We auctioned off eight silver limited-edition Doctor Who 50th-anniversary commemorative coins on eBay, with all profits from the auctions going to our annual initiative of sending two students from the island of Niue to Outward Bound, and in doing so created an international bidding frenzy, with one coin selling to a Canadian bidder for more than 15 times its NZ$155 face value.

After the success of the silver Doctor Who 50th-anniversary commemorative coin, we are delighted to be partnering again with NZ Mint on the limited-edition gold coin, which looks certain to be a highly coveted item among Doctor Who fans.

On Friday, 13 September 1963, crew 1 was allocated to Studio D, Lime Grove, 0930-1745, programme title – ‘Dr. Who experiment’. Some experiments involved smoke generators and some electronic effects. Studio D still had the old CPS-Emitron cameras which were renowned for producing a vision 'peel-off' when pointed at a bright light... Studio D had the old tungsten 4-lights so it was very hot!

A new family series, "Dr. Who", which borders on science fiction, will be screened on Saturdays...

These six stories, covering thirty four episodes, are, as has already been stated, not finalised - however they do provide a statement of flavour and intention. The first, second and third serials have been commissioned and are in various stages of development - the first being complete, the second being written in draft, the third in preparation and the fifth delivered in draft. Serials four and six are in discussion stages.

Fifty years of Doctor Who to culminate in The Day Of The Doctor

The countdown starts here as the BBC reveals its plans to take over TV and radio to mark the Doctor’s 50th anniversary.

With special programmes planned across the BBC, the celebrations will peak on 23 November with the anniversary episode, revealed as The Day Of The Doctor. Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant and Jenna Coleman with Billie Piper and John Hurt, the special for BBC One has been confirmed as feature-length, with 75 minutes of adventure.

Matt Smith, who plays the Doctor, says: “The Day Of The Doctor is nearly here! Hope you all enjoy. There’s lots more coming your way, as the countdown to the 50th begins now.”

Each channel will be home to unique content, celebrating the wealth of history and talent from the last 50 years.

BBC Two will broadcast a number of new commissions, focusing on telling the story behind the show. For one night only, Professor Brian Cox will take an audience of celebrity guests and members of the public on a journey into the wonderful universe of the Doctor, from the lecture hall of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (1x60 minutess). Drawing on the latest theories, as well as 200 years of scientific discoveries and the genius of Einstein, Brian tries to answer the classic questions raised by the Doctor: Can you really travel in time? Does extra-terrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastical as the TARDIS?

In an hour-long special, BBC Two’s flagship arts programme The Culture Show presents Me, You And Doctor Who (1x60 minutes), with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC’s longest running TV drama, arguing that it’s one of the most important cultural artefacts of modern Britain. Put simply, Doctor Who matters. He’ll examine how the show has become a cultural force in its own right and tell the stories of some of the unsung cultural heroes, who pioneered its innovative music, design and storytelling.

BBC Two wraps up its coverage with the previously announced An Adventure In Space and Time (1x90 minutes), which will tell the story of the genesis of Doctor Who and the many personalities involved. Written by Mark Gatiss, the drama stars David Bradley (the Harry Potter films); Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife) and Sacha Dhawan (History Boys, Last Tango In Halifax).

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, says: "Fifty years has turned Doctor Who from a television show into a cultural landmark. Personally I can't wait to see what it becomes after a hundred."

Update 11 Sep: the BBC have informed us that the broadcast of An Unearthly Child is currently unconfirmed, pending the resolution of issues with one of the episodes - more details as and when we are updated. BBC Four will introduce audiences to the first Doctor, William Hartnell, with a special re-run of the first-ever story, which marked the start of 50 years of history. The four episodes are being shown in a restored format, not previously broadcast in the UK.

There will also be programmes across CBBC with 12 Again (1x30 minutes) bringing together CBBC’s super-fan Chris Johnson, impressionist Jon Culshaw, Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Warwick Davis (Porridge), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra), Dan Starkey (Strax) Louise Jameson (Leela) and the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, to share their memories of watching TV’s top Time Lord when they were young.

Blue Peter will launch an exciting new competition giving viewers aged between six and 14 the opportunity to design a new gadget that will become part of the iconic science fiction series. Two live Blue Peter specials will see presenters Barney, Lindsey and Radzi joined by aliens and monsters, with viewers challenging Matt Smith to answer their Doctor Who questions.

