Issue 379 of Doctor Who Magazine is due out on 1st February; the following is a preview including the cover. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.
(Thanks to Tom Spilsbury/DWM)

According to various websites, it has been confirmed that Eric Roberts, who portrayed the Master in the ill-fated Doctor Who Fox TV movie, has joined the cast of NBC's hit show Heroes. He will be playing an associate of Claire's father, the mysterious H.R.G. (Horn Rimmed Glasses.) This marks the second former-Doctor Who alumnus to join the series as Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston appeared in this week's episode.

Julie Gardner, the executive producer of Doctor Who, has confirmed a long running rumour concerning the nature of Paul Cornell's story, which will form episodes eight and nine of series three. The confirmation comes as part of an interview to be published in the final issue of Dreamwatch magazine.

The BBC's Doctor Who website has announced that an animated Doctor Who cartoon is being produced, to air as part of Totally Doctor Who next year. David Tennant andFreema Agyeman will voice the Doctor and Martha in the animated story, and Anthony Head will play Baltazar, Scourge of the Galaxy (not Mr. Finch from "School Reunion"). Toby Longworth (who has played many roles for Big Finish Productions' line of audio dramas) will also appear.

The cartoon will have 13 parts, comprising a single story titled "Infinite Quest". Russell T Davies describes the story: "The Doctor and Martha follow a trail of clues across wild and wonderful alien worlds, to find the location of the legendary lost spaceship, the Infinite." The story is written by Alan Barnes and directed by Gary Russell.

Full details are available on the BBC site here; the story was broken by the Daily Mirror here.

27th Jan: the image of the Doctor and Martha is shown on the BBC News Entertainment pages as The Big Picture.

One of Britain's best known actors, Sir Derek Jacobi, is to guest star in the forthcoming third series of Doctor Who, according to Thursday's Daily Mirror.

The tabloid paper also reveals the name of his character. Click on the spoiler box below to see the details. While the BBC have confirmed Jacobi's involvement, they have neither confirmed nor denied the spoiler which has resulted in much speculation in our forum.

While this is Jacobi's first appearance in televised Doctor Who, he has previously voiced the Master in the six-part animated BBCi webcast Scream of the Shalka, as well as taking a starring role in one of the Dr Who Unbound audio dramas for Big Finish in 2003.

David Tennant praises newcomer Freema Agyeman in an interview today on Sci Fi Wire.

In the interview, conducted by e-mail, he tells the Sci Fi Channel's news service that the actress "hit the ground running" when she took on the role of Martha Jones, and said he let her deal with the pressure of replacing such a popular and high-profile cast member as Billie Piper in her own way.

Tennant says Agyeman "inhabited Martha Jones from day one without a hint of trepidation or nervousness. I found myself quite envious of her confidence. She is going to be brilliant."

He also tells of how difficult it was to shoot the final scenes with Piper, saying they started sniffling during a run-through of the lines on the make-up bus.

Tennant says Martha and the Doctor have an entirely different relationship to Rose and the Doctor, adding: "As with any big relationship, it takes time for the scars to heal. Perhaps the Doctor feels like he's dealt with it, but Martha might disagree." He also says she "makes herself indispensable".

The UK's largest commercial broadcaster, ITV, have revealed a major marketing campaign for their six million pound science-fiction dinosaur drama Primeval which they hope will be their answer to BBC One's Doctor Who in the Saturday tea-time slot.

David Pemsel, ITV's new group marketing director, said: "Primeval is a bold scheduling step into Saturday night family drama. We believe the series will have both a wide ranging family appeal as well as becoming cult viewing for aspirational adults."

According to Media Bulletin, ITV is backing their series with a heavyweight marketing campaign. Transmission dates are not yet confirmed, but the series is believed to start in mid February.

A Series Three launch night party is to take place in central London, giving fans the chance to see the premier episode live on a big-screen plasma projection system with full surround sound - and possibly in the company of a famous name or two.

This is a free event and 100 entrance tickets have been set aside for a prize draw, due to take place three weeks before the confirmed series launch date.

Organiser Jeremy Bentham, who staged similar capacity celebrations in 2005 and 2006, said: "If you are aged 18 or over and your name comes out of the hat, you could be among the party-goers cheering on 'Smith and Jones' plus any other supporting Doctor Who programming broadcast that day. And you never know who else might just pop by . . . "

Pictured above with two party-goers at last year's event is Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brigadier during the show's classic era. Below is a model of K9, which was on display at last year's party - click on the image of K9 for a larger version.

The party starts at 4pm and a cash bar and full food menu will be available throughout the afternoon and evening. In addition, from 10pm there will be free admission to the venue’s nightclub event.

To enter the draw, send a postcard stating your full name, address, daytime contact number and the number of tickets you would like (maximum two) to: DW Launch Party 2007, 13 Northfield Road, Boreham Wood, Herts, WD6 5AE.

Winners only will be notified by post the week following the draw.

Those who subsequently find that they are unable to attend the party are asked to return their ticket(s) to the draw address as soon as possible so that they can be reallocated via a waiting list of names that will be drawn out of the hat following the initial allocation.

Details of accommodation near the party venue can be provided for people travelling long distances - simply ask for this on the postcard.

NB: Licensing laws mean that all winners and guests must be at least 18 years old. No admission without a valid ticket.

(Photos courtesy of Dave Parsons.)

Following from the promotional campaign we have been reporting on this week,Billie Piper has returned to the Top 40 charts with a re-entry for her 1999 hit "Honey to the Bee", which has entered the charts this week at number 17.

Radio 1 breakfast presenter Chris Moyles announced to his listeners on Monday 15th that he was planning to conduct a test to see if he could exploit a change in the way the charts are counted, where downloads are included alongside singles.

He played Billie's 1999 hit Honey to the Bee, which charted as high as number 3 first time round, to see if hearing the old hit would encourage people to download it and get it into the charts. Expect a very happy Mr Moyles on Radio 1 tomorrow morning; Billie is also likely to be pleasantly surprised; the hit has returned without her singing a note!

Billie's success is also reported by BBC News.

The other track with a Doctor Who association which received a promotional campaign this week, the song "Love Don't Roam" from the Doctor Who Soundtrack album, has failed to chart. However, it did receive its first radio play on Saturday's Jonathan Ross show on Radio 2. Will it receive further coverage and chart in weeks to come? Time will tell.

Big Finish has released the cover images and plot information for their January and February Doctor Who releases.

January sees the release of Circular Time. Written by new series writer Paul Cornell, it features Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton in four one-episode stories.

February has Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Philip Olivier being joined by Are You Being Served? alumnus Trevor Bannister for Nocturne