John Barrowman has revealed that he expects Season Two of Torchwood to premier early in 2008.

Speaking on BBC Radio Two, where he was the stand-in presenter for Elaine Paige, he told listeners that he will be recording Torchwood until November and the series will be shown in the New Year.

John also confirmed that he is at present filming Doctor Who. He describes the new series as fantastic and full of surprises with a spectacular season finale. The programme also featured Neil Hannon's recording of Love Don't Roam.

The programme is also available via the Radio 2 homepage for the next seven days. The Torchwood comments are about 50 minutes into the programme

A major piece of casting appears to have been revealed for season three of Doctor Who. Click on the spoiler box below to read further, but, be warned, if you are attempting to avoid big spoilers for the forthcoming series, you may wish to think twice before clicking...

Both Doctor Who and the Daleks are set to encounter the troublesome Bash Street Kids within the comic strip pages of the new BeanoMAX comic, which goes on sale in the UK on February 15. Issues will be themed around major events, with the launch issue supporting Comic Relief.

In the Doctor Who-related strip, the Bash Street gang need help with their homework but the Daleks tell them they must "study, or you'll all be exterminated".

The publishers say that BeanoMAX, which will be published monthly, is aimed at readers aged nine to thirteen, an older audience than the Beano traditionally enjoys. The Beano, which will continue to be published weekly in tandem with the new publication, will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.

The Beano Annual has traditionally been the top-selling children's book at Christmas since the 1940's, but was beaten on Christmas 2006 by the Doctor Who Annual.

Other well-known names "appearing" in the strips of this Comic Relief issue include Jamie Oliver, who takes over the school canteen, and Jonathan Ross, Rowan Atkinson (who was one of the star names to play the Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief TV spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Steven Moffat) and boy band McFly who all drop in on Dennis the Menace. Plus footballers Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard will be appearing in the Ball Boy strip.

Update: Pictures from the comic can be viewed on the BBC Newsround site.

Today's Daily Echo reports that Elisabeth Sladen will be attending Bournemouth's annual Science Fiction Ball this weekend. The event, which is raising money for the Macmillan Cancer Unit at Christchurch Hospital, 'offers the chance for photo opportunities and autographs with the stars'. The Ball will be held at Carrington House Hotel in Boscombe from February 9 to 11. (For more details log on to sfball.com or call 070 9281 2101.)

Sylvester McCoy appeared on Breakfast this morning to discuss his forthcoming role in King Lear, a new play starring him as The Fool to Sir Ian McKellen's Lear, and performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. It opens in Newcastle in April, after previews at the end of March in Stratford; it will then tour around the world, including Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and America.

He said he got the role from being at a party with play director Trevor Nunn, who asked him what he'd been doing! However, he also said that he felt a little type-cast, as people have been telling him he's been playing the fool all his career!

Of course, it would be impossible for the Breakfast team not to mention Doctor Who - this was the first topic of conversation! Introduced by a clip from Silver Nemesis, McCoy talked about the fun time he had in the role. When asked about his views on today's Doctor Who, he replied: "I think it's terrific, I'm so pleased - it's great to see children get their own generation of Doctor, and the enjoyment they get from it." And then on comparison with 'the humour and fun' from his own era: "That's rather flattering really, even some of our stories, they've kind of used those. But all their writers and the producers they grew up I suppose during my Doctor, so that influences in them when they create new Doctors."

He is also very impressed with the renewal of the Doctor's oldest adversary: "It does also amaze me that Daleks still terrify people. I was somewhere and a Dalek suddenly appeared, and this child was shaking with fear - I've never seen that kind of real fear and I suddenly thought I've got do something so I said, 'Listen, don't worry, I am the Doctor, I will save you!' I've not been in the role for 15 years but that was all right, the child calmed down and I said, 'It's all right, that Dalek isn't going to touch you.'"

Keep an eye out for more details of King Lear from the RSC's website.

UK listings magazine TV Times features an interview with David Tennant this week. The magazine states that the series returns in March and David's response to the rumours of him quitting is to say that "You shouldn't believe everything you read in the papers."

The interview contains reference to some spoilers. Click on the box below to reveal them.

According to UK tabloid the Sun, former Doctor Who companion Billie Piper is scheduled to appear on BBC2's Top Gear programme next week as the latest celebrity to show off their driving skills in the show's Star In a Reasonably Priced Car slot.

Piper will complete a timed lap, driving a Chevrolet Lacetti around the show's test track, aiming to beat the times set by previous celebrities - including Christopher Eccleston - and get to the top of the leader board.

2 Entertain announced today that the planned 2-disc DVD release of "Survival", the final broadcast story of the Original Series, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor,Sophie Aldred as Ace, and Anthony Ainley as the Master, has been pushed back two weeks. The disk is now scheduled to be available on retail shelves in the UK on April 16.

Big Finish has published information for their upcoming releases in 2007, including the 100th title for the Doctor Whorange. The latest cover for the Paul McGann BBC7 series, The Horror of Glam Rock, can be viewed by clicking on the preview below.

March 2007 sees the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa experiencing the Renaissance of the Daleks. April sees the first 'dual' release, with the Sixth Doctor stories I.D. and Urgent Calls. The following month, the Fifth Doctor does double duty with Exotron and Urban Myths. The Seventh Doctor visits Valhalla in June, with The Wishing Beast and The Vanity Box featuring the Sixth Doctor in July. August has the Seventh Doctor experiencing Frozen Time. September has two seperate releases, starting with the Fifth Doctor meeting the Son of the Dragon in the early part of the month.

The 100th Release of the Big Finish Doctor Who range is Earthstorm by award-winning author Stephen Baxter, which features the Sixth Doctor and is due to be released late September. Baxter is one of Britain's most respected hard science-fiction novelists, his books include The Time Ships, which was an authorised sequel to H.G. Wells influential classic The Time Machine.

The Eighth Doctor will continue to have his BBC7 adventures released monthly alongside his predecessors in the main range. Also, Doctor Who Magazine reports that there is a fourth series of Dalek Empire and a second series ofCyberman in the works. The Dalek Empire series will be set during the first series but from a different perspective. There will also be a free CD with the purchase of DWM issue 380.