‘Doctor Who’ thing of the day: Christmas special will be fast-tracked internationally

This is a technique that usually works in reverse as a deterrent to online piracy, with many British channels now showing shows from America within days –- if not hours -– after their original transmission.

No date has been confirmed for American and Canadian audiences (although it is expected to be close to the premiere), but Australia will broadcast the episode Dec. 26.

Of course, this doesn’t really help American viewers who don’t get BBC America on their cable systems... which is lots of us. (The network has far less market penetration than Syfy does.) So we’ll still have to wait another day, beyond the BBC America premiere, for the episode to appear on iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand. Um, yes, we’ll still have to wait another day...

(If you stumble across a cool Doctor Who thing, feel free to email me with a link.)