Doctor Who: Series 6 Update

The sixth season of Doctor Who is on its way this year, split into two parts across the Spring and Autumn, and as the approach of the première nears closer major updates of the story line-up have been revealed. Episodes 1 & 2 will take place in 1960s America as the Doctor, Amy and Rory are called on a secret mission by River Song (Alex Kingston), forming a two-part adventure written by Steven Moffat and directed by Series 5 regular Toby Haynes. Episode 3 was previously going to be a story written by Neil Gaiman, but since Steve Thompson's story has swapped places with Mark Gatiss' (Thompson wrote Episode 9, now Episode 3 as executive producer Steven Moffat mentioned there weren't enough "outside" episodes in the first half of Season Six), Gaiman's story will now be the fourth story in the run. Episode 3 has an unknown plot right now, but from the 'Coming Soon' trailer at the end of A Christmas Carol we can tell Episode 4 will feature a horror-themed plot. Meanwhile, the fifth and sixth stories (currently titled The Rebel Flesh and Gangers respectively) are written by Matthew Graham and directed by Julian Simpson, while Episode 7 will be the first of two season finales, starring Alex Kingston as River again and written by Steven Moffat, not to mention ending on a colossal cliff-hanger. After this, there's a break filled by Torchwood: Miracle Day, then the second half of Season Six will debut in the Autumn along with The Sarah Jane Adventures Series Five and eventually the 2011 Who Christmas Special. Date-wise, while nothing's definitive, we can expect the season to air in its two parts from April and September.