Back after a few days' break with a rundown of the latest news stories...

Season Two

Will Stephen Fry write an episode of the second season of "Doctor Who"? That's the rumor, according to BBC News: "Comedian Stephen Fry is in talks with the BBC about the possibility of writing an episode of Doctor Who. The acclaimed author, director and actor may contribute to the series, which returns later this year with David Tennant as the next Time Lord. A BBC spokeswoman said: 'We are in talks with Stephen about the possibility of him writing an episode of Doctor Who.' There were no plans for Fry to appear in the series, the spokeswoman added." Stephen Fry, who has most recently starred as the voice of the Book in the big-screen adaptation of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," was a popular choice to play the Doctor with the public prior to the casting of Christopher Eccleston; he also played the Minister of Chance in BBCi's webcast Doctor Who serial "Death Comes to Time". Also reported atContact Music, The Advocate.

John Barrowman appeared at the London Film and Comics Convention this weekend and told the audience that, contrary to rumor, he would be back in the second season as well as the third, though he isn't in the first block of episodes being filmed (which he said included the Cybermen, so he won't be in that story). He noted that being on Doctor Who was a "bleep bleep bleep dream come true" as he was a fan as a child, and refused to be drawn into who the better kisser was (Eccleston or Piper)! Barrowman noted that he'll be taping a commentary for the DVD boxed set (due out in November) on July 20 along with Russell T Davies, Billie Piper and Joe Ahearne.

The Mirror reports that "New Dr Who David Tennant will speak in his Scots accent in the next series of the show. Scottish fans were shocked to hear the Paisley-born Tennant speaking in posh English tones during his debut as the Doctor last Saturday. It was all the more surprising because Tennant had said he hoped to give the role a tartan flavour. The accent sparked an outcry among Scottish Who fans and now producer Russell T Davies has hinted Tennant will be speaking naturally come his first full adventure at Christmas. He said: 'Every planet has a Scotland. You'll have to wait and see, there are revelations on the way.' The line about Scotland refers back to when Billie Piper asked why the Doctor - as then played by Christopher Eccleston - sounded Mancunian and he replied: 'Every planet has a North.' A BBC insider said: 'The accent will be up to what Russell and David want to do during filming.'"

Too much Cardiff this year? Former BBC Director General Greg Dyke apparently thinks so, stating that he thinks using the city as a setting was a "flaw" and accused the BBC of trying to produce the series for peanuts. "As a lifelong Doctor Who viewer, I don't believe the series was without flaws. Given that the Doctor is a time traveller, able to go anywhere at any time, he did end up on earth a disappointing number of times during the 13 episodes and, even worse, he kept turning up in Cardiff. I haven't got anything against the capital of Wales, but if I could land anywhere in the universe at any time, would I really go to Cardiff more than once? Of course, any connection with the fact that the series was made by BBC Wales, and that for the production team, Cardiff was a cheaper location is purely coincidental." Several news reports say that BBC Wales has brushed off Dyke's comments and insist the next series, due to start shooting later this summer, will continue to be filmed in Cardiff. "As Greg Dyke wrote in his article, Doctor Who 'has been a triumph for BBC Television', 'a delight to watch' and 'a well-scripted, well-acted series which had high production values.'," said a spokesman. "It is clear that viewers felt that praise applied especially to the two episodes set in Cardiff as they attracted tremendous average audiences of eight million people." Also reported aticWales.

People

Christopher Eccleston has given his first interview since handing the keys of the tardis over to David Tennant, according to BBC News. "Speaking at a Mencap charity do, the actor told Newsbeat that finishing 'Dr Who' was a relief after dealing with the BBC, but he still got something special out of it: 'The best thing about 'Doctor Who' for me has been the response I've had from children, both in the street and the number of letters and drawings of me and daleks, which are all over my wall at home. In all the 20 years I've been acting, I've never enjoyed a response so much as the one I've had from children and I'm carrying that in my heart forever.'"

John Barrowman will be interviewed on Theatre Radio, described as "Internet Radio For Musical Theatre" on Sunday 3rd July at 5pm GMT, repeated daily at 2pm and 10pm GMT. "This week on TheatreRadio, Tim is joined by John Barrowman, who is about to make his UK Cabaret debut at Pizza On The Park. As well as playing some fantastic music, Tim has a copy of JohnÆs latest album, John Barrowman Swings Cole Porter, to give away so make sure you tune in!" He will also appear in a cabaret in Belgium on July 12; details can be found at the Musical Solo website. Then, he'll be appearing on the US PBS network's Evening at Pops on August 7, when he joins the Boston Pops and Broadway singers for a tribute to legendary Broadway composer Jerry Herman.

