Partial data is now available of the take-up for BBCi's red-button episodeAttack of the Graske on Christmas Day. Among Digital Satellite viewers, approximately seven per cent of available viewers pressed the red button between 8pm and midnight on Christmas Day. This amounted to approximately 250,000 users, of which 230,000 stayed with the interactive episode for three (out of fourteen) minutes or more, a 'retention rate' of 93 per cent. The top programme for 2005 was Wimbledon with a Reach+1 of 4.4m, 39% of the available audience, although that took place over a fortnight rather than over one evening. The 'Graske' figures compare very favourably to other high-profile results - a Gorillaz concert screened by BBCi in November was accessed by 100,000 users in a seven-day period. At 93 per cent, Doctor Who also had a much higher rate of retention than many other interactive services: BBCi coverage of the Glastonbury music festival, for example, managed 55% in 2005. These figures exclude Freeview and Digital Cable users; it is estimated that the inclusion of that data would roughly double the figures. (Thanks to 'Shaun Lyon')

In an interview for the US Sci-Fi Channel's Sci Fi Wire, executive producerRussell T Davies singled out both a start date for production on the spinoff series Torchwood as well as a likely date for transmission. "We start filming in May, and we should be on in this country [England] in October," Davies tells Ian Spelling. "So we'll have two shows running simultaneously, which will be fun." Says the article, "Davies, who will oversee Torchwood while maintaining his Doctor Who responsibilities during the filming of that show's second season, described Torchwood as a 13-part science fiction series for adults. (Torchwood is an anagram for Doctor Who.) 'Doctor Who airs in this country at 7 o'clock at night, so it gets the whole family watching,' Davies said. 'Torchwood is Earth-based. It takes one of the actors who was very popular from the first [season] of Doctor Who, who is called Captain Jack Harkness [John Barrowman]. He was in five episodes and was hugely successful as a companion to the Doctor [Christopher Eccleston].' Davies added: 'He's a bisexual con man. Hooray! We need more bisexual con men on our television screens, I think, don't you think? Bisexual con men from the 53rd century, what could be better? He was so enormously successful that we've created a spinoff for him.'"

Series One in America

Today's Sci Fi Wire on the Sci-Fi Channel's website, says that "Russell T. Davies, executive producer of the new Doctor Who and the guiding force behind the BBC's successful revival, told SCI FI Wire that the series found its footing very quickly in the first season and hasn't slowed down since. 'I think the learning experience is overstated by fandom,' said Davies, who is currently overseeing production of season two, which is being shot in Cardiff, South Wales. 'I think it's very much fandom's attitude to sit there with [season] one and say, 'Ah, well, they're learning!' Frankly, we hit the ground running and were a success right from the start, so there's truly not a single episode that I'm not proud of.' Doctor Who, which starred Christopher Eccleston as the alien Time Lord, debuted on BBC1 in March 2005 to stellar ratings and respectable reviews. ... Davies is pleased with the direction that was established early on. 'I'm aware of all sorts of faults and bits that I'd write differently and things like that,' he conceded. 'But it's more important to not underestimate the massive success that this was in terms of getting, like, a 44 percent share from the very beginning and coming back with a new Doctor and again getting a 45 percent share on Christmas Day, which is extraordinary. So the learning experience is overrated in terms of talking about how in hindsight we learned this or that, when actually we very confidently knew what we were setting out to make right from the start and we made it.' Davies said that the technical part of production started out slower. 'Because that amount of [computer visual effects] and green screen had never been attempted before in Great Britain,' he said. 'I actually think the amount of CGI in this is unparalleled in any television production I've seen so far. There are up to 100 shots per episode, which is extraordinary and different every week. It's not like you're shooting a monster with a laser gun and then every week, you shot that monster with that same effect, with that same laser gun. Here, there's a different monster every week, with a different laser gun, on a different planet with different explosions, so learning how to do that, we're all convinced that we could plan World War III if anybody needed a strategy planned.' Davies added: 'Doctor Who is also a program made on location, and that's very rare for this sort of show. Everyone was fully expecting it to be much more of a studio show, as science fiction tends to be, but we've got a very brilliant designer, Edward Thomas, who persuaded us to take an awful lot of outdoor locations. Even the interior of spaceships: in episode two ['The End of the World'], there's an interior of a spaceship called Platform One, which is actually a temple in the middle of Cardiff, and it looks extraordinary. It looks like the most beautiful spaceship in the world, so we have a very clever team, pushing stuff in different directions that we had never been in before. So, yes, we did learn from all of that. But now that we're faced with [season] two, we don't want to repeat ourselves, so we're pushing in all sorts of different directions again so that we get something new.'"

TV Guide Magazine, in their Monday morning 'Watercooler' segment, showered the new series with praise. "'Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!' So concludes the first exchange between feisty Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and her new acquaintance, the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston). Although Rose doesn't know what this cockney dude has to do with the sudden rash of killer mannequins roving around the basement of a Harrods-type department store, at least she could take solace in knowing that this man saved her from their murderous clutches. Yep, Whovians, the Doctor is back on American TV after a 10-year hiatus, and he's sporting a leather jacket and plenty of 'tude. Say, can anyone remember the other Doctor who began his stint battling the Autons? (Answer later.) The ho-hum plot -- the Autons want to wipe out the human race, again -- served as salad dressing for the episode's real function, which was to reintroduce us to our favorite Time Lord. Veteran Whovians and novices learned the following: Gallifrey went up in flames due to a civil war (although it remains to be seen if the Master and the Rani are still about); the Doctor is still half-human (the continuity of the 1996 Paul McGann turkey still applies); the sonic screwdriver is as indispensable as ever; Rose ranks with Jamie, Leela and Ace as the Doctor's toughest companion; conspiracy theorists are on to the Doctor (if only Clive had pictures of the Doctor's other selves, the joke would've been perfect). Anyone remotely familiar with Who knows how cheap it used to look (part of its charm, actually), but now the Beeb has gotten wise and produced it on film, which only enhances the show's signal strengths -- its strong characters and resourceful storytelling. (Before I forget, the answer to the trivia question: Jon Pertwee.) The throwaway moments were the choicest -- the Doctor leafing through the magazine; battling the animated plastic arm as Rose prattles in the foreground; Rose's flirtatious mum. They perfectly balanced the fantastic, even absurdist nature of the adventures. This was even more evident in the second episode, a tale worthy of the late Douglas Adams. Not only did we learn that the TARDIS (love that retro blue police box!) alters brain waves so as to facilitate communication with other species, but we found that the Doctor could alter Rose's cell phone so she could call her mum from five million years into the future! Someone slow down the spinning of my head. OK, so I'm not wild that humanity will eventually wind up as a hide that needs moistening (I call it the Katherine Helmond-circa-Brazil theory of evolution), but at least I won't be around for it. I will, however, be around for Doctor Who for as long as Sci Fi continues to air it, and I hope that will be for a very long time. Welcome back, Doc!"

