Today's Daily Mirror features an interesting spoiler "exclusive" (reprinted on the Daily Record site later in the day) about the Doctor battling a rather famous sport celebrity and many others. You can read it at the Mirror and Daily Recordsites.) (Thanks to Andrew Harvey, Stephen Norris, Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg)etails.

Several of our readers have forwarded a story from the NME website, which discusses the Billie Piper casting... and also describes the character Rose Tyler as a "feisty barmaid". While we're not totally sure of this, the fact that the character of Alison Cheney, played by Sophie Okonedo in the BBCi webcast "The Scream of the Shalka", was a feisty barmaid leads us to believe that NME got their wires crossed. We'll keep you posted.

Unregenerate Productions Presents two new fan-published audio adventures. The Maltese Video of Doom by James Potter and John Claydon is promised to be "the first ever audio comedy made entirely in black and white" while The Five Directors of Doom by Stuart Robinson is said to contain "the worst pun ever heard in a civilised country." These two Doctor Who "sitcom audios" featuer special guest appearances by Rob Shearman, Jason Haigh-Ellery, Alistair Lock, Mark Donovan, Rupert Booth, militant Lobsters and Super intelligent, genetically engineered Kangaroos. (No, really!) For details visit www.vspace.co.uk.

Colin Baker is the subject of a feature article at the Eastern Daily Press from May 18, in which he discusses his role in the forthcoming "HMS Pinafore". "Colin Baker's two-year stint as the Doctor in the 1980s was relatively short and yet he seems more popular than ever thanks to lending his voice to the Doctor Who audio range in recent years," says the article, which interviews him and also gets his take on the casting of Christopher Eccleston. "I think he is going to be more complicated, more complex...a Doctor who is going to appeal to a brand new audience." Read the full interview at their website.

In addition to their daily runs, BBC Radio's airings of the Jon Pertwee radio dramas are also being repeated each day at midnight. (Thanks to Mick Daniel)

BBC Online appears to have dropped the moniker "BBCi" across the board... of course the official Doctor Who site can still be found here.

Mary Tamm ("Romana") will be starring as the Queen Rat in the Secombe Theatre's forthcoming Christmas Pantomime production of "Dick Whittington" which runs December 11, 2004 through January 8, 2005. Tickets are already on sale, with those booked booked on or before 1st October 2004 are at a special Early Bird price. The Secombe Theatre is the main performance space in the London Borough of Sutton. You can get more details by clicking here. (Thanks to Ian Kildin)

The 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie starring Paul McGann will soon air on the Starz/Encore suite of premium channels in the US starting in June. This may mean that the US Sci-Fi Channel's rights to the movie (where it aired a few times over the past couple years) have expired. Nine broadcasts are scheduled on the Starz Mystery Channel, and three on Starz' MOVIEPlex channel. The following are the scheduled airdates and times; if you have one or both of these channels, remember to determine which Feed(s) you have access to and adjust for local time. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott at "This Week in Doctor Who")

Thursday 3 June 9:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Thursday 3 June 4:45PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 7:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 3:20PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Sunday 13 June 11:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 7:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 8:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 4:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 5:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 11:10PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Late Friday 18 June 12:10AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Tuesday 29 June 2:40PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery

William Hartnell starred in the comedy "And the Same To You" (1960), which will receive its first home video release (VHS and DVD) in the UK on 14 June 2004. The movie is about a clergyman's nephew who decides to become a boxer but must maintain an outwardly religious appearance. Also stars Brian Rix, Tommy Cooper and Sid James. Meanwhile, the thriller "Downtime" (1997), which stars Paul McGann as an ex-police psychologist trying to talk down a suicidal woman on the roof of a building, receives its first widescreen home video release (DVD) in the UK on 7 June 2004. Also stars Susan Lynch and Tom Georgeson. (Thanks to Steve Hill)

The May 18 edition of "UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Lancashire" discussed the now sold-out hardcover Doctor Who book The Legend by Justin Richards. "YOU'VE heard of coffee table books?" said the article. "Well this massive tome is hefty enough to be a table in its own right." It noted that Richards was "a long time fan of the series and actually met second doctor Patrick Troughton on a visit to the set in the sixties at the tender age of eight" and notes that there "are many [photographs] here among the 500 that have never been seen before and some have been borrowed from private collections."