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| top-right, clockwise: Bill Bailey, Alexander Armstrong, Arabella Weir & Claire Skinner |
Production is underway on this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, with filming taking place in the Welsh town of Llanelli and Stradey Castle. The WWII-set story revolves around a widow called Madge Arwell (Outnumbered's Claire Skinner) and her two children Lily and Cyril, who are all evacuated during the Blitz to a draughty old house in Dorset. There they meet the caretaker, a "mysterious young man in a bow tie", and find that a "big blue parcel is waiting for them under the tree." The two children are "about to enter a magical new world and learn that a Time Lord never forgets his debts..."
I have an unshakable feeling this special's going to be invoking C.S Lewis' "The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe", don't you?
Celebrity guest stars are comedian/actor Bill Bailey (Black Books), writer/actress Arabella Weir (The Fast Show) and comic actor/presenter Alexander Armstrong (The Armstrong & Miller Show).
Steven Moffat, executive producer/writer:
"The Doctor at Christmas—nothing is more fun to write. Maybe because it's so his kind of day—everything's bright and shiny, everybody's having a laugh, and nobody minds if you wear a really stupid hat. Of all the Doctors, Matt Smith's is the one that was born for this time of year—so the best news possible that he's heading back down the chimney.."Filming continues until mid-October. The Christmas special is likely to air on Christmas Day on BBC1, as every festive special has done since 2005. BBC America have aired episodes on the same day as the UK since last Christmas, so a 25 December transmission also seems likely for fans across the pond.
