Voyage of the Damned has scored the highest Australian ratings ever for Doctor Who in the modern era. According to David Dale 'Voyage' rated 1,248,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. The record breaking Christmas special, starring Australian Kylie Minogue, was only beaten in its timeslot by Channel Nine's 60 minutes which was the top-rating programme of the day with 1.8 million viewers. The previous highest rating Doctor Who episode for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was 'Rose' which scored 1.1 million Australian viewers back in 2005. As way of comparison, the ABC's top programme for the preceding week was 'Spicks and Specks' which received 1.35 million viewers.

The return of Doctor Who has also received some significant media coverage down under.
The Sydney Morning Herald gave 'Voyage' its show of the week and their online TV guide also gives the show a positive review while Kylie Minogue's return to acting has also received some local attention. The Sun-Herald gives 'Voyage' four stars saying there 'is a lot to love about this story, which is part Titanic, part-The Poseidon Adventure.' Melinda Houston of 'The Sunday Age' also previews 'Voyage', analysing 'the enduring sex appeal of the ever-changing Time Lord' noting that the Doctor 'loves smart women', is 'mature', 'saves planets', 'maintains a childlike sense of fun, is 'practical and hands-on', 'a man of mystery, and increasingly swahsbuckling' but perhaps 'most importantly, is kind. A little dotty and thoughtless occasionally, but immensely kind. And that, gentlemen, is a quality consistently underestimated by the Mars-dwelling gender, and valued immeasurably by we Venus types.' Ian Warden of 'The Canberra Times', who claims to have seen every series since 1963, says David Tennant 'is the best doctor there's been' even if he says we should 'respect' the show 'for being . . . easily the longest-running TV science-fiction pantomime in the world.' Meanwhile, Crikey TV commentator, Glenn Dyer, also describes 'Voyage' as 'the highlight of the night.'

As previously reported, the ABC has also confirmed on its online TV Guide that it is indeed showing Doctor Who Confidential Cutdown on ABC1 after each episode of Series 4 starting with "A Noble Return" on Sunday 6 July 2008.

The official BBC Doctor Who website has put online a copy of a new trailer for the final episode of the current series. The trailer was first shown on BBC One television this afternoon, and features a speech from Davros intercut with brief excerpts from the next episode, as well as clips from last Saturday's cliffhanger ending.

The trailer is also available to view on the BBC's YouTube channel, here. As with all videos on the BBC's official website and YouTube page, these clips are only viewable by UK internet users. However, it may be worth keeping an eye on the BBC's official Bebo page, as their videos are available there in an internationally-viewable format, and the new trailer may be added at some point this week.

Unofficial figures show that episode Twelve of Series Four, The Stolen Earth, was watched by 7.4 million viewers, giving it a 38.3% share of the total television audience.

The programme was the highest rated on Saturday, beating Casualty by nearly 2 million viewers. BBC1 had a drop of over 3 million viewers when Doctor Who finished.

ITV1's highest rated programme of the day was Who Dares Sings with 3.7 million.

Doctor Who is currently the 7th most watched programme of the week. Final figures will be released by BARB in ten days time.

The latest installment of This Week in Doctor Who, the weekly guide to Doctor Who on television in the UK, North America and elsewhere, for June 28, 2008 has now been posted. Click here to read it.

Various members of the Doctor Who cast have been out and about promoting the forthcoming series-ending two-parter on British television this week. Things began on Tuesday, when Freema Agyeman appeared as an in-studio guest on children's show Blue Peter (see picture), talking about the programme and helping show viewers how to make their own Doctor Who board game. The episode also featured a report on Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones's turn as a Dalek in the forthcoming series finale, including a never-before-seen clip from episode thirteen. British broadband viewers can watch this edition of Blue Peter online on the BBC iPlayer.

On Thursday Bernard Cribbins, who plays Donna's grandfather Wilf, appeared on BBC One's early evening magazine programme The One Show, and an exclusive clip from the series was shown. Cribbins commented that he was interviewed for the role of the Fourth Doctor, but lost out to Tom Baker. The One Show is also available to view on the BBC iPlayer for British internet users.

On Friday morning, Freema Agyeman and Elisabeth Sladen appeared together on Richard Arnold's entertainment news show, part of the morning GMTV programming on ITV1. They discussed the forthcoming finale and verbally sparred with a Dalek who also featured in the studio!

On Friday afternoon, British-based American actor Michael Brandon appeared on husband-and-wife team Richard and Judy's chat show on Channel 4. Brandon enthused about his role in the forthcoming episodes, and another exclusive clip was shown.

A blog on the website of the American Wall Street Journal newspaper looks into why British fans are so excited about the forthcoming finale - spoilers are included, so be warned. The Toronto Star in Canada includes K9 in a run-down of famous "cute" science-fiction robots. The Scotsman, meanwhile, reports that BBC bosses are allegedly ready to offer David Tennant 100,000 pounds per episode to sign up for the fifth full series of Doctor Who.

The Stage entertainment industry newspaper previews tonight's episode in its Square Eyes column, saying that: "The Stolen Earth is an audacious yarn from the pen of Russell T Davies - it's like one of those cracking Marvel Comic team-ups that have Spider-Man, the X-Men and The Avengers all turning up in the same comic." The Scotsman also runs a preview, enthusing: "This crowd-pleasing episode is so relentlessly enjoyable I wouldn't be ashamed to run naked around Westminster Abbey roaring its praises to the rafters. Look for me on the news."

The current edition of the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine also praises the episode, making it their "Pick of the Day" for Saturday, with television editor Alison Graham commenting: "Even sensible adults in the audience might feel a tiny quiver of fear as the Daleks deliver their message to Earth in those unforgettable quivering voices: 'Exterminate! Exterminate!'." The magazine also has a brief interview with scientist Richard Dawkins about his cameo appearance in the programme, and a three-page feature on the return of the Daleks.

Website Den of Geek has interviewed Dalek voice artist Nick Briggs about various aspects of his Doctor Who career.

Doctor Who Adventures issue 70, is out across the United Kingdom.

The June 26th edition of The Guardian features an article describing the efforts of a very talented group of fans who have taken inspiration from the 2006 DVD release of 1968's "The Invasion" and are animating lost episodes of Doctor Who.

Garrett Gilchrist is a director and artist based in the US. For the past eight months he has been working on an ambitious project to restore to life an episode of the lost 1967 Patrick Troughton epic, "Evil of the Daleks."

"'The Invasion' DVD was such a gift to fans, such a wonderful project," he says. "The first thought in everyone's mind was, 'So, when are you animating the rest of them, then?' "

Gilchrist is taking a very loyalist approach to the project. "They (the animations) have to match the original episodes as closely as possible, and feel like the 60s Doctor Who, not updated," says Gilchrist. "Just recreated with new technology. Recreated, not updated."

The article includes a 'sample reel' of scenes from various episodes, ranging from "Marco Polo" to "The Wheel in Space"

Final figures released by BARB give episode Ten of Series Four, Midnight, an official rating of 8.05 million viewers.

The episode finished in fifth place in the weekly top ten, just beaten by the two main soaps and The Apprentice. The chart position is the joint second highest the programme has achieved in its 45 year history. The highest charting episode was last Christmas's Voyage of the Damned. The only other episode to reach the top five was the second episode of the 1975 Tom Baker story The Ark in Space.

The Sunday repeat on BBC3 which was watched by 1.07 million viewers and was the 2nd most watched programme on multi-channel for the week, just beaten by Heroes on BBC3.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.59 million viewers, making it the 28th most watched multi-channel programme.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads, can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

BBC Books has released details about the forthcoming Doctor Who publication The Time Traveller's Almanac.

