It was fifty years ago today, on Saturday 29th October 1966, that we bid farewell to the First Doctor.

At exactly 50 minutes and 47 seconds past five, 7.5 million viewers tuned into BBC 1 to hear the theme music ring out and the last William Hartnell episode begin. 24 minutes later it was all over. We had a new Doctor.

William Hartnell had appeared in 127 episodes of Doctor Who, appearing in 29 stories. He would return to the series in 1972, in four episodes of The Three Doctors. To date only one actor, Tom Baker, has appeared in more Doctor Who episodes than Hartnell, whose episodes, if played sequentially, would last for 2 days. 8 hours and 1 minute.

Fifty years on, William Hartnell's influence is still felt in the series, and in the character he created. His final episode has been lost, but one sequence survives. It is perhaps the most important sequence in the series history. The regeneration. With that one scene, the programme's future was guaranteed. The series could outlive its creators. Its immortality was assured.

BBC Worldwide has confirmed the additional material that will be included on the release of the animated version of The Power of the Daleks.

This highly anticipated adventure will be released on BBC Store on Saturday 5th November, exactly 50 years to the minute after it was first transmitted on BBC One at 5.50pm. The UK release of the DVD will follow on Monday 21st November. A wealth of extra material will be available with both the BBC Store and DVD releases.

Extra treats fans can look forward to include commentaries and surviving footage, together with a documentary feature which stars the original cast and crew. Other bonus features include a gallery of artwork from the animation, and original shooting script. There’s even a rare chance to hear the original Dalek recordings from the show.

Power of the Daleks is one of the Doctor’s most celebrated adventures and yet no complete film recordings of The Power of the Daleks are known to have survived. The master negatives were destroyed in an archive purge in 1974.

The six 25 minute episodes feature the regeneration, or as it was then called ‘renewal’, of First Doctor William Hartnell into Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, as the Time Lord and his companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan.

Animator Charles Norton says: Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks will be priced at £9.99 SD and £12.99 HD from bbcstore.com from 5th November where each episode will air on consecutive days.

The DVD will be released in the UK on 21st November priced at £20.42

A full list of extras is here, and will be available on BBC Store from 14th November and on the DVD on the 21st;

• Alternate soundtracks – DVD only
The option to listen to the story with a series of completely new digital re-masters of the original soundtrack – a stereo mix; a 5.1 surround sound mix and version of the original 1966 mono sound mix.
• Animation Test Footage
A compilation of animation tests, created during the production of the new animated series.
• Audio Commentaries on all 6 episodes – DVD only
Members of the original cast and crew are joined by members of the new animation unit to discuss the production of the story and its new animated reconstruction. Moderated by Toby Hadoke. Includes archive audio.
• Booklet with Production Notes – DVD only
An extensively researched set of production notes, written by the noted television historian Andrew Pixley, covering the behind the scenes story of how the original production was made.
• Original Camera Scripts – DVD only
Selected items of original production paperwork and a complete set of original camera scripts
• Original Title Sequence - new restoration
An unedited presentation of the full original 'Doctor Who' title sequence, prepared using an all new HD re-master of the original film elements.
• The Power of the Daleks Animation and Photo Gallery
An extended gallery of images, featuring production photographs from the original 1966 series and artwork from the latest animated production, accompanied by incidental music from the story, which has been digitally re-mastered from the original music production tapes.
• The Power of the Daleks Surviving Footage & Original Trailer – BBC Store/EST only
A compilation of short film fragments and clips from the original 1966 BBC television production - the only surviving footage to remain of the show's original BBC1 run.
• Original Dalek Voice Session Recording (1966) DVD only
Rare and previously unreleased sections from the studio recordings that were made at Maida Vale Studios in 1966 for the Dalek voices.
• Servants and Masters - The Making of The Power of the Daleks
A specially prepared documentary directed by John Kelly and featuring interviews with members of the original 1966 cast and crew.
• Telesnap reconstruction.
Around 400 individual still frames of film exist from the original 1966 television production of The Power of the Daleks. These images were kept in the programme's production files by the BBC Written Archive Centre. These images are here combined with the programme's soundtrack to present a photographic reconstruction of the original programme.

