The Doctor is dying, but Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor isn’t letting death take him without a fight. Fortunately for Doctor Who fans, the Doctor won’t be alone for his final moments. A very familiar face is joining him for this year’s Christmas special.
As revealed in the closing moments of last night’s tenth season finale, the First Doctor has returned for the first time since his appearance in 1983’s 20th Anniversary special, “The Five Doctors.” For that special, Richard Hurndall stepped into the role originated by William Hartnell. The Strain star, David Bradley, will portray the First Doctor in the new special. In a roundabout way, this is Bradley’s second appearance as the First Doctor. He previously portrayed Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, a docudrama about the early days of Doctor Who.
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Multiple Doctor adventures have been a rarity in the current version of the show. So far, there’s only been the “Time Crash” short at the end of the fourth season and “The Day of the Doctor,” which was the 50th Anniversary special. Outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat wrote both of those adventures and the upcoming Christmas special as well.
Since this will also be Capaldi’s final episode as the Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor will make his first appearance as well. Or perhaps the Doctor will be a woman this time. But BBC has been known to play it safe when casting the Doctor, so don’t count on a major shakeup in the title role.
The Doctor Who 2017 Christmas special will be broadcast worldwide on December 25.
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