A limited-edition gold coin marking the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is being issued by New Zealand Mint, it was announced today.

A total of 250 of the 1 Troy ounce coins are being struck. They are being issued in collaboration with BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand as legal tender under the authority of Niue Island. Each has a nominal value of NZ$200 but will actually cost NZ$3,050 (approximately £1,570.14, AUS$2,672.41, €1,870.57, or US$2,502.83, but please note that conversion rates are liable to change), excluding duties and taxes.

The coins are 99.99 per cent pure gold, have a proof finish, and are 32.6mm in diameter. The reverse features an engraved relief of the TARDIS while the obverse has the Ian Rank-Broadley depiction of the Queen, with the border bearing the engraved words DOCTOR WHO 50TH ANNIVERSARY 1963 – 2013. They are being packaged in a wooden coin case with elevating coin insert for display purposes, and will be supplied with a gold-foiled certificate of authenticity.

It follows the issue of the 1oz silver coin earlier this year, which New Zealand Mint chief executive Simon Harding said had sparked "significant" international response. He added: Rachael Hammond, senior licensing executive at BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand, said: Next month, New Zealand Mint will be issuing half-ounce silver coins honouring each of the 11 Doctors.

September sees the broadcast of ten episodes featuring Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor on Australian and New Zealand television. These screenings are part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV Australia and UKTV New Zealand channels.

Each Sunday afternoon during September will see a block of two episodes screened from the 2005 series.

The schedule for the month in both countries is as follows:

1 September
Rose - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 4:50pm (NZ repeat 2 Sep, 4:30am)
The End of the World - AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 5:40pm

8 September
Aliens of London - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 3:00pm
World War Three - AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 4:00pm (NZ repeat 9 Sep, 4:35am)

15 September
Dalek - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 4:45pm
The Long Game - AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 5:40pm (NZ repeat 16 Sep, 4:30am)

22 September
The Empty Child - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 4:50pm
The Doctor Dances - AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 5:40pm (NZ repeat 23 Sep, 4:35am)

29 September
Bad Wolf - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 3:50pm
The Parting of the Ways - AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 4:45pm (NZ repeat 30 Sep, 4:45am)

The line-up includes all but three of the entire run of Ninth Doctor episodes. The omissions are The Unquiet Dead, Father’s Day and Boom Town.

The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular is coming to New Zealand for the first time. The special event will open the 2014 New Zealand Festival in Wellington.

Touring with a new show based on the recent Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Proms, the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular will play three performances at Wellington’s TSB Bank Arena on 21 and 22 February 2014.

This will be the first time the show has been put on for New Zealand audiences. When the 2014 Australian performances were previously announced it was speculated that the show might also come to New Zealand.

The music will be performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. During the show there will be live appearances in the aisles by monsters from the series, and specially edited sequences featuring the Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith will play on the big screen.

New Zealand Festival Artistic Director Shelagh Magadza said:
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Head of Artistic Programming Melissa King said:
Helen Pendlebury, Head of Commercial, Entertainment and Children’s Brands, BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand commented:

Tickets go on sale to the General Public on 30 August 2013 with pre-sales available from 26 August 2013 from ticketek.co.nz.

Sunday 25th August sees the broadcast of four more instalments in the Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited series of specials on Australian and New Zealand television - and one of these episodes will be a world premiere. These specials are part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV Australia and UKTV New Zealand channels.

The Doctors Revisited specials will screen in a two hour block of four episodes, covering the first four Doctors. They screen in Australia at 4:25pm and in New Zealand at 4:40pm, with a New Zealand repeat screening at 3:45am on Monday 26th August.

New Zealand has the honour of being the first in the world to screen Episode 8 in this series, covering Paul McGann's eighth Doctor. Doctor Who Revisited is usually first screened on BBC America, but this particular episode is due to be broadcast in the United States on 31st August.

UKTV describes the specials as follows:

Episode 5:
The Fifth Doctor introduced viewers to a character who was fresh faced, youthful and more vulnerable than we had seen before. Doctor Who Revisited takes a close look at a TARDIS that was bursting at the seams with a range of different companions, and examines one of the most dramatic departures from the series to date. We also look at the return of two popular foes, the emotionless Cybermen and the ever-deceitful Master.

