A couple of press outlets have reported the names of episodes 5 and 6 as being "Nine Lives" and "School's Out". This is actually a confusion based on the fact that the writer, Tom MacRae, has written these series in the past; they are not episodes of this show, but television series in their own right.

The South Wales Echo reports on filming for episodes 5 and 6, taking place along the banks of the River Usk near the Riverfronts Arts Centre. A BBC spokeswoman said: "We wanted a location that looked like a stretch of the Thames in London."

There's been a ton of press coverage over the past day regarding the revelation of the designs of the Cybermen, most of which has been directly from the BBC press release. News coverage online includes the Daily Record, CBBC News, The Register, 4RFV, WaveGuide, Herts Essex News, Entertainmentwise, Ananova, Sky Showbiz,This is London,RTE, Digital Spy, The Mirror, The Daily Mail. Says the Times about the return: "Viewers, while terrified, could not help noticing in the past that the low tech Cybermen appeared to be 70 per cent Bacofoil with a car lamp stuck on their helmets. They have been redesigned by the same experts who reinvented the Daleks and previously worked on films including Hellraiser II."

The Scottish TV/Scotland Today site has an interview with Stephen Fry, who's writing an episode of the series this year. "I've done a strange thing," he tells the site, "I've never done anything quite like it, I've written an episode of Dr Who. We are bound by all kinds of secrecy, I can tell you that it deals with a well-known British legend which has alien origins rather than just folklore origins. And that one of the most exciting moments of my life was starting the first page and writing 'Exterior - The Tardis. The Tardis materialises on the surface of a strange planet.' You write that and you think 'I can't believe I have just written that.' As one of the absolutely original Dr Who generation - I can remember the very first episode - and being hooked from that moment on."

According to Media Guardian today, 'Little Britain star David Walliams wants to ditch his "laydee" clothes and step into the Tardis once David Tennant has finished his tenure. "I'd like to take over as Doctor Who. I promise not to make it camp," he promises. Daily Express P19'.

Says the week's Metro Green Room, p9: "New Dr Who star David Tennant is hoping to have the same love god status as his predecessor Christopher Eccleston. He said: 'I hear he had a huge gay following. It had better happen to me too.'" Meanwhile on page 13, they report on the Cybermen return...

According to BBC News, Sophie Okonedo (who played Alison in "The Scream of the Shalka") has been named best female performer at the Screen Nation Film and Television Awards. The 36-year-old star received the award at the ceremony in London honouring Black British artists for her Oscar nominated role in Hotel Rwanda.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Chuck Foster, John Bowman, Peter Weaver, John Kilbride)

Paul McGann narrates "War Of The Worlds - The Real Story" on the UK National Geographic Channel, Sunday 13th November at 22.00, Monday 14th November at 21.00 and Friday 18th November 16.00. "Paul McGann (the eighth Doctor) is to narrate the history of what happened when Orson Welles broadcast a spoof alien invasion programme on US radio. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles put on a dramatic, very well acted radio play that put the nation into a perilous frenzy. And so began the biggest controversy of the decade as millions of Americans shrieked in terror as to what they thought was the World coming to an end! It changed how we approached radio and television forever. An industry was also born including movies (Tom Cruise), books and Jeff Wayne’s seminal album (narrated by Richard Burton). In this one-hour long special, Jeff Wayne talks about the phenomenon that terrified a nation and that inspired his recording. Also popular commentator, Mark Webster delivers his revealing insights into the radio production that shocked the world. This programme examines the frailty of the World in 1938, its real horrors, and the fallout of Welles popularity in which he never recovered. The real horror of the 1930’s only escalated with this broadcast. The World was about to enter into a new phase of terror in which the War Of The Worlds Mercury Theatre broadcast was simply the metaphor of what was to come – World War II and the rise of the Third Reich. This programme explains much of the hysteria caused by this broadcast, the scandal that followed, and the question of whether it could ever happened again." (Thanks to Marc Ollington)

BBC7 will follow up its broadcast of four Paul McGann Big Finish audio adventures this December with two new broadcasts: Douglas Adams'Shada, starring McGann, Lalla Ward and John Leeson on 10 December at 9:00am, repeated at 8:00pm; and Robert Shearman's The Chimes of Midnight, starring McGann and India Fisher, on 17 December (time to be announced). The two audios, produced by Big Finish and released within the past few years, will be making their broadcast debuts. There is currently no word as to additional broadcasts but we'll keep you posted. (Thanks to Robert Simpson)

The BBC has begun running a trailer for next Friday's Children in Needtelethon. Included are various clips from the evening's attractions, with two very brief excerpts from the "Doctor Who" scene. Says our correspondent, "The first shows the Doctor, evidently right after the regeneration still standing in the same position as we last saw him, assuring Rose that 'I'm the Doctor!'. The second, later in the trailer, has Rose leaning over the console as an alarm bell sounds. She asks what it is, and the Doctor leans in next to her and exclaims in delight: 'We're going to crash land!' before laughing manically. Tennant is, as expected, using an English accent as heard at the end of 'The Parting of the Ways' rather than his native Scottish one." (Thanks to Paul Hayes)

As announced in today's The Stage, the ITV network has developed a £6 million science fiction series to rival Doctor Who. "The six-part series, with a working title of Primaeval, will follow a team of scientists who travel into prehistoric times and other worlds through black holes." Says a source for The Stage, "The team of five is lead by Professor Cutter. You learn through flashbacks that his wife disappeared when she was investigating these black holes and he is determined to find her. The black holes can open up anywhere. In the first episode the team find their way through to a world at the time of the dinosaurs. In another they discover a hole in the flooded bathroom of a domestic house, which leads them to an underwater world full of prehistoric sea monsters. There is even an episode set in the depths of the tube, where the group face giant arachnids. There is a race against time to find out what they need to before the black hole closes and they are trapped." The series is written by Adrian Hodges and is said to feature the latest CGI graphics; it's being made by Impossible Pictures (the company that made BBC1 history hits "Walking With Dinosaurs" and "Walking With Beasts"). There is currently no word on airdates for the six-episode serial, as the network is apparently still undecided whether it would be broadcast on a Saturday or a Sunday.

Amazon.co.uk has details of three new Doctor Who tie-in books due out in 2006. 4 May sees the release of the Doctor Who Party Planner, a 16 page paperback book, and the Doctor Who Sticker Activity Book, also 16 pages. 18 May is the release date for More Monsters and Villains, a follow-up to Justin Richards' 2005 "Monsters and Villains" book (and presumably by the same author).

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine has further details of January'sThe Beginning UK DVD boxed set, in addition to the information already reported on Outpost Gallifrey. The pilot episode will appear in 25-minute form, as well as the complete and unedited 36 minutes of footage, retakes and all. There will be a feature ('The Theme Music Video') allowing viewers to experience the original theme arrangement in mono, stereo and 5.1 surround sound. There are commentaries by Verity Lambert, Carole Ann Ford and William Russell on 'An Unearthly Child' (episode 1) and by Waris Hussein, Carole Ann Ford and William Russell on 'The Firemaker' (An Unearthly Child episode 4). Christopher Barry and Verity Lambert do the commentary on 'The Survivors' (The Daleks 2), Barry, Russell and Ford on 'The Ambush' (The Daleks 4), and Russell, Ford and Richard Martin on 'The Rescue' (The Daleks 7). All five commentaries are moderated by Gary Russell. The 'Marco Polo' feature listed at the BBFC is a 30-minute reconstruction using soundtrack and telesnaps. There will also be PDFs of Radio Times listings and an Arabic soundtrack option for 'The Brink of Disaster' (The Edge of Destruction 2).