BBC Worldwide today, at long last, issued a massive 27-page press kit called "Doctor Who Celebrates 40th Anniversary in Style" with articles, cover illustrations and press information for its 2003 slate of videos, DVDs, audios and books. Also included in the press package were several feature articles including "It was 40 years ago today...", "Doctor Who Still Makes the Headlines," "Awards," "40 Fabulous Facts" and an article called "Doctor Who: Britain's Best-Loved Eccentric" by Andrew Beech. (And OG was mentioned as one of the primary Doctor Who informational sites.) Following are the three major sections of release information for the forthcoming year. (With special thanks to David Howe, Julian Knott and Steve Roberts)

Steve Roberts of the Doctor Who Restoration Team announced on the RT's forum an interesting discovery this week while trying to find a clean print of the Colin Baker title sequence. "Finally tracked down a clean copy of both the opening and closing sequences on a tape logged under the 'Revelation of the Daleks' programme number," says Roberts, "listed on the library system as containing Philpott File & Dr. Who Titles - which indeed it did. But what the computer failed to say was that it also included an 80 minute compilation of studio recording material from 'Revelation' - basically a loose pull-together of all the material which would require video effects treatment. This includes some of the film sequences, including clapperboards and alternate takes of the model shots of the destruction of Tranquil Repose. There's a lovely little shot of Davros having a drink of water between takes, a BBC paper cup clasped in his good hand..." Hopefully we'll see some of this on an upcoming DVD release in good time.

Dr Who's grandson ready to exterminate opposition is the headline for an article that appeared in the May 12Daily Telegraph online, focusing on Jim Troughton, cricket player and grandson of the late second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. Says the article: "When your grandfather has defeated the Daleks and scattered the Cybermen, the prospect of engaging battle with Australian cricketers is unlikely to send you cowering behind the sofa in terror. They may be a dastardly enemy but by the time the next Ashes series comes round, there is every chance England's hopes of victory against the fearsome forces from Down Under may be boosted by a new weapon in the shape of Jim Troughton's trusty willow." Read the rest of it by clicking here.

Doctor Who was voted the most missed television programme in the UK in a survey by the electrical retailer Dixons. 500 customers were asked to vote for the show they wished would come back, restricted to shows that they had not seen for five years. Doctor Who was at #1, followed by Dallas at #2, Blake's 7 at #3, The Goodies at #4 and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin at #5. The other shows on the list, in order: Just Good Friends, Starsky and Hutch, 3-2-1, Tiswas, Not the Nine O'clock News, Treasure Hunt, The Muppets, Rent-A-Ghost, The Waltons, Man About the House, Hong Kong Phooey, The Adventure Game, Mork and Mindy, Jim'll Fix It, and Bod. (Thanks to Guy Clapperton, Callum Macfarlane)

Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier's The Doctor Who Programme Guide, long a staple of Doctor Who collections worldwide, has finally been reprinted by iUniverse. Says the press release: "The Programme Guide first appeared in 1981, and immediately established itself as the single, most important reference work about Doctor Who, and was reissued / updated twice in 1989 and 1994. This fourth, revised edition was again updated to include the television movie starring Paul McGann. This new edition also restores the original foreword written by Barry Letts in 1981." Click on the cover illustration at right for a larger version. (Thanks to Jean-Marc Lofficier)

BBC 1 Controller Lorraine Heggessey has gone on record about the future of Doctor Who in a letter to controller Ian Wheeler of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. In the letter, published in the new issue of DWAS' periodicalCelestial Toyroom, Heggessey says, "Dr. Who is a classic BBC format, beloved by millions, myself included! If there was a refreshing, affordable treatment for a new series avilable and we could navigate ourselves around some potentially troublesome rights' issue, then I would consider reviving the series. It's only a wish, there is nothing substantial to back things up so I don't want to raise false hopes with die-hard fans! Suffice to say that Dr Who has its fans among my commisioning team, most of whom spent the 70s behind the sofa on Saturday evenings too!" Wheeler tells Outpost Gallifrey, "I think Lorraine Heggessey's honesty is refreshing. It means we can enjoy the anniversary without worrying about whether there will or will not be a new series this year." In addition to the exclusive with Heggessey, the new CT features an interview with Paul McGann. (Thanks to Ian Wheeler/DWAS)

The British satellite channel UKGold is having two Doctor Who marathon days in May, on May 5 and 26, showing every complete Dalek story. Monday May 5's list is The Daleks (7:20am), The Dalek Invasion of Earth (10:45am), The Day of the Daleks (1:35pm), Planet of the Daleks (3:25pm) and Death to the Daleks (6:05pm). Monday May 26's schedule is Genesis of the Daleks (9:50am), Destiny of the Daleks (12:35pm), Resurrection of the Daleks (2:30pm), Revelation of the Daleks (4:20pm) and Remebrance of the Daleks (6:10pm). These are being broadcast from the standard masters (i.e. no remastering has been done). (Thanks to BBCi, Phillip Madeley)

The UK magazine "TV Zone" says that Earthshock, the Doctor Who story starring Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse, will be out in the UK on DVD on August 4. While "Earthshock" has been one of the DVDs touted for release this year, there has been nothing official to substantiate this. (Thanks to Carl Akers)

In a post to the Outpost Gallifrey Forum, director Nicholas Pegg noted that the long-awaited BBCi debut of Shada, the third webcast with Paul McGann, Lalla Ward and John Leeson, would be on Friday, May 2. (Thanks to Nick Pegg)

Big Finish has revealed some details for some imminent projects. First, the cover illustration by Lee Binding for Music from the Seventh Doctor Adventures is available; this disc, forthcoming shortly, features the music from "Bang-Bang-a-Boom!" (music by Andy Hardwick), "Dust Breeding" (music by Russell Stone) and "The Rapture" (music by Jim Mortimore). Also now online is the cover illustration (by Clay Hickman) and cover blurb details (below) for A Universe of Terrors, the third in BF's "Short Trips" anthology series due out in June; details are below. Finally, BF today released the cast information for this May's Creatures of Beauty starring Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton; guest starring in this adventure is actor David Daker (whose many Doctor Who roles include Irongron in "The Time Warrior" and Captain Rigg in "Nightmare of Eden") as Gilbrook, David Mallinson as Brodlik, Jemma Churchill as Lady Forleon, Nigel Hastings as Quain, Michael Smiley as Seedleson, Philip Wolff as Murone, Emma Manton as Veline and Nicholas Briggs as The Koteem. (Thanks to Big Finish)




SHORT TRIPS 3: A UNIVERSE OF TERRORS
Edited by John Binns

'There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible thing...'

Join the Doctor on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe, from an alien world tyrannised by a god-like machine, to the British retreat from Afghanistan in 1842. Discover the secrets of the TARDIS's original owner, and of three faceless creatures stranded in 21st century Hollywood.

And finally, if you can, face the terrors that lurk in your own heart, and in your dreams...

Fourteen brand new adventures for reading after dark!

This collection features fourteen exclusive short stories from veterans of the Doctor Who universe including Marc Platt, Lance Parkin, Robert Shearman, Jonathan Morris and Trevor Baxendale and from several authors new to it, including acclaimed fantasy novelist Juliet E McKenna.

A Universe of Terrors is compiled and edited by John Binns who in the early Nineties edited the regular Doctor Who fiction collection Silver Carrier, in which many of today's Doctor Who novelists and television script-writers sharpened their teeth.

'We all have a universe of our own terrors to face'
Doctor Who: Ghost Light, by Marc Platt

For 40 years, the battered doors of a police telephone box have been our gateway to other times, and other worlds: worlds that have been at turns disturbing, frightening, horrific and surreal. Through several generations, a large part of the series’ appeal has been its ability to shock and scare us, defying the best efforts of well-meaning parents and censors.

In contrast to its rivals in the genre, Doctor Who has portrayed a universe peopled not with human-like cultures working their way towards peace, but with unspeakable demons and monsters, killer robots, and creatures that lurk in the dark. Where more conventional sci-fi series have used other worlds to explore the science of space travel or the human condition, Doctor Who followed the tradition of the B-movies of the Fifties and of the Quatermass television serials, in which the existence of space/time travel and alien life was not an intellectual curiosity but an excuse to frighten children and adults out of their wits.

A Universe of Terrors brings Doctor Who fiction back to those roots, and explores the darkest corners of the Doctor's universe. It is a journey that takes in not just alien and physical terrors, but also those of our own world, and of our own personal nightmares. It also depicts a progression in the Doctor’s own lives, from the moment he and his grand-daughter Susan first stepped aboard a stolen TARDIS, to an uncertain future in which the boundaries between good and evil become irrevocably blurred.

Stories include:

The Exiles by Lance Parkin
Mire and Clay by Gareth Wigmore
Ash by Trevor Baxendale
Face-Painter by Tara Samms
Losing Track of Time by Juliet E McKenna
The Discourse of Flies by Jeremy Daw
The Fear by Alex Leithes
Maurtiz by Jonathan Morris
The Comet's Tail by John Binns
Soul Mates by David Bailey
Long Term by Andrew Campbell
The Death of Me by Robert Shearman
Whiskey and Water by Marc Platt
Gazing Void by Huw Wilkins

The book also features original poetry by William Keith.