Weekend Update

For the last time until Christmas, the BBC Press Office's weekly Programme Information release previews the new series, covering The Parting of the Ways in its Saturday Highlights (note: PDF file). "The Doctor's travels reach a terrifying conclusion as the Earth is plunged into all-out war, in the final episode of the popular series written by Russell T Davies. Rose Tyler has faced danger and seen wonders alongside The Doctor, but now their friendship is put to the test as Earth plunges into an epic war. With the human race being slaughtered, The Doctor is forced into terrible action. Will the time-travellers ever be reunited? Christopher Eccleston is The Doctor, Billie Piper is Rose, John Barrowman is Captain Jack Harkness, Camille Coduri is Jackie Tyler and Noel Clarke is Mickey Smith."

On Thursday, the Press Office also released official confirmation of the sale of the series to Korea television, as reported on Outpost Gallifrey and in various UK newspapers: "Pagishikinda! Pagishikinda! Now the Daleks take on Doctor Who in Korea. In the first deal of its kind, BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has concluded a contract with Korea's biggest public television station, KBS, for the smash hit BBC One series, Doctor Who. This is the first time a UK drama series has been sold to a Korean public station, and KBS will launch Doctor Who on KBS 2 in a primetime, two-hour slot on Sunday 5 June. Viewers will be introduced to 'Dacter Who' (Doctor Who), his companion Rose, and enemy, the Daleks, who blast, 'Pagishikinda!' ('Exterminate!'). KBS will broadcast two episodes per week, and the series will be dubbed for the Korean audience. Russell T. Davies, writer and executive producer of Doctor Who said, 'The Doctor has travelled far and wide and knows no boundary and now the programme is doing much the same! We are delighted that Korea has embraced this wonderful adventure.' Jungwon Lee, Executive Director, KBS Media, said: 'We are very excited to launch Doctor Who on our network. For the first time in a primetime weekend slot, we are bringing the latest hit BBC drama to our Korean audience and anticipate a great reaction from all age groups.' Linfield Ng, Korea and Taiwan Territory Manager, BBC Worldwide (Asia) added: 'We are delighted that one of Asia's largest public broadcasters, KBS, is supporting one of the most recognised BBC brands. We thank KBS for being so ambitious in launching Doctor Who in such a great time slot.'"

The BBC has opened up their new Bad Wolf website at www.badwolf.org.uk. Beware spoilers... this website brings together all of the clues and information about the Bad Wolf in the first series of Doctor Who along with theories and even a surprise or two (look around and highlight things...) Meanwhile, the official site's "Last Dalek" game has reached half a million players; Yorkshire Today covers that story.

There are a few spoilers for the next two episodes in the spoiler tags below! Read at your own risk!

Today's Western Mail says of Boom Town: "The Western Mail is making headlines again, but of a slightly different kind. Tonight, Wales' national newspaper will feature in the latest installment of Doctor Who on BBC1. In an episode called Boom Town, the Doctor is seen reading the paper... [the] front-page coverage by the newspaper which tells the Doctor an alien is in town. Writer Russell T Davies said he wanted to include a copy of the newspaper in the show to prove the modern version of the cult classic is made in Wales. When the Swansea-born writer drew the blinds and shut himself away to write Doctor Who in his Cardiff Bay flat, he wanted to feature something that he felt summed up Wales - so he chose the Western Mail. He said, 'I read the Western Mail and I used it to make the show as Welsh as possible. We have had hundreds of people from Cardiff working on the programme, hosting venues, feeding the crew and appearing on camera and when a city works that hard, I like it to try and feature as much of it as I can.'"

Meanwhile, the episode was promoted on BBC1 with a short trailer. The trailer opens with the TARDIS in the vortex, before shots of the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS. Finally the Slitheen is seen removing her human guise. Over these clips the Doctor is heard: "I've travelled to all sorts of places... done things you couldn't even imagine." The trailer ends with the Doctor and Rose standing in the TARDIS from the specially shot season promotion and aired on 3rd June at approximately 5.35pm, immediately prior to "Neighbours".

Yahoo News says that Brookside actress Jennifer Sprang wants to take over for Billie Piper next year. "At the start of last year, rumours were rife that ex-Brookie actress Anna Friel was about to be whisked off around the universe by an eccentric time-traveller who's over 900-years old. With news that Christopher Eccleston had been cast as the ninth Doctor Who, speculation mounted that Anna would play the character of Rose Tyler. The feisty shop assistant role was eventually taken by Billie Piper. But now Piper is said to be leaving the show half way through 2006's run, the rumour mills are working overtime with suggestions as to her possible successor - and once again a former Brookside star is in the frame. Jennifer Ellison sprang to fame as bad girl Emily Shadwick in the scouse soap, and is said to be desperate to land the job. Her spokesman told the Daily Star: 'She would love the role - she'd be ideal.' But Jennifer is not the only ex-Brookie resident to step on board the Tardis. In 2004, it was announced that Philip Olivier - better known as her onscreen husband, Tinhead - was to join Sylvester McCoy's Doctor for a series of audio-only adventures available on CD. Over the years the TARDIS has also dropped off a number of Doctor Who alumni in the now deserted Brookside Close. ... So will the Brookside connection prove strong enough to secure Jennifer her place onboard the Tardis? Appropriately enough, time will tellà"

Peter Davison wants to be in the new series. "I would love to do a cameo visit as my old self," says Davison. "I'm disappointed that Eccleston is only doing one series but Tennant is a genuine Doctor Who fan and a great actor. He'll bring a real sincerity to the role." The news story has been reported byContact Music, FemaleFirst.

John Barrowman will appear on June 25 at the London Film and Comic Con in Earl's Court. The event also has Blake's Seven alumni and Doctor Who guest stars Paul Darrow, Jacqueline Pearce, Peter Tuddenham and Michael Keating. Further details are available at the Collectormania website. Barrowman will also be doing the Walk For Life, an annual 10k sponsored walk through London, on June 19 for the national UK HIV charity Crusaid; information and registration details for the day can be found at the Walk For Life website.

Writer Rob Shearman ("Dalek") has penned Afternoon Play - Teacher's Pet, a radio play set for broadcast on Tuesday, June 28 from 2.15pm to 3.00pm on BBC Radio 4. "When schoolmaster Peter bumps into his old French teacher, Mrs Townsend, it becomes clear they have a shared secret, and there may still be some surprising lessons to be learned. Twenty years ago, Peter, a teenager, develops a æcrushÆ on Stephanie Townsend, a female teacher at his school, and determines to æwinÆ her. Now a teacher himself, he is approached by Stephanie many years later. In the past, and horrified at the compromising situation in which she finds herself, she rejects him and in a fit of pique, young Peter ensures the school is informed that heÆs had an inappropriate liaison. Forced to resign quietly because of the hint of scandal, Mrs TownsendÆs marriage, already rocky, founders and peters out. In the present day, when Stephanie Townsend seeks Peter out, it is unclear what she wants û revenge or reconciliation. Carolyn Seymour stars as Stephanie with Simon Templeman as Peter and Steven Geller as both Young Peter and Philip." Martin Jarvis ("Vengeance on Varos," "Jubilee") produces along with his wife, Rosalind Ayres. BBC Radio 4 will also revive Dixon of Dock Green this summer, with David Tennant (the new Doctor) playing Andy Crawford; more details on that soon.

ITV will revive a quiz show to regain its prominence on Saturday night. "The Big Call," a studio-based general knowledge quiz presented by former Pop Idol judge Neil Fox, matches six members of the public with six celebrities competing to win either a cash prize of ú20,000 or 100,000 tickets for that evening's lottery. Interestingly, "ITV said it had yet to decide on a definitive time slot, but a 'mid-evening' target for the 60-minute show, which launches on June 18, suggests it will be avoiding a clash with the last episode in the current series of BBC1's Doctor Who," says a report. ITV was the dominant force on Saturday nights until Doctor Who came back to television.

Some press mentions: The Sun (3rd June) featured an item covering Anne Robinson's upcoming appearance in "Doctor Who". The brief article (entitled "Anne-Droid") included a large photograph from the episode showing a "Weakest Link" contestant being 'zapped' by Anne's character. ITV Teletext (4th June) had "Doctor Who" as a TV Pick, under the title "Is it time to Dai for Dr Who?". The item opened with: "Chief Doctor Who scribe Russell T Davies takes a full-blown writing credit in this episode set in his beloved Cardiff..." before moving on to plot details. The Daily Star (4th June) ran an item entitled "###' fight to finish" regarding the return to "Doctor Who" of some old nasties in the very near future (we've taken out the name of the aliens, but you probably know what's coming if you see the trailer for next week...) The item was accompanied by a large photograph of Billie Piper and a smaller picture of flying saucers in space. The Star TV Mag listed "Boom Town" as 5-Star 'HOT': "It's common for alarm bells to ring when plans are announced to build a nuclear power station. But the Doctor finds out this week that the proposal to build one in Cardiff is a little more controversial than most. Since it's hiding an alien plot to destroy Planet Earth, the local residents are going to be really cross." And Have I Got News For You...? (BBC1, 3rd June) closed its final episode of this series with a culmination of the running gag of Ian Hislop being the new Doctor Who as his face was morphed over a picture of Chris and Billie, accompanied by the TARDIS sound effect.

More references: Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive (Radio 4, 1st June) discussed the influence of television on teenage behaviour and featured a curious reference to "Doctor Who", with one participant noting:"There's no doubting that teenagers do copy what they see on TV, though. There's a kid on my street...all last week he was time-travelling and gurning!". The Sun (2nd June) featured numerous "Doctor Who" references. The story told by Russell T Davies in the "Radio Times" about the man involved in the car accident was covered under the title "I need a Doctor...". A centre-page feature on scientists opinions of what aliens would look like featured a Dalek. David Tennant's new role in ITV1's "Secret Smile" was covered in "Who's A Psycho" while one of the "Random TV Irritations was "Dr Who's fixation with London" (although the same person does describe "Doctor Who" as "TV Gold"). ITV Telextext (2nd June) ran an item on ITV1's new show "The Big Call" which will spearhead their Saturday night schedules from 18 June. The item noted: "ITV has lost viewers this spring since the arrival of Doctor Who on BBC1. Celebrity Wrestling and Hit Me Baby One More Time failed to take off." While it featured no actual "Doctor Who" content Dead Ringers (BBC2, 2nd June) was trailed with a 'Christopher Eccleston' complaining "Doctor this, Doctor that...".

Empire Magazine briefly, but rather positively, reviews the DVD release of Russell T Davies' Casanova this week, devoting approximately half its wordcount to telling readers that "the series is most notable for the first team-up of TV's hottest celebrity scribe - Dr Who's Russell T. Davies - and the man set to take over the Tardis in the next series.... Judging by this, Who 2005 v.2 is going to fly."

Other news items: The Mirror, the Daily Record and Hello Magazine talk about Anne Robinson's appearance in next weekend's "Bad Wolf"; theSydney Morning Herald discusses "The Unquiet Dead," soon to be broadcast on ABC in Australia; "Unquiet Dead" writer Mark Gatiss and his fellow "League of Gentlemen" folk are interviewed byicHuddersfield; "I really need a Doctor..." says a man to The Sun, when a driver trapped in his car after a crash asked a paramedic for a mobile to phone his wife and get her to video Dr Who; TV Quick has a poll for top TV in the UK, with Eccleston in the Best Actor section, Piper in Best Actress and the series in Best New Drama.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Mark Stammers, Jamie Austin, Matt Kimpton, Stuart from Showmasters, Elizabeth Hyder, Dan McGrath)