New Articles on The Daily Dust today

Posted: 03 Jan 2009 04:27 AM CST

Yesterday was the UK’s biggest ever sickie, with almost everyone deciding not to go in to work on the first working day of 2009.

Some will have called in claiming to have had bad flu, others chest infections, some may have even blamed the cold and icy conditions but none will have blamed road traffic.

If they did, here is a reason why their job may not be so safe:-

The A12 at Hackney Marshes leading into Central London and the Blackwall Tunnel which is normally bumper to bumper with slow moving traffic..

Main roads between Manchester and Liverpool that are usually nose-to-tail traffic were also left wide open.

Did you go to work yesterday, were you alone? Let us know you reactions in the comments below.

Hat tip DailyMail.

Murray Beats Fed To Go Into First Final of 2009

Posted: 03 Jan 2009 04:06 AM CST

Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in three sets yesterday in Abu Dhabi

Murray appeared to suffer back pain but told the press:"Today was pretty physical. I did a lot of running, so I'm sure it's just a bit stiff."

Murray won with a solid 4-6 6-2 7-6 victory.

Murray, 21, now faces Rafael Nadal in today's final after the Spaniard smashed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-3.

Murray added: "I've got the better of Roger a few times but in the big one, the US Open final, he beat me pretty badly.

"Hopefully, I'll maybe get him in a Grand Slam one day."

Murray needs to take care of Nadal first..and the name game he appears to be losing:

“Got the win 2day but trailin in Name Game. U say a christian name + 1st 2 give a surname 2 make a famous person gets point. Kim in lead.” from his Twitter

Who’s Going To Be Who Tonight?

Posted: 03 Jan 2009 03:38 AM CST

The Likely Candidates Leave the Starting Gate in our Guide To The Potential Doctors.

Craig McGill was the journalist who broke the story that David Tennant would be replacing Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor. Now working in PR, he’s dived into the debate over the new Doctor on his blog…

The start of the year looked so promising for journalists – a year of speculating on the economy, when the general election would be and who would be the next, well Doctor Who – and the BBC went and ruined that by giving people 24 hours notice that the Eleventh Doctor, David Tennant’s replacement, would be revealed on Saturday night.

There’s been a lot of speculation over the role and who is going to fill it with the favourites being:

Jimmy Nesbitt
Sean Pertwee
Robert Carlyle
Matt Smith
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Paterson Joseph

Now, the first one that can be ruled right out of that is Robert Carlyle as he’s just announced that he’s the lead in the new Stargate show Stargate: Universe. Nesbitt has been suspiciously low-key over the position, which probably rules him out, though it would be fantastic to have him utter the line “Every planet has a Belfast” when asked about his accent.

That leaves Sean Pertwee as the legacy choice. After all, he looks like a mix between Doctor Three (unsurprising as it was his father) and Christopher Eccleston.

Pertwee would be a good choice, a steady choice. He can handle action and has some charisma. If Who was a football team it would be like bringing in a team legend as manager when the team was underperforming.

But who is not underperforming, far from it – and that’s one of the reasons he won’t get it.

Then there’s Matt Smith, who appeared over the internet in the hours before the announcement was made and if he is the New Who it’s one in the face for the pundits and one for internet gossip as no-one has heard of him.

But the smart thinking is on it being a coloured, specifically black, actor –probably Chiwetel Ejiofor or Paterson Jospeh – and the timing is what gives it away.

Both men have good acting credentials tinged with Sci-Fi. Chiwetel, also known for his role in Kinky Boots (and the headline writers will have fun with that) has global appeal from his role in the Joss Wheedon film Serenity – a spin-off from Firefly - while Paterson has been one of the leads in the recent remake of Survivors on BBC1.

The smart money and inside tips are on it being one of these two men and while the choice will be on their acting ability, their skin colour may have played a part in the announcement being made so early.

From a PR point of view it seems strange to announce the news so early – after all the new Who will be on the screen very little in 2009 with their 13-episode series not being broadcast until mid-2010. Filming won’t even start for at least eight months.

But if there’s a black doctor, it means that when the world gets round to doing all the press for Barack Obama and how black people are getting into positions never thought possible even just a few years ago, then Doctor Who is getting mentioned in those articles across the world because up until now, it’s always been a role for a white actor.

There’s also 18 months of positive press publicity (and if there’s one thing I would imagine the BBC wants just now after what happened with Ross/Brand is some positive publicity) for the BBC for having a black actor step into the role.

One thing is for sure: whoever gets the role is in for a mediafrenzy the likes of few actors experience. Would still have been good to hear Nesbitt say “Every planet has a Belfast” though.

(Hat tip to Craig McGill www.craig-mcgill.com).

Your Country Needs You! says the BBC

Posted: 03 Jan 2009 12:30 AM CST

Power to the people as search for a Eurovision star begins

We may have had some dismal performances in the last few years - but the Eurovision Song Contest still has a special place in the hearts of many, and the process to choose the UK representative for the 2009 contest in Moscow begins in earnest this weekend.

In a format which has already been tried in places like Ireland and Spain, but has never been done over here, this year the call has been “your country needs you!” as people from all over the UK were invited to send in audition videos of themselves in a bid for European glory.

Six acts have been chosen from the flood of hopefuls who sent entries to the BBC in the autumn, and over the next few weeks, they will be slowly whittled down in an X-Factor style public vote until the winner is crowned on January 31. The process begins this Saturday on BBC One, as Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Graham Norton introduce the lucky hopefuls. They will also try and discover where exactly the UK has been going wrong recently. Can our fortunes be turned around?

Apparently Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has already promised Lord Andrew he will cast his vote for the UK - now it just remains to see who he will be voting for on May 16 in Moscow.

“Your Country Needs You” is on BBC One at 7.10pm on Saturday, January 3, and don’t forget you can keep up to date with developments here at The Daily Dust!

The BBC Eurovision website is here.

Liveblog: Celeb Big Brother 5 Launch

Posted: 02 Jan 2009 01:25 PM CST

Following the celebs going into the house… live on The Daily Dust.

Stay with us through Friday night as we comment on all the news and events at Channel 4’s Big Brother house at the celebrities are officially revealed. The latest updates will be at the top.

Housemates are La Toya Jackson, Mutya, Verne Troyer, Tommy Sheridan, Lucy Pinder, Ben Adams, Tina Malone, Coolio, Michelle Heaton, Terry Christian, and Ulrika Johnnson.

2215: And that's your live blog of the launch night over. Keep reading The Daily Dust for all your CBB updates through the next three weeks!

2211: Crowd reaction puts Verne Troyer, Lucy Pinder and Ben Adams as the top three, with Coolio and Michelle getting an above average reaction. Everyone else was booed.

2210: Ah, they're using the "Head of the House" twist from the US Big Brother. It didn't especially work there. In short the head of house is responsible alone for nominations.

2209: Here comes the twist.

2207: So we have our eleven housemates for Celebrity Big Brother 6 – according to our sources we were expecting twelve to go in … Steve Strange is missing.

2205: The crowd aren't reacting well to Ms Jonnson.

2204: Finally, the 'star' in the schedulers mind, Ulrika Jonnson heads into the delightful Big Brother House. One of the few contestants to actually mention winning in her bio speech.

2202: Thoughts on Terry – late night car crash telly, on Channel 4… he's really home!

2159: In his own words, it's that annoying twat from The Word. Yes it's Terry Christian! Can't tell if he's headstrong or just confident about his history. Expect him to be a catalyst inside and outside the house.

2156: Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton heads into the house – famous of course for not winning Popstars.

2155: Okay does Verne Troyer know every celebrity in the world?

2151: American rapper Coolio heads into the house. Interesting th enumber of american housemates in this year – the count is three so far. Are UK 'celebs' wising up to the fact that CBB is a bad idea for their credibility?

2143: Tina Malone heads in, and talks about her OCD. That's going to be fun in a Big Brother house, especially as Verne Troyer has admitted he's horribly messy.

2141: Hold on, Ben Adams says he's been writing songs wikth Alexandra, who won the X-Factor… two weeks ago. That's a lot of writing time, Ben…

2139: Boy Band member Ben Adams goes in. A1 of course split up in 2002. But I recall Mark from Take That won BB2 and then the band reformed… who's up for an A1 reunion in the summer?

2135: Page Three model Lucy Pinder goes in. So The Star have their champion, and I wonder if the Sun will get behind her as well?

2131: And of course there's no way he'll get any support from The Sun or The News of The World.

2130: Tommy Sheridan is fourth. Comrades should all vote for me. Of course with the UK Electoral Laws and the broadcasting regulations his political views won't have a balance, and therefore won't make it to air.

2128: CBB is probably Verne's to loose – the short run (22 days) means someone's going to need to be outstanding if they go head to head with him.

2125: Davina could possibly be putting her foot in it with those comment about Verne. Someone check the tabloids.

2124: Verne is going in through a special mini door on the ground level. The walking must be knackering him, he normally uses a mobility scooter.

2123: Nope

2120: Third in is Verne Troyer, Mini-me from Austin Powers. Can he handle the steps up into the house?

2115: Mutya, former founder member of the Sugababes, enters the house.

2112: Davina asks why the crowd is doing Latoya Jackson – could it be because (a) she's a Jackson and (b) american?

2111: La Toya Jackson enters the house.

2109: Suggestion from our online Dust readers that the house be moved to the Gaza Strip to increase the ratings. What do you think?

2107: House looks nice this year, lots of mod cons. But there's going to be a catch, such as rationed appliances and limited tokens available to the Celebs.

2101: It looks like Davina is wearing the Cyberman/Dog outfit from this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special. She's taking us round the house just now.

2100: Here we go!

2055: Settling in here, nice hot cup of tea, some chocolate, and a million wikipedia pages open so i can look up the 'celebs' and what they are 'famous' for.

2020: For those of you looking for internet updates, remember that there will be no live stream of events in the house. We'll be reliant on Channel 4 and the editing of the daily shows to find out what's going on.

2000: While you're waiting, Digital Spy have a video showing you round the newly redecorated house.

1930 (UK time): 90 minutes until the Channel 4 Launch show starts.

Tennant’s replacement to be Announced Tomorrow

Posted: 02 Jan 2009 12:15 PM CST

Eleventh Doctor To Be Announced at 5.35 pm, Saturday 3rd January.

Heralding a media firestorm around one actor’s life, a special BBC1 edition of Doctor Who Confidential will air tomorrow, starting at 5.35pm. In it, the ten faces of The doctor will be discussed, and the eleventh actor to take up the role will also be announced. At that moment, someone’s life will never be the same.

The successor to David Tennant will take over a role that has, in the last four years, reinvented itself to be arguably the biggest acting role in the UK and a role model to millions.

It’s also going to kick off a night of new programming for the BBC, and this is a strong play to capture viewers for the new Richard Hammond/It’s a Knockout gameshow Total Wipeout and then the first of five programs to choose the performer for the Uk Eurovision 2009 entry.

Doctor who confirmation at the BBC.