'Doctor Who' and the Daleks return to BBC America on Sept. 1

BBC America has set a premiere date for "Doctor Who," and though it's a short season this time around, at least fans won't have to wait very long.

The new season will premiere Saturday, Sept. 1, for a run of five episodes that will lead up to the departure of Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) as the Doctor's (Matt Smith) companions. Along the way, they'll deal with the Doctor's oldest foes, the Daleks, rescue a spaceship full of dinosaurs and face off against a cyborg gunman in the old West.

The finale will bring back the Weeping Angels for Amy and Rory's farewell.

"We have, I think, our biggest range of stories EVER," executive producer Steven Moffat says (all caps his). "We've got the return of the Daleks and the Weeping Angels -- both of them poll-topping 'Doctor Who' adversaries -- in cracking new stories, we've got 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship' (it's what you've always wanted), we've got a glorious western with a cyborg gunslinger, the most unusual invasion Earth story EVER, and location shooting in New York for the Pond finale."

The opening episode is called "Asylum of the Daleks," and it places the time-lord, Amy and Rory in a prison that holds the "most terrifying and insane" of the Doctor's old enemies. He has to find a way out -- while simultaneously helping the Ponds fix a rift in their relationship.

Moffat calls this season "the year of the Ponds."

"Amy and Rory have been with the Doctor since I took over the show. They're part of the landscape for me," Moffat says. "It was just traumatic to consider a future without them. Amy is everything I admired (and sometimes feared) about strong, clever, reckless women, and Rory is the man I'd like to be -- so strong he never has to show it.

"Karen and Arthur have become friends, and I still can't get my head round the fact that I'll never find them on the set again. Brilliant performers and warm and lovely people -- the best of the best."

Are you psyched for the return of "Doctor Who"?