A year ago, a new radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy secured the front cover of the Radio Times; this week, the next batch of radio episodes, a rerun of the 1981 television series and the release of the movie - along with the UK general election - all have to make way for VOTE DALEK! The foldout cover recreates one of the classic 1964 "Daleks invade London" shots (and is also being made available as a double-sided "giant" poster available to readers in exchange for a couple of tokens from the magazine. Daleks are everywhere in this week's edition, beginning with the Editor's Letter (page 3), which reckons that the real choice next week is not whether to re-elect the government but whether to cast your vote for the Daleks by pressing the button for BBC1 on Saturday. "The week's best television" (page 4) is headed by Saturday's episode: "One of the television's greatest icons is back on the box - and it's not very happy. But we are, just to see a Dalek head to head with the Doc once more." There are a couple of reader's letters (page 9) of interest, one complaining that Aliens of London's cliffhanger "was immediately spoilt by the preview of the second half of the story", another noting that the final moments of Casanova were ruined when "some crass programmer decided that was the moment to plug the return of Phil Mitchell to EastEnders." (This issue is also commented on by Alison Graham on page 61, with a nice photo montage of Phil Mitchell apparently attacking Casanova.) David Tennant, kilted, glass in hand and leaning against a poster of the Radio Times TARDIS cover of six weeks ago, is the main photo in a feature on the Bafta TV awards; he "revealed that he'd landed the role [...] months ago: 'It's been very hard keeping it a secret.' And would he last longer than Eccleston? 'I would love to do hundreds of episodes, but let's get through the first year before we think about that.'" (This may well be the first accurate transcription of what he actually said that night!) The big feature on Dalek begins on page 18 - four pages of photographs, details about the new Dalek design, an interview with Rob Shearman and comments from Bruno Langley, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and Nick Briggs. "When I wrote the first Dalek episode, I wasn't sure that 'Ex-ter-min-ate!' wasn't a bit silly. So I put it in a couple of times but I didn't really want it to be ranted," says Shearman, who admits his "softly softly" approach didn't go down well with executive producer Russell T Davies. "Russell's notes came back saying, 'Why not? I want to have kids in the playground saying Ex-termin-ate! all the time.' Of course, he was right." There's also a plug for BBC Books' Monsters and Villains paperback, available to order from RT Direct (ú7.99 incl. p&p). Dalek also restores Doctor Who to Pick of the Day in Saturday's Choices (page 62), with a large photo and preview: "So, the story we've all been waiting for, and it's a dream set-up [...] The mechanised monster has been majestically refurbished, and has some new tricks hidden under its beefed-up carapace [...] It's full of intriguing backstory and cool effects, but it's also quite intense [...] How great to see the Dalek back, though. CE-LE-BRATE!" The same page has a short piece ("The Inside Story") on the brief period last year when "it looked as if the Daleks would never be back". Rob Shearman is quoted again, saying, "We came up with a major villain that would have made the series slightly different [...] I daresay Russell will bring it back. He won't want that surprise spoilt." A Dalek heads the BBC1 listings column for Saturday (page 64), the blurb for the episode itself reading: "Rose finds herself caught in the middle of a fight to the death when the Time Lord's oldest and deadliest enemy rises once again." Doctor Who Confidential is listed on the facing page: "The Daleks have been the nemesis of the Time Lord since they first appeared - complete with sucker, ray gun and bad attitude - in 1963. Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Christopher Eccleston are among the Doctors talking about four decades of attempting to avoid extermination."

Ratings are in for the weekend's other broadcasts: according to ViewingFigures, Doctor Who Confidential on Saturday night had 425,350 viewers, with 355,500 watching the Sunday repeat, while the repeats ofWorld War Three (episode five) scored 168,000 viewers in the overnight broadcast (shown after midnight on early Sunday morning) and 477,030 viewers for Sunday at 7pm. Once again the figures were high in the multi channel ratings; "Confidential" was second in its timeslot with a 3.35% viewing share, beaten only by "The Simpsons" on Sky One, while the repeat showings on Sunday of "World War III" and "Confidential" were placed third and fourth with a 3.50% and 2.34% viewing share, again beaten only by programs from Sky One. We are also told that the figures on BBC3 for Doctor Who are the best the channel have had since it was launched.

Dalek, episode six coming this weekend, is reviewed by this week's The Observer. "At last we have an episode of Doctor Who to cherish and it's no coincidence that it features the return of one of the Doctor's oldest and most ruthless foes: a Dalek (above).... Veteran Who writer and Dalek enthusiast Robert Shearman has delivered a polished script which eclipses all those which have preceded it in this series.... Excellent." Yesterday's News Of The World also had an article about 'Dalek' which included two picture spoilers, one of which was a large image of the Dalek with its casing open.

The Press Association newswire featured a story today interviewing Bruno Langley, who plays Adam in the next two episodes of the series. "Not everyone can claim to have been chased down a corridor by a Dalek screaming `Exterminate!', but for Bruno Langley - best known for his role as Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street - it was all in a day's work on the set of Doctor Who," says the article. As Langley says, "When they brought the Dalek onto the set, it was really exciting and everyone was taking photos. I do remember [Doctor Who] being on, but it was a bit before my time. I liked Alien and Terminator and stuff like that." Langley notes that his character, boy genius Adam Mitchell, notes that stairs aren't a problem for the Daleks. "I get the Doctor and Rose into a bit of trouble because I like meddling with things. Him thinking he's a genius gets him into bother." He also notes that the door is left open for Adam. "There's a chance of me coming back if the storyline allows it. I'd love to do it." He and Billie Piper "got on great - I was working with her for two months. She's a great girl. I think she's really got a lot going for her. She should probably make her way to America soon. I think Adam's more interested in technology side of things. Of course he fancies Rose, she's a gorgeous girl, but he's got more on his mind."

In today's Express: "BBC bosses, obliged to advise under-eights to watch the new Doctor Who with their parents following complaints that the show was too scary, should have extended the warning to yellow-bellied MPs. Shadow education secretary Tim Collins, 40, a well-known fan of the Timelord, admits: 'I love the new series - I find it scary. I'm still running behind the sofa in the same way I did when I was a child.'" The Express on Sunday, meanwhile, printed spoilers this past weekend about the forthcoming episode, but also comments from Christopher Eccleston: "The Daleks are burnt into our consciousness as children, " says Eccleston. "I must admit, the first day I walked on set and was confronted by a Dalek, my heart missed a beat." Mark Gatiss, who wrote "The Unquiet Dead," sayid that "No series would be the same without [the Daleks]. When Chris Eccleston tells you they're terrifying, they're terrifying." And Nick Briggs, who did the voices, says, "I love the Daleks because they're truly scary. Of course, if a dustbin came into this room, you'd laugh but if it then spoke in that terrifying voice about exterminating you and blasted away at you with its ray-gun, you wouldn't be laughing any more."

Christopher Bidmead, former Doctor Who script editor in the late 1970's/early 1980's, wrote an article for today'sDaily Telegraph. "'This is quality television,' my 13-year-old daughter Evie cried out in the middle of episode three of the new Doctor Who series. Like me, she's been impressed by the delicious special effects, the fast-moving action and the witty juxtaposition of street cred and fantasy sci-fi. Yes, OK, quality television indeed. But is it 'Doctor Who'? I ask her. And, of course, she doesn't understand the question. At the end of 1979, as Tom Baker was nearing the end of his time as the Doctor, the BBC invited me in to talk about the post of script editor for the upcoming series. I'd been scriptwriting for a commercial TV soap opera, and had done a few science features for New Scientist. Somebody at the BBC had jumped to the conclusion that this combination might equip me to steer the Doctor in his adventures through time and space for a season or two. That someone turned out to be executive producer Barry Letts. I got the job, I think, because Barry and I saw eye-to-eye on one important point - during the '70s Doctor Who had become just too silly. A distinguished producer of the show in earlier days, Barry recalled the ideas behind its launch: the Doctor exemplified for young viewers the power of scientific thinking to solve problems. Science stretched into fantastic future shapes, yes, but the show had a serious social purpose. It must never be silly, never be mere magic. In the following months, I sweated away behind a row of telephones in Union House, Shepherd's Bush, recruiting my contingent of writers. (Nigel 'Quatermass' Kneale, the first candidate on my ambitious list, hated the show and hung up on me.) Inevitably, the influence of earlier seasons still hung over us, and much of the work was stripping out those tendencies from the new scripts. Instead of 'bafflegab' that allowed the good Doctor to rescue his party by deftly 'reversing the positron flow', we tried to build our stories on solid, if fancifully extended, scientific ideas. Ironically, the previous Doctor Who script editor, Douglas Adams, had crammed his own Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with real scientific concepts, although stretched to their breaking point and beyond. But, when it came to Doctor Who, it seemed he was happy for the show to continue along the psychedelic course set for it through the '70s. Our purging of silliness from the show wasn't just political correctness. It made the stories much better. The Doctor's 'sonic screwdriver', for example, was magical baggage we had to lose. A pen-sized gizmo that could blast through tempered steel, translate Azurian into English, and fend off the Karturi by generating an impenetrable neutron dome might be just the ticket in real life, but in fiction was a sure-fire story-killer. We didn't want our audience shouting out from behind the sofa 'where's the sonic screwdriver?' whenever peril threatened. We wanted a strong narrative line, and we relished the way our storylines could arc over four episodes, bristling with cliffhangers. All of which seems to be missing from the current season. Perhaps it's fear of a short audience attention span that has contracted the stories to single or double episodes. To compensate, we get snappy dialogue and a couple of cracking lead actors who do a lot of running around. If a quarter of a century ago the first two laws of Doctor Who were 'Science' and 'Story', then the third was 'Keep It Special'. It might be a super sight gag, or a spooky spine tingle, but if it had shades of Benny Hill, or The Prisoner, out it went. And that, for me, is why today's Doctor Who just isn't Doctor Who. But every time my daugher Evie spots this season's debt to something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for her it just adds to the fun. So what do I know?"

The Mirror notes that Christopher Eccleston "has come under fire from former Doctor Who star Peter Davison for quitting after just one series. He accused the 41-year-old actor of 'letting down' the show as fans won't enjoy it as much knowing that he is leaving. Davison, 54 - who played the doctor from 1982 for three series - added: "He is letting down the programme. His commitment should have been for at least a couple, maybe three, series. I hate to see, after all the effort that went into getting the programme back on TV, Doctor Who scuppered by an actor saying 'I don't want to do this anymore'. ... It is now difficult for people to watch knowing he has walked out on the show. I don't think you can engage with the new doctor in the way you should be able to.'" Sky News, Contact Music and Ananova have also picked up the article.

Today's Mirror also notes that "Billie Piper hasn't been studying her Dr Who handbook. The actress was quizzed by Christian O'Connell on his Xfm breakfast show about the return of the Daleks in next week's episode. But, embarrassingly, the 22-year-old - who plays the Timelord's sidekick Rose Tyler in the hit BBC1 show - didn't have a clue that Davros was the evil creator of the Daleks. Billie said she hadn't watched any of the series. 'I'm usually out socialising. I'm going to wait and watch the whole box set in one go,' she said. But when Christian asked her if Davros is still in charge of the Daleks, she answered: 'Who's that?' O'Connell replied: 'Oh Billie! Have a word with yourself.'"

An interesting letter in yesterday's South Wales Echo corrects information reported earlier in the paper about location filming on "The Unquiet Dead," episode three. "I would like to point out that not all the episode was filmed in Swansea... A great deal of the internal and some external scenes were actually filmed at the Headlands National Children's Home in Penarth," writes school principal Dave Haswell. "We would like to thank the BBC production team for allowing our children and staff here at Headlands to view the film sets and props that were used, our children found them amazing. The principle actors Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and Simon Callow were only too happy to sign autographs and chat with our children between filming. We at Headlands wish the Doctor Who series all the best for the future."

The Sunday Times political gossip column, "Atticus" reported yesterday that the Labour Party had made an informal approach to Christopher Eccleston to elicit his support for the election campaign, but had been politely refused û on the grounds that as a high profile BBC TV star, he had to remain neutral. It also suggested that the Tories thought he might support them (!) on the grounds that Tim Collins had thrown his weight behind the show. Also, in the Time's "Culture" magazine, Doctor Who is selected as one of the "Set Your Video For This" items, with the simple tagline: "One Word For You: Daleks"!. It also appears in the picks of the day for Saturday 30th April, with a mention of the Daleks ability to go up stairs.

