The Doctor Who Christmas special has become a tradition that fans of the show have either gotten used to over the past 13 years or one that those who grew up with the modern series have had around for almost their entire lives. That’s all about to change, however, as for the first time, the festive hour-long installment will be pushed to New Year’s Day instead.
The schedule change had been rumored for a while, but it was just recently officially confirmed and with the outing quickly approaching, the BBC has begun to pull back the lid on it. Not too long ago we got the first plot synopsis and today, the network’s dropped two photos for us to feast on (seen in the gallery down below). One’s just a promo shot of Jodie sporting a pretty nifty scarf and the other is taken from the episode itself, with the TARDIS team doing some investigating it looks like.
But first, here’s that aforementioned synopsis:
“As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring, from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor (played by Jodie Whittaker), Ryan (Tosin Cole), Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Yaz (Mandip Gill) return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?”
Though the description of the plot is frustratingly vague, and the photos don’t reveal a whole lot, we’ll surely learn more in the coming weeks. Besides, it’s nice to get a glimpse of what’s in store regardless, as all eyes will be on the BBC to see how this very first New Year’s special for the show stacks up to the usual Christmas ones.
It’s a decision that’s been met with a fair amount of backlash, too, as a lot of people enjoyed the extra magic that came with the special airing on Christmas Day itself. But this is a new era of Doctor Who, that much has been made quite clear already, and along with all the other changes that we’ve seen so far, it seems the Christmas special is now yet another tradition we’ll have to do without.