Sarah Lancashire and Series Four
The Sun has an item on Sarah Lancashire, who will play a character named Miss Foster in "Partners in Crime", the first episode of the 2008 series of Doctor Who. The story says that Miss Foster will be a villain; in the Series Four trailer which followed "Voyage of the Damned", the character is seen wielding a device resembling the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

The newspaper also states, "Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen will recreate their roles as Rose Tyler and Sara [sic] Jane Smith. John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in spin-off series Torchwood, will also be back." The story continues, "The series is the last for star David Tennant, 36, but he will play the Doctor in four special episodes in 2009 and in a movie version." David Tennant said in December that he had not decided whether to continue in the role of the Doctor after the 2008 series, the 2008 Christmas special and three (not four) specials scheduled for 2009. There has been no confirmation of a Doctor Who movie, except a passing comment by BBC Fiction head Jane Tranter that she "would not rule out" a Doctor Who film.

Lancashire's Doctor Who role is also covered by Sky Showbiz, Metro and Hello! magazine.

More on Piper wedding
Sky Showbiz has more photos from Billie Piper's wedding. There's more coverage at The Argus (Brighton, Hove and Sussex), Monsters and Critics,Hello! magazine, Actress Archives, Gossip Girls, MyPark magazine, The Irish Independent, The Arizona Republic of Phoenix, Arizona and The Money Times of India, as well as sites based inCroatia and Estonia plus the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, which is the local weekly newspaper for where she and new husband Laurence Fox live.

Other items
The Evening Express of Aberdeen reviews the recent classic Doctor Who DVD box set "The Davros Collection", calling it "unmissable".

Finally, the South Wales Echo talks to Kai Owen, who plays Gwen's boyfriend Rhys on Torchwood. Owen is playing Prince Charming in a Cardiff panto of Snow White; in the interview, he talks about Torchwood's upcoming second series and mentions some details which might be considered spoilers.

More Audience data is now available for the Doctor Who Christmas Special,Voyage of the Damned. The programme was enjoyed by both sexes with the 35-54 age group enjoying it the most. The programme scored above the drama average on questions such as whether it was a high quality programme and whether it was original and different. It scored below average on whether it was thought provoking or if the viewer learned something new. An above average sample said they would recommend the programme to a friend.

With overnights now available for the whole of Christmas week, the programme stands at number two in the list of the weeks top rated programmes. If, as expected, this is confirmed when the final figures are released by BARB next week, Voyage of the Damned will be the highest placed edition of the programme in its 44 year history. The previous highest weekly placing was fifth for episode two of Tom Baker's second story, The Ark in Space. The highest placing of the new series has been sixth for Rise of the Cybermen.

The programme finished top of the Children's Chart for the week being the most watched programme on British television by 4-15 year-olds.

"Voyage of the Damned" has received both positive and negative reviews in the British press. The Daily Mirror (published before the special aired) calls it "a corker", with "plenty of the Doctor's joky humour, some nice Christmas gags and even a touching romance." However, the reviewer at The Herald (Glasgow) complains that Kylie Minogue looked "matronly". Sam Wollaston of The Guardian feels that Kylie "may be Kylie, but she's no Freema or Billie." The Daily Mirror gives a mixed review, praising the "brilliant psychedelic Pink Floyd-esque imagery" as well as "great baddies ... and neat jokes", but lamenting that "the plot was a mess, consisting mostly of one hi-tech chase scene after another, and it descended into noise and bluster." And theLiverpool Echocalls it "a load of old tongue-in-cheek nonsense".

Tim Teeman, writing in The Times, goes further, saying that "Doctor Who sucks" and calling the show and its protagonist "lazy, predictable and indulgent." But James Walton, writing in the Daily Telegraph "can’t imagine how this episode could have done its job any better", calling Voyage of the Damned "a winning mixture of wild imagination and careful writerly calculation." And 10-year-old George Baker, whose TARDIS bedroom has been previously mentioned on this page, tells Newsround that the Christmas special was "BRILLIANT": "I give it 10 out of 10 - and I cannot wait for the new series!"

UPDATE: A few more reviews have come to light. The Sunday Times describes "Voyage of the Damned" as having "big-screen aspiration with small-screen production values and half a radio script." However, The Stage says "Voyage of the Damned was well up to Doctor Who’s impeccably high standards, neatly combining comedy and thrills to stunning effect," and The Observer says "Doctor Who was an oasis of cheeky nonsense and careless invention."

Before "Voyage of the Damned" aired, Billie Piper was quoted in the Aberdeen Press and Journal saying that she was looking forward to watching the Christmas special, and was envious of her once and future costar David Tennant: "I'm just gutted that I missed [Kylie Minogue]. I speak to David and he's like, 'I've got Kylie's number on my phone.' I want to be Kylie's friend!" The Sun puts Minogue and Piper together in their list of 2007's "top TV babes". TheDaily Mirror has a profile of Piper's "great year", and the Western Mail has a Q&A with the actress.

Kylie Minogue's role in the Christmas special got a lot of coverage in her native Australia, including the Courier Mail(Brisbane, twice), the Herald Sun(Melbourne), Macquarie National News (Sydney) and Sky News. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) calls "Voyage of the Damned" "the greatest Dr Who episode of all time" but also frets that some of Kylie's younger fans may have been unable to tell fact from fiction, as did Sky News.

Digital Spy provides "Ten Things You Never Knew About David Tennant" (although several items may be known to readers of this page).

The Halifax Courier concludes its three-part history of Doctor Who. Part one was linked in the last press round-up, and you can now read parts two andthree.

Catherine Tate's Christmas special has provoked some controversy. Ofcom, the UK's independent media reglatory agency, will investigate complaints that the special contained excessive foul language and stereotypical portrayals of Northern Irish characters. The story is covered by The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile, The New York Times has a largely positive review of Tate's comedy series, as its third season airs on BBC America.

The Manchester Evening News has a profile of Frazer Hines, who played the Second Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon from 1966 to 1969.

The Sun is claiming that Kylie Minogue's sister Dannii is "tipped" for a role in Torchwood, and has a quote from John Barrowman; this story is also covered by Digital Spy, All Headline News and inthenews.co.uk as well as news sites based in India and Estonia, both of which refer to "Kylie Minogue's successful stint on US TV show 'Dr Who'"!

Thanks to Greg Chapman and "PolyG" of the Doctor Who Forum.

The Sun has released a story which includes spoilers for the "Doctor-lite" episode of Series Four.

Please click on the Spoiler box for more info

Georgia Moffett, daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, will be appearing in Series Four, according to Executive Producer Phil Collinson.

"Fans might recognise that name...but that's not why we cast her. She's a very fine actor."

Georgia originally auditioned for a role in the Agatha Christie episode. "But as soon as we saw her," Collinson told Doctor Who Magazine, "we realised there was a much bigger and better part later on in the series...so Georgia kindly waited until the time was right. It's a role no one will ever forget!"

BBC News have reported that Billie Piper will be returning to Doctor Who, portraying her original role of Rose Tyler.

The news was originally reported in today's Daily Mirror, which went on to say: The Time Lord, played by David Tennant, starts with Donna (Catherine Tate) as his helper, is then joined by Martha (Freema Agyeman) and then reunites with Billie's character Rose for the finale. A source said: "With Donna, Martha and Rose competing to assist him, Dr Who is going to be spoilt for choice." The paper also reported that the actress will be in at least three episodes of the new series. (also reported by The Hollywood News, Daily Record, Ananova, and Marie Claire)

The breaking news was actually reported on our very own Doctor Who Forum last night by fans present at filming in Cardiff, including photos of Billie Piper at the location. These can be found in the forum here if you really want to see them! Thanks to Brian_Damage and PMount for the reports.

Update: The official Doctor Who website has now confirmed that Piper is returning as Rose in Series 4, but adds, "Anything you may read elsewhere about when, how or for how long Rose returns to Doctor Who should be treated as pure speculation at this point."

Meanwhile, the BBC have also issued a general press release on the Christmas line-up, with the principal item being Doctor Who: "BBC One reaffirms its position as the one to watch with a formidable line-up of television's biggest and brightest award-winning stars. David Tennant stars as The Doctor in a very special edition of Doctor Who, alongside the one and only Kylie Minogue, who plays a waitress on the Titanic."