Before we meet Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth – and first ever female – Doctor, we have to make a sad farewell to Peter Capaldi’s current version of the iconic character. The actor will put in his last appearance as the Time Lord in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, titled “Twice Upon A Time,” which will see him teaming up with the First Doctor (played by Harry Potter‘s David Bradley).
We don’t know too much about what’s in store for us just yet, but writer Steven Moffat has previously revealed that the episode will explore how different the Doctor is now to when he first started. That’s certainly an interesting route to head down, and if recent comments from DJ Jo Whiley are any indication, we should expect something fairly emotional from the upcoming outing as well.
Whiley will be presenting a radio documentary from the show’s set next month, and in a recent interview, she spilled some new details on the special. Specifically, she noted that the scenes leading up to Capaldi’s regeneration are going to be very emotional.
“The storyline is just fantastic – it’s so brilliant, it’s really really really clever. When he had to say some emotional farewells. I don’t know what I can and can’t say – as is always the case with Doctor Who! The set was loaded with sadness and emotion though.
The whole team are incredibly close. Doctor Who is such a close-knit family. You really did feel the intensity of what they’re going through. The fact that they are, as people, saying goodbye to each other. I think the viewers are going to be in bits when they watch this.”
We already knew that “Twice Upon a Time” was going to be a sad affair, given that it’s Capaldi’s last outing as the Doctor and it’s always upsetting for fans to wave goodbye to the current Time Lord. But judging by Whiley’s comments here, this particular regeneration might really bring on the waterworks. It probably goes without saying, but we think it’s best to have a box of tissues nearby when you sit down to watch it next month.
The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special will be with us on December 25th. It’ll be a bittersweet festive treat, that’s for sure, but it’s also shaping up to be one instalment of the show that you won’t want to miss.