BBC Books are to re-publish the three original Doctor Who novelisations from the 1960s on 3rd November 2016, reproducing the hardback books with their original covers and content:

Titan Comics and Humble Bundle have announced the launch of the Doctor Who Humble Comics Bundle.

Humble Bundle offers collections of videogames, books, and comics at a price determined by the customer. Content is divided into three tiers: pay $1 or more to purchase the first tier; pay $8 or more to purchase tier one and two; and pay $15 or more for content from all three tiers. A portion of each Humble Bundle sale goes to charity. Over $75 million has been donated to charities around the world since the company’s launch in 2010.

When purchasing the Doctor Who Humble Comics Bundle, in addition to furnishing your chosen digital device with an Doctor Who comics library, you’ll also be able to choose to donate any percentage of the Bundle’s retail price to BBC Children In Need, which currently supports over 2,400 projects to help disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

The Doctor Who Humble Comics Bundle contains 70 Doctor Who comics, with appearances from the Third, Fourth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors, and stories from an array of comic writers, including Eisner Award-winning Nick Abadzis (Laika), Paul Cornell (The Severed Streets, Wolverine, Warcraft), Al Ewing (2000AD, The Ultimates), George Mann (Dark Souls, Warhammer 40,000), Robbie Morrison (Drowntown, Nikolai Dante), Cavan Scott (Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space, Vikings), Gordon Rennie(2000AD, Dishonored), and Rob Williams (Suicide Squad, Unfollow); and artists, such as Elena Casagrande (The X-Files, Vigilante), Boo Cook (Elephantmen, 2000AD), Simon Fraser (Judge Dredd, Nikolai Dante), Daniel Indro (Green Hornet, Vikings), Christopher Jones (Avengers, Young Justice), Rachael Stott (Star Trek), Emma Vieceli (Jem and the Holograms, Young Avengers), and Brian Williamson(Spider-Man, The New Avengers).

To find out more and purchase visit the Humble Bumble Website.

The Doctor Who Humble Comic Bundle will be available for purchase from October 26, 2016 to November 9, 2016 at 11:00AM PST. Doctor Who is under license from BBC Worldwide North America.

BBC America has released a short video previewing this year's Christmas Special, The Return of Doctor Mysterio.

We have the following audiobooks available for readers to win, courtesy of BBC Audio; in order to be in with a chance to win simply email us with the answer to the question along with your name, country and where you heard about the competition. All competitions are open worldwide, with a closing date of 13th November 2016. Only one entry per household can be accepted.

This week sees Titan Comics release the latest Doctor Who comic featuring the Eleventh Doctor

ELEVENTH DOCTOR #2.14

Writer: Si Spurrier, Artist: Simon Fraser
Cover A: Alex Ronald, Cover B: Will Brooks Photo, Cover C: Simon Myers – Watercolor Variant

BBC Books have now released full details on the three novels published on Thursday that tie into new series Class:

BBC Worldwide ANZ and Sharmill Films have today announced a limited-run theatrical screening of the new animation of The Power of the Daleks from Saturday 12 November for one week only, ahead of its release on DVD. The cinema event will also feature exclusive bonus content including interviews with members of the original cast.

Screenings of the story have already been announced in cinemas in the US and at the BFI in London. The lost story has been animated to mark the 50th Anniversary of the original transmission of the story, the first full adventure for the Second Doctor.

Tickets for Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks can be purchased by visiting sharmillfilms.com.au for information on participating cinemas, or at the cinema box offices.

The Power of the Daleks is one of the most celebrated Doctor Who adventures, and yet no complete film recordings are known to have survived. The master negatives were destroyed in an archive purge in 1974. This brand new animation, being released 50 years after its only UK broadcast, is based on the programme’s original audio recordings, surviving photographs, and film clips. The six-part adventure features the regeneration - or as it was then called “renewal” - of First Doctor, William Hartnell, into Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, and follows the Time Lord and his companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) as they do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan.

Louise Hill, Live Entertainment Executive for BBC Worldwide ANZ said Natalie Miller AO, Sharmill Films Executive Director, added:Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks is produced and directed by Charles Norton, with character designs from acclaimed comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon. It will be released on DVD in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment on 14 December 2016.

The BBC have released a new set of pictures from the third episode of Class, Nightvisiting.

The episode is released on BBC Three next Saturday, after which it will be released around the world. Full Details