Today's (March 25) edition of the Sydney Daily Telegraph brings up the subject of the new casting... and touts a possible new director in Russell Mulcahy, a film & TV director among whose credits are the US version of "Queer as Folk" and the recent Showtime series "Jeremiah". We're told that it's highly likely to be wrong -- and likely due to an error at the popular Dark Horizons media news site earlier in the week (confusing Mulcahy with Russell Davies). (Thanks to Alex Rohan, Jeremy Phillips)

The hype surrounding the Eccleston casting continues, and Outpost Gallifrey continues to keep you updated...

An article in today's The Guardian discusses that BBC shows are 'dominating' the British Academy of Film & Television Awards (BAFTAs) this year. New Doctor Christopher Eccleston has been nominated for Russell T. Davies' "The Second Coming" (originally broadcast on ITV), while one of the recent contenders to play the Doctor, Bill Nighy, was nominated for "State of Play" on BBC1, as was actor David Morrissey. Also nominated was Jim Broadbent (for BBC1's "The Young Visiters"), who portrayed one of the future Doctors in the 1999 comic relief presentation "The Curse of Fatal Death". The BAFTA nominations are also mentioned in the Independent and the Telegraph, and the Telegraph discusses Eccleston's casting in Doctor Who.

In another Guardian article titled "Who dares, wins," Andy Bodle discusses the phenomenon of Doctor Who, it's fans and longevity, as he points out "When Christopher Ecclestone steps out of the Tardis next spring, Doctor Who, scourge of fibreglass lumps everywhere, will have been off our screens for 16 years". The article includes quotes from Mark Gatiss (League of gentlemen and new series writer), Nev Fountain (Dead Ringers), Will Baker (Kylie Minogue's creative consultant), and Clayton Hickman (Doctor Who Magazine) who makes the following interesting assertion: "The Doctor Who mafia. That's why the show's coming back. If it wasn't for all the fans in high places, it would just have faded away." In the print edition the piece is accompanied by a caricature/sketch of Eccleston stepping into the TARDIS. Also mentioned in the article is the monthly London Tavern fan gatherings. In another article in the Guardian, Matthew Norman's "Diary" column, the writer refers back to a diary piece in October 7 2003 when, he apparently, mentioned that a campaign was announced "to prevent Alan Davies becoming the new Doctor Who" and went on to suggest that there were "rumours that Christopher Eccleston" was interested. Norman goes on to modestly point out that "at this stage, it's too early to be sure how this uncanny piece of prescience came about". The print edition also carries a cartoon about showing a Dalek and captioned "THE GOVERNMENTS CHOICE FOR THE NEW BBC CHAIRMAN." You can see them all tomorrow at the Cuttings Archive. (Thanks to Roger Anderson, John Cooper)

The official Doctor Who site at BBCi has a photo gallery of Eccleston's various television and film appearances; check it out, there's some good stuff!

As we mentioned yesterday, even some of the big American broadcasters are now mentioning the casting of Eccleston. "Fox Report" anchor Shepard Smith, a nightly report on the Fox News Channel, mentioned the return of the show and the casting. (Thanks to Carl Kleffman)

Clarification on our mention the other day about Eccleston's position on the OK! Celebrity Chart... Peter Nolan wrote in to let us know that the OK! Chart is based on column inches. "Basically they read every article in every newspaper in a given week and count up the number of inches of text about each person. So only one person has had more written about them in the UK newspapers this week!"

An upcoming edition of the BBC2 educational program Schools: Watch features an episode called "Toys with Magic Granddad," in which a grandfather and kids "explore toys from 1969, have tea with a Jamaican family and watch Dr Who." It's on Tuesday March 30 at 10:50. (Thanks to Steve Freestone)

A report in today's Daily Mirror suggests that the BBC South video project being undertaken by Bill Baggs (of BBV) has been shelved due to the arrival of the new Doctor Who series. We contacted Bill Baggs, who let us know that the project was not scrapped and he's still working on it. There are rumors that Alan Cumming was approached to take part although nothing has been confirmed at this time. (Thanks to Kenny Smith, Bill Baggs)

The current issue of The Wisden Cricketer (number 7, April), features an article on cricket in film and TV written by Huw Turbervill, with an accurate and affectionate short review of Black Orchid, taking it to task only for some of the minor cricket details being wrong! (Thanks to Paul Cornell)

Updated March 24, 1600 GMT.  Outpost Gallifrey's comprehensive list of press coverage and press links for the Christopher Eccleston casting has been updated and is here below (with thanks to Steve Tribe, Andrew Harvey, Jon Preddle, Roger Anderson, Chuck Foster, Robert Byrne, Paul Engelberg, Kenny Davidson, Scott Woodard and DWAS):

BBC Drama Faces: an in-depth look at Christopher Eccleston, including his work, some personal background and other facts.

scifi.com (Sci Fi Wire) Portsmouth Today Cinescape News Wales Globe and Mail (Canada) CBC (Canada) Empire Online BBC Radio 1 Telegraph Sunday Buffalo News (USA) The Scotsman (original report) BBC Entertainment News BBC News Melbourne Herald Sun ITV Ireland Online Manchester Online Daily Record The Times Belfast Telegraph Breaking News (Ireland) UTV Internet Yahoo! CultTV New York Times BBC Press Office (release) nzoom RTE Interactive HELLO! Magazine Online Ireland ABC Australia feMail

Winston Salem Journal New Zealand Herald Daily Record Stuff New Zealand Borsa Italia Express India The Scotsman (March 20 update) The Mirror Sky News The Sun BBCi (official Doctor Who site) Reuters The Guardian Telegraph.co.uk with details     on the last-minute casting Teletext Slashdot Ananova Ananova (3/22) Sydney Morning Herald New Zealand Herald Daily Record (new banner) Teletext (fan reaction) morons.org Oman Observer FilmForce Digital Spy Khaleej Times MyTelus

The official press release has now been published by the BBC Press Office, but we've reproduced it at the end of this article for your reading pleasure.

Outpost Gallifrey has revealed the cover for issue #342 of Doctor Who Magazine, which features Eccleston on the cover... obviously a rushed job over the weekend by amazing editor Clayton Hickman just in time to get it to the printers! "Christopher Eccleston is the Doctor!" cries the cover... you can check it out on the main News Page.

Mentions of the Eccleston casting today hit two large American news networks, both CNN and the Fox News Channel.

No More Props for "Darker" Doctor is the headline on BBC News today. "Enthusiasts think he may portray a darker character than many of the previous doctors, who were often quirky, offbeat and replete with props," says the article, which features quotes from the DWAS' Antony Wainer and Boyd Hilton, TV editor of Heat magazine. "I think it's quite exciting," said Hilton. "He's one of the best actors of our time, and rather than going for a colourful character actor as they've done in the past, they've gone for a brilliant actor." Said Wainer: "It's about the quality of the writing and the audience expectation, and things that just catch on."

Doctor Who Fans Endorse Eccleston was another article at BBC News, which includes comments from fans around the world.

The Daily Express reports that "NEW Dr Who Christopher Eccleston has shot to number two in this weeks OK! Celebrity Chart..." How the chart is compiled and who decides who (no pun intended!) comes where is anyone's guess! Meanwhile, the Western Morning News wonders why nostalgia has "such compelling appeal" (the article mentions the new series of Doctor Who but in no great detail.) The Guardian features an article on "Why I Love William Hartnell" (also mentioned here on our main news page); that particular item can also be read online here. All three can be also seen at theCuttings Archive.

Our comprehensive list of press links has been updated three times today and is seen in the separate story below.

The press release is as follows:

Some unflattering comments in the Daily Record today noting that "outraged" fans dressed as Daleks "protested yesterday after it emerged the arch-villains may be exterminated from the new series" -- looks like nothing more than a wind-up. You can read the story (obviously for a laugh!)

Our friend Roger Anderson at the Cuttings Archive has the most recent clips from today's papers, including a "fantastic full page article in the Telegraph" and a piece from an Irish newspaper entitled "Timely Role for Film Star". And there's a cartoon from The People about the BBC finding its new Director General... a Dalek! Meanwhile, Steve Hill'sImage Archive has begun collecting photos of Christopher Eccleston from around the web in his many roles.

Christopher Eccleston will be appearing in the new play "Electricity" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. The drama, written and composed by Murray Gold, features Eccleston, Patrick Brennan, Andrew Scarborough, Sophie Ward and Oliver Wood, and runs from March 26 to April 24. Visit the West Yorkshire Playhouse site here. (Thanks to Gallifrey Online)

Finally, our discussion thread about the Eccleston casting is now nearly 1,000 posts strong in just two days; you can join in the discussion here (you need to be a registered Forum member to view; if you're not, click here for info on joining!)

In the wake of the casting announcement, story rumors are already flying. Today's Daily Mail (which actually got the casting of the Doctor wrong, they said it was Bill Nighy) reports that one of the stories being done for the first season is a Joan of Arc story with guests stars possibly including Audrey Tautou ("Amelie") and Alfred Molina. It's been pointed out to Outpost Gallifrey that Tautou is currently filming a Joan of Arc movie in France so this is probably a case of wires crossed. Meanwhile, says the Express, Eccleston has signed "a three year contract" (this could be speculation on their part). They mention that the official announcement of his signing is due "next week" and that the budget for each episode is "ú1 million". Also, the Daily Record is already talking about a second season (series) of episodes to be broadcast in 2006... though of course, we'll have to see how the first series does!

We've been told that the final casting deal for Eccleston was signed just yesterday (Friday), with enough time to get details, and quotes from Davies and the BBC, to the media for a Saturday announcement (you'll notice that the initial reports in the electronic edition of the Saturday morning papers came at just after midnight UK time!)

Press clippings are now available at the wonderful Cuttings Archive website; scroll down to updates on that site for a full list and links to many articles from yesterday and today's papers.

Strange reports coming in from Australia, where the Adelaide Sunday Mail picked up on the erroneous report in the UK paper of the same title, naming Bill Nighy as the Doctor! Meanwhile, the story has made international headlines in North America too, being picked up on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) overnight news broadcasts.