The preliminary overnight ratings for World War Three are in: 7.3 million people watched the episode last evening. More importantly, "Doctor Who" shattered its competition: the first installment of ITV's "Celebrity Wrestling" only received 3.8 million viewers, a significant drop (of over 50%) from the previous ITV occupant of the time slot, "Ant and Dec." ViewingFigures doesn't have the regular overnights up yet, for some reason; these figures come from reports on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum by the editors of "Doctor Who Magazine".

Update 24 April 1830 GMT: "Doctor Who" averaged a more precise 7.26 million viewers with an audience share of 38.0%, peaking at 7.90 million viewers during the broadcast. "Celebrity Wrestling" averaged 3.8 million as noted, peaking at 4.3 million, audience share 20.8%. "Doctor Who" in fact had the highest audience share of the whole of Saturday, day and night, and was second only to "Casualty" in total ratings. (Thanks to Ian Levine, Steve Berry, Tom Spilsbury)

The official ratings for The Unquiet Dead were released by BARB: 8.86 million viewers officially watched the show; it was the fifth most watched program of the week, beaten only by multiple episodes of "Coronation Street," "EastEnders," "Emmerdale" and "Heartbeat." The show actually came in at number 15 for the week, though three of the other four series (except "Heartbeat") show multiple episodes weekly. These final ratings include viewers who recorded the program for viewing later in the week.

Overnight ratings from the Tuesday airing this week of "The Unquiet Dead" on CBC in Canada show that 878,000 viewers tuned in for the episode, down very slightly from "The End of the World." Once again Doctor Who was #2 in it's timeslot and #4 in primetime; the Tuesday night winner was "The Amazing Race" which switched places with last week's winner "American Idol," which now sits in second place for the night.

In Australia, ABC television has started its campaign promoting the new Doctor Who; on Wednesday, April 20, just after they screened the BBC comedy "Nighty Night," they showed a general "trailer" for their broadcast of the new series in May, which included clips from Doctor Who (only from Rose, it seems). Just before the next program, local comedy news commentary "The Glasshouse," they played a five-second teaser which was simply a shot of the TARDIS materialising with green text typing itself on the screen saying "Guess who's back!"

Radio Times will be releasing a Doctor Who special, focused on the Daleks, next Tuesday, to coincide with the broadcast of the forthcoming Dalek episode of the new series. (Radio Times will have a direct advert link from these pages during that time so you'll be able to order it directly if you don't already get it!)

Today's Sun features spoilers for the forthcoming episode "Dalek" which we've reproduced in the spoiler tag at the end of this column. Accompanied by a picture of Rose with the chained-up Dalek and a smaller picture of Billie Piper, both story and headlines give extensive plot details about the episode - due to air in the UK on April 30 - and there are huge spoilers.

Channel 4 chat show Richard and Judy had a 14-minute slot on Thursday featuring Sylvester McCoy and Nick Briggs to promote "Dalek." The section started with a clip from the next episode - World War Three - with the Doctor confronting the Slitheen, which was followed by a pre-filmed insert of a vox pop of members of the public saying how much they liked Doctor Who both old and new style. Asked for his thoughts on the new series, McCoy was generally in favour, commenting that he was envious of the equipment and technology now available. He said that he became hooked after being sent a DVD of the first episode to review for BBCi, but added that he wasn't very keen on the new interior of the TARDIS. Briggs, who voices the Dalek in the episode to be shown in the UK on 30 April, told of the "really lovely atmosphere" on set, and said that there was "proper character stuff" in his dialogue exchanges with the Doctor and Rose. The ring modulator device, used to produce the distinctive Dalek speech pattern, was shown, then later demonstrated, followed by a clip from McCoy's adventure Remembrance of the Daleks. Viewers were reminded that the Daleks' ability to "fly" was shown in Remembrance, and then an "exclusive preview" clip - lasting one minute seven seconds - from Dalek was shown. McCoy was asked what he was doing now (touring in Arsenic and Old Lace) and Briggs managed to get a quick mention for the Big Finish range of audio CDs. The new DVD and BBC CDs were briefly highlighted. At the end of the slot, it was announced that Billie Piper would be appearing live on the show on Friday 29 April. Richard and Judy normally airs at 5pm.

Blue Peter will also have another Doctor Who event on the same day, April 29. "The gang go behind the scenes of Doctor Who, the destination for this year's summer expedition is revealed, Rooster perform in the studio and Meg has an exciting piece of news."