Slate.com writes, "The pilot of Doctor Who ... combines themes from all kinds of media experiences: the chick lit of self-actualization, the Kim Cattrall vehicle Mannequin (1987), and Norman Mailer's patented rants against plastic. Rose Tyler, our heroine, has a tedious job at a London department store, a tacky home life with a fantastically nattering mother, and a complacent romance going with a sweet and contemptibly dopey boy. She begins her transformation one day around closing time. Down in the basement, she attracts the unwanted advances of a posse of homicidal mannequins, a crew that the audience could find menacing only because the effects look so cheap that their very awkwardness is a freak-out. Nonetheless, Rose is executing some commendable woman-in-peril shrieks when a middle-aged fellow swoops in to the rescue. He's full of ready quips and interdimensional know-how, and the writers do not intend for his goofy charm to obscure his dashing melancholy. This is the Doctor, an enigmatic figure doomed to cruise through space-time helping various civilizations out of very silly scrapes. In the pilot, there is some kind of molten glob beneath London threatening to use its telepathic command of synthetic materials--witness the mannequins--to destroy the city. The second episode, set on a spaceship in the distant future, concerns a baddie who wants to spoil a viewing party for the explosion of the sun. This new Who, constructed by the BBC, is a revamp of the classic science-fiction series. It merits, limits, homages, and heresies are doubtlessly the subject of robust conversation in certain circles that I'd rather not get too familiar with, but to my novice's eye, it's pretty decent hokum--fast, corny, genial, honest in its schlock. And though it's got the time-travel hook of the original and abounds with galactic mumbo-jumbo and spiffy gadgets, it reads less like speculative fiction than romance. Billie Piper--a British pop star soon to be adorning screensavers at finer engineering schools everywhere--brings limitless pluck to her portrayal of Rose. In Spice Girls terms, the character is two parts Sporty and one part Baby--but, more to the point, she's a post-Buffy the Vampire Slayer figure, a self-possessed wiseass who entertains some ambivalence about her supernatural gig. She's on equal footing with Christopher Eccleston, who plays the Doctor as a notably alienated alien, a sweetheart full of secret sorrows. Yes, the show tells its fan-boy audience, there's a plump-cheeked gal out there for you. The two of you can talk about the end of time until the end of time. This is geek love."

In various reviews, the New York Daily News said of the series, "It's not as cheesy as the original, but also not as charming." The Hartford Courantsaid that "The stories may seem a little silly (the first foes are mannequins that come to life) but it's fairly lively and fun."

Other Press Items

The Huddersfield Examiner notes that writer "Mark Gatiss is very proud to have been made an honourary doctor of letters from Huddersfield University. Especially as he now gets to call himself Dr Gatiss. The title lends him an air of mystery, perhaps like the villains of his all-favourite Boys Own stories or, indeed, a particular hero, Dr Who. 'The last time I had to tick a box to say whether I was Mr, Mrs or Miss, I put Dr,' he explains. Before I rang the League Of Gentlemen star, I was warned to give him his proper title. Plain old Mark, it seemed, wasn't grand enough. But it turned out my source had mistaken his dry humour. 'You don't have to call me Doctor,' he insists. But you can tell he likes it. Mark Gatiss and League co-writer Jeremy Dyson are the big names at the Huddersfield Literature Festival, which opens today. Their appearance tomorrow at 8.45pm, in the Milton Building at Huddersfield University, is purely a question and answer session, with no readings from either author. Meeting his public is something the 39-year-old particularly likes. Frequently asked questions can include anything from: 'What's your favourite poem?' to inquiries about Dr Who - he's co-written an episode for the latest series. As the festival's about books and not TV or film, it's expected he'll be talking about his second novel, The Devil In Amber, out in December. It's the second in a trilogy - 'When they're all written and released, I'll be able to keep reissuing them in box sets forever' - about wit, dandy and rake Lucifer Box. The first, The Vesuvious Club, was set in Edwardian London. This time it's in the 1920s, another of Dr Gatiss' favourite periods. 'It's a detective story with a feel of The 39 Steps. Lucifer's older, he's got a lot of younger competition. 'There are lots of Satanists and Nazis - a perfect combination. 'The third book will be in the 1950s and be like an early Ian Fleming.' But that's a long way off yet, as the second is not yet ready to see the light of day. 'I'm still editing and rewriting,' he says. 'And that's the part of the process I like best. Working out a story and writing it can be a slog, real donkey work. 'A process of hacking and excavating. Very tough. 'But rewriting is all about refining.' Dr Gatiss writes in a back room of the new home he shares with his partner in Islington. They've just moved, and the builders are in. I can hear their dog, Bunsen, barking as we talk on the phone. I tell him I saw his old house pictured in a Sunday supplement a while ago, all red walls and taxidermy. 'Yes,' he says. 'I always wanted to live in a Victorian laboratory, so I created that room. But I found I didn't use it for anything other than showing people, and letting them go: 'Wow!' and for photoshoots ... So now I've put my odd things all around the house.'"

The Scotsman noted that series one and two actress Zoe Wanamaker"is nervous. Wearing a pale blue, high-necked sweater and a trim, grey suit, she is using a small rolling machine to assemble a brown cigarette. With sharp, birdlike movements, she completes the job, lights up and puffs away. She is clearly uncomfortable about the prospect of being interviewed, but submits to the process with grace, thoughtful pauses occasionally interrupting the flow of conversation as she ponders long and hard over her answers. 'I haven't seen it at all,' she says, when asked what she thinks of Cards On The Table, the Poirot mystery she stars in. 'I don't like watching myself,' she continues. 'I start looking at stuff that I really shouldn't be, thinking: 'I ought not to be standing like that, I wish I'd done it this way' and so on. ... Talking of prime characters, last year Wanamaker notched up something of an honour by portraying the first new monster to menace Doctor Who following the series' triumphant return to BBC One. The good news is, her character Cassandra will be back for a rematch when the show returns to our screens in the spring. 'It's fabulous!' she enthuses, when asked what it's like to be a Who baddy. 'It's such fun! It's such a credit to Russell T Davies and the producers. I think what they've achieved is brilliant. I think Cassandra's a naughty, naughty girl. That's what's such fun about her. She's cheeky. She's not evil, she's just naughty.' Alas, she's sworn to secrecy when it comes to talking about just what the vain 'last human alive' gets up to this time around, but she is prepared to reflect upon what the role means to her. 'It's like being a baddy in a Bond film,' she muses. 'It's that sort of television equivalent, I think. I desperately wanted her to come back. It's a character you can bring something to, twist it around and make something funny. She reminded me of Joan Rivers and that extraordinary woman who changed her face a million times to look like some sort of tiger. And it was extremely witty to do. After so many plastic surgeons, liposuction and all that she's ended up just a flat piece of parchment. I think that's fabulous. A fantastic invention. That's the best thing about science fiction, it's really basically fairy stories come to life, but they're great fun.'"

Last Friday's Mirror says that "You might think he'd be a bit tied up playing Doctor Who, but David Tennant has gone and landed the lead in a new drama special for ITV. The dashing Scot will play an eccentric Englishman in an adaptation of HG Wells's The History Of Mr Polly. The 'comic romp' follows Alfred Polly as he bemoans his life as a miserably married shopkeeper in the 'beastly silly wheeze of a hole' that is Fishbourne. He sparks arguments and slapstick calamity wherever he goes and eventually decides to end it all - in the most amusing (failed) suicide bid ever attempted. And not a Tardis in sight..."

Greg Dyke writes in today's Independent, "So what happened to Dr Who? Why didn't it win the RTS award for the best drama series at the ceremony last week? Of all the difficult things to pull off in television, radically re-launching a much-loved series is just about the hardest to do and the BBC team who made Dr Who did it brilliantly. So why didn't they win? Could it just be that snobbery came into it and the judges couldn't bring themselves to give the award to a drama that was so obviously populist? What was ironic was that the winner, Bodies, also came from the BBC but not everyone was celebrating its success. The series was commissioned as a BBC 3/BBC 4 co-production but was cancelled after the arrival of Roly Keating as controller of BBC 2. The writer Jed Mercuria was highly critical of Keating's decision so he must have felt pretty smug after the award. Meanwhile, we wait to find out if BAFTA will give Dr Who the award it so surely deserves."

Eve Myles has been voted Wales' number one bachelorette in the Wales on Sunday newspaper. "There was only one winner – stunning Torchwood actress Eve Myles," says the paper. "Eve, 27 from Ystradgynlais said: 'I'm so chuffed, I can't stop blushing. This is a real honour for me and I'm genuinely absolutely delighted.' Brunette beauty Eve has just landed a plum TV role starring alongside John Barrowman in Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood. She's also setting screens alight in BBC Wales soap belonging."

The Sunday Mail says that "No Angels star Louise Delamere reveals her long friendship with new Dr Who David Tennant but insists they are just good friends - despite being snapped hand in hand on the red carpet at a film premiere".

Wales on Sunday has picked up elements of a New York Times interview with Russell T Davies, in which he discusses his initial concerns about casting Billie Piper ('then we ... discovered she was brilliant') and 'rules out nudity in the new series' ('go and see a flasher movie').

An interview with actress Tamsin Greig (from last year's "The Long Game") appears in this weekend's Sunday Times: "...I went to Cardiff as well, to do a bit of Doctor Who. That was one of the most terrifying experiences. Trying to remember lines when you can't remember to wash. And some of the lines have sci-fi words like ‘introspike' in them.' Then she suddenly cackles. 'That's why you'll find, if you look quite closely, the three parts are actually all the same person. One has a lollop and a hair clip, one has her hair on the other side, and that's about it.' ... 'From April, she joins Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival, the company's bold attempt to perform or host every one of Shakespeare's plays. Greig plays Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing ('the Emma Thompson part, who I will be stealing every gag off') and Constance in King John. '"

South African Airways has been showing the second episode of series one - 'The End Of The World' - this month (March) as part of the inflight entertainment among the TV options on its Boeing 747-400 flights between London Heathrow and Johannesburg. It is not known if the carrier is showing this or any other episode on other long-haul flights, or for how long it will be showing, or if others will be shown in subsequent months. However, it appeared to be unedited, including the 'Next Time . . . ' trailer for 'The Unquiet Dead' at the end of the episode. Curiously, 'The End Of The World' was described as 'comedy/drama' in the South African Airways inflight entertainment guide AirScape. Readers of Benjamin Elliott's This Week In Doctor Who section of Outpost Gallifrey will know that various episodes are also being shown by Thomsonfly Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, British Midland Airlines, British Airways and Air New Zealand.

Hemel Today says "Two, not one, of the Dr Who Daleks visited Hemel Hempstead in 1964 we have discovered. Interest has been high after a Dalek expert spotted a picture of one of what he believes to be the original six 'true' Daleks in the Local History section of the hemeltoday website. It was in a section of 1960s pictures and was of the Access Equipment Christmas Party of 1964 at Adeyfield Hall in Hemel Hempstead. The expert, who is trying to find out what happened to the original six 'true' Daleks, contacted hemeltoday and we managed to dig out the original negatives of the visit and today sent him full size images."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, John Bowman, Ian Golden)

Big Finish has new word of the third batch of its Gallifrey miniseries today. "The first instalment of third and final series of Gallifrey will be released in May 2006. The series is set to bring the Time Lord saga to a dramatic climax. Gallifrey Series Three will star Lalla Ward as Romana, Louise Jameson as Leela, John Leeson as K9 and Mary Tamm as the evil Pandora who inhabits the body of the first Romana. Picking up scant weeks after the end of the previous series, the new set of five plays sees President Romana beleaguered and losing the civil war begun by the ancient Gallifreyan Imperiatrix, Pandora. Pandora is using a reconstituted body that of Romana's first incarnation, giving her access to everything a President could need to wage war, and threaten the other Trans Temporal Powers. As if that wasn't enough to deal with, Romana and her loyal followers will also have to contend with the aftermath of the Dogma Virus and those behind its release, the enigmatic Free Time conspirators." Also released today are covers for Nev Fountain's The Kingmaker released in April (starring Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Caroline Morris) and Simon Guerrier's The Settling in May (starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier); they can both be found on the Release Guide page here.

More media coverage from this evening of the US premiere of the series today:

Zap2It, in an article being printed Sunday in the Los Angeles Times, notes that "Once upon a time, there was a BBC science-fiction series called "Doctor Who" whose special effects were of the bubble-gum-and-rubber-band variety and whose basic premise sounded as cheesy as the show looked: A wanderer from the distant future fights intergalactic evildoers while traveling through space and time in a machine that is camouflaged as a London police box. Uh, right. Yet somewhere along the line, 'Doctor Who' became the longest-running sci-fi series in TV history (26 years), spawned several movie spinoffs, a mini-publishing empire, audiotapes, memorabilia, conventions, you name it. Now, after being off the air for 17 years, a new 'Doctor Who' series, first seen on the BBC last year, comes to the Sci Fi Channel on Friday (March 17). And therein lies a tale. When 'Doctor Who' first appeared on the BBC in 1963, it was a show for older children that aired late on Saturday afternoons. But quicker than you can say 'Daleks' -- the race of robots who became the title character's chief nemeses -- the program became a national sensation. The reasons were soon evident. The doctor's ability to go backward and forward in time meant that story lines were highly flexible. Although obviously a kids' program, 'Doctor Who' also had a wink-wink sense of humor that appealed to adults. Then there were the seven actors who played the doctor, who tended toward the warmly avuncular. And because Doctor Who takes on traveling companions from the places he visits who then join him on his adventures, the show could bounce its protagonist off against an ever-changing roster of foils. Plus, 'Doctor Who's' cheesy look actually worked in its favor. 'It was shameless about its shortcomings,' says Russell T. Davies, executive producer and head writer of the new series. 'They did intergalactic wars and invasions of the Earth with $2. Somewhere, by accident, they captured something very true about the world, that the future is very clumsy and nailed together. There is something beautifully normal about the 'Doctor Who' universe.' Los Angeles resident Shaun Lyon, who wrote 'Back to the Vortex,' a book about the new series, and whose Outpost Gallifrey (gallifreyone.com) is the premier 'Doctor Who' website in this country, echoes this 'It's the story line, stupid' sentiment by noting that America's most popular science-fiction program also had similarly cheesy production values. 'If you look back at the original 'Star Trek,' you'll see the same thing -- bad special effects,' Lyon says. 'The appeal is in the storytelling, even if there are no $10 million visual effects budgets. It's the stories, the characters, the actors themselves.' Although the series has been seen on PBS over the years, 'Doctor Who' never really developed a massive fan base in this country. Competition from shows like 'Star Trek' certainly held it back, and its chintzy foreign flavor didn't always translate well. But it did acquire a rabid cult following that now sponsors several 'Who'-oriented conventions (last month's L.A.-based Gallifrey One conclave was the 17th annual). But as with 'Star Trek,' 'Doctor Who's' 1989 demise did not end the appetite for it. So when veteran British TV writer Davies ('Queer as Folk') pitched the BBC a new version of the venerable doctor, the network went for it. 'I knew it could work again,' says Davies, 'that there was a new generation that could enjoy it. But I wasn't certain what the BBC wanted, whether they wanted an ironic version late at night. What they wanted was 7 o'clock prime time on a Saturday, which was how I wanted to bring it back. There hadn't been a sci-fi show on prime time in Britain for over 20 years, since 'V.' ' Davies understood that the fan community would want to have a say in the series' new direction, but he completely ignored the sci-fi message boards, claiming, 'It's the most stupid thing you can do, and people are seduced into believing that the most creative thing you can do is engage with your online fandom.' He also instinctively realized that the 21st century version of the doctor would have to be hipper, smarter and sexier than any previous incarnation. 'I decided to write it like anything else I'd write,' he says. 'I write character, I write funny, I write dramatic, and there's no way science fiction can't be the same thing. You just have to not steep it in nostalgia and not write techno-babble either.' Gussied up with state-of-the-art special effects and the kind of self-referential story lines that both kids and adults appreciate, the new 'Doctor Who' debuted on the BBC in March 2005 and proved an immediate smash hit (the series is in production on its second season). When he was developing the show, says Davies, 'I was thinking of 'Toy Story.' We were specifically aimed at getting a family audience, which people said didn't exist anymore. It was simply following the pattern of the old 'Doctor Who,' which was quietly witty while appealing to kids at the same time. The Pixar art of aiming at adults and kids is really difficult, but that's the path I tried to follow.'"

