The Doctor will be home for Christmas. Doctor Who star Mandip Gill (Hollyoaks) confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the yearly special has not been postponed due to COVID-19.
Since the pandemic hit the world, numerous film and television productions have been stuck in limbo, waiting to get back to work. The fate of Doctor Who’s Christmas special, a touchstone of the series, was up in the air, until Gill, who plays companion Yasmin Khan in the series, quelled these worries on Tuesday. She told Entertainment Weekly, “I can confirm that. There is a festive episode. We happened to be quite lucky and fit it in, so that will be exciting.”
Doctor Who is a long running BBC science-fiction program that first aired in 1963. It ran for 26 seasons, before it was revived in 2005 by Russell T. Davies (Years and Years). The series follow the adventures of the Doctor and his companions, as they travel through time in his time machine. The Doctor, while appearing human, is actually an alien from a distant planet, who can ‘regenerate’ his appearance, which means that the show is able to re-cast the actor portraying the character. He has been played by David Tennant (Jessica Jones), Matt Smith (The Crown), and Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It). In its 11th season of the current installment, the show spurred controversy by announcing that Jodie Whittaker (BroadChurch) would become the next incarnation of the iconic character. The progressive change alienated more conservative fans, but proved to a much needed breath of fresh air for the series.
The episode, titled “Revolution of the Daleks,” will air later this holiday season. It marks the first Christmas special to feature the thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker.