The BBC have advertised the role of Executive Producer for Doctor Who on their BBC Careers website.

The position which became available when Caroline Skinner stepped down earlier last month, has been temporarily occupied by Faith Penhale, while the replacement is found.

The role will be for a 20-Month contract, which confirms (in case anyone doubted) that Doctor Who will be in production in 2014, and the closing date for applications is 14th April at 11:59pm (to be precise).

Below are details of the role and its requirements, as per the posting:

The Role

"We are looking for someone with extensive experience in producing complex action packed drama which appeals to the broad BBC One audience, who will help develop, communicate and implement the creative vision for our show. 

As Executive Producer you will be responsible to the Head of Drama, Wales, for the editorial, production and financial management of Doctor Who. The successful candidate will therefore have extensive production experience in popular and complex primetime television series and be confident in leading and inspiring a team to create their best work.

Working closely with our Lead Writer you will consistently deliver fresh, original, high quality and high profile episodes of Doctor Who to BBC One."

Requirements

"If you are strong editorially, driven, self-motivated, approachable and passionate about making popular, ground-breaking television drama, we’d love to hear from you.

Experience of producing complex period dramas including effects is essential. You must have original and creative ideas for storylines and characters as well as the skills and abilities to communicate these to the team.  You need experience of leading a production team; an eye for detail and be used to working with internal and external stakeholders such as co-producers.  You’ll be privy to confidential and commercially sensitive information so it’s important you understand how to handle this. In addition you’ll have an awareness of our audiences and the knowledge of professionals within the industry including writers, directors, production teams and actors. This is not your normal 9-5 job, so you will need to be flexible with your time and duties and demonstrate resilience."

It is worth noting that advertising a vacant job role is a legal requirement and the role may very well be filled or partie(s) approached already.

[Source: BBC Careers website]

BBC Cymru Wales confirms that Caroline Skinner has decided to step down as Executive Producer of Doctor Who. Caroline joined the show in 2011 as the Executive Producer alongside Steven Moffat and is now set to join BBC Drama Production in London.

Caroline Skinner says:

"It has been an honour to have been a part of Doctor Who, and a privilege to have worked with Steven Moffat and Matt Smith on this extraordinary show. I have hugely enjoyed my time in BBC Wales and would like to thank Faith Penhale, and our wonderful production team for their unending commitment and brilliance. I will miss them all enormously, but I'm leaving Doctor Who in fine form, with the new series starting at Easter and the fantastic plans for the 50th Anniversary already underway. I am delighted to be now returning to BBC Drama Production in London as an executive producer, and the new opportunities and projects that will bring."

Faith Penhale, Head of Drama BBC Wales adds:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Caroline for her contribution to Doctor Who since taking on the role in 2011, on behalf of both the BBC and the show. She leaves the show in good shape - there's a brilliant new series starting on Easter Saturday that will see the official arrival of the Doctor's new companion! And the 50th Anniversary plans are on track to deliver audiences an unmissable event! I wish her all the very best for the future."

Faith Penhale will take over as the executive producer on the 50th Anniversary with immediate effect.

Caroline will continue working on BBC Two's one-off drama An Adventure In Space and Time which forms part of the BBC's celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversary.

The recruitment process for a new executive producer for the next series will start shortly.

[Source: BBC Press Office]

Radio Times starts its celebrations of 50 Years of Doctor Who with four free postcards of classic Doctor Who Radio Times covers with each issue – there are two sets of postcards to collect.

Also in this week’s Radio Times - What’s coming up to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th birthday:

November 2013 marks 50 years of Doctor Who on TV, and RT will bring you all the news as it unfolds – starting with some of the treats coming up. The most hugely anticipated event is surely the Anniversary special on BBC1.

All details are firmly under wraps – and it doesn’t even start filming until spring, but fans worldwide are praying for a multi-Doctor escapade, perhaps with a few former best friends and best enemies thrown in. Could it actually happen? And would all the surviving actors be available – and willing – to appear in such a celebration?

Tom Baker famously declined to participate in The Five Doctors in 1983, and the first three actors to play The Doctor are now long dead. But if William Hartnell can be recast (in The Five Doctors and now in An Adventure in Space and Time) is it conceivable that other actors might convince in Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee’s shadows? This might all be pure fantasy, but what is known is that showrunner Steven Moffat has been toiling with the script.