About.com: "After being a smash on English TV, the latest incarnation of Dr. Who comes to America on SCI FI Channel tonight at 9 PM ET. For those who don't know, Dr. Who (so named because his real name is just too weird for us puny humans to pronounce) is a Time Lord, traveling around time and space with a human companion at his side. Rose works in a shop and is bored out of her mind when along comes a Time Lord with his promises of great adventure (after working with Rose to save the Earth). He delivers. This time around, The Doctor is being played by Christopher Eccleston, who brings a TARDIS-load of energy and humor to the role. Billie Piper brings, thank goodness, a lot more than 'spunk' to Rose. She's fun and funny in her own right."

The North Adams Transcript: "The two-hour American premiere of the revived "Doctor Who" (Friday, March 17, at 9 p.m. on the Science Fiction Channel) may be first honest opportunity this long-running British series has really had to appeal to Americans -- that is, beyond the usual oddball cultists. In its current incarnation, the show is accessible and fun, with just enough darkness to add to the tension and intrigue. ... As helmed by the versatile Russell P. Davies, creator of "Queer As Folk," this 2005 version has the Doctor appearing out of nowhere in a department store basement in order to save Earth from a bunch of killer mannequins. ... The series captures, with a great degree of sincerity, the same rollicking male/female adventure dynamic that films like "Austin Powers" lampoon -- if the Doctor and Rose aren't the John Steed and Emma Peel of our time, then I don't know who are -- and it's this dynamic that makes the series shine. The Doctor, a displaced alien whose only remaining calling in life is to show off his knowledge of the universe, and Rose, a bored teenager desperately looking for a better way to live, not only need each other, but love each other's company. It's an infectious relationship that rarely succumbs to the typical romantic television cliches. This is a tale of equals with different strengths. Davies has transformed the old children's show into a fairly sophisticated drama that manages to hold different levels of interest for all ages. The show is also high on satire and, throughout its 13-episode run, examines political and social issues -- nationalism, isolationism, consumer culture, war, class, sexuality, and justice -- with great humor. There are also echoes of 9/11, the war in Iraq, and the corporate-controlled media, as well as natural human complacency in regard to the big picture. 'Doctor Who' is clearly one of the smartest TV shows around, but it doesn't decrease its enjoyment level through heavy-handedness. There are still plenty of aliens and monsters and space ships -- and, in the Doctor, we oddballs still have a hero we can believe in."

The Kansas City Star: "The British cult classic sci-fi series that periodically used a new actor to play the good doctor begins a 13-episode run with Christopher Eccleston as the traveling time lord in some 2005 episodes. The previous Dr. Who, of course, was the guy who played Screech on “Saved by the Bell.” (Well, we might be misremembering that particular piece of trivia, but with Daleks menacing everybody, what’s the difference?)"

SyFy Portal says that "New 'Doctor Who' Is Not So Niche-y" in an article that features interview clips from various Russell T Davies comments over the past year.

North Jersey Media Group notes that "Christopher Eccleston becomes one of the many actors to play the droll time traveler on the small screen in this remake of the long-running sci-fi series. Eccleston's Doctor finds his ideal traveling companion in shopgirl Rose Tyler (pop star-turned-actress Billie Piper)."

Now Playing magazine is reprinting reviews by Arnold Blumberg from last year in conjunction with the broadcast of the show.

Doctor Who is one of the three Daily Picks on the TiVo video recording network.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, John Mitchell, Scott Alan Woodard and Lewis Beale)

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has posted classifications for the special features for the UK DVD release of Inferno starring Jon Pertwee, due out later this year. Totalling just under 90 minutes, these are:

Some of the press clips from the past few days from the UK are below (the bulk of the coverage this week has been in America):

Eclipse Magazine featured an exclusive interview this week with John Barrowman, last year's second Doctor Who companion and now star of the forthcoming "Torchwood" spinoff. "'It was like a childhood dream, because I'd grown up watching the show,' he says with obvious excitement. 'I've loved the show even from when I lived in Glasgow. My first actual episode that I recall was about the Autons, the shop dummies which were in the first episode of the new series. ... I think those fans who are my age and older will come immediately to 'Doctor Who' and I think they'll have a great love for it, as the 'Whovian' fans in the UK have. It has every element that speaks to the kids and also speaks to the adults. The kind of subliminal stuff goes over the kids' heads and hits the adults in the face - that's the only way I can describe it and that's why the series works so brilliantly.' ... What about the British humour? Barrowman is unconcerned about the specifically British references. It doesn't matter if the American audience doesn't get them, he says. 'But,' he continues firmly, 'I absolutely think they will get them because shows like 'Absolutely Fabulous' and 'The Office' have been great successes in America. So they do understand British humour, and that's why Americans love the Brits so much - it's something quirky and different from what they are used to.' The TV viewers aren't the only fans of the show; Barrowman says that the entire cast and crew have grown up with the various incarnations of 'Doctor Who' and have loved the show since they were children. And, it seems, everyone is trying to get in on this successful act. 'Special effects people are fighting to be involved,' Barrowman says. 'They are banging down the door. I have got people who write to me and send me treatment scripts to pass on to Russell [T Davies, writer] because they want to be involved with this show. It's a huge, huge, huge, huge, big deal!' ... Even though Jack has been brought back from the dead, he won't feature in the second season of the new 'Doctor Who'. The character made such an impression on both the audience and the producers that he will be heading up a spin-off show, 'Torchwood', due to start filming in April. The show will feature three other regular characters, including Gwen Cooper, played by Eve Myles, as Jack's female counterpart. Barrowman is thrilled about this project too. 'I am just totally so excited about it,' he says. 'The script is really good.' Described as a darker, sexier, more adult science fiction show, 'Torchwood' focuses on a renegade team investigating human and alien crime, and extraterrestrial technology that has fallen to Earth. After filming the spin-off, Barrowman will be returning to 'Doctor Who' for the third season, with David Tennant continuing to play The Doctor. The two met while Barrowman was appearing in the pantomime 'Cinderella' during the winter

Something we at Outpost Gallifrey missed last week... Bonnie Langfordwas voted out of ITV's "Dancing on Ice" shortly before its conclusion. Says the ITV site, "Whatever people say about Bonnie, one thing is for sure: she has provided us with some of the most spectacular performances we've seen on the ice. But tonight, those spectacular routines were brought to an unceremonious end when you decided that Gaynor and Stefan should go forward to dance Bolero. But despite coming up short so close to the finishing line, the judges favourite refused to be downheartened. 'I'm disappointed for Matt because we had a fabulous routine,' an upbeat Bonnie babbled after Phil delivered the bad news. 'It would have been beautiful and I would have done him proud.' But bendy Bonnie rightly refused to be downbeat about coming third in the competition. 'This has been so life changing for me,' she went on. 'I've touched so many people, which has been brilliant. 'And now I'm going to play Roxy Hart in Chicago!'" Langford was one of two Doctor Who actors (the other being John Barrowman) on the program this year.

The April issue of BBC Focus Magazine, the monthly magazine by the BBC on science and technology, has a large section devoted to the science of Dr. Who. From the blurb: "The Science of Doctor Who: As a new Doctor and a new series hit our screens, BBC Focus asks the questions that really matter: could we regenerate, have cybernetic implants, or get a robot dog?"

Yesterday's LegalWeek seems to have discovered the Cybus Corporation fan site that has made the rounds in Doctor Who fandom. "Regular readers will know all about the utilitarian paradise that is the staff canteen at SJ Berwin, as well as the firm's recent move to flash new digs on the muddy banks of the Thames, where an increasing share of the City's most expensive suits -- sorry, finest minds -- have recently been gathering. Indeed, last week The Diary received an anonymous e-mail, titled ‘Reasons not to visit SJ Berwin's new office', drawing attention to the City firm's latest neighbours -- the shadowy Cybus Corporation, whose website appears to show the company's offices located pretty much next door. The Diary shuddered deep inside its anorak, however, when a closer look revealed Cybus to be home of the fearsome Cybermen, whose ruthless robot army lumbered across screens in the 1980s to bring their unique brand of unconvincing terror to Doctor Who viewers everywhere. It seems fans of the sci-fi classic put the website together ahead of the imminent new series -- which features updated Cybermen (albeit with the same silver-painted cricketer's batting gloves for hands) -- and settled on SJ Berwin as the ideal neighbour for the headquarters of the fictional business. The Diary realises that making an easy jibe about law firms converting people into mindless robots intent on world domination would be somewhat akin to shooting suicidal fish in a particularly restrictive barrel -- and will therefore resist, especially seeing as SJ Berwin is not even a magic circle firm at all."

