A Doctor Who Christmas present for 2011

Good to know that both the U.S. and the U.K. are on Steven Moffat’s holiday gift-giving list for 2011. As if a second season of Sherlock wasn’t enough, Moffat will, again, be spreading Doctor Who joy throughout the land this holiday season. Word is that production of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special is already underway with new cast members such as the great Bill Bailey and Claire Skinner.

As the story unfolds, The Doctor, sans Amy and Rory, lands in a war-torn England during World War II as a caretaker to a house in Dorset that provides shelter to war refugees. The Traveling Time Lord soon meets the Arwell family but the rest of the story, as they say, will remain a mystery until the holidays, I’m afraid.

The greatness of Steven Moffat explains his thoughts on the tradition of a Doctor Who Christmas: “…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 it’s the best news possible that he’s heading back down the chimney. It will be as Christmassy as Hell. I might be cleverly redeploying a known Christmas story again, sort of … but probably not the one you think! It will be massively Christmassy and moving and sentimental and sweet. It’ll be set partly on Earth, but not completely. And it might have a period setting …”

Pointing my sonic screwdriver as we speak to dial up the DVR for December. You?