It’d been rumored for a while, but last month we finally received the bad news that the yearly Doctor Who winter special won’t air on Christmas Day and has instead been moved to New Year’s. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re getting any less Who than we otherwise would be, but fans are still quite upset about the change given that it brings to an end a longtime tradition that would’ve reached 13 years next week.
From what we understand, the writing team has simply run dry on ideas for Christmas-themed episodes after producing so many and given what ex-showrunner Steven Moffat said a while back, we probably should’ve seen this coming.
“I sort of think we might have mined, and possibly over mined, every single thing we could about Christmas in Doctor Who and the last time we more or less ignored it,” said Moffat.
So, despite the outcry from fans, the BBC are indeed moving things to January 1st, but to soften the blow a bit, they’ve released the animated short below as a consolation prize of sorts. Sure, it’s hardly as good as a proper Christmas special, but it should still scratch that holiday itch.
To get you in the festive spirit! 🎅🎄 #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/kqZpesvq8m
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) December 18, 2018
As you can see above, the cute video features Whittaker’s Doctor saving the holidays after Santa gets into a bit of a jam. Narrated by Bradley Walsh (Graham), it’s an enjoyable though all too brief video that should definitely have Whovians smiling. Even if it makes us wish that much more that the BBC hadn’t cancelled the proper Christmas special.
In any case, showrunner Chris Chibnall has at least promised us that the New Year’s outing will be “epic” and recently explained that he approached it as like a merge of a season opener and a season finale, so it’ll be a real “blockbuster” of an hour. That should certainly make up for the underwhelming conclusion to Doctor Who season 11 that was “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos,” and you can catch it for yourself on January 1st.
