eyeofhorus.org.uk will publish a new set of official DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 photographs at 00:01 Tuesday 1 April 2008. Stunning photos.

The new images are legally embargoed until then.

Stunning photos featuring new full length images of the Tenth Doctor (with and without long coat & sonic screwdriver), Donna Noble (with long leather coat), Miss Foster (PARTNERS IN CRIME), and the Doctor & Claire.

Photograph© BBC

With thanks to HYDE FUNDRAISERS.

It is one of four collectable covers. Others include PARTNERS IN CRIME or PLANET OF THE OOD or THE FIRES OF POMPEII.

HYDE FUNDRAISERS

DOCTOR WHO - THE INVASION OF TIME cover. The two-disc DVD is released on the 5 May 2008.

Published in THE TELEGRAPH on 29 March 2008.

A few quotes:

• There's a danger that we could settle into a rut.
• The Pompeii episode is so ambitious, that we had a script that was easier to film standing by, in case someone turned round and said, "This is impossible." The whole thing was terrifying, and a nightmare to film, but that's what makes it good in the end. It's a glorious episode.
• Christmas special 2008 - 'It's set in the Victorian era. So expect plum pudding, death and disaster'.
• Daleks are a design classic. I honestly think they're iconically beautiful.

THE TELEGRAPH

DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 is being promoted online on a number of retail sites. The two "banner adverts" feature:

• THE FIRES OF POMPEII
• PLANET OF THE OOD and THE SONTARAN STRATAGEM

DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 - THE FIRES OF POMPEII will be broadcast at 18:15.

According to BBC INFORMATION SERVICE, DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 will be broadcast before I'LL DO ANYTHING talent show until the middle of June.

Congratulations to SERIES 3 guest star, Thomas Sangster (Tim Latimer in HUMAN NATURE) for landing the role of TinTin in Spielberg's forthcoming trilogy of the same name - written by Steven Moffatt.

Another stunning cover from PEACOCK DESIGN (London).

Released on the 2 June 2008, DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 VOLUME 1 features PARTNERS IN CRIME, THE FIRES OF POMPEII and PLANET OF THE OOD.

RRP £17.99.

SERIES 4 episode overview

SFX magazine have a nice exclusive online this week, detailing the creation of the Adipose for PARTNERS IN CRIME using the same computer technology (Weta) first used in THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

The episode explores dieting (too much "daytime television", Mr T Davies?).

What is Adipose? Adipose is tissue or fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. Adipose tissue is derived from lipoblasts. Its main role is to store energy in the form of fat , although it also cushions and insulates the body.

The adipose are "tablet" shaped creatures that... well, if you want to know and see how they were manifested on screen see SFX (link below).

SFX magazine online - contains SPOILER photos

In this week's BBC internal "newspaper", ARIEL, Executive Producer, Russell T Davies has criticised BBC ONE schedulers for moving DOCTOR WHO to an early slot - 6:20pm.

He told the BROADCAST television conference that he predicts a drop in viewers watching by 1.5 million, and insists that BBC ONE should continue the drama series in a 7:00pm - 7:15pm slot.

DOCTOR WHO, the BBC's most watched series-drama (as opposed to serial-drama) of 2007, downgraded for a talent-reality show.

If that is the case, PARTNERS IN CRIME could be watched by as little as 5.5 million viewers.

eyeofhorus.org.uk agrees with the Executive Producer.

DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 is coming soon.

The official "theme photograph" featuring Tenant and Tate is released - minus text graphics.

Is there a clue to the new series within the image? The code number of 820684 | 4 is featured, including a "helix" design graphic. Is this pure coincidence or will it, like SAXON or BAD WOLF, be an integral running theme throughout?

The image (top right) has a subliminal patriotic tone to it - a hint of a Union Flag?

Photographs © BBC

DOCTOR WHO SERIES 3 has received BAFTA nominations for the Television Craft.

• WRITER - Steven Moffat - BLINK
• SOUND FICTION/ENTERTAINMENT - The Sound Team
• ORIGINAL TV MUSIC - Murray Gold
• INTERACTIVE CREATIVE - Tom Collins - Online Comic Maker
• VISUAL EFFECTS - THE MILL - VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED

BAFTA

26 March 2008

BBC DOCTOR WHO site confirms that the programme will be launched at 6:20pm on Saturday 5 April. It confirms a query this site had yesterday relating to the broadcast of DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL. This will be broadcast on BBC3 at 7:05pm.

SERIES 4 will be broadcast at 6:20pm, (on Saturday 5 April). There seems to no BBC3 broadcast for DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL for SERIES 4.

A repeat is scheduled for the first episode, PARTNERS IN CRIME on BBC3 on Sunday 6 April at 8:00pm.

All three Christmas Day Specials (THE CHRISTMAS INVASION, THE RUNAWAY BRIDE and VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED) will be repeated on BBC3 on consecutive evenings (8:00pm from 01 April 2008), in addition to the DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL KYLIE SPECIAL on 03 April at 9:15pm.

* Though schedules could change

BBC4 has released details for the Verity Lambert Tribute programming for Saturday 5 April. The seven-episode 1963-64 story, THE MUTANTS (also known as THE DALEKS) has been chosen to represent the lasting legacy created by Lambert, and the first three episodes will be broadcast.

19:00 THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT
20:30 DOCTOR WHO - "THE DEAD PLANET"
20:55 DOCTOR WHO - "THE SURVIVORS"
21:20 DOCTOR WHO - "THE ESCAPE"
21:35 Verity Lambert: Drama Queen
22:35 MINDER
23:30 JONATHAN CREEK

The Tribute continues during the week with the concluding episodes:

• 7 April - 19:35 - DOCTOR WHO - "THE AMBUSH"
• 8 April - 19:35 - DOCTOR WHO - "THE EXPEDITION"
• 9 April - 19:25 - DOCTOR WHO - "THE ORDEAL"
• 9 April - 19:55 - DOCTOR WHO - "THE RESCUE"

Premiered on BBC ONE 22 March 2008. The online and TV versions differ slightly.

Watch the preview and then select three (very short) ENEMY TRAILER TEASERS - Dalek, Ood and a cloned army of Sontarans.

SILVA SOUNDS are offering the SERIES 4 theme music by Murray Gold as a short (intro credits length) download.

Not is his best work - too disjointed, too much like a Colliery Brass Band and not enough like Delia Derbyshire - but worth adding to your iPod.

Don't forget that SERIES 1 & 2 and SERIES 3 incidental music is available to buy.

SILVA SOUND

BBC BOOKS are releasing three new Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble novels on 4 September. RRP £6.99.

• THE DOCTOR TRAP - Simon Messingham
• GHOSTS OF INDIA - Mark Morris
• SHINING DARKNESS - Mark Michalowski

On 7 April 2008, BBC AUDIOBOOKS is releasing two unabridged readings featuring former CLASSIC SERIES actors, Tom Baker and Stephen Thorne (THE THREE DOCTORS and THE DAEMONS).

• DOCTOR WHO AND THE CREATURE FROM THE PIT
• DOCTOR WHO AND THE MYTH MAKERS

CREATURE FROM THE PIT (7 April 2008)

The planet Chloris is very fertile, but metal is in short supply, and has therefore become extremely valuable. A huge creature, with most unusual physical properties, arrives from an alien planet which can provide Chloris with metal from its own unlimited supplies, in exchange for chlorophyll. However, the ruthless Lady Adrasta has been able to exploit the shortage of metal to her own advantage, and has no wish to see the situation change. The Doctor and Romana land on Chloris just as the creature's alien masters begin to lose patience over their ambassador's long absence.

THE MYTH MAKERS (7 April 2008) - Unabridged reading by Stephen Thorne

Long, long ago on the great plains of Asia Minor, two mighty armies faced each other in mortal combat. The armies were the Greeks and the Trojans and the prize they were fighting for was Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. To the Greeks it seemed the city of Troy was impregnable and only a miracle could bring them success. And then help comes to them in a most unexpected way as a strange blue box materialises close to their camp, bringing with it the Doctor, Steven and Vicki, who soon find themselves caught up in the irreversible tide of history and legend.

Reviews of both releases will be featured soon. Preview audio clips with kind permission of BBC AUDIOBOOKS.

We've added the publicity leaflet for the Exhibition.

The London-based DOCTOR WHO EXHIBITION is opening on 20 March and tickets are on sale in advance now - in one hour visiting blocks.

Additional details have been released of the exhibits. Peter Kay's Abzorbaloff, and Sarah Parish's Racnoss will be featured along with the usual Slitheen, Cybermen and Daleks. This will be the largest (indoor) exhibition DOCTOR WHO exhibition ever.

• Adult tickets: £9.00
• Children tickets: £7.00

Booked online the tickets attract a booking fee & transaction of £2.25.

Booking online

Exhibition Preview video

BBC PRESS OFFICE has started the publicity for SERIES 4.

Programme copy:

Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?

David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his new companion, the runaway bride Donna Noble. Sarah Lancashire guest stars as Miss Foster.

Whilst the programme itself is "unplaced" within the BBC published schedules, it can be expected that SERIES 4 will start on Saturday 5 April - time TBC.

BBC DOCTOR WHO website has changed their minds.

The trailer launches on BBC ONE on Saturday 22 March 2008 around 19:05.

Glad to see that even the mighty BBC can switch dates like "us" lowly fan sites.

In addition, David Tennant and Catherine Tate are lined-up for FRIDAY NIGHT WITH JONATHAN ROSS on 4 April 2008 at 22:35.

BBC DOCTOR WHO website has confirmed that the first SERIES 4 TV Trailer (new version seen in UK cinema) will be aired on BBC ONE (and online) from (approximately) 19:00 29 March 2008.

THE TELEGRAPH has unearthed previously publicly unseen documents from the BBC ARCHIVE about the origins of DOCTOR WHO and how the series that we knew (from 1963 onwards) and know today could have been very different.

In a discussion dated March 26 1963, some of the production team advocated a flying saucer because it was a "more modern idea" than a time machine and would have the advantage of "conveying a group of characters".

