We’re spoiled; terribly spoiled. After the announcement that there would be no Doctor Who Christmas Special this year, some fans went into a meltdown. I can neither confirm nor deny I was one of them. Let’s just say I ate 3 packs of Jammie Dodgers and ugly cried myself to sleep.
But all is not lost in the spacetime vortex. No, not even close. If you sit back, release your emotions, and think about it, Christmas has been overdone by the Doctor. At least for now. I mean, how many times can we revisit the well of Christmas before things begin to look repetitive? Now, it’s time to shake things up a bit.
Truly, the shakeup will be a small, but significant one. Instead of having an annual Christmas Special, this year Doctor Who will have a New Year’s Day Special. So we still get our special episode during the winter holidays and we only have to wait one more week to see it.
Not happy about the extra wait? Then think about it this way: It’s one less week we’ll have to wait for the next series/season of Doctor Who to return. It’s the holidays and everything Whovian will turn out alright.
Press release from BBC America:
RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH “WHO YEAR’S DAY” FEATURING AN ALL-NEW DOCTOR WHO NEW YEAR’S DAY SPECIAL ON BBC AMERICA
CURRENT SEASON OF DOCTOR WHO HAS GROWN VIEWERSHIP 54 PERCENT FROM LAST SEASON AND RANKS AS THE FASTEST-GROWING SCRIPTED SERIES OF 2018
BBCA’S DOCTOR WHO MARATHON BEGINS ON CHRISTMAS EVE
November 14, 2018 – Kick off 2019 in spectacular style with a New Year’s Day special episode of Doctor Who on Tuesday, January 1st, moving from its traditional Christmas Day timeslot. Leading up to the first-ever “Who Year’s Day,” BBC AMERICA will present a Doctor Who marathon, starting with all the Christmas specials at 12pm ET/PT on Monday, December 24th, going into the big day itself, Tuesday, December 25th. After that, it’s a marathon of all the Doctors, starting with Peter Capaldi, followed by Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith, leading straight into the New Year’s special on Tuesday, January 1st.
The all-new episode is written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Wayne Yip (Preacher, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency). As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring from across the centuries of Earth’s history. Will the Doctor, Ryan (Tosin Cole), Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Yaz (Mandip Gill) be able to overcome this threat to Planet Earth?
Courtney Thomasma, executive director of BBC AMERICA said, “Jodie Whittaker and the dynamic new team have propelled Doctor Who to become TV’s fastest growing scripted series of the year. We can’t think of a better holiday gift to the fans than a week-long marathon of Doctor Who Christmas specials and fan-favorite episodes leading into 2019 with new traditions and our first-ever ‘Who Year’s Day’ special.”
Showrunner Chris Chibnall said, “We’re thrilled to be starting the New Year with a bang, as Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and friends face a terrifying alien threat in an action-packed, hour-long special adventure for all the family.”
Jodie Whittaker’s debut as the first female Doctor has been a breakaway hit with viewers. In Nielsen live/same day ratings, the current season of Doctor Who is averaging nearly one million viewers per episode, up 54 percent from the previous season and ranking as the fastest-growing scripted series of the year across all key demos. The success of Doctor Who, along with BBC AMERICA’s inaugural Halloween movie event, drove double-digit growth in October across all key dayparts, most notably increases of 58 percent among adults 18-49 and 48 percent among adults 25-54 from a year ago – making BBC AMERICA the fastest-growing entertainment network in primetime among adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 last month.
The finale of the current season will air on Sunday, December 9th at 8pm/7c on BBC AMERICA.
Doctor Who airs on BBC America Sundays at 8pm ET/PT
Visit the Official Doctor Who Website
Check out the BBC’s Official Doctor Who Website
Visit BBC America’s Official Doctor Who Website
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