John Barrowman will be a guest on Friday 3 February on London'sLBC 97.3FM with Alison Bell, then will host a half-hour question and answer show answering questions from the audience. Says the press release, "You'll be able to download John's show through the LBC podcast page [on the website]. Whether it's Torchwood, Doctor Who or Dancing on Ice, John's promising to talk directly to fans and answer listener questions, whether it's through texts, emails or on the phone." Barrowman's officialwebsite is also reporting the news and should have more details early this week. (Thanks to Andy Harris, Paul Taylor)

Due out in April from I.B. Tauris Publishing is Inside the Tardis: A Cultural History of Doctor Who by James Chapman. The book is due to be published in both hardback and paperback and Outpost Gallifrey has this exclusive preview via the cover blurb from the publishers: "With the successful twenty-first-century revival of an old favourite for a new generation of viewers, this is the time to look afresh at one of the great classics of British television. Doctor Who enjoys the distinction of being the longest-running science fiction series in the world; the adventures of everyone’s favourite Time Lord and his many companions, as they battle it out with Daleks, Cybermen and many more intergalactic menaces have become an indelible part of popular culture. In this new study of a television institution – the first to draw extensively on the full riches of the BBC Written Archives – James Chapman explores the history of Doctor Who from its origins to the present day. He shows how the series has evolved to meet changing contexts inside the BBC and in the wider culture, while all the time retaining its quirky, eccentric and distinctively British characteristics. And he demonstrates how the production history of the series has allowed it to renew and refresh its format in response to developments in the wider world of science fiction. Chapman writes from the perspective of a fan as well as a historian: this will be the essential text for all serious Doctor Who aficionados." (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

According to a press release from BT Telecom, Tom Baker on Friday became the voice of BT Text, "a new service which lets people send and receive text messages on their home phone. From today, every text message sent to a landline will be delivered as a spoken message by Tom, narrator of the hit comedy Little Britain. Former Dr Who Tom was chosen as the voice of BT Text for his instantly recognisable voice. In a recent poll of celebrity voices, Tom was voted the fourth most recognisable voice in the UK, behind only the Queen, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. Gavin Patterson, BT group managing director, Consumer, said: 'As one of our great British icons, Tom appeals across the generations, for his role as the fourth Dr Who, more recently as the narrator of Little Britain and as Donald McDonald in Monarch of the Glen. He's the perfect choice to be the new voice of text, showing everyone – young and old – how easy and fun it is to send and receive texts on your home phone.' Tom Baker said: 'It's a big responsibility to be Britain's voice of text. What appeals to me most is the thought that I will be bringing good news to people whether it is a cheeky message, a Birthday greeting or just a quick hello. Whatever it is, hopefully my voice will bring a smile to people's faces.' It took about five months to produce the voice from start to finish, with Tom spending a total of 11 days recording every single sound in the English language. It was not a simple case of reading out the dictionary from A-Z. Instead, Tom had to record 11,593 phrases, which covered every single sound in the English language in each of their different contexts. These were then broken down into combinations of sounds that could be separated and reassembled by computer to make new words following the rules of English pronunciation – similar to the way children are taught to read. This means there is no limit to the words the voice can say, even rude ones. It has also been programmed to recognise abbreviations and even text speak such as GR8, CUL8R and 'smilies' like :-) . You could even get Tom to blow kisses to your loved one on Valentine's Day. Text 'xx' and Tom Baker's voice will say 'kiss, kiss' or four or more x's and he'll say 'lots of kisses'. ... Tom will be the voice of BT Text for a limited period of three months." More details about the service are at BT's Celebrity Voice website. Also reported in the Mirror, the Brand Republic, Pocket Lint, icWales Network, Daily Record, Digital Spy. (Photo from the recent Tom Baker signing at the Stamp Centre, courtesy Steven Scott / Scifi Collector)

As Outpost Gallifrey previously had reported, we now have confirmation from the Sci-Fi Channel, via their published schedules online, that the first season of the new series will debut in the US on Friday, March 17 at 9:00pm. "Rose" will air that night twice, in fact, once at 9pm and then three hours later at midnight, as well as on Sunday, March 19 at 11:00pm and then the following Friday, March 24 at 8:00pm. "The End of the World" then airs right after, on Friday, March 24 at 9:00pm and again at midnight, and then Sunday night (Monday morning) at midnight. Details on later showings into April will be coming soon.

South Bank Awards

Billie Piper was honoured Friday at "an awards ceremony for her successful breakthrough into an acting career. Piper, who faded from the limelight after her second album in 2000 amid lurid media stories of her rocky marriage to the ginger-haired DJ Chris Evans, was voted the most exciting new face of 2005 by Times readers because of her appearance in the BBC's revival of the classic science fiction series. She impressed audiences with her portrayal of Rose, the Doctor's sidekick, playing alongside Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor in the first and David Tennant in the second series written by Russell T. Davies. Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the Harry Potter movies, handed Piper her prize - The Times Breakthrough Award - at the South Bank Awards today. She said yesterday that she was dedicated to acting. 'I care so much more about acting than I do for music,' she said. 'I'm having the time of my life at the moment and this (prize) just makes it even better. Doctor Who has affected me personally. The stories are amazing, but it's bloody hard work.' The awards, which celebrate the arts from dance to television, have a reputation for highlighting work that has been overlooked for other prizes." The item was reported originally at the Times, and has also been mentioned at BBC News,What's On Stage,icWales, Daily Mail, ITN, Film Guardian, Digital Spy andTiscali UK. (Photo credit given for pic at right by Tiscali is MJ Kim/Getty Images)

Broadcast Awards

Doctor Who has won the award for Best Drama Series or Serial at the 2006Broadcast Awards sponsored byBroadcastNow. The BBC won seven awards including the prestigious award for the series.

Book Bestsellers

This week's edition of The Bookseller carries various charts of the bestselling books of 2005. BBC Books' Ninth Doctor novels take two positions in the Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards is at number 18 and The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole is at number 19, with unit sales of 34,429 and 34,336 respectively. The Vesuvius Club, the science fiction novel by writer Mark Gatiss ("The Unquiet Dead") also makes the chart at number 12 (38,750).

Series Two

The Guardian on Friday featured comments from Maureen Lipman, who we recently reported would be in the second series this spring. "The other day," Lipman wrote, "I did six hours as an alien on Dr Who. This will probably earn me my entire year's worth of street cred. We filmed it at the old studio in Alexandra Palace, in north London. It was very cold and the wind blew up my evening dress and rattled my pearls. I was the only actor among a dozen or so technicians and I had to respond to commands such as: "OK Maureen, now could you give us 15 seconds of having every last drop of energy sucked out of you?" It was great. Inevitably, I overdid the screeching and cackling and, back at the theatre that night, found myself hoarse by the end of the play. Thank the Lord for Sunday, that blessed day of rest, bagels, scrambled eggs, friends, the newspapers and the finest four words in the history of literature: "AA Gill is away." "

More websites have been registered by the BBC for the forthcoming season of Doctor Who: it appears they've registered the sites cybusfinance.com and cybusfinance.co.uk as well as cybusproperty.com and cybusproperty.co.uk.

Friday's Daily Star asks, "Who's this smitten couple cuddling up together? Sexy Billie Piper and new Doctor Who David Tennant showed just how friendly they've become during a break from filming the hit sci-fi show in Cardiff. Gorgeous Billie, 23, gazed adoringly at David, 34, before they tenderly hugged each other. And he kept a close eye on the babe, who plays Timelord's assistant Rose Tyler, as she burst into a fit of the giggles. The fun-loving pair have forged a close bond since they started shooting the new series, which will be shown at the end of March. Meanwhile, their Who pal Captain Jack, alias Dancing on Ice star John Barrowman, 38, has bought G-strings for all the blokes on the show. The cheeky gay actor snapped up the skimpy undies so the guys could let their lunch boxes 'breathe more easily' as they skate around in tight leotards. His saucy secret was revealed by Bill actor and fellow skater Stefan Booth, 26, who let slip: 'John has bought all the lads G-strings to help make it easier for us to be flexible!'" Can you say free publicity...?

People

Saturday's Mirror interviewed Bonnie Langford about her role on TV's "Dancing on Ice". "Tonight, as she takes to the ice in a revealing orange catsuit in front of 10million viewers, former child star Bonnie Langford will be interested in the verdict of one audience member most of all. 'It's my daughter Biana who has given me the confidence to do this,' Bonnie says, during a break from rehearsals of ITV's hit celebrity skating show, Dancing On Ice. 'As a mother, how can you say to your daughter 'Have a go, try new things' if you're too scared to try new things yourself? Biana has changed me from someone who liked to be in a comfort zone. She came skating with me the first time I went on the ice three months ago. She gives me the courage to do it.' Dancing On Ice - a surprise ratings hit which Bonnie has won two weeks in a row - is in its third week now. But this will be the first time Biana has come to see her mother perform. ... It's all a long way from Bonnie's childhood, when normal five-year-old stuff was packed with auditions and rehearsals. ... Still, you sense that Bonnie wants her daughter to be a child rather than a small adult. 'Her childhood is very important and I want to spend as much of it with her as possible doing normal things.' ... She has worked non-stop since but aside from a spell on TV as Dr Who's sidekick, mainly in musical theatre - and you wonder if the appeal of Dancing On Ice is the opportunity to let the public see the real, unlisping, unannoying Bonnie Langford. 'It is a way for the public to see who we are, I suppose,' Bonnie says. 'You know, from our dressing rooms at Elstree we can see the Big Brother house and we spent ages wanting to break in.' Careers have been made and broken in that house since Dancing On Ice began. 'What stopped me is the thought I might get stuck in there,' Bonnie says. 'I couldn't take being in the spotlight all the time.' It seems a curious admission for someone who has grown up in the public eye but Bonnie says she is actually a private person. 'The pushy, showbiz kid thing was always the performance not the person. I'm very solitary. I don't like socialising.' ... Dancing On Ice is a way of revisiting a childhood neither Lena nor Bonnie really had. 'I'd never gone as a kid to an ice rink,' Bonnie says. 'There was always that fear that I'd break my leg and it would affect my career.' Now she just keeps falling on her head. 'I've had a couple of nasty knocks and it has affected my confidence. I've been wearing a crash helmet in rehearsals. There's that danger element all the time. Even Christopher Dean has fallen over.'"

