This week's (May 30) edition of TV Guide Magazine in the US features their "Top 25 Cult Shows" list. A big surprise at #18... Doctor Who! Usually our show doesn't get a mention in the US magazines, especially non-genre ones. There are few surprises on the list, which includes "Twin Peaks" (20), "Dark Shadows" (19), "The Avengers" (17), "Quantum Leap" (15), "Babylon 5" (13), "The Twilight Zone" (8), "The Prisoner" (7), "The Simpsons" (6), "Monty Python" (5), "Buffy" (3), "The X-Files" (2) and "Star Trek" (1). Still, definitely nice for the show to be mentioned... and in such good company!

Originally posted 23-24 May; updated 25-26 May with new press info & additional links

Actress Billie Piper will be playing Rose Tyler, the new Doctor Who companion in the forthcoming Doctor Who TV series. Below (end of this news post) is the official press release from BBC Television.

Piper was originally rumored as a possible companion as early as last September, after the announcement of the new series, in press put together by her agent. Piper has been speculated as a front-runner, especially earlier in the lead-up, but her name was recently away from the spotlight in deference to others thought to be finalists for the role, including Keeley Hawes, Anna Friel and Carla Henry. Indeed, in March, Piper's agent told the Radio Times: "It may be that the idea has been mooted, but it's not a conversation I have had." Radio Times went on to quote a "BBC spokeswoman" who said "an announcement wasn't expected for another two months".

Page 3 of the May 24 edition of the Daily Mail was one of the first sources (and actually the first online source) that stated Piper was in the role today; in an article 'Evans Moves a Few Rungs Down the Property Ladder' about Piper's husband Chris Evans, it also mentioned the following: "As well as winning the part of Dr Who's assistant in the new BBC series, the former pop singer has gained her first starring role in a movie." Today's Media Guardian also mentioned that "BBC drama bosses still want Mrs. Chris Evans, aka Billie Piper."

The May 25 edition of "The Independent" featured the following comment: "Billie Piper will play Doctor Who's assistant in the new BBC series. The 21-year-old said she was 'thrilled' to have landed the role of Rose Taylor [sic]" alongside Eccleston's Doctor.

The Cuttings Archive was updated late May 25 with press clippings from the various UK papers. Says Roger Anderson of the Archive, "The most notable coverage is in the Daily Express which not only has a large colour photo of Billie and a teaser headline on the front page also includes and excellent full page article on page 7." There is also a string of photos of previous Doctor Who companions.

The Daily Record (Scotland) includes a short piece in the "off the record" column which comments "SO Billie Piper is to be Dr Who's new assistant. Pretty young girl hooks up with old weirdo who wonders what planet he's on - inspired stuff. But hasn't she done that already?" Meanwhile, Metro, the free newspaper on British trains, mentioned the news on the cover on May 25, with a boxout in the top right corner that included a picture of Billie and the teaser tagline "Dr Who's new buddy ... all the way from planet pop page 3". The full story on page 3 covers most of the page and includes a rundown of "five of the Doctor's assistants", categorising them as follows: Sexiest - Jo Grant (Katy Manning); Brainiest - Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill); Most Loyal - Leela (Louise Jameson); Poshest - Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling); Coolest - Polly (Anneke Wills).

May 26th's Daily Express featured a long article entitled "Billie: Just What the Doctor Ordered," a long biographical article in the context of her being the new Doctor Who girl. "Whether they're escaping from Daleks, combating Sea Devils or helping to save Earth from an intergalactic war, the life of a Doctor Who companion has always been fraught with danger and full of adventure," writes Shaun Lyon Dunk. "It's safe to say ... that none has been quite as young or as nubile as Billie Piper." The article quotes Piper herself as saying, "Doctor Who is an iconic show and I am absolutely thrilled to be playing the part of Rose Tyler." The article then goes into her life, career and her marriage to Chris Evans, before getting reactions from two former Doctor Who companions, Nicola Bryant (Peri) and Louise Jameson. "It sounds like a cliche," Bryant says, "but when you join Doctor Who you are entering an extended family and every year I still attend conventions around the world and get incredible fan mail. I'm still in touch with the old Doctors and some of the assistants are among my closest friends. I imagine Billie won't have to put up with the outrageous costumes I wore. My first scene had me in a bikini and I seemed to wear revealing clothing for the rest of the series. Their budget will be bigger, too. We had to work very hard because whenever we blew anything up, we were only allowed one take. As an actress, nothing really compares with Doctor Who because its appeal is so overwhelming." Jameson told the Express, "I wanted Leela to be strong and tough, not some screaming girl who couldn't take the action. But I also had to wear a tight leather costume. I was disappointed my character exited the show by getting married - I'd have preferred to have died trying to rescue the Doctor. What's really incredible about Doctor Who is how loyal fans are. When there have been gaps in my work over the years I've always managed to get work that is a spin-off from those few months of doing Doctor Who. I still try to attend conventions and meet the fans of the show whenever I can. Billie should be aware of the huge interest. It can take you by surprise. But she's probably used to coping with the media by now." The article will be on the Cuttings Archive later today.

