Steven Moffat might have saved Christmas for all of us, as there originally almost wasn’t a Twice Upon a Time.
In an interesting turn of fate, the exciting Christmas special almost didn’t happen. According to an interview with Steven Moffat, the BBC had originally a different schedule Christmas Day.
In a long story short: Chibnall didn’t want to start with a Christmas episode, and Moffat wanted to leave at the end of Season 10. Without anyone to do the episode, what would happen? No special.
Luckily, at an event with drinks, Moffat drank enough liquid courage and changed his mind.
"“There was one big glitch, which was Christmas. I was going to leave at the end of series 10 – I had my finale planned and what I wanted to do with it. I had a good notion of that. Then I learned at a drinks event somewhere that Chris didn’t want to start with a Christmas, so at that point they were going to skip Christmas….So I said, probably four glasses of red wine in, ‘I’ll do Christmas!’ and then had to persuade Peter [Capaldi] that’s how we were leaving.”"
The Showrunner Who Saved Christmas
This interview now gives everything context, if you think about it. It explains the rumors that we heard about the Doctor ‘regenerating early’. It wasn’t The Lie of the Land, it was not in the Christmas Special. We also now see Peter’s now famously long hair shown in the regeneration scene. The shootings were done so far apart, perhaps because we don’t know when the decision was made.
Though we still don’t know much about the episode, at least we get to give Peter Capaldi a final farewell in an episode full of what he loves. Moffat knew exactly what he needed to persuade Peter: Mondasian Cybermen, David Bradley, and The Tenth Planet.
In a Doctor Who world where opinions about Steven Moffat differ from person to person, this shows the dedication he’s always given. Since the beginning, Moffat has helped build Doctor Who, even before his era. We’ve seen his good ideas, and ideas that didn’t pan out, but he’s always given it his all.
In an interview that reads almost like a Christmas story, it looks Twice Upon a Time could have a second name. The Showrunner Who Saved Christmas.
Thanks for this Christmas gift, Mr. Moffat.