The official Doctor Who site today debuted the new Doctor Who series logo, "created by Louise Hillam, Alison Jenkins and Hywel Roberts at the Graphic Design team at BBC Wales, with Luke Davies and Paul Humphrey at Insect Design working on the background." It's displayed below.

The Internet Movie Database lists several people involved in the new series, including Stuart Bray and Rob Mayor as special makeup supervisors, Davy Jones as Makeup Artist, Lloyd Ellis as First Assistant Director, Patrick Begley as "Props," John Tellick as "Sound," and Lee Sheward as stunt coordinator. We have no independent confirmation of these crewmembers, however, so will list them as possible until we know otherwise. Meanwhile, stuntman Will Willoughby is the stuntman doing doubling for Christopher Eccleston on the new show, according to an interview with Willoughby on BBC Radio Nottingham. (Thanks to Sean Ditchfield, Steve Freestone)

The Sci Fi Online site notes, in an article entitled "Latest on the Daleks' dialect" that the Daleks will not abandon the popular phrase "Exterminate!" in the new show, despite the note in The Sun recently. It also mentions rumors on design: "The new-look inhabitants of Skaro wonÆt actually appear much different from their previous incarnations (save possibly a movie-style fender), although a final decision on a colour scheme has apparently yet to be reached. What is clear, however, is that the first Dalek we see will be damaged and covered in gunk, the sole survivor of a forgotten patrol thatÆs killing the unsuspecting crew of a spacecraft." Also mentioned in the report is that the TARDIS is larger and more chunky (as obvious from the photos posted on this very site) and that the rumored new logo was "created with widescreen TVs in mind - all the lettering is on one line in square upper-case text, backed by a coloured oval, some lens flare and the hint of printed circuits." You can read the whole report at that site.

Some new developments now known for the new Doctor Who series. The latest issue of DWM confirms our earlier story about Joe Ahearne being the director for the third block (which it says is comprised of episodes 6 and 8) and notes that the Daleks are in one of these episodes, as well as confirming that George Gerwitz is the first assistant director for block one. New details are that actor Rupert Vansittart plays the role of General Asquith, while Naoko Mori (who plays Saffron's best friend Sarah on "Absolutely Fabulous") plays Dr. Sato; both of these actors were in the very first scene shot for the new series. Also, the BBC Doctor Who website recently confirmed (in their "WhoSpy" photo series) that the make-up assistant on the series is Linda Davie and the sound recordist is Ian Richardson (with two other chaps, Tim the production runner and someone named Dafydd.)

According to a news report on BBC News -- widely reported elsewhere on the internet as well -- Mal Young is set to leave the BBC at the end of the year, joining 19 TV, creators of "Pop Idol" and US counterpart "American Idol," as director of drama. "I've had the happiest and most fulfilling seven years at the BBC, but when Simon approached me about he and I working together, it was a no-brainer," Young told BBC News. "I wasn't actively looking to leave the BBC, but this felt like the perfect fit." Mal Young is, of course, one of the developers of the new Doctor Who series, listed as an executive producer alongside Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner; however, this is not expected to impact the series in any way. Of course, Outpost Gallifrey would like to offer our best wishes to Mr. Young in his future endeavors, as well as our thanks for his involvement in the rebirth of the Doctor Who series on television. (Thanks to Paul Hayes, James Whittington and everyone else who wrote in!)

According to the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, there are some names we can add to our list of cast and crew for the new series production. Cast members in at least one story, likely one of the stories already completed, are actors Basil Chung and Fiesta Mei Ling as "an old Chinese couple", and Corey Doabe as a "spray-painting kid". On the production side, the following names have been linked to the first block of stories (directed by Keith Boak): Lowri Thomas, Unit Manager; James DaHaviland and Steff Morris, Assistant Directors; Patrick Begley, Props; andIan Richardson, Sound. The action vehicles -- likely the ones seen in the Cardiff shoot from late July/early August outside the Albion Hospital set (see the photo gallery) -- were provided by Millers Action. (Thanks to DWAS / Chuck Foster)

Could it be that Doctor Who is returning with the Daleks... but without the famous catchphrase, "Exterminate!" In anarticle in today's "The Sun," it is noted that "BBC chiefs have deemed the aliensÆ catchphrase too cheesy for modern audiences. A Beeb insider confirmed last night: 'Doctor Who fans may be upset. But although the word may have scared kiddies in 1963, today it would be laughed off screen.' The source said: 'The Daleks have said æexterminateÆ for more than 40 years but it never did them any good. The Doctor always won in the end.'" Of course, the Sun also claims that the Daleks returned only after their 'campaign' to bring the monsters back to the show; meanwhile, quoted elsewhere, Tim Hancock, agent for the estate of Daleks creator Terry Nation, says, "There are three scripts in the new series of Doctor Who that will feature the Daleks.ö However, the BBC won't confirm the number of episodes they appear in. The article is also on Sky News, Ananova and other web sources. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg & Steve Tribe)

Saturday's Daily Mirror had a feature on some spoilers about the new series' Dalek stories... or, rather, rumored appearances of the metal nasties that could be serious - or could be purloined from online sources. (They sound suspiciously like speculation in our Forum, in fact...) Check out the details in the spoiler tag to read the details from the paper.

According to the new issue of DWM, progress on filming the new Doctor Who series will continue throughout the fall and into early 2005, as the deadline for finishing actual production is February. DWM also breaks down the five "blocks" of production, each with a different director: episodes 1, 4 and 5, directed by Keith Boak, are already shot; episodes 2 and 3 directed by Euros Lyn were underway at the magazine's press time. Block 3, which Outpost Gallifrey noted several days ago would be directed by Joe Ahearne, will consist of episodes 6, 7 and 8, while blocks 4 (episodes 9 & 10) and 5 (episodes 11-13) will see work with later directors. Some brief notes on casting include those of John Barrowman and Mark Benton, which we previously reported, as well as a comment from Phil Collinson about a guest appearance from David Jason: "We read the reports of David Jason's casting with some surprise! ... if the right part came along, we would be delighted to approach him. But for the moment, I have to confirm that he's not on board."

According to today's edition of Professional Casting Review (PCR), a UK casting and trade periodical, Joe Ahearne is the director for the "third block" of the first season of the new Doctor Who series. Ahearne's directing credits include the TV series "This Life," "Strange," "Trance" and "Walking with Spacement" as well as the miniseries "Ultraviolet". What episodes are included in the third block remain unknown right now. PCR was our previous source of the first new series director, Keith Boak (May 24 news item) and, prior to that, the identity of series casting director Andy Pryor (February 23). (Thanks to "Alex/Speedway1975")