In announcing the new companion this morning, the Doctor Who production team also confirmed the “split-season” theory that has been making the rounds on the message boards and elsewhere. According to the press conference, six episodes will be transmitted later this year, including the Christmas Special, followed by eight more episodes next year. The Ponds, Amy and Rory (Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill) will bow out of the series in episode five, which will feature the return of the Weeping Angels. According to the show’s head writer, Steven Moffat: “Amy and Rory will leave in a final encounter with the Weeping Angels in episode five. Not everyone gets out alive and I mean it this time.”

The 2012 run of episodes will conclude at Christmas with the introduction of the new companion played by Jenna-Louise Coleman and the rest of the series will follow in 2013. No information was given today concerning what we can expect for the remainder of 2013, Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary, but it is possible that more will be revealed at this weekend’s first official Doctor Who convention.

[UPDATED]: It was announced that Daleks are also set to return sometime during the 2013 run of episodes.