As the broadcast of the new series looms closer, the Doctor Who publicity machine has been working overdrive.

The launch of the third series took place tonight in Mayfair, London, screening the first two episodes to assorted press. As well as David Tennant, Freema Agyeman and Russell T Davies, a variety of other stars were in attendance, including Jonathan Ross, Dawn French, Adam Woodyatt and Sophia Myles. BBC Wales featured a report of the launch in their 10.25pm bulletin, highlighting the introduction of Martha Jones and the Welsh locations featured in the series.

Radio One DJ Jo Whiley went to the press launch tonight, and will be reviewing the event on her show tomorrow between 10.00 and 12.45. If you miss it, the show will be available on listen again here for the next seven days.

Newsround will also have a report on the press launch tomorrow.

There will also be a variety of appearances by various members of the cast and crew over the next week, and here's a round-up of television and radio shows to look out for.

Freema Agyeman will be appearing on Blue Peter on Tuesday, 27th March, and viewers have been invited to submit questions. Freema will also be a guest with Simon Mayo on Radio Five Live on Friday, 30th March between 1 and 4pm. Update: Freema will also be appearing on BBC Breakfast next week (date to be confirmed).

Also on 27th March, Russell T Davies will be appearing on the Richard and Judy Show on Channel Four from 5pm. John Barrowman will also be appearing with Richard and Judy on 29th March, and on the Charlotte Church Show on 30th March from 10pm.

David Tennant will be a guest with Fearne and Reggie on Radio One on Saturday 24th March from 7-10am. He will also be appearing on the Chris Moyles show on Radio One and with Steve Wright on Radio Two next week, but the dates have not yet been announced. These shows are available for seven days after broadcast via listen again.

Catherine Tate will be interviewing David Tennant for the new series of Chain Reaction. This is being recorded on 26th March, and there is no information yet on when this will be broadcast on Radio Four. David Tennant will also be the interviewer on the next show, but it is not yet known who his guest will be.

A repeat of The Sarah Jane Adventures has also been scheduled for Saturday 31st March on the CBBC channel from 4pm, preceding the broadcast of Smith and Jones.

Executive Producer Russell T Davis has confirmed that there will be a fourth series of Doctor Who. The announcement was made during a Question and Answer session after the screening of the opening episodes at a special Press Launch in London on Wednesday evening. The commissioning of the fourth series is now also reported by BBC News, though that link does contain a mild spoiler for the opening episode.

Colin Baker and Louise Jameson will be on stage together at the Theatre Royal Brighton during its summer season.

They are to appear in the touring production of the Alan Ayckbourn comedy Bedroom Farce from July 2-7.

The week before that show, Frazer Hines will be appearing at the theatre in the touring production of Agatha Christie's The Unexpected Guest, which runs from June 25-30. This also features Eugene Washington (who appeared in School Reunion).

The shows form part of a special line-up to mark the historical venue's 200th year, which kicks off with a world premiere of Indian legend Mahabharata on May 22 - a fusion of dance, puppetry and music from the award-winning Nitin Sawhney.

The season also includes musicals such as Blonde Bombshells of 1943 and Dancing Queen, and operas Aida andTosca, alongside family classics such as The Railway Children.

The anniversary celebrations will culminate in a "This Is Her Life" gala performance on November 4, centred around a journey through the theatre's 200 years.

To book tickets call 08700 606650.

To mark the landmark 200th birthday, The Argus and BBC Southern Counties Radio are collecting 200 Stories For 200 Years. E-mail your memories of the theatre to theatreroyal@theargus.co.uk.

(Thanks to David Guest and Mark Bailey for additional information.)

The official BBC Doctor Who website is asking its visitors to vote for the monster they have found the scariest in the new series.

Most of the menagerie is here, presented in order of appearance from Rosethrough The Runaway Bride.

The results of the votes will be announced in a few weeks.

Vote now!

To coincide with the BBC's official announcement of the air date for Series Three (31 March), the official BBC Doctor Who website has updated its look. The index page shows Martha, the Doctor and the TARDIS standing in front of a series of six locales from the upcoming series, including the moon, New York, Shakespearean London, and others, before fading into a shot of the Black Dalek (which will exterminate you, so be careful!) and a countdown to air time.

Take a Look:

Macworld has run a feature on its Gadgetbox blog about a man who has built a Tardis arcade machine. It contains a link to instructions to build your own.

(Thanks to Nigel Curson and Cliff Shelton.)

Due to the changing launch date of the new series of Doctor Who on BBC One, issue 381 of Doctor Who Magazine, containing an extensive feature on the making of Smith and Jones, will now be published one week later than previously advertised, on Thursday 5th April. This is so that readers don't discover what happens in the episode before they get the chance to see the story on television.

As a result, all future issues of DWM will also move by one week, to enable DWM 381 to have a full four weeks on sale. Therefore, DWM 382 will now be on sale on Thursday 3 May, with DWM 383 available on Thursday 31 May etc.

The next DWM Special Edition, In Their Own Words Volume 3: 1977-1981 has also moved its publication date, to Thursday 19 April.

The new edition of Radio Times - issue dated 24-30 March - has joined the countdown to the start of Series Three with a column entitled "All New Who" in its weekly "Behind The Scenes" feature.

It lists what readers can expect to come in the publication, among which will be a guide by Russell T Davies to every episode of the new series, and includes quotes from David Tennant, Freema Agyeman and Phil Collinson.

Tennant says: "Each script that comes in just seems to be bigger than the last - that's what has kept it so exciting. The scale is bigger, the locations are more extraordinary."

Agyeman tells of the pressure of the show, saying: "I've been filming since August and it's crazy. Every time I think I've got it under control, something else comes up - so I'm not taking anything for granted!"

And Collinson talks of the pressure of thinking up new monsters. "This year there's probably a bigger selection - we've gone a bit more monster-y," he says.

The Doctor Who special edition of The Weakest Link is one of the RT Choices for March 30, while the "Next week in RT" strap at the back of the listings magazine carries a picture of Tennant and Agyeman and trumpets the publication's 14-page preview of the new series that will be included.

The Radio Times covering the first episode of Series Three, ie, issue dated 31 March to 6 April, should reveal the titles of episodes three, five and 13 - the last remaining unknown ones.

A small feature in the latest issue of the Doctor Who Adventures reveals that the Zygons will not be appearing in Series Three, quashing the rumours that have been circulating for the past few months. The feature also states that the Zygons are back, but only in the new series book Sting of the Zygon, which features the Tenth Doctor and Martha.

The book will be released in April.

The Manchester Evening News has an interview with Martin Wilkie, son of the late classic era visual effects designer Bernard Wilkie, in his capacity as a special effects adviser and director of the Up Close exhibition, which opens in the city at the end of March.

Martin, whose surname is spelled "Wylkie" in the article, tells how he and his brother (Simon) acted as guinea pigs when their father brought home prototypes and new characters from Doctor Who to see how scary they found them.

He says of the exhibition: "These are all genuine props from the series, so it is as near to behind the scenes as you can get. The kids won't be too scared - we find it is the parents who are generally more scared than the kids."

The online article has a gallery of seven images.

Bernard Wilkie, who co-founded the BBC's special effects department with Jack Kine, died in May 2002. Kine died in January 2005.

(Thanks to Tim Shaw.)