Doctor Who Christmas special 2017: Release date, cast, trailer, plot
DOCTOR WHO will be returning with a very poignant Christmas special this year when Peter Capaldi is replaced by Jodie Whittaker as the first female Time Lord. Here’s everything you need to know including air time, cast, plot, trailer and more.
When will the Doctor Who Christmas special 2017 air?
The Doctor Who Christmas special - Twice Upon A Time - will air on Christmas Day (Monday, December 25) on BBC One at 5.30pm.
The BBC series will be bidding farewell to Peter Capaldi, who will be making his last appearance as the 12th Time Lord.
Twice Upon A Time has a running time of an hour and Jodie Whittaker will be making her debut in the episode as well when the Doctor regenerates into his 13th incarnation.
Outgoing Doctor Who showrunner Steve Moffat recently spoke about the regeneration, saying it was "diffiicult".
"Throughout writing this I wanted to feel more about the fact it's the last one I'll ever write, and I wanted to feel more about it's the last one Peter will ever play, but the truth is that the technicality and the difficulty and the demands on your creativity - all that overwhelms you to the point where you're just trying to write a great Doctor Who story!" he told Digital Spy.
He went on to say: "That's enough to contend with – you can't have the real life drama of two old Scotsmen making their way to the door."
"Once we got into shooting it, however, and especially when we approached filming Peter's last moments as the Doctor, which were done at the end of the shoot, we did talk more about how exactly he should meet his end.
"We were both very pleased with that final section of the script already, but as we went through piece by piece we thought there were ways to improve it so I'd be banging out new pages each night for us to discuss on set each day."
Moffat added: "That was so enjoyable and exciting to do – to really feel that we were getting his send off right – that in a way it took whatever emotions we were both having about leaving and put them on screen where they belong."
Fans are going to have to wait some time for Doctor Who season 11 as production is currently underway.
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What will happen the Doctor Who Christmas special 2017?
Twice Upon A Time will pick up from the Doctor Who season 10 finale in which the Gallifreyan was trying to fight off regeneration.
The Christmas special sees three Time Lords appear in the episode. Along with the 12th and 13th Doctors, the first and original Time Lord (played by David Bradley) will be turning up.
According to a plot synopsis from the BBC reads: “Twice Upon A Time. The The magical final chapter of the Twelfth Doctor’s journey sees the Time Lord team up with his former self, the first ever Doctor (David Bradley - Harry Potter; Game Of Thrones) and a returning Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie), for one last adventure.
“Two Doctors stranded in an arctic snowscape, refusing to face regeneration.
BBC
“Enchanted Glass People, stealing their victims from frozen time.
“And a World War One Captain destined to die on the battlefield, but taken from the trenches to play his part in the Doctor's story.”
The episode summary ends on a mysterious note: “An uplifting new tale about the power of hope in humanity’s darkest hours, Twice Upon A Time marks the end of an era.
“But as the Doctor must face his past to decide his future, his journey is only just beginning…”
The BBC released a new one-minute clip to tease fans further on the offical Doctor Who Twitter account, which showed the 12th Time Lord's TARDIS getting stolen by an unknown alien.
Bill, The Captain and the two Doctors leapt off the roof of the time travelling ship and ran to the first incarnation's TARDIS in a bid to chase the aliens through space.
BBC
Who will be in the cast of the Doctor Who Christmas special 2017?
Twice Upon A Time has been written by outgoing Doctor Who show runner Steve Moffat and marks his final story on the long-running sci-fi series.
The episode will see Peter Capaldi reprising his role as the 12th Doctor for the last time and Broadchurch actress Jodie Whittaker making her first appearance as the 13th time traveller.
David Bradley will be taking on the mantel of the first Doctor, originally played by William Hartnell.
The actor previously portrayed Hartnell in docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time which was made to celebrity the Doctor Who 50th anniversary in 2013.
As always, there will be some guest appearance with Mark Gatiss playing a character simply known as The Captain, who is a member of the British Army in the First World War.
Meanwhile, Nikki Amuka-Bird will be providing the voice of the glass woman in the episode.
Pearl Mackie will also be making a comeback as companion Bill Potts for one last adventure.
BBC
Is there a trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas special?
The simple answer is and was released after the season 10 finale when the Doctor stumbled out of his TARDIS only to be confronted with his predecessor.
Footage from Twice Upon A Time was aired last month during Children In Need and gave fans a sneak peek from the episode.
In the short snippet the first Doctor was seen entering the 13th Time Lord’s TARDIS and being disgusted by the radical shake up of the interior.
The Captain was also with the two Doctors and seemed utterly bemused by the spaceship.
When will Doctor Who season 11 air?
Doctor Who season 11 is currently in production and is thought to be hitting screens in autumn 2018, according to an interview with Moffat with Doctor Who Magazine.
There is no confirmed transmission date as yet but previous seasons that have started in autumn have been broadcast in September.
Whittaker will be joined by a new set of companions in the form of The Chase host Bradley Walsh playing a character called Graham, Mandip Gill as Yasmin and Tosin Cole as Ryan.
Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall will be taking over as show runner.
Doctor Who, Twice Upon A Time will air on Christmas Day at 5.30pm.