The lead story for TV Biz in today's The Sun says that the stars of top British comedy series Little Britain - David Walliams and Matt Lucas - are to have cameo roles in the next series of Doctor Who, which begins filming in July. According to the Sun story, Lucas - who appeared in Russell T Davies's period romp Casanova - is pals with David Tennant. Walliams is also said to be a Doctor Who fan. Lucas and Walliams won two Baftas on Sunday, and a source was quoted as saying: "David Tennant was mobbed at the Baftas on Sunday night. He had a long line of celebs queuing [sic] up at his table to congratulate him on getting the part. Everyone was begging, 'Get me on the show.'" The story was accompanied by a mock-up picture of Lucas and Walliams sitting in Davros casings, with Lucas in character as Little Britain gay character Dafydd and saying: "I'm the only gay in the Daleks" - parodying his character's catchphrase "I'm the only gay in the village." Walliams's image merely says: "Ahem!" There was no sign of the story being posted on The Sun's internet site. Walliams was also pictured as Little Britain character hotelier Ray McClooney. Little Britain already has a strong Doctor Who link in Tom Baker, who has provided the narration for both series, and both Walliams and Lucas have appeared in "Big Finish" audios ("Phantasmagoria" and "The One Doctor," respectively). The story has also been reported on Ananova which reports that pop star Will Young also wants to make a comedy appearance in the new series, as well as on Sky News.

A clarification about Eve Myles, which we reported the other day was going to appear in "Belonging," a BBC Wales series, according to reports in the Daily Star. Says our correspondent Dean Braithwaite: "The Daily Star piece makes it sound as if this is a new, one-off part for her, which is not the case. Eve has played Ceri Lewis - one of the main characters in Belonging, a BBC Wales drama - since it began in 1999. The current series - series 6 - is airing on BBC1 on Wednesdays at 10.50 pm and the digital channel BBC2W on Thursdays at 9 pm. Series 7 is currently in production. (NB: not to be confused with the one-off ITV1 drama Belonging, starring Brenda Blethyn, which aired in 2004.) Eve Myles is lovely and her character very feisty. Anyone intersested can read more about Belonging at its BBC website where there are biogs and photos of all the characters. Belonging is a brilliant series that, unfortunately, does not air in the rest of the UK. Anyone living in Wales, however, should seek this series out!"

Could Billie Piper leave the series sometime during the next season? That's the rumor on the Popbitch gossip column site, which reportedly notes that actress who plays Rose might leave at some point next season, following in the footsteps of Christopher Eccleston. However, we should stress that this is only hearsay and rumor and hasn't been confirmed anywhere. Piper, meanwhile, was named on the "World's 100 Sexiest Women" poll in FHM magazine this week, coming in at number 62.

Next week's Radio Times features an article regarding the ratings of "The End of the World" and the departure of Christopher Eccleston. "It was inevitable that the second episode of Doctor Who would shed a significant proportion of its viewers. Doubtless, a great number of the 2.6 million people who decided not to bother with episode two had satisfied their curiosity the week before, while others were perhaps enjoying some 'unseasonably hot weather' and doing whatever people do in 'unseasonably hot weather'. But I wonder just how many of those 'missing' 2.6 million people had walked away after taking umbrage with the show's star Christopher Eccleston, who, we learnt just days after his Doctor Who debut on BBC 1, won't be returning to the role for a second series. The outcry after the BBC confirmed that Eccieston wouldn't do a second series was immediate and spectacular. Venom was tipped by the bucketload. Eccieston was pilloried on internet fansites, called 'the most hated man in science fiction', and became the subject of disproportionately huge, spiteful features in national newspapers. The news was disappointing, of course, and the timing of the announcement was poor, leaving viewers to sit through the remaining 12 episodes knowing full well that its star has no wish to return. (It turns out the BBC made the revelation as a response to journalists' questions, and without consulting the actor first about the nature of its official statement.) But treating Eccleston almost as if he's a war criminal shows an absurd lack of perspective, particularly in an age when the 13 episodes he's filmed would amount to two series of most other dramas. Still, despite all the nonsense, there are some lessons here. Audiences can be very proprietorial about their TV heroes, and Doctor Who devotees are probably the most committed of all. (On radio, The Archers is similarly treasured by its fans, who take very personally what happens in Ambridge.) And no one likes their heroes to be slighted or mucked around. If there's one thing to be learnt about the extreme reaction to Eccieston's decision, it's that audiences' affections are not to be trifled with. But the point about heroes is that they endure. Doctor Who survived years in the wilderness after being kicked off air, and he will return in another incarnation. In short: calm down, dear, he's only a Time Lord."

Is Toby Whithouse writing for the second season of the new series? There are rumors that suggest that he might be one of the writers from several sources, although nothing has been confirmed. Whithouse was one of the creators and writers of the Channel 4 series "No Angels" as well as a writer on "Attachments" and "Where the Heart Is"; he's also an actor who appeared in "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "RKO 281". We report only for the sake of completeness...

There has been a small update to the official Doctor Who website, introducing a panel of children aged four to twelve, which they call their "Fear Forecasters," who are giving ratings for the scariness of the episodes.

The BBC Press Office has today released the fifth phase of its Doctor Whopress pack, featuring interviews with Rob Shearman, Bruno Langley and Nick Briggs, with three new colour photographs from episode six. The interviews contain mild spoilers for the episode.

A reporter for the Northern Echo noted this week that seeing Prime Minister Tony Blair on "Ant and Dec" caused the journalist to think to himself, "He should've gone on Doctor Who on the BBC because that programme gets a bigger audience". "But any publicity is good publicity during an election campaign, even if the Doctor shouted, 'If you want aliens, you've got them - they're in Downing Street'," he noted.

