BBC Radio Wales will be broadcasting a three-part documentary on Doctor Who, and in particular it's connections with Wales, beginning on March 26. The documentary will feature interviews with Katy Manning (Jo), Philip Madoc ("The Brain of Morbius") and Richard Bignell ("Doctor Who on Location") and will discuss the success of the Daleks and much more. Here's the press information: "The program looks at the various Welsh connections with Dr. Who over the past 40 or so years, tying in with the new series which has been built almost entirely in Wales (Welsh writers, production team, directors and made by BBC Wales.)... We'll look at the story of Terry Nation, the Cardiff born writer who invented the Daleks and we'll also revisit all the old Welsh locations - the parts of Snowden that doubled for Tibet and was populated (briefly) with Yetis, the holiday camp that turned up in another series and the coal mine filled with giant maggots for the Green Death. Also we want to speak to the creative Welsh talents that played their part in making the series a success. As well as this we will be speaking to the key people in the new production (writer Russell T Davies and new Doctor, Christopher Eccleston for example) and going behind the scenes and visiting the set to give a tantalising glimpse of the new series. We talk to people about getting a sense of what it was like working on those series, particularly the Troughton years, the demands of the series, the esteem it was held in and the fun of making this ground breaking but bizarre sci-fi series. We have some fantastic anecdotes from other actors who have worked on Who and even some lost interview footage with Jon Pertwee! It will compare the new computer generated, effect-heavy show, with a million pound an episode budget to earlier productions, and to get a sense of how it was made back in the 70s. We will look at what made it special and what the new one has to do to capture the spirit and magic of the original. Also the hard work that goes into keeping the fantasy "real" to an audience." Fans will be able to listen to the Radio Wales documentary via the Radio Wales website. (Thanks to Richard Bignell)

Play.com is listing Travels in Time and Space as the 2005 BBC Radio Collection tin, due on November 7, 2005. Included in the package, according to the site, is the already-announced "Doctor Who In An Exciting Adventure With the Daleks" novelization reading by William Russell, along with two others, "Doctor Who and the Zarbi" (aka The Web Planet) and "Doctor Who and the Crusaders" (aka The Crusade). No word as yet if this is a confirmed release. (Thanks to Justin Thomas)

Last Friday, BBC1 began showing a new Doctor Who series teaser trailer in which the TARDIS was shown dematerialising in some kind of underground pedestrian walkway slowly filling with a fire ball. It was first shown mid-day during afternoon programs, and then again before the news that evening prior to the Comic Relief telethon (before which they also showed one of the existing teasers of Billie in the control room.) The trailer has been added to the official site, on this page.

The official site has an online RealMedia interview with Christopher Eccleston, taken at last week's press launch of the new series.

This morning (14 March)'s Media Guardian has a report on bbc.co.uk's plans for the official Doctor Who site and its importance for the success of the new series. The relaunched site is described as "one of the BBC's most ambitious online projects to date [...] the series will depend on its official online companion to hook a new generation of viewers." As well as noting plans to include the various elements of online viewing already reported here and in DWM, the piece notes that "['Rose'] features a conspiracy theorist who has been following the Doctor's exploits through time [...] the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred further by making his site available to fans on the BBC website." The print version is illustrated with a photograph of the Moxx of Balhoon, and the story is available online here.

The Culture programme on BBC2 on March 17 at 7:00pm will be running a feature on the return of Doctor Who (advertised with the standard promo shot of Eccleston lounging against the TARDIS in this week's Radio Times). The program will be repeated at 11:20pm. Details available at the Culture website.

BBC7 has some audio teasers going out this week, a taster for the new series, though there will also be a full-length radio trailer with Christopher Eccleston himself next week. The current run of the teasers begin today, Monady March 14, and run through next Sunday, March 20; non-listeners may be able to catch them at the BBC7 website.

Today's Times ran a piece about Cardiff Millennium Stadium, including a few side mentions of its use in a future new Doctor Who series episode.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, John Bowman, Andrew Harvey, Dave Tanner, John Leivers, Alistair Moore, Matthew Godley, Martin Montague)

Further to our story on March 10 regarding the upcoming issue of Digit Magazine, the magazine has issued several photos online from its story, "Exclusive: Doctor Who Effects Secrets Revealed," a six-page article in the April issue revealing "the digital special effects techniques behind the much-hyped Doctor Who series. It also features exclusive images from the series." "In a word, the new Doctor Who is amazing. The result has been the creation of over 1,000 effects shots for the 13 episodes - with episode two accounting for a staggering 200 effects shots in just 45 minutes," says Matthew Bath, editor in chief. Says series visual effects producer Will Cohen, "[The Oscar-winning] Gladiator had 100 effects shots which we did in six-months. We've had nine months to do 10 times that number. It's like nothing that has been seen before on British television." The magazine has printed several spoiler images, including a wireframe drawing of a CGI monster from "The End of the World," episode 2, as well as completed versions. You can pick up the latest issue of Digit in bookshops this week. (Thanks to Matthew Bath)

Some title updates courtesy the new SFX Special magazine release. According to the issue, the fifth episode is now calledWorld War Three and the sixth episode may bear the single word title, Dalek. There is still no word on final titles for episodes 8 or 12.

More on forthcoming plans from BBC Books on their "New books and backlist" catalogue released at the London Book Fair. Besides the release of "The Legend Continues" by Justin Richards (see separate news item today), there will be three further Ninth Doctor and Rose hardback novels published in September 2005. According to the new BBC Books "New books and backlist" catalogue, "the contents [...] are a closely guarded secret [...] excitement, danger and excitement await". October sees the release of "The Legend Continues," updated to include the new series, while Gary Russell's August Past Doctor novel has been renamed Spiral Scratch and Terrance Dicks's October 2005 novel is confirmed asWorld Game. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Over the past few days, billboards for the new series have begun showing up all over Britain. Below are the two best images we have of both the standard-sized billboard as well as the extended "wide" billboard, both featuring the same illustration.

At the end of Friday night's "Newsnight Review" show on BBC Two, presenter Kirsty Wark said that on next week's show they'd be looking at "the new Doctor Who." "Newsnight Review" is the arts review show that occupies the second half of the "Newsnight" broadcast each Friday.

Various articles this week have been reviewing Russell T Davies' latest television odyssey, "Casanova," the production he filmed concurrent to "Doctor Who."

According to this weekend's Media Guardian, Jane Tranter, the BBC's Head of Drama and one of the major driving forces behind the return of the show, has decided not to apply for the job of Controller of BBC One, which she had been widely fancied for. In one way this is disappointing news as having her take the job might have reassured a lot of Who fans about the show's future longevity, but on the other hand it means we keep a supporter of the show as Head of Drama, which has to be a good thing.

Russell T Davies was in exuberant form on BBC1's Breakfast today (Fri 11 March), talking about his new production of Casanova as well as Doctor Who. During his eight-minute slot, which started at 9.11am (GMT), he said that when the chance to do Doctor Who came up "I had no choice but to work on it because I love it." And now that it was finished, he said: "I love it. I'm so proud of it." A slip of the tongue earlier in the show saw co-presenter Bill Turnbull refer to him as "Russell TV Davies" and much fun was made of that when Davies appeared. Quizzed by Turnbull as to what the "T" stood for, Davies joked "Tardis" but then said it didnÆt stand for anything, it was to distinguish him from another Russell Davies in the industry. Davies then said it could stand for "Tustle", while co-presenter Sian Williams cheekily suggested "Tawdry". Davies also talked briefly about how much he had learned while working as a storyliner on top ITV soap Coronation Street. He then told of his hope that there would be a second series of Doctor Who, and the interview finished with Turnbull saying he expected to see Davies at next year's BAFTA awards, to which Davies, joking as ever, self-deprecatingly replied: "Serving, probably!" An extended clip from episode one of the new series of Doctor Who was shown during the interview.

Monday morning's Independent features an article with comments from production designer Edward Thomas, writer Mark Gatiss and Christopher Eccleston. "Towards the end of the last series, I don't know if he was faring well. He had become something of a cartoon character," Thomas said about the original series. "No doubt that article about why we shouldn't bother to bring him back will be written, but great stories never have a set time. Like Tarzan or Sherlock Holmes, they can stand constant reinterpretation. It pisses me off when purists say: 'Why have Disney done The Little Mermaid and changed the ending?' Well, they've reinvented it so that many more millions of children than have ever read the original Oscar Wilde story can come to know and love The Little Mermaid. A good story is a good story. The very worst thing you can do is let it gather dust on the shelf." Says Gatiss, "Chris endows the role with this extraordinary energy. He plays the Doctor with this full-tilt brio that actually frightens me. He also possesses this great credibility. When Christopher Eccleston tells you a Dalek is lethal, you instantly believe it." Says Eccleston about the best parts of the role: "The Doctor is... completely non-judgemental. He accepts everything and everyone, whether they're black or blue, gay or straight. If he meets an alien, his first reaction is not revulsion, but joy. He celebrates life in all its forms, shades, colours and creeds. Without being didactic, that's a very strong message."