An article from Billie Piper's local paper from March 1995 which shows that she actually had a lot of acting experience prior to her brief period as a pop star, including winning a scholarship to one of London's leading stage schools, is available at This is Wiltshire. (Thanks to Mike Simpson)

Meanwhile, Russell T Davies spoke to the BBC Doctor Who site about the casting of Billie Piper as Rose. "It was a long, thorough search to find Billie - despite the fact that the tabloids have been touting her name for months now!" Davies said. "We auditioned all sorts of actors - some famous, some unknown - but we've now met with Billie three times, and she's absolutely perfect, and very close to the description of Rose on the page - I think Billie's 21, and Rose is 19, so that's a great fit! ... Over the course of 13 episodes, Rose will change and grow, and hopefully, we can keep that story going in the years to come."

To read more of Davies' comments, as well as a gallery of Piper's previous roles and some video clips, visit the official site.

Additional Press Coverage & Links from May 24 & 25:

BBC News The Sun Yahoo! News Big News Network The Scotsman The Guardian Hello Magazine Manchester Online Daily Mirror The Times Reuters The Guardian (#1) (registration only) The Guardian (#2) (registration only) BBC Companions Gallery Waveguide The Daily Record Daily Telegraph Newkerala.com Irish RTE GQ Magazine The Age ABC New South Wales Top of the Pops (BBC) Australia Advertiser

BBC Radio 1 News ITV News Stuff New Zealand Irish Independent Ananova Ireland Online Irish Examiner Sky News Teletext icSouth London NineMSN Seven.com.au 4ni.co.uk Brand Republic Los Angeles Times Irish Examiner Megastar.co.uk WebIndia This Is London News Wales icKent icEssex Daily Mail BBC Sport (Game)

There were also stories in MX Australia, Australian Associated Press Bulletins, the Daily Star, the Birmingham Post ("He's got two hearts, Doctor Who, and they can both be broken," Eccleston says about the Tyler character, obviously from an earlier interview), the Press Association (in which Piper's role is one of four quiz questions from yesterday: "who's playing the new Doctor Who girl?"), the Independent, the Western Daily Press, Bristol Evening Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, the Irish Independent, the Western Mail ("What's Up Doc?"), ABC Radio (Australia), the Melbourne Herald-Sun, the Newcastle Herald (Australia), the Adelaide Advertiser, the South Wales Echo, and the aforementioned Express ("Dr. Who and the Teenage Pop Star"). The ABC New South Wales article adds a curious (and laughable) comment: "The new BBC series of Doctor Who has been a bit slow in terms of getting organised but it will be on the small screen in 2005." (With thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes, Tim Collins, Stephen Durrant, Robert Byrne, Chuck Foster, Andrew Harvey, Andrew Pierce, Roger Anderson, Mike Simpson and everyone else who's sent us info & links)

An article in the Scotsman discusses Michael Grade's first day on the job as BBC Chairman. (Thanks to Andrew Harvey)

BBC7 Radio is currently airing The Paradise of Death drama starring Jon Pertwee again, Mon-Fri at 6pm; they will be repeating the follow-up, The Ghosts of N-Space, next week in the same time slot. The airing of "Paradise of Death" is the pick of today's Guardian TV and radio listings. (Thanks to Steve Tribe, Tony Gallichan)

