Doctor Who fans have been counting down the days since the end of last Christmas Day’s special episode ‘The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe’ in anticipation of the return of the long-running sci-fi family favourite for its seventh season since its resurrection in 2005. Following its well-received first public screening at a special BFI event last week, season opener ‘Asylum of the Daleks‘, starring Matt Smith as the Doctor, Karen Gillen as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, written by show runner Steven Moffat, was initially widely expected to be screened on BBC1 on 25th August as part of the Bank Holiday weekend schedule.

Starburst can now reveal that Doctor Who will actually return the following weekend, screening on BBC1 on 1st September. Final timeslots are yet to be fully locked-down but preliminary schedules suggest the episode, running for fifty minutes (to allow for a lengthy season trailer at the end of the episode) will screen in a prime 7.20pm slot. The hotly-awaited and much-praised episode will air against ITV’s returning game show Red or Black which has already performed badly in its first airing last Saturday (18th August) and with the ninth season of ITV’s The X Factor having also kicked off to disappointing figures hopes are high that Doctor Who’s return will pull in record numbers against what is now seen as weak opposition.

Time, as always in matters concerning Doctor Who, will tell…

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