Penguin Books are to publish a new series of ebooks in their Puffin range for children to tie in with Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary. The series will consist of eleven short stories published electronically, with the first released on 23rd January featuring a tale about the First Doctor. Each subsequent incarnation will then be published on the 23rd of each month thereafter until the Eleventh Doctor's adventure on the anniversary itself.

The range is being produced in partnership with BBC Worldwide, who will be promoting each book through their Facebook and YouTube channels. The series launches next Monday with the author of the first book being announced on Facebook, with a promotional video appearing on YouTube the following Friday.

Each author will then continue to be announced on Facebook on the first Monday of the month, with a video on YouTube on the 11th.

Juliet Matthews, Publisher, Penguin Children's, said:
The books will be published online through Penguin itself, the iBookstore and Amazon.


In addition, the anniversary itself will see all eleven adventures released together as a single book anthology.

Other books during 2013:

Other Penguin Children’s books relating to Doctor Who this year include:

• Doctor Who: Puffin Eshorts (January – November)
  
• Doctor Who: Anniversary Sticker Book (4th April, Paperback)
  
• Doctor Who: Where’s the Doctor? (4th April, Paperback Reissue)
  
• Doctor Who: Official Annual 2014 (1st August, Hardback)
  
• Doctor Who: Lost in Space (5th September, Hardback)
  
• Doctor Who: The Essential Guide to Fifty Years of Doctor Who (October, Hardback)
  
• Doctor Who: Anniversary Anthology (November, Paperback)
  

The Snowmen has given BBC America record ratings, with the Christmas Day special being watched by 1.434 million people either live or within seven days.

This was a rise of 54 per cent on the BBC America ratings for last year's Christmas episode, making it the channel's second most-popular programme, beaten only by Asylum of the Daleks, which garnered 1.555 million viewers in September.

Perry Simon, BBC America's general manager, said:According to TV By The Numbers, it was the 70th most-watched programme on cable on the day and 17th in its transmission slot.

Doctor Who has also been voted TV Guide cover of 2012, having made the front last month as last year's Fan Favorite.

The BBC have released a behind-the-scenes video that explores the making of The Snowmen. The confidentialette looks at how modern-day Bristol was transformed into Victorian London, with observations by Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara), Matt Smith (The Doctor), Saul Metzstein (director) and Caroline Skinner (executive producer).

The clip joins a number that have been released over the course of December, including interviews with Jenna, Dan Starkey (Strax) and Richard E Grant (Dr Simeon).

Today's festive treat from the BBC Adventure Calendar is a selection of carols given a Sontaran makeover by Commander Strax...

The Doctor Who multi-player online social game Worlds In Time has now been made available on the Kongregate, Newgrounds.com, and Armor Games platforms.

Published by BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment And Games and developed by Three Rings, it was launched earlier this year, with the game seeing players guided by the Doctor and working alone or uniting in missions against villains and iconic monsters such as the Weeping Angels, Cybermen, Daleks, Autons, Ood, and Zygons.

Robert Nashak, the executive vice-president for BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment And Games, said: More distribution deals are said to be in development.

Kongregate co-founder and chief executive officer Jim Greer said: Tom Fulp, the founder of Newgrounds.com, added:
Ron Johnson, the director of product development at Armor Games, commented: The game is updated continually and throughout the adventure players explore and interact with various characters and complete puzzles to move the game forward. There are a variety of puzzle types that players can choose from, and completing the puzzles also serves to charge various devices, such as the sonic screwdriver. Based on a player's puzzle-play preference and skills, they can be a guardian, technician, diplomat, or adventurer in the game.

It should be noted that Worlds In Time is an online game that takes place in a live, open social environment and allows for live chat between players. As such, it is restricted to people aged at least 13. In addition, it uses "micro-transactions" for players to buy "an enhanced experience".

The BBC have made the Doctor Who pre-Snowmen minisode Vastra Investigates available on television via the Red Button service.

Times currently announced are:

Thursday	7:30pm-8:55pm
Thursday	10:30pm-Midnight
Friday	Midnight-6:00am
Friday	9:00pm-Midnight
Saturday	Midnight-6:00am
Saturday	6:00pm-6:30pm
Saturday	7:55pm-8:50pm
Saturday	10:05pm-Midnight
Sunday	Midnight-1:25am
Monday	7:00pm-Midnight
Tuesday	Midnight-6:00am
Tuesday	3:00pm-5:15pm

The service is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

The BBC have announced that it is to launch its BBC Entertainment channel in Burma from next year. The pay-TV channel will launch from 1st January 2013 alongside BBC World News and CBeebies, which will join the BBC World Service broadcast through the region's Forever Group.

BBC Entertainment showcases the best comedy, drama and light entertainment from the BBC and other UK production houses; this of course includes Doctor Who - so will mark the first time the series has been broadcast in the country!

Mark Whitehead, Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBC Worldwide Channels Asia, said:

The BBC have also announced another first for Doctor Who, as BBC Entertainment is also introduced to Indonesia, to be broadcast via max3 from Biznet Networks. Mark Whitehead commented:

Doctor Who on BBC Entertainment:

At the time of writing the channel is currently showing Series 6 in Asia, and tonight will show last year's festive adventure The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe.

A revised and updated iPad app is being released for the Doctor Who Encyclopedia later this week.

Developed by Brandwidth with BBC Books, the app has up-to-date information on every episode since the show returned to our TV screens in 2005. New entries and images cover The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe, the first five episodes of Series 7, and mini-episodes such as Pond Life. In addition, four of the 11 portals have been updated.

The app is now optimised for iOS6, and BBC Books says that no more in-app purchasing is needed.

The updated app will be released on Wednesday 19th December.

BBC Books have announced the release of a second Doctor Who ebook. The story, written by Justin Richards, is set prior to the events of this year’s Christmas special, The Snowmen, and features Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

BBC Books’ second digital-only Doctor Who adventure (the first being The Angel's Kiss) will be published on 18 December 2012.

BBC One launched "Christmas" this evening with a live display of festive show imagery projected onto BBC Television Centre during tonight's edition of The One Show, including a virtual TARDIS bursting its way out of the building!


The show was immediately followed by the second 'episode' of their festive campaign fronted by Rob Brydon and Sarah Alexander, featuring the Doctor being chased by Miranda Hart with mistletoe, and concluding with Mrs Brown returning in the TARDIS (seen dematerialising in episode one) to announce "Relax, I've just been to the future - it all turns out fine, Rob!". It's Showtime! The Doctor/Miranda segment will also be shown as a separate trailer as part of the publicity over the next couple of weeks.