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.

The Sun had a small article about Billie Piper on Friday, the wording and quotes of which have been widely reported on various news sites over the past 24 hours, including Yahoo! News. The piece claims she regrets leaving Doctor Who, and that she is also slightly jealous of the show's continued success. However, the actual quotes are not attributed and appear to be largely recycled from interviews she gave over the past month when she was publicising her book. The quotes include:

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.

Last month, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales held a special concert of Murray Gold's Doctor Who music. Tickets to the concert sold out within hours. This Christmas, UK fans with digital, cable, satellite or Freeview will be able to watch Doctor Who: A Celebration on BBCi via the "red button". The programme will be available:

• Christmas Day: after the Doctor Who Confidential broadcast, between 1.50-7pm
• Christmas Day: after the Doctor Who Christmas Special The Runaway Bride, BBCi on BBC One between 8.50pm and 4am (ends 1.45am on Freeview)
  Wednesday 27 December: BBCi on BBC Three, 8.50pm-4am (ends 1.45am on Freeview)
• Tuesday 2 January: BBCi on BBC Three, 7.50pm-4am (not Freeview)
• Wednesday 3 January: BBCi on BBC Three, 7.50pm-4am (not Freeview)

More details are available at the website of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Shelter, the charity for the homeless, is calling on people to download a new version of The Kinks' classic "You Really Got Me" as "sung" by the BT Text voice of former Doctor Who, Tom Baker. The Shelter website also details how funds raised from this appeal will be spent.

Samples and download links for the track can be found here.

Ain't it Cool News is featuring an interview with Euros Lyn, director of The End of the World and The Unquiet Deadfrom Series 1, the 2005 Children in Need Special and, from Series 2, Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Idiot's Lantern and Fear Her, the latter of which airs on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US later tonight; read the interview here.

Lyn is also the director of the 2006 Christmas episode The Runaway Bride.

The Controller of BBC One, Peter Fincham, was interviewed on Simon Mayo's programme on the BBC's national news and sport talk station, Radio 5 Live, this afternoon.

Outpost Gallifrey forum member Ian Robinson e-mailed a question into the programme, asking whether there was any truth to the rumour that Doctor Who's current run would come to an end after the fourth or fifth series. "No truth to that rumour," was Fincham's reply after Mayo had read him the question. "We don't necessarily plan years in advance, but Doctor Who is so popular I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon."

Fincham also singled out The Runaway Bride as one of the highlights of BBC One's Christmas Day schedule, saying that there was "a particular excitement and anticipation" about the special, and specifically mentioning Catherine Tate's involvement, calling her casting "a real coup". There is apparently "no way on Earth" his children will be watching anything else at 7pm on Christmas Day.

The interview can be heard in full via the 'Listen Again' feature on the Simon Mayo page of the BBC Radio 5 Live website. The Fincham interview starts approximately one hour and ten minutes into Friday's edition.

(Thanks to Ian Robinson)

Oh, yes he is! David Tennant will be playing Buttons in a radio pantomime of Cinderella. Thandie Newton takes the title role, and Brian Blessed (Yrcanos in the 1986 Doctor Who story The Trial of a Time Lord) will be the town crier/narrator. The pantomime will air on Virgin Radio on Thursday, December 21 starting at 7:30 AM (GMT); morning DJChristian O'Connell will play Prince Charming. You can listen to the pantomime live via Virgin Radio's website.

There are more details at the Independent and BBC News. You can discuss this story in our forum here.

Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell has announced in our forum that "thanks to the kindness of the production office in asking me to write it, I have a Christmas Doctor Who short story, 'Deep and Dreamless Sleep' in The Sunday Times Culture section on Christmas Eve."