BBC America have now confirmed that they too will be broadcasting The Time of The Doctor on Christmas Day, in the primetime evening slot of 9:00pm EST/8:00 CST.

SPACE in Canada have yet to confirm their time, but it is expected that they will also broadcast the episode during the evening of the 25th.

The BBC have confirmed that the world premiere of Matt Smith's final adventure starring as the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor, will be broadcast on BBC One at 7:30pm on Christmas Day. The one-hour festive adventure will also herald the much-anticipated debut of Peter Capaldi in the title role.


The Christmas Day line-up sees Doctor Who preceded by a festive episode of Call The Midwife, and evening entertaiment including Eastenders and a Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas Special.


The only other channel to confirm a time so far is FOX in Germany, which will broadcast the episode just over an hour later at 9:35pm CET (8:35pm GMT).

Just two weeks after the twelve cover issue of Radio Times celebrating fifty years of Doctor Who, the Time Lord once more graces the front of the magazine, this time promoting the Christmas Episode, The Time of the Doctor, and the end of Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor.

The magazine is on sale from today, Saturday 30 November 2013.

FOX appear to be the first channel to announce their broadcast of the Christmas adventure The Time of The Doctor, which is due to be seen in Germany at 9:35pm CET on Christmas Day.

In their press release for December highlights, the channel said:

The time should not be used as an indication that the UK premiere will be at 8:35pm, as there is no intention to simulcast the festive adventure as with the Anniversary last weekend. The actual broadcast time will certainly be confirmed within the next couple of weeks, as the Radio Times "legendary Christmas double issue" (21 Dec - 3 Jan) is due to be published in limited numbers on 7th December and countrywide from the 9th.

With just under a month to go, the BBC have revealed the title of this year's Christmas Day adventure to be The Time of the Doctor, accompanied by two versions of their festive image representing the Doctor's final outing in the guise of Matt Smith!



A teaser trailer for the episode was released at the weekend.

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has been talking to Radio Times about the future of the Doctor, given the character is now dangerously near the end of his regeneration cycle as spelled out in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin.

The story stated a Time Lord can only regenerate twelve times, and Moffat considers the Doctor is now in his thirteenth and final body. John Hurt is now officially a Doctor, sitting between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and David Tennant used up an extra regeneration during his stay. The writer was clear about the future, and how the Doctor is now at the end of his cycle - something that could cause problems when Matt Smith turns into Peter Capaldi in the 2013 Christmas episode. "The 12 regenerations limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology - science fiction is all about rules, you can't just casually break them.."

To add to the confusion and despite the number of bodies the Doctor has had, Moffat is clear that Matt Smith is still the Eleventh Doctor. He told a press conference at London's Excel arena that the addition of the John Hurt Doctor to the series does nothing to alter the numbering of the other incarnations.

"He's just The Doctor, Matt Smith's Doctor is the 11th Doctor, however there is no such character as the 11th Doctor – he’s just the Doctor – that's what he calls himself. The numbering doesn't matter, except for those lists that you and I have been making for many years. So I've given you the option of not counting John Hurt numerically - he's the War Doctor."

Moffat also talked of how he found it irresistible to put Tom Baker into the 50th Anniversary story. "Tom didn't want to come and do a long thing and he didn't want to put the old costume on. He didn't want to do any of that, but his agent said that he wasn't against the idea of doing a short appearance."

Baker was the longest-serving Doctor, appearing from 1974-1981. Moffat said it would have been impossible to include all the surviving Doctors in the episode. "You can't have scenes around 11 or 12 people - you can't do it. To have the longest-standing Doctor make an appearance and be the one who briefs the new Doctor on where to go . . . well, it's irresistible, isn't it? You get to hear that voice again! It was just wonderful."

The Day of the Doctor was watched by 10.2 million viewers in the UK according to unofficial overnight figures.

The 50th Anniversary story achieved an audience share of 37.4% of the total television audience, beating ITV's The X Factor, which had 7.7 million watching.

Doctor Who was the second most-watched show of the day, with Strictly Come Dancing just edging into first place with 10.6 million viewers. ITV's other big hitter, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, came in at number 4 with 9.2 million watching. 5th for the day was a special Doctor Who-themed edition of Pointless Celebrities which had 5.0 million viewers.

Doctor Who is currently the third most-watched programme for the week.

The figures include those who watched the show live on BBC One, or who recorded it and watched it before 2am. They do not include those watching on iPlayer or at any of the multiple cinema showings.

Final official figures will be released next week.

The papers have been reviewing The Day of the Doctor, with most of them being impressed by the 50th anniversary episode.

The Mirror loved the show, saying how Steven Moffat "has put something together that not only gives hardcore fans a beautiful reinvention of their favourite show, but also gives casual viewers a stonking story." The paper praises the acting as "superb," with Matt Smith holding his own against veteran John Hurt. The Telegraph compares the acting styles of David Tennant and Matt Smith, calling the former "edgy and mercurial," and the latter "gentler, with a boyish eccentricity." They praised John Hurt as a "fantastic counterpoint to the physicality of Tennant and Smith," adding "with one withering look, he was able to silence his younger selves"

The Guardian found the episode "confusing" but praised the "beautiful acting." The Mail called the episode "typically chaotic, full of big, hollow bluster and knowing tiny detail." The paper disliked the effects, accusing the BBC of pandering to the American audience, while disliking the Zygons as not scary enough.

Online Mashable talked of "a towering achievement of an episode, one designed to please fans and newcomers alike which shows why the Doctor is finding his way into ever more homes and hearts." TVfanatic praised Steven Moffat for doing justice to a long-running favorite by "paying homage to the past and opening up a new future of what will hopefully be a show generations in the future will continue to love."

According to social analytics company, SecondSync Doctor Who generated almost half a million tweets during its simultaneous broadcast to over 90 countries. Most tweeting about the episode were female, with the peak number of tweets occurring at the beginning of the episode at 12,939 tweets per minute.

Tom Baker has told the BBC that playing the Doctor was the happiest time of his whole life.

The veteran actor was interviewed for the BBC Three show Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty , screened directly after the 50th Anniversary episode in which Baker made a surprise cameo appearance playing The Curator. It's been my entire existence. I'm delighted to be celebrating it, he said. The fans give me the credit for making Saturday more fun than it really was, in between the football, Basil Brush and Bruce Forsyth. I was right up there with all those legends and I'm grateful..

The live show featured interviews many previous Doctors and Companions from the series including Carole Ann Ford and William Russell, both of whom appeared in the first episode, An Unearthly Child, fifty years ago. Earlier in the day five Doctors, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Matt Smith received a standing ovation at the Doctor Who Convention at London's ExCeL Centre. When asked about their favourite Doctor most cited Patrick Troughton. He always managed to sort things out without you knowing he'd done it, said Colin Baker, without Patrick none of us would be here.

A summary of the media coverage relating to the 50th Anniversary for a Celebratory Saturday!

(note: the BBC radio broadcasts are available worldwide, but video broadcasts may be unavailable outside the United Kingdom. BBC iPlayer programmes are generally available for seven days after broadcast)

Television

• Well there's only one thing that you really needed to remember to watch, and that was of course The Day of the Doctor. Broadcast simultaneously around many parts of the world on television (with other channels very close to tranmission, too) and in cinema, Doctor Who truly becomes global! If for some reason you managed to miss it in the United Kingdom then it is available on the BBC iPlayer (though maybe not immediately to enable the rest of the world to catch up)
  
• The lead-up to the anniversary programme kicked off with BBC Breakfast fielding reports live from the Doctor Who Celebration at the Excel Centre in London by entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba and in-studio discussion with TV critic Toby Earle. The programme also included the new edition of Newswatch, which featured a report on viewers' reaction to the coverage of the series over the last couple of weeks. (BBC iPlayer link for Newswatch)
  
• CBBC had a Doctor Who theme throughout the day, including the Blue Peter Doctor Who Party (BBC iPlayer) and a 12 Again special featuring cast and celebrity fan memories of Doctor Who (BBC iPlayer).
  
• Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty was broadcast on BBC Three straight after The Day of the Doctor was broadcast, with Zoe Ball and Rick Edwards presenting the response to the episode from host of celebrities and fans. (BBC iPlayer)
  
• There were two new items on the BBC's Red Button service during the evening; the first was a behind-the-scenes video of The Day of The Doctor (available on YouTube), and a Doctor Who skit by Peter Davison on how three former Doctors try desperately to be in the 50th Anniversary special.
  

Radio

• Graham Norton broadcast his BBC Radio 2 morning show live from the Doctor Who Celebration, including chats with some of the guest stars of the day, including Tom Baker. (BBC iPlayer)
  
• A very early start for Richard Latto on BBC Radio Solent as he engaged upon a look at the association between the South coast and Doctor Who. (BBC iPlayer)
  
• BBC Essex featured William Grantham, winner of Blue Peter's "Design a Monster" competition, who talked to Peter Holmes about his experience. (BBC iPlayer - from 2:41:05, plus other chat at 1:23:00)
  
• BBC Radio Norfolk broadcast their final two soundbites from the county's Doctor Who community, featuring Terry Molloy (BBC iPlayer) and Brian Hodgson (BBC iPlayer).
  
• Other coverage includes BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Jane Smith (BBC iPlayer), BBC Radio York's Julia Booth (BBC iPlayer), BBC Radio Devon's John Govier (BBC iPlayer), and BBC Radio 1's Matt Edmonson (BBC iPlayer)
  

Misc Media Items

• The Radio Times talks to Joanna Page on location for The Day of The Doctor.
• Brian Hodgson describes the creation of the TARDIS and Dalek sounds to BBC News.
• The Telegraph also had an item with Brian Hodgson.
• The Telegraph also lists 50 things you didn't know about Doctor Who ...
• Another Telegraph item, with Matthew Sweet explaining how to live like a Time Lord.
• Entertainment Weekly also believes there are 15 facts you probably didn't know.
• The Guardian presents Doctor Who in numbers.
• MTV list some of the connections between Doctor Who and pop band One Direction, who were also celebrating "1 Day" ...
• The East Anglian Daily Press talks to Peter Purves about his time on the show with William Hartnell.
• IP&TV News report on how The Day of the Doctor brings an end to the BBC's HD Red Button service.
• The Register looks at how the Doctor has changed "From Edwardian grump to Malcolm Tucker and back again".
• BBC News catches up with Julie Gardner.
• The Bournemouth Echo looks at Dorset's association with Doctor Who.
• Crave share what they feel are the 11 essential episodes to see.
• The Telegraph lists what it considers the show's best and worst moments.
• Forbes comments on why the show has lasted 50 years.

Highlights for Sunday

• BBC Radio Norfolk presents a collection of Doctor Who anecdotes from the county from midday.
• BBC Radio 6 has an item on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 8:00pm on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone.
• UKTV in Australia and New Zealand premiere The Doctors Revisited: The Ninth Doctor, The Tenth Doctor and The Eleventh Doctor and An Adventure in Space and Time amongst others.