Doctor Who - Christmas And New Year Specials Ranked

Today marks the 20th anniversary since Christmas and New Year's Specials became something of a thing within the Doctor Who Universe. As we're not getting one today (a genuine missed opportunity), I thought I'd rank the ones we already have. Best to worst of course.

1: The Christmas Invasion (2005)

The debut of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor really set the bar high for these specials as Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) had to get used to her friend looking different during the Sycorax invasion.

2: The Snowmen (2012)

The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in Victorian London meeting up with another version of Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), the Paternoster Gang and the Great Intelligence (Richard E. Grant).

3: A Christmas Carol (2010)

The first Christmas special for the Eleventh Doctor and while Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), it gave us memorable guest performances from Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins.

4: Last Christmas (2014)

The Twelfth Doctor's (Peter Capaldi) first Christmas special had him and Clara on a base in the Arctic with a parasitic creature and freaking Santa Claus (Nick Frost).

5: The End Of Time (2009-2010)

A two part event that saw the exit of the Tenth Doctor being teamed up with Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) while facing off both the Master (John Simm) and Rassilon (Timothy Dalton). Add in a lot of cameos and this marked a great exit for David Tennant.

6: Revolution Of The Daleks (2021)

The Thirteenth Doctor's (Jodie Whittaker) second encounter with the Daleks during the New Year was actually better than her first one. It was certainly bigger with the departures of Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), the return of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and tension with Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill).

7: The Time Of The Doctor (2013)

The exit of the Eleventh Doctor on Trenzalore made for a rather satisfying and emotionally charged final performance for Matt Smith. It also put Clara through the ringer as well.

8: Voyage Of The Damned (2007)

The most blockbuster Christmas special of them all. A spaceship named the Titanic, a cringey Cyborg baddie in Max Capricorn, Heavenly Hosts, Russell Tovey as a fit Midshipman Frame and of course Kylie Minogue's Astrid Peth.

9: Resolution (2019)

The first Dalek story for the Thirteenth Doctor and unfunny jokes about UNIT and the internet being down to one side, I think it's aged pretty well. Also focusing on one Dalek worked in it's favour.

10: The Next Doctor (2008)

Okay, it's false advertising as most of us would be guessed that David Morrissey wasn't going to be the next Doctor. It didn't stop him and David Tennant being a fantastic double act, Dervla Kirwan being a delight as the sadistic Mercy or the Cybermen being used well enough.

11: The Husbands Of River Song (2015)

While I'll always associate River Song (Alex Kingston) with the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory, there's no denying how much chemistry she had with the Twelfth Doctor. Alex Kingston and Peter Capaldi were magical together.

12: Twice Upon A Time (2017)

While not my favourite regeneration story, it's one that I've grown to like a little more over time. It's more small scale with Peter Capaldi playing well with David Bradley's First Doctor and Mark Gatiss as another Lethbridge-Stewart. Not to mention a nice final return for Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) and cameos from Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) and Nardole (Matt Lucas).

13: The Runaway Bride (2006)

Ah, the debut of Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). She took some getting used to in this second special but what a double act with her and David Tennant. Also points to Sarah Parish for the scenery chewing as the Empress of the Racnoss.

14: The Church On Ruby Road (2023)

I might have highly rated this one upon initial viewing as now certain elements didn't age well (singing goblins) but it's a strong debut episode for Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday.

15: Eve Of The Daleks (2022)

The final Dalek story for the 13th Doctor and Yaz but also including Dan Lewis (John Bishop). The repetitive timeline was fine enough but it's the weakest Dalek story for this particular era.

16: Joy To The World (2024)

The second special for the Fifteenth Doctor and it's one where Steven Moffat could've done more with the Time Hotel concept. It loses points for wasting Nicola Coughlan's Joy Almondo.

17: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio (2016)

A superhero themed special following the antics of The Ghost (Justin Chatwin) in New York. It's easily the weakest special from the Twelfth era but there's a special even weaker than this one.

18: The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe (2011)

One of the few times in which schmaltzy was taken to extremes with this show attempting their own take on Narnia as the Eleventh Doctor was paired with Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) and her children. Of course it's dead last in this line up.

As for everything else, well here's an honourable mentions round up. I quite enjoyed the use of Christmas and New Year's Eve in K9 And Company (1981) and Doctor Who: The Movie (1996). There's also The Feast Of Steven (1965) as well as the brief flashes of Christmas in episodes such as Turn Left (2008), The Power Of Three (2012) and The Pilot (2017) to name but a few.

Next year will see the show return with another Christmas special, which will be written by Russell T. Davies. Will it serve as a good ending to a rather divisive second era? Time will tell.

Merry Christmas Doctor Who fans. I hope you reading this as I did writing it.

Doctor Who - Welcome To The Whoniverse (Warning: Spoilers Ahead)

It's November and that officially means that it's the month of Doctor Who. 

Strap in, because there's a lot to cover here. It's gonna be a fun time.

BBC iPlayer have kitted out an entire Whoniverse section for fans (UK mainly, boo rights issues) to enjoy multiple eras concerning the show.

This includes ....

Doctor Who (1963-1996)*

Doctor Who (2005-2022)

Tales Of The TARDIS

Doctor Who Confidential 

Torchwood

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Class

K9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend 

Doctor Who: The Infinity Quest

Doctor Who: Dreamland

Delia Derbyshire: The Myths And The Legendary Tapes

The Science Of Doctor Who

Doctor Who At The Proms

Whose Doctor Who

An Adventure In Space And Time (coming soon)

A fantastic selection with over 800 hours worth of content. Sadly due to a certain petty manchild, An Unearthly Child is omitted from this otherwise impressive amount of content. Also keep an eye on a 75 minute colourised version of The Daleks, due to air on BBC4 on November 23rd.

Released this morning, we got the six part series called Tales Of The TARDIS. An interesting format in which former Doctors and companions reminisce over past adventures within the confines of a memory TARDIS. 

Steven Taylor (Peter Purves)/Vicki Pallister (Maureen O'Brien) - The Time Meddler.

Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines)/Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury) - The Mind Robber

Jo Jones (Katy Manning)/Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony) - The Three Doctors

Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison)/Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) - Earthshock

Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker)/Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant) - Vengeance On Varos

Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy)/Ace McShane (Sophie Alfred) - The Curse Of Fenric

Having seen most of these scenes through certain means, I will admit they're all brilliant. Expertly written by Russell T. Davies, Pete McTighe and Phil Ford and directed by Scott Handcock, it's a wonderful concept and one I hope is revisited with other former Doctors, companions and spin off characters. 

Meanwhile SFX Magazine have all the goods in relation to the 60th anniversary specials and beyond that. A 28 page special with Russell T. Davies spilling the beans over some very interesting stuff.

In relation to the anniversary specials, we can expect a flashback to the original Toymaker (Michael Gough) himself, Wild Blue Yonder being "weird" and "the most astonishing barricade you'll ever see". The three specials are not a three parter and while there are plans for spin-off's, a UNIT one isn't one of them. As for beyond, ooh, there's a lot to get excited for.

In a move that will be stoking debate for years to come, expect a number resetting with Ncuti Gatwa's first two series being referred to as Season 1 and 2. Russell T. Davies also confirmed his plans for four series of Doctor Who with stories he's been wanting to tell for 40-20 years and even yesterday so to speak. The first episode will also feature nine babies as part of its plot. 

However with filming for Series 15/Season 2 now started, some guest cast have already been spotted on set. Filming for Christmas 2024 has revealed both Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton) and Joel Fry (Game Of Thrones, Cruella) both on set. Nicola Coughlan already appeared with Ncuti Gatwa in Barbie this year and was rumoured for the show for a while now. Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday has yet to be confirmed for the second series for the 15th Doctor. 

Also be sure to catch David Tennant on BBC4 tonight in Talking Doctor Who with the 60th Anniversary Concert, hosted by Jo Wiley while the show will have a crossover with Bargain Hunt on November 23rd. Not to mention that Series 4 marathon this weekend on BBCAmerica and there's this year's Children In Need on November 17th, which will feature a new sketch for David Tennant's 14th Doctor. 

It really is the bestest time to be a Doctor Who fan.

The 60th anniversary specials will air on BBC1 and stream on Disney+ from November 25th to December 9th as well as getting physical releases from December 11th.

My Review of K9 And Company's: "A Girl's Best Friend"

Written by Terrence Dudley
Directed by John Black

K9: "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

Before the days of Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, K9 and Class, there was another hope for a spin-off in the Doctor Who universe. It was the year 1981 and Tom Baker had departed in Logopolis earlier in the year and Peter Davison was waiting in the wings.

The BBC and John Nathan Turner tried their hand at a spin-off by having two of the most popular companions working together - Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and K9 (John Leeson), along with a young male companion type in Aunt Lavinia's ward Brendan Richards (Ian Sears). This opening episode gave us a preview of what that partnership would be like. Sadly it was the only time onscreen we would see that.

