The final BARB ratings figure for The Empty Child has been released: 7.11 million viewers watched the episode. The series was eighth in the week's top ten British broadcasts.

Part three of the Canadian network CBC's Planet of the Doctor web documentary is up on their website.

A few Doctor Who related news stories today in the press: the Rainbow Network features a report on the series plus comments about Christopher Eccleston; Playbill discusses John Barrowman's newest endeavour: his UK cabaret debut in July in Knightsbridge; This is London features an update on Billie Piper's housing situation in Hampstead; and theGuardian "Slack Dad" column heaps praise on the new Doctor Who series.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Chuck Foster, Scott Matthewman)

This week's Radio Times is now out, with the customary plug for the next episode, Boom Town on Saturday in "RT recommends... the week's best television" (page 4), describing the episode as "Frenetic fun". This week's letter writers are missing the point about programmes other than Doctor Who, but "Doctor Who Watch" continues (page 18), with photographs of Annette Badland as Margaret Blaine and a Slitheen accompanying an interview with Russell T Davies about the show's success ("we seem to have got it right. That's no reason to sit on your laurels, but it's quite weird"), his expectations for David Tennant ("He'll be different. He'll have his own traits. I'm writing that now.") and what he'd like to achieve with Series 2 ("we've set ourselves a challenge right from the start by having a new Doctor"). He also notes that "The fact that [the Slitheen] are back is dealt with in the first ten minutes, then the episode becomes a character-led piece about the Doctor's lifestyle [...] leaving the consequences of his actions behind him." On the same page, there's a short quote from Christopher Eccleston on Annette Badland: "the performance of the series [...] she just pinions the poor Doctor, in the same way as the Daleks do. It's spellbinding to watch." Once again, this weekend's episode is Saturday's pick of the day (page 64), with a colour photo of Margaret, Mickey and the TARDIS crew and the comment that "the smile count is high and there's plenty of dramatic meat on the bones. But there's no time to develop it [...] That said, it's slick, busy and, above all, great fun." A small photo of the Doctor and Jack heads Saturday evening's BBC1 listing (page 66): "The Doctor encounters an enemy he thought long since dead as a plan to build a nuclear power station conceals an alien plot to destroy the world." In Doctor Who Confidential, Jabe and Gwyneth "are honoured as unsung heroes from the current series who've laid down their lives to aid the Doctor." Lastly, RT Direct, the magazine's home shopping service, is this week promoting a range of digital television and DVD items, on the screens of which are Eccleston and Piper... well, it's what everyone's watching, isn't it?

Panini Books has released the cover illustration for the forthcoming Doctor Who Annual 2006, due out later this year. At right is a thumbnail of the cover illustration (sent to us by Tenth Planet; click on the thumbnail for a larger version.)

The official site has been updated with a "Boom Town" feel. The front page features what appears to be a post-nuclear Cardiff wasteland, in the midst of which is the TARDIS, with some mouse-revealed graffiti... So far, only the photo gallery has been updated for the next episode, although, as ever, video diaries and photo stories are promised for the weekend. Also, icWales previews "Boom Town" today, while Heat magazine previews "Boom Town" and the following episode, "Bad Wolf". Because both are full of spoilers, we've put them in the spoiler tag at the end of today's article.

BBC Worldwide has today issued a press release concerning the properties it is promoting at Licensing International in New York in June, led by Doctor Who. As well as confirming that filming begins for Series Two and the Christmas special this summer, the press release confirms the existing licensing partners as Italy, Holland, Finland, Denmark, Hungary, Korea, Thomsonfly (formerly Britannia Airways), Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The relevant sections of the press release note that "BBC Worldwide is a global leader in the business of entertainment rights management and these new properties, Doctor Who and Charlie and Lola, sit happily within its portfolio of high quality brands."

This week's showing of "The End of the World" in Australia made it into the Australian Top 50, showing at #48... better, in fact, than the debut episode, "Rose". The story rated 1,051,000 in the 5 main capitals (a slight drop in raw numbers from "Rose" but posting higher on the charts.) It was ABC Television's fourth highest rated programme after two editions of ABC News and "Australian Story".

