Issue 398 of Panini's Doctor Who Magazine was published in the United Kingdom yesterday, and contains several pieces of information of interest concerning the forthcoming special episodes of Doctor Who.

It is confirmed that the title of this year's Christmas episode - which will be 60 minutes long - is not "The Return of the Cybermen", as some have surmised from the teaser trailer at the conclusion of "Journey's End". This was merely a teaser description of the episode. It is also confirmed that actors David Morrissey, Dervla Kirwan and Velile Tshabalalawill be guest- starring in the episode, with Kirwan playing a character named Miss Hartigan. Andy Goddard directs, withSusie Liggat producing.

Of the four further specials which will follow in 2009, it is announced that Russell T Davies will write two of them solo, with the other two to be co-written with Gareth Roberts and Phil Ford respectively. Roberts penned "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Unicorn and the Wasp" for Doctor Who, while Ford wrote "Eye of the Gorgon" and "The Lost Boy" for The Sarah Jane Adventures - the series for which he is now chief writer - and "Something Borrowed" for Torchwood. His work on the special will make him the only writer after Davies to have written for all three shows.

Elsewhere in the magazine, information is given on release dates for the remaining classic series DVD releases of 2008. "The Trial of a Time Lord" comes out on August 18, "Four To Doomsday" on September 15, "The War Machines" on September 29 and finally "Battlefield" on December 29.

Big Finish Productions has announced some casting news for its upcoming audio adaptation releases of the three Doctor Who stage plays from years past.

Trevor Martin, who played the Doctor in the 1974 stage play "The Seven Keys to Doomsday," will reprise the role for the audio adaptation, whileCharlie Hayes will play companion Jenny; Hayes is the daughter of actress Wendy Padbury, who played Jenny during the play's initial run and also played Zoe Heriot in the late 1960s TV episodes with Patrick Troughton. Colin Baker reprises the role of the Doctor in "The Ultimate Adventure" and is joined by David Banks as Karl, reprising his role from that play; Banks is also familiar to Doctor Who fans as the Cyberleader from 1980s Doctor Who, and also understudied the role of the Doctor in several performances during the play's original run. Finally,"Curse of the Daleks" features actor Michael Praedas the lead character, Ladiver; he is joined by actor John Line, who played Ladiver in the original play's run back in 1965 and here plays Professor Vanderlyn.

The audio adaptations of the stage plays will be released by Big Finish in late September (The Ultimate Adventure), October (The Seven Keys to Doomsday) and November (Curse of the Daleks).

Meanwhile, the company has also announced the scheduling of The Masters of War, the long awaited eighth installment of their "Doctor Who Unbound" audio series by Eddie Robson, for December release. The play features the return of David Warner as the alternate third Doctor, which he created in "Sympathy for the Devil", alongsideNicholas Courtney playing the version of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart that goes traveling with the Doctor at the end of the previous tale. Terry Molloy returns to the role of Davros for the installment.

Posted By Brigadier Bill

The Royal Shakespeare Company has set limits on what fans can bring to be signed by David Tennant and Patrick Stewart during the upcoming production of Hamlet. BBC NEWS reports that sci-fi related murchandise will not be allowed for the actors to sign.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) says only programmes and other Hamlet merchandise can be autographed at the stage door. "Due to the huge amount of interest in the RSC's current production of Hamlet, only Royal Shakespeare Company or production related memorabilia will be signed by members of the company," the RSC said. "It is very flattering that there is so much interest in this production, but the sheer volume of requests means that we need to set some limits which will be as fair as possible for everyone."

Tennant and Stewart are starring in the RSC production at the Courtyard Theatre, in Stratford.

The play opens on 5 August.

In addition to filming the new remake of the Terry Nation series The Survivors, her appearance as Tattycoram in Dickens' Little Dorrit and rumours that she will be appearing in the upcoming third series of Torchwood, it was announced today that Freema Agyeman will be starring in the new ITV production Law and Order: London.

Agyeman will be playing the main prosecutor in the show. Her co-stars include Coronation Street'sBradley Walsh and Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber. According to Bamber, "The show is [with] London judiciary and London cops," said Bamber. "It's got the same premise as the original American Law and Order, same everything, just with a UK production company and UK actors."

Showrunner for the new series is Chris Chibnall, former head writer of Torchwood. Filming is to begin next month.

At 9pm BST tonight (Thursday), BBC One will air John Barrowman: The Making of Me, the first part of a series in which celebrities investigate the causes behind their "defining trait". In subsequent instalments, violinist Vanessa-Mae will investigate the roots of her musical talent, and sprinter Colin Jackson will investigate what makes him fast; in tonight's segment, Barrowman will investigate what makes him gay. The programme considers factors both social (Barrowman visits his family and talks about his childhood) and biological (he undergoes brain scans and genetic testing).

Barrowman and his sister Carol have co-written an article about the question for BBC News Magazine. One segment from the programme can be seen on the BBC Magazine page, and another is also available on BBC News' site. Barrowman has also been interviewed by The Guardian in conjunction with the special; the New Statesman also has a review.

Steven Moffat found time in his very busy schedule at the San Diego Comics Convention to give interviews with ComingSoon.net, SciFi.comand io9.

