This weekend's countdown begins toward the Monday debut of the hour-long special The Sarah Jane Adventures. The episode, broadcast Monday 1 January from 4.50 to 5.50pm on BBC1/CBBC, is the pilot episode for a limited-run series that will air later in the year and brings Elisabeth Sladen back to the screen in the title role of Sarah Jane Smith, the role she was last seen as in the last Doctor Who season's episode "School Reunion".

Joining Sladen in the episode is Samantha Bond, best known as Miss Moneypenny in the Pierce Brosnan "James Bond" films and for her role in the series "Distant Shores," as Mrs. Wormwood, and Jamie Davies as Wormwood's henchman, Davey. Sarah Jane's young sidekicks in the episode are Yasmin Page as Maria, Porsha Lawrence Mavour as Kelsey and Thomas Knight as Luke. K9 (possibly voiced by John Leeson) is to be seen briefly in the special but will not be in the series to follow.

The episode is entitled Invasion of the Bane, and is written by Gareth Roberts and Russell T Davies. Davies and Julie Gardner executive produce; Phil Collinson and Matthew Bouch are the producers.

Below is the episode's press release, as well as a collection of photos from the episode, presented here as a teaser for the Monday airing; click on each for a larger version. (As always, all photos are copyrighted to the BBC and used solely to promote the episode.)
Elisabeth Sladen -- Doctor Who's former sidekick -- is back as Sarah Jane Smith in a brand-new, fast-paced children's drama, created by Russell T Davies and from the makers of Doctor Who. The Sarah Jane Adventures ensures that children never look at fizzy drinks in the same way again...

Sarah Jane is fascinated by Bubbleshock, a strangely addictive organic drink that is taking the world by storm. She is almost oblivious to the arrival of her new neighbour, Maria, a young girl starting a new life with her father. Maria becomes intrigued by the strange goings on at Sarah Jane's house but, before she can investigate, she's whisked away by her new friend, Kelsey, to the brightly coloured, but sinister, Bubbleshock factory.

As Sarah Jane tries to find out what the mysterious Mrs Wormwood is doing at the factory, Maria and Kelsey embark on a tour which leads them into the path of a monstrous creature and a strange young boy with no name or past. When Sarah Jane and Maria discover the secret ingredient of Bubbleshock, they realise they are the only ones who can stop Mrs Wormwood and her evil plans for the human race.

Early details have been revealed about series three news in the pages of the next issue of Doctor Who Magazine, specifically the titles of four of the next season's episodes and some additional casting news.

The title for episode four is Daleks in Manhattan. The recent trailer for series three at the end of "The Runaway Bride" confirmed the Daleks would return in the new series; this episode is set in 1930's New York and is written by script editor Helen Raynor. There is currently no information on the title for episode five, the second half.

Episode six is The Lazarus Experiment. The episode features Mark Gatiss as Dr. Lazarus; in the series three trailer, Gatiss was seen both as his own age and in makeup depicting a much older person. "The Lazarus Experiment" is written by Stephen Greenhorn.

The title of the first episode (#8) of Paul Cornell's two-part story hasn't been revealed, but episode nine has: it's The Family of Blood. The two-parter features the previously mentioned Jessica Stevenson as Joan; new cast listings includes Harry Lloyd (as Jeremy Baines), Thomas Sangster (Tim Latimer), Tom Palmer (Hutchinson), Pip Torrens (Rocastle), Rebekah Staten (Jenny), Gerard Horan (Clark), Lauren Wilson (Lucy Cartwright) and Matthew White (Phillips). It has long been rumored that Cornell's two-parter is an adaptation of Human Nature, the novel he penned for Virgin Publishing as part of their "New Adventures" line; the casting information makes this seem almost certain as many of these characters (Joan, Tim, Hutchinson, Rocastle, Lucy) appear in that novel.

Episode ten, by Steven Moffat, is still untitled, but features in its cast Ian Boldsworth and Richard Cant.

Episode eleven, written by Russell T Davies, is entitled Utopia.

Details for issue 378 of Doctor Who Magazine have been released, which features exclusive coverage of "The Runaway Bride", the season finale of Torchwood, and the premiere of The Sarah Jane Adventures. To see the full size cover, click on the preview below.
(Thanks to Tom Spilsbury/DWM)

Doctor Who can do more than entertain, it seems. On Christmas Day, it managed to bring together two warring brothers whose enmity towards each other has been a part of the UK's long-running radio serial The Archers (BBC Radio 4) for several months now. The Grundys - Ed and Will - fell out when the younger brother, Ed, stole Will's wife, Emma. The whole nasty business led to some of the most dramatic episodes of the 15-minute drama that the series has seen in a long time.

However, on Christmas Day, the brothers appeared at their parents' house and, according to their mother, Clarrie, remained under the same roof together for longer than they had in ages. And what was it that kept them there? The Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride", of course.

In the episode, their dad, Eddie, remarked that Doctor Who is "not too bad once you get used to Billie Piper not being in it". And Clarrie commented delightedly, "The boys didn't say much to each other but they both stayed for the whole of the programme."

The episode can be heard again as part of the omnibus edition of The Archers on New Year's Eve on BBC Radio 4 at 10-11.15am.

(With thanks to Andrew John for this story.)

The BBC have issued a statement reported by the Press Association to refute any decisions made by cast or crew over the fourth series of Doctor Who.

Reported by BBC News, CBBC, icWales, Press Association, 24dash, Manchester Evening News.

The final episode of The Vicar of Dibley, which airs on New Year's Day at 9.30pm on BBC1, will have a distinctly Doctor Who feel to it.

The character Alice Horton, who is played by Emma Chambers, dresses as the Doctor for the Time Lord-themed wedding in the storyline.

She is pictured here in costume with two "wedding guests".

Ironically, the Christmas Day episode of The Vicar of Dibley beat Doctor Who in the ratings - it was the most-watched programme on the day, while Doctor Who was fifth, based on peak five-minute figures.

An article on the January 1 debut of upcoming spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures in The Sun on Friday features comments by series star Elisabeth Sladen, reprising the title role of Sarah Jane Smith.

Amongst other things, Ms Sladen comments on her wardrobe hopes for the show: “The costume designer will be buying my outfits for the series very soon and I fancy a bit more black leather for Sarah Jane to wear.

"I think the outfits will be a combination of new and retro. But I definitely won’t be wearing heels like I did in the Seventies as I do a lot of running around in the series, so it’s flatties for me.”

Ms Sladen also shares her thoughts on such topics as remeeting old monsters, further appearances in Doctor Who, and the "amazing" positive reception of Sarah Jane's return.

You can read the full article here.

(NB: Although the story is available online, it has not been included in every print edition of the newspaper.)

Starting on Friday January 19th, 2007 (Friday night/Saturday morning) the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will commence a repeat run of the 2005 Doctor Who series starring Christopher Eccleston. Starting with the premiere episode "Rose" episodes will be broadcast each Friday at 12:00 midnight (12:30am in Newfoundland and Labrador). This will be the fourth full CBC network run of Series One since April 2005.

Episodes of Series Two with David Tennant will continue on the CBC after their Christmas hiatus with "The Satan Pit" on Monday January 15th, 2007 at 8:00pm (8:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador).