Special Events

icWales asks, "Have you ever dreamed of seeing the Time Lord himself in action? Or ever wondered about the secrets of the Tardis? Well, you won't want to miss this. In Fusion Restaurant is hosting a charity auction in aid of children's charity ChildLine Cymru/Wales on Thursday and the star item is the chance to spend a day with the cast and crew on the set of Dr Who. There are more exclusive items up for grabs, including a football signed by the Welsh team, a personal shopping experience, team paint balling, tickets to Castle Combe Race Circuit and much more. Former Olympic athlete Jamie Baulch, ITV's Justina Simpson and Welsh band DV8 will also be at the auction. Tickets cost 18 and include a reception drink, gourmet oriental buffet and a free goody bag. For more information and to book your tickets, contact Catherine Davies on 029 2048 8118."

NewsWales on the weekend said that, in the first eight days of the free Dr Who exhibition at the Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff Bay, more than 30,000 visitors passed through the doors to enjoy the event and that the number is expected to exceed 50,000 people by the weekend. "From today the exhibition will have a host of brand new exhibits never seen before - which have been brought in as part of a major refit. These include the evil Santas and killer Christmas Tree from the Christmas Day special, the Emperor Dalek and the actual costumes worn by Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper from the first series. Also on display will be an Auton guard from the first episode “Rose”; props, prosthetics and costumes of Moxx of Balhoon and Cal Sparkplug from episode two; Slitheen and Space Pig from episodes four and five and Trine-e and Zu-zana from episode 12. Doctor Who Up Close celebrates the success of the series which is filmed in Cardiff, with an exclusive look behind-the-scenes. There are explanatory graphics highlighting Doctor Who’s production involvement in and around Cardiff, together with comments from the production crew and location photographs. Clare Hudson, Head of Programmes (English) at BBC Wales, said: 'I'm delighted the Doctor Who Up Close exhibition is proving such a great success. It’s a fantastic opportunity for people to take a look behind the scenes and I hope that many more people get the chance to go along and be part of the Doctor Who experience.'"

Broadcasting

Episode 1 of the new series, "Rose," will be broadcast this Friday in Israelon the Yes Weekend Network. The times of airing are 19.13 and 22.56 on Friday, with repeats on Saturday at 14.46, next Wednesday at 21.30 and Thursday at 01.15, according to the online TV guide of the Haaretz newspaper. Yes Weekend is a subscription satellite service and so not everyone in Israel will be able to see it, says our correspondent. Also, BBC Prime is supposed to be showing it at some time in the future, and that is available on both Yes and another satellite service, HOT.

According to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the long-running PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre," David Tennant's recent production of Casanova written by Russell T Davies will air on the series this season. "Masterpiece Theatre," a public broadcasting mainstay in America for 35 years, is the broadcast venue for many popular BBC productions; besides "Casanova," the series will air the recent production of Charles Dickens' "Bleak House," the final installment of "Prime Suspect" and adaptations of "Jane Eyre" and "Sense and Sensibility".

Merchandise

The BBC press release about Doctor Who Adventures, the new bi-weekly children's magazine due out this year, noes that "the publication will launch to coincide with the second series in the Spring and will enable enthusiasts to further enhance their enjoyment of the world's most famous Time Lord and his journeys. Priced at 1.99, Doctor Who Adventures will be filled with authentic content. It will include original comic strips featuring the tenth Doctor and Rose, interviews, competitions and puzzles plus all the essential information about the Doctor, his companions and his enemies. There will also be behind-the-scenes photographs and information from the series. Toni Round, Publisher of BBC Youth & Children's Magazines commented: 'We are proud to be producing this magazine for such an iconic programme. The abundance of material will enable us to give young fans a literary extension of the programme, providing them with fresh and exciting content. We will immerse the reader in the world of Doctor Who, taking them on a big adventure into time and space. Doctor Who Adventures will be packed with monsters and secrets, full of entertainment, action and humour - the must-have magazine for young fans.' Each magazine will be covermounted with a high quality, collectable gift."

The official website notes that the first three Tenth Doctor novels -- "The Stone Rose" by Jacqueline Rayner, "The Feast of the Drowned" by Stephen Cole and "The Resurrection Casket" by Justin Richards -- will be due out in the US and Canada at the same time as in the UK, in April. It also notes the simultaneous May publication of "I Am A Dalek" by Gareth Roberts and "Aliens and Enemies" by Justin Richards. All of these items are noted on ourReleases Guide.

SciFi Wire is reporting that "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" will be released on March 7th on DVD (single and 2-disc versions) and UMD for the Sony PSP. The movie will also form part of a Harry Potter Special Edition 4-pack. The movie features David Tennant as the villainous Barty Crouch Jr., and in a twist of irony, series two guest star Roger Lloyd Pack (John Lumic in the Cybermen two-parter starting with "Rise of the Cybermen") as his father, Barty Crouch Sr.

Series Two

icWales talks about the production team's rumored return to theMillennium Stadium, where "Dalek" was filmed last year. "Wales could have a surprise substitution to call on the next time they play at the Millennium Stadium...Doctor Who! The Timelord is being lined up to land his Tardis inside Wales' sporting mecca - and use the same changing rooms as our football and rugby teams. The Doctor has battled baddies all over Wales but the threat of new foes comes with every episode. So BBC Wales producers were at the stadium in Cardiff this week, checking it out for future inter-galactic battles. 'There were members of the production team taking pictures and having a look around,' said an onlooker. 'They were hoping to film at the stadium when there was a game on, they decided it was too much hassle and now they're just looking at using it. They wanted the Doctor to be running up and down stairs and filming in the BBC commentary box. They were wandering around the building, and even went into the away changing rooms to take pictures.' ... Tunnels in the venue have been used in previous episodes but this time the Doctor is likely to appear in more recognisable parts, making the stadium the latest in a long line of Welsh landmarks on Swansea scriptwriter Russell T Davies' smash hit revival of the telly favourite. But last night the BBC were remaining typically tightlipped about the Doctor's future exploits. 'We used the stadium in series one when we shot in the tunnels. This week the crew were out looking at locations to use. They aren't saying what part of the stadium they were having a look at or why,' a spokesman said."

The TV biz section of Saturday's The Sun claimed a picture exclusive from Rise of the Cybermen (from the same batch of filming as our recent exclusive photos). Headlined "Cyber binmen", it shows a large colour shot of two of the monsters from behind and approaching two large wheeled waste bins. "They've bin away far too long - but now the Cybermen are back in Doctor Who! Our exclusive picture shows the sinister silver robots (sic) coming face to face with a couple of wheelie bins. In the first episode of the last series, Rose's boyfriend Mickey was EATEN by a dustbin. The new Doctor, played by David Tennant, will hope the evil Cybermen share the same fate. The Rise Of the Cybermen, which goes out in the spring, will see former EastEnder Tracy-Ann Oberman - who played evil Chrissy Watts in the soap - portray another baddie." The Sun article also mentions the oft-repeated rumors that the Daleks will appear in the series, although there's been no word from any official source about that.

People

Yesterday's Daily Star says that Billie Piper is "the ultimate comeback kid. Just three years ago, beautiful Billie was more likely to be found propping up the bar of her local pub with husband Chris Evans than in a TV studio. But today entertainment bosses are fighting over the gorgeous blonde thanks to her outstanding performance as Dr Who's sexy sidekick Rose. And it seems the ambitious babe's going from strength to strength. After her stunning appearance in a BBC adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and her role in Dr Who, the 23-year-old now has her own TV series. No wonder she can't stop smiling. ... Billie, voted most popular actress at the National Television Awards, has certainly moved on since she her early days which were often rocked by scandal. Aged just 17 she was forced to deny rumours of drug taking after she collapsed in a London bar. Then she and Evans -who she wed at 18 - hit the headlines when he was sacked after taking a week off work, claiming to be ill. Unfortunately for him, he was caught out when he was pictured boozing with Billie. It seemed the pair were rarely out of the pub and work didn't appear to be their highest priority. Although the couple are still firm friends - she recently described him as 'the most amazing person that I know' - the maturing actress's fame seems to be on its way to eclipsing that of the 39-year-old TV maverick. But maybe that's because Billie, who was also praised for her first acting role in The Miller's Tale in 2003, has finally found a career she loves

Over the weekend the Guardian noted David Tennant would be in a BBC4 drama about Lady Chatterley. "The BBC is reprising the Lady Chatterley trial, 45 years after the event, with a drama written by Andrew Davies. It will be shown in March on BBC4, and probably repeated on BBC2. ...My father, Richard Hoggart, was one of the witnesses in the real trial ... Dad is played by the wonderful David Tennant (Blackpool, Casanova) who has carefully prepared his appearance by watching old interviews, even studying newspaper pictures of the time and having a picture of Dad on his mobile phone. He's extremely convincing - the suit, the hair, the Yorkshire accent, and trickiest of all, the speech rhythms. The only thing wrong is his sideburns. To do this film he had to take 24 hours off from making Doctor Who in Cardiff and, as he explained, the sideburns wouldn't grow back in a day. There, I thought, was a kind of fame - to have researchers and costume directors pore over every detail of your appearance, then be seen in the witness box wearing Doctor Who's face furniture."

The weekend's Sunday Mail says that "Scots star John Barrowmanscored a double whammy when he starred in two prime-time TV shows at the same time. The Glasgow-born actor-singer was seen competing on ITV's new show, Dancing On Ice, which began last night. Barrowman teamed up with dancer Olga Sharutenko along with a host of other celebrities including fellow Scot and weather girl Andrea McLean, Andi Peters and Dame Kelly Holmes. But viewers would have been forgiven for thinking they were seeing double as John, 38, also appeared on new BBC series The Sound Of The Musicals at the same time."

EntertainmentWise notes that "Gay voters have ordained David Tennant as the ‘sexiest man in the universe’ - putting the quirky Dr Who actor before David Beckham, Michael Owen and Brad Pitt. Tennant was gob-smacked to receive the Pink Paper Awards accolade and commented: 'I’m surprised to be thought of like that. Casanova is the only role I’ve played where you had to look good. But that particular Casanova didn't have to be an Adonis. He was more of a cheeky chappie.'" Also reported at Spotlighting News, GayNZ,

Colin Baker spoke to the Daily Express, indicating that he's completely sold on the new series. "Hey amy be a former time traveller but one-time Dr Who Colin Baker does not dwell in the past. Baker, 62, who had the keys to the Tardis for two years from 1984, is full of praise for the show's latest incarnation and current Doctor David Tennant, right, and can't understand why people hark back to earlier shows. 'I have been astounded when diehard fans have expressed a preference for the old series, ' he says. 'It's hard to imagine how the series could be bettered.' Baker praises Tennant for 'a greater self-awareness, vulnerability and humour' than predecessor Christopher Eccleston and gushes, 'Tennant has been blessed with acting ability as well as compelling looks and innate charm.'"

The Scotsman notes that the Scottish Parliament has turned down an invitation to be the venue for the first National Theatre show in Scotland, in a play performed on February 25 with David Tennant in its cast.

Matthew Norman's Media Diary in yesterday's The Independent briefly notes Christopher Eccleston's play "The School of Night" being canceled, and asks, "Incidentally, if anyone was involved with The School of the Night, a play about Christopher Marlowe in which Christopher was due to star and which has been abruptly cancelled so close to opening night, please do get in touch." The weekend's Sunday Times says that "Eccleston was due to star next month in the Comedy theatre's revival of Peter Whelan's The School of Night. The play, first put on by the RSC in 1992, is about the Elizabethan playwright, poet and spy Christopher Marlowe. 'We couldn't make it happen in time,' said the producer, Mark Rubinstein." That's the first indication of a cause for the cancellation from the producers.

Outpost Gallifrey

Normally this wouldn't be cause for a separate subsection, but the Outpost Gallifrey website has been listed as "Site of the Week" at scifi.com, the official website of America's Sci-Fi Channel, the new series broadcaster. "Known as the most popular fan-created Doctor Who site on the Web, Outpost Gallifrey maintains its reputation through diligent tracking of any and every fact pertaining to the crusading Time Lord and his companions—novels, podcasts, music releases, conventions and all other fan activity. The site's detailed episode guide features full cast and crew credits, as well as fan reviews of each installment in the Doctor's long history. ... Now, with the reimagined series bringing new fans to the fold, Outpost Gallifrey allows those who are discovering the series for the first time to catch up on the Doctor's travels, companions and exploits, even as it whets everyone's appetite for still more adventures." The site was also namechecked in a UK play, the Unbroadcastable Radio Show in Manchester; says our correspondent, "the sketch was Davros (which Toby Hadoke does an excellent impression of) speaking like a normal person at a casting agency. The casting agency wanted Davros to sound like Davros though, so showed him a post on Outpost Gallifrey saying that Sylvester McCoy was an excellent Doctor. This so incensed Davros that he got very angry and started speaking like Davros again. It was done very well, and was very funny!" Unbroadcastable Radio is on 8PM every 3rd Sunday of the month at the Comedy Store, Deansgate Locks, Manchester, UK, and always features Davros.

Miscellaneous

The South Wales Echo notes that "A young fan was starstruck when he came face to face with his hero - and a few villains. Sam Hill, five, was with parents Andy and Melanie watching the new Dr Who series being filmed. And when there was a break in the action, which saw Cybermen marching up Womanby Street, he had the chance to meet new Doctor David Tennant. Mum-of-three Melanie, of Fleur-de-Lys, near Blackwood, said: 'We're all part of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. Sam really wanted to go as he's a massive fan.' During a break in filming, one of their friends approached the new Doctor and told him about his young fan. Melanie, 33, said: 'He was such a lovely bloke and said it wasn't a problem. He picked Sam up and posed for a picture, asking if he'd seen the Christmas special. Sam was so thrilled and carried the picture around with him all day.' Sam, a pupil at Fleur-de-Lys Primary School, said: 'I like the picture of me with him. It was really exciting to meet him.'"

Other items: BBC News noted David Tennant on the TV chart as we reported last week; Daily Snack says that "'Billie Piper’s Hollywood ambitions received a major boost last night after Doctor Who was snapped up by American TV. The sexy 23-year-old has pledged to remain in her role as Who’s sidekick Rose Tyler for at least one more series"; today'sIndependent says that "it is a self-evident truth that Russell T Davies's Doctor Who is better now than it ever was in its so-called golden age"; yesterday's Guardian says that "The tweed suits, the scruffy trainers, the slightly dishevelled English gent look - sci fi never looked so good and it will inevitably affect the catwalk"; RTE says that "'Doctor Who' star John Barrowman has been installed as the bookmakers' favourite to win 'Dancing on Ice' after just one live performance; hot on his heels are actress Bonnie Langford and former 'Coronation Street' star Sean Wilson, who played Martin Platt in the soap.";

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, Robert J.E. Simpson, John Bowman, Justine Metal, Daniel Baum)

Amazon Canada today has listed a change in the release schedule for the DVD release of the Complete Series One Boxed Set. As of yesterday, the target release date was February 14; today, Amazon lists it as March 7. There is currently no word on the reason for the possible delay, or any confirmation other than on Amazon that it has indeed been rescheduled.

The next issue of Enlightenment, the magazine of the Doctor Who Information Network in Canada, has been released. Issue #131 contains reviews of the 2006 Christmas Special; a look back at Christopher Eccleston's Doctor and Rose; A Torchwood FAQ; What the US DVD release says about the BBC's attitude toward America; and reviews of all the latest books, audios and DVDs. For more details visit dwin.org.

Doctor Who will have another companion series this year alongside the broadcast of series two and the "Doctor Who Confidential" segments for BBC3. It's billed as "a new children's magazine style programme, specifically related to Doctor Who and aimed at older children" by the official site. Further investigation calls this broadcast Doctor Who Friday, as the BBC Wales Southeast jobs board lists several production management positions available for that particular series. More details soon.

The official Doctor Who website has made available today the interactive Doctor Who 'episode' Attack of the Graskestarring David Tennant... but only for UK viewers. The mini-adventure was broadcast via BBC digital services using the 'red button' on their satellite remotes. The FAQ explains that this is a test of BBC broadband service and they have elected to only allow UK residents to view it because of their payment of TV licence fees.

Outpost Gallifrey has learned that filming of the first series of Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff series starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, has been delayed until the summer, likely June or July. The series was originally scheduled to go into production this month, but has been delayed several times. We're also told that James Hawes, scheduled to be a producer on the new series, has had to bow out due to the change of schedule. More details as we get them.

The results have been announced of BBC.co.uk's online Drama: Best of 2005 survey. Best drama, a runaway victory with 55.86% of the vote, isDoctor Who, with Bleak House in second place with 15.95%. Russell T Davies's Casanova starring David Tennant has taken equal sixth place with Holby City. In the Best Actor category, David Tennant is in second place (9.15%), while Christopher Eccleston romps home with 59.42%. Anna Maxwell Martin ('The Long Game') is third-placed Best Actress for her lead role in Bleak House, and the same show's Gillian Anderson came second, butBillie Piper's 59.76% proved unbeatable.

Another double win comes in the Favourite Moment category: the Doctor's regeneration is in second place (6.23%), but the return of the Daleks ('Dalek', 8.63%) led the field. Favourite Villain: the Emperor Dalek manages only fifth place (3.29%)... perhaps because the Daleks take first place with 46.40%. The villains chart also includes the Empty Child and Margaret Slitheen in joint eighth place (1.42%), the Slitheen in equal tenth (with EastEnders' Dirty Den), the Editor ('The Long Game') is equal thirteenth, and Cassandra ('The End of the World') is equal fifteenth.

The category for Most Desirable Star has Doctor Who seeing off all opposition: John Barrowman's Captain Jack is in fourth place; Christopher Eccleston comes third; David Tennant is second; and, of course, Billie Piper takes the top spot with 26.47% of the vote. Also, with a huge 71.17%, theofficial Doctor Who website takes first position as Best Drama Website. Worst Drama also features Doctor Who, with 1.55% of the vote securing it equal eleventh place in a category easily won by Rome (22.69%).

An interesting footnote: on the Best Website list... beyond the top ten -- all BBC or ITV official sites -- the top-rated fan site is Outpost Gallifrey, at #11... one of only two fan sites to make the top 20 list. (We're honored!)

The full results and comments from voters are available at the Best of 2005website. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Outpost Gallifrey has received a large number of photographs taken during the filming of Series Two of Doctor Who this past week, as production continues on Block Three directed by Graeme Harper, the two-parter "Rise of the Cybermen" and its second (as yet untitled) half, being shown as episodes 5 and 6, and the final two-parter, episodes 12 and 13, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday". The photographs, taken on location in Cardiff, feature Cybermen on patrol, series stars David Tennant, Billie Piper and guest star Shaun Dingwall (Pete) and director Graeme Harper; some of them are taken during night filming, hence the darkness of the images (especially those taken while filming was going on, as our correspondents did not use flash photography to avoid spoiling the shot). In addition, we have a collection of set reports as submitted by our correspondents over the past seven days, collected here for easy reading; as some of this can be considered to be spoilers, click on the spoiler tag to read the set reports, and click on each thumbnail for a larger version of the photographs. (Thanks to Paul Mount, David Shaw, Chris Lane, Matt Spencer, Gareth Price, Simon Watkins, Ian Golden, John Campbell Rees, Timothy Farr)

Dark Horizons today featured an exclusive interview with Sophia Myleswoh is currently starring in the new film "Tristan and Isolde" and will feature this season in "Doctor Who" as Madame du Pompadour in the episode "The Girl in the Fireplace". Says Myles in a very brief mention of the series, "It was fantastic, I did one episode... I mean it is a bit like being called...when you get asked to do Dr Who it is a bit like being called to Jury service you can't really say no I mean it runs through the veins of the British public and it's Doctor Who."

The official Doctor Who website now features a short discussion with executive producer Julie Gardner about the sale of the series to the Sci-Fi Channel in the US. Gardner mentions that she went over to America just before Christmas to tell Sci Fi what the episodes were all about and what the production team's hopes were for the show. Gardner also says that she's happy Sci-Fi is carrying the show and how they "just really felt like the right people [to air the show]. They really did get it. They were happy with how British it is, they really liked the humor. They really, really got it. And that was the most important thing." She also expects about two more months of shooting for the second series (noting that they're filming episodes with Cybermen currently, and that they've been marching in formation on the streets of Cardiff) and that they expect the show to air "in the Spring," and that she's seen some finished episodes already and that they look "really really beautiful and really exciting."

TV Zone Magazine features a new interview with Russell T Davies, who "ponders the challenges of regenerating the Doctor, reviving classic monsters, and coming up with something more Christmassy than The Christmas Invasion…" "It's bizarre, isn't it?" Davies tells the magazine. "Who'd have thought, this time last year… it's just inconceivable. You've seen BBC launches; you don't get the Controller of BBC 1, you don't get the Controller of Drama standing up and giving a speech at the beginning. It's quite extraordinary; that's how much they're behind it. You ask for the time and you ask for the money, and you ask them for facilities, and that's how supportive they are. ... It would be a thrill to go to the cinema and see [a film] happen but literally there wouldn't even be time to think about it right now. I do think in the future it'd be lovely to do a middle range, Serenity-sort-of-level film – like, 'We don't need that much money, just give us enough so we can see what we can do'. It's tempting, but there's no time to be tempted by it! Like I say, maybe when it's all over, then the dust might settle – then again, the movie people would say the impetus has gone! And we wouldn't, at the moment, hand it over for them to do that. I mean, very clearly, if they poked their head in now and said, 'We want to make a film with David now,' we'd say, 'No'. ... Especially when you're used to the history of Doctor Who, and you get told those stories [about casting] about how they all gathered in meetings and decided on, 'the cosmic hobo', and things like that. We didn't! They just said, 'Off you go and write the next episode, and write the regeneration'. It's the thing about having great actors; you don't have to describe it to them; you don't have to say, 'He's left handed, he says his lines in a funny way, he says his lines sarcastically, he's sad on this line'; all those stage directions that bad writers always put in – 'brackets, he's sad, close brackets'. You do a bit of that in every script, obviously, but with great actors you just let them fill the space. Mainly what you're writing is the story... I mean, he's reborn, he's full of energy. He's got rid of some of the baggage of the Time War, he's a new man. So you don't simply go, 'What are this Doctor's habits?', you go, 'What is the story, how does he develop through the story?' It's drama writing as opposed to genre writing; you don't get hooked up on 'the cosmic hobo', and all that. You don't sit there going, 'Who is the Doctor, what is he?', you say, 'In this story, how could we fulfil the best dramatic impact?' And that's what you're writing; you wait 40 minutes for him to arrive and when he does, he gets a round of applause!"

Says ic Wales, "Drinkers would have been forgiven for spilling their pints when they saw a troop of Cybermen marching outside a pub. But the only thing the streets of Cardiff were under attack from was a film crew, as scenes for the new series of Doctor Who were shot. Fans looking through the windows of The Gatekeeper yesterday evening were able to see all the action taking place on Womanby Street, parts of which were closed off to the public. Celebrity spotters were lucky enough to get a glimpse of new Doctor David Tennant and sidekick Rose, played by Billie Piper, as scenes for the BBC Wales series were filmed around The Horse and Groom and The Gatekeeper pubs. But the metal robots, which have caused countless children to hide behind sofas, didn't seem quite so scary when the actors playing them were seen in anoraks."

Doctor Who fan Ian Levine, who for years has been involved in campaigns to locate and return to the archives classic episodes of "Doctor Who" that had been purged from the BBC archives in the 1970's, today noted on the Restoration Team forum that after years of searching, he's located a favored source. For two decades, Levine has searched for a man namedTom Lundie, whose off-air video recordings of several classic Jon Pertwee episodes, including "Terror of the Autons," "Doctor Who and The Silurians" and "The Daemons," were instrumental in their eventual restoration for video release (specifically, the colorization of these stories for video); Lundie also possessed the only color footage known to exist from "The Mind of Evil," a clip later placed on the BBC video release. Levine has contacted Lundie again to borrow his off-air recordings to see if there is anything additional that can be salvaged.

Today's Mirror notes that John Barrowman was told he was "too straight" for TV sitcom Will and Grace, "even though he's about to marry his gay partner. And the 38-year-old actor, who came out in his 20s, said the fact that the part of Will eventually went to straight actor Eric McCormack is typical of 'homophobic' Hollywood. 'And the sad thing is it's run by gay men and women,' he added. Glaswegian John - who plans to formalise his 10-year relationship with architect boyfriend Scott Gill - has become a household name as bisexual Captain Jack Harkness and even has a BBC3 spin-off Torchwood. And tomorrow, John will battle in the rink with other celebs, including David Seaman and Kelly Holmes, in ITV1's new show Dancing on Ice. 'Tonight I won't sleep,' said John. 'If you fall, you gotta get back up and finish. There's no bulls****ing.'" Other reports on this story at Ananova,Contact Music, Hecklerspray.

The latest issue of Programme Extra - a collection of interviews, previews and information that wraps around each programme in the Nimax Theatres group (London's Apollo, Duchess, Garrick, Lyric and Vaudeville theatres) - has a 2-page interview feature titled "John Barrowman: when, where and why." As well as discussing his early roles ("I created a stir"), theatrical superstitions ("If there's a ghost I'll say hello to them. A bar of soap in my dressing room when I leave the building because there's a superstition that if you leave something in the room you will return"), his most embarrassing experiences on stage and who he would invite to a fantasy dinner party (Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Queen Victoria, Kevin Costner and Ann Miller), he answers the question 'What projects are you most looking forward to in 2006?' with a hint that he may yet be back for series two: "The Sound of Musicals which I've just filmed for the BBC because I am so proud to be a part of bringing musicals back to television. I cannot wait to start Torchwood which is my own spin off series as Captain Jack and also my return to the Tardis for Doctor Who."

Says Daily Snack, "Doctor Moooooo! Sexy Billie Piper has revealed how she got a real beast of a Christmas surprise when a friend gave her two cows. Billie - who plays Doctor Who sidekick Rose Tyler - sneaks off to visit the pair in between filming for the smash hit show. The 23-year-old blonde fell in love with the heifers, so they are stopping at a friend’s farm instead of heading to the slaughterhouse. Billie said: 'The best Christmas present I ever got was two cows. Yes that’s right. Cows. As in moo cows. Because it was Christmas and they are both female I called them Mary and Josephine. Seriously that’s true. The cows are in a farm and I see them now and again.' Shapely Billie has obviously been bitten by the animal bug. She’s nicknamed her new co-star David Tennant - who plays The Doctor - 'Bambi'. She thinks the 34-year- old actor is a dead ringer for Disney’s baby deer. Billie tells the official Doctor Who Magazine: 'David is a lot more different in the role of The Doctor than Christopher Eccleston was. He dances more with the role. I guess he’s a bit more like a baby deer. He’s my little Bambi.' The BBC1 show returns in the spring and writer Russell T Davies, 42, has lined up a host of top stars. Comedy favourite Roger Lloyd Pack, 61, Anthony Head, 51, of Little Britain and My Family’s Zoë Wanamaker, 56, will all appear. K-9, the Cybermen and old assistant Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen, 57) will also return."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, John Bowman, Kevin West, Gary Custer, John Hutton)