"Doctor Who" script editor Helen Raynor makes her debut as a radio writer on BBC Radio 4 this week. "Running Away with the Hairdresser" will transmit on Radio 4 on Friday 1st July at 9.00pm. "Nearly a year has passed since Catrin returned from Thailand after a bomb in a nightclub killed her boyfriend and brought their holiday to a tragic end. Now she feels trapped in her Welsh village, but not simply by grief." Raynor describes the play as "A bit intense, with some funny bits too, though. And some lovely acting." Mali Harries, who recently played Cathy Salt in the first series episode "Boom Town" plays Caitrin. The play will be available online for a week following broadcast; go to the Radio 4 arts website and click on The Friday Play.

Press Coverage

New Zealand coverage of the series, now that there's a definite date of July 7, has picked up. A second trailer for the new series has been airing on Prime TV for the past few days which features Christopher Eccleston's original "Do you want to come with me?" footage (originally broadcast in the UK the weeks prior to its debut). In addition, the New Zealand media has been giving some good coverage of the New Series, with articles in the New Zealand Herald, the New Zealand TV Guide (including a small cover picture of a Dalek), an interview with Bruno Langley in the New Zealand TV Times Update magazine and a two-page article in the New Zealand Sunday Star Times.

This week's print edition of Broadcast (24 June) has picked up on Greg Dyke's article for The Independent a few days ago. The magazine's "Off the Record" diary section reports: "And on to one of Dyke's current 'portfolio' jobs û penning a weekly column for the Indy's media section. This week, he spilled the beans on the cost of the new Doctor Who û a cool ú1m an episode û (the total cost he said was ú1.2m an episode, but overseas sales made up the rest). Blimey that's an exterminating total of ú13m of licence fee money. Still, we're not quibbling û money well spent, say we."

Australian broadcasts continue... says this week's Herald Sun about the latest episode, "Dalek," "The best episode so far has Dr Who and Rose landing in a subterranean museum in 2012, where they find a Dalek being held captive and tormented by obsessed billionaire collector Henry Van Statten. The Doc and arch-enemy Dalek get reacquainted and danger looms. You'll enjoy this one." The Sydney Morning Herald said "Fans have been waiting for this episode in which a Dalek, the Time Lord's oldest and deadliest enemy, returns. ... If you've ever wondered what a Dalek looks like inside its metal casing or how it climbs a staircase, this episode will put you out of your misery." The Age says that "Now the Doctor is back and despite some egalitarian tweaking of the image - the accent now suggests Manchester rather than Eton and Oxbridge and the clothing and appearance are classless Cool Britannia rather than foppish Edwardian - he remains recognisably an exemplar of Etonian virtue. Christopher Eccleston may be a more aggressively masculine Doctor than, say, Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker, but he conforms, like all of his predecessors, to that most English of adventure-hero stereotypes, the Thoroughly Decent Chap. He's a post-imperial sort of Decent Chap, though, and there's nothing Tory or even wimpishly Blairite about the politics of this latest series of Doctor Who." "The Age" also features an articleabout weird alien-sounding names in science fiction ("If you don't know the difference between a Slitheen and a Raxacoricofallapatorian... you've only yourself to blame.")

The June 24 edition of the publishing trade magazine The Bookseller reports on the recommissioning of Doctor Who for a third series, although it's obvious that much of the article has been derived from press reports elsewhere. It's of interest for some details of sales figures for the new books: The programme's popularity has been reflected in the sales of the companion books. The three new novelisations from BBC Books have achieved combined sales of around 37,000 since publication in May, each securing places on the Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers chart. Reference book Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains by Justin Richards has sold more than 9,000 copies. The Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers chart for this week has The Monsters Inside and The Clockwise Man still at numbers 11 and 12, with the week's sales at 2,921 and 2,898 respectively. Winner Takes All has climbed from 18 back up to 14, on sales of 2,039." The Bookseller also previews Justin Richards' Doctor Who: The Legend Continues among its selection of paperback highlights for October: "The limited ú40 h/b published for the 40th anniversary sold out. These are the same sheets [i.e. the book will be reprinted without any changes], but with an addition of 32pp on the current Christopher Eccleston series. I would say fans have expanded with the new series into a younger generation, for which this will make a great gift."

The official Doctor Who website has several new video diaries online. "Today we're launching four more video diaries - three from director Joe Ahearne and one from The Mill's main man, Will Cohen. There are Dalek delights, Reaper reminiscences and more."

