breakfast Davies said Cribbins would be the Doctor's companion in David Tennant's last two episodes, due to be shown at Christmas 2009.

Bernard Cribbins first played Wilfred Mott, Donna's Grandad, in the 2007 Christmas special and throughout Season 4. His return was expected after members of the Doctor Who Forum photographed Cribbins on the Doctor Who set. At the age of eighty, Cribbins becomes the oldest companion in Doctor Who history.

Also on the programme Davies confirmed that Saturdays special, Planet of the Deadwas only completed late Monday night. He said he expected the next special to be shown "Novemberish".

Davies' BBC Breakfast interview can be seen on the BBC News website.

The BBC has confirmed that Planet of the Dead will get three transmissions over the Easter Weekend.

As reported the first showing will be Saturday on BBC One at 6.45pm. This broadcast will be simulcast with the BBC HD channel, which is available free to air on Freesat as well as on Sky and Virgin Media. The programme is sandwiched between the Disney film Finding Nemo and the drama seriesRobin Hood. ITV1 will be showing Primeval from 6.15 - 7.15 clashing with the first half of Doctor Who. The second half is up against New You've Been Framed. On BBC2, Doctor Who faces the natural history series Planet Earth while Channel 4 is showing the News followed by Henry VIII: Mind of a Tyrant.

Planet of the Dead gets a second showing on the digital channel BBC Three at 7pm on Easter Sunday. For this showing satellite and cable viewers will be able to access a Red Button commentary from David Tennant, Julie Gardner andJames Strong.

The final showing will be on BBC One on Easter Monday at 5pm. This showing will follow the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks and will be up againstTaste the Nation on ITV1. It will be simulcast on the BBC HD channel which is also showing the HD version of Doctor Who at the Proms on Monday afternoon.

Doctor Who Confidential also gets a number of showings over the weekend with a programme exploring behind the scenes as the cast and crew travel to Dubai. First shown on Saturday at 8.30pm on BBC3, the programme is repeated on Sunday at 4.10am and 8pm.

As we begin the run-up to "Planet of the Dead", the British media has been full of Doctor Who coverage. In a wide-ranging interview in The Times,Russell T Davies and David Tennant talk about the writing and filming of the Tenth Doctor's last adventures. Tennant says that he cried while reading Davies' last script (currently being filmed in Wales), while Davies reveals that he considered a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover before the last Star Trek series went off the air. Davies is also interviewed by Scotland on Sunday, including some intimate details about the themes which surface in his writing.

The Sun has several Doctor Who stories this week. They started off with an item about Eighth Doctor Paul McGann(who light-heartedly suggests thatMatt Smith was cast because of his hair), and followed it up with items on David Tennant (recycled from The Tennant Tapes videos on the BBC's Doctor Who site and quotes from Doctor Who Magazine) and Michelle Ryan (who says that her appearance in "Planet of the Dead" is only a one-off). The latter story was also picked up by the Press Association, while Hello! picks up the Sun's Tennant item.

County Times reports that Theatr Hafren in Newtown, Wales will host a theatrical viewing of "Planet of the Dead" on Good Friday. Newtown is one of three towns where special viewings will be held; according to Digital Spy, the other two are Denbigh and Newport.

Digital Spy also has an interview with Freema Agyeman, in which the actress primarily discusses her work on Law and Order: UK, but also mentions Doctor Who.

For fans of classic Doctor Who, The Times has an essay by novelist Esther Freud about her role as the Cryon Threst in the 1985 serial Attack of the Cybermen. Freud is married to "The Next Doctor"'s David Morrissey.

Finally, several sources have reported on actors who have been spotted on location during filming of David Tennant's final story. Those who wish to avoid spoilers should not follow these links, or read the text in the spoiler box below. The news of the actors seen on location, reported by Den of Geek (twice),io9 (twice) and Wired, has been largely drawn from set reports in the Doctor Who Forum's Set Reports/Photos thread. The Sun also had a story on the filming, using (without credit) a photograph taken by a Forum member.

Thanks to Chuck Foster, Ron Mace and "PolyG" of the Doctor Who Forum.

The BBC Press Office has stated that the Doctor Who Easter special, "Planet of the Dead", will air on BBC One on Saturday, April 11 from 6:45 to 7:45 pm. The Saturday date was posted last week on the Press Office's website, and subsequently withdrawn; it has now been reposted. The episode will also be broadcast on the BBC HD channel.

A trailer for the episode is now available on the BBC Website.

According to this month's issue of Doctor Who Magazine the title of the next in the series of specials will be revealed at the end of Planet of the Dead, along with a short trail. The second special, directed by Graeme Harper, features the Doctor plunged into a world of terror. It is expected to air in the autumn.

Update: the trailer broadcast on BBC1 Wednesday evening confirmed that the episode will be broadcast on Saturday, April 11.

According to BBC journalist Lizo Mzimba on Twitter, the first television trailer for the forthcoming Doctor Who special, "Planet of the Dead", will air on BBC One on Wednesday at 9 pm, just prior to "The Apprentice".

Trailers for the special have already appeared before live audiences at a Wales rugby match and at the "Story of Doctor Who" event at the Celtic Media Festival. However, Mzimba tweets, "You didn't hear this from me. But trailer is a brand new one. It's not the one shown at the Wales V Ireland Rugby or anywhere else."

The BBC Press Office has confirmed that the Doctor Who special Planet of the Dead will air during the week beginning 11th April. Although the series is listed as "unplaced" in the main press release, it also briefly appeared on the page for Saturday's programmes. Final airdate and time slot will be confirmed when the listings are sent to magazines at the end of next week.

Planet of the Dead features David Tennant as the Doctor, Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina and Lee Evans as Malcolm. It is written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts.

The BBC gives the following description for the special:

Posted By Anna Roberts

The Sun has published new photos from the first special, Planet of the Dead. These include Malcolm, played byLee Evans, in an article which also reveals details about a character appearing in another special.

The first photo of the aliens featuring in Planet of the Dead, the Tritovore, also appeared in The Sun today, although the newspaper isn't quite sure yet how their name should be spelt.

The Sun believes Planet of the Dead is scheduled to be broadcast on Easter Sunday, 12th April, although there has be no official confirmation of the transmission date from the BBC as yet.

The Daily Express also speculates that Tom Baker is in discussions regarding a future cameo appearance in the series alongside Matt Smith.

Please note, links contain spoilers