The final episode of The Vicar of Dibley, which airs on New Year's Day at 9.30pm on BBC1, will have a distinctly Doctor Who feel to it.

The character Alice Horton, who is played by Emma Chambers, dresses as the Doctor for the Time Lord-themed wedding in the storyline.

She is pictured here in costume with two "wedding guests".

Ironically, the Christmas Day episode of The Vicar of Dibley beat Doctor Who in the ratings - it was the most-watched programme on the day, while Doctor Who was fifth, based on peak five-minute figures.

An article on the January 1 debut of upcoming spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures in The Sun on Friday features comments by series star Elisabeth Sladen, reprising the title role of Sarah Jane Smith.

Amongst other things, Ms Sladen comments on her wardrobe hopes for the show: “The costume designer will be buying my outfits for the series very soon and I fancy a bit more black leather for Sarah Jane to wear.

"I think the outfits will be a combination of new and retro. But I definitely won’t be wearing heels like I did in the Seventies as I do a lot of running around in the series, so it’s flatties for me.”

Ms Sladen also shares her thoughts on such topics as remeeting old monsters, further appearances in Doctor Who, and the "amazing" positive reception of Sarah Jane's return.

You can read the full article here.

(NB: Although the story is available online, it has not been included in every print edition of the newspaper.)

Starting on Friday January 19th, 2007 (Friday night/Saturday morning) the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will commence a repeat run of the 2005 Doctor Who series starring Christopher Eccleston. Starting with the premiere episode "Rose" episodes will be broadcast each Friday at 12:00 midnight (12:30am in Newfoundland and Labrador). This will be the fourth full CBC network run of Series One since April 2005.

Episodes of Series Two with David Tennant will continue on the CBC after their Christmas hiatus with "The Satan Pit" on Monday January 15th, 2007 at 8:00pm (8:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador).

BBC News Online is running a report on the civil partnership ceremony between Torchwood and Doctor Who starJohn Barrowman and his long-term boyfriend Scott Gill, which took place at the St David's Hotel in Cardiff this afternoon. Barrowman, who wore a kilt for the ceremony reflecting his Scottish roots, is quoted as saying: "It feels great and I think more gay men and gay women should go ahead and do it as long as they're serious about it. It's not really recognition but it's important for people to see the normality of the entire situation and it forces people who don't agree with gay men and women ... to have to accept us. We deserve the rights like everybody else. It's been a long wait but we legitimised our relationship to each other a long time ago when we signed our mortgages together and this is just something that forces people who don't want to recognise it that they have to."

The story was also reported on Wales Today.

The BBC confirmed today that the Daleks will feature in the Series Three two-parter set in 1930s New York (episodes four and five, which are currently untitled). A Dalek was featured in the recent trailer for Series Three that concluded the broadcast of "The Runaway Bride".

The story, published on its Entertainment website this morning, follows the mention in the Sun today (see below) and quotes Russell T Davies as saying: "This time, their plan is the most audacious Dalek scheme yet! Even the Doctor finds himself out of his depth."

As previously reported, appearing alongside David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the adventure will be Miranda Raison, Hugh Quarshie and Ryan Carnes.

Today's Sun has a colour picture special preview of Series Three. A main image of the Doctor thrown by an explosion is surrounded by shots of new companion Martha with an unidentified male, Ardal O'Hanlon as feline alien Brannigan, a Judoon, Dean Lennox Kelly as Shakespeare and the black Dalek.

The Sun today also has a report about Casualty extra Johnson Yakoob being axed from the BBC hospital-based series after 500 shows over nearly two decades for taking a picture of David Tennant. Yakoob is quoted as saying his agency has stopped his work because he broke a rule about photographing Tennant while working on Doctor Who, and says: "I can't believe it. He was happy to pose."

BBC Norfolk have a new video interview with Elisabeth Sladen, talking about the forthcoming The Sarah Jane Adventures special ("The Invasion of the Bane") to be seen on New Year's Day.

The interview briefly discusses how the new series came about in early January this year (she initially thought she was being approached for Torchwood!), that the series is set in the present day, but a little after "School Reunion" (her most recent appearance in Doctor Who), how she has a house that isn't quite what it seems, and that K9 will be in this special but it isn't certain about other episodes as he has another very important job to do [previously reported from her appearance onBreakfast, 8th December]. She also commented on how protective of the character she is, and pleased that there were still some surprises in store for her.

On the show itself, she believes the format is very inventive, and she has no idea what will appear in the series now that the special is rounded off. However, she is most proud of the show having the biggest explosion to date in any of the three Doctor Who shows!

The full video interview and further details are on the website.


Meanwhile, the Metro has also run an article on the show, with some additional comments from Elisabeth Sladen on the return of her character: "I thought, what can I bring to the character if she came back again? But they started telling me about this spin-off and it was just impressive what they had in mind. I thought, why am I questioning what they're doing? It's a challenge and I've just got to reach for it. How amazing."

The article also discusses the use of K9 in the series, with creator Bob Baker still pursuing a separate series using the character (K9 Adventures). On this, she adds: "I don't pretend to know what's going on behind the scenes, but if he's allowed us to use K-9 for this special then never say never."

The Thursday issue of the Sun is reporting that David Tennant is to quit the title role of Doctor Who midway through the fourth series. The story is headlined on the front page (see right) with the article on page five (see quote box below).

It is worth stressing that, so far, this story is unconfirmed, and Tennant and the production team are still working on the forthcoming third series. A fourth series is yet to be officially commissioned by the BBC, but assuming it goes ahead, it wouldn't be due to hit our screens until Spring 2008 and would mark Tennant's third season in the role. Tennant's first complete story was in the Christmas special 2005.

Update: In an unhelpful move, BBC Radio One have managed to mis-report the story in the Sun this morning, with news summaries during their breakfast programme quoting a newspaper as saying that Tennant will leave "during the next series". Naturally, many listeners may assume this is referring to the forthcoming third series yet to begin broadcasting. However, this is still quoting the tabloid, even if it is a mis-quote, and does not validate the story. The Metro is also quoting The Sun's report, offering no additional information.

(Humorous footnote: There may not be any official confirmation or denial about the story as yet, but there is a "News In Briefs" comment by Thursday's page three model - Katie, 22, from Liverpool - who is reported to be "gutted" that Tennant was supposed to be leaving. She is quoted as saying: "He was brilliant in the show and it won't be the same without him. Not only was he a great actor - but I could swoon over him as well!" Additional reporting by John Bowman)