The UK casting newsletter PCR (Professional Casting Review) today contains the following information: the casting director on the new Doctor Who series is Andy Pryor, whose casting credits include "Long Time Dead," "Beautiful Thing," "Trainspotting TV: The Long Firm," "Cutting It," "Linda Green" and "In a Land of Plenty," among others. The PCR article also mentions that shooting for the series "is anticipated for late spring" meaning that the production is a bit further along than previously believed. OG speculates that, because of this, an announcement of a new Doctor is probably due within the next month or two.

According to Tenth Planet, the recent BBC limited edition audio Dalek Tin - which included "The Power of the Daleks," "The Evil of the Daleks" and "My Life as a Dalek" all on CD - has now been deleted by the BBC Radio Collection. The individual releases (at least the first two) will likely be available individually in the future, but not as this boxed edition.

Portal To Infinity by Keith Bradbury, an unauthorized "review guide" to the original Doctor Who series previously covered on OG, is now in release.

Big Finish has released cover details and information on three forthcoming audios: March's The Twilight Kingdom by Will Shindler, the final Eighth Doctor & Charley audio of this current batch, with guest star Michael Keating ("Blake's 7"); April's The Axis of Insanity by Simon Furman, with guests Garrick Hagon (Biggs in "Star Wars") and Roy North ("Basil Brush"); and a new confirmation, July's The Roof of the World by Adrian Rigelsford, with guest star Edward de Souza (who played Marc Cory in the Doctor Who serial "Mission to the Unknown"). Details on each are below; click on each thumbnail graphic for a larger version. Meanwhile, producer John Ainsworth told the Outpost Gallifrey forum today that an additional "Doctor Who Unbound" installment will be happening, and will be out this November; and that the dates of release of the Gallifrey series will be announced soon. (Thanks to Big Finish, John Ainsworth)

Mad Norwegian has confirmed that Mags L. Halliday ("History 101") will write the fourth Faction Paradox novel, due out in December 2004. Warring States takes place in China, 1900, and concerns Cousin Octavia (the Faction Paradox member responsible for the fall of the Thirteen-Day Republic, as told in The Book of the War ). Meanwhile, the second book, Of the City of the Saved by Philip Purser-Hallard is now due out in late April, delayed a month due to production schedules. The cover blurb for the book (based on the cult favorites created in the BBC Eighth Doctor novel series) is as follows: "We all remember Resurrection Day. Even now, three centuries later, we cannot forget that awakening: our bewilderment, our terror and our joy. Each of us had experienced death, imagining ourselves bound for oblivion, Heaven or Nirvana, according to taste. Instead, we found, each member of the many human species û from tool-wielding australopithecines to posthuman philosopher-gods û had been harvested, gathered here by the FoundersÆ unfathomable technologies. Reborn in our countless immortal bodies, we were given the freedom of the City of the Saved. A single conurbation as broad as a spiral galaxy, she has been our sanctuary from the ravages of the War. That monstrous conflict between inhuman cultures cannot touch us here: we live our afterlives beyond the end of time, in perfect safety. We may be certain, therefore, that these rumours of a murder (the brutal stabbing of a City Councillor, no less!) are nothing more than lurid fabrications. The supposition that the murder weapon is missing, or that it could have been û as hysterical conjecture has claimed û a "potent weapon", capable of injuring a Citizen within the haven of the City, is equally absurd. The idea that a guerrilla war has already begun in one of our less harmonious enclaves need not be dignified with refutation. Please go about your business, Citizens, as normal. We are perfectly safe, here in the City. Humanity has never been safer." Also, author Lars Pearson will return with a fourth installment of his I, Who series later in the year; "I, Who 4" is scheduled for October 2004 release, co-written with Arnold T. Blumberg this time, and will again cover the BBC Doctor Who novels and Big Finish audios as well as the various anthologies recently published. Finally, the second edition of A History of the Universe by Lance Parkin has been moved up to November 2004 instead of December.

Peter Davison has returned as "Dangerous Davies" in a new series of the comedy drama "The Last Detective," which debuted on February 13 on ITV.

Terrance Dicks, Matthew Waterhouse and Peter Moffatt recently were in studio recording commentary on "State of Decay" for DVD, though no release has yet been planned.

Paul McGann spoke to SFX Magazine about the forthcoming new series. He said he doubted he would be asked to reprise the role, but said that he would be happy to appear in any regeneration, should that be the direction that the producers want to take. When asked for the name of an actor he thought should be in the role, McGann mentionedDavid Warner, because he was quite happy with the actor's work.

Bill Nighy, long noted as a choice of new producer Russell T. Davies to play the Doctor, is apparently not interested, Nighy's wife Diana Quick stated after a performance of her play "After Mrs. Rochester" at the Richmond Theatre recently. Quick -- who starred as Prime in BBCi's "The Scream of the Shalka" -- was quoted by our correspondent as Nighy having been offered the role of the Doctor, but turned it down. Nighy also delivered a cryptic acceptance speech at the Evening Standard Film Awards on February 5; picking up the gong for Best Comedy Performance (for playing an ageing rocker in Love Actually), Nighy pointed out that recently he's played both a vampire and a zombie before noting: 'I've reached that difficult age where I can only play men from different dimensions.' Although it was recently announced that he has been cast as Slartibartfast in the Hammer & Tong film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, could he also have been hinting at something dearer to our hearts? While this is second-hand information, OG felt it reliable enough to report as things are indeed progressing behind the scenes. (Thanks to Trevor Dobbin, Jim Sangster)

The Green Death, the final story of season 10 and the last to feature Katy Manning as Jo Grant, will be the next DVD release in the UK after "Pyramids of Mars," likely out May 10. The DVD includes commentary from Manning, Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, as well as interviews with effects designer Colin Mapson, writer Robert Sloman and actor Stewart Bevan (Clifford Jones), as well as "Global Conspiracy", a featurette described as "Man Alive's original 70's environmental reporter, Terry Scanlon, revisits Llanfairfach thirty years on, where troubles seem to be resurfacing..." A short piece called "What Katy Did Next" which was announced as an extra by the British Board of Film Classification will not be on the disc due to space issues (not rights issues as we originally mentioned; the disc producers asked for 45 minutes of extras and the Restoration Team was forced to leave off 10 minutes including this and an easter egg compilation of continuity announcements; hopefully they can be included on a future disc.) The release will be a single disc.