The second series of Wizards vs Aliens is to start on Monday 28th October at 5pm.

The CBBC science fantasy drama is back for an extended 14-week run of two episodes a week, following its first series of 12 weeks last autumn, and will comprise seven two-part stories. The first adventure is entitled 100 Wizards and has been written by series co-creator Phil Ford and directed by Beryl Richards. The concluding part will air on Tuesday 29th October at the same time.

The show stars Scott Haran as Tom Clarke and Percelle Ascott as Benny Sherwood, with the voice of Brian Blessed as the alien Nekross King.

The following story is called Vice Versa, written by Clayton Hickman and again directed by Richards, while the third one is The Cave of Menla-Gto, penned by Joseph Lidster, the fourth one is The Curse of Crowe, written by Gareth Roberts, and the fifth one will be The Thirteenth Floor, again by Ford, which was originally intended for the fifth series of The Sarah Jane Adventures but never made as the show was ended following the death of lead actress Elisabeth Sladen. The sixth story is entitled Endless Night, also written by Ford, while the title of the series finale is yet to be revealed, as is the identity of the actress playing Chloe.

The BFI is holding a preview of the first two episodes of the new series on Saturday 26th October at 1.30pm, with Haran, Ascott, and Ford being joined by Michael Higgs, who plays Michael Clarke, and producer Brian Minchin as the special guests. Tickets can be bought via this link.

The scripts for episode 1 and episode 2 of the first series are available to download for free from the BBC Writersroom.

Filming on the extended second series of BBC Three zombie drama In The Flesh has started, it was announced today.

The first series, which aired in March this year, ran for three episodes, but the new series is double that length.

Creator Dominic Mitchell reignites the world of teenager Kieren Walker, a PDS (Partially Deceased Syndrome) sufferer, who continues in his struggle to find acceptance in the fictional village of Roarton.

Returning to the series, Luke Newberry as Kieren Walker leads the cast, together with Emily Bevan as his upbeat friend and fellow medicated zombie Amy Dyer, Harriet Cains as his feisty sister Jem, and Stephen Thompson as the aspirational parish councillor Philip Wilson.

Also returning are Kenneth Cranham as Vicar Oddie, Kevin Sutton as Gary, Steve Cooper as Steve Walker, Marie Critchley as Sue Walker, Sandra Hugget as Shirley Wilson, Gerard Thompson as Dean, and Gillian Waugh as Pearl Pinder.

They are joined by new cast members Wunmi Mosaku, playing local MP Maxine Martin, and Emmett J Scanlan, who plays Simon - a charismatic disciple of the Undead Prophet.

The drama started filming on Monday 7th October and is being shot around the north-west of England.

Director Jim O'Hanlon said: BBC Three controller Zai Bennett said: And Mitchell, who last month was named one of BAFTA's 17 Breakthrough Brits, said: Meanwhile, Newberry said: It is being made by BBC Drama Production North in co-production with BBC America, produced by John Rushton, and executive-produced by Hilary Martin, Katie McAleese, and Ann Harrison Baxter. The development producer is Simon Judd.

The drama was first developed by the BBC Drama Production team in Salford after Mitchell was discovered through the BBC Writersroom competition Northern Voices.

The BBC have announced that the classic children's series The Clangers is to be revived for a new generation of viewers. The series is to make by its original producers, Smallfilms, with original producer Peter Firmin actively involved as executive producer and designer alongside the late Oliver Postgate's son Daniel, who is writing storylines and scripts.

Firmin said:
Postgate added:

The series is a co-production between Smallfilms, the BBC's pre-school channel CBeebies, intellectual property holders Coolabi and US 24-hour pre-school network, Sprout, with BBC Worldwide acting as international distributor.

Kay Benbow, Controller of CBeebies, said:

Jeremy Banks, CEO, Coolabi, said:

Andrew Beecham, SVP of Programming at Sprout, said:

Production has begun on the series, which is expected to be broadcast in 2015.

Original Thunderbirds cast member David Graham is to provide the voice of Parker once again in the new version of the TV series, it was announced today - on the 48th anniversary of the original show's first broadcast.

He will be joined by Rosamund Pike as Lady Penelope, to whom Parker is chauffeur, Kayvan Novak as Brains, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Gordon and John Tracy, Rasmus Hardiker as Alan and Scott Tracy, and David Menkin as the fifth Tracy brother, Virgil, in Thunderbirds Are Go!, which has just started production.

Meanwhile, Tracy Island matriarch Grandma Tracy will be voiced by Sandra Dickinson (the former wife of Peter Davison) and Andres Williams is to play master villain The Hood, said ITV.

Debuting in 2015, this reinvention of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's much-loved series featuring the exploits of International Rescue will be produced using a mix of CGI animation and live-action miniature sets. Thunderbirds Are Go! will also feature new characters including Kayo, the Tracy brothers' friend and fellow island resident, who will be played by Angel Coulby, and Colonel Casey, voiced by Adjoa Andoh.

Graham said: Pike commented: And co-executive producer Giles Ridge, of ITV Studios Global Entertainment, said: Thunderbirds Are Go! is being produced by ITV Studios and New Zealand-based Pukeko Pictures, with Weta Workshop designing the series and producing the miniatures. The 26 30-minute episodes will debut on CITV in 2015.

Ridge's fellow executive producers are Estelle Hughes for ITV Studios and Richard Taylor and Andrew Smith for Pukeko Pictures. The head writer is Rob Hoegee and the series director is David Scott, with Theo Baynton as episodic director.

Thunderbirds originally aired on ITV from 1965 to 1966, with 32 episodes over two series. The first episode - Trapped In The Sky - was first broadcast 48 years ago today, with ATV Midlands, Westward, and Channel being the first TV regions in the UK to show it.

With the BBC's new fantasy drama Atlantis starting tonight, here's a preview trailer to whet your appetite - and you could be in for a surprise from the word go as the lead character Jason, played by Jack Donnelly, starts the search for his father that triggers his epic adventures!

The Earth Bull - the first episode of the 13-part drama - will air at 8.25pm on BBC One. Episode two is entitled A Girl By Any Other Name and is currently scheduled to be shown at the same time on Saturday 5th October.

Children's sci-fi fantasy drama Wizards vs Aliens returns to CBBC this autumn for an extended second series and the BBC started revving up the publicity machine for it today.

Created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, it brings magic and sci-fi together as 16-year-old wizard Tom Clarke and his scientific friend Benny Sherwood try to stop the alien Nekross from creating massive trouble for all of wizardkind - and threatening the survival of Earth.

The 14-episode series - two episodes longer than the first - sees the return of Scott Haran as Tom and Percelle Ascott as Benny, as well as Annette Badland (Ursula Crowe), Michael Higgs (Michael Clarke), Jefferson Hall (Varg), Gwendoline Christie (Lexi), Dan Starkey (Randal Moon), Tom Bell (Technician Jathro 15), and the voice of Brian Blessed as the alien Nekross King.

New aliens and new wizards are promised, and Davies, who is also the co-executive producer of the show, said: One of the stories - The Thirteenth Floor, written by Ford - will be a reworking of an adventure intended to form part of the fifth, and ultimately final, series of The Sarah Jane Adventures but which was never made because of the tragic death of the show's star, Elisabeth Sladen, in April 2011.

Produced by BBC Cymru Wales in association with FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment, the new series of Wizards vs Aliens was filmed at the BBC's Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff and on location around the area between January and May this year.

The first series aired between 29th October and 4th December 2012. The start date for Series 2 is yet to be announced.