BBC to take Daleks, Cybermen and more on a live tour of the UK

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Doctor Who is soon set to step out of his Tardis and onto a theatre stage near you.

The Doctor – plus assorted adversaries and creatures including Daleks, Cybermen and Oods – is to tour the UK this autumn with Doctor Who Live.

The tour follows a string of other TV shows which have developed stage versions: The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, and even Coronation Street.

The new Doctor, Matt Smith, and assistant Karen Gillan, will not appear in the stage show, which is being developed by Doctor Who's head writer Steven Moffat and will feature in "on-stage battles, pyrotechnics and special effects".

The show, produced by the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, will open in wartime London and conclude with "an epic onstage battle". There will also be a live soundtrack, performed by a 16-piece orchestra, by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold, responsible for the programme's controversial new theme tune.

The television and music industries have discovered a lucrative new revenue stream through live performances, with ticket sales and merchandising.

Moffatt, who is also the executive producer of the TV series, said: "This is everything I ever wanted since I was eleven. A live show, with all the coolest Doctor Who monsters, a proper story, and brand new screen material for Matt Smith's Doctor. I'll be writing scenes for it, and probably attending every single night."

The tour will cover nine cities with 25 performances, opening at London's Wembley Arena on 8 October, and then Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, Liverpool and Belfast on 7 November.

Reality shows such as the X Factor have toured the UK to huge crowds who want to see the stars of the programme in the flesh.

Coronation Street Abridged Live! will bring the entire history of the ITV soap to the stage to celebrate the 50th anniversary in August, written by Corrie scriptwriter Jonathan Harvey. More than 7,000 episodes, 115 deaths and 86 marriages will be shoehorned into two hours, for the Lowry Theatre in Salford and then on a nationwide tour.

Details of the Doctor Who shows are available from doctorwholive.com.