TARDIS Report: Brief Start-of-Week Press Update

A brief catch-up on the stories from the past two days; detailed coverage of last week's press is coming tomorrow.

The Idiot's Lantern Pre-Press

The official Doctor Who website has revised its front page with items aboutThe Idiot's Lantern including its "Fear Factor" segment and new photographs.

Heat magazine's reviewer Chris Longridge comments on The Idiot's Lantern that: "The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss is backin the writing chair for this new historical adventure (he also wrote last year's Charles Dickens episode) as the Doctor and Rose travel back to 1953, the year of the Queen's coronation. While Rose is busy stocking up on petticoats, the nation is gathered round its new TV sets to watch the event, unaware that there are nasties lurking in the set." He gives this eppy 5 stars, and Heat ranks this as 8 in their top 10 Best TV Shows of the week.

Closer has this week's episode as one of their Choices for Saturday: "It's back to the '50s tonight for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A seemingly innocent event you'd think - until the Doc shows up (his knack of stirring up trouble is even better than Miss Marple's!). As sooon as he lands his Tardis, monsters and aliens start roaming the streets and it's the usual race against time to get Rose out alive." (reviewer: Hannah Wright).

One of Reveal's Must Sees, the magazine writes: "The time-travellers touch down in 1950s London as the nation prepares for the Queen's Coronation. Instead of celebrating, Rose and the Doctor set to work battling the monsters rumoured to be stalking the streets." (Reveal gives it 4 out of 5 stars).

Sneak has this episode as one of it's Must-See TV shows: "...It's the Queen's coronation and monsters are everywhere. Funny how no one noticed at the time."

Star magazine gives the Idiot's Lantern 4 (out of 5) stars) and notes: "It's 1953 and the Doc and Rose are back in London again, just in time for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. As people are preocupied with the big event, they fail to notice something a lot more sinister - a threat of monsters on the streets." (reviewer: KH) (This eppy is also one of the mag's Top 10 terrestrial TV shows).

Love & Monsters

In this week's issue of Heat magazine, they have exclusive pics of Peter Kay's character in Doctor Who. The article reads: "Comedian lands his dream role. Yikes! It's hard to believe, but somewhere lurking inside this slimy alien is Peter Kay. The Phoenix Nights funny man's transformation was for an upcoming episode of Doctor Who, and these are the first exclusive pictures. Peter was so desperate to star in the classic BBC sci-fi series that he wrote a letter to creator Russell T Davies asking for a part. In the episode, entitled Love and Monsters - to be screened next month - Peter plays Victor Kennedy who morphs into Abzorbaloff, a creepy monster that absorbs humans into its skin. Scary stuff!" At right is one of the images; for a larger version, and more photos, pick up the issue now on sale.

People

Visual effects artist Mike Tucker, who has worked on both the original and new Doctor Who series, was awarded a BAFTA award on May 19 for Best Visual Effects along with his colleagues Red Vision and Gareth Edwards, for their work on the BBC One documentary "Hiroshima".

Bonnie Langford joins Tim McArthur this week on TheatreRadio, and recalls her time as the Doctor’s assistant during the interview. 'Tim McArthur Interviews…' is repeated twice daily at 2pm GMT and 10pm GMT until Sunday 28th July. "This week on TheatreRadio, Tim McArthur is joined by Bonnie Langford, who is currently starring as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre. As well as playing some fantastic music, Tim has a pair of tickets to give away, so make sure you tune in. Bonnie was thrilled to take part in ITV1's hit Saturday night show 'Dancing on Ice' where she undertook perhaps one of the most chilling challenges in her career so far. Partnered by the US figure skating champion Matt Evers and coached by the world famous Olympic Ice Dance Champions, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Bonnie skated her way into the final with spectacular, daring and beautiful routines. ... With a range of theatre classics and more contemporary tracks, TheatreRadio provides a unique blend of music and is accessible to everyone wanting to listen to musical theatre."

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Peter Weaver, Andrew Norris, Ceri Laing, Steve Roberts)