As any Doctor Who fan will tell you, despite being the same person, the different incarnations of the Doctor tend not to get along too well when they meet each other (the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in “The Day of the Doctor” excepted, of course). This year’s Christmas special, “Twice Upon A Time,” looks set to continue this tradition as the Twelfth Doctor will clash with the First over an interesting issue: the former’s outdated attitudes towards women.
Speaking at London Film and Comic-Con on Sunday, Harry Potter star David Bradley (who takes over the role originally played by William Hartnell in the special) explained what the two Doctors’ relationship will be like:
“What we did emphasise [about the First Doctor] was the old fashioned nature and how he is from the 60s. He goes into the Twelfth Doctor’s TARDIS and says ‘it’s a bit dusty around here, it’s in an awful state isn’t it? Where’s Polly? Shouldn’t she give it a spring clean?’ And then Peter’s saying ‘you can’t say that.’
Continuing on, Bradley said that there’s going to be a bit of a conflict between the two due to the different eras they come from.
“[The First Doctor] brings all his 60s sensibilities, what’s lovingly called casual chauvinism. He’s just talking [as if] the [companions] are there just to help out, and do the dusting and do all the domestic chores – his attitudes to a lot of things come right from the 60s, so there’s a lot of conflict between Hartnell’s Doctor and Peter’s Doctor about how things have changed in the last 50 years… we had quite a bit of fun with that.”
Writer Steven Moffat has previously spoken about how the special will explore how different the Doctor is now to when he first started, so it’s interesting that the episode will also look at how the show has developed along with the times in terms of its depiction of its female characters. It’s developed so much, in fact, that the upcoming special will also see the debut of Jodie Whittaker as the first woman Doctor when it debuts on Christmas Day.
That, coupled with the sure to be interesting conflict between the First and Twelfth, should ensure that this is one episode not to be missed. But then again, it’s not like you were really planning on overlooking it anyways, right? It is, after all, Peter Capaldi’s last time in the iconic role and for that reason alone, you’d best be sure to tune in.