New research carried out by the financial services company Liverpool Victoria reveals that UK parents will spend £262 on average on each of their children, a grand total of £1.8bn for all the children across the UK.

Easier Finanace detail some of the other statistical findings, including the gifts that children are hoping to receive most of all this yuletide. Top of the list for boys is the Dr Who Cyberman Mask - 21% of all UK boys want this for Christmas.

And it is not just in children's toys that Doctor Who is dominating. The Doctor Who Annual is still topping the Children's Bestselling Books Chart for the fifth week running.

If you live in Scotland, be sure to pick up a copy of this week's The Big Issue. As the cover opposite suggests, it has an interview with David Tennant.

The Big Issue is a magazine sold by homeless and vulnerably housed individuals on the streets of the UK, and gives them the means to earn a legitimate income through sales of the magazine.

There are five editions across the country, though the Tennant interview appears to only be available in the Scottish edition.

(Thanks to lauraaura from our forum)

Ain't it Cool News is featuring an interview with Dan Zeff, director of the series two episode Love and Monsters. The episode is slated to air on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US later tonight; read the interview here.

On Wednesday, Radio 4's PM programme asked why which Who matters, mentioning that David Tennant had won "favourite Doctor" in DWM's 2006 Doctor Who survey.

The piece included the Who theme tune and sound clips from the series of Tennant, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Eddie Mair then talked to fellow Radio 4 news presenter Shaun Ley (The World at One) about the show's enduring appeal.

Ley, describing himself as a fan, said Doctor Who had been a part of his childhood and that it was the most flexible format in broadcasting. Asked about whether Tennant deserved the accolade, Ley said that people are likely to vote for the incumbent but agreed that he'd given an amazing performance. He went on to praise Russell T Davies, saying it was quite an achievement getting two of the best actors of their generation - Tennant and Christopher Eccleston - for the part. Ley also said he had a real soft spot for Troughton: "He was a proper character actor, gave it real range, an actors' actor."

Mair ended the piece by reminding listeners that Ley was the presenter of The Worlds at One!

ANANOVA NEWS reports that Andrew Simpson, a Doctor Who fan in York, has created a new way to scare off drunk university students where he lives. Over eight months he created a life sized Dalek which he sits inside and waits for drunken students to approach before screaming "I don't like students. You will be EXTERMINATED!"

According to the editorial in the new Radio Times, two audio Dr Who books will be given away free, across the next four issues, starting with the next Christmas Double Issue. The double CD 's, given away a single one at a time, feature stories read by David Tennant and start with part one of The Feast of the Drowned, written by Stephen Cole.

The stuntmen who synchronised the action sequences in the revived Doctor Who series have found another outlet for their training. And a rather surprising one.

According to the public sector newswire 24dash.com, you can "forget the office party - this year's corporate Christmas craze is having a punch up.

"White collar workers, bored with bland traditional December office gatherings, are queuing up to battle with their colleagues in a mock bar room brawl."

The article goes on to say that "Brawlers take tips from real industry pros - stuntmen running the event synchronised the action sequences in hit movie Harry Potter and award winning TV series Dr Who."

The BBC have released a press release for their BBC One new season programming which promises a "fresh, varied and modern BBC One" for the new year. Of the forthcoming series of Doctor Who, the PDF file says:

UK television listing magazine TV and Satellite Week has Doctor Who and the Runaway Bride on the cover of its Christmas Double Issue. It also has a photo of Billie Piper in her new role. Click on the thumbnail below to see a larger version.

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine, released in the UK today, has additional information on the forthcoming spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, the one-hour debut special of which is broadcast on BBC One on January 1st at 4.50pm.

The 10-part half-hour series to follow later in 2007 will consist of five two-part stories, with several episodes to be written by Gareth Roberts, who has co-written the special with Russell T Davies. Davies also confirms that K9's limited appearance in the special only is due to the K9 spin-off being developed by the dog's co-creator Bob Baker, but reveals there is "a fiendish explanation" for his disappearance.

Davies also mentions in his "Production Notes" column that the title of the programme may possibly change for the series proper. This is because The Sarah Jane Adventures is too long a name to fit in a half-hour slot on the Electronic Programme Guide listings feature used by many television systems.