2013 (production)

2013 was a comparatively light production year for the DWU, when viewed in terms of the number of full-length episodes entirely produced within the year. Only two such episodes were made in the year, but the Doctor Who production office significantly shifted focus in this year, resulting in a still busy production schedule. Some post-production on some episodes of series 7 was undertaken at the very beginning of the year. Production on the year's major fictional event, The Day of the Doctor, was made more difficult than usual by the perceived need to make it in 3D. Consequently, it was more akin to a theatrical movie shoot than that of an ordinary episode of Doctor Who.

Also, big behind-the-scenes changes were afoot during the year with the departure of Matt Smith from the production team, and the desire to accommodate his filming schedule outside of the programme. Part of the production year was thus concerned with recasting the Doctor, and figuring out optimum strategies for unveiling the choice. Indeed, the preproduction staff was unusually busy during much of 2013 paving the way for a a brand new Doctor, since production began on the "Capaldi era" late in the year.

Much production energy was also spent this year on the 50th anniversary. The Doctor Who production office worked with BBC Events Production, Doctor Who Brand Management, and several other branches of the British Broadcasting Corporation in order to effect the genuinely global promotion of the 50th anniversary of the programme. Their efforts were eventually acknowledged by Guinness World Records, as The Day of the Doctor became the most-watched television program on a single day in world history.

Many one-off specials on television and radio were also on the production team's docket this year, such as An Adventure in Space and Time, The Night of the Doctor and The Science of Doctor Who, to name but three. Although such ancillary programming is common in almost every production year, the number of individual programmes of this ilk was extreme in 2013.

January

 * 7-8 January - The Big Finish audio story The Lady of Mercia was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 9-10 January - The Big Finish audio story Prisoners of Fate was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 13 January - Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield audio drama anthology Missing Persons was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 16-17 January - The Big Finish audio story Starlight Robbery was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 21-22 January - The Big Finish audio story Persuasion took place at the Moat Studios.
 * 24-25 January - The Big Finish audio story Domain of the Voord was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 29 January - The Destiny of the Doctor audio story Shockwave was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 30-31 January - Big Finish's audio adaptation of the unproduced TV story Lords of the Red Planet was recorded at the Moat Studios.

February

 * 1 February - Big Finish's audio adaptation of the unproduced TV story Lords of the Red Planet was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 5-6 February - The Big Finish audio story Daleks Among Us was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 11-12 February - The Big Finish audio story 1963: The Assassination Games was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 21-22 February - The Big Finish audio story The Doctor's Tale was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 25-26 February - The Big Finish audio story The Bounty of Ceres was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 28 February - The Big Finish audio story Upstairs took place at the Moat Studios.

March

 * 4-5 March - The Big Finish audio story An Ordinary Life was recorded at at the Moat Studios.
 * 7 March - The seventh series of Big Finish's audio series Jago & Litefoot was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 14 March - Big Finish's audio documentary Benjamin & Baxter was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 18-19 March - The Big Finish audio story 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 21 March - The Big Finish audio story The Darkness of Glass was recorded at Audio Sorcery.

April

 * 16 April - The seventh series of Big Finish's audio series Jago & Litefoot was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 23 April - The Destiny of the Doctor audio story Enemy Aliens was recorded at the Moat Studios.

May

 * 2 May - The Big Finish audio story Second Chances was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 2, 3 and 5 May - The third series of Big Finish's audio series Graceless was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 6 May - Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield audio drama anthology Missing Persons was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 8 and 9 May - The Big Finish audio story Masquerade was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 15 and 20 May - The Big Finish audio story Trial of the Valeyard was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 28 and 29 May - The Big Finish audio story 1963: The Space Race was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 31 May - The Big Finish audio story Night of the Whisper was recorded at the Moat Studios.

June

 * 11-12 June - The Big Finish audio story Antidote to Oblivion was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 14 June - The Big Finish audio story The Abandoned was recorded at Audio Sorcery.
 * 14 June - The Big Finish audio story The Time Machine was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 17 June - The Big Finish audio story Death's Deal was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 17 June - Cardiff exhibition Doctor Who Experience was shortlisted for the "Regional Tourism Award" in the Welsh National Tourism Awards, the winners to be announced on 21 November.
 * 18-19 June - The Big Finish audio story The Brood of Erys was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 25-26 June - The Big Finish audio story Scavenger was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 30 June - Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield audio drama anthology Missing Persons was recorded at the Moat Studios.

July

 * 1-2 July - The Big Finish audio stories Requiem for the Rocket Men and Death Match were recorded at Audio Sorcery.
 * 4, 11 and 30 July - The eighth series of Big Finish's audio series Jago & Litefoot was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 7-8 July - Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield audio drama anthology Missing Persons was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 15-16 July - The Big Finish audio story Afterlife was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 15 July - The Doctor Who production team was asked to make a live broadcast announcing the casting of the Twelfth Doctor, due to be broadcast in around three week's time.
 * 31 July - The Big Finish audio story Psychodrome was recorded at the Moat Studios.

August

 * 1 August - The Big Finish audio story Psychodrome was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 28 August - The Big Finish audio story The Exxilons was recorded at Audio Sorcery.
 * 30 August - The Big Finish audio story Wave of Destruction was recorded.
 * 30 August - Big Finish announced that Matthew Waterhouse would be reprising the role of Adric for The Fifth Doctor Box Set.

September

 * 3-4 September - The Big Finish audio story The Age of Endurance was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 10-11 and 13 September - Big Finish's audio adaptation of the novel The English Way of Death was recorded at Audio Sorcery.
 * 24-27 September - Big Finish's audio anthology Dark Eyes 2 was recorded at the Moat Studios.

October

 * 7 October - The Big Finish audio story Starborn was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 8 October - The Big Finish audio story Suburban Hell was recorded at Audio Sorcery.
 * 9 October - The Big Finish audio stories Wave of Destruction and The Labyrinth of Buda Castle were recorded.
 * 10 October - The Big Finish audio story The War To End All Wars was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 10 October - Big Finish announced three further box sets of the Dark Eyes series.
 * 15-16 October - The Big Finish audio story The Sontarans was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 17 October - The eighth series of Big Finish's audio series Jago & Litefoot was recorded at the Moat Studios.
 * 30-31 October - Big Finish's audio adaptation of the novel The Romance of Crime was recorded at Audio Sorcery.

November

 * 1 November - Big Finish's audio adaptation of the novel The Romance of Crime was recorded at Audio Sorcery.
 * 5 November - The Big Finish audio story The Labyrinth of Buda Castle was recorded.