The US Sci Fi Channel cable network begins airing Series Three of Doctor Who this Friday, July 6 at 8pm. The broadcast of the third season, which stars David Tennant and Freema Agyeman, begins with the debut of last December's Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride" at 8pm and the first regular season episode, "Smith and Jones," immediately following at 9:30pm. Episodes will then be broadcast on subsequent Fridays at 9pm, with a one-week break on August 31 due to the Labor Day holiday weekend. The show then moves to 8pm as of September 7 due to the return of Stargate Atlantis at 9pm.

The schedule of episodes is as follows:

The BBC has revealed that Martha Jones, as played by Freema Agyeman will join the cast of the Doctor Who spin off Torchwood for three episodes next year.

She will then return to Doctor Who, rejoining the show in the middle of Season Four.

To replace Martha a new companion will join the Doctor, staying for the entire thirteen week run of the series.

An announcement on casting is promised very soon.

Update 0800: news sites have started to pick up on the story: the Mirror, the Times,
GMTV, and the Sun (who still insist she was 'axed'!). The ITV1 programme GMTV also reported on who might be cast as the companion (in the Spoiler section below).

0915: The BBC Press Office have now formally reported on Freema's future in the two series, and that the role of new companion is currently vacant and to be announced shortly.

Doctor Who is pre-empted tonight due to the live broadcast of a U20 World Cup match on CBC in Canada. However in Alberta and British Columbia where the game will be over before Doctor Who's regular timeslot viewers will be treated to a repeat prime-time broadcast of The Runaway Bride. Viewers in the Mountain Time Zone will see the special from 8:30-10:00pm MDT and viewers in the Pacific Time Zone will see it from 8:00-9:30pm PDT.

New episodes will return to the full CBC network next week with Gridlock.

Amazon.co.uk has announced the title of the next Quick Reads release.Revenge of the Judoon will be written by Terrance Dicks and is currently slated for release on March 6, 2008. Plot and cover information is not available at this time.

The BBC have issued an apology for sparking terror fears with an explosion in Cardiff city centre during filming for Torchwood.

The explosion was staged next to the Millennium Stadium in an old courtroom building. Because of the latest terrorist attacks in Glasgow and London, the BBC issued warnings one hour before the blast on local radio and police had issued an alert two hours before the blast was due to go off.

Passers-by were horrified by the explosion which sent a huge pall of smoke over the city centre.

A BBC production member said:

"The filming was planned many weeks ago before the recent terrorist incidents."

"We had informed neighbouring businesses but could not tell everyone who might be in the city centre. We apologise if anyone was frightened."




Full article available at The Sun Online

Confirming long-standing rumors in the British tabloid press, Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue will join the Doctor in the 2007 Christmas Special,Voyage of the Damned, according to a press release issued this evening on Minogue's official website and now corroborated by the official Doctor Who website.

The 39-year-old actress and singer will have a "major lead role" in the hour-long special, says Minogue's website, which Tuesday morning's edition of The Sun identifies as a waitress aboard the RMS Titanic. Minogue's official site notes that "The production team has also confirmed that the storyline will follow on directly from the ending of series three where viewers witnessed The Titanic crash through the Tardis walls..."

Minogue has one of the longest and most successful careers as a performer in contemporary pop music, and in Europe and Australia she has become one of her generation's most recognisable celebrities and sex symbols. Says Minogue, "It is an incredible thrill to be joining David and the entire Dr Who production for this year's Christmas special. Dr Who enjoys a unique history and it is going to be very exciting to be a part of that."

The episode has been written by Doctor Who's executive producer and head writer Russell T Davies, who noted that "We are delighted and excited to announce that Kylie Minogue will be joining the Doctor. Doctor Who Christmas specials are always a joy and we feel very confident that this will be the most ambitious and best Christmas episode yet."

The news was originally embargoed by BBC press until midnight Monday night; such sites as Digital Spy and the Daily Mail reported the story before pulling it off their feeds later. Sites later began reprinting the article as of the embargo deadline.

Update: BBC News are now reporting the news as the main story in its entertainment section. There is also a video report by arts correspondent David Sillito.

Photo at right: David Tennant with Kylie Minogue, released by BBC Pictures. Photo copyright © Darenote Ltd., used solely for publicity purposes.

In an interview with the Sci-Fi Wire website, Noel Clarke has hinted at Mickey's possible return in the upcoming fourth season of Doctor Who. When he was asked whether he had written any more scripts for Torchwood, he replied: "I'm not doing the second season of Torchwood, because I'm doing things that I can't talk about."

When asked how would Mickey's return would be explained, Noel Clarke said: "The only thing I could say is that it's sci-fi, right? And in sci-fi, there's no real rules, is there?"