Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed that this year's Christmas Special of Doctor Who will be shown on New Year's Day 2019.

The change is a radical change for the series which has been part of the Christmas Day schedule since the series returned in 2005. The series peaked in 2007 when Kylie Minogue joined the Tenth Doctor in Voyage of the Damned watched by 13.3 million viewers. Last year's Christmas special, Twice Upon A Time, marking the departure of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, was watched by 7.92 million.

The episode to be shown on New Year's Day will mark the end of Jodie Whittaker's first season as The Doctor. The last episode to be shown on New Year's Day was the second part of The End of Time in 2010 where it had 12.27 million viewers.

The BBC have released a number of images from this today's press launch in Sheffield for the new series of Doctor Who - the event saw lead writer Chris Chibnall on the red carpet with Jodie Whittaker (the Doctor), Tosin Cole (Ryan), Mandip Gill (Yaz), Bradley Walsh (Graham), Sam Oatley, Jamie Childs (Director) Matt Strevens (Executive Producer) and Segun Akinola (Composer).

A full report on the event will appear on Doctor Who News on Thursday.

The event was also covered on the BBC's national News At Six and regional news Look North this evening, both of which can be watched in the UK via the BBC iPlayer until their next edition tomorrow evening.

The 1982 Fifth Doctor story Earthshock is to be screened at the British Film Instute, the BFI, on London's South Bank this November.

The screening, on Saturday 17 November 2018, at midday, will be the new upscaled HD version, due for release as part of the Season 19 Blu-ray released that weekend.

The screening will be followed by a Question and Answer session with actor Matthew Waterhouse, who played Adric in the story, and writer Eric Saward, who wrote the story.

Tickets go on general sale on 25th September.

BFI Website

BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide) have announced that it will be hosting a special Doctor Who experience at South Africa's first Comic Con to tie in with the next series due to air in the country later this year.

The event is taking place in Johannesburg between 14th and 16th September, and will feature VR experiences, video games, trivia and fan giveaways, plus a special showing of Peter Capaldi's finale and the arrival of a new Doctor!

The series itself will be shown in South Africa as a Showmax exclusive, and has been described as:

BBC Studios can be found at Stand B113 in the Exhibition Hall.

Michael Pickwoad, the man behind the look of Doctor Who for the last seven years, has died at the age of 73

As Production Designer Michael Pickwoad oversaw the look of the series from Matt Smith's first Christmas story, A Christmas Carol, until the end of the Peter Capaldi era in Twice Upon A Time. He worked on 71 episodes of the series, designing a new TARDIS interior for the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor's, as well as several episodes of the spin off series Class.

Born in 1945, Michael Pickwoad was the son of the actor William Mervyn, who appeared in the Doctor Who story The War Machines, and the theatre designer Anne Margaret Payne Cooke. He studied Civil Engineering at Southampton University.

He began his career as an Art Director in the early 1970's, working for the Children's Film & Television Foundation on short films such as Wreck Raisers. In the 1980's he moved onto Production Designer, taking responsibility for the overall visual look of a production. One of the first films he worked on was the cult classic Withnail & I, starring Paul McGann

His work on TV included Rules of Engagement, Kavanagh QC and Murder Most Horrid, the Dawn French comedy, part of which was co-written by Steven Moffat. He worked with Moffat on his series Coupling and again on his 2007 drama Jekyll.

In 2010 he took over as Doctor Who's Production Designer, only the second person to hold the position since the series returned in 2005. His tenure saw him create sets that ranged from Victorian London to the Wild West, from the badlands of Skaro to the wilds of Sherwood Forest, from a Cold War Submarine to the Orient Express in space.

Tom Spilsbury, Editor of Doctor Who Magazine throughout his tenure, paid tribute. Former Doctor Who Showrunner Steven Moffat added Michael Pickwoad died on Monday 27th August.

Michael Pickwoad told BBC News where he got his inspiration for the new look TARDIS

John Leeson and Katy Manning are to appear at a charity event this Thursday in Coventry.

The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, PDSA is holding a Doctor Who-themed open day later this week at the Coventry PDSA Pet Hospital. The open day will give local families, animal lovers and budding vets the chance to go behind the scenes of the busy Pet Hospital to see where life-saving pet operations are carried out.

John Leeson, who has been the main voice of the Robot Dog K-9 since his first appearance in Doctor Who in 1977, will be attending along with actress Katy Manning, who played companion Jo Grant alongside the third doctor.

The stars will be joined by a host of baddies and props from the hit sci-fi series, including a TARDIS, Dalek, Cyberman, and K9 himself, who will, of course, be given a free doggy MOT. The free family event is being held at the Pet Hospital on Barkers Butts Lane on Thursday 23 August 11am to 4pm.

Senior Vet at Coventry PDSA, Kurt Vandamme, said The event will raise funds for Coventry PDSA Pet Hospital, which costs around £850,000 annually to run and doesn’t receive any government funding. The special appearances have been arranged by Fantom Events who have donated their services to PDSA free of charge, as well as making a generous donation to Coventry PDSA.

Kurt added Coventry PDSA Pet Hospital treats sick and injured pets in need, providing a vital lifeline for local owners who are struggling to afford vet care for their beloved pets. The dedicated team can see as many as 130 pets a day and perform nearly 50,000 treatments a year, ranging from major life-saving surgery and x-rays, to routine vaccinations and treatment of long-term illnesses.

Nationally PDSA runs 48 Pet Hospitals across the UK, and treats more than 5,000 pets a day – that’s 13 pets a minute! For more information visit the website.

Please note Katy Manning and John Leeson will be signing promotional cards only with every donation.

BBC Studios have announced Doctor Who Season 19 will be the next release in the Doctor Who: The Collection range.

Season 19 is Peter Davison’s first series as the Fifth Doctor and this edition follows the success of Tom Baker’s first season on Blu-ray which sold out within days of release.

The set will be released on the 19th November 2018, as a collector’s edition limited run.

The title will be available to pre-order from HMV and Amazon from tomorrow.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray includes brand new ‘Special Features’ exclusive to this set include: Five new ‘Making-Of’ documentaries for Castrovalva, Four To Doomsday, Black Orchid, Earthshock and Time-Flight, surround sound mixes for Kinda and Earthshock, an Extended Version of Black Orchid Part One, rare studio footage from Castrovalva, Four To Doomsday, Earthshock and Time-Flight, updated special effects for Castrovalva, seven more editions of Behind The Sofa and a newly-shot one-hour interview Peter Davison In Conversation with Matthew Sweet, and much more.

The eight-disc box set also includes the Peter Davison/David Tennant mini-episode Time Crash, plus hours of extensive special features previously released on DVD.

All 26 episodes are being remastered from scratch by Peter Crocker and Mark Ayres. With this season’s original 16mm film elements still in existence, the location material can be presented in true HD, with studio material upscaled. Lee Binding is again providing stunning packaging design and Pete McTighe has written extensive booklet notes and is the content consultant for the title.

Doctor Who: The Collection is executively produced for BBC Studios by Russell Minton.

Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 19 is available in the UK from November 19, 2018 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon

Details of the international release will be available soon.

The Season 19 Safety Video with Tegan Jovanka

BBC Studios and Escape Hunt have announced that Doctor Who-themed live escape rooms will be appearing around the United Kingdom in December.

Mat Way, Global Director of Live Entertainment at BBC Studios, said:

Richard Harpham, CEO Escape Hunt PLC, said:

Launching at the Bristol Escape Hunt venue in December, further rooms are due to open in Birmingham, Leeds, Oxford and Reading during 2019. More details can be found from the Escape Hunt website.

A new date has been added to the schedule of comedian Rob Lloyd's Doctor Who themed one man show, Who Me!

This Tuesday the show will come to The Broadway Theatre in Peterborough.

Remaining Dates

• Peterborough 3rd July
• Chipping Norton 4 July 
• Norwich 5 July 
• Salford 7 July 
• Inverness 8 July

Candy Jar Books have made a second set of their Lethbridge-Stewart novels available to freely download via Kindle over the next five days: