Addicted to Who?

A new run of Doctor Who is almost upon us and habits are being altered across the country in anticipation of the season premiere. If any of the following seven signs ring a Cloister Bell, then you might as well face it, you're addicted to Who...

1) 27 and 57 minutes past the hour suddenly take on a new significance. For those are the times when the end credits on programmes tend to roll, which means there's a chance of catching the latest Doctor Who trailer between programmes. You already have the thing saved in high quality avi, mpeg and wmv on your computer of course, but the magic of seeing it on an actual television makes it somehow appear more real.

2) Scouring listings magazines and websites to scout out the potential opposition from ITV in that all important 7pm timeslot. Could they dig out a Harry Potter movie as the opposition yet again? There's scant chance that Celebrity Wrestling will be making a reappearance, although Whovians would welcome the move...

3) Taking different routes in the car to give yourself a chance of seeing one of the promotional billboards that may or may not be in existence this year.

4) Reacquainting yourself with that all important F5 key on your keyboard, because you just know Sunday mornings will be spent refreshing pages on various forums in a desperate bid to locate the overnight ratings.

5) You're only happy when it rains, as weather forecasts begin to take on a new meaning. More rain equals more people indoors, which means more potential viewers. RESULT! Also, having rays of sunshine beaming into the living room doesn't really help to watch the beloved sci-fi show.

6) Bags under the eyes. For that all important publicity blitz is underway and the stars will be wheeled out on breakfast television and radio for interviews that often offer exclusive preview clips not available elsewhere. The sound of your Gold Dalek alarm clock threatening to exterminate you in the early hours is inevitable...

7) Newspapers and magazines you'd never usually consider buying are suddenly viewed as the Holy Grail if they contain exclusive Who related features. Straight men will keenly march into their local newsagents to pick up a copy of Attitude just because of an exclusive John Barrowman interview. All in the name of Doctor Who and we wouldn't have it any other way.

The new series of Doctor Who starts on BBC One at 7pm next Saturday, March 31.