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How many Doctor Who Christmas specials are there?

By Mia Johnson

We look back on Donna Noble - both at her brilliance and her vulnerability in Doctor Who.(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: BBC Press.)
We look back on Donna Noble - both at her brilliance and her vulnerability in Doctor Who.(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: BBC Press.) /
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It’s that time of year again. The holidays are almost upon us, which means we can start binging our favorite Christmas specials. Luckily, in the revival era of Doctor Who, they come along pretty frequently.

Things kicked off in 2005 with showrunner Russell T. Davies, who created a Christmas special for every year he worked on the show. After that, showrunner Steven Moffat took over and followed that tradition, creating more Christmas specials during his run with the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.

It wasn’t until the latest showrunner, Chris Chibnall, came around that things began to change. Instead of doing a Christmas special, Chibnall and the Thirteenth Doctor have all had New Year specials. With that in mind, you may be wondering how many Christmas specials Doctor Who has had in total so far.

So if you want to get cozy this Christmas and have a bit of hot chocolate or egg nog with the Doctor, here’s how many Christmas specials you spend with them.

Doctor Who Christmas specials list

All in all, there are a total of 13 Doctor Who Christmas specials:

Tenth Doctor

2005: “The Christmas Invasion”

2006: “The Runaway Bride”

2007: “Voyage of the Damned”

2008: “The Next Doctor”

2009: “The End of Time” Parts One and Two

Eleventh Doctor

2010: “A Christmas Carol”

2011: “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”

2012: “The Snowmen”

2013: “The Time of the Doctor”

Twelfth Doctor

2014: “Last Christmas”

2015: “The Husbands of River Song”

2016: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”

2017: “Twice Upon a Time”

In 2018, there was no holiday special at all. And in 2019, 2020, and 2021, there were New Year’s specials. In 2022, there will be one final New Year’s special. And then, it remains to be seen whether Russell T. Davies, who’s returning in season 14, will continue the New Year’s tradition or revert back to Christmas specials. If it’s the latter, Christmas specials may return at the end of 2022 or by 2023.

Next. Russell T. Davies can give Doctor Who the spark it's missing. dark

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