Check out the new trailer for Dr. Who prequel mini-series 'Pond Life'.

THE ABC is sending Doctor Who back in time so that the sci-fi legend materialises online a week before new episodes air on TV.

In an Australian first, the new adventures of Amy, Rory and The Doctor will be available on the ABC's iView player from 5.10am AEST on Sunday September 2, just hours after the first episode airs in the UK.

The show will then reappear in the future, on ABC1at 7:30pm the following Saturday, September 8.

This is the first time a big blockbuster TV show will air in full on an Australian online player within hours of its official release elsewhere.

In 2010, the ABC screened the first episode of Doctor Who on iView before it aired on TV, but the episodes came two weeks after the BBC screened them in the UK.

ABC1 controller Brendan Dahill said the decision to air the show online before television was motivated by a desire to reduce piracy, as well as fulfill the needs of drooling Whovians, who have waited almost a year for the new series.

" Piracy is wrong, as you are denying someone their rights and income for their intellectual property," Mr Dahill said. "The fact that it is happening is indicative that as broadcasters we are not meeting demand for a segment of the population.

"So as broadcasters we need to find convenient ways of making programs available via legal means to discourage the need for piracy."

Mr Dahill said that the ABC's iView "is the most watched catch-up TV service in Australia". Almost one in two online Australians aged 16-plus having used iView.

"The new iView app for iPhones and iPod Touch, launched on June 26, has seen a phenomenal 434,000 downloads recorded to date, with 210,000 downloads recorded in its first week,"Mr Dahill said.

But he also acknowledged that the ABC did not have to compete for ratings like other channels, allowing it to make broadcasting decisions that provide convenience and choice for its audience.

The decision to air Doctor Who online came just a week after News Ltd CEO Kim Williams made an impassioned speech at the Australian International Movie Convention, where he called piracy "scumbag theft" by "copyright kleptomaniacs of the digital age".