The demand for tickets for the upcoming New York preview of Asylum of the Daleks has been heavy enough to cause major problems for the ticketing site, where all 800 available tickets were sold in less than twenty minutes.

The special showing will take place at New York’s Ziegfeld Theater on August 25 followed by a live Q&A session with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and executive producer Caroline Skinner. Tickets were sold for the princely sum of 11c, plus a small service charge.

Comic Mix reports that shortly after the ticket release, the purchase system slowed to a crawl, with access severely limited. The site’s customer service number was also jammed as people attempted to see if aborted transactions resulted in a sale or not.

BBC America has apologized that the process didn’t go as smoothly as it could have done but have said they are pleased the event was so popular with fans.

The new Doctor Who series is due to launch on BBC America in early September, but no date has yet been officially confirmed.

The British Film Institute have announced that Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will attend the preview screening of Asylum of the Daleks on Tuesday 14th August. They will join Steven Moffat in a Question and Answer session after the episode, which will also include executive producer Caroline Skinner. The Q&A will be chaired by broadcaster (and fan) Richard Bacon.

Tickets for Doctor Who related events at the BFI are very popular, with the Asylum preview selling out within an hour of opening registration!

Doctor Who has been granted the accolade of being the cover story of the US media magazine Entertainment Weekly.

The title, which has been running since 1990, is one of America's most popular entertainment magazines, with a circulation of 1.8 million and an estimated readership of 8.2 million. To make the cover is regarded as a major achievement, an honour unprecedented for a UK-made series, and something BBC America has been celebrating on its Facebook site.

Inside, it asks whether the time has finally come for the Time Lord to break big in America, and describes the upcoming season as maybe the most eagerly anticipated ever, as the Doctor prepares to say goodbye to his two trusty companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams.

The publication notes the number of on-screen shout-outs the show gets from programmes such as Community, Criminal Minds, Craig Ferguson's The Late Late Show, Supernatural, and Grey’s Anatomy. Executive producer Steven Moffat tells the magazine:The cover story tracks the ups and downs of the show's long history and previews the new episodes with help from Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as well as Moffat.

Entertainment Weekly also checks out the 25 Best Cult TV Shows From the Past 25 years.

The fourth in our occasional series marking the 50th anniversary of events leading to the creation of a true TV legend.

The story so far. In May two BBC drama script editors had been asked to write a report identifying specific science fiction stories suitable for adapting for television.

It was on 25th July 1962, fifty years ago today, that Alice Frick and John Braybon presented their follow-up report to the Head of the Script Department at the BBC, Donald Wilson.

Science fiction was not unknown on British television at the time. In June the BBC had transmitted six half-hour episodes of a serial called The Big Pull, written by Robert Gould. Produced by Terence Dudley, the story concerned an alien invasion of earth, made possible by the return of a manned space capsule allowing the aliens to travel through the Van Allen Belt. Later in the month the sequel to the previous year's A for Andromeda, The Andromeda Breakthrough, also began a six-week run.

Meanwhile, ITV screened Dumb Martian, adapted from a story by John Wyndham, an Armchair Theatre production broadcast as a prelude to Out of this World, the first science fiction anthology series in the UK. This was commissioned by ABC's drama supervisor, Sydney Newman, a lifelong fan of science fiction, who was working out his notice at the ITV company before joining the BBC later in the year.

The report commissioned by the BBC was to investigate literary works and to see if any were suitable for adaptation for television. It was comprehensive and detailed. In the eight weeks it took to produce the report Frick and Braybon had read hundreds of science fiction stories, coming up with a short list of titles that they thought may be suitable for dramatisation on television. The two script editors were ambivalent about the appeal of science fiction, making it clear that they were not making a judgement as to whether any script should actually be produced. They were very clear that should a production be considered then it must be as realistic as possible.

They set out four main points at the top of their report. The stories must not include Bug-Eyed Monsters. The central characters must never be Tin Robots. The stories must not require large and elaborate science fiction-type settings, and they must provide an opportunity for genuine characterisation. The couple were very much of the opinion that any distraction which caused the audience to lose the belief that what they were seeing on screen was possible, would cause the drama to fail, citing some current ITV shows that they believed had failed for that reason.

They suggested two types of plot that they considered would make the best scripts for television: those dealing with telepaths, and those dealing with time travel. The latter they thought was particularly suitable as a variety of script editors could be assigned working on a number of plots.

The report went on to list seven titles that the couple considered would be suitable for television production: Guardians of Time by Poul Anderson / Three to Conquer by Eric Frank Russell / Eternity Lost by Clifford Simak / Pictures Don't Lie by Katherine MacLean / No Woman Born by C L Moore / The Cerebrative Psittacoid by H Nearing Jr / The Ruum by Arthur Porges

The report finished by concluding that a science fiction series was a possibility which had had a varied degree of success in the past. The report would not be acted upon for another nine months.

Frick/Braybon Follow-Up Report

BBC Television Centre in London will remain a key broadcasting centre under a deal signed by the Corporation today.

The future of the iconic building had been in jeopardy ever since the BBC announced it was selling the Centre as part of its plans to reduce its property holdings by 30%. Television Centre was built towards the end of the Fifties as the BBC's first purpose-built television complex and was where some of the most recognised and respected British television programmes were made. It was the home of Doctor Who throughout the '70s and '80s when every single studio-based story, bar one, was shot at the Centre.

The BBC today completed the sale of the Centre for £200m to Stanhope Plc, a development company based in London and the south-east. The company has over 30 years' experience as developer, development partner and development manager. During this time it has been wholly or jointly responsible for the delivery of commercial projects in excess of £10bn of commercial value. Recent projects include Central Saint Giles, 23 Savile Row and AirW1, as well as headquarter offices for NM Rothschild and Unilever.

Following redevelopment the BBC's commercial arms BBC Studios and Post Production and BBC Worldwide will lease refurbished office and entertainment space in the completed scheme. The listed elements of Television Centre will be retained and enhanced, including the instantly recognisable exterior view, and some studios, including Studio 1, will be available for hire as television production facilities.

The rest of the site will be developed to include a mix of uses including leisure, office and residential. BBC Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson, who oversaw the sale, said: David Camp, chief executive of Stanhope Plc, said: 

Doctor Who has helped BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, increase its profits by 8% to £155m for the financial year 2011/2012.

The company exists to exploit the BBC's commercial assets, raising money which can be returned to the Corporation for reinvestment in programmes. In the Annual Report published on Monday, Doctor Who features heavily and makes a major contribution to the £216 million returned to the BBC, a rise of 19% in the figure for the previous year.

Doctor Who and Torchwood were both listed in the report as one of the top-selling brands, achieving success in in over 100 markets. Other top sellers were Top Gear, Frozen Planet, Spooks, Sherlock, Planet Earth, and Natural World.

Doctor Who also helped BBC America achieve its highest ratings ever, up 23% for daytime viewing on the previous financial year with monthly reach averaging 24m, up 10% on last year's 22m. Doctor Who Series 6 was BBC America's best series ever, averaging more than 1.2m total viewers per episode.

The best-selling title in the digital market in the USA was Doctor Who Series 6, which was the most-downloaded series on iTunes in the USA in 2011. The annual report also notes that Doctor Who now has around 100 separate licensees across a wide range of product categories, and was the fourth biggest licence in the market for boys aged 5-14. In addition The Doctor Who Annual was by far the best seller in the children's books section.

BBC Worldwide has significantly increased the number of live events it produces, both in the UK and overseas. The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular debuted to sold-out houses in Melbourne and will tour globally in the year ahead.

The interactive Doctor Who Experience was seen by almost a quarter of a million visitors in London, and is due to open in Cardiff Bay this coming Friday. Three thousand fans attended the first Official Doctor Who Convention in Cardiff over two days in March.

Overall, BBC Worldwide achieved:

• £1,085m worth of sales
• 356m subscribers to its channels
• 31m programmes downloaded
• 25m apps downloaded
• 23m Facebook fans
• 10m live events attendees.

The British Film Institute is to premiere the first episode of the 2012 series of Doctor Who, Asylum of the Daleks, on Tuesday 14th August 2012 at 6:00pm.

The episode, which has been described as including "every Dalek ever", was named in the Institute's advance programme. The screening will include a Q&A session with writer and show runner Steven Moffat plus other members of the cast and crew yet to be confirmed.

Tickets go on sale to the public from 10th July (BFI members from 3rd).

As previously reported, the episode will also be shown at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, which runs from 23rd to 25th August.

The television premiere of the episode has yet to be announced; however, last year's Let's Kill Hitler received both a BFI and MGEITF premiere in August prior to its broadcast on the Bank Holiday weekend, which for this year would be Saturday 25th August.

Speaking on the BBC's Doctor Who website, executive producer Caroline Skinner said:

The annual Portal Awards have been announced by Airlock Alpha, and sees Doctor Who represented in a number of categories:

• Matt Smith is once again nominated as Best Actor - as with last year he faces Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead) and Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13), plus this year's nominees Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones).
• Similarly, Karen Gillan is nominated in the Best Actress - she again faces last year's winner Anna Torv (Fringe) and runner-up Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), plus Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13) and Amanda Tapping (Sanctuary).
• The third member of TARDIS crew, Arthur Darvill, also gets a look-in this year as he is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor; he'll face Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones), last year's winner John Noble (Fringe), and Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13).
• Series regular Alex Kingston is also nominated again in the Best Special Guest(TV) category for her appearance in Let's Kill Hitler - she out last year to Leonard Nimoy, who's in the list again this year for Fringe. The other nominees are Misha Collins (Supernatural), Jaime Murray (Warehouse 13) and Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story).
• The representative for Best Episode this year is taken up by A Good Man Goes To War, which will face Brave New World from Fringe, Emily Lake from Warehouse 13, Ghost of Harrenhal from Game of Thrones, and Slash Fiction from Supernatural. (Last year's nomination was also from the sixth series, The Doctor's Wife, with the nomination criteria for this year being shows broadcast since 1st June 2011!)
• This year's Best Series include Doctor Who, last year's winner Game of Thrones, Fringe, Supernatural and Warehouse 13.
• Elisabeth Sladen was nominated for the Gene Roddenberry Award last year, but lost out to J.J. Abrams; the late actress is nominated again this year and faces Doctor Who/Sherlock maestro Steven Moffat, as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs, DeForest Kelly, and George R.R. Martin.

The full list of categories are available from Airlock Alpha, and fans will be able to vote once a day between 25th June and 25th July.

The Weeping Angels have been voted the fans’ favourite ever monsters in a poll of over 10,000 Doctor Who fans.

The Radio Times survey saw the scary statues gain nearly 50 per cent of the vote, making them the best loved (or feared) monsters in the Doctor Who universe.

The Angels were created by current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, and first appeared in 2007 episode Blink, first broadcast five years ago today. The Angels are living statues, unable to move as long as they are being watched. But close your eyes or look away and they’re instantly on the move, stone fangs and claws bared.

The Angels pushed the Doctor's most iconic enemy, the Daleks, into second place with 17 per cent of the vote. The Doctor first encountered the Daleks in the second ever Doctor Who story, screened in 1963.

Another Moffat creation, The Silence, crept into third place with almost 12 per cent, while the Doctor's fellow Time Lord, The Master, and Moffat's microscopic swarm The Vashta Nerada, were in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

The Cybermen, Davros, the Zygons, the Ice Warriors and the Sontarans completed the top ten.

RadioTimes.com editor Tim Glanfield commented on the results: "The Daleks had generations of children cowering behind the sofa in the past, but our poll shows Steven Moffat’s terrifying Weeping Angels are the stuff of modern nightmares – remember, don’t blink!."

Thursday sees a brand new mini Doctor Who adventure, Good as Gold come to BBC Television, when the results of this year's Script to Screen competition are broadcast as part of the children's programme Blue Peter.

The 2012 competition was launched in January and was open to UK pupils aged 9-11, who were asked to collaborate on a script that takes the Time Lord on a new quest travelling through space and time.

The lucky winners were invited to the Doctor Who set in Cardiff to see their mini-episode being recorded and the results can be seen on Thursday's Blue Peter, broadcast at 5.45pm on the CBBC channel. The programme is repeated on Friday at 4.30pm on BBC One.