BBC Three will be home to several exciting entertainment commissions. Audiences will be encouraged to get involved and vote in Doctor Who: Monsters And Villains Weekend, as we countdown to the top Doctor Who monster. For those less familiar with the show, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide will introduce fans and viewers to a wealth of archive material and act as a guide to all things Who. A further exciting commission to be announced later this year will see the celebrations finish with a bang.

Danny Cohen, Director of BBC Television, says: “Doctor Who is a titan of British television and I’m incredibly proud to have it on the BBC. It's an astonishing achievement for a drama to reach its 50th anniversary. I'd like to thank every person - on both sides of the camera - who has been involved with its creative journey over so many years.”

It’s not just TV where audiences will be able join in the celebrations; programming across Radio 2, Radio 1 and Radio 4 Extra will also mark the 50th.

BBC Radio 2 will ask Who Is The Doctor? in a 90-minute documentary featuring newly recorded interviews and exclusive archive material. The programme will look at the lasting appeal of Doctor Who and ask how much of its continued success can be attributed to its basic formula.

In The Blagger’s Guide To Doctor Who, David Quantick will give the iconic Doctor the Blagger’s treatment. He’ll be finding out the answers to questions such as, why do Americans think Tom Baker is still Doctor Who? How many Doctors have there really been? Were the Daleks really named after an encyclopaedia?

Finally, Graham Norton will be broadcasting his weekly Radio 2 show live (Saturday 23 November, 10am) from the Doctor Who Celebration in London. In a special three-hour show, Graham will take a ride in the TARDIS and will also be chatting with some of the series’ stars and fans.

Music is a key part of Doctor Who, from the famous theme tune to soaring melodies, but the show has also inspired a whole new phenomenon – Time Lord Rock (TROCK). Radio 1 will look at this genre of music inspired by the Doctor and his journeys through space and time with a 60-minute documentary.

Meanwhile, Radio 4 Extra travels back to 1963 with a three-hour special programme, Who Made Who?, to look at the world that inspired the television series. Doctor Who may have come from other times, but his roots were very much in the present of 1960s Britain. This distinctive programme combines audio from the archive, new interviews and extracts from audio versions of Doctor Who. Additionally, the station will broadcast readings and dramas featuring the great Doctor.

There will also be special content across the official website and on BBC iPlayer.

Miwk Publishing are absolutely delighted to be reprinting this unique insight into an era of Doctor Who which, while dividing fandom at the time, has seen a reappraisal in recent years following the release of the stories on DVD and the subsequent scrutiny of the era in the accompanying special features.

It has been revised and slightly updated from its originally version and features new forewords and afterwords additional to this edition. We couldn’t reprint the book without reprinting the original cover. Grateful thanks to Steve Cook for allowing us to reuse his photograph.

Script Doctor
Written by Andrew Cartmel

In 1987 Doctor Who was a series in the middle of an on-going crisis. Producer John Nathan-Turner had been ‘persuaded to stay’ even though his programme had only a year earlier been cancelled by ‘the powers that be’. Yet again those on-high stepped in to interfere with the show and asked him to recast the Doctor. But JN-T had other problems too, during season 23 his script editor Eric Saward had quit very publicly.

This vacancy was filled by Andrew Cartmel. Within very few months he had to find writers for the new season, write out the current companion, introduce a new companion and establish a new Doctor as well as planning ahead to the following season that would mark Doctor Who’s 25th anniversary.

For three years Andrew Cartmel, with the support of JN-T, pushed Doctor Who into a new direction. The show was moved to a weekday slot again up against ITV stalwart Coronation Street but still put up a good fight in its last three years. His writers Ian Briggs, Ben Aaronovitch, Stephen Wyatt, Malcolm Kohl, Rona Munro, Marc Platt, Kevin Clarke and Graeme Curry, had never written for Doctor Who before. This new broom sadly came too late and the show was cancelled again in 1989. But Cartmel’s legacy and his ‘Master-Plan’ would live on.

What he started was picked up and taken into the nineties by a new generation of writers who would eventually bring Doctor Who back to our screens in 2005.

‘Script Doctor’ is a memoir of those times, from his first day in the office to his first day on set right up to hastily penning the final few lines of the last story broadcast in the original run. Helping to cast the new seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and create a new companion in Ace, played by Sophie Aldred, ‘Script Doctor’ is an intimate tale which sees a team of dedicated, creative new wave at the BBC, battling the old-guard and attempting to push the envelope.

I've heard lots of rumours, none of which I'm allowed to tell you anything about. I'm privy to them actually, yes, I have got a copy of the script which has got my name embossed across it, so it's top secret, but there's other stuff, lots of other things that are going on that people should keep their eye open for around the 50th Anniversary Special!