The BBC has released a promotional image of the new TARDIS interior which will be seen in The Snowmen on Christmas Day.

Today's Adventure Calendar release by the BBC features a behind-the-scenes video entitled The Matt Smith Christmas Show, in which the actor chats to new co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman, plus Kat from Costumes!

The BBC have announced that it is to launch its BBC Entertainment channel in Burma from next year. The pay-TV channel will launch from 1st January 2013 alongside BBC World News and CBeebies, which will join the BBC World Service broadcast through the region's Forever Group.

BBC Entertainment showcases the best comedy, drama and light entertainment from the BBC and other UK production houses; this of course includes Doctor Who - so will mark the first time the series has been broadcast in the country!

Mark Whitehead, Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBC Worldwide Channels Asia, said:

The BBC have also announced another first for Doctor Who, as BBC Entertainment is also introduced to Indonesia, to be broadcast via max3 from Biznet Networks. Mark Whitehead commented:

Doctor Who on BBC Entertainment:

At the time of writing the channel is currently showing Series 6 in Asia, and tonight will show last year's festive adventure The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe.

The BBC have released a new minisode to lead into the Christmas adventure The Snowmen: Vastra Investigates catches up with the Paternoster Gang as one mystery is solved and another begins ...



The official BBC website has character backgrounds for Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

A revised and updated iPad app is being released for the Doctor Who Encyclopedia later this week.

Developed by Brandwidth with BBC Books, the app has up-to-date information on every episode since the show returned to our TV screens in 2005. New entries and images cover The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe, the first five episodes of Series 7, and mini-episodes such as Pond Life. In addition, four of the 11 portals have been updated.

The app is now optimised for iOS6, and BBC Books says that no more in-app purchasing is needed.

The updated app will be released on Wednesday 19th December.

The BBC have announced that The Snowmen will feature a new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme tune, which will accompany a revamped opening title sequence:

It is now traditional for the Doctor to entertain us on Christmas Day - and for Doctor Who News to run its Christmas Ratings Competition!



This year, The Snowmen will be broadcast at 5:15pm, and will be facing ITV1's New You've Been Framed (5:00pm), Emmerdale (5:30pm), and Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs (6:00pm). Other programmes include films The Fellowship of the Ring (Channel 4 from 5:40pm) and The Santa Incident (Channel 5 from 5:25pm), and a documentary Sister Wendy and the Art of the Gospel (BBC2, from 5:25pm).

The Prize:

We are delighted to be able to invite the winner to a recording of a Big Finish audio adventure - the recording, which will feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, will take place on 21st January 2013 (see terms and conditions below).

An alternative prize will be available to the winner should they be unable to attend the recording.

Entering The Competition:

To enter the competition, please send the following details to xmas-competition@doctorwhonews.net:

• Your name and email address
• Your country (full address will only be requested if you are a winner)
• An alternative contact number (in case we cannot reach you through email)
• Confirmation of being able to attend the Big Finish recording (see terms and conditions)
• Where you read about this competition
• And of course ... your guess for the final viewing figure!

Previous Ratings / Current Odds:

For comparison, the ratings for the previous Christmas Day episodes in recent years are as follows: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (10.77m), A Christmas Carol (12.11m), The End Of Time: Part One (12.04m), The Next Doctor (13.10m), Voyage of the Damned (13.31m), The Runaway Bride (9.30m), The Christmas Invasion (9.84m).

The Snowmen is currently considered to be the second-most favourite to top the Christmas TV ratings, according to William Hill. Odds given at the time of writing are 4/1 (up from 5/1 earlier in the week), with the runaway favourite being EastEnders at 1/2. Downton Abbey is third at 5/1, with the other major soap Coronation Street at 8/1. Other shows expected to do well are The Royle Family (10/1) and Call the Midwife (14/1). For the ITV1 programmes in direct opposition to Doctor Who, New You've Been Framed is 100/1, Emmerdale is 40/1, and Paul O'Grady is 50/1.

Terms And Conditions:

• The competition closes at 6:15pm, 25th December 2012
• Only one entry will be accepted per person.
• The competition is open worldwide - however, please note Big Finish details below.
• BARB figures are expected in early January; we will contact the winner once they have been published.
• In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen from random from out of our fez.
  
  
• The Big Finish recording will take place at their studio near Hammersmith, London - however, travel and accommodation is not included. You must confirm in your competition entry whether you are able to attend the recording or not - an alternative prize will be offered instead should you be a winner.
• Entrants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
• If you do confirm you will be attending, you are also agreeing to keep the confidentiality of any plot details or other information unveiled by Big Finish or the cast.

BBC America have released a new trailer for The Snowmen, featuring a number of different clips to the original that aired on BBC One this week:

The Graham Norton Show:

BBC America have also announced that the festive edition of The Graham Norton Show that will feature Matt Smith as a guest will be broadcast immediately after The Snowmen has aired on Christmas Day. The episode will have its premiere in the United Kingdom on Friday 21st December at 10:35pm, with Matt sharing the sofa alongside comedians Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders, and award-winning movie star Dustin Hoffman.

The US broadcaster SyFy are to show the entire first series of K-9 on Christmas Day.

The mammoth run kicks off with Regeneration from 10:00am ET, followed by every episode back-to-back in half-hour intervals leading up to the series finale, Eclipse Of The Korven, from 10:30pm ET.

The press release follows below:

The new edition of Doctor Who Adventures has a 2013 calendar among its free gifts.

Also being given away with issue 299 - published today - are a bow tie, a pack of Doctor Who Monster Invasion cards, stickers, plus a mystery gift.

This week's magazine is a double issue, taking readers through to Thursday 27th December. Among its contents: