A Series Three launch night party is to take place in central London, giving fans the chance to see the premier episode live on a big-screen plasma projection system with full surround sound - and possibly in the company of a famous name or two.

This is a free event and 100 entrance tickets have been set aside for a prize draw, due to take place three weeks before the confirmed series launch date.

Organiser Jeremy Bentham, who staged similar capacity celebrations in 2005 and 2006, said: "If you are aged 18 or over and your name comes out of the hat, you could be among the party-goers cheering on 'Smith and Jones' plus any other supporting Doctor Who programming broadcast that day. And you never know who else might just pop by . . . "

Pictured above with two party-goers at last year's event is Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brigadier during the show's classic era. Below is a model of K9, which was on display at last year's party - click on the image of K9 for a larger version.

The party starts at 4pm and a cash bar and full food menu will be available throughout the afternoon and evening. In addition, from 10pm there will be free admission to the venue’s nightclub event.

To enter the draw, send a postcard stating your full name, address, daytime contact number and the number of tickets you would like (maximum two) to: DW Launch Party 2007, 13 Northfield Road, Boreham Wood, Herts, WD6 5AE.

Winners only will be notified by post the week following the draw.

Those who subsequently find that they are unable to attend the party are asked to return their ticket(s) to the draw address as soon as possible so that they can be reallocated via a waiting list of names that will be drawn out of the hat following the initial allocation.

Details of accommodation near the party venue can be provided for people travelling long distances - simply ask for this on the postcard.

NB: Licensing laws mean that all winners and guests must be at least 18 years old. No admission without a valid ticket.

(Photos courtesy of Dave Parsons.)

Following from the promotional campaign we have been reporting on this week,Billie Piper has returned to the Top 40 charts with a re-entry for her 1999 hit "Honey to the Bee", which has entered the charts this week at number 17.

Radio 1 breakfast presenter Chris Moyles announced to his listeners on Monday 15th that he was planning to conduct a test to see if he could exploit a change in the way the charts are counted, where downloads are included alongside singles.

He played Billie's 1999 hit Honey to the Bee, which charted as high as number 3 first time round, to see if hearing the old hit would encourage people to download it and get it into the charts. Expect a very happy Mr Moyles on Radio 1 tomorrow morning; Billie is also likely to be pleasantly surprised; the hit has returned without her singing a note!

Billie's success is also reported by BBC News.

The other track with a Doctor Who association which received a promotional campaign this week, the song "Love Don't Roam" from the Doctor Who Soundtrack album, has failed to chart. However, it did receive its first radio play on Saturday's Jonathan Ross show on Radio 2. Will it receive further coverage and chart in weeks to come? Time will tell.

Big Finish has released the cover images and plot information for their January and February Doctor Who releases.

January sees the release of Circular Time. Written by new series writer Paul Cornell, it features Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton in four one-episode stories.

February has Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Philip Olivier being joined by Are You Being Served? alumnus Trevor Bannister for Nocturne

Just a reminder readers in the US and Canada that Christopher Eccleston will be appearing on the television seriesHeroes tomorrow, Monday January 22.

In the US Heroes is broadcast on NBC at 9:00pm Eastern and Pacific, 8:00pm Central and Mountain. In Canada Heroesruns on the Global Television Network. Eccleston plays a man named Claude who can become invisible.

The character, who is named after Claude Rains, star of the 1933 film The Invisible Man, will appear in several episodes in the remainder of this season.

UPDATE: The Sun had a picture story about Eccleston's Heroes role in its edition dated January 24, saying the show will be on the Sci Fi Channel next month.

The Ottawa Citizen takes an extensive look at the release of Series Two on DVD in Canada.

In his piece, Chris Knight explains why exactly the show has appealed to the Canadian frame of mind.

The article concludes by looking at the DVD release in Canada of the first season of BBC sitcom My Hero, starring Ardal O'Hanlon, who plays the character Brannigan in episode three of Series Three.

Manchester and Land's End have been announced as new locations for Doctor Who Up Close exhibitions this year.

The official exhibitions site says the Manchester display, running from March 31 to November 5 at the Museum of Science and Industry, will be the "largest ever Doctor Who exhibition". People will reportedly have the first chance to see some of the creations from Series Three there.

The museum's website says there will be props, costumes and monsters on display, while 24hourmuseum reports that among them will be items from "The Runaway Bride".

The Manchester attraction's site also has details of a Foto Fun event taking place between February 12 and 18 in which people can have their picture taken fighting a Dalek.

The museum is in Liverpool Road in the Castlefield district of Manchester.

Meanwhile, Land's End will have its own Up Close exhibition from Easter 2007, according to the official exhibitions site, although no more details are available as yet.

(With thanks to Steve Layton.)

According to tvshowsondvd.com, several Netflix customers noted that their rented copies of Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series disc one had a problem.

Apparently at the 32-minute mark of New Earth the episode switches to a rather gruesome scene from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning". Along the same lines, the special features section of the disc does not work.

Once the BBC were contacted and made aware of the issue they quickly responded with a statement that yes, there was a problem with the discs in question.

Only Netflix copies of disc one were affected and not those for purchase in stores. While the BBC works on replacing the faulty DVDs, Nexflix has pulled disc one as being available for rent until the situation is resolved.

UPDATE: The Sun picked up on this story in its January 26 edition, claiming it was an exclusive.

Headlined "The Tardis Chainsaw Massacre", it has a mocked-up picture of a Dalek armed with a chainsaw and quotes a BBC insider as saying: "It's very, very embarrassing. Doctor Who's a family show and the most scary thing is probably a Dalek, yet the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films are among the most frightening ever made."

A BBC spokeswoman is quoted as blaming a "manufacturing problem" and says: "We apologise for any distress we may have caused. We are doing our best to rectify this problem."

(Additional reporting by John Bowman.)

Trade magazine Variety is reporting that the Spanish network Cuatro has purchased Torchwood, along with a number of US dramas.

The BBC children's news programme Newsround is the latest to report on plans to put Love Don't Roam by Murray Gold into the UK Singles charts.

Reporter Lizo Mzimba commented: "It's all happened because of a change in the rules on how the singles chart works. Now any song, whether it's a single or an album track, whether it's in the shops or only by downloading, can make it into the singles chart if enough people buy it. That's what a group of Doctor Who fans have tried to take advantage of. They've spent the week trying to persuade people to download a track featured in the Doctor Who Christmas Special, in the hope that the song Love Don't Roam - which was never intended to be a single - will actually make it into the singles chart next week."

He went on to say: "If you think it's ridiculous that a Doctor Who song could be popular enough to get into the charts, think again - a few years back this song (Doctorin' The TARDIS), inspired by Doctor Who, not only got into the charts, it got to number one!"

The item was entitled "David Tennant vs Billie Piper" as, in addition to above and as we previously reported, BBC Radio One DJ Chris Moyles is also attempting to get a track into the charts - Honey to the Bee by former Doctor Who actress Billie Piper.

Newsround have also invited viewers to vote on which song they'd like to see make it to the top of the charts their website - though you can't vote for both!

Though not referenced by name, Outpost Gallifrey made it into the item, used as an illustration of one of the sites where the download is being discussed (see above picture).

(Billie Piper was also mentioned on this morning's Entertainment Today, talking about her new play Treats, but also to comment that she was on their first ever show, some 250 editions ago.)