Thursday's Guardian had a piece on Penelope Wilton, "an actor with a long stage career, [who] has won new fame as the prime minister in Dr Who. (Previous television roles include a wonderful Homily in a 1992 BBC dramatisation of Mary Norton's The Borrowers.) Last year she was with the National Theatre in The House of Bernarda Alba and now she is off to tread the boards with the other lot: next month she will be at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, playing Livia in Women Beware Women, one of those early 17th century plays lots of English undergraduates read but rarely see."

John Levene (Sergeant Benton in the original series) recently filmed cameo appearances for two upcoming feature films, including the retro-styled independent science fiction film "Automatons" and a sequence for the upcoming "Satan Hates You". Both films are written and directed by James Felix McKenney, who first cast Levene in the 2002 feature, "Cannibalistic!" "Automatons" is expected to begin screening at festivals this summer. More details can be found on the production company's website.

The Sun reported Friday that "Kidulthood," the new movie written by and starring Noel Clarke which it called a "violent new movie about happy slapping" was "facing calls to be banned last night. Campaigners fear Kidulthood, which features scenes where yobs film attacks, glamorises teenage violence. The movie came under fire days after teenager Chelsea O'Mahoney was jailed for filming pals kicking to death a man when she was 14. Her gang killed barman David Morley, 37, and O'Mahoney also filmed attacks on seven other victims on the same night in London. Lucy Cope, who founded Mothers Against Guns after her son was shot dead in 2002, last night led calls for Kidulthood to be banned. She said: 'I felt sick to the pit of my stomach when I heard about that man being killed by happy slappers. This film should be stopped — it glamorises violence. Youngsters will want to be like them.' The low-budget movie features suicide, teenage pregnancy, bullying and drug use. It stars Noel Clarke, who played Billie Piper's boyfriend in Dr Who, and is due for release on March 3."

Wednesday's The Sun said that David Tennant was "joining a starry line-up for a cartoon flick by Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg. David, 34, will voice Hamish in Free Jimmy, which also features Cheers's Woody Harrelson, Quadrophenia's Phil Daniels and actress Sam Morton. The film sells itself as 'Four stoners, five vegans, three mobsters, four hunters and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant.' What, no Daleks?" Meanwhile, Wednesday's Daily Star said that Tennant "claims he has his eye on some desirable props from the hit show. Joker Tennant, 34, said: 'Bits of Tardis just come away in your hands sometimes - I mean there's a pension in there, isn't there?' A spokesman for the BBC said: 'We'll look into it but I'm sure we would notice if bits of the Tardis went missing.'" He was also mentioned briefly in the New Statesman: "Peter Ackroyd's scintillating new three-part documentary series The Romantics (Saturdays, 8pm)... The first programme's theme was 'Liberty'. ... this series has more special effects than Star Trek. The poets, dressed in half-modern, half-period clothes, were beamed into fields and restaurants. Appropriately, the actor who played Rousseau was none other than the new Dr Who, David Tennant. ...Besides the rescue of a stranded whale beneath Albert Bridge, anything pales, but The Romantics was compel-ling television, too.'"

Special Events

Qdos Entertainment has a feature about The Chuckle Brothers in 'Doctor Who'. It says that "children's favourites, Paul and Barry Chuckle, will be embarking on a national tour of their new show – Doctor What and the Return of The Garlics! The boys set off on a galactic trip thinking it is nothing more than an unusual holiday and end up on another amazing adventure fighting for good against evil but stopping along the way for egg and chips and a cup of tea. 'Doctor What' follows the hugely successful tour of 'Pirates of the River Rotha' which broke all previous box office records last year."

Hyde Fundraisers says that "Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Cybermen and Daleks will be descending upon Buxton on February 4th at the launch of the Surestart centre. Also making an appearance are the infamous 'Billarettes' that will be leading a lunchtime aparade. Other activities at this community event include Penalty Shootout, Art activities and of course - meeting some of your favourite Sci-Fi characters courtesy of Hyde Fundraisers. The event will raise awareness of services available to the local community and will also benefit our nominated charities. The event takes place at the Surestart Building off Victoria Park Road, Fairfield, Buxton between 11am - 2pm." Although the article doesn't mention Buxtonian Bruno Langley ('Adam'), he is mentioned (and pictured with virtual Daleks in June 2005) in the Tameside Reporter/Glossop Chronicle in their article (5 January 2006) on Hyde Fundraisers' 20th anniversary flyer.