The Independent on Sunday's "Pink List" discusses the extermination of 'old prejudices' on "Doctor Who". "Sandwiched between the old-fashioned music-hall camp of a Graham Norton and Julian Clary, something much more amusing and inspiring was taking place. Russell T Davies sent the tabloids into a foaming lather, nearly a decade ago, with his Queer as Folk. Now, in 2005, he has revived, with wit and verve, Doctor Who. Among a series of admissions about urban life, a black character, a single mother, he has included, in the figure of Captain Jack, a character gloriously and unambiguously bisexual, without a tinge of camp. A drama aimed in part at children, with a sexy bisexual man, and no-one at all seems to mind. Things have changed a great deal."

The y come his first full adventure nbsp;on June 23 asked, "Anyone else feel like they lost a friend on Saturday night? Since watching the last episode of Doctor Who, I've been at a loss over just what to say. Project stoic image of emotionally detached critic? Or confess to my heart pounding in my chest and tears welling in my eyes? Oops. Saturday saw the climax of a love story, a tragedy, a comedy, an end, a beginning and a satisfying culmination to the most successful TV return since, well, Lassie Come Home. Of course, the new Who drew snipes from those too bitter to forgive Billie Piper for looking like an Ewok, or 'serious actor' Christopher Eccleston's uneasy take on eccentric. Fine. But are you telling me you preferred Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, the low budgets, crap sets and fusty storylines of the 80s? No. Didn't think so. Doctor Who has been the best thing Saturday night TV has offered in light years. I am genuinely sad it's finished. He's seen off the Slithene, those gas-mask zombie things and the Daleks. Hurrah for all that - but more respect for wiping the floor with tired Butlins' Redcoats Ant and Dec and their lame Saturday Night Takeaway when the shows went head to head. Everything - the music, the sets, the effects, the characters, the aliens, the acting (Billie Piper excelled in the final episode) worked brilliantly. Between Casanova and Doctor Who, Russell T Davies better take a big bag with him to the next Baftas."

Monday's New Statesman notes, "I was, let me admit, too critical of the first episode back in March. Russell T Davies has, as has been much remarked, reinvented the phenomenon of families gathering around the electronic hearth and, thanks to Doctor Who's extermination of ITV1's Celebrity Wrestling, helped kill off ITV's reliance on the celebrity genre. So two cheers for that. The darker episodes - the Dickens story, Rose's rediscovery of her dead father, the Second World War gas masks - worked best. The monsters tended to look like rejects from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and played to Davies's weakness, which was not taking the plots as seriously as its youngest audiences would. Yet, paradoxically, and despite the variations in tone, this was a serious piece of work that wove historical traditions into the fabric of our times and thereby managed to embroider everything from reality TV to bisexuality. Just as the police box once represented the presence of the state in every high street, Davies's Tardis became a symbol of public-service quality in the Saturday-night schedules. And that makes three cheers in all."

In June 23's Media Guardian: "Endemol boss Peter Bazalgette has followed in the footsteps of Michael Grade, and just about everyone else, in becoming a fully paid-up member of the Doctor Who fan club. 'The most magnificent piece of TV I can remember for a long time,' Baz gushed at today's conference on the future of broadcasting. However, he was feeling far less charitable towards ITV. 'ITV this summer is facing a massive stampede of viewers, not to other terrestrial channels, but to multichannel. [ITV chief executive] Charles Allen has got a small net, or sluice gate, on the door - called ITV2 and ITV3 - which is catching some of them, but most are just going off in the diaspora,' he said. What's up Baz, has Nigel Pickard knocked back all your programme ideas again?"

A late review of The Parting of the Ways in the New Statesman: "I was, let me admit,too critical of the first episode back in March. R T Davies, has, as has been much remarked, reinvented the phenomenon of families gathering around the electronic hearth and, thanks to Doctors Who's extermination of ITV1's Celebrity Wrestling, helped kill off ITV's reliance on the celebrity genre".

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chris Graham, Daryosh Djavanzad, Nathan Matthews, Gary Owen, Peter Anghelides, Adrian Piper, Huw Davies, John Bowman, Peter Weaver, Paul Greaves, Fred Harrison, and Thomas Van der Spiegel)

As reported by the official Doctor Who website, three directors have been confirmed for the second series of Doctor Who, going into production in July.James Hawes ("The Empty Child," "The Doctor Dances") and Euros Lyn ("The End of the World," "The Unquiet Dead") will be returning to the second season to direct the first and second blocks of episodes, respectively. Also confirmed today is that Graeme Harper, director of "The Caves of Androzani" and "Revelation of the Daleks" in the original series, will direct the third block and will be responsible for directing fourepisodes during the second year. Great news!

The next issue of Dreamwatch magazine will feature an exclusive report that the agent for Billie Piper has confirmed to the magazine that she will be leaving the series during its second season. "She's not doing the full season," the agent told Dreamwatch, indicating that she will likely appear in three to seven episodes of the second series. This is the first print indication that Piper may leave the show, although nothing official has yet been announced (we simply report what the magazine itself is reporting). Issue #130 of Dreamwatch will be available starting this weekend (and it also features interviews with Piper, Camille Coduri and John Barrowman).

