Series 6 (Doctor Who)

thumb|250px|right|An official [[BBC One series 6 trailer]] thumb|250px|right|An official [[BBCA series 6 trailer]] Series 6 of Doctor Who, sometimes known as Season 32 to avoid confusion with Season 6, is currently being aired. Its second half started on the 27th of August 2011, with the episode Let's Kill Hitler. . DWM 419 confirmed that it had been commissioned by the BBC, and producer Piers Wenger also announced the same at the BBC Press Launch for series five in March 2010.

Filming started in July 2010. This series was preceded by a 2010 Christmas Special, written by Steven Moffat. The series is split into two sections, with the first episode, The Impossible Astronaut airing on 23rd April 2011. It then paused after the seventh episode, A Good Man Goes to War was aired. The series picked up with the eighth episode, Let's Kill Hitler, at the end of August and will run through to the final, thirteenth episode, The Wedding of River Song. Short prequels were released on the official site to publicise the series.

Cast
Matt Smith returned as the Eleventh Doctor alongside Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, the first male companion to do a complete series since 1975. Alex Kingston also returned as River Song.

Primary cast

 * Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill

Secondary cast

 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Madame Kovarian - Frances Barber

Guest cast

 * Captain - Pooky Quesnel
 * Kazran Sardick - Michael Gambon
 * Abigail Pettigrew - Katherine Jenkins
 * Co-Pilot - Micah Balfour
 * Eric - Nick Malinowski
 * Older Benjamin - Steve North
 * Chief Servant - Tim Plester
 * Isabella - Laura Rogers
 * Canton Delaware - Mark Sheppard
 * Richard Nixon - Stuart Milligan
 * Grant - Jeff Mash
 * Henry Avery - Hugh Bonneville
 * Toby Avery - Oscar Lloyd
 * Boatswain - Lee Ross
 * Siren - Lily Cole
 * Mulligan - Michael Begley
 * Idris - Suranne Jones
 * House - Michael Sheen
 * Uncle - Adrian Schiller
 * Auntie - Elizabeth Berrington
 * Nephew - Paul Kasey
 * Jennifer Lucas - Sarah Smart
 * Dicken - Leon Vickers
 * Miranda Cleaves - Raquel Cassidy
 * Jimmy - Mark Bonnar
 * Dorium - Simon Fisher Becker
 * Colonel Manton - Danny Sapani
 * Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
 * Jenny - Catrin Stewart
 * Strax - Dan Starkey
 * Lorna Bucket - Christina Chong
 * Thin Man - Dan Johnston
 * Fat Man - Charlie Baker
 * Lucas - Joshua Hayes
 * Arthur - Henry Wood
 * Eleanor - Annabel Cleare
 * Headless monk - Claudio Laurini
 * Adolf Hitler - Albert Welling
 * Mels - Nina Toussaint-White
 * Young Amy Pond - Caitlin Blackwood
 * Young Rory Williams - Ezekiel Wigglesworth
 * George - Jamie Oram
 * Alex - Daniel Mays
 * Claire - Emma Cunniffe
 * Mrs Rossiter - Leila Hoffman and Louise-Marie Bowmen (Peg Doll)
 * Julie - Sophie Cosson
 * Check-in-girl - Josie Taylor
 * Gibbis - David Walliams
 * Rita - Amara Karen
 * The Minotaur - Spencer Wilding
 * Craig Owens - James Corden
 * Sophie - Daisy Haggard
 * Val - Lynda Baron
 * NASA Man - Geoffrey Burton
 * News anchor - Meredith Viera
 * Charles Dickens - Simon Callow
 * Winston Churchill - Ian McNeice
 * Eldane- Stephen Moore
 * Professor - Paul Bentley
 * Dr Kent - Emma Campbell-Jones
 * TBA - Jimmy Vee
 * TBA - Fern Deacon
 * TBA - Frances Encell
 * TBA - Mark Gatiss

Casting notes

 * There are currently no plans to bring back Paul McGann or any other Doctors.

Aliens and enemies

 * Kazran Sardick
 * Sky shark
 * Sky fish
 * The Silence
 * Little Girl
 * Madame Kovarian
 * Siren
 * House
 * Nephew
 * Auntie
 * Uncle
 * Gangers
 * Headless monks
 * Dorium
 * Cybermen
 * Judoon
 * Sontarans
 * Silurians
 * Mels
 * Teselecta
 * Peg Dolls
 * Tenza
 * Handbots
 * Minotaur
 * Weeping Angels

Writers
During production, Neil Gaiman confirmed that he was writing an episode for the first half of this series. Gaiman told BBC News that his episode was originally titled The House of Nothing and was said to be the third episode of Series 6 on Neil Gaiman's twitter page. However, it was later revealed that Steve Thompson would be writing the third episode and Gaiman's episode pushed back to the fourth. Steven Moffat returned as Executive Producer and Head Writer and wrote six episodes, including the 2010 Christmas Special.
 * Steven Moffat (6 episodes - Including the Christmas Special)
 * Steve Thompson (1 episode)
 * Neil Gaiman (1 episode)
 * Matthew Graham (2 episodes)
 * Mark Gatiss (1 episode)
 * Tom MacRae (1 episode)
 * Toby Whithouse (1 episode)
 * Gareth Roberts (1 episode)

Directors

 * Toby Haynes
 * Richard Clark
 * Julian Simpson
 * Jeremy Webb
 * Peter Hoar
 * Richard Senior
 * Nick Hurran
 * Steve Hughes

New crew
DWM 424 confirmed on page 5 the following:
 * Sanne Wohlenberg took over as Producer for Blocks One and Two.
 * Michael Pickwoad took over as the new Production designer.
 * Barbara Kidd became the new Costume designer.
 * Di Barton became the new Line producer.

Production notes

 * Piers Wenger and Beth Willis remained as Executive producers.

Television stories
The first episode aired on BBC One in the UK on 23rd April and aired in the United States on BBC America on the same day. The second half of the season began on August 27th, again airing on BBC America and BBC One on the same day.

Regular season
The series was commissioned for thirteen episodes in two blocks; seven episodes were broadcast during Spring 2011 from 23rd April to 4th June and the remaining six episodes in Autumn 2011. This is the first time this has happened in the forty-seven year history of Doctor Who. The series has usually been aired in just one block over a period of around three or four months.

Episode notes

 * Steven Moffat has written six episodes: A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon, A Good Man Goes to War, Let's Kill Hitler and The Wedding of River Song.
 * Episode 9 was rumoured to be called What Are Little Boys Made Of? Due to the length of the title, two alternatives were devised: House Call and Night Terrors. The episode was screened as Night Terrors.
 * Steven Moffat confirmed that the question Amy was going to ask the Doctor in Space will return in Series 6.

Rumours

 * In The Brilliant Book 2011, several "hints" about Series 6 were revealed.
 * Skaro may be revisited.
 * There will be an episode with an Egyptian theme.
 * This looks more positive now that a rumour has surfaced about the redesigned classic Cybermen returning, mummified in an Egyptian tomb, which will be written by Steven Thompson.
 * An Egyptian style pyramid, albeit adorned with a US flag is seen in the latest trailer for the second half of the season
 * Cybermen will also appear in episode twelve
 * Craig Owens may travel in the TARDIS.
 * Craig Owens has had a baby.
 * Paul McGann may return as the Eighth Doctor.
 * The Doctor will revisit the lake in Utah.
 * The Doctor will get married in the finale.

DVD and Blu-ray release
The DVD release of Series 6 will be in two parts, unlike the past series which was released in four to five parts over the duration of the series. Part One, which will contain episodes one to seven will be released on 11th July 2011, shortly after the airing of episode seven. Part Two will be released in the Autumn, shortly after episode thirteen is aired. Both parts will be released as a box set in November.