The Beast Below has debuted in Australia to very respectable ratings. TV Tonight reports that the episode averaged 851,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. Again it was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news (By comparison, the mini-series Burn Up only rated 367,000 viewers for the ABC in the following 8.30pm timeslot). The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a respectable 536,000 viewers in the five major capitals.

Meanwhile in local media, Ruth Ritchie of the Sydney Morning Herald writes of The Eleventh Hour that 'a very, very young Doctor, with an almost childlike first take on his new body, is now an obvious choice to engage younger viewers. Smith already displayed an adorable alien quality in Party Animals. Our introduction to him through the eyes of Amelia Pond, a lonely little girl who hears voices through the cracks in her walls, is vintage Doctor Who. He unsuccessfully samples baked beans, bacon, yoghurt and most of the pantry in a display of adult food-spitting we've not seen since Tom Hanks in Big. After a feast of fish fingers dipped in custard, Smith's Doctor Who takes us on a wild and witty science-fiction ride.' The Sunshine Coast Daily also features an interview with Matt Smith where he indicates he might visit Australia next year. No incumbent Doctor has visited Australia since Peter Davison in 1983.

After thousands of complaints about the trailer featuring an animated Graham Norton promoting Over The Rainbow during the closing moments of Doctor Who last night, the BBC have apologised for the occurrence.

In an article on the BBC News site:

The BBC received around 3000 complaints about the incident which affected viewers to BBC One in England.

The Time of Angels was watched by 6.8 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

BBC One had 6.5 million watching with an additional 0.3 million watching on BBC HD. The total share was 36.7%. Doctor Who was again the second most watched programme of the day with Britain's Got Talent getting 10.5 million. Third placed was Casualty with 5.5 million watching.

The cartoon Graham Norton didn't prevent over two million leaving BBC One once Doctor Who finished. The average audience for BBC One between 7.00-7.05 was 7.01 million and the average between 7.05-7.10 was 4.81 million.

Overall Doctor Who currently stands at twelfth for the week with a final top ten place almost certain.

On Multi-Channel Television, Doctor Who Confidential received 0.57 million viewers on BBC Three, with an additional 57,000 watching on BBC HD.

Graham Norton's second appearance in Doctor Who has provoked a storm of complaints, with many viewers upset at the appearance of a cartoon version of the Irish comic over the cliffhanger of the BBC One showing of The Time of Angels.

The appearance seems to be a bid by the BBC to prevent viewers leaving the channel once Doctor Who has aired. Last week nearly two million viewers left BBC One at the end of Victory of The Daleks. The appearance came at the climax of the episode, covering part of Matt Smith's face. Once the credits were rolling another promo for the Dorothy programme was broadcast.

A number of comments on Twitter have complained about the intrusion with critic Charlie Brooker tweeting "Why don’t the BBC just wipe s*** all over the screen during the final scene of Dr. Who next week? I hope Moffat is bellowing down a phone to someone right now." Simon Pegg, who starred in The Long Game, added "Congrats to the BBC for ruining the climax to Doctor Who with a cartoon Graham Norton telling about another xxxxxx talent show."

Graham Norton first made his presence felt during the first showing of Rose, when crossed wires resulted in a audio feed of his BBC Three programme being transmitted across the first episode of the relaunched Doctor Who series.

Anyone with strong feelings on the appearance can make a complaint via the BBC website, or by phone to 0370 010 0222.

The MediaGuardian website has made available a video of a new BBC One ident for its Saturday night line-up, created for the channel by Aardman Animations, the company behind the award-winning Wallace and Gromit series, amongst many other successful projects. The ident - used to identify BBC One and provide a backdrop to continuity announcements introducing each programme - features the Eleventh Doctor assisting Graham Norton in battling a Dalek attack on BBC Television Centre, and highlights Doctor Who along with its Saturday night stablemates Total Wipeout and Over the Rainbow.

Executive Producer Steven Moffat has expressed delight on the reception of the new series and the publics reaction to the Eleventh Doctor. Speaking in Los Angeles, where the Doctor Who team have been stranded due to the ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Moffat said
Moffat said how the series gets super-scary with the next three episodes which see the return of the Weeping Angels. Moffat has also written a Blog in which he describes the two-part story as a highly coloured, loud, action-movie and talks of Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor as halfway between Indiana Jones and Stan Laurel.

He talks about the first day of filming on the series and describes visiting the location and seeing the TARDIS sitting on the beach followed quickly by the arrival of several paparazzi and a number of fans with cameras.

BBC Gloucestershire have published an article looking behind the scenes at another location for the story, Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean. The 14-acre site features deep gullies and dramatic rock formations known as scowles. It has also been used for location filming for the BBC series Merlin since 2008 and the same forest is said to have inspired JRR Tolkien to write The Hobbit.

The BBC Press Office has released details for the sixth episode of the new series, The Vampires of Venice.

The Toby Whithouse story, which stars Helen McCrory as Rosanna Calvierri, is scheduled for Saturday 8th May.

Meanwhile schedules for 1st May have been confirmed with the second half of the Weeping Angels story, Flesh and Stone, being shown at 6.25pm on BBC One and BBC HD. ITV1 offers You've Been Framed! as an alternative, with BBC Two showing Newsnight. More News can be seen on Channel 4 while Five has the feature film Two Mules for Sister Sara starring Clint Eastwood.

The first week in March saw the recording of the French translation of David Tennant's final adventure, The End of Time. The recording took place at the Dubbing Brothers studios in Brussels, Belgium, with dialogue written by François Dubuc, and the session directed by David Macaluso.

The role of the Doctor was assumed by David Manet, who has played both the Ninth and Tenth Doctors throughout the series' return. However, the Eleventh Doctor finds a new 'voice' in the form of Belgian stage actor and dubbing artist Marc Weiss. Similarly returning is Franck Dacquin as the Master - he has been John Simm's 'alternative' since Life on Mars.


There is currently no information as to when The End of Time (or its predecessor The Waters of Mars) will be broadcast in France.

This week Doctor Who Adventures goes behind the scenes of Victory of the Daleks and meets the new Daleks for the first time. Also, Matt Smith reveals all about them in the diary.

Plus this week's gifts include Dalek stationery and a Supreme Dalek poster.

DWA163 is out now, 22nd April.

The BBFC have cleared extras for the DVD release of the Second Doctor story The Dominators.

This 1968 five-part story has been expected ever since an official promo for the story was leaked to YouTube at the end of last year. The story stars Patrick Troughton as the Doctor along with Frazer Hines as Jamie and Wendy Padbury as Zoe.

The story is set on the planet Dulkis, under threat from two alien Dominators, Rago and his subordinate Toba, who have landed in a spaceship. It features the robot Quarks.

Guest stars include Ronald Allen, who was well known at the time for his starring role in the soap opera Compact and later for his role in Crossroads and Brian Cant who was a staple of Children's television in the sixties and seventies, well known for his work on Play School and Play Away and for his narration on the popular Trumpton, Chigley and Camberwick Green puppet series.

Extras Cleared:

• Commentary
• Recharge and Equalise - Featurette - 22'55"
• Easter Egg - 2'34"
• The Dominators - Photo Gallery - 5'46"
• Tomorrow's Times - How the media reported on the Second Doctor - 13'12"

No release date for the story has been confirmed but it is likely to be released in July or August.