United Kingdom

A timely reminder to viewers in the UK that 2005's Doctor Who Christmas special The Christmas Invasion (starring David Tennant and Billie Piper and directed by James Hawes) is being repeated on BBC1 today at 4.25-5.25pm. This is the first time in many years that BBC1 has broadcast a Doctor Who repeat.

A repeat of episode 11 of Robin Hood, directed by Graeme Harper, follows straight after. Interestingly, this episode is called Dead Man Walking, the working title for episode 9 (Random Shoes) of Torchwood and the actual title of episode 9 of Torchwood: Declassified.

In a late change of schedule (according to Sky's EPG), the BBC3 repeat of Robin Hood at 7.00pm and the followingTorchwood Declassified at 7.45pm have now been replaced with a showing of last year's one-hour special Doctor Who Confidential, One Year On, which was first broadcast on BBC3's Doctor Who Night on 9th April.

The current issue of the Radio Times (16-22 December, the one with Tennant as the Doctor on the cover) has a two-page article about this year’s Christmas special The Runaway Bride (starring Tennant and Catherine Tate and directed by Euros Lyn), which starts thus:

"The traditional family Christmas. It used to go roughly like this: presents, relatives, turkey/trimmings, snooze, argue over what to watch on telly. Now it’s easier: presents, relatives, turkey/trimmings, snooze, Doctor Who Christmas special. How great is that?" How great indeed!

United States

The Sci-Fi Channel's Christmas Movie Marathon includes a broadcast of The Christmas Invasion on Christmas Day at 3:00 p.m. ET. They have slotted 90 minutes for the movie so it will remain as close to the original broadcast as is possible.

Canada

French language cable and satellite channel Ztele from Quebec, Canada, will be repeatingL'invasion de Noel (The Christmas Invasion) at 11:00pm EST on Friday December 22nd, 2006. A repeat showing of Le Seigneur du temps (the 1996 TV Movie) will follow at 12:00am EST. There are no plans for an English-language repeat of The Christmas Invasion on the CBC.

(Additional reporting from Chuck Foster, Bill Albert, Mike Doran.)

A schedule change/addition is soon to come into effect at Canadian cable and satellite channel BBC Kids. Effective January 1st, 2007, Doctor Who will run Monday - Friday at 10:00pm ET, 2:00am ET and 5:00am ET (two episodes per night). The Saturday and Sunday complete stories will continue at 2:00am ET. BBC Kids is currently airing Peter Davison episodes Monday to Friday andSylvester McCoy episodes on the weekends.

BBC1 have broadcast the first trailer dedicated to the forthcoming Christmas Day episode The Runaway Bride, just before this week's Robin Hood. The 20-second trailer showed a montage of clips from the episode, leading up to a triumphant voiceover declaring, "I shall descend upon this earth and shine."

This is the same trailer that has been available on day twelve on the advent calendar from the Official Doctor Who website.

Doctor Who is off of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the Christmas holidays but ratings are now in for the first eight episodes of Series Two. This year the CBC is broadcasting Doctor Who on Monday nights at 8:00pm (8:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador). Doctor Who is scheduled against different competition in different time zones. Some of the shows Doctor Who has been up against are: Prison Break (Global/FOX), Corner Gas (CTV), regional hockey (SNET) and in many larger markets Battlestar Galactica(CHUM/CITY). The ratings for each episode are as follows:

October 9th - New Earth - 530 000
October 16th - Tooth and Claw - 371 000
October 23th - School Reunion - 493 000
November 6th - The Girl in the Fireplace - 535 000
November 13th - Rise of the Cybermen - 520 000
November 20th - The Age of Steel - 466 000
November 27th - The Idiot's Lantern - 442 000
December 4th - The Impossible Planet - 536 000

Doctor Who was pre-empted on October 30th for part two of the mini-series Above and Beyond. Doctor Who will return to the CBC on January 15th, 2007 with "The Satan Pit".

For discussion of the Canadian broadcasting of Doctor Who, please visit this thread in our forum.

(With thanks to Rod Mammitzsch and DWIN)

The BBC have confirmed that Torchwood is to return for a second series but this time it will premiere exclusively on BBC Two. Filming will start in Spring 2007.

BBC2 Controller, Roly Keating said the show had been: "Inventive, intelligent and unpredictable.Torchwood is a brilliant piece of 21st century fantasy drama. I'm delighted that its second series will be premiering on the channel."

Julian Bellamy, Controller of BBC Three, said: "Breaking all records on BBC Three is no mean feat and we've been proud to help build Torchwood into one of the most talked-about and eagerly-anticipated series of recent years."

Jane Tranter, the Controller of BBC Fiction, said: "Torchwood is a modern and innovative drama that has truly captured the imagination of its audience, and we are very excited that there will be more of the adrenaline-fuelled, action-packed adventures of our team of Torchwood heroes."

Russell T Davies said: "The whole team is bristling with ideas and we are delighted that Cardiff is going to be home to more monsters and mayhem."

For reaction to this news, and to add your own, please visit this thread in our forum.

Rival BBC channels are fighting for screening rights to a second series of Cardiff-based sci-fi hit Torchwood, according to a report from the South Wales Echo.

The report points out that a second series has not been officially commissioned for the Doctor Who spin-off, but claims that scripts are already being prepared and that "both BBC Two and BBC Three are fighting for the right to screen it first - with writer Russell T Davies pushing for a slot on BBC One."

For the next five Mondays the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has placed Doctor Whoand most of their regular primetime schedule on a holiday hiatus. During the period holiday programming, movies and other specials will be airing in Doctor Who's Monday night timeslot.

Doctor Who will return to the CBC on Monday January 15th, 2007 at 8:00pm (8:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador) with the episode "The Satan Pit". This episode concludes the adventure started in "The Impossible Planet" which was broadcast on December 4th, 2006.

New Zealand broadcaster Prime TV will begin a repeat run of the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who episodes (Series 1) on Monday 18 December at 7:30PM. Episode 2 will air on Christmas Day at 7:30PM. Series 1 originally aired in New Zealand from July to September 2005. It is unknown if they will repeat just the 2005 series or include the 2006 episodes with David Tennant as well. Thanks to Alden for spotting this.

Doctor Who's Christmas special, The Runaway Bride, is scheduled to feature on BBC One's The Sign Zone in the early hours of 30 December. Running from 1.50am (yes, 1.50 in the MORNING!), the episode will be repeated with in-vision British Sign Language translations for the Deaf appearing in one corner. It's believed this is the first time Doctor Who has been broadcast in this way, following in the footsteps of other dramas such as Life on Mars and documentaries like The Blue Planet. No news as to whether this is something that will be carried over to the third series when it begins transmission in the spring.

The Sign Zone appears on BBC One weekdays in a post-midnight slot.

The BBC1 Christmas and New Year schedule has been confirmed by the BBC Press Office.

Christmas Day sees the Doctor Who special The Runaway Bride starting at the traditional time of 7pm on BBC1.

There is also a special Doctor Who Confidential on BBC1 earlier at 1pm, entitled Music And Monsters.

On New Year's Day The Sarah Jane Adventures begin with Invasion Of The Bane at 4.50pm.