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BBC America to premiere next 'Doctor Who' film on Christmas Day

US fans won't have to wait for (or illegally download) the next movie

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 12:35 PM

<p>Karen Gillan and Matt Smith in "Doctor Who."</p>

Karen Gillan and Matt Smith in "Doctor Who."

Credit: BBC

I was in the middle of watching Craig Ferguson's all-"Doctor Who" episode of "Late Late Show" from last night (look for a post on that and Jimmy Fallon's all-Springsteen ep in a bit, schedule permitting), when my e-mail inbox got a good bit of "Who"-related news: 

"A Christmas Carol," the next of the series' special Christmas films, will actually air here in the States at 9 p.m. on Christmas Day.

Usually, there's been a lag between when "Doctor Who" episodes and specials air in the UK and when we get to see them - a lag that only encourages the hardcore US fans to illegally download the episodes - where here the only lag will be about time zones.

As a guy who likes to write about this show on my blog, I can only hope this continues for the next season of the show, as well, since the gap between viewers watching US telecasts and those who were way ahead by legal or illegal means made it hard to have a good discussion.

The Dickensian "Christmas Carol" will be written by "Who" showrunner Steven Moffat, and pair stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan with the great Michael Gambon. The BBC America press release describes it as "what may be the Doctor’s most Christmassy adventure yet."

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Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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  • It'll be interesting to see how many people watch; the US doesn't have the Christmas TV culture we have over here, it's usually a dead zone for TV.

    This is definitely a good move though (I've significantly cut down on US shows I download as many of them now air within days of the original airing, and it's not worth the bother).

    November 17, 2010 at 12:51PM EST Reply to Comment
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    jasprr

    Odd that they didn't let Matt Smith announce it on the show last night...which I thought was very, very funny but the announcement would have taken it over the top!
    And I for one will be glad I won't have to be searching you-tube or other sources in order to see it without being spoiled.

    November 17, 2010 at 1:08PM EST Reply to Comment

    • Nah, it made a lot of sense to me. No disrespect to the very funny and talented Craig Ferguson, but if I was doing Doctor Who's media strategy I'd pick a slightly higher profile show for an "exclusive". In terms of media politics, it's better PR to make an announcement like that via press release then nobody gets grumpy about being denied a scoop.

      November 17, 2010 at 1:30PM EST
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      Apple The interview could have been filmed far enough in advance that the announcement couldn't be made.

      November 17, 2010 at 2:03PM EST
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      jasprr @ CMR, yep good point, still would have loved to hear him announce and have the crowd go wild...
      @apple according to this http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/11/17/going-to-see-matt-smith-on-the-late-late-show/
      it was yesterday

      November 17, 2010 at 3:15PM EST

    • You should find a copy of Russell T. Davies' 'The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter'. Excellent book, but it covers when Catherine Tate accidentally blurted on a radio show that David Tennant was leaving (I think) several weeks in advance of the planned announcement. There was no malice on Tate's part, and it most certainly wasn't a PR stunt, but it threw a carefully planned media strategy into disarray. It's also interest that, for all RTD's reputation as a total media whore who'd show up at the opening of an envelope if it offered a chance to talk about himself, that the book reveals he really hated doing media. And there was a LOT of it connected with Doctor Who.

      November 17, 2010 at 4:40PM EST
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      Tom Galloway Craig, why do you think they'd be able to get Matt Smith on a higher profile show than Craig Ferguson? Doctor Who isn't *that* well known in the States, and I suspect part of their being able to get him on Ferguson had to do with his being Scottish and having grown up watching Doctor Who.

      November 17, 2010 at 5:12PM EST
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      nic919 I think that Conan would probably have him on his show. He seems like someone familiar with Doctor Who. (not sure if he was still a writer when Tom Baker was on the show)

      But I agree that it is unlikely for Smith to end up on Leno or Letterman anytime soon.

      November 17, 2010 at 6:46PM EST



  • Hooray for not having to "track down" the episode while waiting for it to air in the states.

    November 17, 2010 at 1:37PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Craig Ranapia

    At the risk of being bitchy, who wants to bet that someone, somewhere on teh interwebz is now complaining because the show won't be simulcast? From a part of the world where we're going to be waiting MONTHS instead of hours for new Who, let me say (with love) that some people don't know when they've got it good. :)

    November 17, 2010 at 1:42PM EST Reply to Comment

    • A 1 or 2 pm showing on bbcamerica would likely do crap ratings.

      But yeah, instant gratification culture these days can be exhqusting.

      November 17, 2010 at 2:20PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Craig Ranapia

    At the risk of being bitchy, who wants to bet that someone, somewhere on teh interwebz is now complaining because the show won't be simulcast? From a part of the world where we're going to be waiting MONTHS instead of hours for new Who, let me say (with love) that some people don't know when they've got it good. :)

    November 17, 2010 at 1:42PM EST Reply to Comment
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    at8ax

    "The Dickensian "Christmas Carol" will be written by "Who" showrunner Steven Moffat" Why so coy about a show that's been in the can for a couple of months already? "... has a script by ..." works just fine.

    November 17, 2010 at 2:09PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Olivia

    I missed this episode because I was in a mountain cabin playing in the snow on Christmas Day, unable to watch television. Now it seems BBCAmerica isn't going to re-air it for those of us who spend Christmas enjoying our families instead of watching TV! The only option is to pay to download it on iTunes. Pay? No thanks.

    December 30, 2010 at 10:07PM EST Reply to Comment

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