The BBC have released new images to promote the forthcoming series, featuring portraits and moments from the first three episodes.

The titles of the first five episodes that make up the 2012 mini-season have now been confirmed:

• Asylum of the Daleks, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran
  
• Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Saul Metzstein
  
• A Town called Mercy, written by Toby Whithouse, directed by Saul Metzstein
  
• The Power of Three, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Douglas Mackinnon
  
• The Angels take Manhattan, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran
  

No date has currently been given over when the series will return to television - Steven Moffat has simply reported that it will be "soon!"


Asylum of the Daleks had its press preview tonight, revealing a redesigned title sequence with updated logo and typography for this series. The episode has a running time of 50 minutes. After the preview, a Q&A session took place hosted by BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Richard Bacon, with Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Caroline Skinner. Discussion included possible plans for live events to take place during the course the 50th Anniversary year, and that Matt Smith is contracted for further episodes.

The preview was attended by cast and crew, including 1980s co-star Nicola Bryant, who said: "fabulous opening, secret weapon is a big surprise, laughed & cried & held my breath! LOVEIT". The BBC have also published some photos from the evening.


Steven Moffat also featured as a guest on Richard Bacon's afternoon show, where the two discussed several subjects including the multitude of Daleks in the first episode and the history of the police box; however, Moffat refused to be drawn over the broadcasting plans for the series next year, or whether there would be a multi-Doctor story or not! However, he did confirm that an episode would be broadcast on the 50th Anniversary day itself.

Talking about the show's iconic status, he said:
The full interview can be listened to via the BBC iPlayer (from 51:20) until the 21st August, in the DailyBacon BBC Podcast until 14th September, and a clip has also been made available via BBC News.

BBC America are building up anticipation for the return of Doctor Who with a request for fans to share their first memories of the show:



Meanwhile, the channel continues its new series of documentary specials this coming Saturday with The Women of Doctor Who:
The trailer for last week's documentary, The Science of Doctor Who, is also available to watch on BBC America's YouTube channel.

The British Film Institute have announced that Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will attend the preview screening of Asylum of the Daleks on Tuesday 14th August. They will join Steven Moffat in a Question and Answer session after the episode, which will also include executive producer Caroline Skinner. The Q&A will be chaired by broadcaster (and fan) Richard Bacon.

Tickets for Doctor Who related events at the BFI are very popular, with the Asylum preview selling out within an hour of opening registration!

A clean version of the cover artwork for the forthcoming special edition release of The Claws of Axos by Lee Binding has been published via the Tea-Lady Design Facebook page.

Special features have yet to be formally announced, though as well as items from the original release the new two disc set will also include a new documentary Axon Stations!, plus feature Living with Levene. Full details will be released shortly.

The special edition is currently available for pre-order at Amazon, expected to be released in the United Kingdom on 22nd October, and in North America on 13th November (cover illustration to the right).

Richard E Grant is to be a guest star in the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special, the BBC announced today.

First announced on Twitter just after midnight, in the later press release Grant said:

No information has been released about his role as yet, though the Sun newspaper has suggested that he will play the Doctor's adversary.

An actor with a lengthy career in film and television, Grant is best known for the film Withnail and I in which he starred alongside former Doctor Paul McGann. Grant is not a stranger to Doctor Who either, having played the Doctor himself on two occasions: he first appeared as the "Quite Handsome" Tenth Doctor in the Steven Moffat-penned Comic Relief special The Curse of Fatal Death in 1999; as mentioned above, the actor then had a brief spell as the official Ninth Doctor for the online adventure Scream of the Shalka by Paul Cornell in 2003 - until the television series was announced with Christopher Eccleston at the helm.

The Christmas Special starts filming this week and is directed by Saul Metzstein, who worked on the Blue Peter special, Good as Gold and the first two stories recorded for the next series (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and A Town called Mercy).


Another actor announced for the Special is Tom Ward, who is best known for playing Harry Cunningham in the series Silent Witness.

The read-through for this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special took place yesterday (2nd August), with the show's Facebook page releasing a tantalising glimpse of the cover page for the script (title redacted!). The Special will see the series debut of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara, though a number of episodes have already been recorded with the newest TARDIS traveller. Guest stars for the Special have yet to be revealed.

Principal photography is expected to kick off in the next couple of days, with a number of 'familiar' locations being pressed into action. Monday-Tuesday next week will see Cardiff's Coal Exchange in use once again; the building has appeared in a number of episodes over the years, including the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned where it became the Titanic passenger lounge. Wednesday-Thursday will then see a visit to Fields House in Newport; though used as the Angels' haunt in Blink, this time filming will instead take place in the renovated half of the building (the lounge of which can be seen in Steven Moffat's other series Sherlock's A Scandal in Belgravia as Irene Adler's apartment). And at the far end of the month the production team will descend upon Treowen Manor on Bank Holiday Monday, whose notable staircase played a 'starring' role as part of Torchwood House during Tooth and Claw.

The BBC have released an extended trailer to herald the new series of Doctor Who, the date of which is yet to be announced.

The 1 min 37 sec promo, which brand manager Edward Russell has described as being for Series 7a, will also be broadcast on BBC One in the UK this evening around the 8pm mark (Olympic coverage permitting). Among the clips, viewers are treated to tantalising glimpses of a vast gathering of Daleks, dinosaurs, robots, cowboys, River Song, a Screaming Angel, plus a stone cherub.



The online teaser trailer is still available to watch via BBC's iPlayer and BBC America's YouTube channel.

The BBC have released a striking new publicity image by artist Lee Binding to promote the return of Doctor Who to television in the next few weeks, depicting the Doctor and Amy amongst his greatest foes in the series opener, Asylum of the Daleks. It is available to download as wallpaper in both 4:3 and 16:9 formats.


Lee explained the process of creating the portrait via Facebook:


A new trailer for the series is due to be broadcast on BBC1 later this evening. However, it will receive an online premiere first, with Edward Russell (Doctor Who's brand manager) confirming: "6am (BST) tomorrow - what happens? The Doctor Who series 7a trailer goes live on YouTube and http://bbc.co.uk/doctorwho."

AudioGo have released details on audio titles in their spoken word range due to be released in September.

The latest adventure for the Eleventh Doctor will be The Empty House, written by Simon Guerrier and read by Raquel Cassidy; meanwhile, Torchwood continues with The Exodus Code written by Captain Jack himself, John Barrowman with his sister Carole. For the classic series, this month's Target novelisation will be The Highlanders read by Anneke Wills, whilst the soundtrack release of Horror of Fang Rock will include linking narration by Louise Jameson. Finally, the complete series of Serpents Quest starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor is to be released as a boxed set.

The Doctor Who adventures will be released on CD from 6th September, and can also be purchased as downloads from AudioGo from 1st September; Torchwood: The Exodus Code will be released in both formats from 13th September.