Russell T Davies is interviewed in the May edition of Gay Times magazine. In the two-page article he discusses the ratings success of the new series ("No-one ever expected those viewing figures. No-one in even the most drunken meeting ever thought that."), why he didn't watch 'Rose' when it aired on BBC1, the Dr Who-obsessed character Vince from the original U.K. version of Queer As Folk, the appeal of Dr Who to gay men, and the presence of sexuality in the new series. On the first showing of 'Rose' on BBC1 he says: "Some friends asked me to come over so I ended up going to their house and getting pissed. We didn't watch it. The week before, we screened the first episode for the DVD trade mags - and that was the 373rd time for me. That's when I thought, 'I'm sick of seeing it'. But I'd shown it to my friends a couple of months before, and they really liked it." On Vince from Queer As Folk: "He was an easy character to write because I knew what he'd go home and do. And I was sick of seeing Doctor Who fans on TV with long scarves, so I wanted to take a really sexy young man and make him a Doctor Who fan - and, most importantly, have all his friends know about it. He wasn't in the closet about it at all, he could talk openly about how he really loved 'The Tenth Planet'." On sexuality in the new series, he says: "We do get someone calling the Doctor 'gay' for the first time in Doctor Who's history. He's moaning about just being slapped by someone and he's going on about it, so Rose says, 'You're so gay'. There we are: that's a first. The whole thing is set in 2005, so there's a much more open understanding of sexuality [than in the original series]." And he makes a couple of comments about one of the characters from later in the series, Captian Jack: "The story doesn't discuss it explicitly, but quite obviously he'd sleep with anyone. One of my favourite bits is where Jack thinks he's going to his death, and he does a big 'goodbye' speech to Rose and gives her a kiss, then does a big speech to the Doctor and gives him a kiss. Just a little kiss. His character's from the 51st century, so I thought, 'If we're not like that in the 51st century, when will we be?'. No-one's made a fuss about it, because it's been done really naturally and it's really funny, as well." Russell also praises up-coming guest star Bruno Langley, and then finally concludes that, "The whole show is stunning; it's everything I ever wanted to make. It's so colourful; so big and bold - and you wouldn't think it was shot in Cardiff."

The Guardian says that "BBC1 floors Celebrity Wrestling," reporting on the weekend's ratings debacle for ITV: "ITV1's audience share fell below 17% on Saturday when its two new entertainment shows were trounced in the ratings. Celebrity Wrestling, despite all the pre-launch hype, failed to topple BBC1's Doctor Who, while ITV1's Hell's Kitchen sank to its second lowest audience so far. ITV's decision to replace Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway with a string of grappling D-listers failed to pay off - Celebrity Wrestling attracted just 3.8 million viewers and a scant 21% share. Ant and Dec signed off with a bang last week, beating Doctor Who for the first time in four weeks and helping ITV1 to an all-hours share of 20.8%. Saturday Night Takeaway, averaging an audience of more than 7.1 million, nudged ahead of Doctor Who, which pulled 7 million viewers, its lowest audience to date. This week, however, BBC1's timelord attracted nearly twice as many viewers as Celebrity Wrestling." Broadcast Now also covers this.

A CBBC News poll shows that Doctor Who and The Simpsons are tied for first place on "What is your favourite TV programme?" (at least, at press time). Both shows lead with 15.25% of the vote.

The Daily Star said yesterday that Billie Piper "got her revenge on estranged husband Chris Evans - by setting the Daleks on him. She got one of the telly baddies to shout: 'Exterminate! Exterminate!' down the phone at him. The sexy actress kept playing the prank on the 38-year-old media tycoon at the height of their marriage troubles while she was filming the hit BBC sci-fi series. Billie, 22, who plays the Doctor's sidekick Rose in the show, kept asking the man behind the Daleks' voices on the show to speak into her mobile. He would give callers - including Evans - a shock by uttering the evil Daleks' notorious catchphrase. Actor Nicholas Briggs, 35, revealed: 'Billie came up to me on set with her mobile and she'd tell the person on the other end, "There's someone to speak to you." Then she'd hand over the phone and I'd go, "Exterminate! Exterminate! You are an enemy of the Daleks!" She did it with all her friends. Billie also asked me if I'd record her voicemail message, so she could tell callers they'd be exterminated if they didn't leave a message." It also notes that Barnaby Edwards, who operated the Dalek, said Billie spent hours chatting to him about her life - while he was stuck inside the mechanical monster. "Billie was great. She would lean on the Dalek and we'd chat about all sorts. I can't reveal what, though!"

"Take me to your earth leader. Exterminate!" says today's Times. "So what has Russell T. Davies, chief writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, got against Tony Blair?" the newspaper asks, discussing a plot point about the aliens in the two-part story "Aliens of London" and "World War Three"... and saying that the aliens have a habit of "only revealing their true selves when they lie." We must wonder exactly who at the Times is watching the show... since the idea that the aliens reveal themselves when they lie was a rumor reported last summer -- and it's not true, as the rumor was later debunked by Russell T Davies!

Some additional press clips today: the Guardian notes that "Christopher Eccleston's replacements are already auditioning on ITV," discussing the ITV series "Hit Me Baby One More Time" which shows on Saturday nights; today'sDaily Record repeats interview comments from David Tennant; the Cool Stuff section in this weekÆs Sci Fi Weekly is all about the new Dr Who miniatures, written by fan writer Sean Huxter; the Ask Men website currently features a Doctor Who montage as their video of the day from April 18 (but it's still available now); Leeds Today discusses the police box that has "put a little corner of Yorkshire in the spotlight," noting that "Wetherby Police Station's old-fashioned 1950s style police box is a dead ringer for Dr Who's Tardis û and is attracting a flow of visitors and fans of the time lord"; theDaily Record says that "Billie Piper wishes she had a sofa to hide behind as a Dalek has her in its sights" discussing this weekend's new episode; and theofficial Doctor Who Website has once again been updated to include photos and details on "Dalek" in advance of the broadcast.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Andy Parish, Simon Mapp, Adam Williams, Steven Perry, Assad Khaishgi, Sean Parnell)

Australian fans, take note: you've got a date in May! Saturday, May 21 is the official premiere of Doctor Who on ABC-TV in Australia, broadcasting every Saturday night at 7:30pm for 13 weeks. Australia is the third country to debut the series, after the UK and Canada. To differentiate between the 'classic' series and the new series the ABC are running the new series with the tag line - 'Adventures in The Human Race'. The first ABC program listing, for "Rose," is available at their website. The series will be followed by "Very Little Britain" at 8.15pm and then "The Bill" at 8.30pm. "The Bill" is currently the highest rated programme on Australian television in the 8.30 Saturday time slot, demonstrating how highly the ABC is regarding the new Doctor Who series. We'll have more information on Australian broadcasts as they become available. (Thanks to James Sellwood and everyone who emailed to tell us!)

