Sarah Lancashire and Series Four
The Sun has an item on Sarah Lancashire, who will play a character named Miss Foster in "Partners in Crime", the first episode of the 2008 series of Doctor Who. The story says that Miss Foster will be a villain; in the Series Four trailer which followed "Voyage of the Damned", the character is seen wielding a device resembling the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

The newspaper also states, "Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen will recreate their roles as Rose Tyler and Sara [sic] Jane Smith. John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in spin-off series Torchwood, will also be back." The story continues, "The series is the last for star David Tennant, 36, but he will play the Doctor in four special episodes in 2009 and in a movie version." David Tennant said in December that he had not decided whether to continue in the role of the Doctor after the 2008 series, the 2008 Christmas special and three (not four) specials scheduled for 2009. There has been no confirmation of a Doctor Who movie, except a passing comment by BBC Fiction head Jane Tranter that she "would not rule out" a Doctor Who film.

Lancashire's Doctor Who role is also covered by Sky Showbiz, Metro and Hello! magazine.

More on Piper wedding
Sky Showbiz has more photos from Billie Piper's wedding. There's more coverage at The Argus (Brighton, Hove and Sussex), Monsters and Critics,Hello! magazine, Actress Archives, Gossip Girls, MyPark magazine, The Irish Independent, The Arizona Republic of Phoenix, Arizona and The Money Times of India, as well as sites based inCroatia and Estonia plus the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, which is the local weekly newspaper for where she and new husband Laurence Fox live.

Other items
The Evening Express of Aberdeen reviews the recent classic Doctor Who DVD box set "The Davros Collection", calling it "unmissable".

Finally, the South Wales Echo talks to Kai Owen, who plays Gwen's boyfriend Rhys on Torchwood. Owen is playing Prince Charming in a Cardiff panto of Snow White; in the interview, he talks about Torchwood's upcoming second series and mentions some details which might be considered spoilers.

Fans in the UK can catch up with the adventures of the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, this January. The digital station UKTV Drama is repeating classic episodes daily, starting withRobot, the story that launched Tom Baker's incarnation in 1974. The programmes begin on the 2nd January and are broadcast at 12.20pm and are repeated at 5pm.

UKTV Drama is available on Sky Digital channel 133 and Virgin Media channel 129. It is not available on the Freeview platform.

Thanks to Robert Franks

The audio commentary for Voyage of the Damned, available to stream from the official BBC Doctor Who website, has revealed some items of news relating to the future production of the series and media related to it. The commentary features executive producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner and producer Phil Collinson.

During the course of the discussion, Collinson reveals that he will not be producing the special episodes of Doctor Who that will be made for transmission in 2009. Whether he is leaving the series entirely or not is unclear, but this is the implication given.

In addition, Russell T Davies reveals that he is writing a book detailing his work on the series, to be published in time for next Christmas. The as-yet-untitled volume is a collaboration with Doctor Who Magazine reporter Benjamin Cook. No other details are currently known.

More Audience data is now available for the Doctor Who Christmas Special,Voyage of the Damned. The programme was enjoyed by both sexes with the 35-54 age group enjoying it the most. The programme scored above the drama average on questions such as whether it was a high quality programme and whether it was original and different. It scored below average on whether it was thought provoking or if the viewer learned something new. An above average sample said they would recommend the programme to a friend.

With overnights now available for the whole of Christmas week, the programme stands at number two in the list of the weeks top rated programmes. If, as expected, this is confirmed when the final figures are released by BARB next week, Voyage of the Damned will be the highest placed edition of the programme in its 44 year history. The previous highest weekly placing was fifth for episode two of Tom Baker's second story, The Ark in Space. The highest placing of the new series has been sixth for Rise of the Cybermen.

The programme finished top of the Children's Chart for the week being the most watched programme on British television by 4-15 year-olds.

Billie Piper married fellow actor Laurence Fox today.

The ceremony took place at 2pm at St Mary's Church in Easebourne, near Midhurst, West Sussex, where the couple live.

Among the guests were David Tennant and Piper's former husband Chris Evans, as well asKevin Whately, alongside whom Fox stars in the ITV seriesLewis.

Also reported by BBC News, Digital Spy, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, AFP, RTÉ, The Sun, The Press Association, ITN, Sky News,The Belfast Telegraph and even the Toledo, Ohio FOX News affiliate.

BBC News and The Times also carry profiles of Piper on the occasion of her wedding.

UPDATE, 1 January: The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mirror, The Scotsman, MSN and Fametastic have further coverage of the wedding, and The Daily Telegraph has another Piper profile.

"Voyage of the Damned" has received both positive and negative reviews in the British press. The Daily Mirror (published before the special aired) calls it "a corker", with "plenty of the Doctor's joky humour, some nice Christmas gags and even a touching romance." However, the reviewer at The Herald (Glasgow) complains that Kylie Minogue looked "matronly". Sam Wollaston of The Guardian feels that Kylie "may be Kylie, but she's no Freema or Billie." The Daily Mirror gives a mixed review, praising the "brilliant psychedelic Pink Floyd-esque imagery" as well as "great baddies ... and neat jokes", but lamenting that "the plot was a mess, consisting mostly of one hi-tech chase scene after another, and it descended into noise and bluster." And theLiverpool Echocalls it "a load of old tongue-in-cheek nonsense".

Tim Teeman, writing in The Times, goes further, saying that "Doctor Who sucks" and calling the show and its protagonist "lazy, predictable and indulgent." But James Walton, writing in the Daily Telegraph "can’t imagine how this episode could have done its job any better", calling Voyage of the Damned "a winning mixture of wild imagination and careful writerly calculation." And 10-year-old George Baker, whose TARDIS bedroom has been previously mentioned on this page, tells Newsround that the Christmas special was "BRILLIANT": "I give it 10 out of 10 - and I cannot wait for the new series!"

UPDATE: A few more reviews have come to light. The Sunday Times describes "Voyage of the Damned" as having "big-screen aspiration with small-screen production values and half a radio script." However, The Stage says "Voyage of the Damned was well up to Doctor Who’s impeccably high standards, neatly combining comedy and thrills to stunning effect," and The Observer says "Doctor Who was an oasis of cheeky nonsense and careless invention."

Before "Voyage of the Damned" aired, Billie Piper was quoted in the Aberdeen Press and Journal saying that she was looking forward to watching the Christmas special, and was envious of her once and future costar David Tennant: "I'm just gutted that I missed [Kylie Minogue]. I speak to David and he's like, 'I've got Kylie's number on my phone.' I want to be Kylie's friend!" The Sun puts Minogue and Piper together in their list of 2007's "top TV babes". TheDaily Mirror has a profile of Piper's "great year", and the Western Mail has a Q&A with the actress.

Kylie Minogue's role in the Christmas special got a lot of coverage in her native Australia, including the Courier Mail(Brisbane, twice), the Herald Sun(Melbourne), Macquarie National News (Sydney) and Sky News. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) calls "Voyage of the Damned" "the greatest Dr Who episode of all time" but also frets that some of Kylie's younger fans may have been unable to tell fact from fiction, as did Sky News.

Digital Spy provides "Ten Things You Never Knew About David Tennant" (although several items may be known to readers of this page).

The Halifax Courier concludes its three-part history of Doctor Who. Part one was linked in the last press round-up, and you can now read parts two andthree.

Catherine Tate's Christmas special has provoked some controversy. Ofcom, the UK's independent media reglatory agency, will investigate complaints that the special contained excessive foul language and stereotypical portrayals of Northern Irish characters. The story is covered by The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile, The New York Times has a largely positive review of Tate's comedy series, as its third season airs on BBC America.

The Manchester Evening News has a profile of Frazer Hines, who played the Second Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon from 1966 to 1969.

The Sun is claiming that Kylie Minogue's sister Dannii is "tipped" for a role in Torchwood, and has a quote from John Barrowman; this story is also covered by Digital Spy, All Headline News and inthenews.co.uk as well as news sites based in India and Estonia, both of which refer to "Kylie Minogue's successful stint on US TV show 'Dr Who'"!

Thanks to Greg Chapman and "PolyG" of the Doctor Who Forum.

The Sun has released a story which includes spoilers for the "Doctor-lite" episode of Series Four.

Please click on the Spoiler box for more info

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."