Why there’ll be no Doctor Who special on Christmas Day

For the first time in the modern revival’s 13-year history, there is to be no Doctor Who special this Christmas Day, the BBC has announced.

Instead, an hour-long episode will air on New Year’s Day.

Earlier this year, showrunner and writer Chris Chibnall appeared to hint at the possible shake-up, when he confirmed that the show’s latest season would have a bonus episode but made no comment about whether it would air over the festive period.

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“We seem to be filming 11 episodes, and it’s only a series of ten,” he said at the San Diego Comic-Con event in July. “I would definitely think there’s another episode after the end of the series.”

The Radio Times reports that the New Year’s setting is crucial for the episode’s storyline.

A newly released episode synopsis from the show’s makers reveals: “As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring, from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?”

The BBC has not explained the reasons for the scheduling change, but former showrunner Steven Moffat has previously suggested that the series may be running out of ways to tie the special to Christmas.

“I think it was a brilliant idea and it lasted a very, very long time,” Moffat said last year. “I sort of think we might have mined and possibly over-mined every single thing we could about Christmas in Doctor Who.”

The rescheduling is the latest in a series of changes to the show that has won legions of new fans. Jodie Whittaker’s debut series as the first female Time Lord is attracting the show’s highest level of viewers in ten years, with an average of 8.55 million viewers per episode, according to The Guardian.

This season’s final episode before the 1 January special will air on 9 December on BBC One.