BARB has now released the consolidated viewing figures for The Long Game: 8.01 million viewers, making the episode Saturday's second most watched programme (after Casualty, 8.35m), top in its timeslot, sixth on BBC1 in the week ending 8 May and seventeenth in the terrestrial top 30. In terms of its performance against the preceding six episodes of the series, it's in fourth place, behind "Rose", "The Unquiet Dead" and "Dalek". And today's Broadcast magazine confirms that the audience share for Dalek was 45%.

South Korea is the latest country to pick up the series. South Korean public TV station KBS (equivalent to BBC) is going to broadcast the new Doctor Who series from the 5th of June, every Saturday at 11.15 pm. No further details as yet.

On the official site, there is confirmation that the final appearance in the series of Christopher Eccleston will be in Episode 13, contrary to theories elsewhere that he will be appearing in the Christmas special, and that the remaining editions of Doctor Who Confidential will be cut to fifteen minutes for their Sunday evening repeats. The details of the episode titles for the last few shows in the run of Doctor Who Confidential have also been revised: "The Cult of Who" becomes "The World of Who" and focuses on the show's global appeal and its fans. Episode 13, "Finale", is retitled "The Last Battle". The show relives the highs and lows of the Ninth Doctor's time with Rose, and sees Christopher Eccleston taking his final bow. It's looking increasingly likely that all the remaining Sunday night repeats will be trimmed to fit a 15-minute slot, so be sure to catch Confidential on Saturdays if you want to see the uncut versions."

The BBC Press Office has released its weekly programme information documents (note: all documents are pdfs) for the week beginning Saturday 4 June. The Saturday highlights document (note: PDF file) includes a photograph of John Barrowman and Christopher Eccleston and a non-spoiler preview of Episode 11: Boom Town: "Building plans for the heart of Cardiff conceal a plot to destroy the world in Boom Town, written by Russell T Davies. When the Tardis crew take a holiday, the Doctor encounters an enemy he thought long since dead. It soon transpires that plans to build a nuclear power station in Cardiff city are disguising an alien plot to rip the world apart. And when the Doctor dines with monsters, he discovers traps within traps à Christopher Eccleston plays The Doctor,Billie Piper plays Rose and John Barrowman plays Captain Jack Harkness."

John Barrowman was on BBC Breakfast this morning at a little after 9am.BBC News is reporting on the item, which includes a RealPlayer file of the interview, which lasts a little under five minutes.

The Lincolnshire Echo is reporting that Christopher Eccleston could be filming in Lincoln this summer for the new movie "The Da Vinci Code" in which he has been widely reported to be participating. Filming will be focused in Lincoln Cathedral.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Ross Fitzpatrick, Steve Freestone, Chuck Foster, Chris Winwood)

According to the new issue of "Doctor Who Magazine," out Thursday, the title of episode twelve is Bad Wolf, confirming rumors that the ongoing hints of this phrase in several previously aired episodes do indeed have something to do with the ongoing plotline. DWM also confirms that Anne Robinson, known on both sides of the Atlantic as the host of "The Weakest Link," will be making a cameo voiceover appearance in one of the last stories of the season, as "the Anne Droid," confirming rumors circulating the past week.

The new issue of "Doctor Who Magazine" confirms the writers list for the forthcoming second season of Doctor Who. Executive producer Russell T Davies will pen five scripts for the second season, sharing the writing duties with five other confirmed writers. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat will return from the first year's writing bloc, and they are joined by Matt Jones, former script editor on Davies' "Queer as Folk," "Linda Green" and "Clocking Off", writer of "Now you see her", "Serious and organised", and "P.O.W" as well as the Virgin Doctor Who novel "Bad Therapy" and the Bernice Summerfield novel "Beyond the Sun"; Tom MacRae, writer of the pilot episode of Sky One's "Mile High", the BAFTA-nominated drama "School's Out," "Money Can Buy You Love," "UGetMe," script-editing "Nine Lives" and "As If" as well as currently writing an original series for the BBC and writing "No Angels" for Channel 4; and Toby Whithouse, an actor/writer whose credits include creating and writing Channel 4's "No Angels," writing for "Attachments," "Outlaws," "Where The Heart Is," writing for the stage the play "Jump, Mr. Malinoff, Jump" which won the Verity Bargate Award, and currently penning episodes of "Other People," "Scarlet and Guy" and "Hotel Babylon". Jones and MacRae are each writing two episodes, with Moffat, Gatiss and Whithouse writing one. One additional script has yet to be assigned, but that story will be done in-house (meaning, don't expect to find a major announcement of another writer.) Jones noes that the working title for his story is "The Satan Pit", and Davies has apparently asked him to make it "as scary as possible."