Episode 6:
As Doctor number six colourfully generated onto our screens in a patchwork blast of colour he brought with him his own sense of style and character. Featuring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant join The Doctors Revisited as we unveil the compassionate side of the Doctor, his attempts at Tardis maintainence and introduce Sil the galaxies most slippery business man!

Episode 7:
The seventh doctor crashed onto our screens, clowned around in a question-marked tank top and juggled his way around foes. Join The Doctors Revisited as we examine the darker side of this Doctor and take a look at some of his surreal adventures. Featuring interviews with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, we look at the Doctor's modern day companion Ace and his most scientific foe The Rani.

Episode 8:
Celebrate the uniqueness of the Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, who appeared in the Doctor Who TV movie in 1996 to fight a new incarnation of his oldest nemesis, the Master. Featuring Steven Moffat and Daphne Ashbrook.

The specials were originally made for BBC America, where they are presented in conjunction with screenings of stories including Earthshock, Vengeance on Varos, Remembrance of the Daleks, Doctor Who (The Movie). All four stories have previously screened on UKTV as part of the 50th Anniversary season.

The specials replace earlier scheduled Doctor Who programmes on UKTV. Australia was due to screen Doctor Who America Specials: The Destinations of Doctor Who and The Women of Doctor Who, while New Zealand was to have seen Pyramids of Mars.

Sunday 18th August sees the broadcast of the first four instalments in the Doctor Who Revisited series on Australian and New Zealand television. The screening of this specials are part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

This is a late change to the programming schedules in both countries, and consequently has yet to appear on UKTV's websites and electronic programme guides.

The Doctor Who Revisited specials will screen in a two hour block of four episodes, covering the first four Doctors. They are expected to screen in Australia at 4:30pm and in New Zealand at 4:40pm or 4:50pm.

UKTV describes the specials as follows:

These programmes provide an introduction to each of the previous incarnations of the Doctor, and are designed to work alongside a specially curated selection of stories. Featuring interviews with key cast and crew along with classic clips and a montage of the Doctors’ key moments, iconic lines, and monsters, these programmes are the perfect companion pieces to some of the classic and newer Doctor Who. Featuring contributions from Steven Moffat, John Barrowman, David Tennant, Caroline Skinner and Neil Gaiman, among others.

When originally seen on BBC America earlier this year, the four specials were presented in conjunction with screenings of stories including The Aztecs, The Tomb of the Cybermen, Spearhead from Space and Pyramids of Mars. All four stories have previously screened on UKTV as part of the 50th Anniversary season.

The specials replace other planned Doctor Who screenings on UKTV. Australia was due to screen Doctor Who America Specials: The Science of Doctor Who and The Timey Wimey Stuff of Doctor Who, whereas New Zealand either had The Three Doctors or Spearhead from Space (the website currently lists the first, whereas the electronic programme guide has the latter).

BBC Worldwide have announced that the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular is to once again take place in Australia, with three concerts to take place during January and February next year in Melbourne and Queensland, and the possibility of further performances in New Zealand.


The new Spectacular is currently scheduled for the following dates:

• 31st January (7:30pm) and 1st February (2:00pm) - Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
  Plenary Hall, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
  Bookings: 03 9929 9600 or visit www.mso.com.au
  
  
• 8th February - Queensland Symphony Orchestra
  Brisbane Entertainment Centre
  Bookings: 132 849 or visit ticketek.com.au/doctorwho

Composer Murray Gold said:
André Gremillet, Managing Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, said:
Sophie Galaise, CEO for Queensland Symphony Orchestra, said:

Helen Pendlebury, Head of Commercial, Entertainment and Children’s Brands, BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand commented:

The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular is being presented in association with BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand. Tickets go on sale from the 6th August.

Sunday 4th August sees the broadcast of Doctor Who - The Movie, starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, on Australian and New Zealand television.

