NBC has delayed a verdict on Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, the much-buzzed-about drama pilot starring Doctor Who’s David Tennant. Peacock execs were eyeing Rex to possibly fill one of its post-Jay Leno Show holes at 10 pm this spring. But a source close to the show tells me, “The sets are coming down this week.”

An NBC rep declined to comment, but a Peacock source insists Rex remains under consideration for fall. “The sets are on fold-and-hold,” maintains the insider. “They will still be available if the show is picked up for the fall.”

The project, which co-stars Jerry O’Connell, Abigail Spencer, Jane Curtin, and Jeffrey Tambor, had been in development at NBC-Universal for nearly two years. A pilot was commissioned last October and completed in December.

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*holds self back*

Doctor Who star David Tennant triumphed again at the National Television Awards last night – winning Outstanding Drama Performance.

And Ant and Dec also had a great night, taking two of the top awards at the bash in London’s O2 Arena.

It’s the fourth time in a row that Scot Tennant had won the top acting gong.

But it will be the last time he can win the award as the Time Lord, after quitting the show last year.

Doctor Who has traditionally triumphed at the NTAs since its return to the screen. Tennant announced his departure from the BBC series at the 2008 ceremony.

The show also beat The Bill, Casualty and Shameless to be crowned Most Popular Drama.

Tennant won the Most Popular Actor gong in 2006 and 2007, and his Doctor Who predecessor Christopher Eccleston won in 2005.

In 2008, the award was changed to Outstanding Drama Performance, and Tennant was once again the winner.

Ant and Dec were named Most Popular Entertainment Presenters and their ITV show Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway was named Most Popular Entertainment Programme.

It beat Big Brother, The Paul O’Grady Show and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, which Ant and Dec also present. The X Factor won Most Popular Talent Show, stealing the crown from its rival Strictly Come Dancing, which won last year.

Creator Simon Cowell said: “It is a good feeling. I was annoyed and p****d off we didn’t win last time.”

Loose Women celebrated a surprise win in the Most Popular Factual Programme category, beating previous winner Top Gear, The Apprentice and cult favourite Come Dine With Me.

Host Coleen Nolan said: “We really didn’t think we could win this. God, I feel sick.

“I’d like to thank all our husbands and partners who put up with us slagging them off every day.”

Competition James Corden and Ruth Jones’s comedy series Gavin and Stacey, which has ended after three series, picked up Most Popular Comedy Programme, beating off Harry Hill’s TV Burp, The Inbetweeners and previous winner Benidorm.

EastEnders actress Lacey Turner won the gong for Outstanding Serial Drama Performance. She plays Stacey Slater, who has battled mental health issues.

Stephen Fry In America won Most Popular Star Travel Documentary, while Coronation Street’s Craig Gazey was Most Popular Newcomer.

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Doctor Who actor David Tennant, who made his final appearance as the Time Lord earlier this month, has backed Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.

“I would still rather have Gordon Brown than David Cameron,” Tennant told the latest edition of Doctor Who magazine.

“I would rather have a prime minister who is the cleverest person in the room, than a prime minister who looks good in a suit.”

“I think David Cameron is a terrifying prospect,” added the 38-year-old star.

The Scottish actor, a long-term Labour supporter who appeared in a party political broadcast in 2005, likened the Conservative leader to “a regional newsreader who will jump on whatever bandwagon flies past”.

“I get quite panicked at the notion that people are buying his rhetoric, because it seems very manipulative to me.”

“Clearly, the Labour Party is not without some issues right now and I do get frustrated. They need to sort some stuff out, but they are still a better bet than the Tories.”

The Conservatives declined to comment.

Tennant’s exit from the long-running BBC sci-fi show was watched by more than 10 million people on New Year’s Day

He is being replaced on the show by actor Matt Smith, 27, who made his debut as the 11th Doctor in Tennant’s final show, ahead of a new series in the spring.

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It appears to be a case of if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

Catherine Tate and David Tennant are both appearing as guest stars – in each other’s Christmas TV shows.

Tate reprises her role as Donna Noble in Doctor Who, joining Tennant as he takes his last turn in the show for a two-part special.

Returning the favour: David Tennant also stars in the Catherine Tate Christmas special this year, starring as Russell Brand in Nan’s Christmas Carol

Tennant has returned the favour and fans can see him play Russell Brand in her Christmas special – Nan’s Christmas Carol – which goes out on Christmas day.

Tate is no stranger to Doctor Who, having appeared in the 2006 Christmas Special and reprising her role as the Doctor’s companion in the fourth series last year.

June Whitfield also guest stars in this year’s festive editions of the programme and plants a cheeky hand on the Doctor’s bottom during one scene.

She plays pensioner Minnie Hooper who takes a particular shine to the Doctor.

The special episodes, which are the last written by Russell T. Davies, also include former characters Noble’s grandfather Wilf Mott, played by Bernard Cribbins.

One will be broadcast on Christmas Day and the second on New Year’s Day.

Actor David Tennant, who has been the wildly successful tenth Doctor, said filming the last episodes was ‘very emotional’ and that there had been ‘crying on and off screen’.

Also making a return will be the craziest ever Doctor Who villain, who returns for a maniacal showdown with his foe. The Master, played by John Simm, was last seen in the Christmas 2006 episode when he was shot by his human wife and refused to regenerate.

With both the Master and the Doctor determined to cheat death, the battle ranges from the wastelands of London to the mysterious Immortality Gate.

Speaking about the Master returning, Tennant said: ‘There’s a bit of hide-and-seek going on between the Doctor and The Master.

‘Unlike the last time you saw the Master when he was the Prime Minister Harold Saxon, he’s in a slightly more feral state this time.’
too.

The special episodes, which are the last written by Russell T. Davies, also include former characters Noble’s grandfather Wilf Mott, played by Bernard Cribbins.

One will be broadcast on Christmas Day and the second on New Year’s Day.

Actor David Tennant, who has been the wildly successful tenth Doctor, said filming the last episodes was ‘very emotional’ and that there had been ‘crying on and off screen’.

The rest of the article contains a lot more pictures, but I didn’t post any for spoilers.

Doctor Who chief writer Russell T Davies has said he is very proud of the final episodes that mark the end of David Tennant’s reign as the Time Lord.

Davies, who masterminded the sci-fi show’s return in 2005, also said he was no longer sad to be leaving as the show’s producer.

“It’s the end for us, but not the end for Doctor Who,” he told the BBC.

He was speaking before a preview screening of episode one of Tennant’s final story, The End of Time.

“All the sad bits I did when I was writing it, so I got that bit out of my system then. So I could then stand back and laugh while everyone else was blubbing their eyes out,” Davies said.

“I’m very proud of these two episodes,” he said. “Now I simply feel happy to be honest, really happy with what we made

“We’ve got one or two surprises in store before the episode on New Year’s Day – and it might not be quite what you expect.”

Tennant is being replaced by actor Matt Smith, who will appear as the 11th Doctor next year.

Davies said he was keeping in touch with Steven Moffat, who has taken over as Doctor Who’s chief show-runner.

“He does find time to e-mail me every so often saying it’s all a nightmare, and he’s never been happier in his life,” Davies said.

“I’ve read some of the scripts – they are beyond brilliant – I can’t tell you what thrills and darkness and comedy you’ve got to come.”

No limit

The Christmas Day story on BBC One features the return of Bernard Cribbins, Catherine Tate and John Simm as The Master, the Doctor’s evil nemesis.

“He’s even more insane than before,” Simm said. “There was no limit in the script to how insane he should be. It was a lot of fun to do.”

He added: “I don’t think it’s that scary – I don’t think we’re allowed to scare children on Christmas Day. But I’m not an eight-year-old kid!”

The Life on Mars star said it had been a “real honour” to be asked to come back for the 10th Doctor’s final story.

His words were echoed by comedienne Catherine Tate, who returns as Donna Noble.

“I feel so delighted that I was even part of a bit of it, let alone to have been a companion and also in David’s last two episodes – that’s a real honour.”

Tate said her lack of Doctor Who expertise had been a balance to Tennant’s encyclopaedic knowledge on set.

“He knows a lot and I know nothing, and we meet in the middle happily,” she said.

“I turn up on the day and say: ‘I don’t actually understand what’s happening in this scene,’ and he’ll go: ‘well, it’s a meta-crisis and there’s been some sort of transformation,’ and it means nothing to me.

“But at least I’ve learnt my lines.”

Tate added that she was keen to attend a Doctor Who convention for the first time.

“I hear they’re very exciting and so I would love to go to one. I guess it’s exciting… and a little bit scary. Let’s face it, I’m going to be the person in the room that knows the least.”

The End of Time: Part 1 is on BBC One at 1800 GMT with Part 2 on New Year’s Day at 1840 GMT.

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