Miscellaneous

The official Doctor Who website has some downloadable content for mobile phones and portable media players, including items featuring David Tennant, Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke.

Sunday's Times says that the paparazzi are everwhere. "Celebrities beware: thanks to a website, any member of the public armed with a camera can now put you on the front pages. ... But some of the successes appear to have taken even MacRae by surprise: 'The highest single-value picture we've sold so far was of the new Dr Who monster, Sycorax. A Dr Who fan was watching the filming in June in the Forest of Dean, and this monster came out of the dressing-room trailer, so he took a photograph of it. Then the security men came out and said, 'no pictures' and closed the set down. 'We got the picture and sat on it. To be honest I didn't really know what to do with it. But the photographer was very persistent and kept insisting that it was being talked about on all the Dr Who blogs. Eventually we sold it as an exclusive for 2,000 pounds. I was flabbergasted. 'That's a good example because it was just an opportunistic moment. Nobody was hurt. Nobody killed. No damage done. The photographer made a thousand quid just before Christmas. He was delighted.'"

Thursday's Daily Express asks, "Is the bloke making a comeback? ... The future looks tough and manly, in an old-fashioned kind of way. In everything from sport to politics to Bond, we have passed through the designer-label age of smooth. It is time to return to the Age Of The Bloke – the full-grown man who feels quite at home in a sheepskin coat, or propping up a bar with a pint of bitter – what some would call a man's man. ... Who brought Dr Who into the 21st century? Christopher Eccleston, rough and rough-spoken, a world away from the cut-glass William Hartnells and Patrick Troughtons, time travellers when time travel was more genteel."

Newsquest Media Group says that "a Wordsey family is calling time on a TV-inspired home improvement with a difference. Dr Who fan James Callaghan added a TARDIS to the top of his porch as an unusual Christmas decoration but the family have now decided it is time for the blue police box to dematerialise. Teacher James, aged 32, built the replica of the famous time machine for a play at Pens Meadow school, where he works. The performance, by 57 pupils with learning difficulties at the school, told the story of a grandmother who travelled through time with the Doctor, played by James. Construction of the TARDIS only took five hours but James spent several weeks writing the play and preparing his costume, based on his favourite doctor, Peter Davidson [sic]. After interest from national press and TV, James has now decided to transport the TARDIS off the porch to his recording studio in Dudley. The addition to the house was a hit with their four-year-old son, JP who is also a fan of the time-travelling Doctor. James's wife Sarah said: 'Over Christmas all his school friends said `we have got lights' and he said `we have got a TARDIS on our roof'.'"

CBBC News says that "Doctor Who has transported back into Your Charts this week - being the newcomer in two categories. The Internet has dropped off your list of fave things and the time-travelling Doctor has crept back in. And in the celebrity chart, Narnia star Anna Popplewell is off the list to be replaced by the new Time Lord, David Tennant. And Doctor Who is still in the TV programme chart, which is headed up by The ever-popular Simpsons. Dancing On Ice falls off the list with Coronation Street joining the voting."

Tory MP, former Spectator editor and "Have I Got News For You" guest presenter, Boris Johnson was being interviewed by Simon Mayo on Five Live Friday afternoon regarding his new documentary series about ancient Rome. In the subsequent phone-in, one caller wanted to know if it was true that Johnson had been offered the part of Doctor Who. Boris said that he would have been 'honoured' but there was no truth whatever in the story!'

Other items: the Independent and Telegraph report on David Tennant's role of Richard Hoggart, the star witness in the Lady Chatterley trial, in a new screenplay by Andrew Davies;

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, John Bowman, Peter Weaver, Wayne Barry, Scott Matthewman, Cliff Chapman, Karen Davison, Joe McGill, Jim Sangster, Andrew Barrett, Mark Gardiner, Bob Schaefer)

Issue #366 of Doctor Who Magazine is due out next week and we have a preview... click on the thumbnail for a larger version of the cover. (Thanks to Tom Spilsbury/DWM)

BBC Worldwide today confirmed the DVD releases in the UK of Genesis of the Daleks starring Tom Baker and Infernostarring Jon Pertwee. "Genesis" is listed by the official Doctor Who website as being due out 10 April, though some retailers are suggesting 27 March, while "Inferno" is due out 29 May.

