The BBC have released the third preview clip from The Time of the Doctor.

Doctor Who News, in association with Big Finish Productions, is offering three signed script fronts from recent Big Finish releases, to the person who can most accurately guess the BBC One ratings for the UK premiere of The Time of the Doctor

The Time of the Doctor is being broadcast in the UK on Christmas Day at 7.30pm, later than recent Christmas Doctor Who episodes.

Previous Ratings:

For comparison, the ratings for the previous Christmas Day episodes are as follows: The Snowmen (9.87m), The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (10.77m), A Christmas Carol (12.11m), The End Of Time: Part One (12.04m), The Next Doctor (13.10m), Voyage of the Damned (13.31m), The Runaway Bride (9.30m), The Christmas Invasion (9.84m), The Feast of Steven (7.90m).

Entering The Competition:

To enter the competition, please send the following details to comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net:

• Your name and email address
• Your country (full address will only be requested if you are a winner)
• Your guess for the final viewing figure!

Terms And Conditions:

• The competition closes at 7.30pm GMT, 25th December 2013.
• Only one entry will be accepted per person.
• The competition is open worldwide.
• BARB figures are expected around 10 days after transmission; we will contact the winner once they have been published.

Fifty years ago today on Doctor Who the companion Barbara Wright - as played by Jacqueline Hill - became the first of the TARDIS crew to encounter a Dalek, in the cliffhanger to the episode The Dead Planet.

At the time, only Barbara saw it in full and she didn't know that it was a Dalek either. The 6.9 million TV viewers could only see a plunger - as wielded by assistant floor manager Michael Ferguson - advancing menacingly on her, but this tantalising glimpse of an unknown alien horror, coupled with Barbara's piercing scream and sheer terror at what she had encountered, became an iconic moment in the programme.

The following episode would see the full introduction of the creatures that would become an instant hit with audiences and make the show a genuine talking-point, propelling it to international success and guaranteeing its longevity.

To mark today's special anniversary, though, the official site has uploaded a video of current showrunner Steven Moffat looking back at the 1975 story Genesis of the Daleks. It follows the release by the site earlier this week of a video of Moffat praising the 1988 adventure Remembrance of the Daleks. Both of them were recorded last year as part of a series in the run-up to the broadcast of Asylum of the Daleks.



Following the popularity of our An Unearthly Series feature that marked the 50th anniversaries of milestone events leading up to the broadcast of the show's first episode, Doctor Who News will be celebrating significant moments in time relating to the series after its début on 23rd November 1963.

Details have been revealed for the DVD and Blu-ray releases of The Time of the Doctor - with Region 2 getting a two-disc set comprising all the Eleventh Doctor's Christmas specials as well as extra content from this year's offering, which sees Matt Smith bow out as the Doctor.

To be released on Monday 20th January as a box set and entitled The Time of the Doctor + Other Eleventh Doctor Christmas Specials, the Region 2 contents will be as follows:

• The Time of the Doctor
• The Snowmen (The 2012 Christmas special)
• The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (The 2011 Christmas special)
• A Christmas Carol (The 2010 Christmas special)
• Behind the Scenes of The Time of the Doctor - We take a peek behind the lens on this cracker of a Christmas special. With Matt Smith, Orla Brady, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat, Danny Hargreaves, Jack Hollington, Sheila Reid, James Buller, and Elizabeth Rider.
• Farewell to Matt Smith - Narrated by Alex Kingston, this compelling special looks back at Matt's extraordinary tenure as the Eleventh Doctor, featuring highlights from the show and copious interview footage with Matt, his cast mates, writers, producers, guest stars, and celebrity Doctor Who fans.
• Tales from the TARDIS - A look back at the full, 50-year history of Doctor Who. Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and past Doctors David Tennant, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, and Tom Baker tell what it was like to be the Doctor, how they got the job, and how it changed their lives. With companion actors Jenna Coleman, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and more, this special offers a unique insight into the world's longest-running sci-fi series.

The BBC Shop is also doing an exclusive T-shirt and DVD/Blu-ray offer for the release.

The one-disc Region 1 DVD/Blu-ray of The Time of the Doctor will be released on Tuesday 4th March, comprising this year's Christmas episode and the extras Behind the Scenes of The Time of the Doctor, Farewell to Matt Smith, and Tales from the TARDIS. None of the previous Christmas episodes will be included.

The BBC have released a teaser to promote The Time of the Doctor for its Christmas premiere.

The latest Strax Field Report shows Sontaran Commander Strax chronicling the Doctor's lives from his first incarnation to his eleventh incarnation.


When discussing the Eighth Doctor, the now established regeneration sequence from Paul McGann to John Hurt is shown.

Concerning the ongoing regeneration body question, Strax refers to John Hurt's incarnation as the "warrior" (War Doctor) before proceeding to regard Christopher Eccleston's as the "ninth" Doctor.

The Time of the Doctor premieres in the UK on BBC One on Christmas Day at 7:30pm.

The three winners of the Blue Peter competition to design sonic devices to be used in Doctor Who were announced today on the CBBC magazine show's Christmas special.

Last month, viewers aged between six and 15 were invited to come up with gadgets that could be used by the characters Commander Strax, Madame Vastra, or Jenny Flint - and the show received some 3,600 entries over 12 days.

The winners were revealed on today's edition as 13-year-old Connor from Somerset, 11-year-old Arthur from Hampshire, and seven-year-old Amber from Kent. (No surnames were given.) They were chosen by a panel of judges that included Doctor Who's head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, producer Nikki Wilson, production designer Michael Pickwoad, and brand account manager Edward Russell, Blue Peter editor Ewan Vinnicombe and series producer Ellen Evans, plus CBBC presenter Chris Johnson.

Connor designed a sonic gauntlet for use by Jenny. His intricate invention included a tumbler to make locks fall apart, a radioactivity measurer and receiver dish, and a watch that shows the conductivity of metal in a lock. Moffat said that the design was a multi-purpose toolkit that fitted in your arm and could do a whole manner of things: Arthur's design was a sonic lorgnette – a pair of handheld eyeglasses - for Commander Strax. It included an X-ray lens for seeing inside people and objects, a thermal lens for detecting people, and a sonic light. Moffat called it a beautiful design that was perfect for Strax: Amber's winning device for Madame Vastra was a sonic hat pin that works as a remote control for her carriage but can also turn into a sonic sword that increases in size with the flick of a special switch, and Moffat said: In an interview recorded for the show, he said: Vinnicombe told BBC staff magazine Ariel: The winners joined Blue Peter presenters Barney Harwood, Lindsey Russell and Radzi Chinyanganya in Salford and will also be invited to Cardiff to see their devices being used on the Doctor Who set.

A video message of congratulations from actors Dan Starkey, Neve McIntosh and Catrin Stewart, who portray Strax, Vastra and Jenny respectively, was played during the show, with the trio saying they were looking forward to using the new devices in the series.

The winning designs are shown here:


and are also featured, along with the designs that were runners-up, in an online gallery, while the programme is currently available to watch in the UK via the BBC iPlayer (go to 16:44).

Two more pictures from The Time of the Doctor have been released by the BBC, with both of them appearing to show the Doctor - as played by Matt Smith - naked inside the TARDIS.


They were released to media following last night's press screening of the Christmas episode. The event was held at the BFI in London, as tweeted by Doctor Who brand account manager Edward Russell:



The episode - Smith's last as the Doctor - airs on BBC One on Christmas Day at 7.30pm.

BBC America have released an exclusive new one minute trailer for the forthcoming Christmas Special, The Time of The Doctor, due to premiere in the United States on Christmas Day at 9:00pm ET.

With the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of the Daleks on TV screens fast approaching, a video tribute by Doctor Who's current showrunner Steven Moffat to their last story during the classic era - Remembrance of the Daleks - was posted today by the BBC on the programme's official site.

In the piece, he says of the 1988 four-parter: Moffat's comments were recorded last year as part of a mini series in which he talked about the Daleks in general to publicise their return in Asylum of the Daleks and, in subsequent video posts, looked at what he considered to be the best and most significant Dalek adventures.

BBC Worldwide have released the artwork, trailer and details for the forthcoming DVD of the second Doctor story The Moonbase, which is due for release in the United Kingdom early January next year.

The DVD was originally due to be released this October, with animated versions of episodes 1 and 3. However, this was later put on hold to allow further work on the animation to be completed.

Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, Michael Craze as Ben, Anneke Wills as Polly, Frazer Hines as Jamie and guest-starring Patrick Barr, Andre Maranne and Michael Wolf, The Moonbase was originally screened in February and March 1967, and with episodes 1 and 3 animated it will become the earliest complete Troughton story available on DVD. Special features on the DVD include:

• Fully remastered Episodes 2 and 4.
• Newly animated Episodes 1 and 3, with original off-screen soundtrack recordings.
• Commentary on Episodes 2 and 4: a traditional commentary with actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Edward Phillips and Special Sounds creator Brian Hodgson.
• On Episodes 1 and 3, a series of interviews featuring writer Kit Pedler's daughters Lucy Pedler and Carol Topolski, archive interviews with producer Innes Lloyd, assistant floor manager Lovett Bickford, and Cyberman actors Barry Noble, Derek Chaffer and Reg Whitehead. Moderated and linked by Toby Hadoke.
• Lunar Landing – Cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Reg Whitehead, plus production assistant Desmond McCarthy.
• Photo Gallery – Production, design and publicity photos from the story.
• Coming Soon – A trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.
• Radio Times listings.
• Programme subtitles.
• Subtitle production notes.

The DVD is available to order at amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.