The Sci-Fi Online website (which has frequently had good inside news in the past) features a story this morning about possible actresses to play the new companion, who has tentatively been named Rose Tyler. Says the site: "The first name to be pulled from the hat of unnecessary conjecture is Rachael Stirling, daughter of Diana Rigg, who cemented her reputation in the BBC landmark drama Tipping the Velvet. Like so many of the names being batted around for the Doctor this is almost certainly nothing more than groundless gossip fuelled by grapevine ardour although the talented young actress could easily fulfil producer Russell DaviesÆ casting brief of æstrong and independentÆ so who knows?" (Thanks to Helena Gammble)

In an interview on BBC3's Liquid News on Thursday, new series producer Mal Young made comments indicating that progress was actually further along than we'd expected. Young said that the thirteen stories for the first season were already written, by Russell T. Davies, and were "brilliant," contradicting earlier reports that the first season would consist of twelve episodes. Update: several other correspondents have written in to let us know that Young actually spoke about "storylines" completed, not actual scripts; this ties with the earlier claim that Davies would be involved in the overall story arc of the first season but not writing each individual episode. (Outpost Gallifrey maintains that Davies willnot be the sole writer of the new series.) Young also mentioned a "long short list" of potential Doctors had already been vetted, and they were currently working on casting. Young made comments on some female Doctor suggestions, including Caroline Quentin ("Jonathan Creek") and Michelle Collins ("Eastenders"). (Thanks to Phillip Madeley, Ben Morris, Alexander Dante, Darren Pickles)

Gavyn Davies, the BBC Chairman, made a speech in Cardiff last night to the BBC Governors, and made the following comment: "The new Doctor Who will come from Cardiff, though he will not necessarily speak Welsh." The speech is reprinted here in its entirety; it's likely that he was referring to the production, not a future cast member. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Interesting rumor, take with a grain of salt: a radio update on New Zealand's Newstalk 1ZB on Tuesday morning stated that the first new Doctor Who episode would be filmed in that country, at Mount Ruapehu. The mountain (seen most recently in the "Lord of the Rings" films) is one of New Zealand's more popular ski resort areas. Of course, Outpost Gallifrey doubts that this is any more than simple wishful thinking, as location scouting for any new series is likely not to have yet begun. Update: Mount Ruapehu also features in the first episode of "The Scream of the Shalka" so it's likely this is where the confusion lies, mistaking "Shalka" for the new series. (Thanks to Campbell Pentney, and Jeff Murray for the addendum)

According to a news article that appeared today in the UK's "The Sun" paper, the Daleks may not appear in the new Doctor Who TV series because of an ongoing rights issue between the BBC and the estate of the late Dalek creator Terry Nation. While the BBC jointly owns rights to the Daleks with Nation's estate, the executors are apparently saying no to a deal. The Sun quotes an 'insider' as follows: "No one knows exactly why, but Terry fell out with the BBC at some point. He told the executors never to let the BBC use the Daleks again. Fans want to see the Daleks return, but they may be disappointed.ö A BBC spokesman confirmed to the Sun that there were on-going discussions between the BBC and the executors. The story has also been picked up word for word by Ananova. (Thanks to Nathan Baron, Steve Tribe)

Anthony Stewart Head, best known as Giles on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and known to Doctor Who fans for his turn as Grayvorn in the "Excelis" series from Big Finish, was voted the audience's favorite to play the next Doctor in a Radio Times poll, beating runners-up Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Alan Davies and Ian Richardson. "I'm in very good company - good God, I beat Alan Rickman," said Head. "I suppose I would be a logical choice to play the Doctor just because Giles, my character in Buffy, has the same light and dark sides and quirkiness as Doctor Who." He said his favorite Doctor was Patrick Troughton "because you never knew what was going on inside his Doctor." The article on the BBC's website noting the Radio Times poll results also features comments from writer Russell T. Davies; you can read it by clicking here(or here to read a similar story on Yahoo!). (Thanks to everyone who wrote in with comments)

Journalist Matthew Sweet penned an article on the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who for the Independent on November 16, which has only now been made available to readers online. Click here to read the article. Very importantly, the article mentions the return of the series with some interesting information: "There'll be at least one important difference, though, between the programme's 20th and 21st-century incarnations," Sweet writes. "The new Doctor Who will be one of the BBC's flagship programmes. [Producer Russell T.] Davies and his co-conspirator, Mal Young, Controller of Continuing Drama Series, have secured a commitment to five series of 13, 45-minute episodes. They'll be able to afford an expensive actor for the lead role. They'll get billboard ads, Radio Times covers and publicity spots across the media. The original programme rarely enjoyed such security." The article then goes on to mention that "Russell T Davies has his first production meeting on 8 December." While we have no idea how definite any of this information is, it certainly breeds speculation that the BBC is fully committing itself to the production, and that good times may indeed be ahead.

The fanzine of Canada's Doctor Who Information Network, Enlightenment celebrates the anniversary with a 52-page issue written entirely by author Lance Parkin ("Trading Futures"). The article, "A Forty Year Adventure In Time and Space" is a year-by-year examination of Doctor Who, with observations on the Doctor Who franchise over the past four decades. The introduction is by Lloyd Rose ("Camera Obscura") with a full colour wraparound cover by BBC Radio Collection artist Max Ellis. To order, visit www.dwin.org.

New rumors abound over the past few days but Outpost Gallifrey has learned that the current plan is to feature twelve 45-minute episodes for the new series, specifically six two-parters. Russell T. Davies will produce and contribute several stories but will likely not write all six tales. Meanwhile, other sources have confirmed what we've suspected for some time: there were no plans to announce the show until at least the anniversary later in November, or even early in 2004, but the announcement was brought forward when BBC-1 controller Lorraine Heggessey (we love 'er!) made it public in the interview she conducted with the British press.