NOT even a race of evil robotic Santas can stop it being a Doctor Who Christmas. A toy linked to the time lord tops most boys gift lists and a seasonal special in which the Doctor teams up with a new companion is expected to win the television ratings war.
The toy, a Cyberman mask that changes the voice of the wearer into alienspeak, is in such demand that many toyshops have long sold out and it is being bartered for almost double its retail price on websites such as eBay.



Some enterprising parents who recognised it would be a hit bought dozens of the toy and now expect to pay for their own Christmas from the profits of selling it for a mark-up of almost 100% on eBay.

The BBC will tomorrow announce the peak-time viewing slot chosen for its Doctor Who Christmas special.

Comedian Catherine Tate plays Donna, a bride who is late for her wedding, and the Tardis has to turn into a taxi to get her to the ceremony. But she is being chased by a mysterious empress and it emerges that she is the key to an alien plan to destroy Earth involving the robotic Santas.

The programme shows little signs of losing its magic touch, despite the loss of Billie Piper, who played the Doctors companion Rose.

Last month it scooped three prizes at the National Television Awards. David Tennant, the latest time lord, and Piper won the best actor and actress awards. The show was also voted most popular drama.

Next months one-off special will be a precursor to a new series that will begin in the new year and in which Freema Agyeman, who plays medical student Martha Jones, becomes the Doctors new assistant.

Russell T Davies, the shows writer and executive producer, said: We were delighted and honoured by the second series success and we can promise new thrills, new laughs and some terrifying new aliens.



The BBC confirmed that plans are in place for a fourth series. Even the spin-off series Torchwood has been a huge success, attracting 2.4m viewers to BBC3 when it was launched.

Three Doctor Who toys are in the Christmas Top 20 compiled from the bestselling toys in Woolworths, Toys R Us and Argos. The Cyberman Voice Changer, a radio-controlled Dalek and a K-9 dog are all in high demand with only the Bratz Forever Diamondz range of dolls proving more popular than the Cyberman mask for top spot in the 1 billion festive toy-buying spree
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Shares have jumped more than 12p in Character Group, which makes the toys, after it said annual profits would be significantly above market forecasts.

Waterstones, the bookseller, predicts that the 2007 Doctor Who annual will knock The Beano off its traditional perch as the bestselling childrens annual. Amazon, the internet retailer, is selling the time lords annual for 4.54, a reduction of 2.45 on the retail price. A Sunday Times survey has shown that consumers can save up to 40% by buying their Christmas presents on the internet rather than shopping in the high street.

The Doctor Who toys buck this trend. Glitches in China, the worlds leading manufacturer, is causing trouble in toyland. Factories in southern China have been hit by rolling electricity blackouts and labour shortages caused by workers deserting to better-paid jobs in high-tech factories. Officials in Guangdong province have demanded that manufacturers suspend operations for two or three days a week to avoid overtaxing electricity suppliers.