Hold on to your horses, British Doctor Who fans – the Christmas special air time has been confirmed by the BBC Press Office!
You’ll need to organize your day around the 5.15-6.15pm timeslot, leaving plenty of time after for discussion of The Snowmen and the consequences of casting Richard E. Grant as a villain.
BBC One will also play host to Call the Midwife, EastEnders and The Royle Family, so you’ll have plenty of time to revisit the Eleventh Doctor’s first encounter with new companion Clara. American views, meanwhile, can catch The Snowmen at the usual time of 9/8c on BBC America.
So why the early airtime for Doctor Who? We’re not sure at the moment, but hope it isn’t due to “light” content. A Christmas episode doesn’t mean that a strong storyline can take second place to snow and festive good cheer, but given what we’ve seen of The Snowmen so far in trailer form, this is unlikely to happen.
its because of the downton-midwife agreement. It must be the earliest time since maybe Trial of a Timelord or perhaps even longer
“the downton-midwife agreement”: Sounds like a wartime peace treaty!
I agree that the trailer is promising and I am hoping that we will actually get a story this year. Hopefully one with a real threat. The early timing worries me slightly. I am hoping that it does not indicate a lack of confidence in the story.
Does seem a bit early but I take this more of as a show of confidence in the programme. In effect it’s been placed at a time which will act as a lead in or ‘hook’ for the whole evening. The Gruffalo proved a huge hit at this time and sealed the evenings victory for the BBC
ITV have scheduled something extremely weak against the episode and have clearly thrown the towel in it seems against taking on the mighty and all conquering Time Lord.