Next year promises to be 12 months of pure joy and excitement for card carrying, sonic screwdriver-wielding Doctor Who fans.
On top of a whole new Timelord, the return of an old one for the show’s 60th anniversary, a travelling exhibition and a moving farewell from Jodie Whittaker, there’s now a Christmas special to look out for in December 2023.
Recently, we offered five persuasive reasons why 2023 will be the biggest year in Doctor Who’s history and this is number 6.
Doctor Who magazine broke the news, quoting showrunner Russell T Davies’s revelation that there’ll be two Christmas specials: one in 2023 and another in 2024. ‘The 2023 script has been long since signed-off,’ Davies says. ‘The new one is for end-of-year 2024. For the first time ever, I'm writing a Christmas Special... at Christmas.’
In the regular, non-festive Who-iverse, Davies has a long-term vision taking shape.
‘It takes a while to get the empire in shape, but that's a serious plan: annual Doctor Who, no gap years, lots of content, on and on.’
Ahead of the Christmas special Whittaker’s doctor will bow out in a special episode in October, with David Tennant and Catherine Tate teed up to make a currently mysterious return. The new Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and companion (Millie Gibson) will take over from there.
Who is Ncuti Gatwa? Seven things you should know about the new Doctor Who.
5 reasons why 2023 will be the biggest year in Doctor Who’s history.