The first tease for Doctor Who's return to television was broadcast today, confirming to the nation that the series will be back on the 30th March! BBC One Viewers this morning were informed just after Saturday Kitchen, with this evening's entertainment kicking off with the tease just before Pointless Celebrities.


The BBC released the first promotional image for the series yesterday.

Sunday 3rd March sees the broadcast of the four-part 1970 Jon Pertwee story Spearhead from Space in Australia and New Zealand. The story is the ninth instalment in the 50th Anniversary season of classic Doctor Who stories on the UKTV channel.

The story is scheduled in New Zealand at 4:15pm and in Australia at 4:30pm. New Zealand has a additional screening on Monday 4th March at 3:50am.

Spearhead from Space was first broadcast in Australia in 1971. New Zealanders first got to see it in March 1975 (38 years ago this month).

UKTV is showing stories every week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Spearhead from Space is the first of a set of four stories featuring Jon Pertwee's Doctor scheduled to screen in March. The next three stories are The Daemons (10th March), The Three Doctors (17th March), and Death to the Daleks (24th March). There is no story scheduled on UKTV on the last Sunday of March.

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections  for Australia and New Zealand.

The BBC have confirmed that the second half of Series Seven (termed 7B) will premiere on the 30th March with The Bells of St John, a story written by Steven Moffat and directed by Colm McCarthy. Moffat said:
The episode itself is described as:

To tie in with the series return, they have also released a promotional image featuring the Doctor and Clara 'crashing' through the Shard in London:


Both the portrait and landscape versions offer tantalising glimpses of some of the enemies the couple will face in the coming eight weeks ... including the new-look Ice Warriors which have been confirmed as appearing in the third episode. Writer Mark Gatiss said:
The episode features guest star David Warner, and resident voice actor Nicholas Briggs has confirmed that he will be bringing the Doctor's old adversary to life.

BBC Worldwide have finally confirmed that August's DVD release of Second Doctor adventure The Ice Warriors will indeed include animated versions of the missing episodes two and three, as well as the previously announced 'telesnap' version of the episodes that originally appeared on the 1998 VHS release.

Unlike January's The Reign of Terror, animation for these episodes has been created by Qurios, an award-winning animation and visual effects production studio based in London and Newcastle, and who have previously worked on the range providing titles for the Who Peter features.

DVD range producer Dan Hall said:
A preview of a "work in progress" clip from the episodes has been published on YouTube, featuring the scene in episode two where the Doctor tries to convince Leader Clent that humans are better than machines:



The DVD is currently scheduled to be released on 26th August.

A special screening of the opening two episodes of Series 6 is to take place across Australia and New Zealand on Thursday 14th March, the BBC has announced.

In a world-first multiple cinema screening for Doctor Who, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon will be shown at selected Event Cinemas, Greater Union and Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinemas, and Village Cinemas across the two countries, starting at 7pm on the day.

There will also be a "best-dressed" prize at each cinema for the Doctor Who fan with the most impressive costume, from Time Lords to monsters.

Sharon Wilson, BBC Worldwide Australasia's head of marketing for global brands, said: The screening has been arranged as part of the celebrations for the show's 50th-anniversary year.

Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes, the 90-minute two-parter stars Matt Smith as the Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, Alex Kingston as River Song, and Mark Sheppard as Canton Everett Delaware III.

In The Impossible Astronaut, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory receive a secret summons that leads them to the Oval Office in 1969. Enlisting the help of a former FBI agent and the irrepressible River Song, the Doctor promises to assist President Nixon in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious Space Man. In Day of the Moon, the Doctor is locked in the perfect prison, while Amy, Rory, and River Song are being hunted down by the FBI. But with the help of the president and Neil Armstrong, the Doctor is able to mount a rebellion against an alien invasion dating back to the very beginnings of human civilisation.

Tickets for the high-definition big-screen showings can be bought online at Event Cinemas or Village Cinemas (booking fees may apply) or at the box offices of the cinemas involved. The websites list the cinemas taking part in this special event.

UKTV, which is wholly owned by BBC Worldwide Australasia, is the media partner for this screening, which has been devised by BBC Worldwide Australasia.

Al Jazeera has bought Series 5 to 7 of Doctor Who, it was announced today.

The episodes were snapped up at the BBC Worldwide Showcase 2013 event and will be shown on the satellite TV broadcaster's pan-Arabic children's channel JCC, which launched in 2005 and is based in Qatar.

The showcase is a four-day international TV market being held at ACC Liverpool. It started yesterday and is welcoming some 700 TV buyers from around the globe.

Paola Tonella, BBC Worldwide's sales and distribution territory manager for the Middle East and Africa, said: Among the star names at yesterday's gala opening were Eve Myles and Mark Williams.

The showcase will also be hosting special events to both celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and to spotlight the natural-history documentary series Africa.

Steve Macallister, the president and managing director of sales and distribution at BBC Worldwide, said:

Sunday 24th February sees the broadcast of the six-part 1969 Patrick Troughton story The Seeds of Death in Australia and New Zealand. The story is the eighth instalment in the 50th Anniversary season of classic Doctor Who stories on the UKTV channel.

It is scheduled in New Zealand at 3:10pm and in Australia at 3:30pm. New Zealand has an additional screening on Monday 25th February at 3:10am.


The Seeds of Death was first broadcast in Australia in 1970. New Zealanders had to wait until 1988 to see the story when it was first screened as part of TVNZ's Doctor Who 'Silver Jubilee' celebration marking the 25th anniversary in November of that year.

UKTV is showing a story every week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The Seeds of Death concludes a month of Patrick Troughton adventures.

Next week UKTV shifts its focus to Jon Pertwee's Doctor and the colour era of the programme, beginning with Spearhead from Space on 3rd March.

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

BBC Worldwide have announced details for the forthcoming release of The Visitation (Special Edition) on DVD. The two-disc set has been provisionally scheduled for release on the 6th May for both its R2 and R1 versions, and on the 24th April for R4.

BBC Worldwide have announced that The Tenth Planet is to be released on DVD in late 2013 and, like last month's The Reign of Terror, will have its missing episode four animated by Planet 55 Studios.

Range producer Dan Hall said:
The story was originally released on VHS in 2000 and featured a reconstruction of the missing episode using existing telesnaps from the episode; it is expected that this version will also be included on the DVD as an extra.

The missing episode marked the end of the First Doctor's adventures, and introduced the revolutionary concept of the appearance of the Doctor changing - a key element of the series mythos that has enabled the series to now celebrate its fiftieth year! Though the 'regeneration' itself survived, along with a few clips, the story itself has been 'lost' from the BBC archives since the 1970s.


A selection of stills of the new animation in progress can be seen via a gallery on BBC Worldwide's official Doctor Who 50th Anniversay website. There is also a showreel available to watch on the Planet 55 website featuring a number of their concepts - including the First Doctor stalked in the snow, a scene inspired by The Tenth Planet.

Sunday 17th February sees the broadcast of the five-part 1968 Patrick Troughton story The Mind Robber in Australia and New Zealand. The story is the latest instalment in the the 50th Anniversary season of classic Doctor Who stories on the UKTV channel.

 It is scheduled in New Zealand at 3:50pm and in Australia at 4:00pm. New Zealand has a additional screening on Monday 18th February at 3:50am.

The Mind Robber was first broadcast in Australia in 1970. New Zealanders had to wait another 15 years to see the story (it was first screened in 1985 to launch an extensive series of Doctor Who screenings by TVNZ that continued with few interruptions until 1990).

UKTV is showing stories every week throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. The Mind Robber is the third of four stories to be aired as part of the channel's celebration of the second Doctor this month. The next story is The Seeds of Death (24th February). Next month UKTV will move on to focus on the third Doctor.

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.