Doctor Who brings season's greetings

The British sci-fi sensation will air a Christmas special simultaneously in the U.S. for the first time this year.

"Doctor Who" fans, rejoice!

For the first time, the "Doctor Who Christmas Special" will be broadcast in the United States on the same day it's shown in the United Kingdom -- Dec. 25.

For those unfamiliar with Doctor Who, he's a "time lord" from the planet Gallifrey who travels in a spaceship that looks like a blue British police box from the 1960s.

He's been delighting British sci-fi fans with his exploits since 1963 -- and Americans have been able to follow him, sporadically, on public television and, more recently, the Syfy Channel and BBC America.

Previously, American fans have had to wait until the spring to see the show's Christmas special. But this year, BBC America will air the special at 8 p.m. on Christmas Day. The show will be preceded by a marathon of previous Doctor Who Christmas specials beginning at 11 p.m. Dec. 24. A live concert, the "Doctor Who Prom," will air just before the new Christmas Special.

This year's special is titled "A Christmas Carol," an obvious allusion to the Charles Dickens classic, and guest stars Michael Gambon (the second actor to play Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" films) and Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins.

The show almost certainly will feature Doctor Who saving Earth from destruction -- a running theme through most of the Christmas specials.

Doctor Who has died at least 10 times and been regenerated into a new form -- a handy plot device that allows a new actor to take over the role.

The current Who -- the 11th of the series -- is Matt Smith, who is relatively unknown in the United States. For the first time, parts of the coming season, which will begin airing in the spring on BBC America, have been filmed in the United States.

The show is in its third incarnation. First broadcast in 1963, it was a BBC staple until cancellation in 1989. It had a one-shot film in 1996 before being reborn in 2005, making the 2011 season the revived series' sixth.