The Whovian ranks seem to be growing steadily, as this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special episode "The Snowmen" brought in 1.4 million viewers for BBC America.  While those numbers may not seem huge in the scheme of things, it's quite a coup for the cable channel, and makes it the second most-watched episode in its history.  The special went up 54 percent from last year overall, and up 60 percent among adults in the highly targeted 24-to-54 age demographic.

There's plenty more in store for the series, which returns in April with the back half of its seventh season.  For one, Jenna-Louise Coleman's character Clara looks to be a little more interesting than fans originally thought, as Matt Smith's Doctor's new companion.  Hit the jump for the trailer, as well as a few thoughts about the upcoming episodes (spoilers if you haven't seen the Christmas Special!).

There was a lot of speculation before the Christmas Special about Jenna-Louise Coleman's character Clara, since the actress had already appeared at the beginning of the season as the character Oswin.  "The Snowmen" helped assuage some of those fears (that she would just be reintroduced without explanation, or that her character would be a rehash of another's similar arc).  Though Clara is a temporal anomaly that the Doctor must investigate, it seems that the version of Clara we will be seeing the most is a contemporary one (kind of shame).

But, things are definitely looking promising, as are some new monsters and some really decent effects (not always the show's strong point, which has always been kinda the point).  Neil Gaiman will also be back to pen another episode (he did last season's "The Doctor's Wife").  All in all, should be a strong slew of episodes to wrap things up for the year.

The second half of Doctor Who's seventh season will air in April.