Doctor Who To Return In August

The Doctor calls sooner than expected!
If things had seemed a lot quieter recently on the Doctor Who front recently, we can probably forgive the BBC marketing team today now that we've got a big new announcement on the next season's scheduling. Through the Guardian, the show's producers have revealed that the opening episode of Series Seven (reportedly dubbed Asylum Of The Daleks) will premiere at the 2012 Edinbrugh TV and Media Festival on August 25th alongside a Sherlock masterclass from Steven Moffat, the executive producer of both programmes. If like last year this means that Episode 1 will air on BBC One the next Saturday, then that means we'll either see the episode a few hours after the premeire-goers on the 25th or the next weekend's September 1st. The latter date seems more likely, but it does beg the question as to what the Moff intends to fill the gap between the five final episodes of the Ponds and the Christmas Special. This run will essentially amount to six episodes being broadcast in 2012 as planned, but Steven said he had hoped the series would start up in late November and then run through until late February with its full thirteen episodes. Some fans are speculating the gap has been implemented in order for a Series Seven: Part One boxset to be released in time for Christmas, but it's not naieve either to think that Merlin Series Five may air in this gap too. If this were to be the case, and we stick with the September 1st theory, this could well be BBC One's Autumn/Winter Saturday night line-up:
SEPTEMBER 1ST- DOCTOR WHO: ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS (RUMOURED)
SEPTEMBER 8TH- DOCTOR WHO: 'SPOILERS' ON A 'SPOILER'
SEPTEMBER 15TH- DOCTOR WHO: THE GUNSLINGER (RUMOURED)
SEPTEMBER 22ND- DOCTOR WHO: CUBED (RUMOURED)
SEPTEMBER 29TH- DOCTOR WHO: POND FINALE; MERLIN EPISODE 1
OCTOBER 6TH- MERLIN EPISODE 2
OCTOBER 13TH- MERLIN EPISODE 3
OCTOBER 20TH- MERLIN EPISODE 4
OCTOBER 27TH- MERLIN EPISODE 5
NOVEMBER 3RD- MERLIN EPISODE 6
NOVEMBER 10TH- MERLIN EPISODE 7
NOVEMBER 17TH- MERLIN EPISODE 8
NOVEMBER 24TH- MERLIN EPISODE 9
DECEMBER 1ST- MERLIN EPISODE 10
DECEMBER 8TH- MERLIN EPISODE 11
DECEMBER 15TH- MERLIN EPISODE 12
DECEMBER 22ND- MERLIN EPISODE 13
DECEMBER 25TH- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 6 (CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, INTRODUCING JENNA-LOUISE)
JANUARY 5TH, 2013- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 7
JANUARY 12TH- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 8
JANUARY 19TH- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 9
JANUARY 26TH- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 10
FEBRUARY 2ND- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 11
FEBRUARY 9TH- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 12
FEBRUARY 16TH- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 13
FEBRUARY 23RD- DOCTOR WHO: EPISODE 14
Apologies if that was all a little overwhelming- bear in mind, that's all estimation based on what we already know, and after Doctor Who reaches the end of Series Seven, I'm sure there are plenty of initiatives in place to make the wait until the 50th Anniversary Specials kick off Series Eight in the Autumn that much more enjoyable. Still, the news sets an intriguing precedent for what's to come, and indeed it gets us to look ahead and realise just how fast 2012 is passing by!