The Daily Star notes that the next Doctor, David Tennant, is now involved with Sarah Parish of "Cutting It." "The couple couldn't hide their fast-developing relationship at Sunday's TV bash where they chatted and cuddled in the plush ballroom. And after David, who hails from Paisley, had blagged some freebies they left at midnight to start celebrating his 34th birthday... in private. Sarah, 35, fell for the charming thesp when they played lovers in musical drama Blackpool. They only became an item after filming finished, but the chemistry on set was there for all to see. A source told us: 'All the singing and dancing in the show really lowered inhibitions. It had to because most of the actors had never done anything like it before. ... There was such a rapport between them after that. Everyone was saying they should get together."

The Daily Record comments that Doctor Who has always been a thriller. "So what if kids were so frightened they had to hide behind the sofa?," writes a reader to the paper, discussing the reports about comments that "The Unquiet Dead" was too scary. "Millions of us were scared witless in the '60s, '70s and '80s and were, at times, hiding behind the sofa. As far as I know, it didn't do any of us damage. The real problem is the adults who complained. If they really have an issue about the show why didn't they just switch off immediately? Doctor Who is back for a reason - to entertain, excite and frighten. Surely the adults who complained knew beforehand about the episode, there was plenty in the Press and clips on the TV, even after the previous episode. Doctor Who is here to stay - fresh, exciting and scary. It's fantastic." We say bravo to the writer, C. Watson of Ayrshire.

Yesterday's National Post in Canada printed an article (which was also included in many local papers including the Edmonton Journal and the Montreal Gazette) called "That Dickens of a Doctor" that called Charles Dickens an "action hero" in "The Unquiet Dead." In its review, the National Post said that "watching the confident revival of one of the UK's most silly and beloved serials has been one of the pleasures of the TV year so far. ... Not so long ago, Doctor Who was presumed dead and buried. No one could have anticipated the magnificent journey it has become. Like the hapless Sneed, Doctor Who writer Russell Davies has succeeded in bringing the dead back to life. Who knew?" Also, theToronto Star ran a piece noting that ratings in Canada are up for "This is Wonderland" on CBC, which airs Tuesdays at 9pm, thanks to its new lead-in, Doctor Who. And this week after the broadcast of "Unquiet Dead" on CBC, as usual Christopher Eccleston made recorded comments ("hope you liked this week's Doctor Who"), then introduced some behind the scenes clips while the credits rolled... and during the credits it was noted that the production credit was "BBC Wales in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation," perhaps the first official indication of co-production that's been displayed.

Some other stories of note: FilmForce discusses the rumors about Tennant's salary; the TypePad, Monsters and Critics and Sky Showbiz sites all discuss Eccleston's casting in the "Da Vinci Code" movie (which we've reported about this week); and the Forbidden Planet website has a collection of images of items they state will be official Doctor Who merchandise released later this year.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, John Bowman, Chuck Foster, Steve Hatcher, Mike Doran, Chris Winwood, Ian O'Brien, Dean Braithwaite, Graham Kibble-White, Robert Booth, Michael Davoren, Mustafa Hirji, Simon Burt, Benjamin McKenzie and Rod Mammitzsch)

The official site has metamorphosed again, changing slightly (but keeping the "BBC News" theme) for the next episode, "World War III". Note: there are spoilers on the front page including what the aliens look like and a spoiler on two of the characters, so if you haven't seen the episode, it's probably not a good idea to look. (They've also got a link to that UNIT website we reported on yesterday...)

Update on this weekend's viewing figures: Doctor Who Confidential on April 16 had 497,660 viewers (3.59% viewing share), while the BBC3 Sunday night repeats of Aliens of London and Confidential had 598,800 viewers (3.98% share) and 405,030 viewers (2.54% share), respectively. The good news here is that, even though "Ant and Dec" beat "Doctor Who" for the first time, these figures performed really well again. "Confidential" was only beaten by Sky One's "The Simpsons" and was second in the multi channel time slot Even better, the repeat showings on Sunday of "Aliens of London" was number one in its time slot, "Confidential" at number five.

According to the Daily Mail, David Tennant's salary will be around half of what Christopher Eccleston's was. "David Tennant may be the Casanova of telly but he's in a Tardis as far as money is concerned," says the Mail. "It's been revealed that the Beeb will only pay him half the salary Christopher Eccleston got to play Doctor Who. Shallow Grave star Christopher, 41, announced he was bowing out straight after the first episode of the comeback series had aired, after a 16-year hiatus. David, 33, will only get around half of Chris' ú600,000 to become the tenth timelord. According to the Daily Mail, with all the cutbacks at the BBC, Doctor Who's producers were also under intense pressure to cut costs. A source said: 'There was some relief that Chris went as he was so expensive. The show was only going to be recommissioned if the costs were cut." There is considerable speculation that finances had something to do with the change of lead actors, as noted in this article.

