The Christmas spirit is already underway for the fans of the BBC's Doctor Who. The 14th season of the long-running sci-fi television series has officially begun filming, with Sex Education's Ncuti Gatwa taking over the Fifteenth Doctor role. Following the news of the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, returning for the show's 60th anniversary as the Fourteenth incarnation of the Doctor, the series showrunner, Russell T. Davies, revealed via Doctor Who Magazine that the critically acclaimed series will be having another Christmas special—a thing the show hasn't done in five years—possibly scheduled for 2023 and 2024 releases.
The show will mark its 60th anniversary with three specials featuring Tennant and Catherine Tate, with Heartstopper's Yasmin Finney set to play Rose Tyler. Now, to make the show's future even brighter, Davies told Doctor Who Magazine that "for the first time ever" since 2017, he will be writing a holiday special at Christmas, with at least a separate special for the years 2023 and 2024, saying: "The 2023 script has been long since signed off. The new one is for end-of-year 2024!" However, Doctor Who fans will have to wait a little longer for the release of the next season. “It takes a while to get the empire in shape, but that's a serious plan: annual Doctor Who, no gap years, lots of content, on and on."
The Doctor Who Christmas Specials were a significant part of Davies' initial series run and were continued under Steven Moffat's creative direction. The classic BBC series has so far produced specials that were well-loved by fans, including The Return Of Doctor Mysterio, The Next Doctor, The Snowmen, Twice Upon A Time, The Runaway Bride, and The Time of the Doctor, among others.
Davies previously served as showrunner on the series from its initial premiere to the end of Tennant's tenure as The Doctor. Returning as Doctor Who's showrunner yet again, fans are of course excited to see what the screenwriter has in store for the long-running series. During the Fan Expo panel, Tennant previously expressed his excitement over Davies' return, although he's not allowed to say much about the show's future: “The things that on in Russell T Davies’ mind! If only we could all have a ferret around in there, it would be very exciting… I know that he’s now in charge of Doctor Who again. I know that’s very exciting. I know that I’m not allowed to say much about that.”
Doctor Who is centered on an alien Time Lord named the Doctor, an extraterrestrial entity that assumes human form. The BBC debuted the British television series for the first time in 1963. It has since become a success, with 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989, and 13 seasons between 2005 and 2021. Gatwa's version of The Doctor is the 14th season of Doctor Who's revived era and the 40th season overall. Aside from that, the series has produced a number of specials, and fans are excited to see more of them in 2023.
Doctor Who will return in 2023.