Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who) Who" by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue, who plays the waitress Astrid Peth. Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies described her casting as a "very exceptional case", having written the part of Astrid specifically for Minogue. On its original airdate, "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.31 million viewers, the highest viewing figure for "Doctor Who" since the 1979 serial "City of Death" and still the highest viewership of any episode since the show's revival. It was the second most-watched programme of 2007, beaten only by the episode of "EastEnders" which aired immediately after it. Critical
A Christmas Carol (Doctor Who) Writer Steven Moffat, who is also head writer and executive producer of the series, wanted to make the special "really Christmassy" because the previous Christmas special, "The End of Time", had been darker than usual as it led to the Tenth Doctor's (David Tennant) regeneration. He stated that he had "never been so excited about writing anything. I was laughing madly as I typed along to Christmas songs in April". Moffat stated that "A Christmas Carol" was "probably [his] favourite Christmas story" and that it lent itself to "Doctor Who", as there was an aspect similar to time travel in