However, we do now know one thing her Doctor will never do \u2013 star in a Christmas special. And frankly, that will always be a crying shame.<\/p>\n
Uniquely among the modern Doctors (technically, Christopher Eccleston\u2019s The Unquiet Dead<\/a> is set at Christmas) Whittaker will never take on a 25th December-themed festive frolic, after showrunner Chris Chibnall opted to focus on New Year\u2019s Day episodes instead.<\/p> When this first started, I actually welcomed the change. When they were introduced to the series by Russell T Davies in 2005 (no, The Feast of Steven doesn\u2019t really count) the Christmas specials were a fun tonic to the main series \u2013 but over the years both Davies and his successor Steven Moffat clearly struggled to find new takes on Yuletide Sci-Fi, leading to some pretty dire episodes.<\/p>\n This is especially unfortunate because, as a Who fan the only time you might watch the series with extended family is on Christmas Day. Cue the frantic cries of \u201cWell no, it\u2019s not normally like this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, there are exceptions, and there are plenty of great Doctor Who Christmas specials (I won\u2019t say which, because then you can fill this point in with whichever ones you like, and we can avoid another argument). But I didn\u2019t think it was necessarily a bad thing for Doctor Who to avoid the pressure of another Christmas episode, try something new with new year and rest the specials for a while.<\/p>\n But now? Well, an entire era of Jodie Whittaker without a Christmas special feels like a serious missed opportunity. Whittaker\u2019s Doctor is probably the most Christmassy Doctor ever \u2013 she was born on Christmas Day, and is often childlike, upbeat and fond of socialising \u2013 and it seems baffling to me that the BBC couldn\u2019t have found their way to giving her one measly Crimbo caper. Peter Capaldi and Matt Smith had four each, and David Tennant had five!<\/p>\n Jodie Whittaker\u2019s take on the Doctor fits Christmas better than any of the Doctors who preceded her, but instead she\u2019s been saddled with relatively un-festive January episodes (invariably featuring the Daleks) that don\u2019t allow her to spread the cheer she\u2019s clearly perfect for.<\/p>\n I had held out some hope that in her final year she might get a last swing at a 25th December story but alas, it wasn\u2019t to be \u2013 Jodie Whittaker\u2019s Doctor will never have a Christmas special, and we\u2019ll just have to live with it.<\/p>\n Coming up, it\u2019s possible the Who-letide episodes aren\u2019t dead entirely. It\u2019s entirely feasible that returning showrunner Russell T Davies will be keen to resurrect the \u2018appointment TV\u2019 festive episodes that he first championed, and that we\u2019ll see the TARDIS land in a snowdrift sometime in 2023.<\/p>\n But for Jodie Whittaker, that dream is over. For her Doctor Who specials it\u2019s always winter \u2013 but never Christmas.<\/p>\n Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks airs on BBC One on New Year\u2019s Day at 7pm. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi<\/a> page or our full TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\""Doctor\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/12\/doctor-who-christmas-carol-0012560.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"doctor-who-christmas-carol\"\\"\/")
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