As part of the BBC's upcoming "Summer of the Sixties" season, a program set for broadcast in June, Time Shift - Fantasy Sixties will feature Doctor Who clips, among others. The BBC has posted a press release about the broadcast. (Thanks to Phillip Madeley)

India Fisher, who plays Charley Pollard opposite Paul McGann in the Eighth Doctor audios from Big Finish, will be on this evening's installment of the "Dead Ringers" comedy program at 9pm on BBC2, in at least one sketch originally recorded for the DR Christmas Specials according to writer Nev Fountain. The episode will be repeated this Saturday on the same channel, time to be announced. (Thanks to Paul Hayes)

The Sunday issue of the Guardian features an obituary for Anthony Ainley, almost a week after the one came out last Monday in the "Independent" which was the first word that Ainley had died. Says the Guardian obit, "The Master was to BBC Television's Doctor Who what Moriarty was to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes." Outpost Gallifrey has learned that Mr. Ainley's funeral was held the middle of last week. Meanwhile, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society has posted its own obituary and tribute for Mr. Ainley on their website. (Thanks to Chuck Foster, Andrew Harvey)

A few press mentions, with thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Ed Stradling and Andrew Foxley:

The town of Penarth could soon be the new home of the Doctor, according to the This is Penarth website. New Doctor Christopher Eccleston has "been spotted property shopping in the town. The acclaimed star, who is taking on the title role of the cult science fiction television series, was seen looking at exclusive homes at Penarth Marina on Saturday." The article states that "it is understood that most of the shooting will be done around Wales, co-ordinated in BBC Llandaff, and it is known that the BBC has a policy for housing their actors close to the place of filming."

A May 9 article in the Sunday Times discusses the new season of "Coupling" and writer Steven Moffat, who's penning two episodes of the forthcoming Doctor Who series. "Not that Moffat need worry about returning to America for work," says the article. "He has other projects to keep him busy, like working on the new Doctor Who, for instance. He says it will be much like it always was but with more laughs and less shaky walls. 'There's no point in doing it if it isn't the same, so it will be the way you remember it when you were 11 -though I'm not sure if Bacofoil will take over the world,' says Moffat." The article mentions he'd written a Dalek into episode two of "Coupling" before he was offered the Doctor Who job (Oliver runs a sci-fi book shop).

Keith Aitken's editorial in the May 6 Express on the Daleks in the new series is called "BBC is Right to Pay Up." Says the article, "Can't share, I'm afraid, in the hoo-hah over the Beeb shelling out a quarter of a million to the estate of Terry Nation for the right to revive his brilliant creation, the Daleks, in its new version of Doctor Who. The BBC knows it wouldn't be Doctor Who without Daleks. That's the measure of Nation's genius in rising above his budget to create a monster that, uniquely, didn't look like an actor in a rubber suit, and which is still the scariest sci-fi baddie of all."

Empire Online has this bit about the Daleks on their website: "Daleks Can Fly? We know it's not film, but it is intriguing. There are reports that the Daleks, set to return in the new Doctor Who series, will have acquired some new abilities, including the ability to fly. While we are having rather confused visions of flying dustbins as a result, this would put paid to the Dalek's central weakness: namely, that one could generally escape them by running upstairs."

The next issue of Doctor Who Magazine, #344 is due out May 27 in the UK. In the issue is more news about the forthcoming show including Russell T. Davies production notes and an interview with the new show's production designer. Meanwhile, "DWM celebrates its 25th anniversary with a trawl through the back issues in the first part of Happy Times and Places! Comic strip adventure in Sins of the Fathers as Space Monkeys attack! Andrew Pixley examines the Doctor's natural home of Saturday evenings on BBC1 in Part 4 of Scheduled for Success! The Telesnap Archive continues with Part Three of Marco Polo! The Time Team meet the boggle-eyed Fourth Doctor as their quest to watch every single Doctor Who episode continues! Plus all the Reviews, News and Previews to keep you sated for another four weeks!" The cover is at right. (Thanks to Tom Spilsbury/DWM)

Adam Richards, a Doctor Who fan and member of the Derby Whoovers, a local DW group in the UK, collapsed and died suddenly this afternoon, according to a post on the Restoration Team forum. Our sincerest condolences to his family and friends