Monday's Guardian has another in a string of highly positive reviews for the series, describing Doctor Who as one of the two best series of 2005 (the other being a documentary history of Soul music). Reviewer Rupert Smith thinks that The Doctor Dances "elevated an already great series into the realms of art." Likening the episode to the series 1960s/1970s "heyday" and citing various moments, he says that "you just don't get this sort of thing in British TV any more [...] The Tardis really is the fun place to be these days." The full review can be read at the website.

Today's Sun and Star both report on robot versions of Trinny and Susannah from "What Not to Wear," as being seen in the episode "Bad Wolf" in two weeks, along with photos of John Barrowman from the episode.

Issue 132 of SFX Magazine goes on sale on June 8. The issue has "an army of Daleks on the cover, and inside there's a nine page Doctor Who feature, which is a look forward at season two. The spine of the piece is an extensive Q&A with Russell T Davies, but it also includes an exclusive interview with concept designer Bryan Hitch, which includes his very first concept sketch of the TARDIS interior - drawn before he was even hired by the Beeb!; Steven Moffat giving a few hints about his season two episode, which he says will be "sexier" than The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances; an interview with Jack Barrowman (aka Captain Jack Harkness); an interview with Julie Gardner; a great opening spread image of Eccleston morphing into David Tennant (lovely!)" SFX has also posted the extended portion of the Barrowman interview on their website here, and the SFX site will soon be posting a special exclusive clip: an animated 3D visualisation of Bryan's initial concept for the TARDIS interior. The cover illustration is at right.

Australian newspaper The Age discusses the forthcoming Australia/New Zealand touring stage presentation Inside the TARDIS, featuring Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Katy Manning in select cities to promote the new series (see our May 19 story on the general Doctor Who news page here). "Don't expect Shakespeare, but for both hardcore fans and those new to the adventures of the Time Lord, the show will be a celebration of all things Who, with classic BBC clips and insiders' stories from a select group of former cast members."

According to a release from the BBC Press Office, new series writer and prominent fan Mark Gatiss has begun filming a role in BBC Three's new "comic thriller" Funland, which is co-written by his fellow League of Gentlemen member Jeremy Dyson. Set in the northern seaside town of Blackpool, the series is due to show on BBC Three in the autumn, consisting of one 60-minute and eleven 30-minute episodes. "Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen) plays the bizarre and haughty repressed taxidermist Ambrose Chapfel," the press release says.

The Stage today noted that drama commissioning at the BBC is to undergo a "significant overhaul, with executives able to commission two or three series of popular shows at a time, in a bid to retain talent for future productions. In an unprecedented move for the Corporation, multiple runs of programmes such as Spooks, Hustle and Waking the Dead could be commissioned in one block rather than consecutively." Said Jane Tranter of BBC Drama, "Double commissioning is designed to allow independent production companies the creative freedom to think further forward with their development of long-running drama for the BBC. This is a clear commitment from us to secure the very best drama for our audience and another way of making commissioning more nimble." Noted in the article is that the BBC recently came under fire for failing to ensure that Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper were contracted for more than one series of Doctor Who. However the new process only applies to returning dramas that have proved their popularity and would not have kept the pair in their roles for a second run of the show.

Last week's Surrey Comet (a local newspaper) detailed a "win your own Dalek" competition and showed Christopher Eccleston's visit to a local school. "A timelord can turn up wherever he wants, whenever he wants- so school leavers at Great Court School felt honored to meet the latest incarnation of Dr Who. Actor Christopher Eccleston dropped in at the school in Ham Street, Ham to attend their leaving certificate ceremony. The year 11 students whose last day of school before taking GCSEs was on Friday-were also presented with record of achievement folders to mark their progress to date."

Yesterday's Huddersfield Examiner asks, "The wonderful new series of Doctor Who continues to go from strength to strength. So why did they get such basic details of the Blitz wrong? ... The writing, direction, acting and verve of the production was great - so how did they get the blackout so badly wrong? During the war, no light could be shown in case it acted as a guide to attacking bombers. Every window was covered with a blackout curtain and front doors were not opened until interior lights had been turned off. But not in Doctor Who. At the height of a bombing raid, RAF pilots stand on a balcony in the heart of London enjoying a drink with the curtains wide open and the lights blazing out behind them."

Other news: The People, Digital Spy and CBBCNews all report on the Billie Piper/how many episodes in season two? story; there are reviews of recent episodes at The Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Adam Kirk, Stuart Ian Burns, Ian Berriman, Robert Simpson, Chuck Foster, Peter Weaver, Ian O'Brien)

The release date for Panini's next graphic novel, The Tides of Time, has now been announced: the complete collection of Fifth Doctor comic strips from Doctor Who Monthly will be available in June. The cover illustration is at right; yesterday's news column featured a scan from Doctor Who Magazine but we've been provided a higher-resolution copy of the cover which you can now see by clicking on the thumbnail. (Thanks to Tenth Planet)

The overnight ratings for The Doctor Dances are in. The episode was watched by an average of 6.17 million viewers with a 35.9% viewing audience share, peaking in the second quarter-hour of the episode with 6.30 million. "Doctor Who" was the most watched programme of Saturday, day or night (versus 3.2 million for the ITV showing of "X-Men" at the same time) and while the overall viewer ratings are the lowest so far, this was during a major bank holiday weekend in Britain.

Meanwhile, a report on this week's airing of Father's Day on CBC in Canada: the episode was viewed by 809,000 viewers, down due to its main competition, the season finale of "American Idol". However, "Doctor Who" continues to hold on to 8pm's number two spot on Canadian networks, while rounding out the top four for all primetime (8pm to 11pm).

An update on the Billie Piper situation. Today's "News of the World," a tabloid, reports that Piper is not leaving the series at all, and will appear in all episodes of the next series despite reports to the contrary. "The People" also reports today that Piper "is to earn ú120,000 after agreeing to star in four extra episodes of Doctor Who. The actress announced that she was quitting the show last week, and originally planned to star in just three episodes of the show's second series. However, Billie, who plays Rose Tyler, will now appear in seven episodes of the next series. 'It's great news she's on board for more,' an insider told The People." The reports on her possible departure vary widely, obviously; time will tell as to whether she stays for the entire season or leaves at some point therein.

Today's Telegraph covers the sale of the series to South Korea. "Pagishikinda! Pagishikinda! This is the blood-curdling cry of the world's first Korean-speaking Dalek. Doctor Who, the popular science fiction drama, has made history by becoming the first BBC drama series to be sold to South Korea." The series will be known in the country as "Dacter Who" and the Korean broadcaster KBS 2 will show two different episodes each week, starting with its debut next weekend, to make it easier for viewers to get to know the character. Says Russell T Davies, "The Doctor has travelled far and wide and knows no boundary and now the programme is doing much the same." Jungwon Lee, executive director of KBS Media, said: "We are very excited to launch Dr Who on the network. We anticipate a great reaction from all age groups."

Also notable about the Telegraph article is that it mentions expanded airings of the show on various airlines. Previously the series had been announced as airing on Thomsonfly Airlines, a local carrier (and only the first episode) but the Telegraph article says that the series "has also been sold to some of the world's biggest airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand who will begin broadcasting it from next month."

Last week's Dead Ringers didn't have a Doctor Who sketch proper, but did have a spoof news item on the DVD getting a PG rating for scenes of cruelty to a Dalek. They claimed the BBC had pointed out that there was a helpline number at the end of the show for Daleks who had been affected by any of the issues in the programme. The show also featured a piece on the resignation of former BBC political editor Andrew Marr (seen as himself in "Aliens of London" and "World War Three"). Marr explained that it was because he had evolved into an uber-correspondent, and would from now on exist as a being of pure energy, reporting news from throughout the universe.

