The official BBC site has revealed the Cybermen are to return in the new series, which has been confirmed in the new Radio Times as the mid-series finale A Good Man Goes To War.
The Cybermen have been a staple of the series since their first appearance in William Hartnell's last story, The Tenth Planet, in 1966.
Created by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis the cyborgs were a regular in the series during the tenure of the Second Doctor appearing in some of his most highly-regarded stories. Appearances followed facing the Fourth Doctor in 1975, the Fifth in 1982 and the Seventh in 1988.
A new race of Cybermen were introduced in the 2006 series story Rise of the Cybermen, with the villains making regular appearances since.
The official site has a history of the Cybermen complete with pictures from behind the scenes of some of the sixties stories.
The Radio Times have confirmed the first episode of the news series of Doctor Who will be broadcast on Saturday 23rd April at 6:00pm.
The time slot is one of the earliest the series has received since it returned in 2005. Last year only Vampires from Venice was shown so early with most episodes starting around 6.30pm.
The programme will be preceded on BBC One by Don't Scare The Hare a new game show and followed So You Think You Can Dance, in which contestants perform in couples for the first time, hoping to impress judges Nigel Lythgoe, Arlene Phillips, Louise Redknapp and Sisco Gomez. It is the fifth in the series, which last week achieved 3.4 million viewers in its 6.30 timeslot.
ITV1 will be showing March of the Dinosaurs, a Feature-length CGI adventure from the makers of Walking with Dinosaurs, telling the story of an epic migration undertaken by a herd of dinosaurs in the high arctic 70 million years ago.
BBC Two has the 1964 Beatles film, A Hard Day's Night, Channel 4 is showing Come Dine with Me and Channel Five the 1959 film Ben Hur.
Time
Programme
Nearest ITV1 Programme
5:10pm
BBC News
March of the Dinosaurs (5:00-7:00pm)
5:25pm
Don't Scare The Hare
6:00pm
Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut
6:45pm
So You Think You Can Dance
Sing if you Can (7:00-8:00pm)
8:00pm
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
Britain's Got Talent (8:00-9:00pm)
8:50pm
Casualty
Piers Morgan's Life Stories (9:00-10:00pm)
The early start means that Doctor Who Confidential can not follow directly on from the end of Doctor Who; BBC Three's schedule begins from 7:00pm, meaning some 15 minutes between the two - this may impact on Confidential's ratings, as the last time such a gap occured the behind-the-scenes show lost around 40% of its usual audience.
BBCHD have yet to confirm a time-slot for Doctor Who Confidential, with times after A History of Celtic Britain (6:45-7:45pm) still to be announced.
The new edition of the Radio Times introduces the new series of Doctor Who, which will premiere the following weekend at Easter.
The preview includes an interview with Matt Smith, in which the actor talks about the interest generated by Neil Gaiman's episode The Doctor's Wife, football, and also his feelings on the series culture:
Doctor Who is brilliant. Science Fiction invites conspiratorial thinking, which I also think is brilliant. Why not sit at home on the computer and be conspiratorial? There are worse ways of spending an evening.
Steven Moffatt also provides an introduction and exclusive guide to the thrill-packed episodes coming up over the next several weeks.
BBC America has organised a premiere screening of The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon and a Doctor Who themed party at the The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York on April 19. You can buy tickets for this even from the event page on TicketWeb. Full details below.
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011 7:00 PM EDT The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY 21 years and over General admission - $5.00
Come be among the first in Brooklyn to see the first two episodes of the new season of Doctor Who!
Put on your best bow tie, grab your sonic screwdriver and head over to The Bell House on Tuesday, April 19th - BBC AMERICA and Secret Formula are bringing you a first look at the new season of Doctor Who. It's the Doctor Who New Season Premiere Party! Why wait until Saturday, April 23rd for the official TV premiere on BBC AMERICA when you can join all of your friends and fellow Doctor Who fans for a party that will be remembered throughout time and space! We're going way beyond just showing you the 2-part premiere episodes - we're turning The Bell House into the inside of the TARDIS and there will be plenty of games, contests, food and fun to be had including...
The Brooklyn premiere of the first and second episodes of the new season
Doctor Who Trivia Competition
Character Impersonation Contest and Villain-Off
Costume Contest
Time Travel Lecturer
Doctor Who-based sketch comedy and stand-up from Upright Citizen's Brigade
members
Spin the time travel wheel for a chance to win prizes and free drinks
Prizes from The Bell House and BBC AMERICA including DVD's, Doctor Who
merch and more!
Themed drinks like the 11th Doctor, Love is a Ginger, The Pandorica, Fish &
Custard and more!
A delicious selection of English foods served by Brooklyn's ChipShop
TARDIS & Dalek cookies and the Doctor's Fez cupcakes provided by Geek Treats
As part of publicity for the new series of Doctor Who in the United States, BBC America have released an interview with the three stars, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, which was conducted by their Anglophenia blog at the Doctor Who signing at Barnes & Noble in New York City:
Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, BBC America, via YouTube
The broadcaster has also released the second of their Insider series of videos; for this edition, "Get an inside look at The Doctor, featuring exclusive interviews with stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan plus Executive Producer/Lead Writer Steven Moffat."
Doctor Who Insider #2, BBC America, via YouTube (the first edition may be found in a previous article earlier this week)
A preview screening of The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon will be held in Chicago, Illinois on April 20.
BBC America and RedEye, a daily newspaper publication in Chicago will be hosting a preview screening of the first two episodes of Series 6 at 9:30pm on April 20 at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema.
UPDATE 10:30 a.m. CDT FRIDAY: Sorry folks, we are booked. That didn't take long at all. Chicago fans love the Doctor, obviously. I wish we could take a larger group, but thank you for reading and watching and getting in touch.
RedEye will take the names of the first 200 people to RSVP. That will get you on the guest list but an RSVP does not guarantee admission. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. They advise people on the guest list to show up early. More details are on their website.
How to RSVP:
Send your RSVP to showpatroltv@gmail.com with DOCTOR WHO in the subject line. Provide your name and neighborhood or city.
Each RSVP email is good for only one admission, meaning you cannot RSVP and tell me it’s for you and a friend. The friend should RSVP as well. If you are a parent and want to take your two kids, I should receive three separate RSVPs with three different names.
And please, if you RSVP show up. I’ll have some surprises for you.
The BBC Press Office have released details for Week 17 (23-29 April) which, though it confirms Doctor Who will be on that week, still doesn't give an actual time or date for broadcast!
Doctor Who Magazine reported in its new edition that the series will commence from 23rd April; Saturday programmes mentioned in the BBC press item include So You Think You Can Dance, on between 6:30-7:30pm, and Casualty at a time yet to be confirmed. This implies that The Impossible Astronaut could be broadcast either before or after the talent show.
In previous years, Doctor Who has premiered at: Rose (7:00pm, 45m); New Earth (7:05pm, 45m); Smith and Jones (7:00pm, 45m); Partners in Crime (6:45pm, 50m); The Eleventh Hour (6:25pm, 65m). If the time for So You Think You Can Dance doesn't alter, indications are that this premiere might be broadcast at either the earliest or latest time so far since the series returned!
The online version of the Radio Times publishes a fortnight ahead, so the BBC1 and other channel schedules for the 23rd April should appear this Sunday. However schedules for the week of 23rd April will not be fixed until shortly before they are sent to listing magazines around 14th April and any times published before that should be regarded as provisional.
The Press Office synopsis for the episode:
Doctor Who – The Impossible Astronaut Ep 1/7 New this week Day and time to be confirmed BBC ONE
Four envelopes, numbered two, three and four – each containing a date, time and map reference, unsigned, but TARDIS blue – begin the latest series of the time-travelling adventures. Who sent them? And who received the missing number one?
This strange summons reunites The Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song in the middle of the Utah desert and unveils a terrible secret that The Doctor's friends must never reveal to him.
Placing his life entirely in their hands, The Doctor agrees to search for the recipient of the fourth envelope. Just who is Canton Everett Delaware the Third? And what is the relevance of their only other clue: "Space 1969"? Their quest lands them in the Oval Office, where they are enlisted by President Nixon himself to assist enigmatic former FBI agent Canton in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious spaceman.
The title for story three of the new series of Doctor Who has been revealed as The Curse of the Black Spot. The title is revealed in the new edition of Doctor Who Magazine. The story by Steve Thompson and directed by Jeremy Webb, stars Hugh Bonneville as a Pirate Captain.
The title joins the six previously revealed for the first half of the series due to launch on BBC One on 23rd April.
BBC America will host a premiere screening event in New York City on Monday 11 April 2011. The event will be hosted by Chris Hardwick, who previously hosted the Doctor Who panel at WonderCon on Monday 4 April.
Event details:
Time - 11 April · 19:00 - 22:00 Location - Village East Cinema, 189 2nd Ave, New York, NY
BBC AMERICA’s Doctor Who Premiere Screening with Cast - Hosted by Chris Hardwick – New York City
Doctor Who’s Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston and Steven Moffat join Chris Hardwick (Nerdist, Web Soup) for a BBC AMERICA premiere screening and Q&A on Monday, April 11, 7:00 PM EST at the Village East Cinema in New York City.
BBC AMERICA has made this a FREE event for fans to come celebrate the first Doctor Who episodes ever filmed in America. Executive producers Piers Wenger and Beth Willis will also be in the house for the event.
*** PLEASE NOTE, AN RSVP DOES NOT GUARANTEE ADMISSION. SEATING IS ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS. DUE TO THE GREAT REACTION TO LAST YEAR’S EVENT, ADDITIONAL SEATING HAS BEEN ADDED. ***
Following a screening of the two-part season premiere - The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon - Chris will lead a discussion and Q&A, which will be recorded live for a special Nerdist Podcast. The downloadable podcast will give those unable to attend, a front row seat to the event.
Yesterday it was reported that Smith, Gillan and Darvill will be appearing at Barnes & Noble in Fifth Avenue, NY on April 8 to sign copies of the Series 5 boxed set.
Last night saw the BBC Press screening of the first two episodes of Series Six, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon, which took place at the current home to the Doctor Who Experience, Kensington Olympia. As one might expect has generated press interest in the forthcoming series, premiering on 23rd April.
Tom Phillips of the Metro went with jaw-dropping moments and a mind-bending plot:
Make no mistake, this isn’t easy, switch-your-faculties-off entertainment - it’s big, dark, impressively ambitious, dazzlingly executed entertainment that demands and repays your full attention. (It also makes very few concessions to those who didn't see the last series, and absolutely none to the fact that it's supposed to be a kid's show - a few children at the screening did seem a little left behind by some of the script's wilder curve-balls, although it didn't dampen their enthusiasm in the slightest.)
And if you thought last season’s finale was stuffed full of mind-bending wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey shenanigans... just wait. This makes Inception seem about as straightforward as The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
We sat pinned to our seats for 90 minutes or so of electrifying, bamboozling television, which might just be also the most unsettling since the series came back in 2005. I certainly don't think my nearly-four-year-old niece, who's obsessed with Amy Pond but still creeped out by last year's relatively tame Prisoner Zero, will last long into episode one before quailing behind a cushion.
... The chills are leavened with laughs (the Doctor flits through history, upstages a timeless comedy duo, and dubs his chums "the Legs, the Nose and Mrs Robinson"). River makes two spectacular entrances. There's a new use for dwarf star alloy (conceived 30 years ago in Warriors' Gate, it enchained one of The Family of Blood in 2007). And the number 1,103 may be significant.
Moffat ladles mystery upon mystery, so that by the end we're gagging for answers. The second instalment concludes with a mouthwatering cliffhanger.
What I can tell you is this. In 90 minutes, Steven Moffat has not only laid down a fascinating, intriguing path for the show to follow over the coming months (dying to tell you more there, but can’t), he’s also put together an opening adventure that’s quite brilliantly funny, narratively intricate, contains genuine jumps (it's exceptionally creepy at times), and sets a very, very high bar for what’s to follow.
I do appreciate that few come out of an early preview of Doctor Who saying it's rubbish. But this is the real deal: if you want proof that Britain can produce world-class science-fiction television, it’s right here. And it goes out to a family audience at Saturday teatime.
... For let’s make no bones about this: this is a dense, tremendously ambitious and elegantly constructed way to open a series. It pushes those four core characters in very different ways, and establishes moments that I wouldn’t be surprised if we were flashing back to come the winter, when this run of Who comes to an end. In fact, I'd pretty much guarantee it.
What we got was a dizzying mix of the very funny, the very scary, the surprisingly violent, the very mystifying and the ominous looming shadow of something that’s likely to be very upsetting indeed. And there’s one moment in the second part that will have you cheering out loud at the brilliant ridiculousness of it.
In truth the opening episode of the two-parter took a while to warm up, but a fiendishly complicated plot – it is probably not a spoiler to suggest it involves time-travelling – required no end of exposition. But by the end of the first episode it had drawn gasps and applause in almost equal measure from a preview audience at London's Olympia on Monday.
Preaching to the converted in most part, no doubt, but this was scary stuff – almost as unnerving as those kids who kept asking for their mummy and the darkest series opener showrunner Steven Moffat could remember. And not a big-name celebrity guest star in sight.
The Guardian also quoted BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen:
BBC1 controller Danny Cohen, speaking at the series launch, described Doctor Who as "unique and brilliant … world class science fiction and a testament to the stars and the people who make it".
SFX provided 30 points of note from the first two episodes (some spoilerish).
The screening was accompanied by a Q&A with Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Alex Kingston, faithfully captured by journalist Ian Wylie. On making the series darker, Steven Moffat said:
Well, first of all you make Doctor Who frightening to appeal to children – and children absolutely rank Doctor Who stories in order of frightening-ness. That’s what it’s about. The jokes and the silly bits, they’re for the adults. But the scares are in for the kids. So no. I’ve got two kids of my own and I never do anything that I didn’t think was acceptable for them. Having said that, one of them does tend to sleep on our bedroom floor.
To be honest, it’s darker than any other opener of a season. But we’ve been pretty dark before in Doctor Who. Blink was dark…The Satan Pit was dark. We’re coming in from the dark side just because we haven’t done it that way before.
On the mid-series break:
Steven: Oh yes, you’ll get a cliffhanger. In fact, you’re going to get several cliffhangers. You had two just there. And you’re going to get a couple of real belters. Not just episode seven. Episode six is an absolute cracker, isn’t it? If you run for 13 weeks you can start to feel as though you can miss one ep and it’ll be OK. We don’t want that – we stop for a few weeks and let you all worry about what’s happening and then come back. Of course we get then two finales and two first nights.
Arthur: It really makes it hard to talk about it though, because there’s so many secrets and so many cliffhangers. It’s all linked.
Matt: At the end of six…we read it and went, "Oh my God!"
And of course the inevitable question to Matt on his length of stay as the Doctor:
I take it year by year, month by month. So I’ll finish this particular season – and sit down with Mr Moffat and see where I go from there. It’s certainly not a part I want to give up anytime soon. I love playing him.
The full transcript and plot summary may be read on Ian's Life of Wylie blog.
The BBC's entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba also gave Twitter followers a summary of events as they unfurled (note: some comments edited for spoilers):
18:39 Settling down in seat for screening. Haven't even started, but rounds of applause for Matt S, Karen G, Arthur D and Alex K who are all here. 18:40 Huge round of applause for @steven_moffat 18:41 Lights dimming, here we go. 20:11 Great two parter. Scary and exciting in equal measure. New trailer too. 20:13 BTW so many things happen in two episodes. Try and stay spoiler free. So much stuff can be given away that will lessen enjoyment of ep. 20:17 Very strong eps, american stuff looks great. New monster(s) very terrifying. Story poses lots of questions, some of which not yet answered. 20:26 Episode 6 has biggest cliff hanger says @steven_moffat bigger than 7! 20:28 Matt says they read Ep 6 and all said OMG when they reached end! 20:30 The Silence Will Fall storyline will cover all 13 eps says Steven. 20:31 Alex Kingston says weirdest theory she's heard about who River is is that River's the Doctor. 20:36 Matt says The Doctor isn't a part he's planning on giving up anytime soon. 20:37 And @steven_moffat has asked press and audience not to give away major spoilers, and one in particular. Gets round of applause! 20:42 Re 50th anniversary @steven_moffat says 'yes, there are thoughts'. But says nothing more than that. 23:19 One thing before I sign off. Sadly, no plans to show the extended trailer screened tonite again. Was put together just for press launch.
Lizo also interviewed Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, which is available to watch from the BBC News site. On radio, Colin Paterson chatted to Matt Smith for Radio 5 Live about Doctor Who, football, and thoughts of the 50th Anniversary! This is available to listen to on the BBC iplayer until 11th April (interview from 2:26:08).
Jo Whiley also chatted to him on her radio show, where they also discussed Tom Hanks as a future Doctor! This is available to listen to on the BBC iplayer until 11th April (interview from 1:09:40).
On television, ITV1's Daybreak featured a brief visit to the event, with entertainment correspondent Steve Hargraves chatting to Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.
BBC Radio One's Newsbeat also interviewed Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, who answered questions provided by the show's Facebook followers; the video is available on the BBC website. The BBC Press Office have now released interviews with Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.
Steven on the series evolution:
Well we've moved through the funfair a bit – we've done the rollercoaster, now we're on the ghost train. Last year, in a way, was all about saying, don't worry, it's still him, it's still the same show, nothing's really been lost. Losing a leading man like David Tennant is seismic – unless you gain a leading man like Matt Smith. It's been the biggest joy to see him stride in and just claim that TARDIS for his own. But now he's really here, and the part is his, and the bow tie is cool, he's ready to lead us places we didn't know existed. Last year we reassured you – this year, to hell with that, we're going to worry the hell out of you. How well do we really know that man, or what he's capable of? We're putting the "who?" back in the Doctor.
Matt on filming in America - and finding fans!
It was very strange, we were in the middle of the desert and suddenly there was a lady with a campervan and deck chair, holding an iPad up with a moving screen which read 'autograph please!'. I mean how on earth she knew we were in the middle of the desert I have no idea, but it certainly proved her dedication to the show!
The landscape was incredible, and I think being in America, filming in that terrain, has definitely added a sense of scale and a filmic quality to this series of Doctor Who. It was an amazing experience and a brilliant laugh. I have to confess that I think the Stetson has been my favourite hat for the Doctor so far, 100 per cent. Viewers may well see more of the Stetson later in the series but I couldn't possibly reveal when...
Karen on her character development:
There were clues planted in the last series that are going to become major storylines in this one. There's a really interesting arc in this series that involves all of the major characters and it's evident from the first episode that everyone on the TARDIS is withholding secrets from one another," continues Karen. "It makes for a fascinating dynamic between the characters and it's incredibly important to the overall series.
And Arthur on his co-stars:
They're brilliant, it's lucky we all get on so well. The most fun I have is when all three of us are together; it's a really good working relationship. It helps that we all came on board together because we're growing as a unit and keeping each other on our toes.
The official BBC site has revealed the Cybermen are to return in the new series, which has been confirmed in the new Radio Times as the mid-series finale A Good Man Goes To War.
The 
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