The Return of "Script to Screen"

The cancellation of "Doctor Who Confidential" hasn't affected the rather unique "script to screen" competition. The BBC made the following announcement today on the Official Doctor Who Site:

Script to Screen is back... And this time, if you're aged 9-11 years old you can write an adventure for the Doctor set anywhere in time and space!

The new competition will be launched by the Doctor himself on Blue Peter on CBBC, Thursday, January 12 at 5.45pm. The challenge is simple. Schoolchildren aged 9-11 should write a mini-episode that features the Doctor in an Olympic-themed adventure. Amy and Rory can be included in the script alongside one of four familiar alien species plus a brand new human character.

You can find out much more about the new Script to Screen on Thursday's Blue Peter, but it's been confirmed that once again, the winning script will be produced by the Doctor Who team and broadcast on the BBC. The winners will meet the stars of the show, visit the set and see their mini-episode being shot.

Script to Screen invites UK primary schools to submit one entry each to the competition and a BBC Learning website is available to give master classes in how to write. Learning resources were downloaded 300,000 times during the 7 weeks the competition was open last year and more than 1000 schools submitted an entry.

Following the 2011 competition a survey found that 96% of teachers believed it was an excellent tool for teaching literacy and writing skills. Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's lead writer and executive producer, reflected, 'I come from a family of teachers, I was a teacher, my father's a teacher, my sister's a teacher. We go back teacher generations so it's hard wired for me to want the approval of teachers so I'm very, very thrilled that its gone down so well with the schools that took part.'

Caroline Skinner, executive producer of Doctor Who, looked forward to the return of Script to Screen and commented, 'It's so exciting to be able to challenge young writers in this way. Doctor Who is such an amazing show to work on. It really sets the imaginations of viewers alight, and it's a thrilling prospect to see where young members of our audience would like to see the Doctor go this time!'

All entries for this year's Script to Screen must be submitted by midnight on Friday, March 16, 2012. To find out more about the competition, watch Blue Peter on CBBC, 5.45pm and you can visit the BBC Learning site to investigate the videos and resources created to help develop writing skills that are out of this world!

Please note terms and conditions apply - find out more at BBC Learning.

Keep your eyes open for the official announcement on Blue Peter tomorrow at 5.45pm.