Hello, readers... I wanted to let everyone know why news reports are more sporadic the past week: I'm currently finishing up the last few chapters of Part One of my book, Back To The Vortex: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who 2005 (coming in August 2005 from Telos Publishing), and because of some rather tight editorial deadlines, it's crunch time. (Part one, incidentally, is the narrative section; part two, which is being written concurrently, details each episode... but of course, there are still eight weeks of episodes to go, so that's less critical on timing right now.) Once that's finished, regular updates should proceed again, so thanks for bearing with me!

The fanzine Shockeye's Kitchen has returned and is available as a free downloadable PDF at their website. Billed as "the tastiest feast of Doctor Who-related fun and frolics around," it features a new series special, an interview with Ian Farrington (the producer of Big Finish's UNIT range) and a look at exactly what it takes to be a Doctor Who companion. (Thanks to Simon Kinnear)

A few items of note for forthcoming material from Big Finish. Chapter four of the UNIT audio series will be released at the end of this month; "The Wasting" features the return of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier, and David Tennant-- soon to play the tenth Doctor on BBC television -- reprising his role of Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood from the Unbound audio "Sympathy for the Devil". "The Wasting" is also directed by Nicola Bryant (who plays Peri). Big Finish has also released details of its three "new worlds" spinoff books:Wildthyme on Top, the anthology featuring the character of bus-driving Time Lady Iris Wildthyme (played on audio by Katy Manning); The Coming of the Queen, a novel about the early life of Erimem, the current traveling companion of the Fifth Doctor and Peri played on audio by Caroline Morris; andProject: Valhalla, a sequel novel to the audios "Project: Twilight" and "Project: Lazarus" about the mysterious Forge. Details on all three are listed below. There's also some more concrete information about this year's Bernice Summerfield series release dates: the five audios this year will be released in May ("The Heart's Desire"), July ("The Kingdom of the Blind"), September ("The Lost Museum"), October ("The Crystal of Cantus") and December ("The Goddess Quandary").

The BBC Press Office has posted new program information and highlights for Week 19 (7û13 May). The Featuresdocument (a PDF file) does not have a Doctor Who article this week, although it does include a short snippet on David Tennant: "David Tennant, confirmed as the 10th Doctor Who, declares: 'I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own TARDIS.' Tennant, whose recent credits include BBC Three's Casanova, BBC One's Blackpool and He Knew He Was Right, will star alongside Billie Piper, who returns as Rose Tyler." The 7-day document ofhighlights (again, a PDF file) previews Saturday 7 May's The Long Game, in usual spoiler-ish manner... which we've placed in the SPOILER tags below for your convenience. (This is also available as part of the smaller Saturdaydocument).

BBC News has a great article up about next weekend's episode, "Dalek", including several photos from the episode. "The new series of Doctor Who has seen Christopher Eccleston fight living dummies, restless spirits and aliens disguised as MPs, but he has yet to face his mortal enemies The Daleks," says the article. "That will be rectified in a forthcoming episode entitled simply Dalek, in which the Time Lord finds that one of the metal killing machines has been collected by an unsuspecting billionaire." It notes the licensing problems that nearly prevented them from appearing in the series, as well as quotes from several people involved in the production. "The Daleks of the 1960s and 1970s would not make the grade today," says director Joe Ahearne. "They would be seen as comical rather than frightening. We couldn't have that." Mike Tucker of the model unit says, "We have taken all the perceived weaknesses of the Dalek and made them deadly," while Barnaby Edwards, who occupies the Dalek model itself, says, "I was inside the Dalek for as many shots as possible, so Chris had someone to play off rather than just talking to an empty shell." Says Nick Briggs, who voices the Dalek, "Roughly a third of the lines in the episode are either spoken by the Dalek or Rose. It never shuts up!" And cast member Bruno Langley, who plays Adam, says, "It was great to appear in such an important episode. My character gets on very well with Rose, which of course makes the Doctor jealous."

Interviewed on GMTV on Friday, Noel Clarke (Mickey) says he'll return for the second season. No word as yet on who else will be joining the cast for the second year...

The tenth Doctor... in a kilt? The Sunday Mail says that David Tennant "wants to be the first Time Lord to wear the kilt. The Paisley-born actor, 33, said it was time the character had a new dress code." "I would love to be the first Time Lord to wear a kilt," Tennant says. "And I intend to speak with a full Scottish lilt when I make it into the Tardis." Also reported at Digital Spy,

From what we can gather, BBC Radio One and BBC television will be doing some rather extensive publicity for the forthcoming Dalek episode starting today (Monday). The BBC have begun to promote next Saturday's episode with a 30 second trailer. The trailer opens with the TARDIS in the vortex, before moving into a clip of the Doctor's first encounter with the Dalek. As the Dalek is revealed and speaks the theme comes in. The trailer ends with a shot of Billie and Chris in the TARDIS from one of the specially shot trailers. The trailer was shown Sunday, immediately after "Points Of View", at approx 5.05pm.

Play.com are running a "Doctor Who" DVD promotion which is highlighted on their DVD home page with a small picture of Tom Baker and Terry Molloy's Davros, under the banner "Doctor Who Classics". Following the link opens a page headed with the line "Doctor Who? Remind yourself of why we all love the time travelling dalek-fighter so much with these timeless classics!"

On 24th April BBC Ceefax ran a 5-page TV Feature entitled "New Guise For The Doctor's Assistant" which was an interview with Billie Piper, opening with: "For singer-turned-Dr Who actress Billie Piper, coming to terms with the scale of her new show was a gradual process." Billie is quoted as saying: "I did have an idea of how big it was going to be... But I made a conscious effort not to think about the sheer amount of work and all the anticipation and expectation surrounding the show. It's only now I'm starting to see it. And it's quite scary." The item moves on to discuss her split with husband Chris Evans ("I would never ever say that Doctor Who is responsible for my divorce"), acting opposite alien creatures ("It was quite funny...to see all those grown men just fall to the floor when they saw the Dalek"), missing out on other high profile roles ("I audition a lot and there's so much I don't get") and her close friendship with Christopher Eccleston ("Me and Chris shared a lot together... The last eight months have been heavy both in terms of schedule and personal life. So we've been forced together and joined at the hip. It's been a very intense relationship").

Saturday's The Guardian reported on Christopher Eccleston doing a voiceover for the Channel 4 documentary "Porn Shutdown," which airs Monday at 11.05pm, "as lucid and informative an introduction to the Californian sex industry as you could want. If you knew absolutely nothing about modern pornography this programme could leave you speechless and disturbed." Eccleston narrates the very frank documentary.