From the hysterical opening sequence to the final moment where our titular robotic dog would sing 'Merry Christmas' down the phone, this was certainly a series that would've had a lot of fun with itself had it come to fruition. The central plot in the pilot episode alone centred on a Hecate cult with a penchant for human sacrifices and initiations.

For these plots, this was where both Brendan and the reluctant Peter (Sean Chapman) were both being primed. The latter seemed to be suckered into the dark cult by his overbearing father and expressed his reservations about the thing while Brendan was kidnapped and nearly sacrificed by the cult until K9 and Sarah Jane were able to save the day.

Unlike Doctor Who with most of it's festive outings, while K9 And Company's pilot episode is set during the Christmas season and even ends with Sarah Jane talking about having her dinner, there's not much festive cheer. The witchcraft theme itself is hardly the most festive but it works a treat and had this show gotten an actual series, it might not have been a one time only thing either.

Sarah Jane is pretty much on top form in this 50 minute pilot episode while K9 is also just brilliant to watch as well, especially with his defeat of Hecate's members. Brendan's a bit of a mixed bag and not entirely dissimilar to Adric if I'm being perfect honest but he does nothing that's really annoying throughout though. As for Lavinia, I kind of wish she had been more involved but her brief scenes were great to watch though.

- Some nice references to a certain someone but did it really take Sarah Jane this long to actually go to Lavinia's and collect K9?
- Ian Levine was responsible for the theme music. The title for this are something else altogether.
- This story had the working titles of Sarah and K9 and One Girl and Her Dog. I think the title they went with was fine.
- Chronology: Christmas 1981, am I right?

Pilot episode wise, K9 And Company makes a decent stab of it with A Girl's Best Friend. Considering that it pulled in over 8 million viewers, it did seem odd that a series wasn't commissioned. Who knows what other gems we might have gotten had we seen more of Sarah Jane, K9 and Brendan working together.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Sarah Jane – A Tribute To Elisabeth Sladen

Sarah Jane: “Don’t forget me.”
The Doctor: “Oh, Sarah, don’t you forget me.”

It took me a while to watch this tribute to Elisabeth Sladen, who sadly passed away four days before transmission of the sixth series of Doctor Who but congrats to CBBC for coming up with a lovely tribute to the late actress in such short notice.

A host of different people that the actress worked with contributed to this 15 minute programme – recent Doctors such as David Tennant and Matt Smith, former companion actress Katy Manning, Lis’s younger co-stars Daniel Anthony, Tommy Knight and Anjili Mohindra as well as John Barrowman and Russell T. Davies.

The tribute gave up some of the best clips from Sarah Jane’s 37 year TV run as well as some interesting comments. John Barrowman wisely noted how a lot of modern day companions are influenced by Sarah Jane and it’s easy to see where he’s coming from as well and David Tennant lamented about the character being part of his childhood.

Most touching was Barney Edwards talking about the celebration of the character’s impact (and the actress) as opposed to mourning her loss but I did get a laugh out of Katy Manning labelling Sarah Jane the ultimate Who girl (or something to that effect). Definitely the highlight of the 15 minutes here.

- Lots of clips were used from both Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures but none from K9 And Company.
- Nice use of Adele and Elvis Costello here, musically.
- Poor Daniel Anthony and Tommy Knight looked drained during this.
- Shame Tom Baker didn’t make a contribution but what he had written about Elisabeth Sladen was lovely.

Definitely worth watching but an all too sad a reminder that one of the most iconic and influence companions is sadly no longer with us. Fandom is a sadder place without our Sarah Jane Smith.

A Tear, Sarah Jane?

I don't usually do blogs about deaths but like many Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures fans, I was saddened and shocked to hear that actress Elisabeth Sladen has passed away. The actress, 63 died of cancer yesterday morning and had been ill for months. She is the second companion actor to have passed away this year, following the death of Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier) in February.

I didn't grow up with the Classic Series but once I had seen Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion and watched her subsequent stories with the Third and Fourth Doctors, I knew there was something about the character and actress that struck a chord and her own foray into a spin-off series gave the character a much needed new audience and to paraphrase the lovely Miss Smith, no one is ever going to forget you.

A true legend sadly no longer with us. I don't know whether the filmed segments of Series 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures will air either but DWM will be dedicating an issue to the actress later in the year while Doctor Who will also be doing a tribute as well.