In the ComingSoon.net interview, Moffat talks about growing up as a fan of the show, dipping into the Classic Series for ideas, tackling the enormous tasks of merchandising and continuity, and spin-offs. He also confirms that there will be five special episodes before the beginning of Series Five: one at Christmas of this year, and four more after that.

He talked to SciFi.com about the difference between his experience as a writer for the show and the responsibilities he's taking on as executive producer.

And in the io9 interview, Moffat explains why Doctor Who is a children's show and why that's not something adults should be ashamed of:

As reported by The Futon Critic website, BBC America has announced at the ComicCon convention that the first three series of the revival of Doctor Who have now been made available to purchase on the US version of the iTunes download store.

This is the first time that the programme has been available to purchase for downloading.

Fans in Australia can take advantage of ABC iview which contains a lot of ABC and international content, including Doctor Who and the cut down Confidential episodes.

Thanks to Jason Saunders

This month's Doctor Who Magazine features Davros himself, actor Julian Bleach, talking exclusively about taking on the role of the Daleks' creator.

Is the fact that other actors have played the part in the past a help or a hindrance? "That can make it harder to approach it afresh," considers Julian, "but it's more of a problem if you're trying to find a new interpretation of the character. What I was trying to do with Davros was to recreate, and match as closely as possible, a previously established character." So what’s Julian's take on Davros? Twisted megalomaniac? Mad scientist? Misguided genius? "All of those things, but I'd say the character was very probably originally inspired by Hitler, and I found that to be quite a useful reference point, particularly in some of his more dogmatic speeches!"

It's not just Davros who’s quizzed this issue, DWM features exclusive interviews with David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Eve Myles, Penelope Wilton, Jacqueline King, Bernard Cribbins, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, Adjoa Andoh, Elisabeth Sladen, Thomas Knight, John Leeson, Alexander Armstrong, Nicholas Briggs, Julian Bleach and Richard Dawkins. Find out which former companion had to have an injection to stop her vomiting. Discover whose bottom to hold onto in a crisis, and whose gave Catherine Tate a shock. Learn which actress is happy to "mug away in the background." And establish who would win in a Dalek Crucible-based wind-breaking competition!

PLUS!

• The Doctor and Donna’s battle with the Sycorax reaches its explosive climax in the final part of the latest full colour comic strip The Widow’s Curse.
• Showrunner Russell T Davies reveals exclusively what won't be in Series Five.
• The chance to vote for your favourites in DWM’s annual Season Survey
• The latest news on the forthcoming Doctor Who Specials and Series Two of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

AND... all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions and a choice of FOUR covers to collect!

Doctor Who was the second most-watched show in the month of June on the new version of the BBC iPlayer catch-up service available to subscribers of the Virgin Media cable television platform. According to a report in The Guardian, the Virgin Media version of the iPlayer - which is also available to UK broadband internet users via the BBC website - attracted 10 million users to its programming during its first full month in operation.

The top ten most-viewed programmes were, according to The Guardian:

Doctor Who's excellent ratings in Australia continue with it topping the one million mark for the fourth week in a row.The Fires of Pompeii rated 1,101,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, while Planet of the Ood rated 1,092,000. The Confidential Cutdown versions of 'The Italian Job' and 'Oods and Ends' also rated extremely well gaining 875,000 and 936,000 viewers respectively in the five major capital cities. By way of comparison, series three of Doctor Who only averaged around 846,000 viewers in its old Saturday night timeslot with a top rating of 928,000 for 'Smith and Jones'.

Meanwhile, 'Doctor Who' continues to attract some local media. Graeme Blundell of 'The Weekend Australia' writes affectionately of a programme he and his children grew up with and where 'there is still a highly enjoyable kind of campiness at work...Tennant is perfect comic strip-style Doctor ... [while] wonderful Tate provides a nice comic turn as Donna, shades of the many characters from her own series ghosting across her face as she chases after the Doctor.'Ruth Ritchie of The Sydney Morning Herald is a bit more ambivalent about series four though, suggesting that Catherine Tate may be too much of a good thing. She writes that 'when both leads have funny bones, when the story involves an extreme dieting conspiracy where the fat is harvested from obese Britons to make babies for beings from another thingy and when the fat-babies are animated globules that leap from the back-fat of women in pubs … you can see how that sort of material might not benefit from the inclusion of a wild-eyed redhead who makes Lucille Ball look shy. This week they go to Rome - well, Pompeii - on "volcano day", as the Doctor so succinctly points out. It leans heavily towards Carry On Up The Toga territory.'Tim Hunter though praises Tate's 'down-to-earth, no-nonsense attitude that keeps the Doctor on his Time Lord toes.' CitySearch and The Sydney Morning Herald also preview recent episodes.The Sydney Morning Herald has also reprinted the 'New York Times' interview with Russell T. Davies. MeanwhileChris Hook of The Daily Telegraph says 'with the Doctor on TV, everything else should pretty much stop' thoughMelinda Houston of The Sunday Age suggests 'there's a slight shadow falling across the reinvented Doctor Who. We got a taste of it at the conclusion to the last season – that is, the elevation of the Doctor to some kind of godhead, often at the expense of irreverence and therefore its (and his) charm.'

Thanks to contributors to the Australian forums