The MediaWatch website reports on a story that ran in the 18 April 2005 edition of the Daily Express. Under the headline "Dr Who crucifixion really spoons Beyer off", the story reads: "TodayÆs Express reports that episode six of the BBCÆs hit series Dr Who contains some foul language and offensive imagery, despite its pre-watershed scheduling. According to The Express, 'Media watchdogs' - ie John Beyer of Mediawatch UK - have condemned the show, which depicts an evil character telling one of his henchmen to 'canoodle and spoon' with the DoctorÆs assistant, Rose. Van Stratten also tortures the Doctor by binding him to a crucifix with metal shackles. Beyer has branded the BBC 'irresponsible' for including such inappropriate imagery and language: 'This is not a programme designed for children [à] I am surprised the BBC have gone with this, they should have been more attentive to youngsters....Apparently a certain religious group believe they have a patent on that particular form of torture, and regard anything resembling it as a breach of copyright. This grants them the opportunity to take public offence."

The current edition of the Pink Paper (issue 871) - the national UK free LGBT newspaper - has a story on page 3 entitled "Who-ray! the doctor is in" (accompanied by a colour photograph of the TARDIS). The story reports that a fund-raising auction is to be held on 1 May at the Cardiff Mardi Gras Pink Ball: "One lucky Doctor Who fan is to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the infamous Tardis and meet the cast of the new BBC series courtesy of Cardiff-Wales Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras." The story goes on to say that postal bids for the prize are also welcome, which must be sent by 25 April together with name, address and telephone number to Matthew Bailey (Doctor Who auction), Safer Cardiff, 2nd Floor, Terminus Building, Wood Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EQ. The story is also highlighted at the top of the front page of the paper - again with a (part)photo of the TARDIS - under the headline "BLUE IS THE COLOUR: Gays to win trip in Tardis. The online version of the Pink Paper, is currently running an edited version of this story on its front page under the headline "Who-ray- the Doctor's in".

The May edition of the magazine "Cult Times" carries a 3-page interview with Billie Piper: "Billie Piper on her hopes for a musical episode" states the cover. On the musical episode itself Billie says: "I love Buffy. And I love Buffy the musical. That's a really great show. I'm trying to convince Russell to write one, and I think he will as long as he can star in it."

Saturday evening's new series "National Lottery Come And Have A Go", which immediately followed "World War Three", showed a clip from next week's Dalek episode. Several trailers have been seen playing on BBC stations in the UK. Meanwhile, "Doctor Who" references continue to crop up on ITV's "Ministry Of Mayhem". On Saturday's edition characters used a bigger-on-the-inside MFI cupboard to 'transport' themselves from the studio to the car park, making the "Doctor Who" link obvious with the line "Who needs a TARDIS?".

Doctor Who has once again appeared on the BBC's popular satirical news quizHave I got News For You. This time the series appeared as part of the "Odd one out" round where the four choices were Andrew Marr, Peter Purves, The Beatles and Rodrey Morgan. Any fans watching will have telegraphed the Doctor Who connection immediately, as did Paul Merton who is slowly revealing some whovian leanings. He also mentioned how much he enjoyed last weeks episode, provoking regret from Ian Hislop for not seeing it himself upon hearing that the Prime minister disapeared - something he and a lot of us really wish might happen. (Oh and the odd one out was Rodrey Morgan, as the others have appeared in the series and he almost appeared when mistaken for an extra a while back...)

The CBBC's Newsround website has the poll "How Scary Is Doctor Who?" ("Do you hide behind the sofa or laugh your socks off?") on its homepage, allowing site visitors to vote in four categories: Terrifying!, Quite Scary, A bit tame or It's rubbish! . As of Saturday, the winning vote was Quite Scary with 39.50%.

ITV Teletext's "TV Plus" section had Saturday's episode as it's 'pick', billed as "Dr Who's Timeless Excitements" and contained a brief preview in which it describes last week's episode as "vintage Dr Who" and ends with: "Peppered with in-jokes, hilariously hum-drum details and Russell T Davies's trademark dialogue, this is pacy, satisfying television, which remains just the right side of kitsch.". In addition the letters page of the same section is headed "Brit sci-fi is TV's future" and contains a letter in praise of "Doctor Who".

Some other weekend press mentions: another Scotsman article about David Tennant, about his role in "Horace Can't Help It"; icWales interviews someone whose grandfather may be the real creator of the Daleks; theicSouth Londonsite discusses reactions to Eccleston's departure from some local viewers and fans, the Sutton Whos; a review of this weekend's "World War Three" can be found in the Herald; and the Sun reports on today's ratings debacle for ITV's Celebrity Wrestling, Doctor Who's competitor in the 7pm Saturday time slot.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Jamie Austin, Chuck Foster, Dean Braithwaite, Bill Albert, Faiz Rehman, Robert Booth, Tim Austin)

Colin Baker is now starring as Van Helsing in the world premiere of award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery's adaptation of "Bram Stoker's Dracula," according to several news reports which interview the sixth Doctor about his experiences on the stage. "My first experience of live theatre was as a child watching The Follies on a beach in Lancashire," Baker says. The article notes that his love of theatre started when he was sitting with his mother watching the North Manchester Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society's production of the King and I at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. "When it finished, I turned to my mother and said, loudly enough for the bloke in the seat in front to hear: 'I would love to be in something like this'. The man in front turned round and said: 'Young man, I'm the president of this drama group, why don't you come along to rehearsals next Friday?' So I did. The following Friday I went along, saw they had about 80 percent girls there. I thought it looked like a good idea then," he jokes. The presentation of "Dracula" runs April 26-30 at the Plymouth Royal Theatre; information is available via telephone on 01752 267222.

The preliminary overnight ratings for World War Three are in: 7.3 million people watched the episode last evening. More importantly, "Doctor Who" shattered its competition: the first installment of ITV's "Celebrity Wrestling" only received 3.8 million viewers, a significant drop (of over 50%) from the previous ITV occupant of the time slot, "Ant and Dec." ViewingFigures doesn't have the regular overnights up yet, for some reason; these figures come from reports on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum by the editors of "Doctor Who Magazine".

Update 24 April 1830 GMT: "Doctor Who" averaged a more precise 7.26 million viewers with an audience share of 38.0%, peaking at 7.90 million viewers during the broadcast. "Celebrity Wrestling" averaged 3.8 million as noted, peaking at 4.3 million, audience share 20.8%. "Doctor Who" in fact had the highest audience share of the whole of Saturday, day and night, and was second only to "Casualty" in total ratings. (Thanks to Ian Levine, Steve Berry, Tom Spilsbury)

The official ratings for The Unquiet Dead were released by BARB: 8.86 million viewers officially watched the show; it was the fifth most watched program of the week, beaten only by multiple episodes of "Coronation Street," "EastEnders," "Emmerdale" and "Heartbeat." The show actually came in at number 15 for the week, though three of the other four series (except "Heartbeat") show multiple episodes weekly. These final ratings include viewers who recorded the program for viewing later in the week.

Overnight ratings from the Tuesday airing this week of "The Unquiet Dead" on CBC in Canada show that 878,000 viewers tuned in for the episode, down very slightly from "The End of the World." Once again Doctor Who was #2 in it's timeslot and #4 in primetime; the Tuesday night winner was "The Amazing Race" which switched places with last week's winner "American Idol," which now sits in second place for the night.

In Australia, ABC television has started its campaign promoting the new Doctor Who; on Wednesday, April 20, just after they screened the BBC comedy "Nighty Night," they showed a general "trailer" for their broadcast of the new series in May, which included clips from Doctor Who (only from Rose, it seems). Just before the next program, local comedy news commentary "The Glasshouse," they played a five-second teaser which was simply a shot of the TARDIS materialising with green text typing itself on the screen saying "Guess who's back!"

Radio Times will be releasing a Doctor Who special, focused on the Daleks, next Tuesday, to coincide with the broadcast of the forthcoming Dalek episode of the new series. (Radio Times will have a direct advert link from these pages during that time so you'll be able to order it directly if you don't already get it!)

Today's Sun features spoilers for the forthcoming episode "Dalek" which we've reproduced in the spoiler tag at the end of this column. Accompanied by a picture of Rose with the chained-up Dalek and a smaller picture of Billie Piper, both story and headlines give extensive plot details about the episode - due to air in the UK on April 30 - and there are huge spoilers.

Channel 4 chat show Richard and Judy had a 14-minute slot on Thursday featuring Sylvester McCoy and Nick Briggs to promote "Dalek." The section started with a clip from the next episode - World War Three - with the Doctor confronting the Slitheen, which was followed by a pre-filmed insert of a vox pop of members of the public saying how much they liked Doctor Who both old and new style. Asked for his thoughts on the new series, McCoy was generally in favour, commenting that he was envious of the equipment and technology now available. He said that he became hooked after being sent a DVD of the first episode to review for BBCi, but added that he wasn't very keen on the new interior of the TARDIS. Briggs, who voices the Dalek in the episode to be shown in the UK on 30 April, told of the "really lovely atmosphere" on set, and said that there was "proper character stuff" in his dialogue exchanges with the Doctor and Rose. The ring modulator device, used to produce the distinctive Dalek speech pattern, was shown, then later demonstrated, followed by a clip from McCoy's adventure Remembrance of the Daleks. Viewers were reminded that the Daleks' ability to "fly" was shown in Remembrance, and then an "exclusive preview" clip - lasting one minute seven seconds - from Dalek was shown. McCoy was asked what he was doing now (touring in Arsenic and Old Lace) and Briggs managed to get a quick mention for the Big Finish range of audio CDs. The new DVD and BBC CDs were briefly highlighted. At the end of the slot, it was announced that Billie Piper would be appearing live on the show on Friday 29 April. Richard and Judy normally airs at 5pm.

Blue Peter will also have another Doctor Who event on the same day, April 29. "The gang go behind the scenes of Doctor Who, the destination for this year's summer expedition is revealed, Rooster perform in the studio and Meg has an exciting piece of news."

The lead story for TV Biz in today's The Sun says that the stars of top British comedy series Little Britain - David Walliams and Matt Lucas - are to have cameo roles in the next series of Doctor Who, which begins filming in July. According to the Sun story, Lucas - who appeared in Russell T Davies's period romp Casanova - is pals with David Tennant. Walliams is also said to be a Doctor Who fan. Lucas and Walliams won two Baftas on Sunday, and a source was quoted as saying: "David Tennant was mobbed at the Baftas on Sunday night. He had a long line of celebs queuing [sic] up at his table to congratulate him on getting the part. Everyone was begging, 'Get me on the show.'" The story was accompanied by a mock-up picture of Lucas and Walliams sitting in Davros casings, with Lucas in character as Little Britain gay character Dafydd and saying: "I'm the only gay in the Daleks" - parodying his character's catchphrase "I'm the only gay in the village." Walliams's image merely says: "Ahem!" There was no sign of the story being posted on The Sun's internet site. Walliams was also pictured as Little Britain character hotelier Ray McClooney. Little Britain already has a strong Doctor Who link in Tom Baker, who has provided the narration for both series, and both Walliams and Lucas have appeared in "Big Finish" audios ("Phantasmagoria" and "The One Doctor," respectively). The story has also been reported on Ananova which reports that pop star Will Young also wants to make a comedy appearance in the new series, as well as on Sky News.

A clarification about Eve Myles, which we reported the other day was going to appear in "Belonging," a BBC Wales series, according to reports in the Daily Star. Says our correspondent Dean Braithwaite: "The Daily Star piece makes it sound as if this is a new, one-off part for her, which is not the case. Eve has played Ceri Lewis - one of the main characters in Belonging, a BBC Wales drama - since it began in 1999. The current series - series 6 - is airing on BBC1 on Wednesdays at 10.50 pm and the digital channel BBC2W on Thursdays at 9 pm. Series 7 is currently in production. (NB: not to be confused with the one-off ITV1 drama Belonging, starring Brenda Blethyn, which aired in 2004.) Eve Myles is lovely and her character very feisty. Anyone intersested can read more about Belonging at its BBC website where there are biogs and photos of all the characters. Belonging is a brilliant series that, unfortunately, does not air in the rest of the UK. Anyone living in Wales, however, should seek this series out!"

Could Billie Piper leave the series sometime during the next season? That's the rumor on the Popbitch gossip column site, which reportedly notes that actress who plays Rose might leave at some point next season, following in the footsteps of Christopher Eccleston. However, we should stress that this is only hearsay and rumor and hasn't been confirmed anywhere. Piper, meanwhile, was named on the "World's 100 Sexiest Women" poll in FHM magazine this week, coming in at number 62.

Next week's Radio Times features an article regarding the ratings of "The End of the World" and the departure of Christopher Eccleston. "It was inevitable that the second episode of Doctor Who would shed a significant proportion of its viewers. Doubtless, a great number of the 2.6 million people who decided not to bother with episode two had satisfied their curiosity the week before, while others were perhaps enjoying some 'unseasonably hot weather' and doing whatever people do in 'unseasonably hot weather'. But I wonder just how many of those 'missing' 2.6 million people had walked away after taking umbrage with the show's star Christopher Eccleston, who, we learnt just days after his Doctor Who debut on BBC 1, won't be returning to the role for a second series. The outcry after the BBC confirmed that Eccieston wouldn't do a second series was immediate and spectacular. Venom was tipped by the bucketload. Eccieston was pilloried on internet fansites, called 'the most hated man in science fiction', and became the subject of disproportionately huge, spiteful features in national newspapers. The news was disappointing, of course, and the timing of the announcement was poor, leaving viewers to sit through the remaining 12 episodes knowing full well that its star has no wish to return. (It turns out the BBC made the revelation as a response to journalists' questions, and without consulting the actor first about the nature of its official statement.) But treating Eccleston almost as if he's a war criminal shows an absurd lack of perspective, particularly in an age when the 13 episodes he's filmed would amount to two series of most other dramas. Still, despite all the nonsense, there are some lessons here. Audiences can be very proprietorial about their TV heroes, and Doctor Who devotees are probably the most committed of all. (On radio, The Archers is similarly treasured by its fans, who take very personally what happens in Ambridge.) And no one likes their heroes to be slighted or mucked around. If there's one thing to be learnt about the extreme reaction to Eccieston's decision, it's that audiences' affections are not to be trifled with. But the point about heroes is that they endure. Doctor Who survived years in the wilderness after being kicked off air, and he will return in another incarnation. In short: calm down, dear, he's only a Time Lord."

Is Toby Whithouse writing for the second season of the new series? There are rumors that suggest that he might be one of the writers from several sources, although nothing has been confirmed. Whithouse was one of the creators and writers of the Channel 4 series "No Angels" as well as a writer on "Attachments" and "Where the Heart Is"; he's also an actor who appeared in "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "RKO 281". We report only for the sake of completeness...

There has been a small update to the official Doctor Who website, introducing a panel of children aged four to twelve, which they call their "Fear Forecasters," who are giving ratings for the scariness of the episodes.

The BBC Press Office has today released the fifth phase of its Doctor Whopress pack, featuring interviews with Rob Shearman, Bruno Langley and Nick Briggs, with three new colour photographs from episode six. The interviews contain mild spoilers for the episode.

A reporter for the Northern Echo noted this week that seeing Prime Minister Tony Blair on "Ant and Dec" caused the journalist to think to himself, "He should've gone on Doctor Who on the BBC because that programme gets a bigger audience". "But any publicity is good publicity during an election campaign, even if the Doctor shouted, 'If you want aliens, you've got them - they're in Downing Street'," he noted.

The Daily Star notes that the next Doctor, David Tennant, is now involved with Sarah Parish of "Cutting It." "The couple couldn't hide their fast-developing relationship at Sunday's TV bash where they chatted and cuddled in the plush ballroom. And after David, who hails from Paisley, had blagged some freebies they left at midnight to start celebrating his 34th birthday... in private. Sarah, 35, fell for the charming thesp when they played lovers in musical drama Blackpool. They only became an item after filming finished, but the chemistry on set was there for all to see. A source told us: 'All the singing and dancing in the show really lowered inhibitions. It had to because most of the actors had never done anything like it before. ... There was such a rapport between them after that. Everyone was saying they should get together."

The Daily Record comments that Doctor Who has always been a thriller. "So what if kids were so frightened they had to hide behind the sofa?," writes a reader to the paper, discussing the reports about comments that "The Unquiet Dead" was too scary. "Millions of us were scared witless in the '60s, '70s and '80s and were, at times, hiding behind the sofa. As far as I know, it didn't do any of us damage. The real problem is the adults who complained. If they really have an issue about the show why didn't they just switch off immediately? Doctor Who is back for a reason - to entertain, excite and frighten. Surely the adults who complained knew beforehand about the episode, there was plenty in the Press and clips on the TV, even after the previous episode. Doctor Who is here to stay - fresh, exciting and scary. It's fantastic." We say bravo to the writer, C. Watson of Ayrshire.

Yesterday's National Post in Canada printed an article (which was also included in many local papers including the Edmonton Journal and the Montreal Gazette) called "That Dickens of a Doctor" that called Charles Dickens an "action hero" in "The Unquiet Dead." In its review, the National Post said that "watching the confident revival of one of the UK's most silly and beloved serials has been one of the pleasures of the TV year so far. ... Not so long ago, Doctor Who was presumed dead and buried. No one could have anticipated the magnificent journey it has become. Like the hapless Sneed, Doctor Who writer Russell Davies has succeeded in bringing the dead back to life. Who knew?" Also, theToronto Star ran a piece noting that ratings in Canada are up for "This is Wonderland" on CBC, which airs Tuesdays at 9pm, thanks to its new lead-in, Doctor Who. And this week after the broadcast of "Unquiet Dead" on CBC, as usual Christopher Eccleston made recorded comments ("hope you liked this week's Doctor Who"), then introduced some behind the scenes clips while the credits rolled... and during the credits it was noted that the production credit was "BBC Wales in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation," perhaps the first official indication of co-production that's been displayed.

Some other stories of note: FilmForce discusses the rumors about Tennant's salary; the TypePad, Monsters and Critics and Sky Showbiz sites all discuss Eccleston's casting in the "Da Vinci Code" movie (which we've reported about this week); and the Forbidden Planet website has a collection of images of items they state will be official Doctor Who merchandise released later this year.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, John Bowman, Chuck Foster, Steve Hatcher, Mike Doran, Chris Winwood, Ian O'Brien, Dean Braithwaite, Graham Kibble-White, Robert Booth, Michael Davoren, Mustafa Hirji, Simon Burt, Benjamin McKenzie and Rod Mammitzsch)

The official site has metamorphosed again, changing slightly (but keeping the "BBC News" theme) for the next episode, "World War III". Note: there are spoilers on the front page including what the aliens look like and a spoiler on two of the characters, so if you haven't seen the episode, it's probably not a good idea to look. (They've also got a link to that UNIT website we reported on yesterday...)

Update on this weekend's viewing figures: Doctor Who Confidential on April 16 had 497,660 viewers (3.59% viewing share), while the BBC3 Sunday night repeats of Aliens of London and Confidential had 598,800 viewers (3.98% share) and 405,030 viewers (2.54% share), respectively. The good news here is that, even though "Ant and Dec" beat "Doctor Who" for the first time, these figures performed really well again. "Confidential" was only beaten by Sky One's "The Simpsons" and was second in the multi channel time slot Even better, the repeat showings on Sunday of "Aliens of London" was number one in its time slot, "Confidential" at number five.

According to the Daily Mail, David Tennant's salary will be around half of what Christopher Eccleston's was. "David Tennant may be the Casanova of telly but he's in a Tardis as far as money is concerned," says the Mail. "It's been revealed that the Beeb will only pay him half the salary Christopher Eccleston got to play Doctor Who. Shallow Grave star Christopher, 41, announced he was bowing out straight after the first episode of the comeback series had aired, after a 16-year hiatus. David, 33, will only get around half of Chris' ú600,000 to become the tenth timelord. According to the Daily Mail, with all the cutbacks at the BBC, Doctor Who's producers were also under intense pressure to cut costs. A source said: 'There was some relief that Chris went as he was so expensive. The show was only going to be recommissioned if the costs were cut." There is considerable speculation that finances had something to do with the change of lead actors, as noted in this article.

Friday's Broadcast (dated 15 April), the broadcast industry trade magazine, features some comments in their ratings section with regard to the first episode of the new Doctor Who series and the mention of a new peak rating. The ratings section itself (p.30) features the by-line at the top: "The new Doctor Who materialises into seventh place with 10.8 million viewers - but can it continue to hold its own among the soaps?" There is then an article about the week's ratings generally, titled "Old favourites from the 1970s put BBC1 ahead." The article begins: "The climax of the film 'The Last Samurai' has two ill-matched armies facing up to each other for a setpiece battle - the Samurai, armed with bows and arrows, their enemy with cannons and rifles. This week, Saturday night was a bit like that - the light entertainment Samurai forces of ITV verses the high-tech new generation of 'Doctor Who.' The result - 10.8 million for BBC1's 'Doctor Who' and 7.5 million for ITV1's 'Ant and Dec', both at 7pm. At its peak, 11.3 million people were watching 'Doctor Who.'The magazine also shows ratings for multichannel only and places Doctor Who Confidential in third place with 0.87 million viewers for Saturday 26th March, behind Tsunami Football Testimonial at 1 (Sky One) and Meet the Parents at 2 (BBC Three). Doctor Who: A New Dimension is at 67 in the list of network programmes with a final rating of 4.02 million and a 25.55% share.

Today's Mirror has reworked David Tennant's comments at the BAFTA ceremony at the weekend as an "interview". Apparently, "Tennant confessed to 3am [showbiz gossip column] that he's terrified of messing up the biggest role of his career", although there are no quotes to back this up, and the rest of the piece is more concerned with innuendo about his love life and drinking habits.

The Guardian today includes an article by Zoe Williams, "It's the 1980s, but don't panic", which comments on the return of Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "If you're old enough for your formative years to be the focus of all cultural retro-thrusts, then the chances are that you're the ones in charge, and it's your fault, not your parents' at all, that everything's going wrong." The same paper's round-up of media coverage in this morning's press notes the Mirror story and that the Daily Mail is claiming that David Tennant "has been forced to accept a cut-price deal from the BBC".

"Exclusive: Doctor Who Monsters in the Making: meet the Slitheen!" says the front cover of the new edition of Radio Times, which, for the fifth consecutive week, has Doctor Who as its top recommendation for Saturday in its selection of the week's best television (page 4), with a small photo of the Doctor walking past a police car. This week's letters include a response from Karen Davies (page 9) defending her win in the Mastermind Special last month: "Surely I'm not the first contestant to win on the strength of their general knowledge as well as their chosen subject?" This week's full-colour, two-page spread (pages 12 and 13) shows Neill Gorton making Slitheen outfits and a smaller Slitheen model, accompanied by a brief interview with Gorton. This weekend's episode is again one of Saturday's Choices (page 62), described as "a strange but enjoyable brew of body-snatching horror (unsuitable for the very young), political intrigue and flatulence gags [...] Nifty effects and Russell T Davies's wry one-liners keep things humming, while references to weapons of mass destruction and the future prime minister keep the chaotic action nicely grounded. But you sense that the best is yet to come in this series." Also selected is the next edition of the "terrific" Doctor Who Confidential: "Comparisons between the old and new series are often amusing, and fans will smile to see some old faces." Finally, "Next week in RT... They're back! Don't miss our Dalek special, and free giant poster offer!"

Prospect magazine says that "First came University Challenge and the return of Parkinson. Now we have got the return of Doctor Who, Come Dancing, Ask the Family, The Two Ronnies and Quatermass-all retro-television. There is no doubt which has had the most impact. Over the past weeks you could not escape the Dalek jokes, Ron Grainer's haunting music, the forty-something nostalgia. Part of its secret was the format which gave the writers the freedom to take the doctor and his companion(s) anywhere, any time. Yet it was always very much about one place at one time: 1960s Britain. The first episode of the revived series, like the last episode in 1989 and the very first episode in 1963, is set in contemporary London. As executive producer and chief scriptwriter, Russell T Davies, said the doctor and his new companion "are deliberately running past Big Ben, they're on Westminster bridge, there are double decker buses, because that's a great big signal at the start saying, 'This is British.'" But what kind of Britain? Trafalgar Square and black cabs or Rose's single mum, glued to daytime television, tower blocks and Cockney accents. This uncertainty about Britishness was always at the heart of the original Doctor Who. ... British television, like Britain in the 1960s, is lost in time, without a positive sense of identity. What is BBC1 for? Or ITV? As they haemorrhage viewers, they keep looking back to a lost, golden age when everyone knew what the big networks were there for. Wheeling out the Daleks is just a symptom of a loss of nerve."

According to today's Daily Star, Eve Myles (Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead") will next play an underwear model in "Belonging," a BBC Wales series.

Some other press reports: CBBC Newsround Showbiz had a brief mention on the Sunday (17 April) edition, which was voiceover about the series being 'too scary for kids, after 63 complaints were received' (which contradicts the number reported by BBC News), over a clip from the Doctor Who main titles buried in their 'other news' section. In today's (19 April) METRO newspaper, a letter from Darrell Mlynarz, Manchester, headed 'JUST ZIP IT' asks: "After viewing Saturday's episode of Doctor Who, I think someone should check out John Prescott's (Deputy Prime Minister) forehead for signs of a zip?" And today at 12:25 a Dalek asked a question in relation to eligibility to seek election on the BBC Daily Politics Election Special, in the Ask Daisy section.

More links from stories the past few days: the casting of David Tennant at theHerald Sun, New York Times, Chud News, BBC News, Variety(subscription needed); Christopher Eccleston in "The DaVinci Code" story reported at Film Fodder, Contact Music, FemaleFirst, Film Guardian; Tennant at the BAFTA's reported at Kerala Next.

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Chuck Foster, Andy Parish, Mark Williams, Richard Estep, Richard Allison, Mark Stammers, Steven Laing)