BBC To Host Seven Day Doctor Who Marathon Before Christmas Special

Some people like to spend the holidays with family, or shopping for the perfect present. More indoors-y types enjoy binge-watching classic Christmas movies. But for a Doctor Who fan, the perfect Christmas is gorging on as many episodes of the sci-fi series as humanly possible without the aid of a TARDIS. Thankfully, BBC America have Whovians covered this yuletide.

Beginning Tuesday, December 19, the network will air a whopping 168 hour marathon showcasing adventures from the past three incarnations of the Doctor!

“BBC AMERICA will air a 7-day, 24-hour full takeover marathon featuring Doctor Who episodes with David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi.”

With that sort of time frame to cover, it’s likely that BBC America will simply play the entire run from David Tennant’s debut in 2005’s “The Christmas Invasion” all the way until 2017’s “The Doctor Falls,” the finale of the recent season 10, encompassing the full 109 episodes in between. Unfortunately, since he isn’t mentioned in the description above, it doesn’t seem like Christopher Eccleston’s solitary season will factor into the marathon.

In many ways, this is the perfect prep for the upcoming Christmas special. Titled “Twice Upon a Time,” you probably already know that it will be Peter Capaldi’s final appearance as the Time Lord, with Jodie Whittaker taking over as the Thirteenth Doctor by the end of the episode. As the first female incarnation of the character arrives, it makes total sense to rewatch the whole of the past twelve years of the revived series, reminding ourselves of just how far it’s come that it can now break down doors in this way.

After the Christmas special, the next full run of the show won’t arrive until next autumn, when Whittaker sets sail into time and space with a TARDIS full of companions. Season 11 is set to be a shorter run, too, consisting of 10, 50 minute episodes (as opposed to the current schedule of 12, 45 minute installments).

Be sure to catch Doctor Who “Twice Upon a Time” this Christmas Day on BBC One/America.