Portal to Infinity is a new, unauthorized review guide of Doctor Who stories written by Keith C. Bradbury (the owner of the Who North America web store), due out in February. Says the press release: "Portal to Infinity is a guide to all those televised stories that have delighted fans of all ages throughout the globe. With plot synopses, reviews, multiple opinions, and even a ten star rating system, this book covers the entire series during its 26 year run. It even covers the 1996 telemovie starring Paul McGann, the Dalek movies featuring Peter Cushing, and the charity specials. What makes this book unique is the wide range of opinions given on the various stories. Dozens of reviewers contributed their time and opinions to make this book a reality. Sometimes they agree; often they disagree. But in the end, you will understand why we say 'It's like watching Doctor Who with a group of your friends!'" "Portal to Infinity" will be available first at WhoNA, then at specialty shops soon thereafter. The cover illustration to the book is available atwww.whona.com/portaltoinfinity.jpg. (Thanks to Keith & Jany Bradbury)

The weekly trade magazine Broadcast voted new DW producer Russell T. Davies' ITV two-part series The Second Coming as best drama; read the news report here.

Issue 340 of Doctor Who Magazine will be on sale February 5. Here's what you can expect from the next issue: DWM reveals the identity of Doctor Who's new television producer, while series writer Russell T Davies drops a few more hints about the show; "Ooh Lalla!," as Lalla Ward, gives DWM the warts-and-all story of her time in Doctor Who in the first part if a revealing new interview; "Channel Hopping," another installment of "Scheduled for Success" as Andrew Pixley discusses about the "Doctor?s greatest enemies... no, not the Daleks or the Cybermen, but The A-Team, Lost in Space and Coronation Street!"; Gareth Roberts peers through the police box doors, and attempts to construct the ultimate user's manual, in "Living in a Box"; the third part of the comic strip "Bad Blood"; it's the end of "It's the End"; plus all the regular news, reviews and features. (Thanks to Clay Hickman and DWM)

BBC Worldwide has released details on the forthcoming novel Empire of Death by David Bishop, due out in March from BBC Bokos. Details are as follows:

This week's Radio Times (31 Jan-6 Feb) has the results of a recent poll on their website of "Spookiest TV Of All Time". While Doctor Who doesn't specifically feature, author William Gallagher says in his write-up: "If you're wondering where Doctor Who is, we know it could do spooky, but as it walks away with every poll it figures in, we awarded it a Certificate of Advanced Spookiness and left it off the list to give the others a chance". Meanwhile, Sky TV Magazine has done a similar yet more arbitrary poll of "scary moments", presumably selected by the magazine staff, in which Doctor Who does feature; the entry (which comes in ninth place) consists of: "The bit where the Cybermen come out of the sewers." (It doesn't mention the story -- "The Invasion" -- but at least it's there!) (Thanks to Matthew Harris)

We've learned more about the DVD releases coming in 2004 and early 2005, as Outpost Gallifrey noted in our Sunday news report. Both The Curse of Fenric and The Two Doctors will indeed be out on June 1 (we hope to bring you the cover illustrations as soon as they're available, possibly tomorrow.) Meanwhile, we have been told that Earthshock is indeed on the list of probable releases for the next twelve months, though it was accidentally left off the email BBCAmericaShop sent out to enquiring parties. The DVDs that haven't been "officially" confirmed in the UK -- namely,The Green Death and The Beginning Boxed Set -- should be taken as "potential," in that they would follow UK releases that haven't been officially confirmed yet by BBC Worldwide (but which have been mentioned as possible releases by UK-based retailers). As always, we will continue to report things as we hear them.

Mad Norwegian Press will be reprinting Lance Parkin's acclaimed and out-of-print A History of the Universe, editor Lars Pearson told Outpost Gallifrey today. "History of the Universe," a complete timeline to the Doctor Who mythos, was originally published by Virgin in May 1996; Parkin will be updating the guide to encompass the remainder of the Virgin Doctor Who series not covered when the book was printed, the BBC Doctor Who novels, the Big Finish audios and other stories. The book, which will be printed as "unauthorized," will be released in December 2004 as an oversized softcover. (Thanks to Lars Pearson)