A file headed "Doctor Who General Notes", issued to writers before the series was screened in November 1963, discusses whether the time machine should be invisible. It states: "When we consider what this looks like, we are in danger of either science fiction or fairytale labelling.

The note adds: "A feature of the new Doctor will be the humour along the lines of the sardonic humour of Sherlock Holmes. The metaphysical change which takes place over 500 years or so is a horrifying experience... in which he relives some of the unendurable moments of his long life.

"It's as if he has had the LSD drug and instead of experiencing the kicks, he has the hell and dank horror which can be its effect."

The full article

The DVD sleeve artwork for BLACK ORCHID has been published.

As a reminder: Peter Davison's BLACK ORCHID is released on 14 April and Tom Baker's THE INVASION OF TIME is released on 5 May.

Former DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC SERIES Producer, Barry Letts is releasing his first volume of memoirs, WHO AND ME on 7 April 2008. RRP £15.99

This is the first volume of memoirs from Barry Letts, producer of DOCTOR WHO from 1970 to 1974, executive producer in 1980, and later producer of the BBC's Classic Serials strand.

Barry's career started as an actor, and he switched to directing in the 1960s. WHO AND ME recounts the journey he took from struggling actor to successful producer, and the ups and downs of working on DOCTOR WHO during the Jon Pertwee years. Along the way he describes the personalities he worked with during that time, from his script editor Terrance Dicks and the stars of the series to the senior management, of the BBC with whom he had encounters.

The story is of primary interest to fans of 'classic' DOCTOR WHO, who know Barry as a key figure in the development of the series and are keen to get the inside track on his time with it.

Justin Richards' paperback reference book series continues with DOCTOR WHO - STARSHIPS AND SPACESTATIONS, released in May 2008. RRP £7.99.

Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble.

Following their recent BBC7 broadcast, THE SCARIFYERS return with another adventure, FOR KING AND COUNTRY (the third in the series).

Starring CLASSIC SERIES stalwarts, Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molly reprise their roles of 1930s Detective Inspector Lionheart and ghost story writer Professor Dunning respectively. Guest starring Gabriel Woolf (PYRAMIDS OF MARS and THE SATAN PIT) and the stunningly talented David Benson (from BIG FINISH's INVADERS FROM MARS).

'Sir' Harry Price, self-proclaimed ghost detective, has built a machine. His previous experiment - to turn a goat into a man - may have ended ignominiously, but now Harry plans to capture the spirits of the dead with his Price Ghost CaptivatorT. If he can make it work, that is.

Meanwhile, Londoners are being killed, in especially gruesome fashion, with their own electrical appliances. But most puzzling of all is the Faraday Murderer's habit of leaving cryptic messages in 17th century English at the scene - cryptic messages that mention a certain Harry Price.

Age-old forces are stirring. The dead will rise. The Crown will fall. Can Lionheart and Dunning save King and Country?

The double CD is released on 5 May 2008. RRP £9.99.

THE SCARIFYERS homepage (COSMIC HOBO).

AMAZON.CO.UK have updated Pre-Release information to include for forthcoming DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC SERIES DVDs.

The K9 TALES "boxset" - though a single-disc - of Tom Baker's 1977 story, THE INVISIBLE ENEMY has been doubled-up with the spin-off, K9 AND COMPANY (1982) starring the perennial Elisabeth Sladen.

Releasing on 16 June 2008.

Another DVD release continues 2|entertain's penchant for "fleecing" fans by seeing another product opportunity that should not exist.

DOCTOR WHO - BRED FOR WAR (5 May RRP £39.99) is a pack of DVD (THE TIME WARRIOR, THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT, THE INVASION OF TIME and THE TWO DOCTORS) to tie-in with the SERIES 4 appearance of the Sontarans.

AMAZON.CO.UK have updated Pre-Release information to include for forthcoming DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC SERIES DVDs.

Peter Davison's BLACK ORCHID is released on 14 April and Tom Baker's THE INVASION OF TIME is released on 5 May.

eyeofhorus.org.uk Servers will be upgraded between 03.03.08 and 04.03.08 with a minor 15 minute outage expected during which time the site will be unavailable.

BBC AUDIO continue to release unabridged DOCTOR WHO readings at a pace throughout 2008.

The latest to be revealed are DOCTOR WHO AND THE AUTON INVASION (12 June) and DOCTOR WHO AND THE PYRAMIDS OF MARS (14 August).

• DOCTOR WHO THE CREATURE FROM THE PIT read by Tom Baker (7 April)
• DOCTOR WHO - THE MYTH MAKERS read by Stephen Thorne (7 April)
• DOCTOR WHO AND THE ROMANS (8 May)
• DOCTOR WHO - THE BLACK ORCHID (12 June)
• DOCTOR WHO AND THE AUTON INVASION read by Geoffrey Beevers (12 June)
• DOCTOR WHO AND THE SENSORITES (10 July)
• DOCTOR WHO AND THE DÆMONS (14 August)
• DOCTOR WHO AND THE PYRAMIDS OF MARS read by Tom Baker (14 August)

Reviews of the recently released DOCTOR WHO AND THE SPACE WAR and DOCTOR WHO AND THE MORBIUS will shortly appear - both excellent BBC AUDIO presentations.