"We've been planning this since the beginning of the year, hoping and praying that the second series actually gets commissioned," said producer Phil Collinson, "so that these great ideas could make the screen. Work has started, and at least seven of the scripts are currently underway." Julie, Russell, and I have chosen a mixture of old and new, all with bold, wild imaginations, to launch Series Two with wit, flair, energy, and, no doubt, plenty of scares along the way." He notes that, like last year, "Russell has drawn up an overall plan for the whole series, with synopses of the tone and setting for each episode, although the writers have then have the absolute freedom to create what they want." Collinson also mentions the Christmas special: it will be shot as part of the second series block, meaning there will be fourteen episodes in production next year instead of thirteen, and there is no actual confirmed date it will air (it may not be on Christmas): it is "too early to guess whether the episode will be broadcast on Christmas Day. Christmas schedules are the most volatile, changeable and secret schedules of the lot," Collinson notes, with the recording schedule "more or less" following last year's. He says that the writers are "planning the same mix as this year: seven one one-off adventures, and three two-part stories. The adventures cover the full range -- trips to the future, the past, and yes, we'll be setting foot on alien worlds! We're planning lots of weird and wonderful new creations, as well as the return of familiar face or two."

The official site has metamorphosed again, changing slightly (but keeping the "BBC News" theme) for the next episode, "World War III". Note: there are spoilers on the front page including what the aliens look like and a spoiler on two of the characters, so if you haven't seen the episode, it's probably not a good idea to look. (They've also got a link to that UNIT website we reported on yesterday...)

Update on this weekend's viewing figures: Doctor Who Confidential on April 16 had 497,660 viewers (3.59% viewing share), while the BBC3 Sunday night repeats of Aliens of London and Confidential had 598,800 viewers (3.98% share) and 405,030 viewers (2.54% share), respectively. The good news here is that, even though "Ant and Dec" beat "Doctor Who" for the first time, these figures performed really well again. "Confidential" was only beaten by Sky One's "The Simpsons" and was second in the multi channel time slot Even better, the repeat showings on Sunday of "Aliens of London" was number one in its time slot, "Confidential" at number five.

According to the Daily Mail, David Tennant's salary will be around half of what Christopher Eccleston's was. "David Tennant may be the Casanova of telly but he's in a Tardis as far as money is concerned," says the Mail. "It's been revealed that the Beeb will only pay him half the salary Christopher Eccleston got to play Doctor Who. Shallow Grave star Christopher, 41, announced he was bowing out straight after the first episode of the comeback series had aired, after a 16-year hiatus. David, 33, will only get around half of Chris' ú600,000 to become the tenth timelord. According to the Daily Mail, with all the cutbacks at the BBC, Doctor Who's producers were also under intense pressure to cut costs. A source said: 'There was some relief that Chris went as he was so expensive. The show was only going to be recommissioned if the costs were cut." There is considerable speculation that finances had something to do with the change of lead actors, as noted in this article.

Friday's Broadcast (dated 15 April), the broadcast industry trade magazine, features some comments in their ratings section with regard to the first episode of the new Doctor Who series and the mention of a new peak rating. The ratings section itself (p.30) features the by-line at the top: "The new Doctor Who materialises into seventh place with 10.8 million viewers - but can it continue to hold its own among the soaps?" There is then an article about the week's ratings generally, titled "Old favourites from the 1970s put BBC1 ahead." The article begins: "The climax of the film 'The Last Samurai' has two ill-matched armies facing up to each other for a setpiece battle - the Samurai, armed with bows and arrows, their enemy with cannons and rifles. This week, Saturday night was a bit like that - the light entertainment Samurai forces of ITV verses the high-tech new generation of 'Doctor Who.' The result - 10.8 million for BBC1's 'Doctor Who' and 7.5 million for ITV1's 'Ant and Dec', both at 7pm. At its peak, 11.3 million people were watching 'Doctor Who.'The magazine also shows ratings for multichannel only and places Doctor Who Confidential in third place with 0.87 million viewers for Saturday 26th March, behind Tsunami Football Testimonial at 1 (Sky One) and Meet the Parents at 2 (BBC Three). Doctor Who: A New Dimension is at 67 in the list of network programmes with a final rating of 4.02 million and a 25.55% share.

Today's Mirror has reworked David Tennant's comments at the BAFTA ceremony at the weekend as an "interview". Apparently, "Tennant confessed to 3am [showbiz gossip column] that he's terrified of messing up the biggest role of his career", although there are no quotes to back this up, and the rest of the piece is more concerned with innuendo about his love life and drinking habits.

