Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, has announced plans for major cuts at the BBC, including the sale of Television Centre by the end of the 2012-2013 financial year. The complex was one of the world's first purpose-built TV studios and the home of Doctor Who production from 1966-89. The sale of the property is planned as part of a series of cuts proposed to fund digital switch-over in the UK. In a speech to BBC staff today, Thompson declined to discuss how his proposals, which also include a 10% reduction of new programme commissions and a predicted rise in repeats, will affect the BBC's commercial wing, BBC Worldwide.

However, the BBC has confirmed that one of its priorities after the cuts will be television drama, and specifically mentioned Doctor Who as an example of the programmes on which the BBC will focus:

A BBC press release about the planned changes can be found here; BBC News covers the story (including BBC staff reactions) here and here.

Sarah Lancashire will feature in the first episode of Doctor Who Series Four alongside David Tennant and new companion Catherine Tate.

The ex-Coronation Street actress will play Miss Foster, described as an "enigmatic and powerful businesswoman".

She told the Press Association: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be in Doctor Who. It's a brilliant episode and I'm looking forward to taking the Time Lord on."

Today's Daily Star reports on a major end-of-season showdown for the Doctor and companions versus an old adversary. The story ties together several other rumours that have been circulating in recent weeks over who/what may be appearing in the 2008 series, but there is no official announcement for the Star's speculation.

Media Guardian reports that Jane Tranter, BBC Head of Fiction, is keeping the possibility of a Doctor Who film open. Tranter is quoted as saying, "I would not rule out a film version of Doctor Who, no." The article also discusses the future of the television series for the next several years, as previously revealed; however, Tranter suggests that David Tennantmay remain in the role for Series Five in 2010.

The official Doctor Who site has confirmed that the Sontarans, potato-headed monsters from the classic series, will return to Doctor Who in Series Four.

The Sontarans, a militaristic clone race, first appeared opposite the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith in 1973, in The Time Warrior, which has recently been released on DVD in the UK. Sontarans also appeared in The Sontaran Experiment (1975), The Invasion of Time (1978) and The Two Doctors (1985). More recently, the potato-headed monsters were mentioned in "The Eye of the Gorgon, Part 1", an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures which aired on CBBC on Monday.

In Series Four, the Sontaran leader will be played by Christopher Ryan, best known as Mike in the 1980s comedy series The Young Ones. Ryan appeared as another alien, the Mentor Lord Kiv, in the 1986 story The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp, opposite Sixth Doctor Colin Baker. That story also featured Trevor Laird, who played Martha Jones' father Clive in Series Three.

The official Doctor Who website has released some information about an upcoming story in Series Four. The story will be set in Pompeii in AD 79, just before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In this episode the Doctor and Donna are faced with a moral dilemma: should they warn the residents of the impending disaster and change the course of history, or let history take its course?

Guest stars in the episode will include Academy Award and BAFTA winner Peter Capaldi ("The Thick of It") as Caecillius, Tracey Childs ("Howards' Way") as Metella, and Phil Davis ("Quadrophenia") as Lucius; Davis also appeared with Eighth Doctor Paul McGann in the film Alien³.

As previously reported, filming for the Pompeii episode took place at Rome's Cinecitta Studios.

This is not the first Doctor Who story set in the last days of Pompeii; the Big Finish Productions audio dramaThe Fires of Vulcan, starring Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford as the Seventh Doctor and Mel, was set in the same time and place. It is not known whether the forthcoming television story is adapted from the audio play. In the 2005 series, the Big Finish play Jubilee was adapted into the television episode Dalek; elements of Spare Parts inspired 2006's Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel; and for the 2007 series, Paul Cornell adapted his novelHuman Nature for television.

The results of the 2007 Hugo Awards have been announced at Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention, in Yokohama, Japan. The Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form went toThe Girl in the Fireplace by Steven Moffat.

This is Moffat's second Hugo win, following from last year's win for The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. Other Doctor Who nominees in the category this year included Army of Ghosts/Doomsday by Russell T Davies and School Reunion by Toby Whithouse.

David Bowie's website has debunked a story in The Sun that claimed Bowie would be appearing in Doctor Who as "an evil alien abductor". The Sun connects the Bowie rumor with the upcoming Agatha Christie story, which they erroneously describe as a two-part special. Bowie's website says, "... the whole story is as much news to [Bowie fans] as it is to him. David Bowie is not planning to star in Dr Who and the whole story is 'absolute tish and tosh'." The Bowie site goes on to mention Dalek operator and Big Finish regular Nicholas Pegg, who is also author of The Complete David Bowie.

UPDATE: BBC News has also released a story debunking the Sun's claim. The BBC's story adds that "a spokeswoman for the BBC One show also denied the story.

In the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, series producer Phil Collinson has announced that Bernard Cribbinswill be making a guest appearance in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned.

It's the third time Cribbins has appeared in Doctor Who, but the first time he's appeared in the TV series! He's probably best known to fans through his appearance as a companion to Peter Cushing's Doctor, the bumbling policeman Tom Campbell, in the 1966 film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD. He also appeared, earlier this year, as Arnold Lane alongside Paul McGann in the Big Finish/BBC7 eighth Doctor story Horror of Glam Rock.

"This is the icing on the cake, a wonderful addition to an already phenomenal cast," Phil Collinson told Doctor Who Magazine. "It's a wonderful cameo, which kept the entire cast and crew entertained."

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Russell T Davies has confirmed thatDavid Tennant will be playing the Doctor for the entire run of series four of Doctor Who.

When asked if the constant tabloid rumours that Tennant would be quitting the show halfway through the next series were true, Davies answered, "No, he's doing the whole series. It was never even discussed that he might leave after six episodes. That's completely invented by the papers."

The story has also been reported on david-tennant.com, which has recently been renamed David Tennant - The Site.