The BBC has posted a press release about David Tennant and Billie Piper lighting the Cardiff Christmas lights this year. "The switching-on of Cardiff's Christmas lights at the Civic Centre promises to be an event to remember this year, with a special appearance by two extraordinary intergalactic time-travellers. On Thursday 17 November, the capital is going to have its very own Christmas Invasion as David Tennant and award-winning actress Billie Piper – stars of BBC Wales' hit drama Doctor Who - materialize from their busy filming schedule in Wales to inject a huge dose of Christmas spirit into Cardiff. The free event is staged and managed by Cardiff Council in partnership with BBC Wales, City Centre Management and Red Dragon FM. The entertainment starts at 5.45pm when the Red Hot Santas take to the stage to play some Christmas favourites; and the big switch-on will take place at 6.45pm. Visitors can then move into the city centre for late night shopping until 8.00pm or get their skates on and take to the ice when the open-air ice rink at Cardiff's Winter Wonderland opens its doors to the public at 7.45pm. Billie Piper says: "I'm really looking forward to kick-starting the Christmas spirit in Cardiff. We filmed a lot of scenes for the Christmas episode, The Christmas Invasion, in the city centre and I can't wait to see it lit up for real. I hope everyone has a fantastic time.' Cllr Nigel Howells, Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, says: "We are delighted to work with BBC Wales and I know that Cardiff will welcome Billie and David to the Christmas Lights Switch On. It should be a great night for the family and a wonderful start to Cardiff's Christmas festivities.'"

As reported by several viewers on our Forum, BBC1 tonight aired a promotional trailer for "The Christmas Invasion" with an overview of Series One after the BBC News at 10pm. The trailer is very much akin to the one shown in June, but with additional footage (from last year's episodes) on it, and the note about the "countdown" being on at the end.

More on the possibility of singer Charlotte Church being in the new "Torchwood" series: late last week, the Mirrornoted that she "has been brought in to play a raunchy, Satan-worshipping teenager" and that a show insider had told them, "Charlotte is a big Dr Who fan and she was thrilled when we approached her. The role is ideally suited to her - she is beautiful but can be very vampish when she wants." There is, however, nothing definite and this could merely be publicity for the singer/actress. Additional locations reporting on the story since last update include Dark Horizons,Daily Record,Contact Music, Monsters and Critics, Female First.

John Barrowman appeared last week on "Loose Women," the TV chat show. In his second appearance on the series within a month, Barrowman spoke about "Torchwood," including noting that the show might have a BBC1 repeat showing following the original BBC3 transmission, and that he was very excited to start working on it, but no further details were mentioned.

Additional news stories about "Torchwood" not included in last week's update -- basically reprinting the same information we've already reported -- can be found at About.com, In The News, Brand Republic, Dark Horizons, Evening Times, Monsters and Critics,The Advocate, The Times, TV Fodder, Entertainmentwise, Sydney Morning Herald, GayNZ, Hecklerspray, WFAA, as well as various print newspapers around the US which used the same press release.

Dark Horizons has an interview posted with Adam Garcia, who stars in the Christmas special. "Chatting with some grunt from Showtime Australia during the announcements of the iF award nominations, the actor confirmed his taking part and speaks highly of the new Doctor David Tennant - 'He is amazing and his dream as an actor was to play Dr Who and then when it was not happening, he was really disappointed but he was like "I'm still gonna become an actor". Now he actually gets to live his dream and he is marvelous, he really is exceptional'. He continued about his love for the new show: 'I have been a fan of Dr Who since I was (obviously) little and at the read throughs -you know just getting to read the scripts is amazing because they keep them all secret - you get told you're doing it and then you go "Oh! This is what I am doing!" And then you spend a lot of time looking at walls going "They're coming straight for me!" pretending things.'" Dark Horizons also mentions our coverage of the Charlotte Church rumors and other casting information.

Anthony Stewart Head appeared on the Jonathan Ross show on BBC Radio over the weekend. Head was full of praise for David Tennant, who he said was naturally "quirky" and a really nice person to work with. He implied he's playing a school teacher who is not nice, but not necessarily the villain. There was talk about how the old K9 prop still had problems, which Jonathan later compared to Fiona Philips' dancing. Also later in the show, they talked about the toy Daleks.

BBC Radio Cornwall recently reported an actor named Spencer Hawken would be appearing in the second series, possibly as "an evil Time Lord" in two episodes. The rumor mill notes that "by the end of the second story the character, named John, is not as he should be..." There's no word about whether this is credible or simply a publicity item.

According to the Serendipity website, toy manufacturer Character Options has announced a new set of Doctor Who figures and toys for release next year. The announcement, made at this week's Brand Licensing Expo, noted that the sets will include the Tenth Doctor in long overcoat (plus sonic screwdriver); Rose and K9; "Intergalactic Warlord", the Sycorax (complete with two weapons); the Lady Cassandra and Moxx of Balhoon; Slitheen action figure, with extendable claws; and the Tenth Doctor and radio-controlled K9 double pack. There will also be a TARDIS console room playset, including "six buttons control ten sound effects, plus chair, hat stand and lift-out access panels in the floor to reveal the TARDIS mechanisms and circuitry." The figures are said to be in the 5" size to tie in with the already released Dalek figure from this year.