Doctor Who's 2023 Christmas Special Revives a Beloved Tradition

After a change of pace during Jodie Whittaker's time as the Doctor, Doctor Who is reviving some old traditions in its upcoming Christmas special.

Doctor Who is officially bringing back the Christmas special. The sci-fi series returns to television this November with three specials, which will feature the return of David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. Following these specials marking Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, Ncuti Gatwa will be taking over as the Fifteenth Doctor in another, followed by a full series. Gatwa's first full episode as the Doctor had previously only been described as a festive special, leading to some uncertainty around when it may air. Now, a new report has confirmed Gatwa's first Doctor Who episode will be a Christmas special.

It has been confirmed that the Doctor Who Christmas special will air in December, though no specific air date has been announced as yet, meaning it is still possible the episode may not actually air on Christmas Day. However, the confirmation that Ncuti Gatwa's first episode as the Doctor will be a Christmas special appears to signal that Doctor Who is moving away from the less festive approach adopted in recent years, which saw New Year's episodes replace Christmas specials. Having Ncuti Gatwa's time as the Doctor start out in a Christmas special also calls back to returning showrunner Russell T Davies' first era of Doctor Who.

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A recent report from the BBC confirmed that the three upcoming Doctor Who specials starring David Tennant will be followed by a Christmas special this December. It is likely that this means David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor will be seen regenerating into Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor in the last of the three 60th anniversary specials, which is titled "The Giggle." Much like Tennant before him, during his original tenure on Doctor Who as the Tenth Doctor, Gatwa will then make his first full appearance at Christmas.

It's not yet clear exactly how Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor will factor into the upcoming 60th anniversary Doctor Who specials, but it seems like there will be more to his debut than a straightforward regeneration. When the Doctor regenerated into his current form at the end of "The Power of the Doctor," he was clearly surprised by the return of his old face, perhaps suggesting something had gone awry with the regeneration process. The first trailer for the upcoming Doctor Who specials featured a shot of the Fifteenth Doctor, suggesting he will appear in some capacity throughout the specials, before the Fourteenth Doctor's regeneration.

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It was Russell T Davies who established Christmas specials as an annual tradition on Doctor Who, when he brought the series back to television in 2005. Prior to Davies' era, there had only been one previous Christmas special in Doctor Who history: 1965's "The Feast of Steven." However, this episode formed part of the serial "The Daleks' Master Plan" and was only turned into a Christmas special because its broadcast date happened to fall on Christmas Day. During his time as showrunner, Russell T Davies introduced the idea of Doctor Who airing Christmas specials between seasons, as standalone festive events.

Davies' first Doctor Who Christmas special, 2005's "The Christmas Invasion," followed the regeneration of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor at the end of Season 1, meaning it would serve as David Tennant's first full episode as the Tenth Doctor. The special provided room for the Tenth Doctor to be established before Season 2 began, allowing the new season to hit the ground running. Now, 18 years later, Davies is once again giving the new Doctor his debut in a Christmas special. Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor will become only the second Doctor to have a Christmas special as their first full episode.

Gatwa's upcoming Doctor Who Christmas debut is also the series' first Christmas special since 2017's "Twice Upon a Time," which featured the regeneration of Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor into Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. Throughout Whittaker's time as the Doctor, the series stuck to New Year's specials, instead of Christmas. In an interview with the podcast Radio Free Skaro, showrunner Chris Chibnall claimed this was to keep Doctor Who in line with other major BBC dramas, such as Sherlock and Happy Valley, which often premiered on New Year's Day. Despite this, many fans did not take kindly to the move away from Christmas specials, which had become a cherished Doctor Who tradition.

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Although Doctor Who's Christmas specials are a modern addition to the series, having been turned into a regular tradition by Doctor Who's 2005 revival, they have quickly become much-loved television events. Their positioning between seasons allows them to explore fun standalone adventures, stepping away from season-long story arcs and focusing on big, blockbuster-style storytelling. The injection of seasonal festivities also adds to the sense that these episodes are a special excursion from the main series, with killer Christmas trees and robot Santas offering up a perfect Doctor Who vision of Christmas.

Beyond this sense of festive fun that aligns with the holiday spirit of their Christmas Day premieres, the Doctor Who Christmas specials air at a time when most people are home from work and school and are likely to be gathering around the television. In between seasons of Doctor Who, the Christmas specials have capitalized on a time when people are looking to relax, unwind and indulge in uplifting entertainment. While Doctor Who Christmas specials may still deliver on thrills and chills, they also tend to end on a brighter note and pack in plenty of laughs along the way.

Not only are more people likely to be at home and watching TV when the Doctor Who Christmas specials air, but they are likely to be watching with their families, having gathered for the holidays. Doctor Who has always been a family show and there is no time better than Christmas to reach the whole family with a new Doctor Who episode. For this reason, using the Christmas special as a platform to introduce a new Doctor was an excellent move by Russell T Davies, ensuring the biggest audience possible was tuning in to meet the latest incarnation of the Time Lord. It worked wonders for David Tennant in "The Christmas Invasion" and it will hopefully get Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor off to a strong start in December.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and Disney+ on Nov. 2023.

Andrew Gladman is a writer and filmmaker based in the UK. Working across both journalism and fiction, his brief escapes from the keyboard usually mean he's either getting to work on a film set or sitting down in front of the big screen.