BBC News illustrated a story on the revelation that space-time wormholes can't function as a stable means of achieving time-travel (apparently) with a screengrab from the new series titles, mentioning in the text that the tunnel seen in the credits of Doctor Who looks suspiciously like a wormhole, "although the Doctor's preferred method of travel is not explained in detail".

(Thanks to Steve Berry, Rod Mammitzsch, Paul Hayes, Peter Weaver, Matt Kimpton)

Tenth Planet have given us details on two new full colour posters available for the new Doctor Who series. "Now available: TWO large full colour posters featuring the Doctor and Rose and the last Dalek from the TV series starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. Large Posters measure 915x610mm (36x24") each and retail for ú3.99 each." Thumbnails of each are below.

DWM 357
Issue #357 of Doctor Who Magazine has been released. Below is the press release and a thumbnail of the cover; click on the thumbnail for a larger version (as always, a high-quality version only found here!)

Big Finish has updated its pages with the cover illustration for the forthcoming audio release Scaredy Cat by Will Shindler, starring Paul McGann; and the forthcoming original short story anthology Wildthyme On Top edited by Paul Magrs, featuring the character Iris Wildthyme (as played by Katy Manning in the Big Finish audios). Click on the thumbnails below for larger versions. The Big Finish site also notes recent mailings and releases, including the first installment of the Sapphire and Steel range starring David Warner ("Sympathy For the Devil") and Susannah Harker ("Shada").

Cover illustrations have now been posted on Amazon.co.uk for two forthcoming Doctor Who novels from BBC Books:Island of Death by Barry Letts, a third Doctor/Sarah Jane book due out on July 4; and Spiral Scratchby Gary Russell, the sixth Doctor/Mel book due out in early August. View each by clicking the thumbnails below; brief synopses for each are on ourReleases page. (Thanks to Dan O'Malley, Jim Trenowden, Philip Purser-Hallard)

The cover illustration for the forthcoming UK DVD release of Revelation of the Daleks has been issued by the BBC Shop; click on the thumbnail for a larger version. The DVD's official release date is July 11, 2005. Meanwhile, the BBC Shop also confirms the release of The Web Planet on DVD (reported as "being considered" in the latest DWM), as previously reported by Outpost Gallifrey some time ago; the William Hartnell serial is due out September 5 in the UK, followed on by "City of Death" in November and "The Beginning" in January 2006 as previously reported.

Editor's Note: As reported on Outpost Gallifrey's front page, I've been out of commission for a week due to illness. The following news article wraps up the series related highlights from the press on May 21-28:

The Billie Piper Story

The Dreamwatch exclusive that Billie Piper may not be appearing in all 13 episodes of Series Two -- reported on Outpost Gallifrey prior to the break -- was picked up in a large number of international news reports on Monday 23 May and throughout the following week. First off was the Daily Star, which gave the story front page status, and also set the tone of a show in crisis, its stars abandoning shipà With Rose's second-series episode count reportedly as low as three,The Sun soon joined the fray, along with the Daily Mirror, theDaily Mail, De Havilland, Brand Republic's Media Bulletin, The Scotsman, the Daily Record, Ireland Online, U.TV, Hello!, the Irish Examiner, theicNetwork, RTE Interactive, CBBC Newsround,Manchester Online, Contact Music, Female First, the Daily Express, World Entertainment News Network, the Herald-Sun (Aus), Newsquest, theEvening Standard, Digital Spy,SyFyPortal, The Guardian, theMelbourne Herald Sun, the Sydney Morning Herald, News.com (Aus),The Mercury (Aus), Dark Horizons, Mega Star, the Press Association, Northern Territory News (Aus), the Newcastle Herald, the Courier Mail (Queensland), The Age (Aus), Sky Showbiz, Ananova, ITV.com, the Western Mail, and the Doctor Who Appreciation Society rounded up much of the coverage on its own site.