In addition to a, fairly anodyne, regular review, in it's weekly "Wednesday Whinge" spot, the Manchester Evening News made the following comment: "It's a shame that an episode of the new Dr Who series - the first since 1989 - has been leaked onto the internet in advance of its Easter screening, but surely there is some poetic justice in the sci-fi hero who travels through time and space arriving three weeks ahead of himself."

Today's icWales has an article called "Chris is just what the Doctor ordered" in which Russell T Davies "has hit back at critics who slammed new Time Lord Christopher Eccleston as Doctor Who." Davies notes that the Doctor "has [his] own identity. After all he has two hearts and is 900 years old. He does not need to wear a silly coat!"
With many scenes filmed in Cardiff, he defends his decision to pass the city off as London in various scenes. "We had to base it around London as we are selling the series to America and Australia," referring to current goals to sell to the two countries that have not been announced yet for any broadcast of the new series. "We had to set it somewhere which will be recognised by a global audience. However, Cardiff does feature as itself in two episodes and we filmed an earthquake in Cardiff Bay." He also notes that he hopes the BBC commissions a second series, and in the meanwhile he says of his popular drama "Queer as Folk": "There won't be another Channel 4 series although I would like to do another one in time to tell how the characters have moved on. However, we are looking at a musical."

An article in today's Sunday Mirror says that Christopher Eccleston has been linked to actress Siwan Morris. Eccleston "swept beautiful Siwan Morris off her feet at a party in Cardiff last year and they have enjoyed a string of romantic dates in the Welsh capital while he's been filming the new series of the cult TV show," says the article. "Siwan ... is an award-winning actress who is tipped to be a big star of the future. A pal said: 'She's the prettiest thing on Welsh television and an extremely talented actress - Chris is smitten.'" Morris played Griff Rhys Jones's daughter in the ITV1 comedy-drama "Mine All Mine" produced by Russell T Davies, and Liv Jones in the Welsh soap "Bryncoe."

A lengthy new series clip appeared on "Test the Nation," an entertainment quiz series on BBC1. The clip was from the first episode, the scene where the Doctor told Rose to "run for her life" after helping her escape. The clip was shown in response to the question "In which show connects these 3 characters..." with pictures of Billie Piper, Bonnie Langford, Peter Purves. A clip from a Hartnell story and "Trial of a Time Lord" were also shown.

Previews are airing for the new series in Canada -- on the big screen! A trailer produced by CBC has been shown in movie theatres during the forthcoming film previews, including the new Bruce Willis movie "Hostage" and other films.

The Independent talks about the new series' challenge sending kids behind the sofas. The article examines the series' history, some of its challenges, and also its potential future.

March 12's The Independent featured a brief question/answer with Russell T Davies in which he gave some off-the-cuff answers. "You wouldn't know it but I'm very good at ... Drawing. One of my very first jobs was as a cartoonist for BBC Wales." "When I was a child I wanted to be ... A teacher, because my mother and father, and then both my sisters, were teachers." "My favourite building ... Granada Television in Manchester. So solid and Sixties with a neon Granada sign beaming out over the city. Just what a TV station should be like." "All my money goes on ... My bank account. I'm a good saver. It's a funny old job, writing; you're only as good as your next idea." "My favourite work of art ... I've got an autographed print of Charlie Brown and the Kite-Eating Tree, signed by Charles M Schulz. One of the greatest artists ever." "The best invention ever is ... The word processor and all its descendants. Allows infinite rewriting, 'cos that's where the real work is done."

The Sunday Herald also discusses Doctor Who. "Having dropped hints with the BBC throughout his career, as his knack for writing superior popular television became ever more reliable û Queer As Folk, Bob And Rose, Mine All Mine û Davies has finally been given the keys to Doctor WhoÆs Tardis, the iconic inter-dimensional phone box that has gone unused for far too long," says the article. The lengthy piece features comments from Davies as well as DWM deputy editor Tom Spilsbury, and even quotes author Lawrence Miles and Nicholas Courtney (although for the latter, it appears that quotes he's made in the past have been used.)

