Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 21 Dec 2013 at 6:15pm
Clive Anderson takes off in the Tardis with actress Orla Brady, who's starring in the Christmas episode of Doctor Who. Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe's deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars - and amongst them, the Doctor. 'Doctor Who - The Time Of The Doctor' is on Christmas Day at 19.30 on BBC One.

Starts at 14:22; available worldwide until 31 Dec at ~5:00am.

Breakfast, BBC One, 23 Dec 2013 at ~8:40am

Jenna Coleman chats about The Time of The Doctor and Death Comes To Pemberley.

A clip is available from the BBC News website.

Richard Bacon, BBC Radio 5 Live, 23 Dec 2013 at 2:00pm

Colin Paterson presenting. Mistresses star Orla Brady gives Colin Paterson a sneak preview of her role as Tasha Lem in the Christmas Day episode of Doctor Who.

Starts at 19:57; available worldwide until 30 Dec at ~4:00pm, or via the Daily Bacon podcast until 17 Jan.

Richard Bacon, BBC Radio 5 Live, 24 Dec 2013 at 2:00pm

Colin Paterson presenting. Jenna Coleman is a familiar presence on our screens over Christmas, with starring roles in both Doctor Who - as the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald - and Death Comes to Pemberley, adapted from the PD James novel. She explains why it's such a wrench to be saying farewell to her co-star Matt Smith, as she looks forward to working with the newest Doctor in the persona of Peter Capaldi.

Starts at 1:16:50; available worldwide until 31 Dec at ~4:00pm, or via the Daily Bacon podcast until 18 Jan.

Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 24 Dec 2013 at 7:15pm

David Tennant talks about his roles in the two most highly anticipated television events of 2013 - the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special and the final episode of Broadchurch. He discusses which accent he decided on for his roles in The Escape Artist, the Politician's Husband and to play Shakespeare's Richard II on stage.

Starts at 1:20; available worldwide, plus an extended interview.

The TARDIS in Teesside, BBC Radio Tees, 26 Dec 2013 at Midday

For over fifty years now, Doctor Who has inspired, influenced and delighted generations of fans around the world. A lifelong devotee himself, BBC Tees presenter Bob Fischer set out to investigate how the show has shaped the lives of fans in the BBC Tees area… from the grizzled veterans who watched the first episode back in 1963 (the day after The Beatles played at the Globe Theatre in Stockton), to 2013’s generation of school-age fans, tentatively awaiting Peter Capaldi’s debut.

He also looks at literal examples of the TARDIS arriving on Teesside, remembering the official BBC exhibition that materialised in Middlesbrough Town Hall in 1973, Tom Baker’s visit to the Binns department store in 1976, and the arrival of the legendary Dimensions convention in Stockton’s Swallow Hotel in 2002. On the way, he uncovers terrifying tales of Daleks in the playground, Cybermen in the school corridors, and… erm, Weetabix down the toilet. And also meets Teesside actor Mark Benton, who took time out of his busy schedule to share his memories of appearing alongside Christopher Eccleston in show’s triumphant 21st century reinvention.

Available worldwide until 2 Jan 2014 at ~2:00pm; repeated on 31 Dec 2013 at 3:00pm

Norfolk's Doctor Who Stories, BBC Radio Norfolk, 26 Dec 2013 at 6:00pm (revised repeat)

Marking 50 years of Doctor Who, Paul Hayes explores a variety of Norfolk people's links to the programme or their reasons for loving the show. Featuring interviews with Brian Hodgson, creator of the TARDIS sounds and the Dalek voices back in 1963; Davros actor Terry Molloy; scriptwriter David Fisher; Doctor Who Mastermind winner Karen Davies; designer Spencer Chapman (who worked on 1964's The Dalek Invasion of Earth, pictured above); Cyberman actor Graham Cole; former child actress Barbara Harper; university lecturer Keith Johnston, and a variety of Norfolk-based fans of the series with stories to tell about just why they love the show, and what Doctor Who means to them.

Available worldwide until 2 Jan 2014 at ~7:00pm

Who is the Doctor?, BBC Radio 2, 26 Dec 2013 at 10:00pm (repeat)

On Saturday November 23rd 1963, BBC TV broadcast the very first episode of Doctor Who. Fifty years later, the series is the most successful drama on television. In this special documentary, Radio 2 examines the reasons for its longevity and popularity. Featuring new interviews with the cast and crew of the series, the programme looks at the lasting appeal of Doctor Who and asks how much of its continued success can be attributed to its basic formula. With archive clips, and the music of Doctor Who composer Murray Gold, Who Is The Doctor? includes interviews with: Doctors; Sylvester McCoy, David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston and Matt Smith, companions; Louise Jameson, Billie Piper, Jenna Coleman and the late Elisabeth Sladen, and show-runners Russell T Davies, Philip Hinchcliffe and Steven Moffat. The programme also considers the character of the Time Lord, across all of his regenerations, and it revisits the origins of the series with Waris Hussein, director of the debut Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child. Who Is The Doctor? also examines how the franchise survived when the show was off TV, considers the impact of the revival in 2005 and assesses the value of the series to the BBC. Other contributors include, TV executives Jane Tranter, Lorraine Heggessey, Faith Penhale and Julie Gardner, historian Dick Fiddy, composers Murray Gold and Mark Ayres, conductor Ben Foster, writers Terrance Dicks, Mark Gatiss, Justin Richards and Gary Russell, journalist Tom Spilsbury, production designer Michael Pickwoad, and actor Nicholas Briggs. Presented by Russell Tovey Written and produced by Malcolm Prince.

Available worldwide until 2 Jan 2014 at ~11:00pm

Time Travelling Scots, BBC Radio Scotland, 27 Dec 2013 at 6:32am (repeat)

A Tale of Two Jamies: Diana Gabaldon is a romance writer with a legion of admiring fans. Her hero, Jamie Fraser, is a swashbuckling Scot who has captured her readers' hearts. Actor Frazer Hines is a former Doctor Who assistant. His character, Jamie McCrimmon, played an unlikely part in inspiring Gabaldon to write her bestselling Outlander novels. Frazer meets Diana and her fans to learn more about the phenomenon he unwittinginly helped create, exploring Scottish history, time travel and the meaning of true love along the way.

Available worldwide until 3 Jan 2014 at ~7:00am

Doctor Who Anniversary Special, BBC Radio Kent, 30 Dec 2013 at 6:00pm (coming soon)

Doctor Who Anniversary Special: We celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the first ever episode of Doctor Who, written by a man from Herne Bay in Kent.

Available after broadcast until 6 Jan 2014 at ~7:00pm

...thank you [readers] and retailers on both shores for trusting this American upstart to handle your beloved 50-year-old Time Lord; thanks to the BBC for giving us this shot in the first place, and a final note of gratitude to all the creators who made for such companions along the way.

The most powerful moments in The Time Of The Doctor didn't involve a stand-off against intergalactic bullies and mad despots - they involved the Doctor reflecting on his time, and slowly giving in to the ravages of age. In this vein, Smith managed to wring genuine emotion out of his final on-screen appearance, but also nailed the quieter moments: the shutdown of a disembodied cyber-head is also the loss of a trusted friend.

(It) is a celebration of the recent past, and a dedication to the Eleventh Doctor, and his time in the Tardis. Time marches on for everybody, even Doctor Who, and everything eventually ends. While there is comfort in the fact that the story goes on, the Eleventh Doctor's time is over. It might have been silly sometimes, and the time-travel shenanigans often got overly complicated, but it was another fine chapter in the lives and times of Doctor Who. The next one is about to begin, but there is plenty of fun and emotion in the Eleventh's chapter that is worth celebrating.

I shed a tear in the knowledge that possibly the best Doctor the show has seen in its half century is no more. Smith had the ability to persuade his audience that he was, indeed, a millennium old man in a very young man's body. Well, on Boxing Day night on Prime, he discarded that body like a favourite suit too worn and raggedy to patch anymore. RIP 11. We are already missing you.

Smith is at his glorious best in this special, with plenty of reminders of why he might just be the best Doctor yet. Scrub that, he is the best yet and I'm going to miss his portrayal terribly.

The episode is ripe with writer/producer Steven Moffat's leitmotifs: messages sent across space and time, gatherings of The Doctor's rivals, small towns and sheriff badges. And some of the show's classic tropes: broken technology, the TARDIS telephone and lots of lovely one-liners. The risk, of course, is that the episode is so laden with in-universe references and nods to past episodes, moments, characters and aliens than it becomes almost impossible to navigate for someone without even a cursory knowledge of Doctor Who lore.

This is a pensive finish, but not gut-wrenching in the way that Davies wrote previous Doctor David Tennant's farewell. This is gentler, with only a cameo from his beloved Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) who says goodbye to her "raggedy man". Even Smith's lovely scene with old-school Fourth Doctor Tim Baker in the anniversary special was richer, and more touching. (And tearful, for Baker-era fans anyway.)

But salvation comes in the form of a gift, once promised (but never delivered) by the Time Lords to The Master in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors: a new life cycle of twelve regenerations. Which means that Peter Capaldi's Doctor becomes not the Twelfth Doctor, as previously thought, but the First Doctor, beginning a new chapter of life for the universe's most beloved Time Lord. And the comfortable assurance that his hope, his strength and, best of all, his eccentric madness, remains a light which will never be extinguished.

Even though the date of Smith's leaving and the identity of his successor, Peter Capaldi, had been known for some time, watching the episode knowing it was Smith's last kept at least one American viewer anxious and sad, with a finger on the pause button for when things got too heavy. Possibly there are still viewers, avid viewers even, who have never quite cottoned to him — Tennant continues to cast a long shadow — but I have loved his work. Elegant and heartfelt, authoritative and playful, swashbuckling and intimate, alien and familiar, Smith's acting has accommodated and, as it were, humanized every oddball, paradoxical, high-concept, low-humor passage Moffat has thrown at him.

It was always going to be so when facing the long-standing question of regeneration limits. Precedent for more regenerations being granted had been established before, and Steven Moffat led just about enough crumbs to the key moment to deal with the issue, without dwelling too much on it. Job done, whether you like the way it was done or not.

The Time Of The Doctor, then, brought the curtain down on what has to be classed as a successful 50th anniversary year for Doctor Who, that's had its bumps, but also given us some absolute treats. The Time Of The Doctor in itself is unlikely to go down as one of the Who highlights of 2013 in truth. We quite enjoyed it, but it still felt a bit underwhelming. Still, Smith's performance as the Doctor is undoubtedly one of the year's highlights, and it's very clear that the show is going to miss him a lot. What's also clear is that there are further exciting times ahead.

The Butcher of Brisbane
Starring Peter Davison as The Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Angus Wright as Magnus Greel

Adopting the alias of Weng-Chiang, the 51st century war criminal Magnus Greel will one day arrive in Victorian London by Time Cabinet – only to meet his doom, his plans undone by the Time Lord known as the Doctor.

The Doctor never believed he'd meet Greel again. But when a TARDIS trip to companion Tegan's home town goes wrong, the Doctor ends up in the younger Greel's heyday – in a world on the brink of all-out war.

With the Doctor at the mercy of Greel's alien associate Findecker and his army of mutations, Tegan is about to learn just why they called Greel 'The Butcher of Brisbane'...