Yesterday's Metro, the London free newspaper, has a short piece on Bob Baker, writer of the Wallace and Gromit films and co-creator, with Dave Martin, of K9 in 1977. According to the article, Baker "now plans to write a TV drama about K-9 -- the robot dog from Dr Who".

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Chuck Foster, Steve Tribe, Tony Bellows, and Carole Gordon)

The American press went into overdrive late this week with coverage of today's long-awaited debut of Doctor Who on the Sci-Fi Channel. Here's a recap of the press items from Thursday and Friday. Note that many local newspapers feature articles from wire services such as Reuters, Scripps-Howard, etc. These local papers haven't been mentioned simply because they reprint articles sent by these wire services; the article content of original articles or feeds is as follows:

TV Guide Online features a banner advert (at right) on its front page. On today's Hot List: "Forget the slow pacing and the not-so-special effects of the previous versions -- this is not your father's Doctor Who! Christopher Eccleston breathes new life into the genre's favorite time lord in tonight's manic opener, which touches on the character's past and introduces Rose (Billie Piper), a human who's all too interested in the doctor's operations. A follow-up visit, er, second episode follows." And in Matt Roush's twice-weekly Roush Review: "Why to watch: To get that Friday-night cult fix. The lowdown: In earlier versions, I never clicked with this Brit import about the time-tripping, alien-fighting mystery doc (a chipper yet intense Christopher Eccleston). But this remake achieves an Avengers-like balance of cheeky wit amid the cheesiness. As Who's shopgirl sidekick, Billie Piper is a delight. A keeper? Who'd say no? My score: 7"

USA Today: "Doctor Who (Friday, 9 ET/PT) is back with new adventures and a new Doctor: Christopher Eccleston. The show makes its U.S. debut on Sci Fi with a two-hour special, immediately after which Who fans will begin debating Eccleston's merits and his place in the Time Lord pantheon."

The New York Times (second article this week): "The original 'Doctor Who,' a British sci-fi series, was on for so long, from 1963 to 1989, that it became an institution, like 'Coronation Street.' It even caught on for a while in this country, after being picked up by some PBS stations, and both here and in Britain it spawned a 'Star Trek'-like cult. Those fans obsessed over the wanderings of the title character, a human-looking extraterrestrial who travels the universe in a time machine disguised as a police telephone booth, and of his various enemies -- the Sontarians, Krynoids, Zygons and, most feared of all, the Daleks, who looked like giant salt shakers. The show eventually burned through eight actors in the title role, explaining each time that the Doctor had been 'regenerated,' and by the time the BBC finally canceled it, the plots had grown mossy and the special effects, always low-budget, had become antiquated and embarrassing. The resuscitated 'Doctor Who,' which has its premiere tonight at 9 on the Sci Fi Channel, with two episodes back to back, was written and produced by Russell T. Davies, best known as the creator of the original version of 'Queer as Folk.' Mr. Davies is himself a cultie, who has even written a novel based on 'Doctor Who,' and his remake is both affectionate and a little ironic, leaving intact some of the show's essential silliness. Like so much British science fiction, especially Douglas Adams's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series, this 'Doctor Who' has a goofy, homemade quality; it's less interested in gizmos than in characters. ... The familiar blue police box doesn't seem much revamped, either; it appears to run on pneumatic tubes, and there is no sign of a computer on board. The Doctor, on the other hand, almost quivers with energy. In previous regenerations, depending on the actor playing him, this character has variously been crotchety, spacey, avuncular and even a little glamorous. Christopher Eccleston brings a kind of manic blokishness to the part, giving the Doctor a sardonic grin and a working-class Manchester accent. (When another character says, 'If you're an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?' he replies, 'Lots of planets have a North.') ... Sadly, it can't last. In Britain, where 'Doctor Who' is now in its second season, Mr. Eccleston has already been regenerated. He quit the show last year after announcing that he didn't want to become a celebrity. So what we're watching here is what the sci-fi types would call an avatar. This time-travel business is very complicated."

The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters News Service: "Redesigned, repeated and constantly regurgitated to viewers since its inception in the 1960s, this latest revamp of the by-now infamous 'Dr. Who' is silly, sophomoric stuff that is sure to please its television audience, and in fact has been for several seasons now. With a title character who's been around longer that those watching the tube he's on, this doctor is contemporary-talking (well, maybe a little bumbling as well), sort of sexy and just right for those who like sci-fi but don't want to have to think or work too hard to get it. A good formula all around. ... Executive producer (and lead writer) Russell T. Davies has a good thing going here, even if it does seem absurd at times for monsters and other such horrific creatures and events to spring out of nowhere, or at least to spring from a mood completely discordant with the weirdness that suddenly descends. But all the mismatched tones do give the series a kind of postmodern feel that contemporary audiences will have little trouble handling. All the writers, including Stephen Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Paul Cornell and Rob Shearman, are to be congratulated for infusing a lively sense of the absurd into the stories. To the series' good credit, stars Eccleston and Piper are energetic and good-natured enough to carry the proceedings to their always unpredictable ends. Feature players Noel Clarke (as Rose's boyfriend) and Camille Coduri (as Rose's mother) add energy as well."

The Knight Ridder Newspaper Service: "As his devoted fans know, Doctor Who always has been capable of a pretty good disappearing act. But the last one he pulled -- back on Dec. 6, 1989 -- went on a bit longer than expected. On Friday, when the good Doctor starts reappearing in new episodes on the Sci Fi channel (at 9 p.m.), it will have been 16 years since the last episode of the original Doctor Who, perhaps the most curious cult classic in the history of television, was produced. Over its first 26 years, the series about an enigmatic time-and-space traveler featured eight very different actors in the lead role, along with wonderfully loopy, 1960s-hip dialogue and some of the worst special effects ever, including aliens made of inflated condoms. A huge hit in Great Britain, Doctor Who didn't surface in this country until the late 1970s, when it became a staple of Saturday-night programming on many PBS stations. But despite the pleas of the faithful, there were no new episodes anywhere until last year, when Russell T. Davies, the powerhouse British writer-producer of such shows as the original Queer as Folk, finally persuaded the BBC to let him take a shot at reviving the franchise with some modern twists. Much to the surprise of the BBC, Davies' take on Doctor Who became one of the most-watched series on British TV. (More than 10 million viewers -- 40 percent of the audience in Britain -- watched the debut, and a second season already has started there.) And now the show comes to America with the 13 episodes that made up Davies' first season on the BBC. The good news for longtime fans is that he hasn't mucked around with the quirky essence of Doctor Who that much, while giving it a more polished look. The Doctor, as he always is referred to in the series, still is the last surviving member of a race wiped out in a time war (don't even ask) and still is going through various dimensions with a goofy grin and a passion for trying to right wrongs. He doesn't always get it right -- in earlier episodes, he was partially responsible for Nero's burning of Rome, the Great Fire of London and the appearance of the Loch Ness monster -- but he tries. ... Best of all, the new episodes (or at least the two that Sci Fi sent out for review) retain the fun of the original Doctor Who. If you're looking for allegorical, intriguing science fiction, this isn't it. If you're OK with rapid-fire, lighthearted dialogue with an occasional dig at politics and culture, this Doctor Who is your cup of tea. Don't get too used to Eccleston as the Doctor, though. The actor bowed out after one year and already has been replaced by David Tennant (Viva Blackpoo and Barty Crouch Jr. in the most recent Harry Potter film). But even that is in keeping with the show's tradition. Good to see that things are back to what stands for normal in the world of TARDIS, Daleks and Doctor Who."

Sci Fi Wire (Sci-Fi Channel, another feature article): "Russell T. Davies, executive producer and lead writer of the new Doctor Who, attributed much of the show's initial success to the winning chemistry between Christopher Eccleston, who plays the eccentric Time Lord, and Billie Piper, who plays his companion, Rose Tyler. As Davies recalled, Eccleston was an early candidate for the role, but it was assumed that he wouldn't be interested. 'Mal Young, one of the other executive producers who had been campaigning at the BBC for a long time to bring Doctor Who back, had mentioned him, and having worked with Chris and having known him for years, I just gave a little wry smile to myself and thought, 'We should be so lucky!'' Davies said. Davies added: 'Out of the blue, Chris e-mailed me, and even as a huge top-line actor in Britain, he was still modest enough to say, 'Would you consider me for the part?' Anybody else would have said, 'I want that part! Give it to me!' From that point on, we did see other people as well, but it was a very simple decision, because the program's memory had become a bit of a joke, in the way that I watch American programs, and they refer to Gilligan's Island. It was a bit like that over here, because Gilligan's Island was a bit daft and funny and fondly remembered, but not a serious program at all. And casting Chris seemed to have single-handedly changed that overnight, particularly within the industry. Suddenly, a lot of people sat upright and said, 'Oh, my God, they're taking this seriously!' It was the biggest change we could effect upon the memory of the program.' Equally important was the casting of Piper, who was much more of an equal than many of the show's original companions, who were usually relegated to the role of damsel in distress. 'Much as I love the old show, there wasn't much work involved in that decision, because you could not write a female lead in this day and age that was subservient and in the Doctor's shadow, who didn't have a background and a history and a personality,' Davies said. 'I think with any drama, you'd just get laughed off the screen if you tried to get away from that, so it wasn't as much a great idea of mine as just the only way to write something in 2006.' Davies said that he brought his reputation as a drama writer to Doctor Who. 'So that's the sort of thing they wanted from me,' he said. 'I've always written strong women, so there was just no choice in it, although if you studied the history of the program, it's quite a bit of a reinvention. I can't help thinking if Doctor Who had run continuously; it would be like this now anyway. If it had gone from 1989 to 2006 in a straight line, the companion would now be like this, because that's what television is like today.' As it turned out, Eccleston would only stay on long enough to launch the first season, with actor David Tennant taking over the role for season two, which is currently in production in the United Kingdom. 'We would never have replaced Chris with a lesser actor,' Davies insisted. 'And we're very lucky to have got David.'"

The Los Angeles Daily News: "Christopher Eccleston (who bears a resemblance to 'Everybody Loves Raymond' creator Phil Rosenthal) plays the ninth incarnation of the classic British sci-fi character whose series initially ran from 1963 to 1989 (when a star departed, each subsequent actor took the character in totally different directions; this series now boasts a greater longevity than 'Star Trek'). Tonight, The Doctor, a Time Lord with a tragic past, rescues working-class girl Rose Tyler (former British pop singer Billie Piper) from, initially, murderous mannequins sprung to life and, later, her tedious existence. He traverses time and the universe in a blue police phone box. His presence, one bit player warns Rose, means 'One thing's for certain - we're all in danger.' The Doctor, with a gleam in his eye, reframes the debate: 'Now we're in trouble,' he deadpans, surrounded by conflagration. Pros: Eccleston and Piper enjoy a witty, flirty chemistry: 'The entire world revolves around you,' she accusatorily scolds him; he replies, 'Sort of, yeah.' There's a visual inventiveness not always supported by the series' budget: In tonight's second episode, The Doctor and Rose visit the world 5 billion years in the future to witness the sun's apocalyptic expansion, only to encounter someone who wants to slip a few murders in before Earth's destruction. They attend along with all manner of aliens, including some named The Appearance of the Repeated Meme. The Last Human is merely skin with something of a face stretched across a metal frame; Rose dismisses her as 'a bitchy trampoline.' Cons: Rose is a little dim, failing to notice a disturbing change in her boyfriend. Fortunately, she's a quick learner, and helps save the Earth in no time. And, as was notoriously true with previous series, the special effects can be dodgy, though the series' outsize ambitions obviously called for a budget no TV network could've sprung for, let alone the BBC and an American cable outfit. In a nutshell: Blowing up the planet in episode two? How do you top that? But here's betting you'll be dying to find out: You needn't know anything of past series to become quickly addicted to this series' seemingly endless quirky charms."

Seattle Times: "Christopher Eccleston is the new Doctor in the BBC's latest incarnation of 'Doctor Who.' But don't get too attached to him. He won't be back next year. The superb 'Doctor Who' achieves something difficult for American shows: It makes TV look easy by demonstrating that intelligence and escapism are not mortal enemies. But then, 'Doctor Who' has experience. The world's longest ongoing sci-fi series has kicked around the time-space continuum since 1963. Over 40 Earth years, the time travels of the mysterious Doctor and his sidekicks have grown from a British children's show to a legend. The latest incarnation hits U.S. airwaves at 9 tonight via Sci Fi Channel. Co-starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, it's Season 1 of a revival launched in 2005 by BBC Wales and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Those not already privy to past splendors needn't fear. While most space sagas drag a comet-tail's worth of back story behind them, 'Doctor Who' is instantly accessible. Maybe that's because the series at heart is an old-fashioned romance in the dashing, 19th-century sense. The mechanics of being transported 5 billion years in a moment or using Anti-Plastic to melt an enemy are tossed off with deadpan insouciance; what counts is the distance closed or opened among people and other forms of life. The focus for this epic jaunt is the relationship between the Doctor and his traveling companion, who in the new version is a pretty blonde named Rose Tyler. Rose resembles the Bridget Jones type of Englishwoman, albeit a few pegs down the socioeconomic scale. She labors in a bland department store, dates a bland boyfriend named Mickey (Noel Clarke) and tolerates her antic, overbearing mum (Camille Coduri). ... On paper, this formula puts 'Doctor Who' in the same territory as 'Star Trek.' Both reflect the optimism of the 1960s, along with the Western World's first self-conscious steps toward global thinking. But the approaches were dissimilar. The one-hour 'Star Trek' was indisputably American in its sober and open moralizing. 'Doctor Who' took a lighter, ironic point of view and each half-hour installment concluded with a cliffhanger. Even the treatment of technology was different. The Trekkian transporter room looked cheesy and behaved flawlessly; the Doctor's machine TARDIS (Time And Relative Distance In Space) was, and is, quirkily flawed. ... Mainly, though, the series resonates with its message to examine as well as relish life. Today's audience has moved beyond flip cynicism, and if the replacement isn't quite sincerity, 'Doctor Who' allows room for both."

The Village Voice: "In the U.K., this series about a time-traveling sleuth is as much of a stone-cold classic as The Twilight Zone is here. It's also equally period-bound, bringing to mind the black-and-white series of the late '60s and early '70s, with those fakey sets and sinister electronic background music. The famous futuristic theme tune—an invitation to a generation of children to prepare themselves for a weekly dose of palpitating terror—has survived, but it's been gussied up with unnecessary orchestration, setting the tone for this attempt to update Doctor Who in the age of CGI. ... There are plenty of other good gags to prove this entertaining series doesn't take itself too seriously. When Rose goes into culture shock, she ruefully notes, "They're just so alien . . . the aliens." The Doctor has generally been played as a relentlessly cheery type, with a Peter Pan quality of prepubescent sexlessness—a geek whose brain beats brawn in every corner of the universe. Although this remake attempts to add tragic depth to the Doctor, it lacks true darkness. The early series overcame skimpy budgets to conjure the uncanny; this was cosmic horror as H.P. Lovecraft would have understood it. The real disappointment of the new Who isn't its use of (slightly) slick special effects, though. It's a structural problem: Instead of stretching a storyline across a whole season, each adventure is resolved within a single episode, making this closer to your average detective series. The thrill-filled cliffhangers of yore are gone, taking with them with the child's urge to watch TV from behind the sofa, breath bated."

Detroit Free Press: "The British cult favorite is about a mysterious time traveler who bops across the spectrum of time, battling aliens and monsters while piloting a spaceship shaped like a London phone booth. It is reborn in a spiffy new version that first aired in North America on CBC in 2005. This time Christopher Eccleston ('28 Days') is the intrepid scientific adventurer. The Doctor is joined by his companion and instant soul mate Rose (Billie Piper), brought together by cockeyed fate as their 13-episode odyssey blasts off with witty good spirits. "

Chicago Tribune: "Despite a few missteps, there's much to recommend this fast-paced edition of 'Doctor Who,' the first brand-new TV season of Britain's long-running 'Who' franchise in many years. As the Doctor, a space traveler who pops all over the universe having adventures and fighting bad guys, Christopher Eccleston has a cheeky, spiky charm and more than a dash of sex appeal. As the Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler, English pop star-turned-actress Billie Piper brings a winning combination of dogged sincerity and working-class irreverence to her role. Having said that, it's a good thing that Sci Fi is running two episodes of this updated 'Doctor Who' on Friday: The first episode starts out with promising chills, but the resolution of the paper-thin plot is far too predictable. And though the story in the second episode isn't terribly complex, the dialogue and pop-culture satire throughout is entertaining (who would have thought Britney Spears' 'Toxic' would ever appear on a 'Doctor Who' soundtrack?). All in all, new head 'Who' writer Russell T. Davies has done the Doctor a service by making him a multilayered, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes troubled hero who's comfortable in modern-day, multicultural London -- and in the rest of the galaxy too, where evil never sleeps

Gannett News Service (via Cincinnati Enquirer): "Look out, America: The Doctor is ready to make house calls again. No, this isn't some new wrinkle in your HMO coverage. This is THE Doctor, legendary Time Lord hero of the British science-fiction television series 'Doctor Who.' The program, which ran from 1963 to 1989, was revived last year by the British Broadcasting Corp. and became a huge ratings success in Great Britain. Now Americans can see why, as the Sci Fi Channel begins broadcasting the first 13-episode season today. You may think you know the original 'Doctor Who' - an eccentric curly-haired alien in a floppy hat and overlong scarf, an undertone of campiness, and production values on a par with the original 'Star Trek.' Well, you can forget all that. The new 'Doctor Who' brings the series into the new millennium, which means top-notch special effects and mature writing. The core of the story remains the same: The Doctor is a cosmic wanderer who travels through time and space in the TARDIS, a bigger-on-the-inside spaceship disguised as a blue British police box. Along the way, he becomes embroiled in alien invasions and other nefarious goings-on. He relies on his wits, not muscle or guns. The strength of 'Doctor Who' has always been its limitless formula: Stories can be set in the past, present or future, on any planet. One of the show's genius ideas is 'regeneration': When near death, a Time Lord can renew his entire body. The concept has allowed several actors to play the role (including Tom Baker, wild-eyed wearer of the 14-foot scarf, who held the role the longest). The new 'Doctor Who' stars British actor Christopher Eccleston - best known to American audiences for films such as '28 Days Later' and 'The Others.' Gone are the pseudo-Edwardian attitudes and dress. This Doctor can be dark and brooding, a working-class bloke in a leather jacket bearing the psychological scars of a great Time War."

Scripps-Howard News Service: "His time-travel ship _ it only looks like a police call box _ remains bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. He's still very funny and wise and has a kid-like fascination with the universe. He's an immortal who knows everything about everything but fumbles in his relationships. Just in time, the Doctor is back. And 'Doctor Who' fans will discover much hasn't changed about the long-running BBC series. The latest version makes its U.S. broadcast premiere at 9 p.m. Friday on the Sci-Fi network. (The 13-episode season premiered in 2005 in the United Kingdom, and a new season is now in production there.) Some things have been updated for the 21st-century version. A nice touch is when Rose (Billie Piper), the newest companion for the Doctor (Chris Eccleston), asks about that police call box. This fancy phone booth with a door is no longer a common sight in this age of cell phones. But it's the things that haven't changed that makes this version work. Eccleston approaches his incarnation of the Doctor with the maverick approach of Tom Baker, the spirit of Sylvester McCoy and the wide-eyed enthusiasm of Peter Davison. Those are some of the stars who played the Doctor way back in the 20th century. ... The Daleks have been around since the 1960s on 'Doctor Who.' The difference is the latest episode makes you feel compassion for a Dalek. Even a tin man has a heart. That's not too surprising. Everything's always bigger on the inside than it is on the outside on 'Doctor Who.'"

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette: "Who? Doctor Who, that's who. There are a couple of generations who have enjoyed the adventures of Doctor Who. The BBC science fiction show that began in 1963 has been updated with 13 new episodes. They kick off on Sci-Fi Channel with a twohour premiere at 8 p. m. Friday. Who, played this round by Christopher Eccleston, is a mysterious time-traveler known only as 'the Doctor.' His comely traveling companion is Rose Tyler, played by the comely Billie Piper. The Doctor and Rose travel about risking life and limb, battling aliens and monsters and generally saving mankind and life as we know it. Eccleston plays the Doctor as 'wise, funny and brave -- an adventurer in time and space.' He's the man to call on when there's danger about, but he's a klutz at human relationships. That's where Rose comes in. Rose is a shop girl from the present day who is trapped in a drab, boring existence. Naturally, the Doctor's life of adventures across the universe is appealing to her and the pair hit it off. How do they pull off all this zipping about ? With a TARDIS, of course. It's sort of like a phone booth, but it stands for a Time and Relative Dimensions In Space machine. And it's the last one in the universe. Let the new adventures begin."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "If 'Doctor Who' sparks a bit of recognition, you're probably recalling a cheesy British sci-fi series that ran on PBS stations in the 1960s. Travel through time to present day, and 'Doctor Who' is back -- and not just because this alien Time Lord, the last of his race, has the power to regenerate. BBC execs thought they could update the series, take a giant leap in production values and regenerate ratings, and they were right. Now in the second season of its latest incarnation -- and already with a change in lead actors, from Christopher Eccleston in Season 1 to David Tennant in Season 2 -- it's a smashing success in England. Starting Friday, Eccleston & Co. arrive on Sci-Fi Channel Fridays at 9 p.m. while the two 'Stargate' series and 'Battlestar Galactica' are in reruns. ... This Doctor laughs at danger a little too readily for a guy who has experienced the end of his world, although the fact that he started life as a grandfatherly fellow in 1963 and he's fit and still flitting about in 2006 could be the reason. Some of the pop-culture humor and creatures owe a nod to 'Farscape,' but the camp level is high and can be mighty funny (take, for example, a huge dis of Michael Jackson, referenced as a creature that's just skin, eyes and mouth)."

Alibi.com: "The Sci-Fi Channel scores some street cred (on, you know, nerdy streets) by importing the latest season of the BBC's looooong-running series."

Daily Free Press, Boston University: "It seems there's always some new British invasion to follow on the heels of the last new British invasion: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, punk-rock, '80s electronica pop, the Spice Girls and platform shoes, emo European mullet-wearing bands, etc. But the real new new British invasion has nothing to do with music, and everything to do with the boob tube the Brits call telly. The BBC has had a remarkable last couple of years, and now the programming is finally hitting stateside. On March 17th, Little Britain and Doctor Who, two hot British properties, will vie for your attention with their season premieres, and no matter which one you choose, you'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll wonder how you ever lived without them. ... More than other sci-fi shows of its kind, the new Doctor Who provides a cutting social commentary on everything from plastic surgery to sexuality, politics to media sensationalism. Airing on the Sci-Fi network may box the dramedy series in and keep away a more broad audience, but with NBC Universal behind the franchise stateside, the series is certain to enjoy ample promotion and popularity when it comes out on DVD this summer."

IF Magazine: "Fans of the various other incarnations of DOCTOR WHO will not be disappointed by the latest version of the hit series coming to the States courtesy of the BBC and the Sci Fi Channel. This time around Christopher Eccleston (28 DAYS LATER) fills the shoes of that wacky time and space traveling Dr., and Billie Piper joins him as his female sidekick Rose. The first U.S. aired episode of this series premieres tomorrow at 9pm PST on the Sci Fi Channel. The series has already completed it's first season run in the UK to tremendous reviews, so we have to play a bit of catch up with it here in the US. This version of WHO maintains several classic elements of the series that fans have known and loved for decades. The Tardis is still the good Doctor's form of transportation, though the inside has seen a bit of an overhaul from the last version. The Doctor himself is still a unique quirky individual who is not quite a ‘normal' human and doesn't quite blend in with the population around him. The perspective with which this series is shown is from the point of view of Rose, who through a series of misadventures joins the Doctor in this first episode. Rose is attractive, plucky, intelligent, and has a great sense of humor in the face of extraordinary circumstances. ... Once again Sci Fi Channel, as with their other series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, has brought a worthwhile character driven science fiction series to television. The characters make the series worth watching, and seeing how they react to everything and everyone around them only makes it more entertaining. If all episodes of the upcoming season are as well done as the first, we have a great ride ahead for Americans that haven't yet found a way to see this series. There are few science fiction series worth watching on TV, but the Sci Fi Channel seems to have a corner on the market of the best ones out there."

Time Out New York: "A classic Hollywood joke tells of the aspiring actress so dumb that she slept with the writer. It's not a joke often heard in the world of British television, where networks pursue top creative talents with the same fervor as NBA teams courting free agents. Case in point: Russell T. Davies, the man behind the original Queer as Folk and other groundbreaking gay-themed programs, who the BBC has long sought to poach from his home at rival network ITV. 'They used to come to me and say, ‘Do you want to adapt Dickens? Write a detective show?'' Davies says, speaking from his home in Manchester. 'I said, ‘No, I want to bring back Doctor Who--that's the only program I want to write for the BBC.'' ... After years of haggling, Davies fulfilled his dream with a reinterpretation of the series that premiered in the U.K. a year ago and makes its American debut Friday 17 on Sci Fi. Despite Doctor Who's iconic status in British pop culture, Davies was worried that people would have trouble taking a revival seriously. 'In the 16 years it had been offscreen, [Doctor Who's] reputation had become a bit of a joke,' Davies explains. 'I told them, in this day and age, given how beautiful Battlestar Galactica and Farscape are, you can't bring it back on a cheap budget--this has got to look as good as all the best American stuff. Thank God [the BBC was] behind that right from the start.' ... Above all, Davies says he wanted to treat the Doctor as a figure who has entered the realm of British folklore--like Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes--and not as part of a mere franchise. 'Whatever shape television takes in the future, I just hope there will be someone saying. ‘Oh, I loved this 40 years ago, I want to bring it back,'' he says. 'That would be the best reward of the lot, I think.'"

Tampa Tribune: "Doctor Who hits the ground running tonight. ... 'Doctor Who,' the long-running BBC series, is back and updated for modern consumption. Thirteen episodes made last year in Britain will air on the Sci-Fi Channel on Fridays beginning at 9 tonight. The new incarnation of this classic character captures the charm of the original. The series has decent special effects while maintaining the campy, slightly cheesy appeal that made the original a hit in the 1960s and '70s. ... He is the ninth incarnation of the TV Doctor. Those familiar with the series may find Eccleston an unsettling choice at first. He's a tall, lanky fellow with big ears and a thin, sort of geeky face. But viewers will soon warm to this cheeky, cheerful blue-collar bloke dressed in leather jacket and jeans. Actress Billie Piper, who plays his new traveling companion, Rose, is a scene stealer and tougher than previous helpers who had to be rescued by the Doctor. This time around, she has to rescue him."

The St Louis Post Dispatch: "The mysterious time traveler known only as the Doctor turns up in his latest incarnation (played by Christopher Eccleston) in a 13-part British series making its U.S. debut. With companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), this Doctor, as did his predecessors, travels space and time, risking death and dangers, battling aliens and monsters."

Deseret News, Utah: "Doctor Who is the newest old show on TV. Or the oldest new show. This British import is the latest incarnation of the good doctor, who has appeared in various forms played by various actors since 1963. This time 'round Christopher Eccleston steps into the role of the mysterious time-and-space traveler who's both mysterious and humorous, in a quirky kind of way. This 13-episode series is not so much a continuation as a new beginning. (Even if you've never seen a single episode of any of the previous incarnations, you won't feel like you've missed anything.) In the first of two episodes airing tonight on Sci Fi (7 and 8 p.m., repeated at 9 and 10 p.m.), the Doctor meets Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), who has an unfortunate encounter with mannequins that's part of a plot to invade and conquer Earth. In the second hour, they go 5 billion years in the future, and there's trouble there, too. This isn't 'Star Trek' or 'Battlestar Galactica.' It's a decidedly British sensibility that mixes some state-of-the-art effects with stuff that looks, well, decidedly cheesy. And it's an odd combination of action, adventure and wackiness -- an odd combination that somehow works. 'Doctor Who' fans will want to see this new version. And it will make fans out of people who are new to the franchise."

Film Fodder: "While 'Battlestar Galactica,' 'Stargate SG-1' and 'Stargate Atlantis' are on break, the SciFi Channel is betting on 'Doctor Who' to keep viewers watching. Tonight the cable channel will air the two-hour premiere of the BBC series. It's been throwing little bits of info about the show and its stars at us all week to peek our interest. ... According to the SciFi Channel, Russell T. Davies, executive producer and lead writer of the new 'Doctor Who,' attributed much of the show's initial success to the winning chemistry between Christopher Eccleston ('28 Days Later'), who plays the eccentric Time Lord, and Billie Piper ('Spirit Trap'), who plays his companion, Rose Tyler. Eccleston didn't stick around for the second season, though. David Tennant has taken up the task as the tenth incarnation of the good Doctor. Production of the second season is underway in the UK with a rumored air date of April 15th on the BBC. I've never been a huge 'Who' fan. I didn't find Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor) and that horrid scarf of his very appealing. Since it was all that seemed to air when I was a kid (very young - I was very young at the time! and they were reruns!), I just didn't get in to the show. When the fifth Doctor came around, the whole thing didn't make a lot of sense to me so I just stuck to reruns of the original 'Battlestar Galactica' (when Richard Hatch was Apollo) and 'Buck Rogers.' Perhaps now - six Doctors later - I might give 'Who' another try. With my beloved 'Battlestar' on break until October (ack!) and 'SG-1' and 'Atlantis' gone until July, I'll set my TiVo for 'Who' to fill the void. I doubt I'll watch it live, though. Heck, it's Saint Patty's Day! I'm not supposed to be sitting home anyway - or something. 'Doctor Who' airs tonight on SciFi at 9pm ET/10pm CT after a re-run of 'SG-1.' If you're recording it, note that the 'two-hour premiere' is listed as two episodes ('Rose' and 'The End of the World') so be sure to get them both."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg)

UKTV Gold will repeat the first season of the new series again over two days on the 8-9 April 2006 weekend, according to a report today on the official Doctor Who website. "With a brand new series of exciting Doctor Who adventures about to launch on BBC One, those lovely people at UKTV Gold have decided to give everyone a treat by repeating all of the 2005 series over the course of one weekend. From 11am to 5pm (6pm on Sunday) on 8 and 9 April 2006, viewers can watch the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) defeat the Daleks, squash the Slitheen and grapple with the Gelth, in all thirteen episodes from the first series. So settle down with a flask of tea and a packet of biscuits and remind yourself just how good it all was... And of course, don't forget that UKTV Gold is also showing vintage Doctor Who adventures from the early 1970s every weekend. Currently screening each Saturday and Sunday morning (usually starting at 6am or 7am) are adventures from Jon Pertwee's time as the Doctor."