It's been confirmed that BBC America are to broadcast this year's Christmas special of
Doctor Who on the same day as its UK premiere on BBC1. The episode is scheduled to be broadcast on 25 December at 9pm ET/PT, mere hours after Britons get to see it. This is a clear move to prevent illegal downloading, with Doctor Who being a particular favourite of tech-savvy fans overseas. It's unknown of this unprecedented scheduling will become the norm when Doctor Who's sixth series begins in spring 2011. This year's festive special (which has become a tradition since Doctor Who returned in 2005) is entitled "A Christmas Carol", and will put a sci-fi twist on the Charles Dickens story of the same name. It stars Michael Gambon (above) and Welsh opera soprano Katherine Jenkins. Steven Moffat, Executive Producer:
"Oh, we're going for broke with this one. It's all your favourite Christmas movies at once, in an hour, with monsters. And the Doctor. And a honeymoon. And... oh, you'll see. I've honestly never been so excited about writing anything. I was laughing madly as I typed along to Christmas songs in April. My neighbours loved it so much they all moved away and set up a website demanding my execution. But I'm fairly sure they did it ironically."
Interestingly, there seems to be an unofficial campaign to please American fans under Moffat's reign. The last series received a swanky New York premiere, lead actor Matt Smith was a guest on
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson only last night (see below), and next year's two-part premiere will be filmed on location in Utah.