Doctor Who: series split?

There are more Doctor Who rumours than nobbly bits on a Dalek, and I tend to ignore most of them and only report the ones with a ring of truth. This one states that season 5 won't run straight through its 13 episodes, but will instead be split down the middle. So, we'll get episodes 1-6 in spring 2010, but have to wait for episodes 7-13 in October, before the traditional Christmas special in December.

A few commenters suggest this may only be a one-season quirk, owing to the fact there's a World Cup next summer. The last Doctor Who episode to air opposite a World Cup match was season 2's "The Satan Pit" (coincidentally the lowest-rated episode in nu-Who's history?)

But, chopping season 5 in two could be a good creative decision, because it will have to build to a mid-season cliffhanger and will allow for more tinkering time to the back-half of the season. Of course, an opposing view would be that 6 episodes isn't enough to get fully-invested in any recurring storylines, and it's a bad idea to halt its momentum. Particularly as audiences will be eager to get to grips with new stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan (above) and any other changes Steven Moffat makes. Can't they just air the 13 episodes straight through from mid-February, so it ends before the World Cup, if that's the big issue?