Doctor Who Free Screening Event in North of England is Extremely Popular

Tickets for the Doctor Who Christmas Special free screening event in the north of England are in high demand this festive season.

The BBC is screening the highly-anticipated Christmas Special  – Doctor Who – Once Upon A Time alongside several other Christmas programmes such as David Tennant’s children’s animation The Highway Rat and the cult comedy The League of Gentlemen.  

The tickets for the screening will be available through a ballot.  The BBC has received almost 35,000 entries to date. The ticket ballot will close on Sunday 3 December. Tickets will be allocated via a random draw with 45% going to local postcodes, 45% going to the surrounding county and 10% to the rest of the UK.

The event kicks off in Hartlepool on December 14 and will follow with visits in York, Hull, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Salford and Durham, before finishing in Bradford on December 22.

Ticket holders will be able to pose on the BBC red carpet alongside props from the shows, including Daleks and the TARDIS.

David Bradley, who portrays the First Doctor in this year’s special said: “It’s really exciting that Doctor Who fans in the north of England have the opportunity to see the Christmas special first. I really enjoyed playing the First Doctor and as I’m from Yorkshire, it’s extra special to me that the screenings are taking place in the north.”

In Hartlepool and York there’ll be local screenings for local people to see two of three new episodes of the cult comedy The League of Gentlemen. League’s co-creator and co-star Steve Pemberton said: “The north of England is where all four of us hail from and it was very definitely in our minds when we created Royston Vasey. We know from going out on tour that we get the best audiences in the north of England, and there’s a real connection, a humour, that we share between the four of us which is out there in the north. They’re the funniest people in the whole country, and we hope they enjoy the new specials we’ve made for them this Christmas.”

His co-star Reece Shearsmith added: “Being from the North, you couldn’t be more local for The League of Gentlemen purposes, so that should be reason enough to rush to apply for tickets and enjoy all your favourite characters from The League of Gentlemen. It’s great fun.”

In Hull and Newcastle, the adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s beloved book, The Highway Rat will be available with the Doctor Who special. This new animation about a greedy rat is voiced by a stellar cast including David Tennant and Rob Brydon.

The ballot to apply for tickets to these exclusive previews closes this Sunday, 3 December.

Visit the BBC Shows and Tours website to apply:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/bbc_north_preview_screening_tour

The full schedule for the Christmas premiere tour is as follows:

The League of Gentlemen Anniversary Specials will air on BBC Two on December 18, 19 and 20 at 10pm, and the Doctor Who Christmas Special and The Highway Rat will air on BBC One on Christmas Day.