The jolly snowman isn't really a familiar figure around these parts at this time of year.
But in chillier countries, you'll tend to find a roly-poly chap made of snow standing tall whenever the flakes start falling.
Trust the makers of Doctor Who to take such a friendly staple of the season and put a sinister twist on it.
"Sometimes we play along with something a bit frothier," Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat said of the show's traditional Christmas episode.
"This year, though, we might just give them a fright."
The title of this year's hour-long Doctor Who Christmas special is The Snowmen - but don't be looking for friendly Frosty in this episode.
Instead, beware of an army of snowmen baring sharp, icy teeth and harbouring hostile intentions.
It's been a turbulent time of late for this 11th incarnation of the much-loved Time Lord, played by Matt Smith. He's lost his companions, Amy and Rory Pond, and has been left so despondent that saving the world has become less of a priority.
"The Doctor, when we meet him, isn't in a good place," Moffat said.
"This is a cold and withdrawn Time Lord, wanting no part of the world around him. It's going to take a lot of Christmas spirit to get him back out of those TARDIS doors."
So while the Doctor, travelling through time and space in his trademark TARDIS, has a dreadful villain in the form of Doctor Simeon (played by Richard E Grant) and his army of "evil and hungry" snowmen (the leader of which has the voice of The Hobbit's Ian McKellen), he also has a new companion to help him save the day.
With The Snowmen set on Christmas Eve 1892, the Doctor's new ally is Clara, a "mysterious" young woman from the Victorian era played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.