Genesis of the Daleks will include commentary by Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Peter Miles (Nyder) and director David Maloney; "Genesis of a Classic," a 62-minute featurette looking at the making of the story, produced by Ian Levine and edited by Adi Denney, and featuring interviews with Baker, Sladen, Miles, producer Philip Hinchcliffe, executive producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, actors Guy Siner, James Garbutt, Dennis Chinnery, Roy Skelton, Cy Town, John Scott Martin and Michael Wisher, BBC sound person Dick Mills, lighting director Duncan Brown, visual effects designer Peter Day and makeup artist Sylvia James; "The Dalek Tapes," a 53-minute documentary produced by John Kelly, "which looks at the history of the Daleks and covers all of their appearances in the classic series" and includes rare Dalek clips and classic interviews and is narrated by Terry Molloy; a 7-minute featurette about Doctor Who models; a 6-minute continuity compilation which includes voice-overs; production text and photo gallery. Also included are PDF versions of the 1976 Doctor Who Annual and the Radio Times billings for the original transmission.

Inferno will feature commentary by Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, script editor Terrance Dicks and producer/director Barry Letts; "Can You Hear the Earth Scream?," a 35-minute "making of" documentary which includes interviews with Dicks, Letts, Levene, Courtney, Caroline John, Ian Fairbairn and stunt arranger Derek Ware; "The UNIT Family (Part One)", a 36-minute documentary featuring a look at the first half of the "UNIT family" from the Third Doctor's era with interviews with Letts, Courtney, Levene, Dicks, John, Ware and UNIT Creator Derrick Sherwin; "Visual Effects Promo Film," an excerpt from an early sales pitch from the BBC Visual Effects department featuring rare Doctor Who footage; "The Pertwee Years Intro," a short intro by Jon Pertwee originally included on BBC Video's "The Pertwee Years"; a Jon Pertwee radio announcement; a PDF of the 1971 Doctor Who Annual; Radio Times billings; plus photo gallery and production notes.

Articles on the restoration work are now available at the Restoration Team site on both Genesis of the Daleks andInferno.

Catching up while the editor's been away for a few days...

Awards

BroadcastNow says that Doctor Who "has picked up a nomination for best drama series at the Celtic Film and Television Festival awards. It is one of 26 nominations garnered by Welsh companies for this year's awards, in which 50 indies have been recognised in 17 categories. Ireland leads the way with 30 nominations, followed by Scotland on 27 while Cornwall scooped 10 and Brittany with two. Doctor Who will square up against another Welsh series, Con Passionate, made by Teledu Apollo, and Irish show Pure Mule from Accomplice Television. Other nominees include critically acclaimed documentary series Tribe (BBC Wales), Rick Stein's The Teaching Challenge (Brook Lapping) and new documentary Iran: An Bealach In Airde (Crossing The Line Films). ... Recognising the development of the sector, the new media awards will be decided on by a specially selected jury of industry experts. Winners will be announced at the festival in Cornwall at the end of March."

Series Two

As originally reported online in the Outpost Gallifrey Forum, Maureen Lipman will be in episode 7, "The Idiot's Lantern." Lipman has been featured in many television series and films including "Coronation Street," "The Pianist," "Love's Labour Lost," "Carry On Columbus" and "European Vacation". Says the original poster, "I know she's in the ep, and I know she's filming her scenes at Alexandra Palace in North London (where original BBC transmissions used to be broadcast from in the 1950's) but it's my speculation that she plays the evil lady continuity announcer in the episode."

Elisabeth Sladen talked briefly about her return to Doctor Who in February's Collector's Gazette, after appearing at the Scifishack stand at Birmingham NEC's Memorabilia show in November. "Having just finished filming, she chatted about her latest trip back to see the Time Lord: 'It was lovely going back - there were so many flowers in my dressing room, I thought I'd died!' she laughed. 'And the atmosphere on set was uncannily familiar. It was fine working with a different Doctor. Once you call someone the Doctor, you actually believe it is the Doctor. I'd already seen him change incarnations before so this was no great leap of the imagination. I think it's wonderful to allow a character from the past to come back. I'm hoping that the newer viewers who don't know me will understand, and I hope the fans like it. It's certainly an experience I would not have missed.'"

Yesterday's South Wales Evening Post talks about two child actors, brother and sister Amy and Christopher Jenkins of Rhos, who "have chalked up an impressive acting CV despite being aged just 11 and eight respectively. Ystalyfera pupil Christopher has landed a part in the next series of the BBC's Dr Who, and is already a regular on S4C's Pobol y Cwm, where he plays Aled."

BBC News says that the staff of a South Wales brewery "had to make sure they had not been transported to another dimension when the cast of Doctor Who turned up for filming. Billie Piper, who plays the Doctor's assistant Rose Tyler, 50 extras and the film crew spent the day at Magor Brewery, near Newport, to shoot scenes. The production of thousands of bottles of lager was halted while filming took place in two areas of the site. Brewery bosses said they were asked to help when another location cancelled. And with its stainless steel brewing equipment, it became the perfect setting for the sci-fi series. David Ginley, the site manager for the brewer said: 'We received a call from BBC Wales and were pleased to help them out. The brewery itself is a modern brewery with lots of tanks and pipework so became the perfect setting for an industrial landscape which is what they wanted. Everybody was so excited about it - Doctor Who is so high profile and everyone was really excited and interested to see how something like that is made.' Mr Ginley said that although he didn't know what part of the storyline was being filmed at the site, he did see a number of Doctor Who's enemies. 'There were aliens and things. I didn't see any daleks though, but you never know, do you?' Staff at the site were able to meet actress Billie Piper, but there was no sign of the Doctor himself. Mr Ginley said: 'We didn't get to see David Tennant but it was an exciting day for everybody at the brewery and we are all looking forward to watching the scenes in the finished programmes.'"

