New Zealand fans, take notice: a definite date for Doctor Who has at last been announced: 7 July! Says Prime TV's website: "Prime Television is thrilled to be bringing Doctor Who to New Zealand television screens 7th July, 7:30pm. Doctor Who's long-awaited return was a ratings success for the BBC, attracting up to 10.5 million viewers in the UK on its premiere night, a 43% share of audience. It has been over 40 years since Doctor Who hit television screens. The show promises to deliver all the excitement of good drama, with a hero who never carries a gun. Fans should brace themselves for some exhilarating experiences and deadly confrontations."

Ratings update for Sunday: the BBC3 7pm reshowing of "The Parting of the Ways" had 719,200 viewers, with a 6.3% share; it was first in its time slot. The repeat of "Doctor Who Confidential" achieved 455,200 viewers (3.7% share, third in timeslot). "Doctor Who" also had the highest audience appreciation index (AI) for the week, with an 89 score. Meanwhile, MediaWeek, The Scotsman and other sources cover the lower-than-normal viewers for Saturday's finale debut, though they do rightfully attribute it to the weather.

The official site has had a (final?) refit for this series, its homepage now showing the Ninth Doctor inside the TARDIS, with the line "Before I go, I just want to tell you, you were fantastic." The page is headed "Doctor Who will return in The Christmas Invasion", and has links to three Real Player viewings of: the last two minutes of the regeneration scene from "The Parting of the Ways"; Season One highlights, which is the montage of clips to music by Snow Patrol that closed the thirteenth edition of Doctor Who Confidential; and Teaser Trailer. The latter is the forty-second clips montage ending "Countdown to The Christmas Invasion starts now..." which has been frequently broadcast on BBC television since 9pm on Saturday. The audio downloads section has also been updated to include various lines and sounds from the final episode, including the Doctor's "Before I go..." line.

In a report on the BBC's website, BBC Chairman -- and former Doctor Who archnemesis -- Michael Grade has praised the new series in an email to Director General Mark Thompson: "This is not easy to write - as you will readily understand. But here goes - congratulations to all involved in Dr Who: to whoever commissioned it, those who executed it, the writers, the cast, the publicity folk that promoted it, the schedulers and of course the late Sydney Newman who invented the whole thing. I truly enjoyed it and watched it every week with my six and half year old son who is now a fan. A classy, popular triumph for people of all ages and all backgrounds - real value for money for our licence fee payers. PS never dreamed I would ever write this. I must be going soft!" Indeed.

The second of the Series One DVDs debuted on this weeks UK national release chart at Number Five, only being outsold by feature films 'Creep', 'Oceans 12' and 'The Aviator' and the sports release 'Liverpool - Champions of Europe'. This is four places better than it's predecessor which charted at number nine in it's first week of release. However, with the added publicity Volume One returned to the chart this week - re-entering at number 19 in the countdown.

Since Saturday, BBC News has had a "Have your say" feature on audience reaction to the end of the series and their expectations of the next. "Have you enjoyed Doctor Who?" has most recently been updated today (Tuesday), and now includes over sixty, overwhelmingly positive, responses.

The Manchester Evening News published a positive review of the finale: "For the fans though, and I'm not ashamed to admit I'm one of the old-school breed, this was outstanding. Clever, subtle references in dialogue and storytelling to the original series, with enough modern touches to make it still feel as fresh and energetic as the Doctor himself. Some may be churlish and point out the flaws in the plot. Or complain about Captain Jack kissing both Rose and the Doctor goodbye (and those that do - please leave now. Really, switch off your computer and don't come back.). I'm not going to. There was no pretentions here, this was just great, balls to the wall entertainment. Fourty five of the best minutes of Doctor Who, and possibly of family drama, ever." On the other hand, the Mirror's "Shelley Vision" column by Jim Shelley said that "a terrific final episode of Dr Who was spoiled only by some slightly predictable neo-nazi raving... 'Purify the earth with fire... The planet will become my temple and we shall rise. This will be our paradise.' All a bit camp and meaningless. Billie Piper did very well as a kind of council estate Bardot. ... Hats off to both leads for reviving this series."

The Daily Express noted that "They said it couldn't be done. But Doctor Who did it. Helped by the gorgeous, pouting Rose, a murderous army of Daleks, assorted scary monsters and scripts that were out of this world, BBC1's Time Lord triumphantly regenerated a life form that everyone thought was long extinct; a family audience. For 13 weeks, whatever ITV hurled at the show, be it Celebrity Wrestling or blockbuster movies, fell through a ratings black hole." The article says that the finale "had everything û a set-piece pitched battle between the forces of good and evil, the threatened destruction of planet Earth, a touching love story, great jokes and a cliff-hanger ending. And no one swore or did anything rude û with the possible exception of Ca(m)ptain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who at one point grabbed Christopher Eccleston's face in both hands and planted a big smacker on the startled Doctor's lips. But they were both facing imminent extermination by the Daleks, so you can forgive the guy for getting a bit emotional."

The countdown to The Christmas Invasion has begun on television... The BBC has run several trailers over the past three days with ads reminding viewers that the countdown is on, and the series will be back this winter for the special.

Billie Piper will be appearing on "Parkinson" on ABC TV on Saturday 9 July, 9.30pm. This will be a couple of hours after "Father's Day" debuts on Aussie TV, according to the ABC website. It's a repeat of her appearance on UK television a few months back, but seen for the first time in Australia.

According to Playbill, John Barrowman will join Tony Award winner Lea Salonga in an upcoming tribute to the music of Leonard Bernstein in Germany. The Munich concert, A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein, will be held July 2 at the Klassik Am Odeonsplatz. The 9 PM performance will feature Barrowman and Salonga in a suite of songs from West Side Story with Barrowman singing the role of Tony and Salonga the role of Maria. The concert will also feature the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Leonard Slatkin.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Jon Preddle, Adam Kirk, Dougal Scaife, David Traynier and James Sellwood)

According to the latest e-Newsletter from New Zealand chain store Whitcoulls, the Five Doctors Special Edition DVDis being re-released in that country in a special box set that contains a Dalek keyring, pin, a set of Doctor Who playing cards and the BBC nonfic book "The Dalek Survival Guide." Retailing at $NZ59.99, this is a Whitcoulls exclusive and is being released on 9th December. (Thanks to David French)

The New Zealand television station Prime TV have announced that they've picked up the new Doctor Who series, according to a press release on their website. "BBC Worldwide announces today the licence of the new series of the cult classic Doctor Who to Prime Television New Zealand," says the release. "Only the second international deal to be finalised, the new series will deliver to Prime Television in the first quarter of 2005. Starring Christopher Eccleston (The Second Coming, Cracker, Elizabeth) and Billie Piper (Canterbury Tales) and written by a team led by Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk) the series sees Doctor Who, the alien loner and his companion Rose forge a friendship across time and space. Fans out there should brace themselves for some exhilarating experiences and deadly confrontations. This ninth Doctor will take viewers from the natural end of the world far in the future to Victorian times for an encounter with Charles Dickens, from gaseous monsters with deadly plans for humanity to alien crash-landings and conspiracies that lead to the very heart of the government. The show delivers all the excitement of good drama, with a hero who never carries a gun. The human race will survive, but only with the DoctorÆs help! It has been over 40 years since Doctor Who hit our screens and sparked a fan base that spans the world. International conventions, fan clubs with members numbering in the thousands and books, videos, DVDs and merchandise are just part of the on-going phenomenon that is Doctor Who. David Vine, BBC Worldwide Managing Director Asia Pacific, says, 'This series has been long anticipated. We are very excited that Prime will bring the new Doctor to New Zealand audiences. If you are a long-time Doctor Who fan you wonÆt be disappointed but equally if you are someone who has never heard of a Tardis or a Time Lord you will be able to climb on board and travel through time and space for the first time. Prepare for brand-new, spell-binding adventures.' PrimeÆs Programming Manager Andrew Shaw says, 'I am delighted to have acquired this fantastic new drama from the BBC. Doctor Who promises to be an outstanding series. We very much look forward to placing it in our primetime schedule. This series will captivate a whole new generation of fans who have never experienced the legend that is Doctor Who.'" (Thanks to Paul Scoones, Jon Preddle, Alden Bates, Dean Brown, Christopher Feyrer, Paul Engelberg)

According to the New Zealand online retailer Gameplanet Store, the Lost in Time set will be released in New Zealand on January 13. (Thanks to David French)

Roadshow New Zealand have announced in their monthly e-Newsletter that The Green Death won't be out on DVD until September, a full month after its release on DVD in Australia. (Thanks to David French)

Issue #69 of Time Space Visualiser, the journal of the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club (and one of the best DW fanzines still in print today, in our opinion!) is out and features Rob Shearman's episode by episode critique of Season 21, Paul Cornell's experiences writing Scream of the Shalka on his New Zealand honeymoon, Fan video productions in New Zealand, Invasion of the Dinosaurs reappraised - with the aid of diagrams, The Horns of Nimon gets taken Beyond the Sofa, Andrew Pixley documents cut script extracts from The Daleks' Master Plan, the full results of the TSV 40th anniversary survey, reviews of the latest DVDs, audios and books and much more. For ordering details go towww.doctorwho.org.nz. (Thanks to Paul Scoones)

Interesting rumor, take with a grain of salt: a radio update on New Zealand's Newstalk 1ZB on Tuesday morning stated that the first new Doctor Who episode would be filmed in that country, at Mount Ruapehu. The mountain (seen most recently in the "Lord of the Rings" films) is one of New Zealand's more popular ski resort areas. Of course, Outpost Gallifrey doubts that this is any more than simple wishful thinking, as location scouting for any new series is likely not to have yet begun. Update: Mount Ruapehu also features in the first episode of "The Scream of the Shalka" so it's likely this is where the confusion lies, mistaking "Shalka" for the new series. (Thanks to Campbell Pentney, and Jeff Murray for the addendum)