The first chapter of John Le Carre's new novel in the New York Times – registration or signup may be required.

If he doesn't know, in his role either as uber-fan or as series creator, than who does? And then there's this: "I had to go into Peter Fincham's extremely posh office today, and explain why I will not be doing a Series Five. Ohh, he's not happy. It was very awkward."

Superb article debunking some of the more blatant bits of misinformation doing the rounds of the cybersphere – and an attempt to work out why on earth such hoaxes are perpetrated. Perhaps the biggest insight is in the comments, filled with enraged conspiracy theorists…

According to this story, comic actor Bolek Polivka is suing former business partner Tomas Harabis over the rights to the fictitious Wallachian Kingdom. The court must decide whether Mr Polivka is the true "king" of the fairy-tale realm. Sounds like a regular creative dispute to me…