The Guardian today includes an article by Zoe Williams, "It's the 1980s, but don't panic", which comments on the return of Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "If you're old enough for your formative years to be the focus of all cultural retro-thrusts, then the chances are that you're the ones in charge, and it's your fault, not your parents' at all, that everything's going wrong." The same paper's round-up of media coverage in this morning's press notes the Mirror story and that the Daily Mail is claiming that David Tennant "has been forced to accept a cut-price deal from the BBC".

"Exclusive: Doctor Who Monsters in the Making: meet the Slitheen!" says the front cover of the new edition of Radio Times, which, for the fifth consecutive week, has Doctor Who as its top recommendation for Saturday in its selection of the week's best television (page 4), with a small photo of the Doctor walking past a police car. This week's letters include a response from Karen Davies (page 9) defending her win in the Mastermind Special last month: "Surely I'm not the first contestant to win on the strength of their general knowledge as well as their chosen subject?" This week's full-colour, two-page spread (pages 12 and 13) shows Neill Gorton making Slitheen outfits and a smaller Slitheen model, accompanied by a brief interview with Gorton. This weekend's episode is again one of Saturday's Choices (page 62), described as "a strange but enjoyable brew of body-snatching horror (unsuitable for the very young), political intrigue and flatulence gags [...] Nifty effects and Russell T Davies's wry one-liners keep things humming, while references to weapons of mass destruction and the future prime minister keep the chaotic action nicely grounded. But you sense that the best is yet to come in this series." Also selected is the next edition of the "terrific" Doctor Who Confidential: "Comparisons between the old and new series are often amusing, and fans will smile to see some old faces." Finally, "Next week in RT... They're back! Don't miss our Dalek special, and free giant poster offer!"

Prospect magazine says that "First came University Challenge and the return of Parkinson. Now we have got the return of Doctor Who, Come Dancing, Ask the Family, The Two Ronnies and Quatermass-all retro-television. There is no doubt which has had the most impact. Over the past weeks you could not escape the Dalek jokes, Ron Grainer's haunting music, the forty-something nostalgia. Part of its secret was the format which gave the writers the freedom to take the doctor and his companion(s) anywhere, any time. Yet it was always very much about one place at one time: 1960s Britain. The first episode of the revived series, like the last episode in 1989 and the very first episode in 1963, is set in contemporary London. As executive producer and chief scriptwriter, Russell T Davies, said the doctor and his new companion "are deliberately running past Big Ben, they're on Westminster bridge, there are double decker buses, because that's a great big signal at the start saying, 'This is British.'" But what kind of Britain? Trafalgar Square and black cabs or Rose's single mum, glued to daytime television, tower blocks and Cockney accents. This uncertainty about Britishness was always at the heart of the original Doctor Who. ... British television, like Britain in the 1960s, is lost in time, without a positive sense of identity. What is BBC1 for? Or ITV? As they haemorrhage viewers, they keep looking back to a lost, golden age when everyone knew what the big networks were there for. Wheeling out the Daleks is just a symptom of a loss of nerve."

According to today's Daily Star, Eve Myles (Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead") will next play an underwear model in "Belonging," a BBC Wales series.

Some other press reports: CBBC Newsround Showbiz had a brief mention on the Sunday (17 April) edition, which was voiceover about the series being 'too scary for kids, after 63 complaints were received' (which contradicts the number reported by BBC News), over a clip from the Doctor Who main titles buried in their 'other news' section. In today's (19 April) METRO newspaper, a letter from Darrell Mlynarz, Manchester, headed 'JUST ZIP IT' asks: "After viewing Saturday's episode of Doctor Who, I think someone should check out John Prescott's (Deputy Prime Minister) forehead for signs of a zip?" And today at 12:25 a Dalek asked a question in relation to eligibility to seek election on the BBC Daily Politics Election Special, in the Ask Daisy section.

More links from stories the past few days: the casting of David Tennant at theHerald Sun, New York Times, Chud News, BBC News, Variety(subscription needed); Christopher Eccleston in "The DaVinci Code" story reported at Film Fodder, Contact Music, FemaleFirst, Film Guardian; Tennant at the BAFTA's reported at Kerala Next.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Chuck Foster, Andy Parish, Mark Williams, Richard Estep, Richard Allison, Mark Stammers, Steven Laing)

News items from Saturday through Monday. (Note: we're still awaiting ratings news for Saturday night's "Confidential" and yesterday's BBC3 repeats...)

David Tennant was at last night's BAFTA awards ceremony, though he was not nominated. He did, however, speak briefly about his role, noting that "The expectations are fierce." Asked how long he had signed up for, he said: "Let's get through one at a time. I'd love to do 100 years but they might sack me". He also noted that Tom Baker wore a long scarf but they havenÆt worn one since so I donÆt know if I will wear one." Asked if he was going to play the part in a Scottish accent he said: "All of that is up for grabs at the moment but Dr Who is the best show ever and I canÆt wait." Tennant also noted that he was delighted that Billie Piper would continue in the role as his assistant Rose: "SheÆs not going to get away from me, I think sheÆs a very good actress." You can view news stories at the following sites: BBC News,Hello Magazine, Vogue, Evening Times, Scotsman.

Lots of coverage of the David Tennant casting news the past two days. Here's an updated list of everywhere we know of with links, although no new information in any of them: Times Online (updated link), FilmForce, ABC Australia, Dark Horizons, CNN, NineMSN, Contact Music,InTheNews, TV New Zealand, The Herald,Sydney Morning Herald,Evening Standard, RTE, , , CBC News, TV Squad, Stuff.co.nz, NZ Herald, BBC Radio 1, Zap2IT, The Stage, Regional Film and Video Ireland, Ananova (with second story here),icNetwork, MegaStar,MyTelus, Yabedo.

The official site's parody site Who Is Doctor Who? (glimpsed in the first episode, "Rose"), now has at least two companions. The BBC has opened theunit.org.uk UNIT website and has registered the site badwolf.co.uk. Keen-eyed viewers may start recognizing clues as to what that last site will entail...

The BBC has begun to trail Saturday's episode in tandem with "Strictly Dance Fever". Starting with "Strictly Dance Fever" the voice-over runs: "An entire nation desperately trying to stay in time...and a Time Lord who's biggest problem is just staying alive! Saturday from six on BBC1." The "Doctor Who" segment contains a mix of the specially shot trailer (Eccleston walking to the TARDIS console and Rose and the Doctor standing facing the camera) along with clips from the upcoming episode: the Doctor's "Oi! You want aliens? You've got 'em!", a Slitheen smashing through a door and chasing Rose and Harriet Jones through another door, two Slitheen and the Doctor running through a corridor, and Rose/Harriet Jones hiding behind furniture as a Slitheen crows "Where are you?". The whole trailer runs to 20 seconds and was transmitted this evening at 10pm straight after "Casanova" (Strange that...!).

Christopher Eccleston is to star as "an albino killer monk" alongside Tom Hanks in the movie version of "The Da Vinci Code," according to news reports. "Insiders say he will play brainwashed monk Silas whose life is controlled by the Opus Dei religious sect in the best-selling novel about the Holy Grail," says theMirror. "A movie insider said: 'As soon as film producers spotted Chris on Doctor Who they knew they had to go for him - he has everything they want. He is a very serious and respected actor who always gives a great performance. He would be brilliant as Silas. Some big names have already signed up for the film. Chris has now been sent a script and is mulling it over - but he has been told he may have to wear a long white wig.' Oscar winner Hanks plays the book's hero, American academic Robert Langdon, while French beauty Audrey Tatou will be codebreaker Sophie Neveu. British film veterans Sir Anthony Hopkins and Michael Caine are tipped for the role of eccentric Holy Grail hunter Sir Leigh Teabing and craggy French star Jean Reno has been cast as police chief Bezu Fache. The movie will be directed by American Ron Howard and is due to be released in May next year. Shooting is about to begin in Paris and will also include locations in London and Scotland." Sites covering this includeMovieHole, Dark Horizons, Digital Spy,FilmForce, The Hollywood News.

One of the telephone numbers from the episode "Aliens of London" turns out to have been real. Says the Behind the Sofa Again site, "As well as the episode being set in a year's time, there are a couple of other things I noticed (and I don't think anyone else has mentioned) on watching it again: The housing project in which Rose lives is called The Powell Estate. Could this be a reference to the controller of the BBC who actually cancelled the show in the late eighties? Although neither of the telephone numbers for the Alien Helpline on the Rose posters work, there is another one on the doors of the army vehicle which are block The Doctor's sight of the craft and what's happening. If you call it, there is an answering machine which thanks people for calling what sounds like the Freephone Army Driving line (whatever that might be)." Of course, we'd rather you don't call it...

New Zealand Broadcaster Paul Holmes talked to UK correspondent Malcolm Stuart on Holmes' weekday morning Breakfast show on 15/04/05 on NZ Radio Station Newstalk ZB. Amongst the topics discussed was of the reaction from the New Series amongst many parents who believe that it is too scary for their children to watch. An audio link can be foundhere; scroll down the page and look for the heading marked 'Dr Who spooks kids'.

