BBC America has announced Doctor Who will return to the U.S. on April 17. The U.K. start date is as of yet unconfirmed, but scheduled for "Easter".   <>   Neil Gaiman (Stardust) will write an episode of Doctor Who, but not until 2011. The writer has confirmed he will be a part of Matt Smith's second series.   <>   Sarah Jane Adventures has been recommissioned for series four, in Autumn 2010, and also for series five.   CBBC controller Damian Kavanagh said it's "a huge ratings and critical success". The upcoming series promises a return of the Nightmare Man, the Shansheeth, and a new alien world.   <>   The Sun has announced James Corden (Gavin and Stacey will have a cameo in an upcoming episode.   <>   A 3-D trailer for Who titled Meet a Monster is airing at a theater that may be near you.   <>   SPOILER ALERT Nina Wadia (Eastenders) will play an evil psychiatrist, and the Doctor will visit 19th century France and the U.K. in space. And the Doctor's new companion may be carrying a little companion of her own.   <>   Blue Peter has announced young Susannah, from Lancashire, won the "Design a TARDIS console" contest. Her design will be used this season, and Susannah will be on set and on Blue Peter when the episode airs. Her design includes a self-playing piano, jump ropes, karaoke, and hair curlers.

Doctor Who has always had political undertones, but a February Sunday Times outlined how overtly antiestablishment it was. Andrew Cartmel, then script editor, was quoted 'My exact words were "I'd like to overthrow the government". I was very angry ... under Thatcher.' Sylvester McCoy added "Our feeling was that Margaret Thatcher was far more terrifying than any monster".   <>   John Barrowman, fresh from Desperate Housewives appearance, has internet released The Doctor & I, from an album scheduled for March 2010.   <>   Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow, Blink) won the Orange British Academy best actress award for An Education. Mulligan was also nominated for an oscar.   <>   Ian Scones, visual director for Pyramid of Mars among several other stories including An Unearthly Child, died in January. Scones also worked on Blake's 7 and Quatermass.   <>   George Waring (Arden, The Ice Warriors) died at age 84 in February.

BBC Worldwide has announced a takeover of 2|entertain, the previously private company that released Doctor Who DVDs for several years.   <>   MFX Warehouse has announced they will cease their Doctor Who replica toys, including Cybermen and Ood heads and a sonic screwdriver.   <>   Meanwhile the Tonner Doll Company has released samples of high class Who figures for release in 2010. The 17" dolls include The Doctor (Tennant), Martha Jones, Captain Jack, and Gwen Cooper.

Lost will finish its run on May 23 with a 2-hour finale, in addition to a new recap special. Previous cast, including Cynthia Watros (Libby), Michelle Rodriguez (Ana Lucia), and Maggie Grace (Shannon) have all been rumored to appear. Ian Somerhalder (Boone) may also show up again. SPOILERS: An upcoming episode will show Jin and his meeting with the Russian Mikhail, revealing why he wears a patch over an eye. In another, Desmond must make a huge sacrifice. Hurley will still see ghosts, including Michael, and will get a (happy?) alternate history with Libby. Jack gets another episode. Another episode will have no present-day story - all told by flashbacks. The producers say that we should worry more about the survival of our favorite characters, and not who they may end up with. Jacob's plans will be revealed. Creators are fighting for space in what is called the ultimate final Lost episode.   <>   Heroes may have aired its last episode, as low ratings has left NBC still considering whether to renew the show. Glen Grunberg (Parkman) has expressed optimism.   <>   Chuck will see Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) as a therapist for the intrepid spy. Scott Bakula will also appear at the end of the season, and a flashback of Chuck's childhood will be seen.

Fringe has been renewed for a third season.   <>   Smallville also will return for its tenth season.   <>   Flash Forward has a new creepy promotion - placing stars of the struggling show unto Tarot cards like The Betrayal and The Prisoner.   <>   V will get a new resistance leader - Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica). V will air new episodes Saturday March 27.   <>   Maggie Q will star in La Femme Nakita, a story about a rogue secret agent.   <>   No Ordinary Family is and ABC pilot starring Michael Chiklis (The shield as the ordinary father of a family filled with superheroes.

Syfy (the former SciFi channel) will premiere Merlin season 2 in April.   <>   Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) will star in the Syfy movie Red. Day plays a descendent of Red Riding Hood who hunts werewolves. The movie continues the channel's line of reimagining classic fairy tales, which began with Beauty & the Beast: A Dark Tale in Feb.   <>   Spartacus: Blood and Sand faces a new challenge as star Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which will (at best) delay the second season.

