"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

. Due to be first broadcast at Christmas 2011, it is the seventh Christmas special since the show’s revival in 2005.

The episode will feature Claire Skinner

Claire Skinner

Claire L. Skinner is an English actress, who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television career.-Biography:Born and brought up in Hemel Hempstead, Skinner, the youngest daughter of a shopkeeper and an Irish-born secretary, was immensely shy as a child...

, Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey is an English comedian, musician and actor. As well as his extensive stand-up work, Bailey is well known for his appearances on Black Books, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI.Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in...

, Arabella Weir

Arabella Weir

Arabella Weir is a British comedian, actress and writer.The daughter of former British ambassador Sir Michael Weir, she is best known for her roles in The Fast Show and for writing several books including the international best seller Does My Bum Look Big In This? Arabella Weir (born 6 December...

 and Alexander Armstrong

Alexander Armstrong (comedian)

Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...

. A sneak preview was aired on 18 November 2011 for Children in Need

Children in Need

Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...

.

Plot

The story is set during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and is about a family of Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

 refugees, Madge Arwell and her two children, Lily and Cyril, who have to relocate to Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, where they meet the Doctor.

Production

The BBC announced in September 2011 that production had started for the special and filming was due to be complete by mid October 2011. However, filming was disrupted on 30 September due to a 24-hour protest at BBC Wales

BBC Wales

BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...

 because of compulsory redundancies. The story is partly inspired by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Published in 1950 and set circa 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the series'...

by C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...

. Filming of some scenes involving Alexander Armstrong took place in and around the Lancaster bomber 'Just Jane' at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England, was founded in 1988 by Lincolnshire farmers Fred and Harold Panton, as a memorial to their brother Pilot Officer Christopher Panton, who along with 55,000 other aircrew of RAF Bomber Command lost his life during World War II...

.

Cast Notes

Alexander Armstrong previously appeared in Doctor Who episodes "The Stolen Earth

The Stolen Earth

"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...

" and "Journey's End

Journey's End (Doctor Who)

"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...

" as the voice of Mr Smith

Mr Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Mr Smith is a fictional extraterrestrial computer voiced by Alexander Armstrong which appears in the British children's science fiction television series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, with further minor appearances in the final two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who...

, an alien computer, his character from The Sarah Jane Adventures

The Sarah Jane Adventures

The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...

.

Arabella Weir previously appeared as an alternate incarnation of the Third Doctor

Third Doctor

The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....

 in the Doctor Who Unbound audio drama Exile.

External links