Doctor Who News have a number of prizes courtesy of BBC Books and BBC Audio available to win in competitions, as detailed below! In order to enter, please send your answer along with your name, address and where you saw the competition to the respective email address - please note whether the competition is worldwide or UK only. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

The closing date for all competitions will be Sunday 6th September.

The two Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular shows set for New York have been cancelled. The shows were scheduled for 7 October 2015 at Barclays Center in New York and were to be hosted by Michelle Gomez.

An email was sent to ticket holders with the following message:
A message on the Barclays Center website states: "there are no plans to reschedule them at this time."

The latest circulation figures for publications have been released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the January to June 2015 period, which indicates that Doctor Who Magazine has taken a significant knock on its circulation. The report revealed the magazine has dropped 23.2% of readers since the July to December 2014 period. Doctor Who Adventures changed publisher during the Jan-Jun 2015 period. The last issue under Immediate Media (#363, 25 March 2015) the total circulation was 24,441, while Issue 1 (23rd April 2015) under Panini was 19,873. Between July and December 2014 the magazine dropped 2.09% of its circulation.

The full breakdowns can be found by clicking on the relevant linked publication certificate below.


DWM's editor, Tom Spilsbury, told Doctor Who News:

German DVD distributor Pandastorm Pictures sent out a newsletter today announcing changes to the DVD format and to the release schedule.

Dear Doctor Who fans,
while many of you are still waiting in excitement for the release of The Five Doctors this week, we are currently working on the releases of the sixth Doctor. The first volume will be out on 27th November 2015.

We originally planned to release the dubbed episodes of the sixth Doctor in two volumes. At the time we didn't know that the included bonus features of Volume 1 would make it 10 DVD's instead of the planned 7 DVD's. Because of very expensive authoring, post-production and production of this set, we would have to increase the price - which would lead to lower sales in the retail stores.

That is why we decided to produce a 5-disc-set for Volume 1, making it three volumes instead of two. We hope you understand.

This is the new release schedule:

Release	Discs	Content	Release date
Sechster Doktor  – Volume 1	5 DVD's	Zweimal Einstein (The Twin Dilemma) Angriff der Kybermänner (Attack of the Cybermen) Revolte auf Varos (Vengeance on Varos) Die Rache des Meisters (The Mark of the Rani)	27th Nov 2015
Sechster Doktor  – Volume 2	5 DVD's	Androiden in Sevilla (The Two Doctors) Das Amulett (Timelash) Planet der Toten (Revelation of the Daleks)	26th Feb 2016
Sechster Doktor  – Volume 3	tba	Season 23	27th May 2016

Pandastorm's current release Fünf Doktoren (The Five Doctors) will be out this week on 28th August 2015 and can be pre-ordered via Amazon Germany.

Doctor Who has lost out in the 2015 Hugo awards.

The 2014 episode Listen, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Douglas Mackinnon was nominated in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category. The episode came second, behind the Canadian science fiction television series Orphan Black. Last year's winner Game of Thrones came third.

The results were announced at the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention, held at Spokane in Washington State.

Today marks fifty years since the first Peter Cushing Dalek film was released in UK cinemas. Dr Who and the Daleks was based on Terry Nation's 1964 serial The Daleks, with the story being adapted to the big screen by Milton Subotsky. The film was directed by Gordon Flemyng who had previously directed William Hartnell in episodes of The Army Game.


Although initial reviews of the film were not too kind, they didn't deter the British public from parting with their hard-earned money. The film was twentieth biggest British box office moneymaker in 1965. In August 1965 BFI's Monthly Film Bulletin posted their review of the film:
Peter Cushing himself later revealed in a 1986 interview that he was offered the role of the Doctor in the TV series but said he couldn't accept the offer as he was "otherwise engaged" but went on to say even if he was available he wasn't sure he would take the role. His reasons for this was because he "didn't really care for the Doctor Who television series", stating that "they weren't my cups of tea". He added that "the Daleks did rather get on my nerves".

On 2012's DVD release of Death to the Daleks, an extra was included entitled Cushing and Castle which looked at the casting of Peter Cushing and Roy Castle in Dr Who and the Daleks.

In 2013 Studio Canal released a new digitally restored version of the film on DVD and Blu-ray to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. A screening for Dr Who and the Daleks and the follow-up Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. was organised by The Doctor Who Appreciation Society and held at Riverside Studios. The event was held on 26 May 2013, which would have been Cushing's 100th birthday.

Competition

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Dr Who and the Daleks, Doctor Who News is offering readers the chance to win a copy of the film on either DVD or Blu-ray, courtesy of Studio Canal.

To be in with a chance of wining simply answer the following question:
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-DrWhoDaleksFilm@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Technicolor Daleks". The competition is open to UK residents only, closing date: 31st August 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Artwork

One again artist Deborah Taylor has created us a piece of artwork to go with the anniversary. The design is based on Chris Achilleos's cover of David Whitaker's Target novelisation of The Daleks.

The BBC have released new images for the upcoming series of Doctor Who.

Author and activist Alan Wakeman has died at the age of 79.

In 1963 Alan Wakeman was commissioned to write a story for the first series of the new science fiction programme Doctor Who.

His script, The Living Planet, saw the Doctor and his companions land on a planet that was a living creature. Wakeman produced a full story synopsis and a script for Airfish, the first of four episodes.

Although Wakeman received positive feedback on his script, the production team thought some of the ideas in the script were "far too adult" for a serial being broadcast on Saturday tea time. Wakeman was paid a half fee for £75 for the work he had done, and the idea was abandoned.

In 2005 Wakeman wrote to Russell T Davies, offering the script for development for the revived series of Doctor Who, but the offer was not taken up.

His ideas finally saw publication in January 2012, when the magazine Nothing at the End of the Lane published the synopsis and scripts. As one of the earliest scripts written for Doctor Who, it provided a rare glimpse into the genesis of the series and the path it could have taken.

Alan Wakeman was a gifted linguist. He wrote a course, called English Fast, teaching English as a foreign language. In 1995 wrote an English translation of The Little Prince children’s story.

He was a key activist in the early movement for gay rights. His homosexuality was not accepted by his father and he attempted suicide at 21. In the 1970's he became a leading activist in the Gay Liberation Front, leading marches and taking the cause of gay rights across the country. He became a Vegan and in 1986 wrote The Vegan Cookbook one of the earliest books of its kind in the UK

Wakeman lived most of his life around Soho in London. Wearing bright green trousers and yellow sweaters, with hair half way down his back, he was a regular attraction spotted by many visitors to the capital.

Shortly before his death, Wakemnan produced an autobiography, Fragments of Joy and Sorrow, which was published in June this year.

Website

Tiny Rebel Games have launched the latest version of the mobile based game, Doctor Who: Legacy. The update brings new storylines with the addition of Sonic Adventures and Doctor Who: Legacy Kids as well as a variety of new gameplay features and levels. 3.0 will lead in to the new series of Doctor Who with new levels inspired by the television episodes.

The Sonic Adventures story arc is led by the First Doctor and includes new "sonic" versions of fan favourite characters Captain Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, River Song, and the introduction of the classic Third Doctor companion, Jo Grant and the addition of the First Doctor’s Signet Ring. Players of Sonic Adventures will be able to unlock a full team of new Sonic Adventure characters. This optional add-on to the game will cost 9.99 USD (7.68 GBP) which will unlock access to 30 new levels and over 20 guaranteed reward characters including sonic screwdrivers, sonic lipstick, sonic cane, and more.

Doctor Who: Legacy Kids is a dedicated area for younger fans and is inspired by the "Anna's Playground" levels. The new optional area of the game comes with a new art style created by BBC Worldwide. The Kids area unlocks for 4.99 USD and allows children a simplified experience of the game with no team creation and easier enemies.


More details and images can be found here.

Russian "art collective" and distributor of international films CoolConnections has announced that on September 15 and 16, Russian cinemas will be showing Doctor Who's Series 8 finale Dark Water & Death in Heaven in 3D, as well as the Series 9 preview. Locations and times have not yet been announced. The episodes will be shown in English, with Russian subtitles.

In 2013, Russian cinemas joined the international simulcast of the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor.

Dark Water and Death in Heaven are also being shown in 3D in cinemas in the United States (Fathom Events), Canada (Front Row Centre Events/Cineplex Entertainment) and Denmark (Cinemaxx Cinemas). There are no plans to present the episodes in UK cinemas.