Doctor Who news round-up

Just because the fourth series of Doctor Who has now sprung into life, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t titbits around the need mopping up. So here are the latest goings-on...

Firstly, in spite of worries over the early broadcast slot of the show – 6.20pm – which had caused complaints from the likes of Russell T Davies, the first episode stormed in with 8.4m viewers, just below the number who tuned into last year’s season opener. What’s more, the BBC has now confirmed that Doctor Who is being moved later. This weekend’s episode has already shifted to 6.45, and Who will be sitting in a 7pm slot by the middle of the series.

A bit more casting news has filtered through, too. Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, will be appearing later on in the series. Dawkins, who just happens to be married to Lalla Ward (the second Romana from the classic Who days), will reportedly be playing himself in the show.

Finally, the Doctor Who exhibition, currently running at Earls Court in London, will be moving to a new home next year. Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Gallery will be playing host to the sizeable displays for nine months next year. Don’t forget too that particularly for classic Who fans, there’s a good Doctor Who museum sitting in the midst of all the amusement arcades in Blackpool, too.

For more Doctor Who goodness, check out our reviews of the first episode of season 4, as well as our interviews with Peter Davison, Elisabeth Sladen, Louise Jameson, Sophie Aldred, and voice of the Daleks himself, Nick Briggs.