From our correspondent Prakash Bakrania regarding our report about televised announcements (or, a lack thereof) of the Tennant casting: "I just read the following about News 24 not covering the Tennant announcement much. Admittedly there wasn't much because of Rover but I did leave the DVD Recorder running from 3am to 9am and it did record about five news instances of Tennant's arrival as the Tenth Doctor."

Additional discussion of the ratings report from yesterday at Sky News, theMirror, the Guardian and the Daily Record.

The Guardian reviewed the latest episode: "Doctor Who (Saturday, BBC1) has picked up a lot of publicity in the last week for terrifying the nation's tots - just in time to promote the best episode yet. It was called Aliens in London, and it actually lived up to that marvellous title. A spaceship crashed into Big Ben, and this was such an audacious opening, fraught with echoes of 9/11, that we watched the rest in delighted disbelief. A pig in a spacesuit ran down a corridor into a hail of bullets, sinister farting fat people took over 10 Downing Street, and, best of all, some horrible baby-faced aliens were unleashed to terrify yet more kiddies. Now that's what I call entertainment." "Aliens of London" was also the Pick of the Day yesterday in the Times: "Davies's cartoonish sense of humour is one of the main obstacles standing in the way of the current series improving on the Pertwee and Baker eras. His reliance on noisy bodily functions (the burping bin in the first episode, the farting lizards here) might appeal to the eight-year-old in him that he aims the new show at, as will the Benny Hill style chases through No10 that really require a Yakety Sax soundtrack (and somebody who is able to run and can stand in for Billie Piper). He also seems overly proud of one of the best lines from the pilot episode ('Lots of planets have a north'), so that gets wheeled out again. Fortunately, however, there is something for an adult audience, too, including political satire -naughtily smuggled into a normally escapist drama shortly before a general election. As the Doctor tries to prevent nuclear destruction, aided by Rose and an earnest MP (Penelope Wilton), the PM's grounds for making war mockingly echo Tony Blair's: somewhere in space there are 'massive weapons of destruction' that can be 'deployed in 45 minutes'. Fortunately, the Doctor remembers how Hannibal managed to cross the Alps with his elephants, so the world may yet be saved."

Today's edition of Blue Peter contained a report on the Wray Village Scarecrow Festival and began with presenter Simon Thomas' introduction: "Now, today the Blue Peter garden has been invaded by some very strange things. Not aliens from the brand-new Doctor Who series...". However, despite Simon's promise, a small mock-up of a Black Dalek could clearly be seen throughout most of the item on scarecrow building...

In today's edition of The Sun TV critic Sara Nathan chooses "Casanova" as one of her TV Picks, ending her preview with: "Fans of David Tennant, fear not, pretty boy will return...in a Tardis." Also, in today's edition of News Of The World is an article in which it is claimed that Christopher Eccleston is splitting from his Cardiff-based girlfriend as he "needs more space". It is also reported that the Labour Party is attempting to recruit Eccleston, with his 'working class' background, for their General Election campaign.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Jamie Austin, Prakash Bakrania, Paul Hayes, Faiz Rehman, Jamie Austin, Stuart Ian Burns, David French, Alistair Moore, Ben Goudie, Mark Oliver, Rich Kirkpatrick, John Bowman, Chris Wischer, Matt Kimpton, Mustafa Hirji, and Jon Preddle)

David Tennant will take over from departing actor Christopher Eccleston for the second series of Doctor Who to be aired in 2006, according to a BBC press releaseissued Saturday morning just after midnight UK time. Tennant was originally rumored to be "in talks" to take over the role from Eccleston, who it was announced in late March would not be returning for the second season. As the Doctor, Tennant will be seen in the role in this year's Christmas special, as well as continuing in the role throughout the entire second series (and hopefully, many years to come). Billie Piper, who plays Rose Tyler, is already signed on for the second year of adventures.

Below is the official press release, issued minutes after midnight UK time, from the BBC Press Office.

Update 0240 BST: Another Scotsman article discusses the Tennant casting: "For David Tennant, playing the Doctor is a dream come true - watching the show was the reason he became an actor in the first place." The article biographies the actor, including some of his plays and television roles.

Update 0720 BST: News coverage of the event continues... so far, news reports carrying the announcement about Tennant's casting include theGuardian (the first online news service to print after the announcement went out), Daily Record (noting a salary amount: "David Tennant has landed a £500,000 deal"), the Times, Digital Spy, theTelegraph, BBC News,Scotsman, Morons.org, MovieHole, WaveGuide, ic Wales, and theLeaky Cauldron (Harry Potter site).

Outpost Gallifrey has it from several reliable sources that an announcement about the casting of the Tenth Doctor, rumored to be actor David Tennant, will be happening at midnight UK time tonight, possibly even earlier, according to sources who believe it will be leaked by the press at that time. Keep tuned to our TV Series News Page for late-breaking developments this evening.