BBC News and BBC Cult also reported on the reports, which prompted the press release that emerged on Monday afternoon from the BBC Press Office: "The BBC today confirmed that Billie Piper - who plays Doctor Who's companion Rose - will return for the second series on BBC ONE. A spokeswoman said: 'Billie Piper will return for the second series of Doctor Who. It has not been confirmed how many episodes she will be in. We are awaiting storylines and scripts.'" However, this is a not a denial that the actress is leaving, merely the official statement made by the production at this time.

The Daily Mirror was the first of many of the above papers to speculate on likely replacements for Rose, although its definition of 'likely' probably differs from the BBC's, including various singers and ex-singers, along with some familiar names from the acting and entertainment worlds. Among the names most often mentioned this past week were Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater in EastEnders) and Jennifer Ellison (formerly in Channel 4's Brookside, now a regular in various 'celebrity' reality TV shows). The latter, at least, seems to have cropped up so often thanks to assiduous efforts by her agent: she's blond (like Billie); she can sing (like Billie); she's a celebrity (like Billie); and she's also been firmly reported in recent weeks as the next Bond girl amongst several other projects. The Mirror notes that "auditions began last week and TV bosses are keen to sign a dark-haired girl with a posh accent."

Episodes 10-12

The official site was as usual updated earlier this week to preview the new episode, #10, The Doctor Dances. This week's Fear Factor preview gives the episode a score of 4: Chilling. The episode has also been previewed in the Sunday Times ("ingenious"), the Taunton Times, and The Stage, which concentrates on John Barrowman's role as Captain Jack.

As usual, this week's Radio Times continues to give plenty of coverage, once again selecting Doctor Who as its top pick for Saturday ("RT recommendsà", page 4): "an enjoyable, even uplifting adventure set during the Second World War." There's another letter on the new series, although this one has its writer taken aback by sight of "that little patterned dress I'd noticed in Top Shop!" ("Letters", page 10). After a two-page feature on Peter Davison's return in The Last Detective, this week's full-page "Doctor Who Watch" (page 16) is headed "To be continuedà" and concentrates on the importance of cliffhangers in Doctor Who, via an interview with Steven Moffat ("it is wonderful to build it up to that screaming pitch, and the series does -- and this is a matter of absolute fact -- have the best cliffhanger music ever in the world") and a couple of colour shots from The Doctor Dances. There's also an opportunity for RT readers to get a free copy of Pyramids of Marson DVD, as part of a DVD rentals promotion (page 17). Episode 10 recaptures the Pick of the Day slot ("Saturday's Choices", page 64, with a large photo of Captain Jack): "the Doctor's way of dealing with the advancing hordes [of zombies] is as sweet as it is unexpected. It's the first of many pleasing surprises in tonight's episode [à] if any watching grown-ups still can't remember why they fell in love with the show originally, this story ought to do the trick. Full of wonder and wit, it's also Christopher Eccleston's finest hour." The Doctor Dances also regains the photo (Richard Wilson and Eccleston) slot at the head of the evening's BBC1 listings (page 66), with the episode details including promotion for the Volume 1 DVD release, and Doctor Who Confidential's listing says that "this programme looks at some of the gizmos and gadgets at the good Doctor's disposal." The BBC3 repeats are confirmed for the 12.15am on Saturday night and 7pm on Sunday evening (with another Confidential Cut Down at 7.45pm).

The BBC Press Office has released its weekly programme information documents (note: all documents are PDFs) for the week beginning Saturday 4 June. The Saturday highlights document previews Bad Wolf episode 12 as follows: "The Tardis crew fight for their lives on the Game Station in Russell T DaviesÆs penultimate adventure through time and space. The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack have to fight for their lives on board the Game Station, but a far more dangerous threat is lurking, just out of sight. The Doctor realises that the entire human race has been blinded to the threat on its doorstep, and Armageddon is fast approaching. Christopher Eccleston plays The Doctor, Billie Piper plays Rose, John Barrowman plays Captain Jack Harkness, Camille Coduri plays Jackie Tyler, Noel Clarke plays Mickey Smith and special guest star Anne Robinson plays Anne Droid."

Ratings and Broadcasting

Episode 9, The Empty Child was well received by the UK press, with the Daily Express calling it "a brilliantly crafted episode". However, the overnight ratings for the episode were noticeably lower than for any other episode in the series, following the shift to an earlier timeslot to accommodate the Eurovision Song Contest, football-inspired last-minute changes to BBC1's Saturday evening schedule, and competition from a Star Wars film on ITV1. The episode scored a 6.6 million viewer average in its initial Saturday 21 May airing, but still placed a 34.9% share; the ratings peaked late in the episode 6.7m, and a 35% audience share, against 19% with 3.5m for The Phantom Menace. Once again, Doctor Who was top in its timeslot, although the FA Cup Final, Eurovision and Casualty all attracted higher ratings across the day. It also rated 181,390 viewers (4.2% share) in its 12.20am repeat late that night, and 669,400 viewers (4.2% share) in its Sunday night BBC3 repeat. It is interesting to note that the Sunday repeat is the highest-rated repeat of this season, meaning that it's possible that large numbers of people that intended to watch it Saturday missed out. Doctor Who Confidentialepisode nine had 405,130 viewers (3.2% share) in its initial airing at 7.10pm on Saturday 21 May, with 101,510 viewers (3.5% share) in the 1.05am repeat late that night.

The final UK ratings are in from BARB for episode 8, Father's Day: 8.06m, first in its timeslot, first for BBC1 on Saturday, fifth (behind four episodes of EastEnders) on BBC1 through the week, and 17^th in the week's top terrestrial programming, behind the usual round of soaps, Heartbeat and the British Soap Awards. More detailed ratings information for the whole series so far is also available in the Outpost Gallifrey Forum.

"Rose" made its ABC Australia debut on Saturday 21 May and was among the weekend's top-rating shows, with 1,109,686 reported viewers. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) noted that the series "was first in its 7.30pm timeslot for the ABC. It won in four of the five major capital cities, only just edged out by Channel 7's Inspector Lynley in Brisbane."

In addition to our announcement last week about South Korea getting the series, Benjamin Elliott of "This Week in Doctor Who" reports that TV2 inFinland is the latest acquirer of the new series. TV2 airs English language programming in English with subtitles - no dubbing. The station's statement (in Finnish, translated), says that it "has purchased the rights to Doctor Who, the cult youth sci-fi series, from the BBC. The BBC has produced an impressive new version which will be shown on TV2." This means that Finland is added to the list that includes the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy and South Korea.

Canada's CBC has scheduled repeats of Doctor Who Sundays at 7PM (7:30PM Newfoundland) starting June 19. This will make the CBC the first network around the world to give the Doctor Who episodes a second airing (not counting same week encores). It also means that the repeats will begin before the first run of the series on Tuesday nights ends on June 28.

20th Century Roadshow will be transmitted on Sunday, June 5 at 6.45pm on BBC1. The special features Doctor Who merchandise and memorabilia. The Doctor Who Appreciation Society has a review/preview available at their website.

Merchandise

Volume 1 of the Doctor Who new series DVDs, comprising "Rose", "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead" was officially released on Monday 16 May, to great reviews and sales success. It made a Top 10 debut in several charts of DVD sales, including at Number 9 in the Official Chart listed on the BBCs' Radio 1 site. Several high street stores have also featured the DVD in their top tens (although these tend to be for promotional purposes rather than sales based), and the release was the bestseller at the BBC Shop as of 27 May, ahead of all other DVDs, CDs and books. Reviews have appeared in various Newsquest Media titles. (If you'd like to order it from Amazon.co.uk and support the Outpost,click here.)

The first three BBC Books novels featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose were officially published on Thursday 19 May and, according to Friday 27 May'sPublishing News, are already into a second printing after extremely strong sales. Publishing News reports that the three books "were reprinted before they even officially hit the shops on Thursday of last week. The original print run was 100,000 for all four, and the reprint was 75,000." "They're very, very successful, which isn't surprising considering the publicity and reviews that Doctor Who has had," Jon Howells, Press and Communications Manager for Ottakar's, told Publishing News. "They've had great sales, and I think that will continue." The novels have received strong promotion from UK booksellers, with Ottakar's and Tesco amongst those offering all three for the price of two. Friday 27 May's edition of The Bookseller also reports that the three novels are at five, six and seven in the "Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers" chart. Meanwhile, The Independent had Justin Richards' "Monsters and Villains" paperback at Number 3 in the Cinema and Television chart.

Looking ahead to September, the latest issue of DWM confirms the three Ninth Doctor novels previously reported on Outpost Gallifrey as "The Deviant Strain" by Justin Richards, "Only Human" by Gareth Roberts and "The Stealers of Dreams" by Steve Lyons. The same issue carries an interview with the authors of the current range, Richards, Stephen Cole and Jacqueline Rayner, and previews the provisional cover for "Only Human".Amazon.co.uk has released the cover for Only Human which can be seen at right; click on the thumbnail for a larger version.

Amazon now has a brief synopsis for Doctor Who: The Shooting Scriptscoming later this year. "This book collects together the entire shooting scripts for the first series. Seven of the scripts are by Russell T Davies, with the remainder by Stephen Moffat, Robert Shearman, Paul Cornell and The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss. Each of the scripts will be illustrated with screen grabs, ensuring the book appeals to broad audience. Introductions by the writers will explain the inspirations for the new series and the fascinating process of creating a Doctor Who script."

Series Two News

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine began to reach subscribers on Monday 23 May (its official publication date being Thursday, 26 May) and has one big -- if probably unavoidable -- spoiler for Series 2 which we have placed in theSPOILER TAG at the bottom of this news update. The magazine alsodenies rumours that David Walliams of BBC3's Little Britain comedy series will be writing an episode of the next series. Producer Phil Collinson states that there is "no truth in the tabloid rumours". Meanwhile, Russell T Davies is working on the as yet untitled Christmas special, which is confirmed as having a duration of 60 minutes. In his "Production Notes" column, Davies also reveals that Tom MacRae has delivered his first episode ("brilliant"), which contains the words "sickness", "mole" and "meat", and that episode numbers have yet to be allocated to the stories for Series 2.

Several news reports this week have suggested that Christopher Eccleston will be in the Christmas special; however, we do not believe he will be, instead appearing for the final time in episode 13 of this series.

Press Coverage

An article entitled "The return of Doctor Who" has been circulated widely by the Associated Press over the past week, appearing in a variety of mainstream press in North America, including at CNN.com and in a variety of local papers.

Press response to the series in Australia has been as generally positive as elsewhere with lots of reviews, previews and other articles, including several pieces in the Sydney Morning Herald ("Thank goodness for Who weekly -- there's no knocking the return of the wild-eyed chap in the big blue Tardis"), Northern Territory News, the Sunday Mail, the West Australian (Perth), The Australian, The Advertiser, the Courier Mail (Queensland), the Melbourne Herald Sun, The Age, Townsville Bulletin (Aus), the Newcastle Herald

It appears that certain press reports of Christopher Eccleston's post-Who intentions were, once again, inaccurate. He has not, according to bothEmpire and Moviehole, been cast as Silas in the forthcoming adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code", the role having gone to Paul Bettany. Eccleston was, however, seen by various newspapers taking part in the Great Manchester Run, which raised ú1 million for charity.

