Just days after guest starring in the Doctor Who Christmas special Voyage of the Damned - in which she helped to prevent Buckingham Palace from being destroyed, earning the gratitude of the fictional Queen of England! - Kylie Minogue has beenannounced as receiving an OBE in the annual New Year's Honours list.

The OBE - Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire - is one of the highest civilian orders. It is awarded by Queen Elizabeth, on the advice of the British and Commonwealth Governments, and has been given to Minogue for her services to music. Although awards given to non-British nationals are usually purely honorary, as Minogue is an Australian national she is entitled to the full award, as Australia is one of the Commonwealth Realms of which the Queen is Head of State.

Minogue is quoted by BBC News as saying: "I am almost as surprised as I am honoured... I feel deeply touched to be acknowledged by the UK, my adopted home, in this way... This last year I have felt so much love and support from everyone as I took greater steps back into the public domain, and it is with absolute gratitude and joy that I say farewell to 2007 and look forward to what the New Year will bring."

David Tennant, John Simm and Kylie Minogue will help welcome in 2008 on Jools's Annual Hootenanny.

The pre-recorded BBC2 programme includes Minogue singing, with Tennant and Simm among the audience - and Tennant reportedly dancing and singing by the stage of rising star Kate Nash during her performance.

Several news sources cover the Hootenanny: Hello! magazine, The Daily Mirror and the Belfast Telegraph all mention Tennant, while the Sun,Sunday Express and Liverpool Echo all focus on Minogue's duet with Sir Paul McCartney.

The show airs from 11.05pm on New Year's Eve until 1.15am on New Year's Day.

Freema Agyeman will appear on BBC Radio 1 on New Year's Day as one of the presenters of "New for 2008", a Radio 1 special featuring "top tips for forthcoming new music, films, fashion, TV and technology." The program will air on January 1 from 7pm to midnight (GMT); Agyeman will be the host from 10pm to 11pm. The show also contains an interview with producer Phil Collinson.

Worldwide fans can hear the program via the BBC's live Radio 1 stream or, for one week after broadcast, via the Listen Again service on the BBC's iPlayer.

US readers are reminded that David Tennant will appear in the Extras Christmas special, which airs tonight (December 16) on HBO at 9 pm. Trailers for the special show Tennant in costume as the Doctor, indicating that the comedy will satirize Doctor Who.

The Extras Christmas special will air in the UK on BBC One on Thursday, December 27 at 9 pm.

The avalanche of Doctor Who coverage in the British media continues. A number of sources have published stories aboutCatherine Tate's comments about David Tennant's future with Doctor Who. These include CBBC Newsround, The Independent, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The People andDigital Spy.

Freema Agyeman is profiled as one of The Observer's "Faces of 2007".

The Western Mail reports high sales of Doctor Who merchandise and toys in the run-up to Christmas, and attributes it to "the Kylie factor". The Western Mail also reports on the upcoming premiere showing of "Voyage of the Damned" at the Science Museum in London on Tuesday. Wales on Sunday says that Minogue was nervous when she began work on the Christmas special, and the Daily Star reports on the "Voyage of the Damned" wrap party, in an item blatantly culled from Caitlin Moran's comprehensive piece in The Times.

Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson has given an interview to SFX, in which he discusses plot elements and behind-the-scenes details for this year's Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned". Spoiler-phobic readers may wish to avoid the interview, as it gives details about the Doctor's encounter with the Titanic and its crew. Some excerpts from the interview can be found in the spoiler box below; the full interview, including Collinson's comments onKylie Minogue and other guest stars in the special, can be read on SFX's website.

Thanks to Ian Berriman of SFX.

In addition to all the coverage of "Voyage of the Damned", several other Doctor Who-related stories have recently appeared in the UK's national and local press.

Russell T Davies defends the state of British television to The New Statesman. The Guardian's TV critic Charlie Brooker has named the episode "Blink" as the Best Populist Drama of the Year, declaring that it was "simultaneously the best piece of sci-fi AND horror the BBC has produced in a decade."

Doctor Who stars are appearing in seasonal pantomimes across the UK. John Barrowman, appearing in "Aladdin" at the Birmingham Hippodrome, took time to show his Dalek to The Coventry Telegraph. Colin Baker is playing the villainous King Rat opposite Terry Molloy (Davros) as Alderman Fitzwarren in "Dick Whittington" at the Theatre Royal; it's covered by the Norwich Evening News and by Baker himself in his regular column for the Bucks Free Press. While in Norfolk, Baker turned on Cromer's Christmas lights, and made a passing comment comparing Cromer's light display to Blackpool's; The Blackpool Gazette gets a bit sniffy about his remark.

Verity Lambert, the original producer of Doctor Who who died last month at the age of seventy-one, has been posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the organisation Women in Film and Television (WFTV), at their annual awards ceremony in London yesterday. The recognition of Lambert had been announced several weeks ago, and she had originally been due to collect the accolade herself.

BBC News reports that Sophie Balhetchet, a television producer and chair of WFTV, praised Lambert's contribution to the industry, describing her as "a passionate professional, a mentor, an inspiration". She added: "Our sadness is that Verity Lambert, whom we honour with our lifetime achievement award, died a few days ago... [she was] a truly exemplary woman in the work she produced and the life she lived."

Bits and bobs from the media about Doctor Who actors:

Scottish television station STV has a video item about the Spirit of Scotland Awards, including a clip of David Tennant speaking from the TARDIS set. Also on STV, John Barrowman was recently interviewed for the program Scotland Today, and an extended version of the interview is available on the STV website. Barrowman discusses his Glasgow roots, his new album Another Side, as well as the return of Captain Jack in Torchwood Series 2 andDoctor WhoSeries 4. Captain Jack was recently voted one of the "Top 25 Gay TV Characters" by AfterElton.com.

The Sun reports that Sean Pertwee, son of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, would like a role in Doctor Who, and once put a bet on himself becoming the next Doctor. The Sun also reports that ITV2 has picked up Billie Piper's sexually charged series The Secret Diary of a Call Girl for a second series.The Times has an interview with Pauline Collins (Queen Victoria in 2006's "Tooth and Claw" and Samantha Briggs in 1967's "The Faceless Ones"); Collins is appearing as the Fairy Godmother in the Royal Vic's production of Cinderella. Finally, Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) turned on the Christmas lights in Beccles, Suffolk.

BBC Radio 2 have broadcast the documentary, X-Amining Kylie, in which David Tennant interviews Kylie Minogue.

Coinciding with the release of Minogue's tenth studio album X, Tennant talks to the pop princess about her life and work. The programme features a sneak preview of Voyage of the Damned, the BBC1 Doctor WhoChristmas special, which finds the Doctor aboard The Titanic.

The programme features a track-by-track taste of the new album, plus an exclusive song never before broadcast on the BBC.

The programme can be heard over the next seven days, via the BBC Radio Player.