The BBC have released some publicity images to promote this year's Christmas special, The Time and The Doctor, featuring Matt Smith as the Doctor, with Jenna Coleman as Clara.


A further set of images will be published on Saturday.

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The evening line-up for British television on Christmas Day shows that this year Doctor Who is up against its old adversary, Coronation Street, also on between 7:30pm and 8:30pm on ITV. Other programming on the main channels include The Two Ronnies 1987 Christmas Special on BBC2, the film Home Alone 2 on Channel 4, and a repeat of The Greatest Ever Christmas Movies on Channel 5. The BBC/ITV 'battle' then continues with Eastenders (8:30pm) and Mrs Brown's Boys (9:30pm) up against Downton Abbey.

In case you need something to watch as your Christmas lunch settles, BBC2 will be repeating this year's Doctor Who at the Prom at 3:15pm, and the anniversary drama An Adventure in Space and Time at 4:30pm.

Doctor Who has been honoured with a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the series' fiftieth anniversary.

The reception was attended by past Doctors Tom Baker and Peter Davison as well as the current incumbent Matt Smith and The War Doctor John Hurt.

Held at the official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch, the reception was hosted by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, the daughter-in-law of the Queen.

Also attending were current showrunner Steven Moffat, today celebrating his 52nd birthday, and current companion Jenna Coleman. The event was held in the Bow Room of the Palace, which had been decked out with Daleks and a TARDIS in honour of the event.

Former companion Catherine Tate was also invited as well as senior members of BBC management including Director General Lord Hall and Director of Television Danny Cohen.

Also present were children from two Cardiff schools, Gladstone Primary and Mount Stuart Primary, who entered a local competition to design a Tardis for the Queen. One of the winners, Hafza Hassan, 10, had painted a gold-plated time machine with a Union flag door, while Emily Parnce, 11, had included a dog flap for the Queen's corgis and an illuminated crown on the roof.

A behind-the-scenes report on The Day of the Doctor was shown on BBC One's Breakfast today.

Presented by entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba, the four-minute piece included interviews with Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt, and Jenna Coleman.

Watch the report below. (NB: May not play outside the UK.)

The BBC and BBC America have released a number of new publicity images to promote the forthcoming The Day of The Doctor; this batch includes images of Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt as the Doctor, with Jenna Coleman as Clara, Billie Piper as Rose, and Ingrid Oliver as Osgood.

The BBC have released a number of new publicity photos to promote the forthcoming 50th Anniversary adventure The Day of the Doctor. Images feature Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt as the Doctor, with Jenna Coleman as Clara and Billie Piper as Rose, and featuring Joanna Page as Elizabeth and Jemma Redgrave as Kate.

The Night of The Doctor

Some publicity images are also available for the minisode, The Night of The Doctor. (Note: these images are currently hidden by default for those who have yet to see the episode and its revelations.)

BBC Radio Wales has announced it will dedicate its daytime schedule to Doctor Who on Thursday, November 21 - two days before the worldwide broadcast of the special 50th anniversary adventure, The Day Of The Doctor.

Two of the station’s daytime programmes, Jason Mohammad and Eleri Siôn, will be broadcasting live from the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay on the day, with a host of special guests ready to tell the Welsh story of the legendary time traveller. Radio Wales will also be re-broadcasting the Doctor Who Prom that was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London in July this year.

BBC Radio Wales’ Editor, Steve Austins, says: From 10am on Radio Wales Doctor Who Day, Jason Mohammad will be chatting with Jenna Coleman about her role as the Doctor’s current companion, Clara Oswald, and Steven Moffat, the show’s head writer and executive producer, will be answering listeners’ questions. Mohammad will also be talking to the curator of the Doctor Who Experience, Andrew Beech, and there will be a special item about how Wales has benefited from its association with the long-running series.

Mohammad’s connection with the series is stronger than some listeners of his Radio Wales show may appreciate, as he’s appeared as a newsreader on both Doctor Who and the spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures. He’s therefore experienced some of the passion the fans have for the series at first hand. Eleri Siôn will take over the live broadcasts from the Doctor Who Experience from 1pm, with an interview with location manager Iwan Roberts about his job and some of the Welsh locations used on the series. There will also be an exclusive look behind the scenes as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales records the music for The Day Of The Doctor, including interviews with composer Murray Gold and conductor Ben Foster. Film critic Gary Slaymaker will also assess the impact Doctor Who has made on film.

