Stephen Moffat has won another BAFTA - British Academy Television Award - for "Blink." This craft BAFTA can sit next to his Welsh screenwriting BAFTA for the same episode. Speculation is running high that he will pull a hat trick on Labor Day and get a "best dramatic presentation, short form" Hugo for "Blink" to sit next to his Hugos for "The Empty Child" and "Girl in the Fireplace."

On the licensed tie-in front, news is also good. Big Finish has announced that their "Companion Chronicles" - one-hour audio plays performed by original cast members for the first four Doctors - has become popular enough to turn into a monthly series. The new series kicks off in July with a Susan adventure narrated by Carole Ann Ford, but after the first few plays the mandate will widen to cover "Doctors Five through Eight and their companions, and there may even be stories told by popular characters that aren't strictly companions." The audios are available for mp3 download, individual CD, or 6 or 12-issue subscriptions.

But the news isn't so sunny for Doctor Who fan crafters. Although the link between knitters and Who was firmly established when Tom Baker wrapped that scarf around his neck, now the BBC is sending cease-and-desist orders to fans who are making Who-related knitting patterns available online. First to go was the site for a fan called "Mazzmatazz." Now "Extermaknit," the wildly popular knitted dalek pattern that has been online for over a year, has quietly disappeared. There is one venerable old school Whovian knitting site still standing, although I'm not going to name it for fear of drawing BBC attention to it.

This has drawn attention not just of the fannish crafters, but the large knitting blogs as well; knitters are feeling unfairly singled out when there are so many other Who-related craft sites and videos still online. How is knitting a Dalek more of a threat to the BBC's copyright and merchandising than Blue Peter giving instructions on how to make a TARDIS out of a milk carton?

UPDATE:  The BBC has now given their side of the knitting story, which is that they acted only to shut down an eBay auction based on the patterns and were actually interested in discussing licensing rights with Mazzmatazz. The issue is being handled by the Open Rights Group, which is on the side of making the knitting patterns available. Also, I have been informed by the owner of Extermaknit that she withdrew the pattern voluntarily without pressure from the BBC to wait and see what the outcome of the Mazzmatazz case was.