John Barrowman is interviewed by the Rainbow Network in which he says that "It's been great, but it's about to get much better! The thing is, is that I know what's going to happen, so I'm not watching it with the same baited breath that everybody else is. I know all the little secrets and storylines, but I am enjoying it; I think it's one of the better things on Saturday evening television." He notes that he is "in it until the end of this series, which is a cliff-hanger, and then we'll to wait and see what happens in the second and third series." On working with Eccleston and Piper: "It was just fantastic. When I initially started, which was just before Christmas 2004, I went into a series that had been filming since July. Everyone knew I was joining the team because I was hired at the same time as they were, but it was weird to walk into a situation where they'd been working together for a while. However, after we shot the first couple of scenes things just clicked and we had a great time together." He also discusses his next role, in the film version of Mel Brooks' "The Producers".

In an interview with The Stage, Peter Davison has said that his young children find the new series of Doctor Who "too scary", and ask to see old videos of "Daddy" playing the character instead. "They reckon the new Doctor Who is too scary and asked if they could watch Daddy playing him instead," Davison tells the Stage. "Although in fact, I'd say that was a compliment to the new series, as it implies that my episodes weren't scary at all and they merely wanted to be comforted by them." He also notes his feelings about Eccleston's departure: "I feel sorry for the fans, as I feel they've been rather let down. What it really needed, after all the effort and dedication of the fans over the years to get the show back on air, would be to have someone committed enough to stay with the role for two or three years. As it is, the fans must be disappointed and left feeling up in the air a bit."

Also in this week's The Stage, a note that "Jane Tranter, BBC head of drama commissioning, has pledged to open up early evening schedules on weekends and bank holidays to family-oriented drama, following the widespread success of Doctor Who. The show consistently attracts ratings of more than 7 million viewers and has already been credited with reviving BBC1's Saturday night fortunes. Now executives are hopeful it could mark a renaissance of family drama, a genre that has fallen out of favour in recent years with broadcasters and demographics experts blaming a lack of demand for it." Tranter tells the Stage that she thinks Doctor Who "has shown there is a real appetite for part of the week being set aside for family drama. ... It is clear that certain genres, such as fantasy or some real life situations, have the potential to get lots of people interested but if you are going to appeal to an 11-year-old and a 41-year-old there has to be something in its presentation that is universal."

Brand Republic's Digital Bulletin has reported on the huge online success of the Dalek game. The story says that "The Last Dalek" has "amassed 500,000 separate plays in just three weeks [à] More than 275 websites now list the game and its popularity is said to be spreading around the world from players in countries including Australia, Switzerland and Japan. The game was also a top-three entry into the Lycos Viral Game Chart".

In the Guardian over a week ago, there was a note in the Smallweed column with an ultimatum, which we reported on these pages: "Don't do away with our Daleks, Davies." May 28's Guardian featured a reply from Russell T Davies: "Dear Mr Smallweed, I surrender. You win. My neighbours have stuck your campaign message in their car windows and keep driving past me, shaking an angry fist in my direction. All right, all right, all right, the Daleks will be back. Hundreds of 'em. No more girly consciences either, they're back to being mean metal bastards. What d'you fancy next year? Cybermen?"

Some TV mentions: During discussion on the London Eye controversy on "Richard And Judy" on Tuesday 24 May, Richard suddenly introduced a clip from Rose featuring the London icon. Friday's "Lenny Henry Show" had a brief bit on the news about Billie's departure (and Daleks serving in the Queen Vic (Eastenders)!). The Beeb showed the wrong trailer after "Neighbours" Friday evening, put on the Father's Day one instead! The correct one was shown after the news and Eastenders. And another comment about Doctor Who budgets on "Have I Got News For You!"

Some other brief press mentions: the Times mentions Billie Piper in a list of suggested replacements for Kylie Minogue at Glastonbury; the Scottish Daily Record features an article on John Barrowman (and his Scottish connection); and theBristol Evening Post notes that a "junkie burglar who worked on Doctor Who set" has been jailed.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Peter Anghelides, Andy Parish, Chuck Foster, Paul Greaves, Robert Booth, Ryan Piekenbrock, Duncan Rose, Paul Hayes, Scott Matthewman, Peter Weaver, Adam Kirk, James Sellwood, Widya Santoso, Jim Trenowden, Doug Vermes and Rich Finn)