It’s now finally been announced when the next Doctor Who special will grace our screens. Following January’s New Year special, Jodie Whittaker has just two episodes left to go as the Thirteenth Doctor. But, before making her exit, she’s ticking another major monster off her bucket list. Next month will feature the Time Lord facing off against the Sea Devils, with the classic villains appearing for the first time in the series since 1984.
Originally only vaguely promoted as a spring special, the BBC has finally confirmed when we can expect to catch it. The official Doctor Who Twitter account shared the news by unveiling a new promo image for the episode, which is titled ‘Legend of the Sea Devils.’ Along with the pic, which showcases a piratical flag with a Sea Devil’s face on it, they revealed the release date in the caption: “17.04.22.” In other words, April 17 aka Easter Sunday.
To be honest, we’d already figured this out, but it’s nice to have it officially confirmed. BBC America had previously updated its schedules for Easter weekend, with a Doctor Who marathon being hosted on the Sunday. A blank gap in the listings heavily hinted that’s when the special was dropping. Now we know that’s indeed the case.
This fresh promo image does a good job of summing up the special. ‘Legend of the Sea Devils’ sees the TARDIS land in 19th century China where the Doctor and her pals Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) will encounter real-life pirate queen Madame Ching (guest star Crystal Yu), who has inadvertently awakened the titular race of prehistoric sea-dwellers from their ancient slumber. Showrunner Chris Chibnall co-wrote the ep with Ella Road, Haolu Wang directs.
After this, Whittaker’s final episode — which will presumably include her regeneration into the as-yet-unknown Fourteenth Doctor — drops as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations sometime this summer. For now, don’t miss Doctor Who when it returns to TV this Easter.
