Barney Harwood (Totally Doctor Who, The Infinite Quest) is to become the 35th presenter of the long running BBC children's show Blue Peter. He joins joins current presenters Helen Skelton and Andy Akinwolere on 17 January 2011. [BBC Press release]

Sophie Okonedo (Liz Ten, The Beast Below, The Pandorica Opens) was award with an OBE for services to drama in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for 2010. She received press attention when the medal fell from her dress and landed at the feet of the Prince of Wales, from where she had to retrieve it. The ceremony took place at Buckingham Palace on 17 December.

Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) will feature in Sky 1's Little Crackers tomorrow (Monday) night at 9pm. Catherine has written and directed a short 10 minute film about her time as a shy schoolgirl who "would rather wet herself in class than put her hand up to ask to go to the toilet". You can watch a preview of her film and more on the Little Crackers website.

David Tennant and Derek Jacobi (Professor Yana/The Master, Utopia) will be reading Bedtime Stories for CBeebies over the Holiday period. Full schedule here.

Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) and Katherine Jenkins (Abigail Pettigrew, A Christmas Carol) have done Q&A's with Digital Spy about their time working on this year's Christmas special.

Last month we listed odds on shows broadcasting over Christmas Day from betting company Paddy Power; with one week to go before the festive programmes go head-to-head once more for the largest audience of the day, here's a sample of the odds you can find online as of tonight:

 
                                      Paddy Power    Ladbrokes      William Hill    Odds Bet
                                       On the Day   For the Week    For the Week   On the Day
BBC1  2:00  Top of the Pops             100/1         100/1            66/1            -
comb  3:00  The Queen                    33/1            -             20/1          33/1
BBC1  4:30  The Gruffalo                   -             -               -          100/1
BBC1  5:00  The One Ronnie               50/1          50/1            50/1         125/1
BBC1  6:00  Doctor Who                    9/2           9/4             4/1           5/1
ITV1  6:00  Emmerdale                    16/1          33/1            25/1         125/1
BBC1  7:00  Strictly Come Dancing        50/1            -               -          125/1
BBC2  7:00  Top Gear                     33/1          33/1            25/1            -
ITV1  7:00  Coronation Street             7/1           7/1             3/1          25/1
BBC1  8:00  Eastenders                    4/9           2/5             1/2           1/2
ITV1  8:00  All Star Family Fortunes       -             -            100/1         150/1
BBC1  9:00  The Royle Family              4/1           4/1             7/2           7/2
ITV1  9:00  Poirot                         -             -               -          150/1
BBC1 10:00  Come Fly With Me             10/1          20/1            16/1          28/1
BBC1 10:30  BBC News                     33/1           -                -             -

Other programmes are also under consideration for the Christmas week, which include Upstairs, Downstairs, The Nativity, Harry Hill's Christmas TV Burp, and Rock and Chips.

It is quite clear from the charts that the top four programmes for Christmas Day are consistently Doctor Who, Coronation Street, The Royle Family and Eastenders, with the latter ranked highest by all companies! All four performed well last year; though the Doctor Who top spot was 'muddied' by BBC1/BBCHD rating considerations, this year the results should be clear ...

... tell everyone you know to watch A Christmas Carol!

Buzz Magazine - the free TV listings magazine that comes with The Sun on Saturdays - today features Matt Smith and Karen Gillan on the front cover, with the issue itself featuring the two Doctor Who stars chatting together.


Matt on his friendship with Karen:
Karen agrees:

The Sun is also giving away a DVD featuring David Tennant's final story The End of Time and Matt Smith's first, The Eleventh Hour.

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

The BBC have released information for next Saturday's Doctor Who Confidential, which broadcasts immediately after A Christmas Carol, on BBC3 and BBCHD.


A clip is available from the programme that features Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill presenting their interpretation of the carol "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas":



A preview of the show is also available, introducing the cast and crew from the Christmas Special, plus Matt, Karen and Arthur at the Cardiff Lights ceremony last month:

The Third issue of the fanzine Fish Fingers and Custard is out now, and can be downloaded or purchased in print from the website.

In the Issue:

• Interviews with the Absolute David Tennant Fangirls
• Drunken Adventures At A Convention
• The Sarah (Jane) Awards
• Stageplays Overview
• Computer Games Overview
• The Doctor vs. Edward Cullen – A Fight For A Girl's Attentions

And Much More.

Scottish media have today reported that actress Karen Gillan is to become the ambassador for Theatre Art Education at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.

The theatre had an influence on the Doctor Who star's career, being the place where she first performed during her studies at the Charleston Academy.

Commenting in the new theatre brochure, she said:
Part of the aim of the appointment is to help raise awareness of the Higher Drama and Dance courses available at the theatre, which itself remains the only one in Scotland to offer such qualifications.

Theatre director Colin Marr commented:


News coverage from: Inverness Courier, Aberdeen Press and Journal

The Doctor Who Up Close Exhibition at Land's End in Cornwall is closing on the 3rd January 2011, and Land's End Cornwall will be holding a special Doctor Who party to mark its passing:


Meanwhile, the Cardiff Bay Up Close exhibition will remain open until the 27th March, whilst February sees the launch of the new Doctor Who Experience in London.

The BBC's Doctor Who site have made four clips from A Christmas Carol available to watch online. These extracts originally featured during this week's news coverage, but can now be watched independently (and without dialogue intruding over the clips!).

The videos feature as Day Fifteen of the site's Adventure Calendar. Other recent calendar treats include an interview with Katherine Jenkins, parts one and two of Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, and The Adventure Games edition of The Christmas Questions.



The Guardian also has a video interview with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.

The BBC Radio Four social science programme Thinking Allowed will examine Doctor Who as part of the show broadcasting on 5th January 2011.

The show, hosted by Laurie Taylor, will feature the assistant professor of English and Moving Image Arts at Oklahoma City University, Marc Edward DiPaulo, discussing his article, Political Satire and British-American Relations in Five Decades of Doctor Who, which featured in the October 2010 issue of The Journal of Popular Culture.

Also on the show is broadcaster, not to mention Doctor Who fan and author, Matthew Sweet (who wrote The Year of the Pig and The Magic Mousetrap for Big Finish's Doctor Who audio adventures).

The show will be broadcast on Wednesday 5th January 2010 at 4:00pm, and repeated the following Monday morning at 12:15am.

You can read the full article at the Wiley Online Library.