The Daily Mirror newspaper in the UK is claiming that Scottish actor David Tennant has signed a £1million deal to continue playing the lead role in Doctor Who for a fourth season.

Given that the fourth season was only confirmed in the last few days by the show's executive producer, Russell T. Davies, it doesn't seem unlikely that news of Tennant's committment (or abandonment) would soon follow (especially since it helps keep The Doctor in the headlines in the run up to the new series starting on 31 March).

As it it needed validation, the brilliant BBC sci-fi/cop time-travelling drama Life on Mars has picked up two awards at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards here in the UK.

It was named Best Drama Series and also won the Writer's Award.

The first series of the show already picked up the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series in November 2006, and back in January it won the Best New Programme category at the Broadcast Magazine awards.

However, just like The Office, and now Extras, this is one BBC show we're not going to be force-fed until we choke, since it ends when the current series finishes up in three week's time.

If you live in the UK, then mark Saturday 31 March as a date in your calendar, for that's the day when the third series of Doctor Who returns to BBC ONE.

With Freema Agyeman playing David Tennant's new assistant Martha Jones, and some interesting rumours about John Simms from Life on Mars playing The Master, the revived series is facing its toughest test yet; to get past the all-important third season and survive any of the rumoured changes in the lead role.

Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies says the show will be back for a fourth series (that's British for season). He made remarks at the London premiere of series three.

What's less clear at the moment is who will be playing the Doctor in series four. Current Doctor David Tennant has remained silent on the issue. Series three has actress Freema Agyeman playing Martha Jones, the doctor's new assistant. She fills the void left by Billie Piper's departure from the program.

It had been widely suspected that a fourth season was already on deck, but Davies' confirmation should come as good news for Doctor Who fans. Now if only Americans didn't have to wait months or years for each new season to show up on the SciFi channel.

(S02E05) In much the same way as series one of Life on Mars dragged out the is-he-or-isn't-he-in-the-past component of the over-arching storyline, series two continues to keep the mystery of Sam Tyler's presence in 1973 a bit of a mystery, teasing us with glimpses of the future -- and the past.

When this week's episode started, it was as surreal as you could get, with Sam on sick leave in his bedsit, hallucinating images of his fellow-police officers on his television, and generally seeing things on his way in to the police station where a kidnapping crisis had developed.

It turned out Sam had been overdosed in the future (or was it the present?), and the doctors were desperately trying to restore his brain activity to normal.

Of all the e-mails and comments we get here at the fictional TV Squad HQ, the ones we see the most -- besides the ones that think we're a bunch of hacks who don't deserve the pay we get -- are ones that ask us how a person can get on one of the numerous game or reality shows that are on the air right now.

I have to tell you, we're flattered that you folks think we have the inside connections within the television industry that will be allow us to fast-track our readers onto shows like Survivor or Deal or No Deal. But, alas, we're just a bunch of grunts like you; we don't have a "guy" who can get us through the back door of these shows. In fact we don't even have a "guy" who can get us a discount at the car wash.

But what we can do for you is comb the web to find the various instructions on how you can get on these shows. And, no surprise, the networks have made those instructions readily available on the web. After the jump is the list of links we found so far. We'll update this list as we find more shows and instructions. And feel free to send us ones you've discovered either via our tips e-mail or in the comments section below. Enjoy and good luck...

(S02E04) Four down, four to go -- and Life on Mars just gets better every week.

I recently read a story in The Guardian that suggested when David E. Kelley re-writes this series for a US audience, Rachelle Lefevre will play a lone female detective who forges a mystic bond with the mysterious time-travelling detective (i.e. Sam Tyler) and teams up with him to track down a serial killer.

Forget all that rubbish.

Just watch this series; it's the best thing on television since Doctor Who returned.

According to Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have officially stated that there will not be a third season of Extras (the story is at the bottom of this page). Just like with their other creation, The Office, the comedic creative team felt that two seasons were more than enough, and just like with The Office, the show will be wrapped up with a standalone special, air date TBD. Slightly more information is here, via The Hollywood Reporter.

In interviews, Gervais had been going back and forth on doing a third season, but I think most people knew what he and Merchant were really thinking all along. The two of them like the British format of short seasons that air whenever the creators get around to writing a new series, and they both seem like they like spending their careers doing different projects (Gervais is currently touring England with a one-man show called Fame). So hearing that Extras isn't getting a third season isn't a big surprise.

(S02E03) The most recent episode of Life on Mars was delayed here in the UK (unless you cheated and watched it on the digital channel BBC FOUR), mostly because of the FA Cup soccer, but it was worth waiting on, even if it did bump right up against the next episode which airs this week.

One thing is certain with this series, there's a theme developing, and I don't mean the mystery surrounding Sam's presence in the past or his so-called 'mission'.

Warning: spoilers after the jump.

I have to admit that I've only seen a few minutes of Are You Being Served?, even though it seems to be on my local PBS station every other day. I don't know, I just never get into some British comedies. Sure, Monty Python and Fawlty Towers are shows I love, but some of the sitcoms I've never really given a chance beyond an episode or two.

But even I know who John Inman was. His face was unmistakable. Inman was one of the stars of the classic British comedy that was set in a department store. He played Mr. Humphries, whose catchphrase was "I'm free." Not sure of the context of that catchphrase, but Inman was voted both the "Funniest Man on Television" and BBC TV's "Personality of the Year" in 1976.

Inman died in London earlier today from complications of Hepatitis A.

[thanks to Jon for the tip]

The BBC is hoping its new iPlayer software will give Apple a run for its money. The software will provide content from the BBC and other broadcasters to worldwide audiences.

In order to fulfill the BBC's public service goals, UK customers will be able to download BBC programs from the service for up to 7 days after they air without paying a fee. But overall the iPlayer venture is meant to raise revenue. Content distributed outside of the UK will be available either for a fee or supported by advertising.

The announcement follows news last week that the BBC would be making some content available via YouTube.

[via The Inquirer]

The BBC plans to set up three YouTube channels that will feature short clips of BBC content. Two channels will be focused on entertainment, while one will be a news channel.

One of the entertainment channels will feature trailers and short videos related to BBC programming. There will be no advertising on this channel. It's main purpose will be to drive traffic to the BBC's website, which in the future may include full episodes of TV programs for streaming and download.

The other entertainment channel will be advertising-driven, and will include 3-6 minute clips of material from the BBC archives. Clips will include content from Top Gear, The Mighty Boosh, and nature programs.

(S02E02) Honour, loyalty, integrity, honesty; all things you would associate with officers of the law.

Not in the 1970s. Not in Life on Mars.

This week's episode delivered another cracker, with all the complexity of a feature-length movie, and slightly less of the mystery surrounding Sam Tyler's 'mission' in the past.

A recap really doesn't do the plot justice, but if you're easily put off by spoilers, you might want to watch this week's episode before making the jump...

We've previously reported that funnyman and the star and creator of Extras and The Office Ricky Gervais was in a very short-lived pop group in the 1980s, but I recently uncovered a wealth of information on the subject that just had to be shared.

For those of you who might not know yet, Ricky Gervais was part of a pop duo from 1982 to 1984 called 'Seona Dancing' (shawn-uh, not see-own-ah). They released two singles ("More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart" - both wide b-sides) in the UK that climbed to numbers 117 and 70 on the charts, before they dropped into obscurity. However, in 1985 a DJ in the Philippines started playing "More to Lose", and it rocketed to the top of the Filipino music charts. According to the All Music Guide, "In one part of the world, Seona Dancing's "More to Lose" became an '80s anthem as ubiquitous as Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes."

President's Weekend is upon us, and besides looking forward to all those nifty sales being offered at your local car dealership, how else should you best commemorate this day?

Sure, our real president may be less than desirable to revere at the moment, but at least we have our TV presidents to look up to!

How well you know your TV presidents? Wonder no more and check out this quiz. I personally do not know my TV presidents because I got a 4/10 on the quiz, but maybe you'll do better. Maybe.