Friday's Broadcast (dated 15 April), the broadcast industry trade magazine, features some comments in their ratings section with regard to the first episode of the new Doctor Who series and the mention of a new peak rating. The ratings section itself (p.30) features the by-line at the top: "The new Doctor Who materialises into seventh place with 10.8 million viewers - but can it continue to hold its own among the soaps?" There is then an article about the week's ratings generally, titled "Old favourites from the 1970s put BBC1 ahead." The article begins: "The climax of the film 'The Last Samurai' has two ill-matched armies facing up to each other for a setpiece battle - the Samurai, armed with bows and arrows, their enemy with cannons and rifles. This week, Saturday night was a bit like that - the light entertainment Samurai forces of ITV verses the high-tech new generation of 'Doctor Who.' The result - 10.8 million for BBC1's 'Doctor Who' and 7.5 million for ITV1's 'Ant and Dec', both at 7pm. At its peak, 11.3 million people were watching 'Doctor Who.'The magazine also shows ratings for multichannel only and places Doctor Who Confidential in third place with 0.87 million viewers for Saturday 26th March, behind Tsunami Football Testimonial at 1 (Sky One) and Meet the Parents at 2 (BBC Three). Doctor Who: A New Dimension is at 67 in the list of network programmes with a final rating of 4.02 million and a 25.55% share.

Today's Mirror has reworked David Tennant's comments at the BAFTA ceremony at the weekend as an "interview". Apparently, "Tennant confessed to 3am [showbiz gossip column] that he's terrified of messing up the biggest role of his career", although there are no quotes to back this up, and the rest of the piece is more concerned with innuendo about his love life and drinking habits.

The Guardian today includes an article by Zoe Williams, "It's the 1980s, but don't panic", which comments on the return of Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "If you're old enough for your formative years to be the focus of all cultural retro-thrusts, then the chances are that you're the ones in charge, and it's your fault, not your parents' at all, that everything's going wrong." The same paper's round-up of media coverage in this morning's press notes the Mirror story and that the Daily Mail is claiming that David Tennant "has been forced to accept a cut-price deal from the BBC".

"Exclusive: Doctor Who Monsters in the Making: meet the Slitheen!" says the front cover of the new edition of Radio Times, which, for the fifth consecutive week, has Doctor Who as its top recommendation for Saturday in its selection of the week's best television (page 4), with a small photo of the Doctor walking past a police car. This week's letters include a response from Karen Davies (page 9) defending her win in the Mastermind Special last month: "Surely I'm not the first contestant to win on the strength of their general knowledge as well as their chosen subject?" This week's full-colour, two-page spread (pages 12 and 13) shows Neill Gorton making Slitheen outfits and a smaller Slitheen model, accompanied by a brief interview with Gorton. This weekend's episode is again one of Saturday's Choices (page 62), described as "a strange but enjoyable brew of body-snatching horror (unsuitable for the very young), political intrigue and flatulence gags [...] Nifty effects and Russell T Davies's wry one-liners keep things humming, while references to weapons of mass destruction and the future prime minister keep the chaotic action nicely grounded. But you sense that the best is yet to come in this series." Also selected is the next edition of the "terrific" Doctor Who Confidential: "Comparisons between the old and new series are often amusing, and fans will smile to see some old faces." Finally, "Next week in RT... They're back! Don't miss our Dalek special, and free giant poster offer!"

Prospect magazine says that "First came University Challenge and the return of Parkinson. Now we have got the return of Doctor Who, Come Dancing, Ask the Family, The Two Ronnies and Quatermass-all retro-television. There is no doubt which has had the most impact. Over the past weeks you could not escape the Dalek jokes, Ron Grainer's haunting music, the forty-something nostalgia. Part of its secret was the format which gave the writers the freedom to take the doctor and his companion(s) anywhere, any time. Yet it was always very much about one place at one time: 1960s Britain. The first episode of the revived series, like the last episode in 1989 and the very first episode in 1963, is set in contemporary London. As executive producer and chief scriptwriter, Russell T Davies, said the doctor and his new companion "are deliberately running past Big Ben, they're on Westminster bridge, there are double decker buses, because that's a great big signal at the start saying, 'This is British.'" But what kind of Britain? Trafalgar Square and black cabs or Rose's single mum, glued to daytime television, tower blocks and Cockney accents. This uncertainty about Britishness was always at the heart of the original Doctor Who. ... British television, like Britain in the 1960s, is lost in time, without a positive sense of identity. What is BBC1 for? Or ITV? As they haemorrhage viewers, they keep looking back to a lost, golden age when everyone knew what the big networks were there for. Wheeling out the Daleks is just a symptom of a loss of nerve."

According to today's Daily Star, Eve Myles (Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead") will next play an underwear model in "Belonging," a BBC Wales series.

Some other press reports: CBBC Newsround Showbiz had a brief mention on the Sunday (17 April) edition, which was voiceover about the series being 'too scary for kids, after 63 complaints were received' (which contradicts the number reported by BBC News), over a clip from the Doctor Who main titles buried in their 'other news' section. In today's (19 April) METRO newspaper, a letter from Darrell Mlynarz, Manchester, headed 'JUST ZIP IT' asks: "After viewing Saturday's episode of Doctor Who, I think someone should check out John Prescott's (Deputy Prime Minister) forehead for signs of a zip?" And today at 12:25 a Dalek asked a question in relation to eligibility to seek election on the BBC Daily Politics Election Special, in the Ask Daisy section.

More links from stories the past few days: the casting of David Tennant at theHerald Sun, New York Times, Chud News, BBC News, Variety(subscription needed); Christopher Eccleston in "The DaVinci Code" story reported at Film Fodder, Contact Music, FemaleFirst, Film Guardian; Tennant at the BAFTA's reported at Kerala Next.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Chuck Foster, Andy Parish, Mark Williams, Richard Estep, Richard Allison, Mark Stammers, Steven Laing)

News items from Saturday through Monday. (Note: we're still awaiting ratings news for Saturday night's "Confidential" and yesterday's BBC3 repeats...)

David Tennant was at last night's BAFTA awards ceremony, though he was not nominated. He did, however, speak briefly about his role, noting that "The expectations are fierce." Asked how long he had signed up for, he said: "Let's get through one at a time. I'd love to do 100 years but they might sack me". He also noted that Tom Baker wore a long scarf but they havenÆt worn one since so I donÆt know if I will wear one." Asked if he was going to play the part in a Scottish accent he said: "All of that is up for grabs at the moment but Dr Who is the best show ever and I canÆt wait." Tennant also noted that he was delighted that Billie Piper would continue in the role as his assistant Rose: "SheÆs not going to get away from me, I think sheÆs a very good actress." You can view news stories at the following sites: BBC News,Hello Magazine, Vogue, Evening Times, Scotsman.

Lots of coverage of the David Tennant casting news the past two days. Here's an updated list of everywhere we know of with links, although no new information in any of them: Times Online (updated link), FilmForce, ABC Australia, Dark Horizons, CNN, NineMSN, Contact Music,InTheNews, TV New Zealand, The Herald,Sydney Morning Herald,Evening Standard, RTE, , , CBC News, TV Squad, Stuff.co.nz, NZ Herald, BBC Radio 1, Zap2IT, The Stage, Regional Film and Video Ireland, Ananova (with second story here),icNetwork, MegaStar,MyTelus, Yabedo.

The official site's parody site Who Is Doctor Who? (glimpsed in the first episode, "Rose"), now has at least two companions. The BBC has opened theunit.org.uk UNIT website and has registered the site badwolf.co.uk. Keen-eyed viewers may start recognizing clues as to what that last site will entail...

The BBC has begun to trail Saturday's episode in tandem with "Strictly Dance Fever". Starting with "Strictly Dance Fever" the voice-over runs: "An entire nation desperately trying to stay in time...and a Time Lord who's biggest problem is just staying alive! Saturday from six on BBC1." The "Doctor Who" segment contains a mix of the specially shot trailer (Eccleston walking to the TARDIS console and Rose and the Doctor standing facing the camera) along with clips from the upcoming episode: the Doctor's "Oi! You want aliens? You've got 'em!", a Slitheen smashing through a door and chasing Rose and Harriet Jones through another door, two Slitheen and the Doctor running through a corridor, and Rose/Harriet Jones hiding behind furniture as a Slitheen crows "Where are you?". The whole trailer runs to 20 seconds and was transmitted this evening at 10pm straight after "Casanova" (Strange that...!).

Christopher Eccleston is to star as "an albino killer monk" alongside Tom Hanks in the movie version of "The Da Vinci Code," according to news reports. "Insiders say he will play brainwashed monk Silas whose life is controlled by the Opus Dei religious sect in the best-selling novel about the Holy Grail," says theMirror. "A movie insider said: 'As soon as film producers spotted Chris on Doctor Who they knew they had to go for him - he has everything they want. He is a very serious and respected actor who always gives a great performance. He would be brilliant as Silas. Some big names have already signed up for the film. Chris has now been sent a script and is mulling it over - but he has been told he may have to wear a long white wig.' Oscar winner Hanks plays the book's hero, American academic Robert Langdon, while French beauty Audrey Tatou will be codebreaker Sophie Neveu. British film veterans Sir Anthony Hopkins and Michael Caine are tipped for the role of eccentric Holy Grail hunter Sir Leigh Teabing and craggy French star Jean Reno has been cast as police chief Bezu Fache. The movie will be directed by American Ron Howard and is due to be released in May next year. Shooting is about to begin in Paris and will also include locations in London and Scotland." Sites covering this includeMovieHole, Dark Horizons, Digital Spy,FilmForce, The Hollywood News.

One of the telephone numbers from the episode "Aliens of London" turns out to have been real. Says the Behind the Sofa Again site, "As well as the episode being set in a year's time, there are a couple of other things I noticed (and I don't think anyone else has mentioned) on watching it again: The housing project in which Rose lives is called The Powell Estate. Could this be a reference to the controller of the BBC who actually cancelled the show in the late eighties? Although neither of the telephone numbers for the Alien Helpline on the Rose posters work, there is another one on the doors of the army vehicle which are block The Doctor's sight of the craft and what's happening. If you call it, there is an answering machine which thanks people for calling what sounds like the Freephone Army Driving line (whatever that might be)." Of course, we'd rather you don't call it...

New Zealand Broadcaster Paul Holmes talked to UK correspondent Malcolm Stuart on Holmes' weekday morning Breakfast show on 15/04/05 on NZ Radio Station Newstalk ZB. Amongst the topics discussed was of the reaction from the New Series amongst many parents who believe that it is too scary for their children to watch. An audio link can be foundhere; scroll down the page and look for the heading marked 'Dr Who spooks kids'.

From our correspondent Prakash Bakrania regarding our report about televised announcements (or, a lack thereof) of the Tennant casting: "I just read the following about News 24 not covering the Tennant announcement much. Admittedly there wasn't much because of Rover but I did leave the DVD Recorder running from 3am to 9am and it did record about five news instances of Tennant's arrival as the Tenth Doctor."

Additional discussion of the ratings report from yesterday at Sky News, theMirror, the Guardian and the Daily Record.

The Guardian reviewed the latest episode: "Doctor Who (Saturday, BBC1) has picked up a lot of publicity in the last week for terrifying the nation's tots - just in time to promote the best episode yet. It was called Aliens in London, and it actually lived up to that marvellous title. A spaceship crashed into Big Ben, and this was such an audacious opening, fraught with echoes of 9/11, that we watched the rest in delighted disbelief. A pig in a spacesuit ran down a corridor into a hail of bullets, sinister farting fat people took over 10 Downing Street, and, best of all, some horrible baby-faced aliens were unleashed to terrify yet more kiddies. Now that's what I call entertainment." "Aliens of London" was also the Pick of the Day yesterday in the Times: "Davies's cartoonish sense of humour is one of the main obstacles standing in the way of the current series improving on the Pertwee and Baker eras. His reliance on noisy bodily functions (the burping bin in the first episode, the farting lizards here) might appeal to the eight-year-old in him that he aims the new show at, as will the Benny Hill style chases through No10 that really require a Yakety Sax soundtrack (and somebody who is able to run and can stand in for Billie Piper). He also seems overly proud of one of the best lines from the pilot episode ('Lots of planets have a north'), so that gets wheeled out again. Fortunately, however, there is something for an adult audience, too, including political satire -naughtily smuggled into a normally escapist drama shortly before a general election. As the Doctor tries to prevent nuclear destruction, aided by Rose and an earnest MP (Penelope Wilton), the PM's grounds for making war mockingly echo Tony Blair's: somewhere in space there are 'massive weapons of destruction' that can be 'deployed in 45 minutes'. Fortunately, the Doctor remembers how Hannibal managed to cross the Alps with his elephants, so the world may yet be saved."

Today's edition of Blue Peter contained a report on the Wray Village Scarecrow Festival and began with presenter Simon Thomas' introduction: "Now, today the Blue Peter garden has been invaded by some very strange things. Not aliens from the brand-new Doctor Who series...". However, despite Simon's promise, a small mock-up of a Black Dalek could clearly be seen throughout most of the item on scarecrow building...

In today's edition of The Sun TV critic Sara Nathan chooses "Casanova" as one of her TV Picks, ending her preview with: "Fans of David Tennant, fear not, pretty boy will return...in a Tardis." Also, in today's edition of News Of The World is an article in which it is claimed that Christopher Eccleston is splitting from his Cardiff-based girlfriend as he "needs more space". It is also reported that the Labour Party is attempting to recruit Eccleston, with his 'working class' background, for their General Election campaign.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Jamie Austin, Prakash Bakrania, Paul Hayes, Faiz Rehman, Jamie Austin, Stuart Ian Burns, David French, Alistair Moore, Ben Goudie, Mark Oliver, Rich Kirkpatrick, John Bowman, Chris Wischer, Matt Kimpton, Mustafa Hirji, and Jon Preddle)

Aliens of London scored a preliminary viewer rating of 6.98 million overnight, with a 33.9% share, peaking at one point at 7.53 million in the last fifteen minutes. The "Ant and Dec" show beat it slightly with 7.12 million (35.5%) share (peaking at 7.8 million in the last fifteen minutes.) It is important to note that "Ant and Dec" broadcast its season finale last night, and also that the BBC has tapered back its publicity for "Doctor Who" over the past week. Final viewing figures will be out within a week.

The big news today is, of course, the David Tennant casting announcement. ITV Teletext and BBC Ceefax carried the story, it was noted briefly on BBC Breakfast News and there are articles in the morning papers. CBBC's Newsround Showbiz seems to have abandoned its behind-the-scenes reports, but Newsround did, shortly before 5pm, cover the announcement of the new Doctor, with a report read over various clips from the first couple of episodes of the series. BBC News 24 doesn't seem to have covered the announcement (being largely dominated at the moment by the collapse of Rover cars and the election campaign), and the only BBC News coverage seems to have been at about 6.10 this morning, with a brief report of the announcement during Breakfast News. Meanwhile, a six-second teaser featuring the spaceship crashing into Big Ben, has been used to trail Aliens of London since about 5.30 yesterday evening.

Lots of additional media coverage today of the Tennant casting; besides the sites noted in the news story from last night, there is coverage of the event today on the official Doctor Who site, Mirror (which also mentions the salary amount), Manchester Online, icScotland, WaveGuide, Yahoo! News, Monsters and Critics, icWest Lothian,Reuters India, Kerala News, Cult TV, DarkZero, CBBC News, icWales, Reuters,DeHavilland, Daily Mail,ObviousNews, Slashdot (which references us but calls us "Output Gallifrey"), and a trio of Harry Potter sites (due to Tennant being in the next film), Harry Potters Page, MuggleNet andWizard City. Print editions of many newspapers without online notices include the Globe and Mail (Canada), the Newcastle Chronicle and Journal; also the Press Association news feed carries two stories about the casting.

The Who Is Doctor Who? website (a tie-in page run by the BBC's official Doctor Who website) has been updated again with content from "Aliens of London"... check it out (but beware of spoilers if you haven't seen the episode!)

The BBC have been promoting tonight's episode with a five second trailer, which is a sequence from the episode of the spacecraft approaching London and striking Big Ben. The clip is dubbed with the theme and the stark commentry "Doctor Who. Tomorrow at 7 on BBC1". The clip has been running since at least yesterday and appeared at 8pm and 9.30pm last night. "Aliens of London" was also today's BBC One Pick of the Day, complete with a graphic banner across bbc.co.uk (the official BBC website) with a scene of the ship crashing into the Thames: "There's an emotional homecoming for Rose when the TARDIS takes her and the Doctor back to London this week. Then, a UFO crash-lands in the city, destroying Big Ben and causing chaos. Will the occupants turn out to be friendly or deadly?" The Guardian says of today's episode, "Trenchant political satire this week, as the shape-shifting Slitheen invade present-day London from within... Downing Street, to be precise. Well, we always suspected our leaders came from another planet. 'I quite enjoyed being Oliver,' muses one alien of the MP whose skin he borrowed. 'He had a wife, a mistress û and a young farmer.' Whatever can he mean? Can Penelope Wilton stop the Slitheen slithering? Find out next week"

SyFyPortal's take on "The End of the World": "EcclestonÆs Doctor develops, too. Initially he swaggers like a big kid showing off his cool toys. But when things happen that are not supposed to, heÆs the man of action. His anger is unsettling when he finally corners the villain. And the writers suggest a hint of emotional vulnerability in the last Gallifreyan when the topic of his provenance arises. His fans shouldn't be upset, though. The DoctorÆs future is in safe hands."

BBC NewsVote has added a poll about who you'd prefer playing the Doctor. At press time, Eccleston is in the lead, followed by Tennant, then "someone else". "Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion" says the site.

The cover of today's "Daily Star" features Billie Piper with the headline "Billie. Who's The Sexiest Of Them All". The centre pages of the newspaper are devoted to Colin Baker's views of Billie under the title "She's Out Of This World" where, amongst other things, Colin is quoted as saying "My two assistants were great but Billie is amazing" (from his interview earlier in the week.)

Interestingly, there were a couple of "Doctor Who" references on yesterday's "Have I Got News For You...?" (BBC1) in which Paul Merton claimed that Ian Hislop was the new Doctor. Also, several "Doctor Who" references appeared on yesterday's "The Now Show" (Radio 4) including a short sketch entitled "Doctor Dentist".

The current issue of "Ultimate DVD" magazine has a "Doctor Who" cover featuring Chris, Billie and the TARDIS and has heavy "Doctor Who" content. Besides the interview (noted on the main news page) about the DVD releases, there is a five page article in which Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner discuss the new "Doctor Who" on DVD, which is complemented by a range of new series photographs; a one-page article interviews marketing manager Matthew Parkes about November's DVD boxset release of the new series DVDs; a two-page article on the monsters in the new series; and an interview with Billie Piper, in addition to classic Who material.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Chuck Foster, Paul Hayes, Jamie Austin, Simon Bishop)

Some biographical information on David Tennant, the tenth Doctor Who: Born in West Lothian, Tennant is a respected classical actor who trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He began his career on the stage, performing as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including such roles as Touchstone in "As You Like It", Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet", Antipholus of Syracuse in "The Comedy of Errors" and Captain Jack Absolute in "The Rivals", and performing in such venues as the Yourng Vic, the Edinburgh Lyceum, the 7:84 theatre company and Dundee Rep. Tennant was was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for "Best Actor of 2002" for his performance in "Lobby Hero" at the Donmar Warehouse and the New Ambassador's Theatres.

