The Doctor Who website at BBC Online has officially changed format today, with a splash page about the new series from which information on trailers and photos is linked, along with a link to the "classic series" pages which retain previous information. One of the new photos features a white background with the TARDIS in the foreground and Christopher Eccleston holding his sonic screwdriver. Check it out!

So far, today's (March 8) press clips, with more to be added as the day progresses:

This morning's (March 8) Radio Times features a one-page colour feature called "Doctor Who watch" with brief comments from RTD and Julie Gardner and small summaries of the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS and 'the monsters'. As well as one of the standard publicity shots of Eccleston and Piper, there is a large photo of the 'blue meanie' from the cover of the latest DWM, which is caption and therefore confirmed as "the Moxx of Balhoon". The article also trails: "Next week: Doctor Who, the first words..." Also in the Radio Times, the listing for Thursday 17 March confirms that The Culture Show (BBC Two, 7pm and 11.25pm) will preview "the imminent return of Doctor Who". "Will it stay true to the spirit of the past series?" This is illustrated with one of the shots of Eccleston standing outside the TARDIS.

An article in the Belfast Telegraph "looks back at some memorable moments and opponents from the past 40 years" of Doctor Who, including the Daleks (featuring an interview with Cy Town), the Zygons, the Cybermen, the Yeti, the Daemons, the Zarbi, the Kandyman, and even the giant maggots of "The Green Death".

The Dark Horizons website, another movie industry gossip site, also features a brief review of "Rose," largely positive.

icWales has a mention of the leak, and also features quotes with Russell T Davies (lifted from elsewhere).

The Mirror features an article today called "EXTER BINATE," asking "The first episode of new Dr Who ..and can Billie save the world from Wheelie Bin aliens?" referring to a very minor plot point about the first episode, mentioning the episode leak and also a few plot points. (Don't read the article if you don't want to see a few spoilers for the first story.)

The downloading of Doctor Who made the front page of today's Guardian newspaper (link is to the story itself). The story mentions the "Ain't It Cool" online website which posted some scathing reviews of the episode (to which there are complaints that positive reviews were ignored; however, one eventual positive review by Warren Ellis was eventually posted in their "Coaxial" section). Ironically, the Guardian site focuses on the negative reviews, while reactions to the leaked episode have been overwhelmingly positive elsewhere.

A ton of reports on the leak of "Rose" to the Internet, so here's a quick guide to all of the links so far we've been able to compile (with thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes): Evening Times, Digital Lifestyles, BBC News Technology, Disinfo.com, CBBC Newsround, Brisbane Courier Mail, The Australian, Melbourne Herald Sun, News.com.au, Advertiser Adelaide, Daily Telegraph, Manchester Evening News, This Is London,Financial Express India, Channel 4, U TV, Reuters, Times of Oman, ZDNet, Scotsman, Manchester Online, Times Online, ITV, The Register, Ananova

Big Finish announced today that Nicola Bryant, best known to fans as Peri Brown, companion to the sixth Doctor, is stepping into the recording box to direct the fourth and final UNIT series audio, "The Wasting". The episode concludes the four-part series which sees the return of Nicholas Courtney (who reprised his role of the Brigadier in the first episode, "Time Heals").

Big Finish has announced the continued exploits of Bernice Summerfield, the character originally created by Paul Cornell for Virgin Publishing's "Doctor Who: The New Adventures" series, spun off into its own line of audios and publications by Big Finish. Among the new items for 2005 are five new audio CD's following the delayed Masquerade of Death this spring; they include The Heart's Desire by David Bailey and Neil Corry, The Kingdom of the Blind by Jacqueline Rayner, The Lost Museum by Simon Guerrier, The Crystal of Cantus by Joseph Lidster and The Goddess Quandary by Andy Russell... which finds Benny Summerfield "confronting some familiar foes from the Doctor Who universe. This time it's... errr... the Monoids in 'The Kingdom of the Blind' and the Cybermen in 'The Crystal of Cantus.'" Monoids! Also, the Benny audio range will be supplemented by three hardcover books, following the same pattern of releases as 2004. The first will be The Tree of Life, a full-length novel by Mark Michalowski. That will be followed by an as yet untitled trilogy of novellas, written by Rebecca Levene, Paul Sutton and Dave Stone with linking material by Gary Russell. Then the last book of 2005 will be a short-story collection entitled Something Changed, edited by Simon Guerrier. Amongst the contributors to this will be Benny's creator Paul Cornell, alongside Joseph Lidster, Dave Stone, Jonathan Clements and making his Big Finish debut, Ben Aaronovitch. Additional authors will be announced later. Looking ahead to 2006, two of the five audios have been confirmed: The Tartarus Gate by Stewart Sheargold and The Dyson Ring by Jim Mortimore. Big Finish has also confirmed that artist Adrian Salmon will continue to provide the cover illustrations for both the books and the audio dramas.

Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper will appear alongside a Dalek on BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning, Wednesday March 9 at 9:00am, according to a promo mentioned at the end of today's show. Check it out!

Doctor Who will be a topic on BBC2's Newsnight tonight (Wednesday) at 10:30pm. "And just when you thought it was safe to come out from behind the sofa, Doctor Who returns to Saturday nights. Is going back in time the only way to guarantee ratings success?"

The BBC Radio Collection has released the cover and details for the CD release of Project: Who, the two-part radio drama narrated by Anthony Stewart Head. "Project: Who? discovers how the exciting new BBC1 series has been made, with award-winning writer and producer Russell T. Davies at the helm. Featuring new and exclusive interviews with the cast and creative team, the programme examines why the BBC decided to launch a new television series, nearly a decade after the Doctor's last small screen adventure. It also explores how the format of the show has been developed for a new audience, how the character of the Doctor was cast, and how his adventures will be launched and marketed around the globe. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, a.k.a. the Doctor and Rose, are amongst those talking about the new series, along with executive producers Julie Gardner and Mal Young, writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies, writer Mark Gatiss, director Joe Ahearne, producer Phil Collinson and many others." The cover illustration is at right; click for a larger version.

CBC Television in Canada has issued their official press release for the forthcoming new Doctor Who series, due out on April 5, below. (Thanks to Rod Mammitzsch and DWIN)

According to Steve Roberts of the Doctor Who Restoration Team: "We've just been given the OK to tell you that the first trail for the new series will be tonight at 7.29pm, just before Eastenders. There will be four peak time trails tonight on BBC1 including this one and two on BBC2." The following is a list of the actual times expected for each trailer (with thanks to Steve Roberts and "peterawl")

The BBC Radio 2 Doctor Who minisite has launched today; visit it by clicking here. It includes an audio page which will carry the Project Who programmes and Steve Wright's forthcoming interview of Russell T Davies, and currently features a five-minute documentary by Stuart Maconie on the theme tune. It also reveals that the title of part 2 of Project Who is "Reverse the Polarity"; has a competition for a Doctor Who "goody bag"; and there's an opportunity to share your favourite Classic Who moments with the world... by writing about them and sending them in. You can vote for when you think the Doctor and Rose should visit, and the site will carry details of broadcast times etc. for forthcoming programmes including Confidential. Finally, "Guest Questions" is the chance to send in a question for forthcoming Steve Wright guest Christopher Eccleston.

An article in today's Malaysia Star features an interview with Mark Strickson, the actor who played companion Turlough to the Fifth Doctor. It says that Strickson "was an actor who had appeared in numerous BBC TV productions, including the famous Dr Who series, before he abandoned acting to study zoology when he was 30. The 47-year-old director also has bragging rights about one Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. Recounted Strickson: 'What happened was: I and three other people in an office in London got together a project called The 10 Deadliest Snakes in the World. And it was all in Australia. We went to Australian zoos and universities to find someone who would be able to present this. We wanted somebody who is a good snake-handler and who can talk to the camera. Steve's was one of the tapes that came back, and we thought we would take a risk with this guy. He was either going to be a disaster or he would become something phenomenal. In the end he turned out to be something phenomenal. I think filmmaking has moved on from those first films with Steve. At that time, it was revolutionary. They took the camera off the tripod and it was action. It was what was happening in drama, in NYPD Blue. When I look back at those first films with Steve, they look dated to me. But at the time, they were absolute reality and they changed things. And I think Steve's films have brought a larger audience into natural history. Natural history films were previously very serious and they weren't very popular. In global terms, not many people watched them. A David Attenborough programme got maybe three or four million people on UK TV. But the first Steve Irwin programme got 11 million people! I think what David does is exactly what Steve does. David is really enthusiastic about animals and you can see that when you watch him. Steve is also very enthusiastic. They're basically doing the same things in different ways. But the time was right for Steve. The time was right to go for a bigger audience for natural history."