NOT even a race of evil robotic Santas can stop it being a Doctor Who Christmas. A toy linked to the time lord tops most boys’ gift lists and a seasonal special in which the Doctor teams up with a new companion is expected to win the television ratings war.

The toy, a Cyberman mask that changes the voice of the wearer into alienspeak, is in such demand that many toyshops have long sold out and it is being bartered for almost double its retail price on websites such as eBay.

Some enterprising parents who recognised it would be a hit bought dozens of the toy and now expect to pay for their own Christmas from the profits of selling it for a mark-up of almost 100% on eBay.

The BBC will tomorrow announce the peak-time viewing slot chosen for its Doctor Who Christmas special.

Comedian Catherine Tate plays Donna, a bride who is late for her wedding, and the Tardis has to turn into a taxi to get her to the ceremony. But she is being chased by a mysterious empress and it emerges that she is the key to an alien plan to destroy Earth involving the robotic Santas.

The programme shows little signs of losing its magic touch, despite the loss of Billie Piper, who played the Doctor’s companion Rose.

Last month it scooped three prizes at the National Television Awards. David Tennant, the latest time lord, and Piper won the best actor and actress awards. The show was also voted most popular drama.

Next month’s one-off special will be a precursor to a new series that will begin in the new year and in which Freema Agyeman, who plays medical student Martha Jones, becomes the Doctor’s new assistant.

Russell T Davies, the show’s writer and executive producer, said: “We were delighted and honoured by the second series’ success and we can promise new thrills, new laughs and some terrifying new aliens.

“The Doctor and Martha are destined to meet William Shakespeare, a bloodsucking alien named Plasmavores, an army of galactic stormtroopers called the Judoon and a sinister intelligence at work in 1930s New York.”

The BBC confirmed that plans are in place for a fourth series. Even the spin-off series Torchwood has been a huge success, attracting 2.4m viewers to BBC3 when it was launched.

Three Doctor Who toys are in the Christmas Top 20 compiled from the bestselling toys in Woolworths, Toys R Us and Argos. The Cyberman Voice Changer, a radio-controlled Dalek and a K-9 dog are all in high demand with only the Bratz Forever Diamondz range of dolls proving more popular than the Cyberman mask for top spot in the £1 billion festive toy-buying spree.

Shares have jumped more than 12p in Character Group, which makes the toys, after it said annual profits would be “significantly” above market forecasts.

Waterstone’s, the bookseller, predicts that the 2007 Doctor Who annual will knock The Beano off its traditional perch as the bestselling children’s annual. Amazon, the internet retailer, is selling the time lord’s annual for £4.54, a reduction of £2.45 on the retail price. A Sunday Times survey has shown that consumers can save up to 40% by buying their Christmas presents on the internet rather than shopping in the high street.

The Doctor Who toys buck this trend. Glitches in China, the world’s leading manufacturer, is causing trouble in toyland. Factories in southern China have been hit by rolling electricity blackouts and labour shortages caused by workers deserting to better-paid jobs in high-tech factories. Officials in Guangdong province have demanded that manufacturers suspend operations for two or three days a week to avoid overtaxing electricity suppliers.

At the same time many of the store chains have underestimated the demand, perhaps thinking that the departure of the show’s two original stars from its present run, Piper and Christopher Eccleston, would lessen interest in the travels of the Tardis.

It means those who spotted the demand for Doctor Who early can make a killing. Last week the Cyberman mask, which can retail as low as £29.99 in Argos, was selling for £55 on eBay.

One eBay seller who uses the trading name of littlemonstersmum turned out to be mother-of-two Sophie Pearson from Rugby, Warwickshire. She has sold the mask for as much as £42. Her husband Chris, 35, who runs his own website selling home and garden gifts, bought 15 of them for just over £30 each a month ago.

“I paid almost the retail price but when my supplier said ‘Don’t mention the cybermask’ I knew it would be popular,” he said. “Whatever they push on television will be a sell-out. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Another eBay trader, Andini Dunn from Shropshire, said: “I was asked to get one for a present and told they were hard to get hold of, so I bought a few. They are surplus to my requirements.”

Additional reporting: Emma Bartholomew

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• The Olympics: you need brass to go for gold
• The new must-have accessory: 3-D specs
• Does Dame Helen Mirren need a Face Lift?