Tennant's connections with the Doctor Who genre are extensive. A fan of the program, he hosted "Doctor Who: A New Dimension," the special preview documentary aired prior to the first episode of the new series on BBC1. He also played the role of the Caretaker in BBC Online's animated serial "The Scream of the Shalka" and has appeared in a variety of audio programs for Big Finish Productions, including as Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood in "Sympathy for the Devil," as Galanar in the "Dalek Empire III" series, as Daft Jamie in "Medicinal Purposes" as well as in "Colditz" and "Exile". Tennant also portrays the title role in Big Finish's audio adaptation of Bryan Talbot's "Luther Arkwright" series.

Among his many film and television experiences include roles in "Jude," "Duck Patrol," "Love in the 21st Century," "Bright Young Things," "The Deputy," "Bite," "The Last September," "Blackpool," "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)," "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries," "Holding the Baby," "Posh Nosh," "Being Considered" and "L.A. Without a Map." He recently starred in the title role in BBC3's miniseries "Casanova" alongside Peter O'Toole, and as Briscoe in the BBC special live broadcast event "The Quatermass Experiment." He recently completed filming on "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," playing the role of Barty Crouch Jr.

"I was very small, about 3 or 4 I think, and just wanted to be the people on telly telling these wonderful stories," Tennant said about his longing to become an actor. "Obviously the idea grew and matured with me but I can't ever remember wanting to do anything else. I've just sort of taken it for granted all my life that that was what I would do." On how theatrical training has helped his career: "Drama school is a pretty intense experience and I think it changes who you are. I think I grew up at drama school (which was fairly useful personally as much as professionally) and I certainly got exposed to a huge range of ideas, techniques and practices that I had no previous experience of. I wouldn't have known what I was doing as an actor if I hadn't gone."

More details on Tennant can be found at his page at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).

David Tennant will take over from departing actor Christopher Eccleston for the second series of Doctor Who to be aired in 2006, according to a BBC press releaseissued Saturday morning just after midnight UK time. Tennant was originally rumored to be "in talks" to take over the role from Eccleston, who it was announced in late March would not be returning for the second season. As the Doctor, Tennant will be seen in the role in this year's Christmas special, as well as continuing in the role throughout the entire second series (and hopefully, many years to come). Billie Piper, who plays Rose Tyler, is already signed on for the second year of adventures.

Below is the official press release, issued minutes after midnight UK time, from the BBC Press Office.

Update 0240 BST: Another Scotsman article discusses the Tennant casting: "For David Tennant, playing the Doctor is a dream come true - watching the show was the reason he became an actor in the first place." The article biographies the actor, including some of his plays and television roles.

Update 0720 BST: News coverage of the event continues... so far, news reports carrying the announcement about Tennant's casting include theGuardian (the first online news service to print after the announcement went out), Daily Record (noting a salary amount: "David Tennant has landed a £500,000 deal"), the Times, Digital Spy, theTelegraph, BBC News,Scotsman, Morons.org, MovieHole, WaveGuide, ic Wales, and theLeaky Cauldron (Harry Potter site).

BBC Video will release In The Beginning, a boxed set of the first three classic Doctor Who series stories -- "An Unearthly Child," "The Daleks" and "The Edge of Destruction" -- on DVD in the UK in January 2006, according to an interview with Marketing Manager Matthew Parkes of 2Entertain/BBCDVD in the newly released edition of Ultimate DVDmagazine. A boxed set (at the time noted as "The Beginning") was touted for release several years ago, both as a VHS and DVD set, but was pushed aside for various reasons; it was also at one point a likely release for this autumn, but we heard some months ago it was moved to 2006. There is no word, as yet, on what this year's other UK DVD release will be; "City of Death" is confirmed for November according to the BBC, Outpost Gallifrey previously learned that "Revelation of the Daleks" is the likely release for July, and there will be one other classic series release in September... our money's on either a First Doctor ("The Web Planet") or Fifth Doctor ("Frontios") story. (Thanks to Justin Thomas, James Wendt)

A seven-minute reworking of the Doctor Who theme commissioned by the BBC and recorded by The Orb is to get its first public performance in Portsmouth (Hampshire, England) on Saturday 16 April. It is to be played at a gig by Portsmouth-based band The Autons, who took their name from the Doctor Who monsters. The three-piece band (website), who are well-known Doctor Who enthusiasts, will be performing at the Third Floor Arts Centre, in the city's Central Library, at 8pm (BST), using The Orb's rendition of the theme as their walk-on music. According to Autons band member Tony Rollinson,The Orbwere granted access to the original tapes from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. He added that The Autons were offered the debut airing through cult Portsmouth band Ronaldo And The Loaf, who are friends of Orb member Alex Paterson. He added that the Orb track was being biked down especially - and that security measures would be in place to stop anyone recording it. Tickets to the gig apparently cost ú4 (with eyeliner) and ú5 (without eyeliner). Call the box office on 023 9268 8070 (website). Portsmouth (plus the Isle of Wight and the Solent) was used extensively for the location filming of The Sea Devils in October 1971. (Thanks to John Bowman)