James Cameron has hushed talks about Avatar 2, saying he's no longer an avatar. "Maybe we'll call it Na'Vi".   <>   Johnny Depp was talked into Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides by Dick Cook, former chair of Disney. While Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom will not appear, Depp added that the film will not be all about Capt. Jack Sparrow. Then film is scheduled for 2011.   <>   Ridley Scott & Roger Christian will reboot the Alien franchise with a new prequel - in 3D.   <>   Rachel Nichols (G.I. Joe) will star as Tamara in the remake Conan. She plays a novice monastery initiate who joins Conan when the evil Khalar Singh kidnaps her masters. Stephen Lang (Avatar) is rumored to play Khalar Singh.   <>   Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) will star in the live-action Smurphs: the Movie. The movie will be partly animated.   <>   Toy Story 3 comes to theaters in June, and includes new toys, including a Ned Beatty Lots-o'-Huggin Bear, a Michael Keaton Ken doll, and Mr Pricklepants the Hedgehog (ala Timothy Dalton). Thinkaway Toys is coming out with a line of figures attached to the movie.

War of the Gods has cast its villain - Mickey Rourke, fresh from Iron Man 2, will play King Hyperion. The movie is the mythic story of Theseus.   <>   Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) will adapt Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on a new book about the secret would-be history behind our 16th president. Burton is also adapting Dark Shadows.   <>   Walter Parkes & Laurie MacDonald have optioned Earthbound, based on a novel about a man who finds himself in an affair with a young woman who is possessed by a spirit in quest of higher powers.

David Goyer (Batman Begins) will script Superman, a reboot based on the 1980's comics reset of the character - a "back to basics" approach. The story will focus on Lex Luthor and Brainiac, and not an origin story, and will not bring back Brandon Routh or Bryan Singer.   <>   Green Lantern, scheduled for July 2011, will now be in 3D. Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) will play Sinestro, an evil GL.   <>   John Krasinksi (The Office) was rumored for the lead in The First Avenger: Captain America, but a new report has the search being expanded. The Paramount picture is scheduled for July 2011.

  <>   Jack & Diane (no relation to the Mellencamp song) stars Juno Temple ( Year One) and Olivia Thirlby (Juno) in a lesbian werewolf movie.   <>   Alicia Silverstone and her Clueless director Amy Heckerling will make Vamps, a vampire romantic comedy about female vampires in New York who must choose between love and immortality.

Nominations were announced for the 36th Saturn awards, voted on by SF fans. Star Trek, Transformers, The Book of Eli, and X:men Origins were offered for best SF film, while Avatar, Harry Potter, Watchmen, and Where the Wild Things Are were nominated for fantasy film. Chuck, Fringe, Heroes, and Lost were offered for best network TV series, while Battlestar Galactica and True Blood were nominated for syndicated series. Doctor Who, The Prisoner, and Torchwood are included for best TV performance.   <>   Palestinian activists dressed as the Na'vi (Avatar) in the vliiage of Bil'in in February, to draw attention to a campaign against Israel's West Bank.

