Upcoming 'Doctor Who' Holiday Special Officially Moved To New Year's Day
The holidays are coming and the Doctor is in – just not for the holiday that you'd expect. After reports surfaced that the BBC had scrapped the Doctor Who Christmas special for the first time in 13 years, the network has officially announced that Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor will have a holiday special after all: on New Year's Day.
While this year we won't get to celebrate the time-honored tradition of Christmas Day feasts and Doctor Who that has become a staple of the season since the show's 2005 revival, we won't go entirely without some holiday cheer from our favorite time-traveling alien. Doctor Who will ring in 2019 with a special charmingly titled "Who Year's Day" that will air on BBC America on January 1, 2019, according to Deadline.
Directed by Wayne Yip and written by showrunner Chris Chibnall, "Who Year's Day" is the BBC sci-fi series' first official New Year's Day episode — though the show has technically aired a special episode on New Year's before with the second half of David Tennant's 2o10 farewell special. Here is the synopsis for "Who Year's Day," per Deadline:
"As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring from across the centuries of Earth's history. Will the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Ryan (Tosin Cole), Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Yaz (Mandip Gill) be able to overcome this threat to Planet Earth?"
This New Year's Day episode may start a brand-new tradition for the show (which is breaking all kinds of ground this season), as the past 13 years of Doctor Who may have exhausted all forms of Christmas-themed stories. The Christmas specials peaked with the show's take on A Christmas Carol, and it felt like they were running on fumes once the Doctor ran into Santa Claus himself a few years back. Chibnall hinted at no such thing with this new special, but said of the episode, "We're thrilled to be starting the New Year with a bang, as Jodie Whittaker's Doctor and friends face a terrifying alien threat in an action-packed, hour-long special adventure for all the family."
But for those who treasure cozying up with your Christmas presents and Doctor Who, fear not. BBC America will be airing a marathon of all the show's previous Christmas specials starting from December 24, 2018 at 12 p.m. ET/PT and leading straight into the New Year's special on January 1. Because Christmas is never cancelled for Doctor Who.