• The Doctor is to gain a new companion called Liz. Sources suggest she’s a scientist.
• The Silurians make an appearance.
• UNIT, who we encountered in the new series in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, employ the Doctor as a scientific adviser.
• Becoming stranded on Earth, the Doctor gets a car called Bessie.
• There’s an astronaut or two in this series, as well.
• As for boring into the Earth, somebody’s got further than they did in Wales in Series 5…

Can't claim this is original having found it on tumblr.  Don't know about you, but I was more than halfway through it before I caught the joke (Must have been a long day.  Sure it was.).  It's in part a measure of how long this gap is between seasons that any, ANY scrap of information, is dissected six ways to Sunday.

Still it's an excuse to think a bit about a truly crucial and groundbreaking season (especially in the case of Inferno).  Spearhead from Space is the "most" unique story in classic Who.  The Silurians was gritty and ambitious in scope.  The Ambassadors of Death was weird, slow, and wonderful.  And Inferno is simply a top-ten all time story.  During this long gap, take an afternoon and indulge in one of these beauties.

We've made mention on these pages before about neglected gems, stories which, through no fault of their own, get outshone by more celebrated neighboring tales (we often cite Planet of Fire as an example of this). 

The Android Invasion is part of a string of great stories which begin with Terror of the Zygons and runs all the way The Talons of Weng Chiang so it's kind of easy, especially directly following The Pyramids of Mars, to overlook this little gem.  Terry Nation has only two non-Dalek stories in his Doctor Who resume, the other being The Keys of Marinus for William Hartnell, but this story boasts some of the best Tom/Lis interaction in their time together.

Watching this story once again, as has been remarked upon here before, is like an afternoon with an old friend.  We'll be posting some stills and a set of vastly improved caps from this story in the near future, but if you've got a fellow fan who's somewhat dismissive of the classic series, preferring the new to the old, you could do a lot worse in stating your case than sitting down for The Android Invasion.

This is doubly true at Christmas time where Doctor Who has held the prestige spot on the BBC's Christmas day schedule for a few years now.  The delicate needle that must be threaded, at least for fans, makes for hit or miss evaluations as to story and overall importance to the larger mythos of the show.  One need look no further than The Runaway Bride as evidence of this.

All of which brings us to this years outing.  It should be stated clearly here that there is nothing inherently bad about The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe.  Performance by one and all was uniformly fine.  Matt Smith was at his fizzy best but the sense of scale was missing this time around, kind of like The Next Doctor in that respect.  Still we shouldn't judge too harshly.  It's the last new Who for 9 months we figure so if history is our guide we'll probably be more kindly disposed to The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe come late spring or early summer when anticipation will be mounting yet again. 

For the sake of completeness here's our revised list ranking the Christmas specials:

• #9 – Voyage of the Damned
• #8 – The Feast of Steven
• #7 – The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe
• #6 – The Next Doctor
• #5 – The Runaway Bride
• #4 – The End of Time Pt I
• #3 – The Unquiet Dead
• #2 – A Christmas Carol
• #1 – The Christmas Invasion

Images and caps for The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe are now online.  BTW even though the view here at THT Towers is that "Doctor Who Confidential" had served it's purpose and run it's course, didn't you miss it too?

     "I've no idea," Steven replied, "Let's hope we never land there again." He heard a tinkling sound and looked up to see the Doctor carrying a silver tray with three crystal wine glasses, brimful. "we so rarely get a chance to celebrate," remarked the Doctor at their unspoken questions.

     "Celebrate?" the mystified Steven asked.

     "Don't you remember? In the Police Station – it was Christmas."

     "So it was," smiled Steven, taking the proffered glass.

     "Here's a toast. A Happy Christmas to all of us," said the Doctor, bending a benign smile on his young companions. Then he raised his glass high, saluting a host of Absent Friends and turned away.

     "And incidentally – a happy Christmas, to all of you at home."

It's hard to say whether the last item in our Who Holiday Countdown counts as Christmas-sy or not, after all the two Doctor Who Proms were performed and recorded during the summer prom season, but it's broadcast during the run-up to Christmas sure makes it feel as though it's a Christmas event.

Oh how we love the Who Proms here at THT Worldwide, especially the first one back in late 2008 with Freema and Catherine Tate. 

Probably just the novelty of it all we suppose, still it was wonderful to hear many of those too familiar cues and themes played out orchestrally in that venue and before a big audience.

Here's to hoping there's another one coming as part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary in 2013.

It's an unadulterated joy.  I doubt anybody does this kind of stuff better than the Beeb.  Just try and disagree.

Oh yes it was a simpler time, when DWB and videotape circulation of lost Troughton or even Pertwee were currency for the hardcore stateside fan.  The most profilic group to have produced these parody video was The Federation out of Chicago.  Starting in 1983 (or thereabouts) and continuing well into 90's they held the sharpest eye of parody, one which others who followed could only aspire to. 

The Feds put out their videos on "Video'zines" and showcased their work to great effect, as well as some others who later got into the game.  On Issue #1 dated January 1986 they premiered a little something called "A Doctor's Carol."

Sadly no images exist from the video (easily obtainable ones that is).  Still the story should be familiar enough with the twist being that it's the Sixth Doctor getting the Scrooge treatment.  It was even a musical!

Whatever happened to those plucky Feds?  Steven Hill runs Gallifrey Base and even has an entry in IMDB.  Jennifer Kelley helps run Chicago Tardis.  Did rather well don't you think.

BTW a little deeper dive proved that the Feds a little more active today than previously thought.  Good on them for keeping the spirit going.

Marvelous.  A for those who prefer a Seuss-ian treatment of the current Time Team, here's an example of that as well.