Culture's battle of the underdogs Never underestimate local pride. People tend to be fiercely loyal to their town, even those that look unlovely to outsiders. Civic pride will be at stake on Wednesday when Maria Miller, culture secretary, announces the winner of the contest to be the UK's City of Culture 2017 after Derry-Londonderry, which held the inaugural title this year. The winner will receive no direct government cash, but the aim is to build on Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture 2008, which was credited with bringing economic and social benefits. Derry-Londonderry's year has helped bring together a community with a history of religious sectarianism, though the economic impact seems less clear. It has brought the city events such as the Turner Prize for art, an outdoor theatrical extravaganza written by Frank Cottrell Boyce - who worked on the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony - and BBC Radio 1"s Big Weekend music festival. Inevitably, contests such as this attract the underdog. The shortlisted cities of Dundee, Hull, Swansea Bay and Leicester feel they have something to prove. Dundee, tired of being the butt of jokes among Scots, says it is on an upward trajectory from a period of decline. Its waterfront development includes a branch of London's Victoria and Albert Museum, which opens next year, aimed at showcasing Scottish design and providing a base for international touring exhibitions. Hull, on England's east coast, has struggled since its fishing industry declined in the 1970s and is fed up with being seen as propping up myriad tables of deprivation. It portrays itself instead as "the city that has brought you everything from LCD technology and world-class poets such as Andrew Marvell and Philip Larkin to Yorkshire puddings and boiled sweets." Leicester's bid includes a three-day drama production of the story of Richard III, England's controversial medieval king, whose remains were recently discovered under a car park in the East Midlands city. Swansea Bay's bid covers Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire, an area often overshadowed by Cardiff, Wales's capital. Its bid includes events such as a festival for unsigned pop bands and a high-tech history lab. The winner will be chosen by judges chaired by Phil Redmond, the television producer. Bookmaker William Hill put Swansea Bay at 2-1, Leicester at 9-4, Hull at 11-4 and Dundee at 7-2. I wish them all luck. The best Doctor The first episode of Doctor Who, the world's longest-running science fiction television show, was so overshadowed by coverage of the death of President John F Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas the day before, that it was shown again a week later before the second episode. The 50th anniversaries of JFK's shooting and Doctor Who fall respectively on Friday and Saturday. I had my priorities right: I watched Doctor Who, but still absorbed much of the JFK coverage. Even aged eight, I could walk and chew gum. Everyone has their favourite among the actors who have played Doctor Who. The public's is David Tennant, who played the Doctor between 2005 and 2010, according to a RadioTimes.com poll. But such polls are dominated by recent viewers. Mine is Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor (1966-69), a fine character actor who took advice to play him as a "cosmic hobo" in the manner of Charlie Chaplin, a funny-wise interpretation that has set the template ever since. Too mad? A battle is being fought in Manchester over a developer's plan to turn Mayfield, a former Victorian railway station opposite Piccadilly, into the biggest nightclub in the world. With a capacity of 7,500, it would dwarf any venue in the UK. There are clubs that can hold more people in Ibiza, but they use outdoor space. The Mayfield would house its clubbers under one roof. Pity the neighbours. One-upmanship What does Canada have to do to get noticed? No sooner does Toronto produce a crack-smoking mayor than the UK goes one better, with the former chairman of a supposedly ethical bank, the Co-operative, reportedly caught buying and using illegal drugs. Paul Flowers, a Methodist minister, has been suspended by the Methodist Church and the Labour party.