Doctor Who fans in the north of England will get a chance to see the show’s Christmas special ahead of the rest of the UK.
The festive episode, called Twice Upon a Time, will be shown in eight cities throughout the north before its Christmas Day TV broadcast on BBC One.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Hartlepool Town Hall
The Guild Hall, York
Jubilee Church, Hull
St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle
The Middlesbrough Empire
MediaCityUK, Salford,
Durham School
The old Odeon, Bradford
Free tickets will be distributed by ballot - fans can enter the draw here.
Northern cinema audiences will also get sneak previews of the new series of black comedy The League of Gentlemen and an adaptation of Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson’s children’s book The Highway Rat as part of the BBC North Preview Screening Tour.
A BBC spokesman said the screenings were part of the broadcaster’s “long-term commitment to doing more in northern England”.
Northern Whovians were thrilled by the news:
But their southern counterparts weren’t so amused:
The Doctor Who Christmas special is Peter Capaldi’s last adventure before handing over the reins to Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker, who will become the first-ever female Doctor.
The episode will see Capaldi’s Time Lord join forces with the cantankerous First Doctor - David Bradley, in the role played by William Hartnell in the original 1960s series - and a stranded WW1 captain (Mark Gatiss), says Den of Geek.
However, there is a catch: the advance screenings will not include the regeneration scene at the end of the episode, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Fans will have to wait for the TV broadcast on Christmas Day to see Capaldi’s Doctor disappear and re-emerge as Whittaker.
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Eurovision faces its Waterloo over Israel boycottsTalking Point Five major broadcasters have threatened to pull out of next year’s contest over Israel’s participation
-
Unforgivable: harrowing drama about abuse and rehabilitationThe Week Recommends 'Catastrophic impact' of abuse is explored in 'thought-provoking' series
-
How to go on your own Race Across the WorldThe Week Recommends The BBC hit show is inspiring fans to choose low-budget adventures
-
The top period dramas to stream nowThe Week Recommends Heaving bosoms and billowing shirts are standard fare in these historical TV classics
-
David Attenborough at 99: a 'radical' voice for climate actionIn The Spotlight In his new film 'Ocean', TV's best-known naturalist delivers his strongest message yet
-
Stephen Graham's best TV and film rolesThe Week Recommends From Line of Duty to Adolescence, these are the prolific actor's must-watch projects
-
Why are we so obsessed with The Traitors?In the Spotlight It's the BBC's most scheming, manipulative and treacherous show – and viewers can't get enough
-
Gregg Wallace: a man out of time?Talking Point MasterChef presenter's downfall shines spotlight on how mistreatment of junior staff has all too often been ignored
