The Adventure Calendar — originally launched under the name Advent Calendar in 2006, then modified to Adventure Calendars therefter — were a standard holiday feature of the official BBC Doctor Who website. Like an actual Advent calendar, the Adventure Calendars offered a new "treat" for fans every day from the first of December through to Christmas. They were used to ignite interest in the then-upcoming Christmas special. Among the treats offered were things like games, desktop wallpapers, trailers, music clips and videos. Though most of the treats directly supported the Christmas special, sometimes they were reminders of the series that had been broadcast earlier in that year.
The calendars persisted on the website long after their particular Christmas had passed. As of June 2010, most elements of the calendars were still viewable in the official site's archives.
| Year | Day | Item | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 1 | Desktop wallpaper of the Doctor's TARDIS in a Christmas setting | |
| 2 | Secret Santa, a simple game that asked users to guess which Doctor Who character was behind a Santa mask | ||
| 3 | Graphic design of the pound notes made especially for The Runaway Bride | ||
| 4 | recording of "Song for Ten" | ||
| 5 | Printable Christmas cards using images from Bride | ||
| 6 | New Earth in-vision commentary | ||
| 7 | A puzzle which, when solved, gave viewers a tiny glimpse of the Bride script | ||
| 8 | Peter McKinstry concept art of a Roboform Santa Claus mask | ||
| 9 | A scene from the then-upcoming Invasion of the Bane | ||
| 10 | Desktop wallpaper from the narrative of The Runaway Bride itself | ||
| 11 | Who-RU Monster Quiz | ||
| 12 | 22-second trailer for The Runaway Bride | ||
| 13 | WhoSpy, a feature which showed set decorations for Bride in situ and invited viewers to guess what they could possibly mean. For example, one of the shots was a close-up of buttons on the lift in what viewers would come to know as H.C. Clements. | ||
| 14 | Santa Shooter, a simple arcade-style game that invited players to "Save the Earth! Shoot Santa." | ||
| 15 | Christmas message from Murray Gold and two tracks from Army of Ghosts that did not appear on Doctor Who Original Soundtrack Recording | ||
| 16 | Monster Match, a Doctor Who version of the classic game Concentration | ||
| 17 | A diary entry by Tors Grantham about the making of CON: "Music and Monsters" | ||
| 18 | Doomsday in-vision commentary | ||
| 19 | 32-second trailer for Bride | ||
| 20 | A clip from Jo Whiley Meets Doctor Who, a 3-hour special on BBC Radio One featuring Jo Whiley and David Tennant that was broadcast on Christmas Day 2006, immediately prior to Bride's debut on BBC One. | ||
| 21 | A link to the then-newly-created Sarah Jane Adventures website | ||
| 22 | A link to the the then-newly-created, but not finished, Bride page on the main Doctor Who site | ||
| 23 | Tooth and Claw in-vision commentary | ||
| 24 | An extract from the then-forthcoming commentary to Bride featuring David Tennant and Julie Gardner | ||
| 25 | A link to the finished Bride page on the main Doctor Who site, which now included more "goodies" | ||
| 2007 | 1 | Video season's greetings from Kylie Minogue and David Tennant | |
| 2 | "The Frozen", a short story by Rupert Laight with illustrations by Martin Geraghty | ||
| 3 | WhoSpy | ||
| 4 | Companions Quiz | ||
| 5 | printable Christmas cards, themed around Voyage of the Damned | ||
| 6 | Audio of "The Old Rugged Cross" as performed by Murray Gold the Crouch End Festival Chorus with arrangement by Ben Foster | ||
| 7 | Printable Christmas posters, of a style first seen in The Christmas Invasion and The Runaway Bride | ||
| 8 | 10-second teaser of Damned | ||
| 9 | Jigsaw puzzle that revealed Peter McKinstry art of the Titanic and an extract of the Damned script | ||
| 10 | Desktop wallpaper from Damned | ||
| 11 | Gridlock in-vision commentary | ||
| 12 | Into the Vortex game, in which players flew the Doctor's TARDIS through the time vortex, trying to collect blue energy particles, but avoid red energy particles | ||
| 13 | video of various people involved with Damned singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", including Bernard Cribbins, Danny Hargreaves, Ben Foster, Murray Gold, Debbie Chazen, Clive Rowe, Stefan Davis, Jimmy Vee and other, less identifiable members of the production team | ||
| 14 | 1'30" trailer for Damned | ||
| 15 | Crafting project to make a Heavenly Host Christmas ornament | ||
| 16 | 19-sec. clip from Damned (Tennant's "I'm the Doctor, I'm a Time Lord" speech) | ||
| 17 | Dalek Break-Out game, in which players tried to manoeuvre explosive containers onto specific areas of the gameboard in order to generate an explosion that would help them ascend to an exit | ||
| 18 | A link to the then-new Comic Maker, which allowed users to make comic strips using pre-defined artwork | ||
| 19 | "Who's Asking?", a print interview with Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, which looked back at series 3 and previewed series 4 | ||
| 20 | Link to the then-newly-created webpage for Damned | ||
| 21 | 40-sec. trailer for Damned, which clearly revealed for the first time that the Titanic was a spaceship, not the 20th century Titanic | ||
| 22 | The Sound of Drums in-vision commentary | ||
| 23 | Extract from the then-forthcoming podcast commentary | ||
| 24 | Damned-themed screensavers | ||
| 25 | 55-second teaser for CON: "Kylie Special" | ||
| 2008[1] |  | ||
| 1 | video Christmas greeting from David Tennant | ||
| 2 | Print interview with Graeme Harper | ||
| 3 | Behind-the-scenes video with David Tennant on a day off around Cardiff | ||
| 4 | "Number 1, Gallows Gate Road", part 1, a short story by Rupert Laight with illustrations by Brian Williamson | ||
| 5 | Black Hole, a game in which the player had to pilot the TARDIS out of a black hole | ||
| 6 | Printable Christmas cards themed around The Next Doctor | ||
| 7 | Desktop wallpapers related to Next | ||
| 8 | Cosmic Collider, a game in which players uncovered picture and revealed a script extract from Next | ||
| 9 | A Monster Files instalment relative to Next | ||
| 10 | A Cyberman screensaver | ||
| 11 | "Number 1, Gallows Gate Road", part 2 | ||
| 12 | Cyber Quiz | ||
| 13 | Craft project to make a Cybershade face mask | ||
| 14 | WhoSpy | ||
| 15 | Trailer for Next | ||
| 16 | A selection of music by Murray Gold | ||
| 17 | A link to the then-newly-enhanced Comic Maker | ||
| 18 | A trailer for the television debut of Doctor Who at the Proms | ||
| 19 | Jobsworth Judoon, a game in which players had to help the Doctor break the security codes around a forcefield holding the TARDIS | ||
| 20 | New desktop wallpapers and the Fear Factor for Next | ||
| 21 | A teaser clip from Next featuring Miss Hartigan and the Cybermen | ||
| 22 | An extract from the then-upcoming podcast commentary for Next | ||
| 23 | A video jigsaw puzzle which, when solved, unlocked an exclusive teaser clip from Next | ||
| 24 | A video Christmas message from Velile Tshabalala | ||
| 25 | A video retrospective on Donna Noble, called Donna's Story | ||
| 2009[2] | 1 | Doctor in the House, a parlour game in which contestants tried to smuggle lines from Doctor Who into everyday conversation. Unusually, this was not a video game, quiz or puzzle, but a game that players could enjoy with their friends and acquaintances. The site gave a link to a downloadable file that provided instructions | |
| 2 | Printable Christmas cards based on The End of Time | ||
| 3 | "Inspect a Gadget!", a short video giving a behind-the-scenes look at Gadget | ||
| 4 | Debut of the 2009 BBC Christmas idents | ||
| 5 | "Dreamland: Origins and Inspirations", a short video about Dreamland with director Gary Russell | ||
| 6 | "The Advent of Fear", part 1, a short story by Mark B. Oliver | ||
| 7 | Desktop wallpapers relative to Time | ||
| 8 | "Whatever happened to Cassie and Jimmy?", a short video in which Phil Ford opined on the post-Dreamland fates of Cassie Rice and Jimmy Stalkingwolf | ||
| 9 | The Great Big Doctor Who Christmas Quiz | ||
| 10 | "The Advent of Fear", part 2 | ||
| 11 | A short video of David Tennant singing "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with The Proclaimers | ||
| 12 | Audio of "The Wonder of Balloons", a track from The Next Doctor by Murray Gold | ||
| 13 | A video conversation with Louise Page, reflecting on her time as the costume designer on Doctor Who | ||
| 14 | Two screensavers: one featuring the John Simm version of The Master, and one featuring images from The End of Time, part one | ||
| 15 | Video Christmas greetings from Russell T Davies, David Tennant and Julie Gardner, plus a link to the then-newly-created webpage for The End of Time, part one | ||
| 16 | Seven different retrospective videos about David Tennant's time as the Doctor, each on a different theme, designed to answer the question, "What is Doctor Who?" | ||
| 17 | "The Doctor on My Shoulder", part one, a short story by Daniel Roth | ||
| 18 | An extract from the radio programme, Who on Who?, in which David Tennant interviewed Russell T Davies about his time on Doctor Who | ||
| 19 | Partners in Time, a physical card game in which players print off cards representing each of the ten Doctors and then compared whether their card represented a higher- or lower-numbered incarnation of the Doctor than their opponents' cards | ||
| 20 | A series of self-advertised "terrible jokes" with a Doctor Who theme | ||
| 21 | Video discussion between David Tennant, Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies about what makes a good Christmas Day celebration | ||
| 22 | WhoSpy | ||
| 23 | "The Doctor on My Shoulder", part two | ||
| 24 | "A Ghost Story for Christmas", a short video story featuring the Weeping Angels | ||
| 25 | An extract from the then-forthcoming podcast commentary on The End of Time, part one | ||
| 26 | Craft project to make a Master's face mask | ||
| 27 | Short video with Bernard Cribbins | ||
| 28 | An instalment of The Big Questions with John Simm | ||
| 29 | A single new desktop wallpaper of the Tenth Doctor from The End of Time, part two | ||
| 30 | Printable New Year's greeting cards | ||
| 31 | 2009 Bumper Quiz | ||
| 32 | Extract from the podcast commentary on The End of Time, part two | ||
| 2010 | 
| ||
| 1 | The 2010 edition of the Doctor in the House printable game | ||
| 2 | Original announcement of the 25 December 2010 release date for GAME: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada | ||
| 3 | Video of Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill turning on the Christmas Lights in downtown Cardiff. Also, video of a brief question-and-answer session about series 6, hosted by Jason Mohammad | ||
| 4 | Wallpaper images from A Christmas Carol | ||
| 5 | Four Christmas card templates, themed on A Christmas Carol. | ||
| 6 | Online game called, Haven't I Seen Your Fez Somewhere Before?, in which the user answered multiple choice questions about photos from series 5 that had items hidden by a super-imposed fez. Oddly, this feature had already debuted on the site on 6 November 2010, and so was more "re-gift" than "gift". | ||
| 7 | Series 5-themed screensavers | ||
| 8 | Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, part one. Essentially a Christmas version of The Big Questions. This time, Smith talks about his favourite Christmas songs and movies and tells what made filming series 5 so fun. | ||
| 9 | The novella, Snowfall begins with the chapter, "Frozen"[3] by Gavin Collinson | ||
| 10 | The novella, Snowfall, continues with the chapter, "Cold Snap, part one", by Mark B. Oliver | ||
| 11 | The BBC One trailer for A Christmas Carol, containing no new material compared with the one seen during Children in Need 2010. In fact, it was a reduction on the previously-released trailer, being edited back to only about 35 seconds. | ||
| 12 | "Christmas Questions" feature: print interview with various people associated with The Adventure Games series, including: Nicholas Briggs, Barnaby Edwards and Phil Ford | ||
| 13 | "Christmas Questions" feature: print interview with Katherine Jenkins | ||
| 14 | First images from GAME: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada, made available as desktop wallpapers | ||
| 15 | Four never-before-seen preview clips of A Christmas Carol | ||
| 16 | Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, part two. Essentially a Christmas version of The Big Questions. This time, questions about working with Katherine Jenkins and what Smith's best-ever Christmas present was. | ||
| 17 | The novella, Snowfall, continues with two new chapters: "Cold Snap, part two", by Mark B. Oliver, and "The Thaw", by Gavin Collinson | ||
| 18 | Preview clip of Colin Baker, Frazer Hines, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, and Katy Manning on the 20 December 2010 edition of Celebrity Eggheads | ||
| 19 | Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, part three. Essentially a Christmas version of The Big Questions. This time, Smith plays a spot-the-difference game with a couple of photos of the Doctor and Amy in the TARDIS. | ||
| 20 | The novella, Snowfall, continues with the chapter, "Vampire Hurricane, part one", by Gavin Collinson | ||
| 21 | Video of Matt Smith with a new introduction of A Christmas Carol | ||
| 22 | Video of Matt Smith introducing GAME: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada | ||
| 23 | The novella, Snowfall, continues with the chapter, "Vampire Hurricane, part two", by Gavin Collinson | ||
| 24 | The conclusion of Snowfall, with the chapter, "Station Pressure", by Gavin Collinson. Also, the release of the entire Snowfall story in a single, downloadable booklet. | ||
| 25 | Video of Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Katherine Jenkins sending their Christmas wishes.[4] | ||
| 2011 | 1 | The Game of Rassilon: The Christmas Special, a new quiz game. | |
| 2 | A video of Matt Smith discussing TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe | ||
| 3 | Picture gallery from TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. | ||
| 4 | Doctor Who-themed Christmas card print-outs | ||
| 5 | Three puzzles | ||
| 6 | WC: Prequel (The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe) | ||
| 7 | Interview with Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Paul Bazely. | ||
| 8 | A link to the Doctor Who mobile website. | ||
| 9 | A Christmas video starring the Doctor Who cast and crew. | ||
| 10 | A new edition of the game Doctor in the House. | ||
| 11 | Galleries from the recently rediscovered episodes from TV: Galaxy 4 and The Underwater Menace. | ||
| 12 | Marcus Wilson discusses TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. | ||
| 13 | A new trailer for TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. | ||
| 14 | 3 preview clips for TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. | ||
| 15 | Two screensavers: one for TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, the other for all of the Doctor's Christmas adventures. | ||
| 16 | Archival footage of Tom Baker switching on Christmas lights. | ||
| 17 | Picture gallery from TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. | ||
| 18 | On-set interviews with Bill Bailey and Arabella Weir. | ||
| 19 | Archival footage of Tom Baker visiting school children. | ||
| 20 | Part One of "Attack of the Snowmen" by Mark B. Oliver. | ||
| 21 | Part Two of "Attack of the Snowmen" by Mark B. Oliver. | ||
| 22 | Clips from "Galaxy 4" and info on Chumbley and puzzles | ||
| 23 | Three New Clips With Matt Smith and Steven Moffat | ||
| 24 | The Third and Final Part of "Attack of the Snowmen" by Mark B. Oliver | ||
| 25 | Galleries, photos, videos and much more to do with "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" | ||
| 2012 | 1 | "Jenna-Louise Coleman: Becoming the Companion" A video on Jenna-Louise Coleman's audition process. | |
| 2 | 5 new wallpapers from The Snowmen. | ||
| 3 | "Steven Moffat on the First Dalek Adventure." The first in a series of videos about the history of the Daleks. | ||
| 4 | "Revisit The Evil of the Daleks with Steven Moffat." The second in a series of videos about the history of the Daleks. | ||
| 5 | Pictures and wallpapers from The Snowmen | ||
| 6 | Doctor Who Game of Rassilon Christmas Special | ||
| 7 | "Jenna-Louise Coleman: Becoming the Companion" A video on Jenna-Louise Coleman's plans for Christmas | ||
| 8 | Interviews from Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman and Richard E. Grant and Tom Ward on The Snowmen | ||
| 9 | "Steven Moffat return to the Day of the Daleks with ." The third in a series of videos about the history of the Daleks. | ||
| 10 | "Richard E. Grant sends season’s greetings and discusses The Snowmen!" A video on Richard E. Grant's thought on the Christmas Special. | ||
| 11 | "Dan Starkey on the Christmas Special and the return of Strax." A video on Dan Starkey return to Doctor Who. | ||
| 12 | "Enjoy the lastest trilling trailer for The Snowmen." A new trailer for The Snowmen | ||
| 13 | "A selection of exclusive Doctor Who Christmas cards and wallpapers." Christmas cards and wallpapers for The Snowmen | ||
| 14 | "Find out more about the Silurian, the Sontaran and Jenny Flint." Updated Character Profiles on Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax. | ||
| 15 | "Part One of the brilliant Doctor Who: Houdini and The Space Cuckoos by Joseph Lidster." Online story involving Harry Houdini and the Eleventh Doctor | ||
| 16 | "Part Two of the thrilling Doctor Who: Houdini and The Space Cuckoos." | ||
| 17 | "A Christmas Prequel: Vastra Investigates by Steven Moffat." A webcast prequel for The Snowmen. | ||
| 18 | "Video! Peek behind the scenes as Matt Smith interviews Jenna-Louise Coleman." Matt Smith interviews Jenna-Louise Coleman | ||
| 19 | "Read the penultimate part of Doctor Who: Houdini and The Space Cuckoos by Joseph Lidster. | ||
| 20 | "Casting director Andy Pryor recalls the stars of previous Doctor Who Christmas Specials..." | ||
| 21 | "Join Strax and the gang for a seasonal Sontaran sing-song!" Strax's logical thoughts on Christmas Carols. | ||
| 22 | "Video: The first preview clip from The Snowmen!" | ||
| 23 | "Video: Vastra and Jenny confront Simeon in this preview clip from The Snowmen!" | ||
| 24 | "Video: Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman introduce The Snowmen." | ||
| 25 | "It’s the festive finale of Doctor Who: Houdini and The Space Cuckoos!" |
- ↑ As of June 2010, much of the 2008 Adventure Calendar wasn't functioning properly. Though the official website still retained a fairly complete list of the calendar's contents, the provided links weren't functional.
- ↑ Because of the special nature of The End of Time, which was broadcast in two parts, ending on 1 January 2010, the Adventure Calendar of this year actually had 32 days, and therefore broke with the traditional format of an advent calendar
- ↑ The title of this chapter, on Day 9, appeared to be simply Snowfall. However, by Day 17, it was being retroactively subtitled Frozen, and that is the name ascribed to it in the full version of the story made available on Day 24.
- ↑ Note that other things happened on the official website on 25 December 2010. For UK residents, Christmas marked the free download release of GAME: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada for Mac and PC. Also, a video Christmas greeting from Tommy Knight, Anjli Mohindra and Daniel Anthony appeared under the title "SJA Christmas Video". However, these were not technically a part of the Adventure Calendar.