UK DOCTOR WHO fans have wanted the series to move to an Autumn/Winter schedule on BBC ONE and, with SERIES 6, it will happen according to the Corporation.

Partly, as a compromise.

SERIES 6 will be "split" into two blocks with a cliffhanger after episode seven, with the remaining six episodes show from October to November 2011, followed by a "festive episode".

However, Moffat continues to make a pigs ear out of Russell T Davies' fine work by making this split and then defining it as two distinct series. So, that's either SERIES 6 and SERIES 7 or SEASON 32 and SEASON 33 depending on your point of view.

Result. Well, partly.

Steven Moffat said: "The split series is hugely exciting because viewers will be treated to two premieres, two finales and more event episodes. For the kids it will never be more than a few months to the next DOCTOR WHO! Easter, Autumn, Christmas!!"

"The wrong expression would be to say we are splitting it in two. We are making it two separate series."

Discussing his future, Moffat said he would not be leaving the show "for a while yet".

Oh, well, no result there.

The DOCTOR WHO 2010 PROM will be broadcast on BBC 3 on Monday 6 September at 20:30.

UPDATED 27.08.2010 - Viewers may be interested to know that the BBC RED BUTTON feature will have additional VIP coverage of the THE PROMS events.

This will include exclusive music not featured in the main DOCTOR WHO PROM show as well as a look at the audience through the eyes of some of the DOCTOR WHO aliens.

The illustration (high quality, ink stable print & signed) for SERIES 4 DVD BOXSET created by Anthony Dry is currently being auctioned on eBay for the ART FOR HEARTS campaign.

DOCTOR WHO artists are supporting a new campaign to raise funds to aid research into transplant surgery at the UK hospital, GREAT ORMOND STREET CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.

DOCTOR WHO artists providing a range of signed prints include:

• ANTHONY DRY (See far right - shown with another illustration)
• ANDY WALKER
• MIKE TUCKER
• COLIN HOWARD

eBay auction. The auction ends: Monday 30.08.10 at 12:45

SERIES 6 sees the returns of two directors; Adam Smith and Richard Smith.

Adam Smith was the director of THE ELEVENTH HOUR, THE TIME OF ANGELS and FLESH AND STONE, with Richard Smith directing SERIES 3's GRIDLOCK and THE LAZARUS EXPERIMENT.

Toby Hayes (THE PANDORICA OPENS and THE BIG BANG) is currently in post-production for the Christmas Day episode, working alongside new Series Producer, Sanne Wohlenberg and new Series Production Designer, Michael Pickwoad.

UPDATE NEWS 26.08.2010 - The draft sleeve for this boxset has been published on TWITTER by BBC DVD.

UPDATE NEWS 14.08.2010 - The DVD release of TIME AND THE RANI confirms that the next DVD release will be DOCTOR WHO - THE REVISTATIONS BOX VOLUME ONE.

BBC DVD has published details (in this month's DWM) for the October 2010 DVD boxset release, DOCTOR WHO - REVISITATIONS.

The seven-disc set contains remastered prints of Tom Baker's THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG, Peter Davison's THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI and Paul McGann's THE TELEVISION MOVIE, complete with a new range of commentary tracks and documentaries.

THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG

• THE LAST HURRAH - Producer, Philip Hinchcliffe talks with Tom Baker about their final story together
• MOVING ON - Hinchcliffe discuss the plans he had for the series if he had remained as Producer
• THE FOE FROM THE FUTURE - looks at the original plotline for TALONS
• NOW AND THEN - a welcome return to the tour of locations used in the 1977 production
• BBC LOOK EAST - an interview with Tom Baker
• WHOSE DOCTOR WHO - arts programme presented by Melvyn Bragg (this feature was included on the original TALONS DVD release

THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI

• CHAIN REACTION - The making of..
• DIRECTING WHO: THEN AND NOW - Graeme Harper's essay on the development of TV production since 1984
• THE RUSSELL HARTY SHOW - The much-missed interviewer meets Peter Davison and Colin Baker (archive programme)

THE TV MOVIE

• COMMENTARY - a new recording featuring McCoy and McGann
• THE SEVEN YEAR HITCH - The pre-production process of this story since the CLASSIC SERIES was terminated
• THE WILDERNESS YEARS - How fans kept the show alive when it finished in 1989 and re-started with the TV MOVIE in 1996
• WHO PETER - The second (and final) part of the featurette documenting the symbiotic link between the series and the magazine programme
• STRIPPED FOR ACTION - The 8th Doctor in cartoon form
• TOMORROWS TIMES - In the uninspiring featurette series, how was McGann's appearance was reported in the media

BBC publicity agents, TAYLOR HERRING has announced that DOCTOR WHO LIVE - THE MONSTERS ARE COMING event will include a Vorg-like (see DOCTOR WHO - THE CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS) complete with with Miniscope-type of device (again, see DOCTOR WHO - THE CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS).

In the Steven Moffat penned event, Nigel Planer will play Vorgenson an intergalactic showman who, with the aid of his Minimiser, summons up monsters/aliens for the audience to enjoy. Perhaps, the event could be "dedicated to the memory of Robert Holmes"?

Matt Smith appears as the Eleventh Doctor (on-screen only) and Nicholas Briggs provides the voice of Winston Churchill.

The event tours the UK starting on 8 October 2010, with 25 dates planned, with tickets from £25.00 (note: Belfast tickets start at £27.50).

DOCTOR WHO LIVE - Booking details

The DOCTOR WHO 2010 PROM will be broadcast on BBC 3 on Monday 6 September at 20:30.

News to make every seven year old and every forty year old smile this winter.

The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond are heading to mainstream digital game play on the NINTENDO DS and NINTENDO Wii in two new games DOCTOR WHO - EVACUATION EARTH and DOCTOR WHO - RETURN TO EARTH as part of worldwide strategy.

Released in the UK on 29.10.2010. RRP £34.99.

EVACUATION EARTH

The Doctor and Amy arrive at the Lake District to watch the humans leave the planet. Suddenly the TARDIS gets lifted from them and bolted onto the evacuation ship. They have to make their way onto the ship before it leaves As the ship launches it has technical problems and they realise the Silurians have built a ship underneath. The Doctor finds a solution to make the ship work

Suddenly the Dalek ship smashes into the human one and splits the Silurian half off. It's the Dalek ship that chased the Time Axis into the sun - they weren't destroyed, they actually made a random jump several hundred years into the past

The Daleks are pleased that they can exact revenge on the Doctor but first they make him fix their ship. The Doctor goes along with their plan but tricks them into bolting the TARDIS onto their ship, which he promptly jumps into and uses to fling them into the nearest black hole

RETURN TO EARTH

The Doctor and Amy help the SS Lucy Gray to return home to Earth, unravelling a Cyber Plot and preventing the Daleks from retrieving a lost Time Axis along the way. The Doctor and Amy arrive on a human colony ship returning to Earth after it was rendered uninhabitable by solar flares. Without provocation they are attacked by the ship's maintenance robots and become separated in the struggle.

The Doctor is eventually led to the ship's Head Quarters, where he discovers a Cyber Leader has connected himself to the ships AI and is blackmailing it into doing his bidding, or else he'll kill the crew. Meanwhile the Cybermen that were hiding in the ship ambush Amy and chase her out into space.

Guide the Doctor and Amy as they face their biggest adventure yet!

The games have been developed under licence by BBC WORLDWIDE to London-based Asylum Entertainment (creators of games tie-in with Scooby Doo, Peppa Pig, Horrid Henry, and DOCTOR WHO's Destiny Of The Doctor PC CD-ROM), and will see contributions directly from the BBC WALES Production Team.

Who said Christmas doesn't come early.

BBC DVD has confirmed that the 1976 six-parter with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, DOCTOR WHO - THE SEEDS OF DOOM will be released on 25.10.2010.

The DVD EXTRAS are:

BBC PICTURES has officially published the image (as high-resolution format) first seen on last week's THE ONE SHOW.

Snow. More snow. And carolers.

FORBIDDEN PLANET continue to provide UK fans with previously exclusive Stateside CHARACTER OPTIONS designed action figures.

New into the UK is the Fourth Doctor (SEASON 18 - WARRIORS' GATE version) and the K9 double pack. Expected in stock on 30 September 2010. This pack seems a little cheeky as it features the previous Fifth Doctor SEASON 18/19 version (CASTROVALVA action figure) and an non-updated K9. So, in effect, you're paying just for a re-sculpt of the Doctor's head. It can be pre-ordered for £19.99

Link to FORBIDDEN PLANET

Link to 2010 FORBIDDEN PLANET exclusive range

BBC PRESS OFFICE has sent details of a forthcoming exclusive signing by Karen Gillan.

Talking about the visit Karen said " I'm so excited to be travelling up to Scotland to introduce fans to my new Amy Pond action figure, I can't wait to meet everyone "

Gillan will be signing copies of her CHARACTER OPTIONS action figure at HAMLEYS (St Enoch Shopping Centre) Glasgow on 28 August from midday to 14:00. From 09:00 fans will be able to collect a wrist band from the store to ensure their place in the queue.

£7.98 from FORBIDDEN PLANET

FORBIDDEN PLANET continue to provide UK fans with previously exclusive Stateside CHARACTER OPTIONS designed action figures.

New into the UK is the Eleventh Doctor (sans jacket) and the orange DALEK SCIENTIST design double pack. eyeofhorus.org.uk has been warned that this will be VERY LIMITED STOCK (expected in stock on 12 September 2010).

It can be pre-ordered for £24.99

Link to FORBIDDEN PLANET

14.08.2010 - BBC DVD have sent eyeofhorus.org.uk the preview copies of the 13 September release of DOCTOR WHO - TIME AND THE RANI and the 6 September release of DOCTOR WHO - SERIES 5 VOLUME 4 (the final episodes).

TIME AND THE RANI Preview review is now online - screengrab images online now (15.08.2010)

BBC DVD has released details of the 13 September DOCTOR WHO story, TIME AND THE RANI. RRP £19.99.

The COMING SOON trailer: THE REVISITATIONS BOX (interesting use of the "stuck gramophone record" effect - clever).

Ahead of the 6 September release, BBC DVD has sent eyeofhorus.org.uk a preview copy of the final vanilla volume of SERIES 5.

Featuring VINCENT AND THE DOCTOR, THE LODGER, THE PANDORICA OPENS and THE BIG BANG, the single-disc includes a new MONSTER FILE titled THE ALLIANCE (broken-up into three sections).

See DVD screengrabs; right.

RRP £15.99 (standard) and £19.99 (BLU RAY). Rated PG.

As previously announced earlier this month, the Third Doctor's arch enemy, THE MASTER and alien AXON creature will be released as double-pack action figures on 16 August 2010.

It can be pre-ordered for £24.99

Link to FORBIDDEN PLANET

As previously announced earlier this month, the Third Doctor's SONIC SCREWDRIVER toy (a must for anyone over forty years old...) is available in the UK from 10 September 2010.

It can be pre-ordered for £19.99

Link to FORBIDDEN PLANET

UPDATED NEWS (13.08.2010 11:35) - Author, Michael Moorcock will (subject to change) be interviewed on Sunday 15 August as part of BBC RADIO FOUR's BROADCASTING HOUSE programme from 09:00. He will be discussing the forthcoming SERIES 5 tie-in novel, DOCTOR WHO - THE COMING OF THE TERRAPHILES.

The novel will be adapted as an unabridged reading by BBC AUDIO for a 7 October 2010 release.

BBC BOOKS has acquired acclaimed writer, Michael Moorcock (listed by THE TIMES as one of Britain's top 50 creative writers since 1945) to write DOCTOR WHO - THE COMING OF THE TERRAPHILES, featuring the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond, and the author's own characters Captain Cornelius and range of pirates.

The 326 page hardback (RRP £16.99) will be published on 28 October 2010, and the British-born Texas-based author will be signing copies of the novel at FORBIDDEN PLANET's flagship store on 21 October (at 18:00).

Note in the diary! Or a pre-order a signed copy direct from FORBIDDEN PLANET (£14.99).

In association with FORBIDDEN PLANET, eyeofhorus.org.uk will be launching a free-to-enter competition to win an AUTHOR SIGNED COPY of the novel. Details soon.

What Moorcock has said about the novel pre-completion:

Editor Justin seems to like it a lot. Now we're going over the manuscript mostly checking for when Doctor or Amy aren't quite in character (remember I wrote it from a few hints and had no chance to see the Matt and Karen episodes (saw one just before I delivered it) and no hint as to what is becoming intriguing development which also has resonances with my own Dream Quest stuff.

Then it has to be approved by BBC Cardiff... Not a lot of time to get it into production now! But it should go off to Cardiff next week. I need to do some expansion exactly where my instincts told me to expand (but I was already 20,000 words over contract expectations).

And after completion:

I'd try to give the reader something they couldn't get on TV which is what Brian Aldiss called 'wide screen baroque' -- big budget space opera plus comedy in this case. But it ties the 'whoniverse' into the multiverse and so on and it does have more than one space pirate... I wanted to expand the range rather than play off existing strengths. I really do think that the best recent scripts are the best Dr W we've ever had.

It remains to be seen what the editors and 'Cardiff' think of this one. It's aimed at grown ups rather than 'eight-year-olds' who are always being mentioned in interviews. But grown-ups who enjoy a bit of fun.

BBC BOOKS PRESS RELEASE (pdf formatted file)

Michael Moorcock website ©

Today, BBC MUSIC/SILVASCREEN have confirmed that Murray Gold's OST for David Tennant's final "specials" will be - finally - released on CD (and download) this autumn (20.09.2010) as a two-disc set. The cover shown is "to be finalised".

SILVASCREEN have launched a TWITTER page for updates. And a reminder that OST for both DOCTOR WHO (and the CUSHING FILMS OST) and TORCHWOOD are still available to buy as CD or download from SILVASCREEN.

* The VALE track: The opening track, Vale is a cue from the larger work Vale Decem (loosely translated as Farewell Ten), which the music builds towards as the departure of the Tenth Doctor becomes imminent. The full version of Vale Decem is at the end of Disc 2.

Music, conducted by Ben Foster, is performed by the BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES.

in addition SERIES 5 OST will be released on 8 November 2010 - see right.

BBC DVD has released details of the 13 September DOCTOR WHO story, TIME AND THE RANI. RRP £19.99.

• Commentary - With actors Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford, writers Pip and Jane Baker.
• The Last Chance Saloon - The BBC were on the point of killing-off Doctor Who in the face of stiff fan opposition. Instead, they decided to give the show one last chance. With Sylvester McCoy and Kate O'Mara, producer John Nathan-Turner, director Andrew Morgan, script editor Andrew Cartmel, writers Pip and Jane Baker, BBC Head of Series & Serials Jonathan Powell and graphic designer Oliver Elmes. Written by Nev Fountain and narrated by Richard Heffer.
• 7D FX - Behind-the-scenes at the creation of the story's impressive visual effects. With visual effects designer Colin Mapson, visual effects assistant Mike Tucker and video effects designer Dave Chapman.
• Helter-Skelter - Graphic designer Oliver Elmes and animator Gareth Edwards talk about how they created the first CGI title sequence in Doctor Who's history.
• Lakertya - Pip and Jane Baker talk about their original vision for the lush forest planet Lakertya and director Andrew Morgan explains why he ended up shooting it in a desolate quarry instead.
• Hot Gossip - Kate O'Mara recalls the fun of working with gossiping friends. With Sylvester McCoy and Andrew Morgan.
• On Location - BBC Breakfast Time's reporter Guy Michelmore visits the production during location filming for the story's exterior scenes and talks to John Nathan-Turner, Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford and Kate O'Mara.
• Blue Peter - Janet Ellis welcomes newly appointed Doctor Who Sylvester McCoy to the Blue Peter studio.
• Photo Gallery - production, design and publicity photos from the story.

09/08/2010 - As part of the DVD EXTRAS, four episodes of SERIES 5 will have "in-picture commentary" with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. These episodes include:

• THE ELEVENTH HOUR
• THE VAMPIRES OF VENICE
• COLD BLOOD
• THE BIG BANG

BBC DVD PRESS OFFICE has released details of the autumn scheduled DOCTOR WHO - SERIES 5 DVD BOXSET and a limited edition (numbered) version. Released on 8 November 2010 RRP: £69.99 (DVD) and £79.99 (Bluray DVD).

eyeofhorus.org.uk will have five copies to giveaway as part of another competition to be launched in the coming months.

DVD synopsis

The boxset contains all 13 episodes, specially recorded scene scripted by Steven Moffat, that shows fans what happened between two episodes.

Matt Smith's video diaries, the DOCTOR WHO MONSTER FILES (seen in the SERIES 5 individual DVD releases) and DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL complete the boxset's content.

FORBIDDEN PLANET has the latest CHARACTER OPTIONS VICTORY OF THE DALEKS action figure pack (£7.98 pre-order price) in stock by 18 August.

• NEW SERIES - GENERATION 2 - DALEK - STRATEGIST GRADE

Click on the above for more information direct from FORBIDDEN PLANET

BBC DVD has confirmed that the 1976 six-parter with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, DOCTOR WHO - THE SEEDS OF DOOM will be released on 25.10.2010.