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:

BBC NEWS reports Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper in the title role, is turning in to a ratings success for ITV2. The first episode of the raunchy series recorded one of the biggest audiences for the channel since it began in 1998.

It also scored higher ratings than the programmes showing at the same time on BBC Two, Channel 4 and Five.

The drama is based on an online diary, written under the pseudonym Belle de Jour, which became a best-selling book.

Phoenix Film and Television Productions have announced on their website that K9 and Company is slated for release early next year. Phoenix Productions produce special features for "Classic" Doctor Who DVD releases.

Peter J Hammond, writer of the Torchwood episode Small Worlds, has told the SFX blog that his story for season two of the Doctor Who spin-off will be scarier still.

According to the writer, he has borrowed a plot element from his iconic ITV series Sapphire and Steel, which he created in the early 1980s. Click on the spoiler tag to read more...

Patrick Stewart, best known to science fiction fans as Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek : The Next Generation, has told This Is North Scotland that he would like to appear in Doctor Who. The 67-year-old Star Trek star said he was a fan of the long-running time travelling show, but was sad he had never been involved.

"I have been (a fan) actually yes, and deeply dismayed that I was never asked to be in it! I think it's a terrific series," Stewart said.

Stewart is currently set to appear opposite current Doctor David Tennantin Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company next year; Tennant will play the title role and Stewart will play Hamlet's uncle, Claudius.