Billed as 'The Ultimate Intergalactic Fact-Finder', the hardback book explores parallel versions of Earth, counts sightings of Captain Jack Harkness through history, relives the Doctor's encounters with Charles Dickens, Madame de Pompadour and Queen Victoria, tracks the origins of the Family of Blood, the Chula spacecraft and the Vespiform, and focuses on events such as the First World War, the Great Depression and the Battle of Canary Wharf.

From the fall of Troy to the Apollo moon landing, Shakespeare and Agatha Christie to the Gelth and the Reapers, it tracks key events throughout history and includes tales of great lives, explanations of important issues in science, technology and the arts, and retells the stories that have defined each era.

Among the features, it also delves into the eruption of Vesuvius plus the mysteries of Carrionite science, takes a look at the eminent artists of the 16th, 19th and 21st centuries, and examines where the Daleks come from.

Fully illustrated with photos and artwork, The Time Traveller's Almanac, by Steve Tribe, will be published on September 25, 2008.

Jack's back! And he's taking on the Daleks! In the new edition of Doctor Who Magazine, published in the UK tomorrow, John Barrowman talks exclusively about his return to Doctor Who and on working with Elisabeth Sladen.

Click on the spoiler box for an extract from the interview, although be aware that it contains information about the series finale that you might not want to know before it airs. In addition, the spoiler box has details of a magazine feature that reveals aspects of the finale.

Also in DWM 397:

Previews of the final two episodes of Series Four, featuring new and previously unpublished photos.

An interview with Elisabeth Sladen.

Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's showrunner-in-waiting, speaks candidly about taking over the series - and how to write a Doctor Who story.

Planet Earth has been moved! But how? And by whom? Find out what happened the first time the Earth was stolen, as The Time Team watch the first four parts of the epic 1986 adventure The Trial of a Time Lord.

See the Doctor and Donna in dead trouble! The fight against zombies and Sycorax continues in part three of the latest, full-colour, comic-strip adventure The Widow's Curse

Could you make it as a DWM journalist? The decisions are all yours as you go behind the scenes and talk to the stars as you investigate the filming of Turn Left.

DWM talks to Lesley Sharp, aka Sky Silvestry, about what makes a scary story, working with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant and the fun of going bonkers.

Before iPlayer, DVDs and videos, the only way to relive an old Doctor Who story was by reading a Target book. DWM takes a nostalgic look back at this fondly remembered series of novels.

Discover why too much information can be a bad thing - and just what The Doctor's Daughter has to do with 1978's Underworld – in You Are Not Alone.

Plus all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions and a free, vintage Target Doctor Who book.

"I'm in love with Lis," confesses John. "The first time that I met her, a year or so ago, she was coming out of an elevator. I grabbed her and said, 'I just want to say what an honour it is to meet you. I am so thrilled! Hopefully, we'll get a chance to work together one day.'

"She was very gracious, but after she'd gone I thought, 'John, you idiot, you've embarrassed yourself in front of Sarah Jane Smith!'

"When she came on set for these final episodes there was a point when Davros appeared and I grabbed her hand, and we're looking at each other as John and Elisabeth, looking and thinking, this is so surreal! We were part of history that day. We all had to take in the moment, because it will probably never happen again. And our final scene together – oh, it was beautiful."

Is Sarah Jane attracted to Jack? "I think Jack finds her sexy." Should he even go there? "There's one bit where we hint at it," John replies, cheekily. "There is an element of flirtation there. I wonder if they've left it in. If anybody can flirt with Sarah Jane, it's Captain Jack Harkness!"

Also in issue 397 of the magazine, Elisabeth Sladen reveals all about her encounters with Davros - and why Journey's End could be her last meeting with the Doctor.

» Discuss this news story at the Doctor Who Forum

The second series of Torchwood will begin airing in Canada on Friday, August 8 on the English-language speciality cable channel Space.

The news is revealed in a Toronto Star interview with John Barrowman by pop culture writer Malene Arpe and on Barrowman's official website, which says it is an exclusive deal.

Torchwood is co-produced by the CBC, which showed the first series, as did Ztele and HD Net Canada.

(With thanks to Gajo.)

Noel Clarke's latest film, Adulthood, has become the number one British film at the UK box office. In the weekend's box office tally, Adulthood is the number four film overall, and has the highest per screen average.

Adulthood is written and directed by Clarke who also stars as Sam, released from prison six years after being involved in a killing. The sequel to the 2006 low budget drama Kidulthood, Adulthood is a urban drama dealing with life in the crime ridden slum areas of our major cities. It's set in a location where a life of drugs, crime and violence is often seen as the best choice for youth and where an ever increasing number of teenage lives are lost through the use of knives and guns. Although unflinching in its portrayal of street attitudes and behaviour the film does have a strong message of redemption.

The film took £1.2 million in its opening weekend with some of the many cinemas showing it around the country having to move it into bigger screens to meet audience demand, moving out big studio releases like The Incredible Hulk and Sex And The City.

Clarke said: "I'm thrilled that so many people both young and old have queued up to see Adulthood on the big screen as it was intended to be shown. This film carries an important message and it is very rewarding to know how widely it is being received."

John Fletcher, Pathe Distribution Managing Director, said: "We are delighted that Adulthood has performed so well at the box office. The fact that this British indie sequel is one of the most popular films this weekend demonstrates how well Noel Clarke's powerful drama has connected with audiences across the country."

The BBC showing of Kidulthood was the most requested programme on the BBC iPlayer last week, beating Doctor Who into second place.

Colin Baker, the sixth actor to star in Doctor Who (1984 - 1986), is set to star in the upcoming pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" at the Theatre Royal in Bath.

Baker stars as Fleshcreep, the baddie in the piece. While he is best known for having been the Doctor, he's also famous for other villain roles, most notably that of Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 - 1976. He also portrayed Bayban the Butcher in the Blake's 7 episode "City at the Edge of the World" and first appeared in Doctor Who as Commander Maxil, the Fifth Doctor's executioner, in "Arc of Infinity".

"Beanstalk" also features Emmerdale star Susan Penhaligon as the Fairy and 19-year-old singer Lewis Bradley - a finalist in Any Dream Will Do - as Jack.

The panto will run from Thursday December 18 to Sunday January 25.

To book call the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844.

The Sunday Mirror is reporting that supermodel Agyness Deyn is being lined up as the new Christmas companion for the episode that will air on Christmas Day. Below is the body of the article; as always consider this to be strictly a rumour until confirmed officially by the BBC.

Extra caution is advised with this particular report, given that the episode in question has already been shot!

Episode eleven of series four, Turn Left, scored an Appreciation Index of 88, again one of the highest scores of the week and firmly in the excellent category.

Sunday's football just edged ahead of Saturday's Doctor Who making Turn Left the 7th most watched programme of the week. This position may rise when corrected figures, including numbers for those recording the programme, are released by BARB in 9 days' time.

Sunday's BBC3 repeat got an overnight audience of 0.60 million viewers. It was a 2.7% share of the multi-channel audience and the third most watched programme on all multi-channel TV for Sunday.

Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.77 million viewers. The programme, which had a share of 4.3 %, was the most watched on multi-channel television on Saturday. The Sunday repeat had 0.34 million watching.

Last Friday's repeat of Midnight got an audience of 0.29 million viewers. It was the 7th highest multi channel programme.

The BBC has started running two new trailers for episode 12 of the current series, separate from the "Next Time" trailer seen last night. There is a 10-second teaser trail featuring the Daleks, and a longer 30-second trail containing many elements from the episode, including a malevolent voiceover.

UK internet users can view both of the trailers on the official BBC website, or on the BBC YouTube channel.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has begun promoting Doctor Who with a trailer showing brief excerpts from Voyage of the Damned and the first five episodes of Series Four. The ABC has also put its trailer for 'Voyage of the Damned' on its website.

A previous report that the ABC will broadcast each of the cut down editions of Doctor Who Confidential immediately after the broadcast of the corresponding episode of Series Four has not yet been officially confirmed by the ABC although its website indicates a 55 minute timeslot for Partners in Crime on Sunday 6 July 2008.

Update 26 June 2008: The ABC has confirmed on its online TV Guide that it is indeed showing Doctor Who Confidential Cutdown on ABC1 after each episode of Series 4 starting with "A Noble Return" on Sunday 6 July 2008.

Unofficial figures show that episode eleven of Series Four, Turn Left, was watched by 7.0 million viewers, giving it a 35.1% share of the total television audience.

The programme was the second most watched on Saturday, just being beaten by Euro 2008 on ITV1 which started just as Doctor Who finished. The programme won its time slot, getting double the audience of ITV1's Animals Do The Funniest Things. BBC1 had a drop of nearly 4 million viewers when Doctor Who finished.

Doctor Who is currently the 6th most watched programme of the week. Final figures will be released by BARB in ten days' time.

The latest installment of This Week in Doctor Who, the weekly guide to Doctor Who on television in the UK, North America and elsewhere, for June 21, 2008 has now been posted. Click here to read it.

Two items from the 1980s era of Doctor Who were sold for more than 3,000 pounds yesterday.

An entertainment memorabilia auction at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London, saw a moulded and painted foam baby Tyrannosaurus rex in a jar from the 1985 Colin Baker story The Mark of the Rani go for 1,080 pounds, while a Dalek guard costume from the 1984 Peter Davison adventure Resurrection of the Daleks sold for 2,040 pounds.

As reported by this site last month, the model T rex had an estimate of 600 to 800 pounds, while the Dalek guard costume's estimate was 800 to 1,200 pounds. The guard costume had 'Rula Lenska' plus a measurement inscribed in ballpoint on the neck and came with a moulded weapon plus background paperwork, including a copy of a note by Lenska, who played Styles, and a signed photo (believed to be of Lenska).

The actor David Brierley, who provided the voice of K-9 for four stories, has died of cancer, according to an announcement in the current edition of The Stage.

Born in 1935, he appeared in such shows as Z Cars, Arthur of the Britons, The Tripods and Howards' Way, as well as the 1984 BBC drama Threads. Brierley took over from John Leeson as K-9's voice during season 17, which originally aired between September 1979 and January 1980.

He also provided the robot dog's voice in an October 1979 edition of Blue Peter.

(With thanks to Chris Winwood.)

A special end-of-series party is planned to be held in London on July 5. The free event will be taking place at a gastropub in Clerkenwell.

Says organiser Jason Gorman: "We are planning to screen the series finale, Journey's End, when it is broadcast at 7pm (as currently scheduled!) - we believe it will also be screened just down the road in Trafalgar Square (for Pride London), and we expect many guests to come after that, so the party will just be getting started by 8pm.

"There'll be live music - with a Parisian theme - later in the evening, and we're working on some special video screenings later in the evening that we hope will amuse and divert. The party will probably go on well past midnight.

"Doors open from 5pm and tickets are free. As there are only 50 left we are limiting them to two per person, and those coming need to be 18 or over."

To confirm you want tickets, please contact Jason at the email address finale@parlezuml.com, stating your full name, address (to send tickets to), and contact number (in case the organisers need to contact you urgently).

Update 22 June: all the tickets have now been allocated, and should be distributed in the next week.

The Radio Times is not the only British listings magazine to devote its cover to the return of Rose Tyler this week - both TV and Satellite Week and TV Guide also make the news their cover story, with corresponding articles inside.

In the TV Guide feature, Russell T Davies says of Rose's return: "She's a huge protagonist in the action and we see her meeting Donna for the first time. It explores how the two of them get on and, of course, they both have different agendas." In TV and Satellite Week, Davies comments on his successor, Steven Moffat: "It will be brilliant to watch it as [he] is full of ideas. You have never seen a man more excited than Steven is."

The Sun newspaper has today published a short article with a screen grab from this Saturday's episode - it is a minor spoiler, so be advised. Meanwhile, The Stage has published its review of last weekend's episode, "Midnight", saying it is Russell T Davies's "finest script from four years of Doctor Who".

SFX Magazine has gone a week further ahead and posted a preview of episode 12, "The Stolen Earth", which can be found here. Again, minor spoilers are included, so watch out if you are avoiding all advance details about the episode.

Meanwhile, an actor appeared on the BBC's "Breakfast" news programme earlier this week, and confirmed that he will be appearing in a forthcoming episode of Doctor Who. No plot spoilers were given, but for the benefit of those avoiding casting details, the information is included in the spoiler box below.

Final figures released by BARB give episode Nine of Series Four, Forest of the Dead, an official rating of 7.84 million viewers.

The episode saw the series edge back into the weekly top ten, just beaten by the two main soaps and The Apprentice. Doctor Who beat one episode of EastEnders and one episode of Coronation street in the final ratings.

The Sunday repeat on BBC3 which was watched by 0.82 million viewers and was the 7th most watched programme on multi-channel for the week.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.87 million viewers making it the 5th most watched multi-channel programme.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

Production on the long-awaited spin-off series featuring K9 is due to start in Australia next month, according to the Pacific Film and Television Commission.

An article in its June newsletter says that Bob Baker is currently in Queensland, writing the 26-part show. He co-created the character of the robot dog with Dave Martin, who died in March 2007.

According to the PFTC, Baker is working on the spin-off - called simply K9 - with Queensland writers Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong.

It is being produced by Simon Barnes, and Richard Stewart and Penny Wall from Brisbane company Stewart Wall Entertainment.

A PFTC spokesman told The Doctor Who News Page: "The series certainly is imminent! K9 is in pre-production at present in Queensland. However, exact dates for production have not yet been confirmed."

Outpost Gallifrey reported last July that an unspecified amount of funding had been approved by Australia's Film Finance Corporation.

TV distribution agent Park Entertainment has said the half-hour episodes, to be made by Jetix Europe, will be live action and CGI.

(With thanks to Anacleto.)

Get set for the return of Rose Tyler in this week's edition of Doctor Who Adventures.

Issue 69 looks at this coming Saturday's episode, Turn Left, in which Donna runs into the Doctor's old friend.

Also in the magazine is a Vashta Nerada mask, and readers can learn about the Doctor's long history with the Sontarans.

The free gift is a bumper sticker pack, with 91 different Doctor Who stickers in total, including a set of Dalek stickers, two sets of holo stickers and a sheet for sticking on the front of notebooks and diaries.

PLUS:

Three posters: Cyberman, Midnight and Sontarans

Tales from the TARDIS: A shock for the Doctor in The Unicorn and the Wasp

Secrets: Creating the Nodes from Silence in the Library

Doctor's Data: Fifth Doctor facts

Comic strip: Can the Doctor and Donna escape the wormhole?

Who knows: How many rooms are inside the TARDIS and is Miss Foster a Time Lord?

Win: Goodies up for grabs, including the new K-9 Tales DVD box set

Doctor Who Adventures issue 69 is out on Thursday, June 19.

The Sun daily national newspaper in Britain has published a story about a returning enemy in the final two episodes of the current series of Doctor Who. The story also features a high-quality photograph of this character, and also of another aspect due to feature in the finale. The information is contained in the spoiler box below - please do not click if you do not want to be spoiled!

Today's Daily Telegraph is also running the spoiler story, although their photograph is not from the current series.