Up until now, all we have known about when to expect series 7 of Doctor Who is that it will be broadcast late this year. However, the line-up for this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival has been announced – and the inclusion of a preview screening for episode one gives us clues as to when the TARDIS will be back on screens.

The first episode (the name of which has not yet been revealed), will premiere between August 23 and 25 as part of the festival’s events. Showrunner Steven Moffat and actor/writer Mark Gatiss will attend the screening and also answer fan questions.

So, what does this tell us about the long awaited air-date? Doctor Who has a history of screening episodes at similar events, and The Moff’s Sherlock also receives regular previews. These past events have typically occurred around four weeks before broadcast, so we imagine that “every Dalek ever” will be exterminating our television sets somewhere in late September.

We would like to stress that this is in no way confirmed, and is merely an educated guess based on past evidence. However, we’re fairly confident in our estimate.

If you would like to buy tickets to the Edinburgh TV Festival, you can do so here.

What do you think about a potential September start date?