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."

The BBC have confirmed that the first official television trailer for Doctor Who's next series will air on Thursday 2nd August, around 8:00pm on BBC1, with a repeat the following week.

The trailer forms part of a series of promotions for shows that form the latest Original British Drama campaign that will run throughout the London Olympics coverage over the coming seventeen days.

As well as Doctor Who, the list includes Merlin, Hunted, Good Cop, Accused, The Secret of Crickley Hall, The Paradise, Ripper Street, plus the stalwart soap EastEnders. The 'series' of trailers kicks off from 28th July with a special "Bundle" compilation.

Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, said:

BBC America are to broadcast four new special documentaries in the lead-up to their premiere of the next series of Doctor Who. Forming part of their Supernatural Saturday themed evenings, the first documentary will be broadcast on Saturday 4th August:


The documentary will be preceded by repeats of last year's documentaries, Best of the Companions, Best of the Monsters and Best of the Doctor from 6:00pm.


The following weeks will see documentaries on The Women of Doctor Who (11th August), The Timey-Wimey of Doctor Who (18th August), and The Destinations of Doctor Who (25th August).

More episode titles for the forthcoming new series of Doctor Who have been officially revealed.

Said to be needing one of the largest sets to date, the second episode is called Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, while the Western-themed episode three, which was shot on location in Spain, has been confirmed as A Town Called Mercy.

Meanwhile, at the San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, it was also announced that episode four is called Cubed.

Dinosaurs On A Spaceship has been written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Saul Metzstein. It co-stars Mark Williams as Rory's dad, Brian, and Rupert Graves. A Town Called Mercy, co-starring Adrian Scarborough and Ben Browder, has been written by Toby Whithouse and again directed by Saul Metzstein.

Showrunner Steven Moffat said: Cubed, which has also been written by Chris Chibnall, is being directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Principal photography on it has now been completed.

The title of the first episode of Series 7 was revealed last month to be Asylum of the Daleks.

The show returns later this year with a run of five episodes followed by the Christmas special and a further eight episodes in 2013. Asylum of the Daleks is to be premiered at the BFI in London on Tuesday 14th August. It will also be shown during the Edinburgh International Television Festival, which runs from 23rd to 25th August.

The BBC have announced on Twitter that Dame Diana Rigg is to appear in Doctor Who alongside daughter Rachael Stirling; lead writer Steven Moffat said:
The script commences filming this week, with the pair "playing a mother and daughter with a dark secret". The story is set in Yorkshire, with filming kicking off today at Roath Lock Studios and Bute Town in Rhymney, which stands in for a village in the county.

Diana Rigg is of course best remembered as Emma Peel in the 1960s series The Avengers, and also became James Bond's short-lived wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; however the actress has had a long career covering stage, screen and television including The Assassination Bureau, Diana, Bleak House and The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries. She also hosted the PBS series Mystery! for some 15 years.

On her appearance in another sci-fi/fantasy institution, she said:

Meanwhile, her daughter's career has encompassed starring as Nan in the controversial BBC adaptation of Tipping the Velvet, with other television appearances including The Young Victoria, Boy Meets Girl and last year's Women in Love; she has also appeared in films such as Centurion, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Snow White and the Huntsman. The actress is also no stranger to the world of Doctor Who, featuring alongside Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, playing Demesne Furze in the recently released Big Finish Fourth Doctor adventure Trail of the White Worm.

On her latest role, Rachael said:

Actor David Warner is to guest star in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine reports that the veteran actor will take a role in a story penned by Who stalwart, Mark Gatiss, which is part of the recording block currently being completed in Cardiff.

Warner has had a long and illustrious acting career appearing in films such as The Omen, Time Bandits, Tron, The Lost World, Titanic and Planet of the Apes. He has appeared in the Star Trek films The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country as well as playing Gul Madred in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although Warner has not appeared on television in Doctor Who before, he has lent his vocal talents to the series when he provided the voice of Lord Azlok in the animated adventure Dreamland, first shown in 2009. He has also appeared in many audio plays for Big Finish Productions, where he has played an alternative version of The Doctor.

The story, due for transmission in early 2013, will be the fifth script for the series by Mark Gatiss, whose last script, Night Terrors, was shown last year. Gatiss told Doctor Who Magazine he was thrilled to be writing for the Eleventh Doctor once more, this time alongside his new companion played by Jenna Louise Coleman. It will be directed by Douglas MacKinnon who directed The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky in 2008.

The story will also star Irish actor Liam Cunningham, who has appeared in a number of film and television productions including A Little Princess, First Knight, Jude, Dog Soldiers, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Clash of the Titans, The Guard and the BBC One science-fiction drama series Outcasts, and more recently has become known to international audiences as Ser Davos Seaworth on HBO's Game of Thrones.

Two guest stars have also been confirmed for the previous episode recorded, the first to be filmed with Jenna-Louise Coleman. Written by Luther creator Neil Cross and directed by Jamie Payne, both of whom are making their début on Doctor Who, the episode will star Dougray Scott and Jessica Raine.

Scott is a Scottish actor who has appeared in films such as Enigma, Desperate Housewives and, recently, in My Week With Marilyn , while Raine is best known for playing the lead role of nurse Jenny Lee in the BBC1 drama series Call The Midwife.

An updated cast list for each story can be found in the Doctor Who Guide.

The British Film Institute is to premiere the first episode of the 2012 series of Doctor Who, Asylum of the Daleks, on Tuesday 14th August 2012 at 6:00pm.

The episode, which has been described as including "every Dalek ever", was named in the Institute's advance programme. The screening will include a Q&A session with writer and show runner Steven Moffat plus other members of the cast and crew yet to be confirmed.

Tickets go on sale to the public from 10th July (BFI members from 3rd).

As previously reported, the episode will also be shown at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, which runs from 23rd to 25th August.

The television premiere of the episode has yet to be announced; however, last year's Let's Kill Hitler received both a BFI and MGEITF premiere in August prior to its broadcast on the Bank Holiday weekend, which for this year would be Saturday 25th August.

Speaking on the BBC's Doctor Who website, executive producer Caroline Skinner said:

The BBC have released the last in their series of three publicity photos of Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman:



The shots featured the pair on location at Margam Country Park at the end of May during the first block of filming with the new co-star. The episode itself will be broadcast in 2013.

The BBC have released the second of their series of three publicity photos of Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman together on location, here at Margam Country Park where filming took place at the end of May.



The next photo is due via the BBC's Doctor Who site on Wednesday.

Filming Update:

As reported last week, Jenna-Louise Coleman has now joined the Doctor Who "family"; speaking on the Richard Bacon Show, BAFTA winner Steven Moffat commented on the impact her arrival has had on the series:
The complete interview on Doctor Who, Sherlock, and the Kennedy assassination is available to listen to worldwide from the BBC iPlayer until next Monday afternoon.

The episode currently being filmed is not Jenna's first episode - that will be this year's Christmas Special (which Moffat reports is still being written and well overdue!) - but will be one of the 2013 episodes; it has been written by Neil Cross (Spooks/Luther), and is being directed by Jamie Payne (Ashes to Ashes, Primeval and the recent Call the Midwife). Locations filmed thus far have included the Manor House at Plas Llanmihangel, Margam Country Park and Gethin Woodland Park - the latter eliciting a comment from alternative rock group Let It Fall, who tweeted: "Soooo.. We was going to write some music in the woods, but we bumped into the Dr. Who film crew, cool ay?". Other unconfirmed reports indicated another trip 'across the bridge' to England late last week, possibly to Bristol's historic harbourside.

Writers:

During a school talk, writer Steve Thompson mentioned that he would be writing an episode for the forthcoming series, and commented that he needed to read the scripts of the first five episodes. With the Christmas Special known to be the sixth episode, this would place his story firmly within the second half of the series.

Mark Gatiss confirmed that he was writing a story for 2013 to Digital Spy at BAFTA, saying that "it's for the new companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman, that's all I can tell you or I will actually be shot!"

As well as Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Neil Cross, other writers believed to be contributing towards the eight episodes featuring new co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman are John Fay and Tom MacRae.

Cast:

Some of the recent names to be confirmed in the next series include: for episode two, Riann Steele (Death in Paradise) as Queen Nefertiti; for episode four, Mark Williams continues his role as Rory's father Brian, Steven Berkoff (The Borgias) as Mr Shanks, Stephen Blything as Henry, Ruthie Henshall (The Case), Jemma Redgrave (Cold Blood, Bramwell) as Kate Stewart; and for episode five, Rob David (Rome) as Sam Garner and Michael McShane (Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Clerks, Spawn) - the latter said on Twitter: "Getting ready to leave for Cardiff to be a villain in Dr.Who!! YEEESSSS!!!«. In my episode the Doctor finds he's got a;:/;;zapppppp GACK. sizzle,hissssss......« Most fantastic time doing Doctor Who; best cast and crew I've been with in a while! Long live Gallifrey...« Can't say what I did In Doctor Who, or Steven Moffat will ride in on a horse and crush my head with a mace, like Mel in "Braveheart"..sorry.«"

Caitlin Blackwood, aka the young Amelia Pond, was a guest at last weekend's Timegate convention, and when asked about possibly appearing in the next series she avoided the answer, instead miming having her lips zipped shut and saying "spoilers"...

On the other hand, John Simm commented: "in reply to many, regardless of what it says on imdb, No i'm not returning to Dr Who. Got absolutely no plans to do so.«"

Scheduling:

Addressing recent concerns over scheduling and a potentially shorter series in the future, Moffat assured listeners on the Richard Bacon show:

Roath Lock Studios:

The BBC have released a video to introduce the new Roath Lock Studios at Cardiff Bay, presented by the 'current' cast of Arthur Darvill, Karen Gillan and Matt Smith; the video (originally shown to visitors at the studio's opening tour) includes facts and figures and a look behind the scenes within the new studios.