David Tennant has said on numerous occasions that playing the Doctor is his dream job. Well, an enterprising individual known asderooftrouser on LiveJournal hasdiscovered proof that Tennant held that opinion as long ago as 1988. Click here to see an excerpt from a 1988 edition of "The Grammarian", a publication of Tennant's alma mater, Paisley Grammar School. Drooftrouser has a transcript of the articlehere, and a photocopy of the original article here. The article refers to Tennant as David MacDonald, his birth name; he adopted Tennant as a stage name because there was another David MacDonald in Actors' Equity.

In the article, Tennant says that he has two screen idols: John Cleese andDerek Jacobi. (Cleese made a cameo appearance in the 1979 Doctor Who story City of Death, and Jacobi appeared opposite Tennant as the mysterious Professor Yana in the episode Utopia earlier this year.)

The "Grammarian" article says: "There is however one particular role which David would love to play – Dr. WHO. The reason? 'I have a fettish [sic] about men dressed in plastic suits !!!!' " It concludes: "Who knows, maybe one day David will be as famous as Peter Howitt (Joey, from "BREAD") who was also a pupil at Paisley Grammar School."

Peter who?

(Thanks to The Researcher on the Doctor Who Forum at Outpost Gallifrey.)

A new Video On Demand Channel dedicated to science fiction and fantasy,Illusion On-Demand, has launched in North America. Currently available in twenty states and is free to all digital subscribers. Illusion has announced that the Classic Doctor Who series is slated to be on the channel starting in January 2008. November sees the updated release ofThe Quatermass Experiment starring Mark Gatiss and David Tennant.

Rumors are circulating through the media of a forthcoming Doctor Who movie. Billie Piper, rumored to be set to return as Rose for series four, is now being cited as starring alongside current Doctor David Tennant in the film. "It's all been hushed up ... but yes, it's definitely happening," a source reportedly told the Daily Star. "David and Billie were a superb combination on the small screen, so it seems only right that they appear in the film."

These reports are coming out following a statement made by BBC Head of FictionJane Tranter,who recently told Media Guardian that she 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." There has been no announcements regarding the return of Piper or a forthcoming film released by the BBC.

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.

Big Finish has released covers and announced scheduling changes for releases over the next few months.

The first installment of Dalek Empire: The Fearless has been delayed due to problems with sound design. Originally set for a September release, October 7th is the new target release date.

Also pushed back is Short Trips: Defining Patterns, which will now see release in March 2008.

Now released are the covers for three of the upcoming Companion Chronicles, as well as the December release The Girl Who Never Was. Trailers for all four Companion Chronicles are also availabl

The official Doctor Who site has announced that BBC Audiobookswill be releasing two original audiobooks based on The Sarah Jane Adventures, read by Elisabeth Sladen.

In The Glittering Storm by Stephen Cole, Sarah Jane investigates the strange behavior of patients at a London clinic and discovers a plot to harvest all the gold from Earth. Says Cole, "My first memories of Doctor Who are of poor Sarah stuck in a ventilator shaft back in 1975, so I jumped at the chance to write a story for Lis Sladen. She is a fantastic actor with a wonderful voice, and Sarah Jane is a marvellous character. With The Glittering Storm I aimed to provide a story with creepy scares - as well as humour and thrills - in the vein of the new TV series. The idea is that we on Earth are not the only people who prize gold highly... Others in space have a fascination for the stuff too, and are rather more menacing in the way that they use it..."

In The Thirteenth Stone by Justin Richards, Sarah Jane finds an secret associated with an ancient stone circle. Richards says, "I had enormous fun writing The Thirteenth Stone. It's always slightly daunting writing a story that is going to be read aloud - you really have to be at your best. But knowing that Elisabeth Sladen - Sarah Jane Smith herself - was going to be reading it was a tremendous boost to the confidence as well as a huge privilege. I can't wait to hear the finished result!"

Both audiobooks will be available for purchase as CDs or downloads from November 5. Teaser clips from both stories are available through the official site.

Following the announcement in the latest Doctor Who Magazine that a second CD of Murray Gold's incidental music is to be released, the cover and release date have begun to appear on a number of retail sites. According to HMV amongst others, the CD is due in UK shops on 5th November, and will feature music from the show's third series.

According to the BBC's Doctor Who website, October 1st will see the release of Doctor Who: Collected Stories from BBC Audiobooks. Says their release statement: