According to the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine, the director of the first "block" of the new series is Keith Boak, who has directed for Out of the Blue, Wokenwell, City Central, Sunburn, Harbour Lights, The Knock, Mersey Beat, The Royal and Holby City. (There's no explanation of what this "Block One" comprises.) Russell Davies says that Boak "directed one of my first ever paid scripts, a 5-minute piece for the BBC's Def 2 slot". Also named in Davies' new production notes column in DWM 344 is Lucinda Wright, the new costume designer. Davies notes that work has started progressing on the first blcok as of May 17 (pre-production only), with script meetings on May 18 (discussing "Paul Cornell's script... dark and brave and every bit as brilliant as I expected") and a "tone meeting" on May 19... "All of us - producers, director, script editors, the entire design department, costume, casting, special FX, make-up and monster men - packed into one room to talk tone. MEaning what should this show look like, feel like, aspire to? Colour, sound, pitch, key?" Noted in a May 19 casting meeting session discussion in the Davies article, a new character name is mentioned; besides the aforementioned Jackie and the "Moxx of Balhoon," there is a character named Mickey, either a regular or a guest star. Also in the issue, an interview with script editors Helen Raynor and Elwen Rowlands confirms that Rowlands is working with Davies and Cornell, and Raynor with Shearman, Gatiss and Moffat (and "a bit of Russell"), but that they are working together across all episodes "to make sure that continuity works." They comment that 'Rob Shearman is chucking the "ooh" moments around like confetti [and] Paul Cornell's episode is so moving it brought a tear to the eye. Mark Gatiss' script has some hilarious moments and the sheer naughtiness of Russell's Alien's of London had us chuckling away all day. We wait delivery of Steven Moffat's script with bated breath.' Finally, Davies' Production Notes reveals that one episode features a clipboard that "creates a meeting of its own. Is it metal? Plastic? Illuminated? Sentient?... And it's only a clipboard!" This, you see, is Russell's proof that "This programme is barmy." Read all of this, plus a lot more, in the new DWM, issue 344 now on sale. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

As has been widely reported the past several days, the fan favorite the Daleks will not be appearing in the new Doctor Who series, as talks between the BBC and the estate of creator Terry Nation have broken down over issues of editorial control. A BBC spokeswoman told BBC News, "After lengthy negotiations, the BBC and Terry Nation have been unable to reach an agreement on the terms of the use of the Daleks. The BBC offered the very best deal possible but ultimately we were not able to give the level of editorial influence that the Terry Nation estate wished to have." The Nation estate is said to be "bitterly disappointed" while Nation agent Tim Hancock stated that the BBC was trying to "ruin the brand of the Daleks. We wanted the same level of control over the Daleks that we have enjoyed for the last 40 years. If the BBC wanted to re-make any of George Lucas' films, you can bet George Lucas would have something to say about it." Hancock accused the BBC of lying about the reasons a deal had not been made, stating that the BBC had recentrly tried to commission a cartoon series about gay Daleks for BBC Three and that they had allowed Warner Bros. to use the Daleks in the recent big-budget film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" without consulting the Nation estate. "We want to protect the integrity of the brand," Hancock said, and added that the estate would be willing to make a new deal if the BBC accepted the arrangement that had been in place for the last 40 years. Russell Davies told BBC news that he was disappointed by the decision, but that it would not affect the success of the series. "We are reinventing Doctor Who for a 21st Century audience with a fantastic writing team and exciting new challenges," Davies said. "We are disappointed that the Daleks will not be included but we have a number of new and exciting monsters. And I can confirm we have created a new enemy for the Doctor which will keep viewers on the edge of their seats." Elsewhere, an additional comment from agent Tim Hancock noted the following: "IÆm very sorry for Dr Who fans. We accept the Daleks need modernising, and are all for it. All we ask is that they consult us on the designs. But the BBC are not prepared to."

Afterwards, the newspaper The Sun said it was launching a "campaign" to save the Daleks after being exterminated from the new show. The Sun article intimated that the BBC were "desperate hi-tech versions of the Time LordÆs arch-enemies" to appear in the show, but that talks had broken down only last Wednesday when Nation's estate demanded control of Dalek storylines and that they feared producers planned to make the Daleks "too evil". A BBC "insider" told the Sun, "ItÆs hard to imagine Dr Who without Daleks but it seems we have no choice. The Nation estateÆs demands were completely unacceptable. They care a lot about the Daleks. We fear they have been lost forever." The Express ran an article on July 3 that stated that fans in Southampton had staged a protest march, with one fan being quoted as saying, "Daleks were infamous for sending children diving behind sofas in the 1960s and 70s. If an amicable deal isn't reached, the new Doctor won't ever see the Daleks again, which will be a great shame. While most fans are obviously delighted the series has finally come back, there are fears that it may bear very little resemblance to the original. And the Doctor not facing the Daleks is almost unthinkable." Shadow Education Secretary (and Doctor Who fan) Tim Collins said to the Sun, "Dr Who without the Daleks is like fish without chips. It's important the BBC does a deal." And the Manchester Evening News quoted agent Hancock as saying, "Without us the BBC would have screwed up the integrity of the Daleks image years ago."

Commentator John Walsh noted in July 3's The Independent, "It's outrageous that the new series of Doctor Who should feature no appearance by the Daleks. I was one of the original short-trousered Doctor fans who watched through latticed fingers the first gliding steps of the metal myrmidons, and I'm sorry not to see them return. But the way the story appeared in some news pages - the robotic tyrants would not appear because of 'a disagreement over appearance fees' - made it sound as if the Daleks themselves were sulkily refusing to go on TV. The usual reasons, I suppose. They had other commitments; the timing wasn't right for this stage of their career; they weren't in a good place right now; they were scheduled to appear on Broadway, in a musical called Hello Dalek. I pictured them on the phone to their agent, shouting 'Neg-o-ti-ate! Neg-o-ti-ate!'."

Many of the press clippings can now be found at the Cuttings Archive.

Media links and coverage (with thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes):

BBC News The Sun Sky News The Register The Alien Online DigitalSpy ICnetwork

Manchester Online Big News Network MediaDrome The Mirror Waveguide Guardian Online DeHavilland

A couple of brief press mentions (thanks to Steve Tribe, Rich Kirkpatrick & Paul Engelberg, among others)

Over the past few days we've received numerous emails and heard various pieces of gossip alleging that Christopher Eccleston may have quit the new series production. Indeed, several of our readers have picked up on this on anotherwebsite (Sci-Fi Online). Though some of the rumors of the past couple of days have come from quite reliable sources, we think it's a bad rumor gone wild, and at this point Outpost Gallifrey has heard nothing to indicate that this might be true and would like to assure our readers that we'll report this if and when we see anything official.

The Doctor Who Appreciation Society's newest edition of "Celestial Toyroom" (#316) has a note from Christopher Eccleston to the DWAS readership. "I won't be giving interviews on Doctor Who until I've got something to brag about," Eccleston writes. "But here's a quote: I'm very excited to be the ninth Doctor Who, I want to honour its past but also bring something new, I look forward to the reaction of your readers/members."

Writer Steven Moffat says he is "a little embarrassed" that the new series has already picked up its first award even before filming has begun. "Even before a single frame has been shot, we have already picked up an award for Best New Hope from a science fiction magazine. I did feel slightly embarrassed about receiving it." Moffat, meanwhile, told the Paisley Daily Express on June 14, "I was well known in TV circles as a Dr Who fan and I'd always made it known that I'd like a go at writing it if the opportunity arose. ... Doing this, I think, ends your position of being a fan."

North Carolina's Winston-Salem Journal featured a Q&A article about the new show, in response to a question if PBS would be carrying the series. The answers are quite familiar... being as though they were taken from the Outpost Gallifrey new series FAQ (with all due credit given in the article!)

The Scotsman interviewed Steven Moffat, creator of "Coupling" and a writer of the forthcoming first season of the new Doctor Who series. Moffat discusses writing for the new show, including the controversial topic of sex in the TARDIS. "There always was," Moffat says. "Patrick Troughton had pretty girl, and boy, assistants, both in skirts. Russell is quite keen on an element of sexiness and, anyway, all TV now is cast with this question high up the list: do we want to go to bed with these characters? But that will never be the central element of Doctor Who. The show is still about saving the universe. You canÆt be thinking about lovey-dovey stuff when thereÆs that level of jeopardy involved." And there's even a hint of dialogue: "Doctor, no! ... " Ur, right. You can read the full interview at the Scotsman website.

New series concept artist Bryan Hitch spoke to the readers of the Outpost Gallifrey forum today and made some comments about the current state of affairs on the new series. "Ed [Thomas, series designer] and I attached to the project around the same time in very early pre production and we've both been active on the game for about six weeks to two months," Hitch posted. "The crew is all set (just about) and major design work with the whole design team has been running about a month. A series this ambitious doesn't get done quickly and something as iconic as the TARDIS design is a lengthy process of approvals (though it actually went swimingly.) And to clarify, as Production Designer Ed's genius is employed in overseeing and coordinating the overall visual scope of the series from locations, costumes, lighting, set construction and of course design. He's a member of staff, I'm freelance. As Russell puts it, I'm more of a "consultant" who rushes into meetings, flings ideas and sketches at anyone and everyone and runs out leaving folks scratching their heads and looking shell shocked. I do have specific design duties such as the TARDIS set and other key wonders I can't say anything about. And the TARDIS is looking just doozy." Hitch also mentioned that, from all the speculation in the OG Forum, what he's seeing on the new show "is beyond all of your expectations. There as never been a more visually ambitious show made in this country and the BBC has never done anything like this before. I'm not teasing here either, Russell has it nailed." Finally, a joke about the TARDIS: "We are going for something completely different this time around by making the TARDIS much smaller on the inside than on the outside, sort of a novelty really; inside it will be the size of a poodle kennel." Or is it? Time will tell! (Our thanks to Bryan Hitch)

Award-winning comics artist Bryan Hitch, the man behind titles such as The Authority and The Ultimates and winner of last yearÆs SFX Reader Award for Best Comic Book, is the concept artist for the new series. Says Russell T Davies, "This is entirely thanks to SFX. The Head of Drama at the BBC had talked about getting a concept artist right from the start, so we were already beginning to think about it. Then out of the blue Nick Setchfield at SFX got in touch, saying that Bryan Hitch had heard about the new series of Doctor Who and wanted to help. Now, IÆm an old comics fan... and I couldnÆt believe this was the Bryan Hitch. IÆve got the Ultimates collection, and that beautiful hardback of The Authority. ItÆs just brilliant... I showed Julie and Phil [producers Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson] the comics, they went mental, we summoned the Hitch, and here we are... Now Bryan can give us concepts and wild ideas to spark us off in new directions. Thank you SFX, itÆs really appreciated!ö Hitch will be in charge of the signature look of the new series, working alongside production designer Edward Thomas; the two will develop the TARDIS interior, new aliens and technology for the series. Hitch's previous Doctor Who work was a one-issue comic strip in DWM 139 and the cover for Mad Norwegian's "I, Who 2". More details are in the new SFX, due out June 9. (Thanks to SFX Magazine)

The new issue of DWM features an interview with new series production designer Edward Thomas. "As Production Designer," Thomas tells DWM, "I will be responsible for the overall look and feel of all 13 episodes... I will have lots of help in the form of art directors, illustrators, set designers, CGI and a whole host of other creative people who will assist me in introducing a brand new look, whilst retainging a few of the most unforgettable features." He also talks about what the TARDIS will be like ("Big ... On the inside that is!") and about the interior of the time ship.

Also in the issue, Russell T. Davies gets to the bottom of whether or not the Eccleston Doctor is the ninth incarnation. "Of course he bloody is!" writes Eccleston. "There is no official, co-ordinated BBC policy on this, and never will be; but ... Chris is number nine." He also discusses the number of the episode (it will start with #1) and season ("it's Series One"), and says that he's just finished writing the fourth episode. On the subject of production codes, Davies says, "Because the forthcoming series has shifted base to BBC Wales - and on a simpler level, because no one involved in the production would even stop to worry about this - then the Production Codes are brand new. They don't continue from the 1996 movie, or the 1989 series. The new series is not called Season Twenty-Seven on any documents, it's Series One. And the first episode is officially episode one, not episode 697." However, he goes on to suggest that time, reference books, fans, etc "will take care of this and simplify... see you here in 20 years." For more details and to read the full interviews with Davies and Thomas, check out DWM #345 which hits newsstands tomorrow.

Several of our readers have forwarded a story from the NME website, which discusses the Billie Piper casting... and also describes the character Rose Tyler as a "feisty barmaid". While we're not totally sure of this, the fact that the character of Alison Cheney, played by Sophie Okonedo in the BBCi webcast "The Scream of the Shalka", was a feisty barmaid leads us to believe that NME got their wires crossed. We'll keep you posted.

Today's Media Guardian has a snippet about a possible story in the forthcoming series, maybe in the two-part "Aliens of London" or another story. Click on the spoiler tag below to read it. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe)

According to the Industry Casting Newsletter PCR, the first director for the new series is Keith Boak, who's described as being "the helmer of the first block." His IMDb repetoire can be viewed here. (Thanks to John Dorney and "cazndave")