Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, film & TV composer whose work includes the Doctor Who story "The Aztecs," plus "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Murder on the Orient Express," will be interviewed on BBC Radio 3's "Stage & Screen" on March 22 at 4.00pm. (Thanks to Phil Creighton)

Big Finish has some further confirmations of developments in 2004. First, their official site now confirms the stories Outpost Gallifrey has previously reported on, including Medicinal Purposes by Robert Ross (August) and Dead Man's Hand by John Ostrander (September). Also confirmed are the contents of Short Trips: Life Science edited by John Binns (May) and Short Trips: Repercussions edited by Gary Russell (June) plus announcement of Short Trips: Monsters edited by Ian Farrington (August). Meanwhile, cover blurbs and details are available now, below, for the May release Arrangements for War and the four-part Gallifrey audio miniseries, with news of guest appearances by three former Doctor Who actors: Gabriel Woolf (Sutekh from "Pyramids of Mars") in "Arrangements", and Susan Engel (Vivian Fay in "The Stones of Blood") and David Warwick (Kimus in "The Pirate Planet") in "Gallifrey" part 4. Click on the thumbnail covers for a larger version of each.

Today's new edition of the Radio Times has a news item on page 10 - illustrated with the TARDIS - on the new writers. The article strangely omits Paul Cornell and Rob Shearman... but includes a firmer date for the start of filming. The article is as follows (thanks to Steve Tribe & Roger Anderson):

There have been a few reports of faults and problems with playing the March North America DVD releases, The Seeds of Death and The Three Doctors. If you have trouble with your DVDs, send email tocustomerservice@bbc.co.uk and let them know, whether you bought the discs from BBC America Shop or not. Let them know where you bought the DVD from, in what way it's faulty, and what make and brand of DVD player you use; any information given them to help narrow down this problem will help avoid problems in future and they may be able to tell you how to get a replacement disc. (Thanks to Steve Manfred)

Below are both the final version of the cover illustration for the forthcoming BBC Radio Collection CD release of The Wheel in Space -- which for the first time will be narrated by Wendy Padbury -- and the provisional (and possibly final) cover for the UK DVD release of The Green Death, both due in May. Click on each for a larger version. Update: we now have the final version of the "Green Death" cover, which artist Clayton Hickman sent us to update the provisional one; click on it below! (Thanks to Tenth Planet, Clayton Hickman)

An article in today's Sunday Times by Ben Dowell, entitled "Drop the dead Daleks, it's Dr Who the sex machine", has caused some raised eyebrows. Dowell argues that, under the stewardship of Russell T. Davies, the Doctor is "likely to lose his ascetic character." "I have a philosophy ù I can do what I want. If we can think of the perfect story for him to fall in love then he will," Davies told the Times. "The purists may be up in arms, but there are more things to worry about in life. There is no pure Dr Who. He is 41 years old ù it is the only way to do it, to change." The article mentions that the signature look of the Doctor (the "frilly, flamboyant image usually topped off with an eccentric old-fashioned coat") would probably change, and suggests two names for the role -- Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard -- that have been mentioned since the week the new series was first announced. It also goes into a bit of detail about companion Rose Tyler ("a feisty young woman who talks to the Doctor about Dirty Den and the plot of EastEnders... [who] engages in flirty sexual banter with him and talks about her sex life with her boyfriend"), and notes that it's possible that the neither the Daleks (which are caught up in legal issues with Terry Nation's estate) nor the signature theme tune (the BBC isn't sure yet) will be used, and even mentions a possibly storyline for the first episode ("likely to be shop dummies... [who] will launch an attempt to conquer the world by terrorising a London housing estate"... which does lend more credence to the recent rumors that the Autons will likely be making a return appearance (perhaps a bridge to the past?) But the TARDIS will be back as a blue police box, and Davies says he hopes to bring back K-9. "The series, to be screened later this year on BBC1," it goes on, "will consist of episodes longer than they used to be. They will be self-contained, rather than cliffhangers to be resolved the following week." But then the article mentions the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, the long-time UK-based fan group, which refers to them as the Doctor's "greatest foe". "I have met Russell and I am a huge fan of him and his writing. But I am very cautious about this," the article quotes David Bickerstaff of DWAS. "Time lords donÆt have sex at all. We donÆt even know how they reproduce ù it could be a matrix on Gallifrey (the doctorÆs home planet), it could be chemical, we just donÆt know." The article also quotes Colin Baker as saying "Never pay attention to what the fans say. You have to appeal to a new audience." But he agrees about the love thing. "Love is a human emotion and the doctor isnÆt human," says Baker. "We were always told there is one golden rule: no hanky-panky in the Tardis."
     It should be noted that, after the publication of the article, Ian Wheeler of DWAS contacted Outpost Gallifrey to ask us to note the following: "The article says that DWAS could be 'the doctor's greatest foe' because we are a 'group of fans who adhere to the character's original persona'," says Wheeler. "Both of these things are untrue - we support Doctor Who in all its forms and are very supportive of the new series. In addition, my DWAS colleague, David Bickerstaff, has been misquoted in the article. For example, it says that he claims to have met Russell Davies when he did in fact say no such thing." Wheeler has written to the Sunday Times to correct the misrepresentation of the DWAS. In the meanwhile, it should be noted that fans this morning are questioning the comments made, as some of them seem to be based on older information (Nighy, K-9, Izzard) and may not be representative of the producers' intentions. (Thanks to Ian Wheeler, David Blane, Andrew Harvey)

The Stamp Centre have put out two new first-day stamp covers, both in a limited edition run of 1000. They're both seen below; click on each for a larger version. The first one is entitled "The Invasion" and features Wendy Padbury and Nicholas Courtney (who will sign them) and a selection of Cybermen. The second is called "The Troughton Trio" and features Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling and Wendy Padbury (who are all signing this as well.) The Stamp Centre will also be holding an autograph signing with Padbury, Wills, Watling and Courtney as well as Nicola Bryant, Louise Jameson and Sophie Aldred on April 8 from 10am - 3pm; more details are available at www.scificollector.co.uk. (Thanks to Gallifrey 5)

Jon Culshaw (of "Dead Ringers" fame) and Bill Nighy will be appearing on the BBC1 talk show Parkinson on March 13... perhaps a mention of the upcoming show is in order? (Thanks to Craig Potter)

Novelist Sarah Waters mentioned on today's Book Club on BBC Radio 4 that she was "a childhood fan" of Doctor Who, and her early reading was mainly Target novelisations! (Thanks to Scott Wortley)

Several reactions on today's article in the Sunday Times have come in. Colin Baker, speaking at the "Doctor Who and the Daleks" convention this weekend, said that the writer had misinterpreted his comments. According to Baker, what he said was that the new series should not be made solely to appeal to existing fans; however, he mentioned that the journalist's opening comments were akin to "Looks like the Doctor's going to be gay in this new series, doesn't it?" David Bickerstaff of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, who was quoted in the piece, told participants of the Outpost Gallifrey forum today, "I now open the pages of The Sunday Times to find me being mis-quoted. The Doctor Who appreciation society is committed to promoting and enthusing, we are definately NOT the 'new foes', and I have every faith in Russell and his team. In fact I don't know where the reporter got the impression that DWAS was opposed to the new production team, I did nothing but sing their praises." (Thanks to Angus Kidman, David Bickerstaff)