The BBC has confirmed The End of Time, the final two-part send-off for David Tennant, to be shown on Friday Christmas Day, and part 2 on New Year's Day. In the U.S. BBC America will show part 1 Dec. 26. Brian Cox (Ood elder) and Claire Bloom (Shadowlands) have been cast. Trailers have shown the Master (John Simms) returning with new energy powers and a skeletal appearance.   <>   Doctor Who is filming in Trogir, Croatia, in an episode scheduled for Matt Smith's new Who season.  Extras appear in medieval costumes, some of them the local citizens dressed as peasants.   <>   The BBC has confirmed Dreamland, starring Tennant and Georgia Moffett and set in Roswell, will be shown on BBC2 in its entirety. The show is "Doctor Who meets a fifties B-movie monster".   <>   David Tennant appears as Hamlet in a BBC2 showing Dec. 26.   Catherine Tate stars in Nan's Christmas Carol, on Christmas day evening.   <>   John Barrowman in an interview said he expects a full 13-episode Torchwood season, and confirmed he has signed on for it, but said there was no production schedule and no plans for Captain Jack to appear in the new Who season.   <>   A new BBC4 radio documentary will focus on Shada, the partially completed episode scheduled to end Tom Baker's Doctor Who 17th season. The program focuses on three British productions from 1979 which were all dropped before airing. The episode was not finished due to a BBC strike.   <>   Spoiler alert: Tony Curran (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) has been cast in a new episode as artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Christopher Eccleston will play John Lennon, with Naoko Mori (Torchwood) playing Yoko Ono in Lennon Naked, a new play covering the four year transformation from struggling musician to enigmatic icon.   <>   Bernard Cribbins (Wilfred Mott) will receive a special British Academy Childrens Award for a lifetime of appearances including Dalek Invasion - Earth 2150 A.D. and The Avengers among hundreds of others. He will be presented by his Who granddaughter Catherine Tate.   <>   Who companion Karen Gillam's cousin Caitlin Blackwood has been cast in an episode, in an as yet unknown role. The 9-year-old is not a trained actress and got the role over hundreds of child hopefuls.   <>   New Doctor Matt Smith has joined a campaign for leukemia victim Matt Herbert, saying he is from Smith's old neighborhood. Herbert is looking for a rare marrow transplant match.   <>   Award winning author Michael Moorcock has written a Guardian piece about his upcoming commission for a new BBC novel. The author said that he has followed Who "since the beginning" but stopped after Peter Davison. His novel will echo his work, but be a new Who novel, not a tie-in.   <>   Actor Richard Todd (Kinda) died in his sleep Dec. 4 at age 90. In 1957 Todd also appeared in Yangtse Incident with William Hartnell.

The 5 Who specials will be released in a new DVD package January 2010. For those collectors who previously purchased the two earlier movies, a 3-special package will also be released. The animated Dreamland will appear on DVD in Feb. 2010. The 1996 McGann movie will also be re-released in 2010.   <>   Doctor Who has been captured in gold and silver.  David Tennant, the Daleks, K-9, and the TARDIS all have been captured by the Royal Mint of the U.K., which also exports.   <>   The waters of Mars and the two-part The End of Time are both set for DVD release, with two new Confidentials episodes and several specials believed to be commercial clips featuring Tennant.   <>   BBC Books has announced Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook. The books covers 300 pages of behind-the-scenes over 5 years of the new Who. It is scheduled for U.K. release in January 2010.   <>   BBC Worldwide has won a ruling over 2entertain, the company majority-owned by the BBC which produces Who video.  The BBC won the right of first option to buy remaining shares.   <>   The EU Representative for Foreign Affairs, Baroness Ashton, is the new owner of a life-sized replica Dalek, given to her for her 50th birthday.

Lost returns for its final season Feb. 2 with a one-hour recap for new viewers.   A new promo by the Spanish Cuatro (essentially ABC) has been hailed as "the best ever" by Lost producers. In it the cast are on a chess board, with a narration that they are set apart by fate. Emilie de Ravin (Claire) and Rebecca Mader (Charlotte) will appear. John Hawkes (Deadwood) will play the head of a foreign corporation. Matt Fox said the start of the season will likely be very confusing. SPOILER ALERT: Supernatural Jacob has a child, and it is a character we know in the series.   <>   Flash Forward has seen a steady decline in viewers, but was promised a full season and will be back with a reported 12 episodes in March, despite reports that production has halted. Producers promise new characters will appear, and a special episode in February, set to coincide with the story date of the future visions.   <>   V will have new producers, John Wirth and Natalie Chaidez, from The Sarah Connor Chronicles. ABC has also lowered the season an episode, a response to lower than expected ratings. V also returns in March.   <>   Joss Whedon's Dollhouse has been cancelled, and Whedon has spoken out. In a rare candor, he talked about the initial pitch, which he said met great reluctance from the studios, who feared the show is too close to human trafficking. The finale is titled Epitaph 2, and is a sequel to the DVD-only episode from season1.   <>   Fringe has cast Orla Brady (Shark) as agent Peter's mother and Walter's (ex?) wife. The actress is considerably younger than expected, leading rumors that the role will be seen in flashback only.   <>   Human Target and Past Life are two new series starting in January. Target is Chris Chance (Mark Valley - Fringe) who puts himself literally in the crosshairs.

In a sign of support for Heroes, Sendhil Ramamurthy has been pulled from Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, the NBC vehicle for David Tennant. In a possibly related move, NBC executive Rick Oshanksy was fired.   <>   Chuck returns in January, and star Zach Levi is all over hosting and promoting. NBC has upped the season from 13 to 22 episodes, so more to see. Kristin Kreuk (Smallville is in as a new love interest. Also appearing is Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Steve Austin (WWE), and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2).   <>   Ghost Whisperer is leading Friday nights, and will see Hilary Duff appear.   <>   Smallville has revealed the Justice Society, a group of older veteran heroes, will appear in a two-parter. Michael Shanks (Stargate) has been cast as Hawkman. Also returning is Zatanna and Warrior Angel. Also in the Justice Society is Sandman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl. Metallo also will return.