BBC Radio Wales can be heard globally via the BBC Website.

BBC America will be finishing its celebratory series Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited on Sunday 24th November - the day after the show's 50th anniversary - when it marks the Eleventh Doctor's era.

A special documentary entitled Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited - The Eleventh Doctor will air at 8pm ET/PT, in which Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, and Steven Moffat will be among the participants examining the human side of this Doctor and taking a look at how all the years he has lived have affected him.

As previously reported, the documentary will be followed by the Series 6 opening two-parter The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. Written by Moffat, directed by Toby Haynes, and originally broadcast in April 2011, these episodes were - appropriately enough - the first ones to see Doctor Who's lead actors filming in the USA for a story.

The BBC have released some new images to promote the forthcoming 50th Anniversary adventure, The Day of the Doctor, featuring the three "Doctors" Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt, with Jenna Coleman as Clara and Jemma Redgrave as Kate.

Voting has now opened for the nineteenth National Television Awards, and it wouldn't be a ceremony if Doctor Who and its stars hadn't been nominated for awards!

The show itself is nominated in the Drama category; candidates at this stage is always large, with this year's nominees covering a variety of genres from both the UK and USA: The Fall, The White Queen, Shetland, Love and Marriage, New Tricks, Doc Martin, Foyle's War, Jonathan Creek, Poirot, Silent Witness, Death In Paradise, Scott & Bailey, The Village, Call The Midwife, Under The Dome, DCI Banks, Revolution, Endeavour, Ripper Street, Vera, Homeland, Lewis, What Remains, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Luther, Last Tango in Halifax, Broadchurch, Midsomer Murders, Law & Order: UK, Holby City, Downton Abbey, Casualty, Mr Selfridge and The Syndicate.

This year, the Drama Performance category is combined, meaning that Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman are nominated against each other, not to mention facing a wealth of talent: Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), Joanna Vanderham (The Paradise), Jeremy Piven (Mr Selfridge), Claire Danes (Homeland), Emun Elliott (The Paradise), Mark Addy (The Syndicate), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness), Rosie Marcel (Holby City), Alison Steadman (Love and Marriage), Maxine Peake (The Village), Sunetra Sarker (Casualty), Rebecca Ferguson (The White Queen), Max Irons (The White Queen), Anne Reid (Last Tango In Halifax), Caroline Catz (Doc Martin), Miranda Hart (Call The Midwife), Larry Lamb (Love and Marriage), Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife), Guy Henry (Holby City), Sarah Lancashire (Last Tango in Halifax), Martin Clunes (Doc Martin), John Simm (The Village), Siobhan Finneran (The Syndicate), Katherine Kelly (Mr Selfridge), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Derek Jacobi (Last Tango in Halifax), Suzanne Packer (Casualty), and Damian Lewis (Homeland).

Other Who names include David Tennant, nominated for his role as DI Alex Hardy in Broadchurch within the TV Detectives category, which also features Bradley Walsh, Lesley Sharp, Olivia Colman, and Suranne Jones (not to mention Benedict Cumberbatch for Sherlock!). Lesley Dunlop has been nominated in the Serial Drama Performance category for her role as Brenda Walker in Emmerdale. Alexander Armstrong is nominated in the Entertainment Presenter category.

Voting is open until 11th October, with the shortlist of up to four from each category announced for the final vote in early January. The ceremony itself will be broadcast live on ITV1 from the O2 in London on 22nd January 2014.


Doctor Who failed to win any awards in 2013, in spite of the series being nominated for Drama, Matt Smith for Drama Performance: Male, and Karen Gillan for Drama Performance: Female (both actors won their respective categories in 2012).

A complete list of winners over the years can be found on the NTA website.

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Daybreak's entertainment correspondent Richard Arnold caught up with Peter Davison during the evening; speaking about the 50th Anniversary Davison said: