24 December

24 December was the traditional date of Christmas Eve on Earth.

Amongst the notable things that occurred on this day were:


 * 1851 - The Tenth Doctor encountered Jackson Lake, who mistakenly believed that he was the Doctor, and the Cybermen. (TV: The Next Doctor)
 * 1869 - The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler encountered Charles Dickens in Cardiff, which was under attack from the gaseous Gelth that had come through the Rift. Gwyneth sacrificed herself to trap the Gelth. (TV: The Unquiet Dead)
 * 1892 - The Eleventh Doctor met Clara Oswald for the second time and encountered the Great Intelligence in the form of telepathic snow. (TV: The Snowmen)
 * 1938 - The Eleventh Doctor was stuck in a spaceship in Earth's orbit. He escaped and fell to Earth, only to be saved by Madge Arwell. (TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)
 * 1940 - The Fourth Doctor and Leela encountered the Home Guard volunteer Richard Charlesworth in Charnage House in England. (PROSE: It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow)
 * 1941 - Madge, Cyril and Lily Arwell travelled from England to a planet in 5345 through a present the Eleventh Doctor, posing as their caretaker, had given them. (TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)
 * 1942 - Oskar Steinmann supervised the first test of a "flying bomb" at Peenemunde. (PROSE: Just War)
 * 1975 - The Seventh Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex defeated the Kellenian invasion of Earth in New York City. (PROSE: Presence)
 * 1983 - Jason Kane, future husband of Bernice Summerfield, was born in England. (PROSE: Return of the Living Dad)
 * 1985 - The Ninth Doctor was trapped near a Christmas party at Sally Sparrow's Aunt's house in Devon, when the TARDIS "burped" and jumped ahead in time 20 years. Using her Christmas essay from 2005, the Doctor wrote messages on the walls and in photographs during the party for Sally Sparrow to read and recorded a video instructing her to pilot the TARDIS back to him in 2005. Sally's future self arrived in the TARDIS, telling her to hit the TARDIS reset button to bring her to the Doctor. The Doctor told the Sally in 2005 to write the essay that she would later (from her point of view) give to him first. (PROSE: What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow)
 * 1987 - David Gilligan burgled several houses in the suburbs of Illinois. (PROSE: Be Good for Goodness's Sake)
 * 2006 - The newly-regenerated Tenth Doctor crashed the TARDIS into the Powell Estate on the same day that Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith were attacked by Robot Santas. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
 * 2007 - The wedding of Donna Noble and Lance Bennett was interrupted. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
 * 2008 - A space-faring replica of the RMS Titanic was struck by meteorites, sending it and its nuclear storm drive on a collision course with Earth. The survivors were being killed off by the Heavenly Host. Wilfred Mott briefly met the Tenth Doctor before the Doctor was teleported back to the ship. (TV: Voyage of the Damned)
 * 2009 - was resurrected on Earth by the Disciples of Saxon and had his lifeforce sapped when his wife Lucy attempted to destroy the ritual. (TV: The End of Time)

Alternate Timeline

 * 2007 - The Tenth Doctor failed to regenerate and died with the Racnoss children. The Webstar was destroyed by the British Army. (TV: Turn Left)

Behind the scenes

 * 1925 - Producer Innes Lloyd was born.
 * 1941 - John Levene was born.
 * 1966 - Episode two of The Highlanders was first broadcast on BBC1.
 * 1989 - Actor Clive Cazes died.
 * 2006 - Combat was first broadcast on BBC Two.
 * 2008 - A little-known actor named Matt Smith attended a secret photo shoot. It was so secret, in fact, that the hairstylist and photographer were not informed what it was for. Later, an image of the the Doctor's TARDIS was digitally added to the photos, which were issued on 3 January 2009 to announce Smith as the eleventh actor to play the Doctor.