Sunday's Observer ran an article called "Why aliens still beguile us" that notes that "Doctor Who is carrying a lot of hopes. The BBC is banking on the rejuvenated time lord's ability to vanquish all opponents (not least Ant and Dec on ITV) and revive family viewing. It seems unlikely that a post-Dalek generation would get excited by an army of croaking jelly moulds, but the doctor will, no doubt, be tackling more blood-curdling foes this time round. .. Of the three-quarters of Scots who told lottery researchers that they are believers, half say extraterrestrials will soon be in touch with us." The article then goes into a discussion of extra terrestrial intelligence.

Finally, according to an Outpost Gallifrey source, the new series DVD boxed set released in either October or November will be a boxed set in "TARDIS packaging."

(Thanks to the following for updates today: Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Paul Hayes, Derek Hall, Kenyon Wallace, Craig Hinton, Andrew Eaton, Darrell Paterson, John Walker, Nick Smale, Anthony Forth, David Rafer, John Bowman)

Tom Baker has been named BritainÆs favorite Doctor, in a poll honoring the new series sponsored by SFX. The poll put Peter Davison in second place, followed by Jon Pertwee, Sylvester McCoy, Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell, Colin Baker and, in last place, Paul McGann. SFX editor Dave Golder said Christopher Eccleston, the time traveller in the new BBC1 series, would have a hard act to follow. "The ninth doctor will have to be pretty amazing to topple Tom Baker from his perch as the quintessential Dr Who. There arenÆt many children from the Seventies who canÆt clearly remember peering out from behind the sofa to see Dr Who with his hat, scarf, jelly babies and that wild curly hair." The story has been picked up in such periodicals as the Sun and the Guardian as of March 14.

According to the web page for the Doctor Who Confidential series on the official site, the producers of the BBC3 series are also producing a half hour special, Doctor Who - A New Dimension which will air on BBC 1 at 5.00pm on Saturday 26th March, before the first episode of the new series.

Latest Update: 12 March 0930 GMT (I've left today's items on the list temporarily...)

Chris Eccleston will be on GMTV on March 11 on the Lorraine Kelly section at approximately 8.35am. (Roy Barton, Doug Inman)

BBC Radio Leeds will be re-running a six minute report on "one Yorkshire fan's reaction to the new series hype, and details of his own Doctor Who influenced amateur films" which will run at 0210 GMT (or thereabouts) in the early hours of Friday 11 March. BBC Radio Leeds can be heard live online at bbc.co.uk/radioleeds.

BBC Breakfast News stated that Russell T Davies will be on the program being interviewed on Friday morning 11th March.

Doctor Who will once again be the subject on "Newsnight" on BBC2, March 17 at 11pm.

Chris and Billie will be on "Blue Peter" on March 21 from 4:55pm to 5:20pm on BBC1; the episode will probably be repeated the same evening at 18:00 on the CBBC channel. The Radio Times confirms the listing.

On the electronic Radio Times it states that Billie Piper will be a guest on Parkinson (ITV1, 10.10-11.15 on 19 March) where she will discuss her new role in Dr Who.

According to Radio Times, Saturday, March 19 will feature showings of "Doctor Who and the Daleks" (1965 film) at 3:50pm, "The Story of Doctor Who" (2003 documentary) at 7:30pm, Some Things You Need to Know about Dr Who" (a new documentary short) at 8:30pm, "Dr Who Mastermind" at 8:40pm, and "Parkinson" featuring an interview with Billie Piper at 10:15pm.

On the "On Show" program on BBC1 Wales on March 20, Sian Williams talks to Russell T Davies about his past work and his reinvention of Doctor Who. There's also a listing for BBC2W (the Welsh BBC digital service opt-out), of this "On Show" on Thursday 17th March 9-9:30pm with Russell Davies. (Not having this available to me, I can't get more detailed, sorry! -editor)

The Radio 2 Doctor Who site has just added an unconfirmed interview with Billie Piper on his show on Thursday 24 March. As usual, that's 2pm.

Christopher Eccleston will be on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" on 25 March, alongside Julian Clary and Sally Lindsay (Coronation Street actress).