The Inquirer said that "A group of Cardiff drinkers in the The Gatekeeper pub were nearly put off their pints when a troop of Cybermen wandered past their window. According to the South Wales Echo, the outside of the pub was the scene for an invasion of robo-warriors yesterday. Cybermen are the arch-enemas in the UK’s favourite sci-fi telly show Dr Who. Since the show is being filmed by BBC Wales, it has made Cardiff the new Area 51 for alien attacks. The drinkers at the Gatekeeper probably thought they were due for another one. Cybermen, when I was seven, gave me bad dreams for weeks, but seem to have gone through a bit of an upgrade lately. Gone are the clunky silver suits which have been replaced by a smoother silver iPod finish. Hopefully they have removed that nasty flaw in their breathing gear which makes them short circuit if they sniff gold."

People

Artist Andrew Skilleter will be releasing a "limited Artists Edition" of his original MythMakers DVD item from Reeltime Pictures. The video interview re-release will sport a new cover and will feature a stylish eight page full colour illustrated booklet on quality paper containing new text, photographs and artwork, including background on the filming and Andrew’s twenty year involvement with the legendary Terrance Dicks. Also included is the very first reproduction anywhere of a new painting for "Shada", the creation of which is shown in the DVD. Each booklet and DVD disc are signed by Andrew Skilleter and are available directly from the author through email contacthere.

Tom Baker is listed to appear on "Des and Mel" on ITV1, February 1 (1.30-2.30pm according to DigiGuide).

Caroline John (Liz Shaw from Season 7 of the classic show) is appearing in a new play, "Nightingale" at the New End Theatre in Hampstead, a play written and directed by actress Lynn Redgrave. The official theatrewebsite has information about the play, whereas the Guardian has a modest review.

BBC News are running a story about a missing BBC Wales designer who worked on their interactive projects, including last month's "Attack of the Graske". "A memorial service is being planned for a BBC Wales employee presumed to have drowned while swimming in the sea off Colombia early on Boxing Day. Steve Absolum, 32, went missing near Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast and no trace of him was found after an extensive air-sea search. He had been an interactive designer for BBC Wales' New Media output since 2002. Among his achievements was running the interactive content for the tsunami relief concert in Cardiff last January. .. BBC Wales controller Menna Richards said: 'He was central to the development of interactive programmes, including Scrum V, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, the tsunami relief Cardiff concert and the recent Doctor Who.'"

The Times celebrated Tom Baker's birthday with the following: "The actor Tom Baker is enjoying a comeback in the cult TV comedy Little Britain, now in its third TV series. His is the booming voice of the narrator, never seen, who makes outrageous comments about the imaginary characters of Britain. He was the fourth and longest serving Doctor Who for seven years from 1974 and he still travels the world speaking at conferences and answering interminable questions from fans via the net. He recounts numerous episodes of his riotous personal life in his autobiography Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? and reflects on the problems of getting older, 'I feel I am starting to look less and less like Tom Baker. People used to mistake me for Shirley Williams, but now they just seem to mistake me for my Great Aunt Molly.' He spends much of his time at his home in France and tries to avoid meeting other actors. He says: 'They seem to be a bit like me in that they are not really certain who they are.' Tom Baker is 71 today."

David Tennant is listed as appearing on the series "Posh Nosh" on 3 February from 9.50 to 10pm on BBC2: "Comfort Food. Spoof cookery series featuring a pretentious rich couple. Simon and Minty demonstrate how toad-in-the-hole can get you through the death of a close personal friend. Starring: Arabella Weir, Richard E. Grant, David Tennant."

The Daily Record said of Saturday's "The Romantics" with David Tennant, "He's flying the flag for Scotland on a national, and inter-galactic, stage as the new Doctor Who. But here's a chance to see Scots heart-throb David Tennant doing something a little less mainstream - yet still travelling through time. After shooting to fame in Russell T Davies' adaptation of loose-loined Casanova last year, Tennant plays French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau - a man whose musings are attributable to the explosion of romantic poetry in the 18th century from literary luminaries such as Keats, Wordsworth and Byron. Sliding through time from Paris in the 1700s to contemporary France, Tennant's philosopher sees the impact his musings had both in his day and in ours. ..."

