The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who will return to BBC One at 7.10pm on Saturday 27th August.

The start time is one of the latest for the programme since it returned in 2005, and brings the series into the heart of prime time Saturday night viewing.

On BBC One Doctor Who will follow All New Celebrity Total Wipeout, a star-studded edition of the obstacle-course game show, and will be followed by The National Lottery: Secret Fortune.

ITV 1 will be showing All Star family Fortunes during Doctor Who, featuring Former Birds of a Feather actress Pauline Quirke and broadcaster Jo Whiley. Their big hitter The X Factor begins a new series at 8pm, just as Doctor Who finishes, and BBC planners will be hoping that a substantial number of X Factor fans will turn to The Doctor as the build up to the talent show.

BBC Two will offer The Normans as an alternative to Doctor Who with Professor Robert Bartlett travelling from Britain to Jerusalem. Those inspired to find out more about Hitler following his encounter with The Doctor can watch Adolf Hitler v Hans Litten: To Stop a Tyrant, on the channel from 8pm.

Channel 4 offers Athletics in the form of day one of the IAAF World Championships while Five has Law & Order.

Doctor Who returns to North America the same evening, showing on BBC America at 9ET and on SPACE at 8ET. Australia sees the episode a week later on 3rd September at 7.30pm on ABC1.

After its original debut on Apple platforms last year, BBC Worldwide have now announced the release of Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time for the Android platform, their first gaming venture for the popular mobile operating system.

Robert Nashak, EVP at Digital Entertainment, BBC Worldwide said:
The basic game is free with an initial set of levels; further content packs are available to purchase, unlocking new levels, monsters and challenges.


The game is now officially available to download via the Android Marketplace.
(with thanks to BBC Worldwide)

Edward Russell, senior brand executive for Doctor Who, has finally confirmed what other media outlets have been speculating on for weeks, that the second half of the series returns in a couple of weeks time:

The BBC have now issued their press pack for the series return, introduced by head writer Steven Moffat:
The Press Pack includes interviews with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, and also discusses plotlines for the forthcoming stories, which may be considered spoilers.

The BBC have also released a video featuring Karen Gillan discussing what to expect in the up-and-coming episodes:

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Last night saw a preview for Let's Kill Hitler take place at the British Film Institute, followed by a Q&A with Steven Moffat, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill; the Radio Times have published a review of the evening on their blog.

You can also read a transcript of the Q&A session courtesy of Ian Wylie.

As reported last week, the Doctor Who Experience is running a number of workshops over summer, including a Silurian prosthetics demonstration on the 24th August. The organisers have now announced that Doctor Who script editor Gary Russell will be appearing at the demonstration, where he will be transformed into a Silurian during a live makeover.
The exhibition also now features four versions of the TARDIS, with the arrival of the "junk" console which featured in this year's The Doctor's Wife, as designed by Blue Peter winner Susannah Leah.

Next Thursday (18th August) sees the sixth episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day premiering in the UK, with The Middle Men being broadcast at 9:00pm on BBC1/BBC1HD. The episode will also be repeated on BBC2/BBCHD the following Monday at 11:20pm, and available to watch online in the UK via the BBC iPlayer until 23rd September.



The BBC trailer for the episode is available online:

A preview clip from the episode is also available to watch:

Episode Four of Torchwood: Miracle Day, Escape to L.A., had a final official rating of 5.19 million viewers according to figures released by BARB.

The programme was the 10th highest rated on BBC One for the week. The final result includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within 7 days. It does not include those watching on iPlayer.

Episode Five, The Categories of Life, had an AI score of 85.

The BBC have released a prequel for Let's Kill Hitler, the opening story of the second run of episodes for this year's series of Doctor Who, which returns to our screens in a few weeks time; as previously reported the mini-episode bridges the gap between A Good Man Goes To War and Let's Kill Hitler, revealing a little about how Amy feels in the aftermath of events at Demon's Run.


Tonight sees a preview and cast/crew Q&A for the actual episode taking place at the British Film Institute, with a further preview at the Edinburgh Filmhouse on 26th August.

A new set of 4 wallpaper murals based on Doctor Who have just been released by Black Dog Murals.

Each mural is scaled to fit the wall it is intended for and printed on standard wallpaper with environmentally friendly inks. It goes up like any other form of wallpaper.

Two of the four designs, officially licensed by BBC Worldwide, feature Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy. Another includes images of the Doctor's legendary enemy the Daleks, surrounding the Tardis, while the fourth shows the dimensionally transcendental inside of the Tardis.

Price is £25 per square meter.

Edward Russell, the Brand Manager for Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, is to undertake a 160 mile walk from the BBC's Upper Boat Studios in Wales to BBC Television Centre in London:


You can follow his preparations and progress for the walk via the WalkForLis blog, and there is also a Facebook group that you can join.

Next Monday the BBC will release a special Prequel to the second half of the 2011 series of Doctor Who.

The Prequel to Let's Kill Hitler will be available exclusively on the official BBC Doctor Who site.

Written by series show-runner Steven Moffat, the short episode will bridge episodes 7 and 8, showing how the Doctor and Amy are feeling following the events of A Good Man Goes to War.

The official site promises humour, drama and a heart-breaking moment.

The BBC has yet to confirm an official date for the return of Doctor Who in the UK.