Doctor Who’s Christmas special will be “complete reinvention”

Russell T Davies teased what to expect from Ncuti Gatwa’s Christmas Day special.

By Lidia Molina-Whyte

Published: Tuesday, 05 December 2023 at 17:48 PM

With the Doctor Who Christmas Day special fast approaching, details of what to expect from the sci-fi’s new era are beginning to emerge.

The Church on Ruby Road will properly introduce audiences to Ncuti Gatwa‘s much-awaited Time Lord. He’ll be joined by new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, with the BBC revealing the pair will be up against “mythical and mysterious goblins”.

Returning showrunner Russell T Davies has been careful not to reveal too many details – a move that paid off in the most recent 60th anniversary special, Wild Blue Yonder. However, he did tease what’s to come for the new leads during a recent chat with SFX magazine.

“It’s completely a reinvention. Reinvention of the show, brand new, but not a reboot, it’s the same old show, everything starts again, everything’s seen through the eyes of Ruby Sunday and it’s that lovely feeling of here we go, a new era beginning,” he said.

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He also said the episode “kind of goes into territory we’ve never touched before”.

“In many ways that’s more… fresher than special two. We’ve never done this before,” he added. As if we weren’t excited enough already…

You can read the full interview in the latest issue of SFX magazine.