Producer Steven Moffat revealed plans for a “mid-season finale” next summer during an appearance at the Edinburgh International Television Festival yesterday.

Moffat — who appeared at the festival with Scot Karen Gillan, who plays the Doctor’s assistant Amy Pond in the series — pledged to deliver a “huge cliffhanger” and an “earth-shattering climax” to keep fans on the edge of their seats over the summer.

“We will now have two first nights and two finales, twice as many event episodes as we had before.”

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The crowd was a mixture of mums and dads with their kids and grown-up “geek” fans, mostly men, some even clad in the Doctor’s trademark jacket and bow tie.

Chris Paton, 39, brought his wife Claire and sons Calum, 9 and Jamie, 5, on the 7.30am train from Largs.

The family queued outside the Hamleys store from 8.30am but were eventually turned away at around 10.30am because all the wristbands allocated to fans had gone.

Paton said: “We queued for hours then they told us no-one else was going to get in. I asked to speak to the manager of Hamleys and was told they were out.

“Then the manager appeared and just blamed the BBC for the poor organisation. I’m angry and the kids are disappointed.”

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“I am being cast in The Hobbit,” he said. “We’re currently in negotiations – there are two of us under consideration. It’s not the Bilbo role, but could be bigger.”

What an intriguing comment from the former Doctor!

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Personally, I don’t know why this would be a revelation to anyone. The average mileage out of a companion these days would seem to be a season or so and, as such, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Karen disappear at the end of Smith’s first series, and almost certainly sometime during his second series. To drag the Amy character into a third series would be painful overkill, in my opinion.

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For the past five series Doctor Who has aired in the spring of each year, but that may all be about to change.

Digital Spy has spoken with BBC1 controller, Jay Hunt, who has confirmed that scheduling changes are being discussed.

“We’re talking about what form Doctor Who will take. I think the interesting thing with having Steven [Moffat] running that show now is it will be very much a creative decision. He will decide what he thinks is right for the show.”

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How does it feel to be the face of an arena tour?
“It’s a privilege. It feels rather marvellous. It’s one of those lovely things that you only get to experience when you play The Doctor, I suppose.”

You’ve filmed brand new video scenes for the tour. What can you tell us about them?
“Basically, it’s all narrative-based. Within that, there’s a character which I can’t name, and The Doctor has a lot of interactions with him. Also, you’ve got all the monsters – the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Weeping Angels, the Silurians, the Judoon, the Ood, the vampires. Churchill makes an appearance. [So does] Liz Ten. All of that is woven into this one narrative structure. On top of that, [composer] Murray Gold’s music has scored a lot of the live-action that’s taking place on the stage.”

You’ve also filmed some new scenes for the DVD release of the last series. Can you reveal anything about those?
“Without wishing to give too much away, because I want them to remain a surprise, I can tell you that Steven Moffat has written them and they’re extra little scenes and skits. They’re self-contained and they’re just very funny. He’s not bound by any narrative so he can just write really funny skits. I think they’re a wonderful bonus.”

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Matt Smith will continue to star in Doctor Who until the show’s 50th anniversary in 2013, according to reports.

The Daily Express claims that BBC bosses are keen to hold on to the actor for as long as possible.

A source allegedly said: “The current team believe that Matt is the person to continue taking the show forward over the next few years and want to avoid the prospect of fans having to get used to yet another actor in the role in the near future.”

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