He tells Radio Times:

“I’m mostly excited, a little bit nervous, and aware of trying not to let people down.”

An Adventure In Space And Time:

Radio Times is chuffed that Mark Gatiss is calling his drama about Doctor Who’s birth An Adventure in Space And Time. This was the tagline RT printed on the billing for episode one in 1963 (below) and indeed on all 253 editions in the 60s. For Gatiss, the 90-minute special (filming now and due to air in November on BBC2) is “quite simply a dream come true”. He describes it as “the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true television original”.

David Bradley (Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films) is playing William Hartnell, the actor who was initially reluctant to take on the role of the mysterious time traveller. He soon fell in love with the character and was sad to leave in 1966. He died in 1975. Bradley says when Gatiss offered him the part, “I almost bit his hand off.” Our first picture of Bradley in character shows him on the second day of shooting last week, with Lesley Manville as Hartnell’s devoted wife, Heather.

Call the Midwife star Jessica Raine has been cast as producer Verity Lambert (then just 27), while Brian Cox (the international film star, not the prof) is playing the “father” of Doctor Who, Sydney Newman, a flamboyant Canadian who was BBC head of drama.

The only surviving member of the quartet who created the series is Indian-born director Waris Hussein. He’s helped Gatiss with his “meticulous research” and is delighted to be a key character in the drama. “I am to be portrayed by my doppelganger, Sacha Dhawan, a handsome actor. Vanity prevails!” he jokes. Recently seen in Last Tango in Halifax, Dhawan was one of the original History Boys (in the play and movie).

Filming began on 3rd February at BBC Television Centre, on what is likely to be the last drama made on the site before it’s redeveloped.

Executive producer Caroline Skinner tells Radio Times:

“As the BBC moves out of TV Centre, we are moving the cast and crew for An Adventure in Space and Time in! It’s a fantastic opportunity to film this momentous story in the actual location – a little bit of television history .”

Plus an exclusive shot of David Bradley as William Hartnell on his second day of shooting, we also look ahead to plans for the 50th anniversary and to the new series at Easter.

+  Radio Times is released Today, priced £1.60.

+  Order both issues with all 8 x Postcards from just £5.99 from CompareTheDalek.com.

[Source: Radio Times]

The BBC Doctor Who website has confirmed details via an interview with Steven Moffat, of the show's new Executive Producer, Caroline Skinner, who replaces Piers Wenger:

These are exciting times for fans of Doctor Who. We've recently had the very welcome announcement that 14 new episodes have been commissioned along with confirmation that Matt Smith will be onboard for them. Hurray! Now comes the news that a new executive producer has been appointed. We felt it was the perfect moment to catch up with lead writer and executive producer, Steven Moffat, who revealed all about the new exec...

What can you tell us about Doctor Who's new executive producer?

Steven Moffat: The exec joining me on Doctor Who is Caroline Skinner - fresh from the wonderful Five Days, and still finishing up on a brand new show called The Fades (a fantasy horror series, written by Jack Thorne - I've seen episode 1, and it's BRILLIANT.) Somewhere between me laughing in a basement and choosing planets to invade, and Marcus Wilson raising armies, there has to be a Prime Minister actually running the whole thing. That's the job Piers Wenger and Beth Willis have been doing so wonderfully for the last few years. Now that Piers is off to movie land, that's the furnace Caroline will be walking into.

How did you meet her?

SM: It's a funny thing about this show: the people who work on it, get so attached and so passionate about it, they can't just leave - they have to make sure it's going to be okay after they're gone. Just as when Russell was leaving, he sounded me out about taking over, Piers had strong views on who should be his successor. And as soon as I met Caroline, I knew exactly why. It takes a particular kind of person to work on this show - you have to be prepared to work every day of the week, laugh in the face of holidays, and above all, understand that Doctor Who is completely impossible to make and then make it anyway. I could see all that in Caroline - so off we go!

When will she actually start on the show?

SM: This has been in the works for a very long while, and a smooth succession is vital on this show. Caroline starts work almost immediately on the Christmas Special, alongside Piers Wenger. They've worked together before so this will be the smoothest hand-over we've done - and since Piers is determined to go out with a bang, that means Caroline will arrive with one. Just as it should be!

What are you working on at the moment? Is there anything you can tell us about the Christmas Special?

SM: I think I spent the entire budget on the first page. A baptism of fire for Caroline Skinner. Literally fire. And aliens!

[Source: BBC Doctor Who website]