It begins with a knock at the TARDIS door, while still in deep space, and an important message from a long-lost Time Lord friend. The distress signal prompts the Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to literally leave the universe, and leads them to a junkyard asteroid. The matrix and power of the TARDIS is immediately drained, leaving them stranded on this odd world, where they confront a mysterious entity called the House (Michael Sheen). What secrets does the mad bitey woman known as Idris (Suranne Jones) hold for the Doctor?

During TARDISblend 26, we review the events of the long-awaited Neil Gaiman-penned episode, The Doctor’s Wife, an episode that proves to be much of the best Doctor Who has offered in a long time.

The BBC has announced that they will not be filming any more episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures, but they will be broadcasting the final episodes that Elisabeth Sladen had filmed for Series 5 later in the year. Sladen passed away from cancer earlier this year, and is sadly missed by Doctor Who fans around the world.

While filming the fourth season in 2010 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the cast and crew also filmed 6 episodes for Series 5. There was rumor for some time that the BBC might make a final episode to wrap the series in memory of Elisabeth Sladen, however, it has since been decided that no more filming will be done and only the completed episodes will be broadcast.

I have to be truthful. I was absolutely devastated when hearing the news yesterday that Elisabeth Sladen had passed away. We reported her death here at Geeks of Doom, and tributes from around the world began pouring in on the internet in memory of her. The Australian ABC invited fans to share their Sarah Jane memories on their Facebook page; and the BBC created a Sarah Jane playlist on YouTube. Fantastic artwork, such as the beautiful design above by DalekBigBoy from the Gallifrey Base forums, also began sprouting around the web– through other avenues as well, such as Twitter and social news sites.

I can’t help but reflect more on Elisabeth Sladen — since it’s important, in my view, to highlight (especially to newer fans), that she was more than just a companion to us oldies and dinosaurs. She was a defining person during our early years, so her death is felt so much closer to the heart for us.

The teasers in the universe of Doctor Who continue to come out. With Series 6 only three weeks ago, and following the official BBC trailer release the other day, BBC America has posted a trailer for the American broadcast including additional footage. On top of that, also in the Whoniverse, Starz USA has also released their teaser trailer for Torchwood: Miracle Day. You can see both trailers at the bottom of this post.

2011 is a big year for Doctor Who fans, with Series 6 premiering with opening episode The Impossible Astronaut on April 23. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and Alex Kingston reprise their roles in the series, performing in stories penned by Steven Moffat, Neil Gaiman, Mark Gatiss, and more. This year is the first time a Doctor Who season will be split into two portions; with the first half playing during Spring, and the second following in Fall.

Big news for Doctor Who and Torchwood fans today, as Starz USA announced that the fourth series of Torchwood will launch its premiere episode on Friday, July 8, 2011 at 10pm ET/PT. Starz has also released some new poster artwork for the new series, which you can view here at right. Entitled Torchwood: Miracle Day, the series originally from the BBC, will feature the return of John Barrowman and Eve Myles who will be reprising their roles as Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper respectively.

New to the world of Torchwood are Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman, Lauren Ambrose, Alexa Havins, and Arlene Tur. Phifer is said to have a major role in Miracle Day, portraying Rex Matheson, a CIA agent investigating a global conspiracy behind what could be a serious threat to humanity.

The official announcement from Starz elaborates on the plot of Miracle Day: