Channel Surfing: Third Season of "Gavin & Stacey" On Tap, "Doctor Who," SAG Delays Strike Authorization Vote, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. This being a scant two days before Christmas, there aren't many television-related headlines to discuss but rest assured there are still quite a few.

Oh, what's occurrin'? The big news is, of course, that Ruth Jones and James Corden have announced--from Barry Island, no less--that they will write a third season of their hit comedy Gavin & Stacey. The third season, which had been commissioned by the BBC earlier this year, had been in doubt when Jones and Corden said that their schedules were a bit too full at the moment to write the next season of the romantic comedy, which airs in the States on BBC America. While pesky details like actor availability still have to be worked out, it's fantastic news that we'll get to see more of Nessa and the gang from Barry and Essex before long. The Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, meanwhile, will air tomorrow night on BBC1. (BBC News)

Doctor Who executive producer Russell T. Davies talks at length about this week's Doctor Who Christmas Special, entitled "The Next Doctor." While there's spoilers aplenty for those looking for that sort of thing, some of Davies' comments seem to echo my recent theory that David Morrissey, who co-stars with David Tennant in the special, will be named the Eleventh Doctor later this week... and that he isn't just a man claiming to be the Doctor in Dickensian London but he is the future incarnation of the Doctor crossing paths with his past self. "...this other Doctor isn't lying," says Davies. "He's not a con man. So we've got this story about how these two men can possibly be together. It's a buddy movie, in a way. I mean, two of the best actors in the land - how lucky are we?" Only time will tell... (The Daily Mail)

SAG has announced that it has postponed its controversial strike authorization vote for two weeks. The ballots, which were meant to be delivered on January 2nd, will be delayed until after January 13th following two days of talks among SAG's national board, which has remained split over the option of a strike. (Variety)

Los Angeles Times talks to FOX Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori and FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly about the challenges for the network in the next few months, Dollhouse, moving Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to Fridays, and American Idol. As for why the network scheduled Dollhouse on Fridays, Ligouri said: "It's a night where there's not a hell of a lot of competition. So we're able to get the show on there. We're able to allow the show to grow. The expectations may be slightly lower for its performance." Hmmm... (Los Angeles Times)

Aussie actor Damon Herriman (Cold Case) has been cast in NBC's drama pilot Lost & Found, opposite Katee Sackhoff, Josh Cooke, and Brian Cox. He'll play Anthony Yeckel, "an oddball civilian consultant to the police's lost-and-found department who has an obsessive love of old detective TV shows." (Hollywood Reporter)

Lost's Jeff Fahey will guest star in an episode of CBS' Cold Case, slated to air in early 2009. He'll play the owner of a "boutique motorcycle customization shop who has cleaned up from his early days as a biker." Elsewhere, rapper/actress/mogul Eve will guest star in an episode of CBS' NUMB3RS; Wes Brown (We Are Marshall) will appear in at least six episodes of HBO's True Blood as a Luke, a religious hunk who bonds with Jason at church camp; Dina Meyer (Birds of Prey) will play Michael's former fiancee on USA's Burn Notice in the Season Two finale airing on March 5th. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TV Guide chats with Prison Break's Jodi Lyn O'Keefe about her long-running stint on the FOX thriller, whether or not we've seen the last of Gretchen, and the potential SAG strike. (<TV Guide)

Stay tuned.