The Australian Friends of Science Fiction in association with the Doctor Who Club of Australiaare hosting "A Day with John Barrowman", Captain Jack from Doctor Who and Torchwood, on Saturday March 24 2007.

The venue is the Bankstown Sports Club, Sydney, NSW.

More information (including how to book a ticket and accommodation) is available from the Friends of Science Fiction website.

Update: December 20 2006 Sadly this event has been postponed as John can no longer make it to Australia in March 2007 because of the commissioning of a second series of Torchwood. For more details see the Friends of Science Fiction website above.

BBC3's Torchwood pulled ahead of Sky One's Lost in the big digital multichannel ratings battle last night, according toMedia Guardian.

The 10pm slot saw Torchwood being watched by 971,000 viewers, while big US import Lost attracted only 863,000 viewers. This was the first showing in the UK for both episodes.

Rival BBC channels are fighting for screening rights to a second series of Cardiff-based sci-fi hit Torchwood, according to a report from the South Wales Echo.

The report points out that a second series has not been officially commissioned for the Doctor Who spin-off, but claims that scripts are already being prepared and that "both BBC Two and BBC Three are fighting for the right to screen it first - with writer Russell T Davies pushing for a slot on BBC One."

The first official release of Murray Gold's soundtrack to Doctor Who has gone to the top of the download chart from itunes according to a report from the BBC. Going against strong competition such as the soundtrack to the new James Bond film the release made it into the top 30 picks on the first day.

This afternoon's Blue Peter delved into the making of the Sarah Jane Adventures pilot. As well as looking behind-the-scenes at the making of the show, presenter Konnie Huq interviewed Elisabeth Sladen, Yasmin Paige(who plays Sarah's next door neighbour Maria), and Samantha Bond (Mrs Wormwood).

Sladen discussed Sarah's character and how her behaviour has to change now she has children around on her adventures, while Paige talked about the private tutors the young cast are required to have on-set to make sure they keep up with their schoolwork. Bond spoke to Huq only in-character as Mrs Wormwood, persuading the presenter to try some of her Bubbleshock drink.

A number of clips from the show accompanied the article, providing a number of spoilers for what we can expect on New Year's Day. It was also revealed that there will be a cameo from Huq and one of her fellow Blue Peter presenters in an excerpt from the show shot specially for the Sarah Jane Adventures pilot.

(Additional reporting by Paul Hayes)

In the issue of TV Guide (the weekly US television listings magazine) mailing this week, a substantial Friday highlight is given over to the departure of Billie Piper as Rose ('Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday' airs on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US back-to-back on Friday 22 December starting at 8PM; a marathon of other Series 2 episodes airs earlier that day). The piece looks back at other significant departures in the series, touching on Christopher Eccleston's regeneration at the end of Series 1 and then recounting the death of Adric from 'Earthshock' and Second Doctor Patrick Troughton's epic end in 'The War Games'.

For the next five Mondays the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has placed Doctor Whoand most of their regular primetime schedule on a holiday hiatus. During the period holiday programming, movies and other specials will be airing in Doctor Who's Monday night timeslot.

Doctor Who will return to the CBC on Monday January 15th, 2007 at 8:00pm (8:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador) with the episode "The Satan Pit". This episode concludes the adventure started in "The Impossible Planet" which was broadcast on December 4th, 2006.

Doctor Who Coverage in Local News

It seems like every local newspaper in Britain has a Doctor Who-related story this week.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald announces Billie Piper's return to her hometown of Swindon for a signing of her autobiography. (Incidentally, there's another passing mention of the book's slow sales at The Guardian.)

Sylvester McCoy will be appearing in the panto Aladdin in Reading this Christmas, reveals the Reading Evening Post.

The Exmouth Herald reveals that a Cyberman showed up at the Exmouth Indoor Market last week -- advertising a local science fiction club, the Devon Seaside Devils. It's just as well that the Cyberman stayed in the south-west; if he had travelled to the North, he might have run into a 10-foot Dalek at an art gallery in Preston, Lancashire. TheLancashire Evening Post covers the art exhibit, which also features a giant TARDIS.

And finally, Luton Today has a story about a supposed Billie Piper look-alike. Slow news day?

Miscellaneous Stories

Digital Spy has culled some Catherine Tate quotes about The Runaway Bride from the Radio Times articles. Tate says that keeping the secret of her surprise appearance at the end of Series 2 was "like being a spy."

The Western Mail expects Doctor Who to be at the top of the Christmas television ratings again this year. The same paper also has a story about the eBay auction of a Torchwood script signed by writer Helen Raynor and theTorchwood cast, previously mentioned on this page; the auction is raising money for Cardiff and District Samaritans.

Metro has a short blurb about former EastEnders star Joseph Millson's appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures: he is playing the single father of one of the young characters.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Fiona McCabe questions David Tennant's "Favourite Doctor" victory over Tom Baker in Doctor Who Magazine, guessing that it was because most of the voters "are 12 years old and think Christopher Eccleston was the original doctor." (The actual magazine points out that Tennant came second to Baker among voters over 30.)

Unusual Blog Mentions

There are plenty of Doctor Who blogs out there, but it's interesting when blogs whose subject matter is farther afield make a Who reference. For example, the graphic design blog Noisy Decent Graphics discusses a recent trip to the Cardiff School of Art and Design, which included a presentation by Edward Thomas and the Torchwood design team.

A slightly more bizarre Torchwood reference shows up at eggbaconchipsandbeans, a blog about cafes and the food they serve, written by Russell Davies -- not Doctor Who's own Russell T. Davies, this Russell Davies. He's clearly aware of his namesake's work, though, and describes one plate which includes "an extra dark brown dollop of sauce which looks slightly like a proto alien from Torchwood, something that's just an interstellar blob at the moment but which the special effects folk will soon transform into something sinister."

Across the pond, the American environmental blog Seeing the Forest writes: "Your GOVERNMENT spending tax dollars to "debunk" global warming "alarmism." ... The press release reads like a parallel universe of a weird cult. My wife says it's like Dr. Who, and you travel in the Tardis and arrive in America in 2006 in December, but everything is strange. Some alien force is in control of things. ... We need the Doctor."

From environmentalist voices for the wilderness to the original voice in the wilderness: Solomon, I Have Surpassed Thee, a blog written by the administrator of Westminster Cathedral, makes a somewhat odd transition from watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa to John the Baptist.

Finally, this is partly a Doctor Who blog, but it's made a noteworthy observation: Exigency in Specie notes thatMurray Gold's Doctor Who soundtrack album has been at the top of the UK iTunes Music Store's charts this week.

(Additional material by Kenny Davidson; thanks to "Superted" of the Outpost Gallifrey forum.)

For our readers in the US and Canada, a new Doctor Who book and new magazine will be available this week at comic book stores. Doctor Who: In Their Own Words Volume 2 (Item number SEP063746), a collection of interviews from the 1970s compiled from various issues of Doctor Who Magazine and published by Panini Press should hit the shelves Wednesday. Likewise, Talkback: The Unofficial Interview Book (Item number MAY063632), edited by Stephen James Walker and published by Telos, will also be available. If your local shop doesn't have these, ask them to order these books from Diamond Comic Distributors.

Billie Piper is listed to be interviewed on Richard and Judy's Christmas Book Special on Monday 11 December, S4C (1.15pm-2.30pm). Piper is also on The Paul O'Grady Show on Wednesday 13 December, Channel 4 (5-6pm). (source: DigiGuide)

John Barrowman is appearing in The Royal Variety Performance 2006 on Tuesday 12 December, BBC1 (8pm-10pm) (thanks to Chuck Foster for this information)

Catherine Tate is listed as appearing on The Paul O'Grady Show on Monday 18 December, Channel 4 (5-6pm).