The British press has been full of comment and speculation following the broadcast of "The Stolen Earth" on Saturday. As might be expected, many of the articles published in the past couple of days contain spoilers for the series to date, so the rest of this report should not be read - and the links contained herein certainly not followed - if you have not yet seen series four in general or "The Stolen Earth" in particular.
Various newspapers carry reviews of Saturday's episode. Sam Wollaston of The Guardian felt that "It's going to be hard to top this episode. It had everything - Martha, Rose, the Torchwood lot, impending darkness, daleks - even cameos from Paul O'Grady and Richard Dawkins." Andrew Billen of The Times had mixed feelings - although he wrote that the series is "almost as pleased with itself as David Tennant's performance", he did concede that "For the first time for a while, I am actually looking forward to the next episode." Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent was more critical: "My brain began to lock under the repeated assault of the kind of lines that could be scattered at random over any Doctor Who episode at all without seeming out of place: "But... that's impossible!"; "It can't be!"; "Exterminate! Exterminate!" Change the record, guys."
The viewing figures of the series are the subject of several other media reports. Both Digital Spy and the MediaGuardian mention Doctor Who's strong performance at the weekend in connection with the rival ITV1 channel achieving what is believed to be the lowest Saturday all-hours share in its history, with just 10.2% of the watching audience across the day, compared with 26.9% for BBC One. The Sunday Telegraph, meanwhile, turns its attention towards predicted ratings for next Saturday's climactic episode, claiming that the BBC expects 10 million people to watch "Journey's End".
The Sunday Telegraph's sister paper, the Daily Telegraph, has run a feature tipping Scottish film star Robert Carlyle as Tennant's successor in the role as and when he leaves the series. The Daily Mail has a similar story. The subject of the departure of David Tennant has become a hot topic of conversation after the cliffhanger ending to Saturday's episode: the Guardian's website features a blog posting from Stephen Brook speculating about whether a new Doctor is about to be cast, as well as another piece from Gareth McLean, praising the unexpected plot twist.
Finally, the Wimbledon Guardian carries a report of Catherine Tate opening a summer fair at the weekend, in aid of a local primary school. She was greeted by several children in Doctor Who-related costumes.
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