Doctor Who is one of those subjects that can be a bane to competition question setters; apparently innocuous questions like "how many people have played the Doctor?" or "who created the Daleks?" are the subject of heated debate in fan circles - even the perennial question of Saturday morning children shows of "what does TARDIS stand for?" will provoke debate over whether the answer should be Dimension or Dimensions!

Channel 4 fell foul of this problem last Friday with a question set on their prize quiz show The Million Pound Drop, hosted by Davina McCall. During the show, the contestants Johnny and Dee were asked:
The couple, uncertain of the answer, eventually plumbed for a 50/50 chance with McCoy and McGann, but were subsequently told that both their guesses were wrong and the correct answer was actually David Tennant, costing them the game and prize money at that stage of £375,000.

Channel 4 were then inundated by calls from viewers, pointing out that the wrong answer had been given and that it should really have been McCoy, based on him playing the Doctor between 1987 and 1996 (Time and the Rani to the TV Movie).

They have since issued an apology over the question, with a spokesperson saying:

With a long-running series like Doctor Who it is important to set unambiguous questions, such as those used for contestants in the specialist rounds of Mastermind. The question above can be interpreted many ways and, as Who fans of course know, 'time is relative':

• if worded the way Channel 4 probably intended, David Tennant would have been the correct answer for most years/episodes on screen in the role, or longest actual time; Tom Baker, of course, holds the full record for both of these (seven years/172 ~25m episodes)
• Sylvester McCoy holds the record for longest serving current Doctor seen on screen, at eight years eight months
• Paul McGann holds the record for longest time as current Doctor across media (novels, audio), at some eight years ten months
• William Hartnell holds the record for the longest period being the Doctor on screen, from An Unearthly Child through to Vincent and the Doctor!

These statistics are of course open to individual interpretation, too!

Staff and students had a surprise last week when they discovered a Dalek in their school, West Exe Learning Centre in St. Thomas, Devon. The prop appeared to have been abandoned, with no clue as to where it had come from.

Sue Willey, deputy manager of West Exe Learning Centre, said:

Police were also involved in the incident but were unable to trace the owner. Detective Constable Caroline Prince, of Exeter's burglary team, said:

With no owners having come forward to claim it, the Dalek now resides at a film and television memorabilia store in Exeter. Shop owner and Doctor Who enthusiast John Hadlow said:

If you have any information as where this Dalek may have come from, you can contact Detective Constable Prince at Exeter burglary team on 08452 777444.

Building of the new BBC Studios at Cardiff Docks commenced yesterday. The press release reports:
The press release suggests that, as well as the forthcoming series six, series seven would also continue to be filmed at the current Upper Boat Studios, assuming the schedule follows the pattern of previous years (i.e. from Summer 2011 to Spring 2012).

Meanwhile, demolition has commenced on the BBC premises on Victoria Road in London, originally built on the site of TCC Condensers (seen in stories like The Invasion and Spearhead from Space) and subsequently used as rehearsal rooms in the production of many other classic Doctor Who stories. It is believed that the site will be developed into flats (a fate already received by the former BBC Visual Effects Unit site nearby!).

It has also been reported that the building that was once home to Shawcraft Models in Uxbridge is also threatened with demolition. Shawcraft built many specialist props for the early seasons of Doctor Who, most notably remembered for the original Daleks (you can find out more about the company in a feature on the Doctor Who DVD release of The Space Museum/The Chase).

The BBC in-house magazine Ariel published an article on the future of BBC Television Centre itself this week: