The BBC have published details for the finale of this batch of Doctor Who episodes, The Angels Take Manhattan, which is due to be broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on Saturday 29th September. The time of the episode is yet to be confirmed, and will be finalised next week.

The BBC have now confirmed that the fourth episode of the current series of Doctor Who, The Power of Three, will be broadcast on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Saturday 22nd September. As in previous weeks, the episode will face competition on ITV1 from Red or Black? and The X Factor; on the other main channels, BBC2 continues its run of Dad's Army, Channel 4 launch a new dating game show called Baggage, whilst Channel 5 travels to the wild west in the film Maverick.

Three images have been released to promote the episode, which also features guest star Jemma Redgrave who plays the role of Kate Stewart. A variety of additional new images will be revealed next week.

This week's Doctor Who Adventures magazine comes with either a squirty bow tie or a build-your-own TARDIS kit.
Issue 286 of Doctor Who Adventures is out in the UK from 13 September.

A new composition has been unveiled today to commemorate the BBC's historic Bush House, which ceased broadcasting in July. It was composed by Matthew Herbert, who has been appointed the creative director of the New Radiophonic Workshop, the successor to the original BBC Radiophonic Workshop that itself closed some fourteen years ago.

The piece was commissioned as the former World Service headquarters sees much of its old equipment being sold off in auction over the coming week; talking about the closure and its relevance to the Radiophonic Workshop, Herbert said:
The piece can be listened to via the right button, or on THE SPACE website.


The New Radiophonic Workshop was formed this year as part of an initiative undertaken by THE SPACE, an experimental digital Arts portal managed by Arts Council England and developed in partnership with the BBC. The workshop's first commission was The Sound of The Space, a compilation that brings together some twenty-five themes from across the portal, and can be listened to via their website.

An accomplished musician and contributor to fellow artists' projects and films, Matthew Herbert has also been credited with pioneering the use of 'found' sound in modern electronic music, that is, the integration of naturally occurring sound within compositions.

Joining him in the new Workshop initiative are music/sound designer Yann Seznec, composer Max de Wardener, broadcast technologist Tony Churnside, musician Mica Levi, theatre director Lyndsey Turner, and creative technologist Patrick Bergel.

Unlike the original workshop, which was based in Maida Vale, the new one is described as "a virtual institution, an online portal and forum for discussion around the challenges of creating new sounds, and bringing together music composition and software design."

Speaking of the resurrection of a pioneering institution, Herbert said:

BBC Radiophonic Workshop

The inspiration of "radiophonic" aware BBC producers such as Desmond Briscoe and Daphne Oram, the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop was founded in 1958, headed by Briscoe with technical assistant Dick Mills. The Workshop was at the cutting edge of electronic sound and music development, and attracted the talents of composers including Delia Derbyshire (who realised the original Doctor Who theme tune) and Brian Hodgson (who created many of the special sounds heard in the early years of the show).

THE SPACE have provided a short video interview with the Radiophonic Workshop team, which originates from a Tomorrow's World from 1965.

Doctor Who returns as a specialist subject for the long-running knowledge quiz show Mastermind this coming Friday (8:00pm, BBC2). The questions will be based around the show between 1963 and 1989, while the topics for the other contestants are the geography and history of Arkansas from 1836, football manager Terry Venables, and the story of Moses in the King James Bible.

The show has featured as a specialist subject a number of times in the past, such as in 2004, and notably when the Telegraph's resident Doctor Who reviewer Gavin Fuller became champion during Doctor Who's 30th Anniversary in 1993.

There was also a special Doctor Who-themed version of Mastermind on 19th March 2005 as part of BBC2's Doctor Who Night the weekend before Rose was to herald the triumphant return of the show on television. The questions were set by John Leeson and the winner, Karen Davies, received the trophy from the Doctor himself, Christopher Eccleston. The actor also appeared on Junior Mastermind nearly a year later, where he was interviewed by the young contestant Sam who had chosen Doctor Who's premiere year as his specialist subject on 26th February 2006.

In addition, David Tennant had Doctor Who as his specialist subject on a celebrity edition of Mastermind for Comic Relief on 13th March 2009.

Meanwhile, back in 1988 the New Zealand version of Mastermind featured Doctor Who as the specialist subject from long-term fan Jon Preddle - you can read more about his 'adventure' on the show via the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club.

Doctor Who scooped the Best Family Drama title last night for the third year in a row at the TV Choice Awards.

Series Six saw off stiff competition from Merlin, Glee, and Waterloo Road to take the prize, with showrunner Steven Moffat accepting the honour at the ceremony, which was held at The Dorchester in London.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, who had been nominated in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, lost out to, respectively, Benedict Cumberbatch (for Sherlock) and Miranda Hart. Gillan was named Best Actress last year but it was a successive disappointment for Smith, who in 2011 was beaten in the Best Actor category by David Tennant for Single Father.

Sherlock, created by Moffat and Mark Gatiss, was named Best Drama Series at last night's awards.

Big Finish have released the covers for some of the forthcoming stories due towards the end of the year.

November sees the release of a sequel, as producer David Richardson comments:

December's regular adventure stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, 1001 Nights will comprise four one-episode stories with a linking theme. Guest stars include Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Nadim Sawalha (Syriana) and Malcolm Tierney (Terror of the Vervoids).

Subscribers to the regular range that includes 1001 Nights will be eligible for this year's free adventure, Night of the Stormcrow, which stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela. David says:
The story will be released commercially in December 2013.

Canadian broadcaster SPACE has reported another ratings success with its broadcast of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship last Saturday.


Canadian viewers can catch up on Doctor Who at SPACEcast.com.

Final ratings data for the week ending 2nd September 2012 have now been released by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board or BARB, putting Doctor Who as the sixth most-watched programme of the week on British television.

Asylum of the Daleks was the third most-watched programme on BBC television for the week, with the crime series New Tricks taking top place followed by EastEnders. ITV had two episodes of Coronation Street and one of The X Factor in the list above the Doctor. While BBC One BARB listings include those watching on BBC One HD, ITV listings do not include ITV HD or ITV+1 which need to be added to the main channel statistics in order to compare like for like.

The chart position of 6th is equal to last year's series opener The Impossible Astronaut.

In the long history of Doctor Who only 14 of the 785 episodes broadcast achieved a higher chart position.

The final ratings figure does not include those watching on iPlayer where over 600,000 people accessed the episode in the first three days.

The BBC have released a variety of photos to promote A Town Called Mercy, which will premiere on BBC1 next Saturday at 7:35pm.


A Town Called Mercy is due to be broadcast at these times around the world:

United Kingdom : Saturday 15th September, 7:35pm BST   BBC1
United States  : Saturday 15th September, 9:00pm ET    BBC America
Canada         : Saturday 15th September, 9:00pm ET    SPACE
Australia      : Saturday 22nd September, 7:30pm AEST  ABC (also on iView from 16th Sept)
New Zealand    : Thursday 27th September, 8:30pm NZST  Prime

Radio Times visits A Town Called Mercy

This week's Radio Times features an interview with the cast, who talk about their Wild West adventure.

Matt Smith:
Arthur Darvill:
Karen Gillan:

The full interview can be read in the latest edition, out today.
(with thanks to Radio Times)

Coming Soon: The Power of Three

Meanwhile, Radio Times has listed The Power of Three to remain in the 7:35-8:20pm timeslot on 22nd September; BBC Programme Information has yet to confirm the time, which will be finalised later in the week.