The Doctor Who Confidential preview of A Christmas Carol is now available via the Red Button service on Freeview and Sky/Virgin media.

The preview is Day One of a video blog by Charlie McDonnell, who explores the Doctor Who set. Further segments are expected at 6pm each day, leading up to the broadcast of the episode itself on Christmas Day.

The schedule for the red button service is listed here.


The preview is also available on the BBC's YouTube Channel:

The BBC has confirmed the times that the red button preview for A Christmas Carol, announced here last week, will be available.
Sky/ Virgin media

• Tue 21st December, 5:30pm-6:00am Wed 22nd
• Wed 22nd December, 5:30pm-12:00am Sat 25th

Freeview:

• Tue 21st December, 5:30pm-11:00pm & 11:40pm-5:50am
• Wed 22nd December, 5:30pm- 6:20am Thurs 23rd
• Thu 23rd December, 5:30pm-7:45pm
• Fri 24th December, 4:10am-5:50am & 5:30pm-8:15pm & 11:25pm-5:50am
• Sat 25th December, 3:10pm-11:00pm

Not available on Freesat

While many viewers in the English speaking world will be enjoying Matt Smith's first Christmas special as The Doctor this year, viewers in France will be bidding farewell to the Tenth Doctor when France 4 broadcasts both parts of The End of Time this Christmas Day.

Docteur Who : La Prophétie de Noël will be broadcast at 8.35. The title translates as The Christmas Prophecy.

The story was dubbed into French last March with David Manet making his swan song as the voice of the Tenth Doctor. A full cast list can be found here.

Update 19th December: readers in France may watch previews for parts one and two from the France4 website.

The BBC is to show a short Pre-Christmas edition of Doctor Who Confidential on the BBC Red Button Service.

The preview programme will follow Vlogger Charlie McDonnell as he gives his unique insight from behind the scenes of the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special.

Exact times are not confirmed, but the programme is listed on some platforms as starting at 5.30pm on Sunday 19th December.

ABC have confirmed they will be showing the 2010 Doctor Who Prom on Boxing Day at 5pm, the same day they show the 2010 Christmas Special A Christmas Carol.

The BBC Proms are an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events which have been held annually since 1895. Taking place mainly in the Royal Albert Hall in London, the BBC took over responsibility for the Proms in 1927. The first Doctor Who Prom took place in 2008.

The Doctor Who Prom features the music of Murray Gold performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, who record the soundtrack for the television series. The Prom took place Saturday 24 July and was hosted by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.

The Prom was shown in the UK last September. It was announced last month that it will be shown in the United States on BBC America on Christmas Day.

A special Doctor Who celebrity edition of the BBC Two quiz show Eggheads, is scheduled for Monday 20th December at 6pm.

The show will star Sixth Doctor Colin Baker along with Katy Manning, Frazer Hines, Louise Jameson and John Leeson who take on the Eggheads to win money for their chosen charity.

The BBC have released their Christmas Showreel, featuring programmes in the festive line-up this year. Doctor Who is of course one of the highlights (5:52 into the video), though this is simply the trailer with no additional material from the story.


There is also a drama-specific showreel, which features the Who segment at the start.

The K9 series will begin its UK terrestrial transmission on Five on Saturday 18th December at 10am.

The 26 episode series, developed by Bob Baker and Paul Tams, has previously been shown in the UK and Europe on the digital Disney XD channel and has already aired on Network Ten in Australia.

John Leeson reprises his role as the voice of K-9 in the series with Philippa Coulthard playing Jorjie Turner, Keegan Joyce playing Starkey, and Daniel Webber playing Darius Pike.

A second series is in development.

The TV Tonight blog confirms that the Doctor Who 2010 Christmas special, A Christmas Carol, will make its Australian debut on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Boxing Day, Sunday 26 December 2010 at 7.30pm on ABC1. As TV Tonight reports, this will be the first time ever an episode of Doctor Who will air in Australia within 24 hours of its UK debut.

The BBC has confirmed this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, A Christmas Carol with be shown on BBC One and BBC One HD, on Christmas Day at 6pm.

Final schedules were signed off this afternoon. Doctor Who has been shown at 6pm on Christmas Day for the last two years.

This year Doctor Who will be preceded by The One Ronnie, a variety show starring Ronnie Corbett and will be followed by Christmas Editions of Strictly Come Dancing, featuring John Barrowman, and EastEnders.

The programme has already been confirmed for transmission on Christmas Day in the United States on BBC America at 9pm ET and on Boxing Day in Canada on SPACE at 9pm ET and in Australia on ABC 1 at 7.30pm.