This screening represents the culmination of a chronological run through selected stories of the classic series, to mark the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

The story is scheduled to screen in Australia at 4:45pm and in New Zealand at 5:00pm with an additional screening in New Zealand on Monday 5th August at 3:40am.

The UKTV listing describes the story as follows:

The TARDIS arrives in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1999. As the clock counts down to the start of the new millennium, can the Doctor stop his oldest enemy destroying all life on Earth?

The movie was first broadcast in Australia in July 1996 and in New Zealand in October of the same year.

The Doctor Who screenings lined up on UKTV for the remainder of August are entirely different for Australia and New Zealand.

Australia has: Doctor Who Proms (11th August), Doctor Who America Specials: The Science of Doctor Who and The Timey Wimey Stuff of Doctor Who (18th August), and Doctor Who America Specials: The Destinations of Doctor Who and The Women of Doctor Who (25th August).

Whereas New Zealand's line-up includes: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (11th August), The Three Doctors (18th August), and Pyramids of Mars (25th August). These are all repeats of stories previously screened on UKTV earlier this year.

Selected stories from the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors' eras are expected to screen on UKTV in September, October and November this year.

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand's Prime television channel has posted a statement on Facebook regarding the 50th Anniversary Special.
BBC Worldwide issued a statement last week in which they announced an intention to simultaneously broadcast the Anniversary Special internationally.

What this means for New Zealand viewers is that if - hypothetically - the Special screens in the UK on Saturday 23rd November at 7pm, the episode would be seen on Prime on Sunday 24th November at 8am.

It remains unclear at this stage whether the episode will in fact screen at the same time in New Zealand. Prime has addressed this in a follow-up statement:
In New Zealand, new series episodes of Doctor Who invariably receive a PGR (Parental Guidance Recommended) rating, which makes them unsuitable for an early morning timeslot on Prime.

Sunday 28th July sees the broadcast of the 1989 Sylvester McCoy stories, The Curse of Fenric and Survival on Australian and New Zealand television. The stories are presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.



In Australia The Curse of Fenric screens at 3:00pm and Survival at 5:00pm.

In New Zealand The Curse of Fenric screens at 3:25pm and Survival at 5:05pm with additional screenings on Monday 29th July at 2:55am and 4:35am respectively.

No billing information has been provided for The Curse of Fenric, but the listing for Survival describes the story as follows:

The Seventh Doctor brings Ace back to her home of Perivale. Her friends are being kidnapped by a race of alien hunters who were shown the way to Earth by the Doctor's old enemy the Master.

The two stories were first broadcast in New Zealand July-September 1990 and in Australia in November of the same year.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. Next week sees the broadcast of Doctor Who (the TV Movie) in both countries on 4th August.

Australia and New Zealand's schedules are entirely different for the remainder of August.

Australia has Doctor Who Proms (11 Aug), Doctor Who America Specials: The Science of Doctor Who and The Timey Wimey Stuff of Doctor Who (18 Aug), and Doctor Who America Specials: The Destinations of Doctor Who and The Women of Doctor Who.

New Zealand's line-up includes: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (11 Aug), The Three Doctors (18 Aug), and Pyramids of Mars (25 Aug).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.

Sunday 21st July sees the broadcast of the 1988 Sylvester McCoy story, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy on Australian and New Zealand television. The story is presented as part of the 50th Anniversary season of Doctor Who on the UKTV channel.

The story screens at 4:30pm in Australia, and 4:40pm in New Zealand. The latter country has an additional screening on Monday 22nd July at 4:00am.

The UKTV billing describes the story as follows:

The Doctor & Ace head for the Psychic Circus on the planet Segonax, where they meet a disparate group of performers & visitors, including an explorer - Captain Cook.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was first broadcast in Australia in November 1989, and in New Zealand in April 1990.

UKTV is showing stories throughout the year in the lead-up to the anniversary in November. In July the focus is on Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor. The remainder of the month's schedule includes: The Curse of Fenric and Survival (both 28 July).

Up-and-coming broadcasts from both 20th and 21st Century series of Doctor Who can be found via UKTV's Doctor Who sections for Australia and New Zealand.