The flurry of Doctor Who news stories in the run-up to
The End of Time has begun. But first, North American viewers will be able to enjoy
The Waters of Mars tomorrow on BBC America and Canada's Space channel. In North American media, Canadian entertainment website
dose.ca has an interview with
Russell T Davies, and
The Philadelphia Daily News,
The Vancouver Sun and
McClatchy News all have interviews with
David Tennant.
Tennant is busy in the US filming the pilot for
Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, and the
Los Angeles Times reports that NBC may pick the series up as early as this spring. For those of you who can't get enough pictures of David Tennant wearing puffy winter coats, there are plenty from
Rex filming
here. In other Tennant news, the
Sunday Mercury has an article titled "7 Things You Didn't Know About Dr Who David Tennant" (though readers of this page probably know most of them).
What's On TV has a lengthy interview with Tennant about
The End of Time, and
BBC Newsbeat interviews Tennant about his forthcoming role in "St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold". Down Under,
The Age and
The Daily Telegraph (both of Australia) have stories on Tennant's TARDIS exit.
SFX continues its month-long Doctor Who celebration, with more excerpts from their interview with Russell T Davies
here (talking about classic Doctor Who and multi-Doctor stories),
here (talking about American television) and
here (talking about "the scene that gets everyone" in
The End of Time). Also on SFX's blog,
Phil Ford talks about writing for
The Sarah Jane Adventures,
Alexandra Moen (Lucy Saxon)
answers questions from fans, and the blog's staff compile a
list of all the times British tabloids have gotten a Doctor Who story spectacularly wrong. Alexandra Moen is also interviewed at
Digital Spy.
Davies tells the
Western Mail that his final two Doctor Who episodes will be "like all your Christmas presents rolled into one, right from your big present to the tiniest thing at the bottom of the stocking." The
South Wales Echo also grabs a snippet from the Western Mail interview. Davies also talked to
BBC News about handing over the Doctor Who reins to
Steven Moffat.
Bernard Cribbins will be interviewed on stage at the
BFI on January 16. The conversation will be followed by a special screening of the 1966 film
Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, starring Cribbins and Peter Cushing. In the aftermath of Cribbins' recent special BAFTA award, he was profiled in
The Independent and interviewed by Ken Russell in
The Times.
Claire Bloom talks to
The Times about her life and work, including a vague but possibly spoiler-ish mention of her role in
The End of Time.
There have been a slew of stories lately about people who've made full-sized Daleks. One in Surrey is covered
here, and another (from Birtley in Gateshead) is covered in tech blogs
Ãœbergizmo,
Geeky Gadgets,
Gizmodo and
Electricpig. And an Atherton man who's built a full-size TARDIS replica is profiled in
The Leigh Reporter (though it isn't clear whether he's built the interior or the exterior of the ship).
Even Christmas pageants can't escape Doctor Who connections this year; pupils in the tiny North Yorkshire village of Ruswarp are
putting on a Christmas pageant with a Doctor Who theme, and
Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) is
directing the Nativity play at his old primary school in London.
It's not all
The End of Time, though;
Digital Spy interviews
Colin Baker about completing "The Missing Stories" on audio for Big Finish.
The Daily Mail has a general preview of
The End of Time, and
The Sun has a somewhat spoilery photo of
John Simm from the story.
The Sun has an article on
Catherine Tate's Christmas special, in which she says that she and David Tennant will be "like the Richard & Judy of Christmas", due to being on UK television so much over the holiday season. Of Tennant's appearances, Doctor Who and Hamlet are listed by
The Independent as part of its "Twelve TV Treats of Christmas" list.
The Times includes Tennant's Hamlet in its round-up of the best theatre of the past decade, and the return of Doctor Who in its
list of the decade's best television.
BBC News has also commissioned a "portrait of the decade", which includes the return of Doctor Who as one of the key cultural events and David Tennant as one of the top 20 people of the decade.
Finally,
Paul Cornell, writer of the Doctor Who episodes "Father's Day", "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" as well as several acclaimed novels, has published
a new Doctor Who story on his blog for Christmas. Cornell says that the story is being presented "purely as fan fiction, with no money being made." It's lovely, and you should read it.