Doctor Who Videogame 'The Doctor and the Dalek' to Teach Children Coding

With computer coding now part of the curriculum for all English children between the age of five and 16, teachers will be looking for any help they can to help introduce the topic to their students.

The BBC is aiming to provide that help with the launch of The Doctor and the Dalek, a videogame based on the hugely popular Doctor Who series which is looking to get more people into computer coding.

The game is part of the Make it Digital initiative and is voiced by the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi. The game sees players take charge of a friendly Dalek and initially looks like a typical (if somewhat low-rent) side-scrolling platform game.

However, in order to progress in the game and attain new abilities, players are required to input some code using a relatively simple graphical interface.

The coding challenges are linked to the new curriculum and can be mapped to Key Stage 2 and 3 learning outcomes. The game, which is available online, is targeted at six to 12-year-olds.

The coding challenges are relatively simple initially, but the difficulty is ratcheted up where eventually the game will introduce Boolean logic towards the end of 2015.

Sinead Rocks, head of BBC Learning, said: "We're really excited about the launch of The Doctor And The Dalek as not only is it a really entertaining platform game for kids to play, but it's also a great introduction to some key principles of computer programming."