Each year the BBC’s official Doctor Who website hosts the annual DW “Adventure Calendar”. Each day, between Dec. 1 and Christmas, a different item is uploaded to the site. It might be a bit of behind-the-scenes video, a game, or even, as has been the case in recent years, a one-of-its-kind online short story (or two!).

I tend not to get that excited about the BBC DW website anymore, since that wonderful day about 3-4 years ago when it was decided to “geofence” (I prefer “geolock” - has more of a Dalek-sounding ring to it) much of the site to non-UK visitors (before that, it was pretty much open to everyone - remember the TARDISodes?). Depending who you ask, it’s either because of restrictions related to rights and copyright, or because of the licence fee UK residents pay to access the BBC. Either way you cut it, a visit to the BBC Doctor Who site can at times be an exercise in frustration. (For example, did you know John Barrowman, as Captain Jack, narrated a web series called Captain Jack’s Monster Files? Technically no one outside the UK was allowed to view this, and they never turned up on DVD.)

Fortunately, that doesn’t mean the site is completely closed off. Most text-related items are still accessible, along with comic strips, and it was even possible to play a bit of the Amy’s History Hunt game from over here. The same will hold true for the 2010 Adventure Calendar - some items we won’t be able to see, while others we will. Today (Dec. 1) the first item released was a downloadable PDF for a drinking-style game called Doctor in the House in which you score points for inserting DW quotations into everyday conversation.

According to the front page of the 2010 site, more original short stories will be uploaded this year, too, and these will most likely be available everywhere (note: I’ll try and post links to these stories, as they appear). And as for the videos? Well, someone inevitably reposts them elsewhere, such as last year’s mini-episode A Ghost Story for Christmas, which was an installment of the Monster Files series that told the story of another victim of the Weeping Angels. (And that’s the point - restricting the videos is useless because they’ll just end up on YouTube. But I’d rather watch them in their originally intended venue.) Despite the restrictions, it’s still fun to check in on the Adventure Calendar day by day and see what’s in store, so I’ll be keeping it bookmarked for the next few weeks.

Check it out here.

Meanwhile, a new Sarah Jane Adventures narrated comic strip, Defending Bannerman Road was recently uploaded. Despite it being technically a video, these SJA strips appear to be an exception to the rule and are available internationally. Check it out here.

UPDATES: Part one of Snowfall, an original short story by Gavin Collinson, is now online. For the first time, the BBC is offering the chapters as PDF downloads. Check it out HERE. Snowfall is the overall title for a series of interconnected short stories. A second story, Snowfall: Cold Snap by Mark B. Oliver, has now been uploaded HERE.