'Doctor Who' Officially Announces Christmas Special With New Images
'Doctor Who' Officially Announces Christmas Special With New Images
Never-before-known plot and casting details were revealed
In less than ten days, Doctor Who will see David Tennant regenerate once again, this time as the Fourteenth Doctor, into Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor. It’s long been known that Fifteen’s first adventure would be a “festive special”, slowly confirmed to be a Christmas special where he’d meet his (first) companion Ruby Sunday, the show’s first Christmas special in six years, airing what became just 16 days after the regeneration once the 60th anniversary episodes were scheduled. Now, the show has spilled all the details about that Christmas special, “The Church of Ruby Road”.
Granted, they were beaten to the title reveal by their new broadcast partner, Disney+ as part of their Christmas season program listing, earlier this month. Some footage was even released last week as part of 60th anniversary celebrations. One of those scenes in particular (or more) could even be seen in the Whoniverse logo that plays on iPlayer versions of franchise episodes. Just two days ago images were released, one of which has already been used for a Handling thumbnail. But this is their big announcement. It leads with this bit about the special: On Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and maybe the secret of her birth. The duo will face off against these goblins as their lives collide. When they meet, she’s living with her (adopted) mother Carla and grandmother Cherry.
The supporting and guest cast includes Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mother Carla, Angela Wynter as Ruby’s grandmother Cherry and Anita Dobson as Mrs. Flood. Greenidge and Dobson were confirmed in January to be appearing in series 14, so unless the special is considered part of the series by those speakers, their returns make sense, and Mrs. Flood must be a close figure to Ruby. It has previously been reported that Gemma Arrowsmith and Mary Malone have also been cast in the special.
Returning to the show and appearing as herself is Davina McCall, a British reality host who was their Julie Chen-Moonves for the first 11 series of their version of Big Brother. It is this role that led to her first appearance, voicing the android version of herself when the show appeared in the first series episode “Bad Wolf”, set in the year 200,100. In essence, she was the android an American audience wouldn’t recognize compared to The Weakest Link’s Anne Robinson. She also judged three series of their The Masked Singer and one of The Masked Dancer, among many other similar gigs.
In her statement, McCall says “It is beyond an honour to be asked to appear in not only Doctor Who but also Ncuti’s first episode as the new Doctor. It was such an extraordinary experience and Russell [T. Davies] has written you all a Christmas delight! Now I just can’t wait for everyone to see it!” Meanwhile, Davies, showrunner and as McCall stated, the special’s writer says “From Day One in this job, I wanted Doctor Who back on Christmas Day! And with Ncuti, Millie, Davina and the Goblin King, I hope it’s a feast for all the family!” So on Christmas Day, Doctor Who will dance its magic timey wimey dance back to Christmas Day on the BBC and Disney+.
Source: Doctor Who