Leonard Lewis has died; according to "Stage And TV Today" and the Internet Movie Database, the prolific TV producer died on 2 December. His sole Doctor Who credit was overseeing the Eastenders scenes on "Doctor Who: Dimensions In Time", the Children In Need 1993 charity special. His other TV credits include When The Boat Comes In and Flambards.

Colin Baker writes for the Bucks Free Press, "If you had told me a couple of years ago that the flagship programme on Christmas Day might one day be Dr Who, I would have suggested that you seek specialist medical help immediately. But building on the excellent series transmitted last year, the special festive episode introducing David Tennant as Doctor number ten was the undoubted success amongst what was a predominantly lacklustre batch of offerings this holiday. In fact, it was the only programme that tempted the Baker family away from the delights of enjoying each others' company. Once again that genius Russell T Davies has produced not only a great script and a great new Doctor, but just when you thought the story was over and the world saved, there was a judiciously crafted hefty sideswipe against those most un-Christmasey characteristics greed, selfishness and political expedience, that so depressingly regularly nudge humanity and honour out into second place. A contemporary message every bit as powerful as that in Dickens's Christmas Carol. To offer the viewers whirling dervish Christmas Trees and homicidal Santas without losing credibility is quite an achievement. And I am glad to be able to confirm what I already knew that David Tennant would be an worthy recipient of the Tardis baton."

Official Sites

The official Doctor Who website has updated the January/February calendar on its News page and is listing a repeat showing of 'The Parting of the Ways' for 5.35pm on Sunday 5 February on UK Gold. They also note that the commentary track for "The Christmas Invasion" was "the most popular MP3 downloaded from bbc.co.uk over Christmas. 64,000 of you listened to the running commentary by Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, making it even more popular than Radio 1's Best of Moyles podcast that week. The free MP3 track is still available on the site, and, thanks to the nifty work of a fan, appears to be listed in the iTunes podcast directory thing. Er, thank you, mysterious stranger. And thanks to everyone who made the Commentary so successful."

The new series will have a new spinoff website come transmission time; the BBC has registered domain names cybusindustries.com, cybusindustries.net and cybusindustries.co.uk, which presumably will be tie-in websites for when "Rise of the Cybermen" and its second half air in the UK. A Cybus Corporation fan site has been extremely popular for several months, though is unrelated to the show's production.

Broadcasting

Doctor Who was mentioned in the "Ask Matt Roush" column of the US' TV Guide magazine yesterday. "Question: Now that the Sci Fi Channel is going to air the new Doctor Who series from the BBC in March, what do you think of the show, and will it make a mark here in the U.S. with sci-fi and genre fans, now that Enterprise is gone and Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel/Firefly are also gone? -- Brian B. Matt Roush: I'll be honest. I'm far from a Doctor Who expert or even a fan. The few times I ever tried watching the earlier incarnations of the show on PBS or wherever, I was underwhelmed. But I doubt I gave it much of a chance. Now that I'm more invested in the genre, especially since Farscape rekindled my passion for space fantasy and Battlestar Galactica confirmed it, I'll approach this series with an open mind. It certainly seems to be arriving with a fair amount of buzz and hype, so I can't imagine why this wouldn't work to Sci Fi's advantage."

According to a report at BBC News, the BBC's Director-General Mark Thompson has mentioned "Doctor Who" as an example of their output during a defence of the past year's £36 million expenses bill. "Programme-making accounts for the overwhelming majority of hotel and travel costs in an organisation such as the BBC with output as diverse as Doctor Who, which is made in Cardiff and on location, and news coverage of events such as Hurricane Katrina."

One of our readers sent e-mail to the CBC's programming department asking when season two of the new series would be aired in Canada and was told, "Unfortunately we don't have a scheduled start date for the upcoming Doctor Who season at this time. If you stay tuned to CBC Television there will be promotional advertisements for the new season when that date is set."

Miscellaneous

EntertainmentWise says that "Sci-fi fans are dribbling at the prospect of owning the definitive Dr Who toy -- a brand new full-size Dalek replica. There has been a stampede to reserve the official BBC models -- which scoot about on wheels and have been crafted using moulds from a real Dalek used used in the latest series of the show starring Billie Piper and David Tenant. The 5'5" models will not be ready until April -- but the toy-makers have already seen a huge demand for the replicas and have been flooded with £500 deposits. There will also be the option of a model which screams Exterminate! and has working lights." icWales also mentions it and theDaily Star says that "Billie Piper has an amazing sci-fi secret - she sleeps with a Dalek. She has snapped up the ultimate big boy's toy for her bedroom."

The South Wales Evening Post said about the Series One Boxed Set on Friday that "As with most things in life, us DVD reviewers have to take the rough with the smooth. Fans of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who could watch and re-watch their hero's exploits when the series was released in four volumes. But those in the know waited for the full bells and whistles set to come out towards the end of the Doctor's triumphant comeback year. It duly appeared, and it was definitely worth the wait - a plush, Tardis-shaped package with all 13 episodes and a great deal more on top. Which is what I meant about taking the rough with the smooth. I was sent the discs, but sadly not the fancy packaging. That was the rough. The smooth side was that I got them for free when the full set would have set me back anything up to 69.99. Having said that, most shops were selling them for a good deal less. So what do you get for your money? Obviously, all the episodes, with crystal clear pictures and 5.1 surround sound, with commentaries absent from the earlier releases. Some are more entertaining than others, with Russell T Davies an absolute scream whenever he features. Then there are documentaries and making-of features galore, video contributions from co-star Billy Piper, writer Mark Gattiss and Davies himself, plus a sneak preview of the next series - bearing in mind this came out before the Christmas special that introduced us to new Doc David Tennant. Anyone who already owns the earlier releases will find the extras an expensive luxury. But those who waited for the box set will find it a worthwhile investment." They also noted about the release of "City of Death" that "Baker is as entertaining as always and the budget even stretched to location shooting in Paris, adding a rare sheen to the show. The effects aren't bad for their time, either, given the shoestring figure they were produced with. A solid package of extras, including a PDF version of the 1980 Doctor Who annual, complete this latest addition to Who's DVD back catalogue."

The Financial Times notes that "For one delicious moment during the recent Doctor Who holiday special, I actually thought the new Time Lord on the block was going to emerge as a kind of Austin Powers-meets-Pete Doherty Doctor. As readers from six to 60 know, the Doc periodically regenerates and literally inherits a new look, and on Christmas Day we were treated to a deconstruction of the conceit as Christopher Eccleston was reborn as David Tennant (of TV Casanova fame). The new hero was shown rifling through a rack of clothes, consciously deciding what kind of profile he wished to present to the world. This is when the promise of a 1960s-style rocking Doctor was tantalisingly hinted at. Tennant fingered a regimental military Sergeant Pepper-style jacket, as worn by Doherty in the Libertines, and by Mick Jagger and the Fab Four before him. I reckon he'd have looked great in it, possessed as he is of a cheeky McCartneyesque physiognomy and mod-style fringe. But no, the BBC wardrobe department bottled it. The regimental number was put back and, instead, the Doc alighted on what looked like a pinstripe suit in a dark brown/aubergine colour with a natty purple stripe, well co-ordinating shirt and tie, and a big fawn duster coat. When he'd put it all together he looked like a Prada catwalk model, decidedly more Euro traveller than time traveller." Read the full article at the website.

Times Online, ikn a story about motherhood, notes that "Motherhood is like a benevolent, society-sustaining form of multiple-personality disorder. Well, being a woman is like a benevolent, society-sustaining form of multiple-personality disorder, but motherhood is where it reaches its apogee. I’m sure there can’t be many mothers who didn’t watch the last series of Doctor Who without a few nods of recognition — specifically the episode in which the Doctor discovered the Emperor Dalek, who was controlling the minds of the six million smaller Daleks scattered across the universe. Additionally, of course, the Emperor Dalek is much wider at the bottom than the top, rather cranky, and has a limited ability to get up stairs — although it was unlikely, in his case, to have been caused by an extra two stones and a compromised pelvic floor."

Yesterday's Frankston Standard/Hastings Leader asks, "Who else would land a bright blue TARDIS in a Frankson eye clinic's car park when nobody was looking and then just as quickly take off to some other dimension with it? Photos of a mysterious object and a note apparently from the doctor left at the clinic have had staff scratching their heads all week. The large blue "police" box, which certainly looks like Dr Who's famous TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions In Space vehicle), were found under the door of the Cranbourne Rd clinic last Tuesday. A letter accompanying the photos read: "I hope you don't mind, but I parked my TARDIS in your car park over the weekend to refuel. I programmed my time computer especially so as to arrive on a Sunday, in order that I not cause any disruption to your workday routine. All the best for the coming year (it's a good one, by the way)." It was simply signed The Doctor. Ophthalmologist Dr Stephen Bambery has no doubt the letter was from Dr Who. "We have all been trying to think if it was anyone we knew playing a joke on us. The staff would like to know who it was, but I'd still like to believe it was really Dr Who. Whoever was behind it has gone to an amazing effort."

Other items: Digital Spy ran an article about a "close friendship" between David Tennant and Billie Piper during the filming of the new series... of course, it's the exact same story that ran eighteen months ago in various papers, with the name 'Eccleston' in place of 'Tennant'; TV Shows on DVDconfirmed the delay of the Canadian DVD release of the Series One Boxed Set; Hecklerspray has a brief article about the contestants from "Dancing on Ice" including John Barrowman.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Peter Weaver, Paul Hayes, Nick Campbell, "Alex" in Canada, Neil Marsh, Faiz Rehman, Darren Pickles, Karen Baldwin, Neil Chester, Wayne Barry and Anthony Dry at Kasterborous)