Today's review section of the Independent asks the big question "Are you looking forward to Doctor Who's return?" to such notables as Colin Baker (who describes the news as "a cautious pleasure"), DWM's Clayton Hickman ("dancing on the desks"), League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss ("simultaneously sick with excitement and trepidation"), Dead Ringers' Jon Culshaw ("delighted, but don't Americanise it too much"), Kylie Minogue's tour set designer William Baker ("ecstatic") and British Medical Association Press Officer Linda Millington ("we're short of Doctors, does he know of an intergalactic planet with a surplus of GPs?") The Times today quotes Paul McGann's comments from the weekend regarding a female Doctor, and yesterday's Sunday Times featured a cartoon of a BBC man ordering a Dalek to "Exterminate Alastair Campbell" in the News Review section.

Another article appeared in today's The Guardian paper in the UK; entitled "The Spirit of Wobbliness" by Brian Logan, the article pins the future success of a new series of Doctor Who on the spirit of the Sixties. "Rejoice, rejoice - but with reservations," says the article, which quotes messages printed on several websites and notes some of the changes that the show went through in its long life. "If the return of Doctor Who is to be a success," Logan writes, "then it needs to bring back a little piece of the 1960s with it. It's not that the oft-cited wobbly sets should be recreated. (And they're not always wobbly - you should watch The Robots of Death!) It's the spirit of wobbliness, the primacy of imagination over special effects, that counts. Likewise, the Doctor needn't remain forever sexless - it can't be easy, after all, when your fellow traveller is wearing leopardskins. But in an age as sexually obsessed as ours, a hero who'd rather be knobbling Daleks than knocking off his leggy companions is surely to be welcomed." The full article can be read by clicking here.

An interview with Doctor Who Magazine editor Clayton Hickman was broadcast on this morning's "Today" program on Radio 4 (listen to it by going here until Monday) in which Hickman stated that Russell Davies prefers actor Bill Nighy("Still Crazy," "Underworld," "The Maitlands") as his choice for the Doctor. Hickman later added a comment on the lines of "maybe I wasn't meant to say that..." Meanwhile - Could it be eight episodes instead of the rumored six? We've even heard a tip that the show has been pegged for eight 50-minute episodes. Of course, Outpost Gallifrey cautions that this is simply just a rumor at this time, as it's still very early in the game.

Human League lead singer Philip Oakey will be offered the role... or so says the League Online website, although we suspect that it's a bit of publicity without merit. The article says that the Human League may be offered the possibility to update the "world-famous theme tune" (again, probably a bit early and likely simply speculative!) Oakey is said to be a massive Doctor Who fan; in fact, the B-side of one of their early singles was in fact caled "Tom Baker". (Thanks for the September 27 stories, by the way, to Peter Ware, Chuck Foster, Russ Merryman, Craig Hinton, Neil Billinness, Matthew Wood)

The following are links to the media coverage of the announcement of the new Doctor Who series:

The word has crossed all of the news services; the BBCi Doctor Who page updated; breakfast-time shows in the UK have been running the story all morning. Even CNN's international edition features the story on its front page. Outpost Gallifrey (and our Forums) have been flooded with readers new and old. We continue to monitor for new information.

Says the BBC's official press release, "No budget has been set for the new series; the number of episodes and their duration is under discussion. It will be a family show, but no details are available as to when it will be scheduled." Outpost Gallifrey has reason to believe that the six episode quote from the Telegraph article may be incorrect, and the number of episodes may even eventually be higher than that. We'll keep you posted.

The Irish Examiner has picked up the story with new quotes from Mal Young, BBC controller of continuing drama series. "It's time to crank up the Tardis and find out what lies in store for the Doctor," says Young. "We're thrilled to have a writer of Russell's calibre to take us on this journey. However we're a the very early stages of development and further details including casting will not be available for some time." We've also received reports from folks online that Sky News Radio Overnight has reported the story but it's not yet on their web service.

BBC News confirms the story; see top of this article for details. The story confirms that BBC Wales Head of Drama Julie Gardner will executive produce with Davies and Mal Young. "Russell is one of Wales's leading TV writers. It will be a thrill for BBC Wales to work with him on such a landmark TV series," Gardner is quoted as saying. "This is very early days and it is unlikely anything will be on screen for at least two years but it is very exciting and I can't wait to get started."