Star Trek is set to re-release The Original Series - Season 3 in December, with the never seen third alternate pilot, where Sulu was chief physicist, and the Enterprise is the first ship to probe out into the galaxy.

Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was an ambitious story in itself, starring Christopher Plummer as an elderly magician transports visitors into a strange world influenced by their innermost desires. But it also bears the distinction as the last movie Heath Ledger worked on before his death. Actors Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Colin Farrell stepped up to finish the movie, which stars the actors as incarnations of Ledger's role in the magical realms.   <>   Tim Burton will direct the 3-D Alice in Wonderland, starring newcomer Mia Wasikowska and Johnny Depp.   <>   Burton will further work on Dark ShadowsM, a remake of the horror soap.   <>   Jackie Chan cashes in on The Spy Next Door, where Chan plays a "normal" guy who has to protect a group of kids.   <>   Joshua Jackson (Fringe will star in UFO, a remake of the 70's cult hit. Jackson will play Paul Forester, a test pilot and member of SHADO, a covert group fighting a secret invasion.

The kids from Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows have grown up. Images leaked from the upcoming movie highlight that the boys have stubble and Radcliffe's Potter in a nude scene. Potter will see screens in 2010 and 2011.   <>   Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) are working on a second script for The Hobbit, a planned two-part movie based on the prequel to the Lord of the Rings. The movie is planned for 2011.   <>   J Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) is drafting a new remake - of the classic Forbidden Planet. Straczynski, a huge fan of the original, promises the remake is faithful, not a dumbed down action movie, and is open for a sequel of its own.   <>   The Black Swan is a supernatural extreme thriller set in New York ballet, but it is ganrering more attention for the reported girl-girl scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Kunis commented, "It's a very extreme movie ... but it's not explicit in any way."   <>   Universal Soldier: Regeneration, a straight-to-DVD sequel to the 1992 Universal Soldier, brings back Jean Claude van Damme and also first villain, Dolph Lundgren. In the sequel, a military group reactivates the undead warrior to fight a new martial artist, but finds they woke up more than their hero.   <>   Steven Spielberg has halted plans for a remake of Harvey, the Jimmy Stewart classic about a man and an invisible 6-foot rabbit. Tom Hanks and Robert Downey both reportedly passed on the project.   <>   Brad Pitt is developing Dark Void, a film franchise based on the video game series. In the game a pilot who lands in the Bermuda Triangle finds himself in a parallel world where aliens have invaded.

Milla Jovovich will star in Resident Evil 4, but that may not save it from being pushed into 2011, according to internet rumors. If it is moved, it would faced tough competition from Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods.   <>   Zombieland may be a hit, but the sequel promises more gore, in 3-D no less. Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg look to reprise their roles.   <>   Daybreakers is a different vampire movie hitting theaters in Jan. 2010. In the movie a plague has turned most of the world into vampires, who now fight over the scarce and valuable remaining human race. Ethan Hawke and Willem Defoe star.   <>   In Legion, Paul Bettany plays the archangel Michael, sent by God to start the end of days.   <>   Benicio del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) will bring us The Wolfman. Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving will star.   <>   The Crazies is a remake of a 1973 George Romero horror flick about a town turned into murderous lunatics in a horrible government accident. Danielle Panabaker and Radha Mitchell star.

Sam Rockwell talked about his role as Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2, scheduled for May 2010. In the comics, Hammer is a ruthless business competitor who once hijacked the armor and caused Iron Man to kill. Rockwell says the movie version is more "plucky comic relief", since Mickey Rourke plays the villain.

Stephen King has announced he is working on a sequel to The Shining. The book, tentatively titled Doctor Sleep, would focus on Danny Torrence, a now 40-year-old who is haunted by ghosts of the hotel and uses his clairvoyant powers for palliative purposes.   <>   A 22 inch model skeleton used in the 1933 King Kong was recently resold for $218,000. The model was originally covered in fur and latex, which have since eroded. Film fan Eugene Hilchey collected the Kong artifacts.   <>   According to comics site The Source, Superman and Batman will both be redone, with a Superman reboot by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski.