Weekend Series Roundup

Overnight ratings are in for The Long Game, the seventh transmitted episode of Doctor Who in the UK. "Doctor Who" averaged 7.51 million viewers throughout the evening with a 38.9% share of the viewing audience. Its ITV competitor, "Celebrity Wrestling," continued its nosedive with only 2.56 million viewers (14.1% share). "Doctor Who" peaked in the last 15 minutes to 8.28 million viewers, and actually had the largest audience share of Saturday night even though more viewers tuned into "Casualty" (8.04 million viewers, but only a 35.8% share of the audience at the time.)

Canada's CBC Television website has posted the first episode of Planet of the Doctor, the six-episode documentary series taking a look at both the new Doctor Who series as well as the history of the classic show. The first episode features interviews with original producer Verity Lambert, actress Elisabeth Sladen, series writer Terrance Dicks, producer Barry Letts, science fiction novelist Robert J. Sawyer, members of the Canadian fan club DWIN and attendees of the Gallifrey 2005 convention in Los Angeles.

BBC1's Points Of View (8th May) made reference to the return of the Daleks with two viewer comments. Dan Kemp said: "I'd been looking forward to the return of the Daleks all series. Was that it?" while Fiona Lorimer's concern was: "If the last Dalek in the universe has exterminated itself, does this mean that the Daleks are never to be seen again?". Host Terry Wogan's advice was to keep watching.

Christopher Eccleston appeared as part of BBC1's "A Party To Remember: Live From Trafalgar Square" (8th May) leading a poetry reading to celebrate the 60th anniversary of VE Day. He was introduced as: "...one of the most respected actors of his generation. The man who has been lighting up our Saturday nights quite literally. Who else, but...Christopher Eccleston?"

Doctor Who Confidential: Cut Down is a limited-time affair. The 15-minute version of the half-hour documentary, which is being aired after the Sunday night repeat of "Doctor Who" on Sundays, has been airing since last week. However, according to the Confidential website, "The Sunday repeat of parts 6-9 will feature new series material only and be edited to fit a fifteen-minute slot. Full-length repeats will return from part 10 onwards."

There have only been a handful of press reviews for The Long Game. One was printed in today's The Sun: "I loved last week's Dr Who with the levitating Dalek, Todd Grimshaw from Corrie and the Doctor's growing lust for his assistant Rose. This is one of the few shows the whole family can watch which doesn't have Heart in the title and a sickly sweet storyline. It is scary, intelligent and funny and has raised the bar for Saturday night TV. It's just a shame the powers that be ignored pleas from sci-fi fans to bring it back for so bloody long."

Simon Pegg and Colin Prockter, who played the Editor and the briefly-seen Head Chef in "The Long Game, " are profiled in this weekend's "The Citizen". "Tv's Doctor Who will come face-to-face with two Gloucestershire actors tonight. Brockworth actor Simon Pegg, who starred and co-wrote the zombie comedy flick Shaun of the Dead, plays an evil villain known as The Editor in the seventh episode of the sci-fi series called The Long Game. You might also recognise Stroud actor Colin Prockter who plays Head Chef in the same episode. ... Simon was reported as saying the other day: 'I think it's going to be spectacular. It's a real honour to be in it. To be a Doctor Who villain was a bit of a dream come true, so I was very happy to do that.' His father, John Beckingham, who lives at Green Way in Brockworth, said his son had always been into science fiction, and had been a huge Star Wars fan. Mr Beckingham said: 'I think he was very pleased to do Doctor Who. He loves science fiction and that sort of thing. It is a well-known, big series and is high profile so it is good for him. I used to watch the original series with Simon. I don't think he ever hid behind the sofa like other kids. He was always into sci-fi, especially zombies. It will be good for him to play a baddie and a change from fighting zombies. I haven't seen the episode yet - just the trailer. We'll definitely be watching it. I am very proud.' Simon has also narrated the series of Doctor Who Confidential which airs on BBC3 after each Saturday night episode. Simon's Doctor Who co-star Colin Prockter, is famous for his roles as stand-in landlord Rodney Bostock of the Rovers Return in Coronation Street and parts in The Whistleblower and Minder. He has done a lot of charity work for The Spring Centre and the Stroud Cats Protection League."

As part of its second week of "Sci-Fi Saturday" the Daily Star (7th May) gave away a free CD which was promoted heavily on the front page of the newspaper as "Doctor Who And Friends". The half-page promotion featured pictures of Chris and Billie and (in small text) informed readers that it was the 'original series tune' on the CD (in fact it was the Mark Ayres arrangement that appeared on the double CD "The Cult Files" in the 1990s). The accompanying TV magazine had "Doctor Who" as its 5-star top pick for the day and made much of the appearance of ex-"Coronation Street" star Bruno Langley.

Yesterday's Guardian discussed ITV's turn to nostalgia "in the face of Dalek threat," noting the disasterous ratings they're suffering. "At a time when ITV is battling falling ratings and increased competition, it is hoping to regain the affection of viewers by broadcasting more than 30 hours of nostalgia-fuelled peak-time programming to celebrate its 50th birthday. The network, which last weekend suffered one of its worst ratings defeats at the hands of the Daleks on BBC1, has unveiled an ambitious programme of on and offscreen events around the anniversary of its first broadcast in September 1955. Classic shows and big names will be wheeled out in an effort to remind viewers of their emotional attachment to the 'people's channel.' ... Last Saturday, fewer than one in five viewers tuned in to ITV's Hell's Kitchen and Celebrity Wrestling, which were up against Doctor Who on BBC1 and Lord of the Rings on Channel 4. As part of the plans, unveiled by ITV's director of programmes, Nigel Pickard, at the Rose d'Or TV festival in Lucerne, viewers will be asked to vote for their favourite ITV shows from a list of 50, with the results forming the basis of a three-hour countdown. The nominations include light entertainment shows from This is Your Life to Opportunity Knocks, comedies such as Spitting Image, much-loved dramas such as Jewel in the Crown, The Sweeney and Cracker, and long-running soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale."

The Sunday Telegraph has an early review of next Saturday's episode,Father's Day. "'The past in another country', chirps Eccleston's tough-casual Time Lord at the start of tonight's typically terriffic episode. Written by longtime fan Paul Cornell, it's a slicker, snappier, more affecting update of the concept-heavy shenanigans... Piper is perfect, as ever, Eccleston is near his best... and Shaun Dingwall is superb as Rose's n'er-to-do-well dad. Was Doctor Who ever this dependably good before?"

Some recent press appearances for the series: Radio 4's The Now Show (6th May) again featured a number of "Doctor Who" references, including a Dalek standing as part of a local election. The latest edition of Zoo magazine (3-9 May) features an interview with Simon Pegg which promotes his role in "The Long Game" and includes a picture of Pegg as The Editor with the caption "He wasn't sure if the Rutger Hauer look was really working". The magazine also has "Doctor Who" as its Drama TV highlight for Saturday, accompanying it with a picture of a Dalek from last week's episode. On 7th MayITV Teletext had "Doctor Who" as a pick of the day: "It's been an astonishing return to form for everyone's favourite Time Lord, and the press haven't been slow to praise Russell T Davies's Doctor Who. But in this episode the camera is turned on the media - albeit in the year 200,000. Long-time Dr Who fan Simon Pegg, writer and star of Shaun Of The Dead, plays the villainous Editor. Tonight's alien is truly the stuff of nightmares, so it might be best to get the kids behind the sofa straight away". BBC Ceefax also had "Doctor Who" as its TV Choice on 7th May: "It's the first ho-hum episode of the new series, but stick around because next week's one is off the scale: easily the best so far. Tonight Simon Pegg stars as The Editor in a not-even-thinly-veiled mockery of extreme journalism. Unsurprisingly, this is all on Earth again. Or strictly speaking, it's above the planet: this is on a space station in the year 20,000. There's a lot to enjoy but no real meat to the story, not until next time". Channel 4's new Monday night show FAQ U is been trailed as, amongst other things, "...like Doctor Who, but with no-one in it". And Garry Bushell writing for today's The People: "Why don't people being "chased" by Daleks simply run away? You see faster milk floats."

Today's Mail on Sunday notes that Billie Piper will be "brought back down to earth as the nemesis to infamous 'chav' Vicky Pollard in the award-winning BBC comedy series Little Britain. A friend of the actress claims that the show's creators, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, approached Piper because they thought she would be a perfect foil for the foul-mouthed Vicky, whose 'Yeah but, no but' catchphrase, tracksuit and fake gold jewellery epitomise Britain's chav anti-culture. The source says the duo asked Piper out to dinner so they could pitch the idea to her and convince her to be part of their third series. She has also been seen stepping out in London recently with Walliams. 'Vicky Pollard is one of Little Britain's best-loved characters, and David and Matt wanted something new to keep the routine fresh,' Piper's friend told The Mail on Sunday. 'They knew an arch-enemy for Vicky would bring a new dimension to the chav sketches, and they told Billie she would be perfect. Billie loves the idea and knows it would be a super role after Doctor Who. She's now looking at her schedule to make sure she can fit it in.'"

Other items of note: the Mirror and Digital Spy speculate that ITV will drop "Celebrity Wrestling" in the wake of its failure against "Doctor Who"; CBBC News talks about Doctor Who as the top programme and Billie Piper's celebrity; andDigital Spy says that Piper is buying a house near ex-husband Chris Evans.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, Jamie Austin, Keith Armstrong, Peter Weaver, Steve Berry)