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  • Nu-Who
    • Ncuti Gatwa
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  • Tweeners
    • John Hurt
    • Paul McGann
    • The Master List
    • Regeneration X
    • The Mystery Guest
    • The Hand of Fear
  • Colo(u)r
    • Sylvester McCoy
    • Colin Baker
    • Peter Davison
    • Tom Baker
    • Jon Pertwee
  • Monochrome
    • Patrick Troughton
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  • Tour du Jour
    • On This Day in Doctor Who History
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  • Nu-Who
    1. Ncuti Gatwa
    2. Jodie Whittaker
    3. Peter Capaldi
    4. Matt Smith
    5. David Tennant
    6. Christopher Eccleston
    7. View All

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025

    Five Regenerations Past Midnight

    April 27, 2025

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (24→19)

    November 10, 2023

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    B-Bye Bradley

    October 6, 2022

    Svelte 16

    May 8, 2022

    2024Kristmas #4 – Twice Upon the First

    December 21, 2024

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (18→13)

    November 13, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (36→31)

    October 12, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (42→37)

    October 5, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (12→7)

    November 17, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (24→19)

    November 10, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (30→25)

    October 28, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (48→43)

    September 28, 2023

    2024Kristmas #3 – The Man With All The Toys

    December 16, 2024

    2024Kristmas #2 – It’ll Be a Wild Blue Christmas

    December 10, 2024

    2024Kristmas #1 – Seasons Beastings

    December 3, 2024

    Pre-Embering the Fireplace

    May 5, 2024

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (24→19)

    November 10, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (42→37)

    October 5, 2023

    The Dark Jacket Dimension

    November 13, 2021

    The (W)hole Ruth

    January 31, 2020

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Bearable Light-ness of Doctoring

    May 10, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025
  • Tweeners
    1. John Hurt
    2. Paul McGann
    3. The Master List
    4. Regeneration X
    5. The Mystery Guest
    6. The Hand of Fear
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    Hurt So Good: A Doctor and His Umbrella

    April 27, 2023

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    Svelte 16

    May 8, 2022

    Ten’ll Get You Five

    September 4, 2020

    Double Doctor Dastardly Danger

    April 25, 2024

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    McGann Before McGann

    May 26, 2023

    … And All That Yaz

    November 16, 2022

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Bearable Light-ness of Doctoring

    May 10, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025

    Ghost Re-Write

    November 16, 2021

    The (W)hole Ruth

    January 31, 2020

    Dup-topia

    January 29, 2020

    The Glue Guy

    June 24, 2018

    Doctor on Doctor ACTION!

    November 19, 2017

    The Wheel in Cheese

    August 10, 2014

    The Hurt Locker

    May 25, 2013

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Bearable Light-ness of Doctoring

    May 10, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Bearable Light-ness of Doctoring

    May 10, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025
  • Colo(u)r
    1. Sylvester McCoy
    2. Colin Baker
    3. Peter Davison
    4. Tom Baker
    5. Jon Pertwee
    6. View All

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (36→31)

    October 12, 2023

    A Studio Film (or rather a film in the studio)

    June 9, 2023

    … And All That Yaz

    November 16, 2022

    Fivey at Forty: The First Companion Death of 1982

    March 16, 2022

    Sweet, not Effete

    April 5, 2025

    Arguably Arguable

    August 19, 2024

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (48→43)

    September 28, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    The End of Enlightenment

    January 13, 2025

    What’s in a Number? Occasionally Everything

    November 23, 2024

    A Spot of Gray in a Sea of Color

    November 19, 2024

    ⅔ of a Magic Number, but None Too Shabby Either

    October 1, 2024

    The Truth That Supports the Lie

    March 15, 2025

    The Golden Sweep of Tom Baker Begins

    December 28, 2024

    Déjà Who, All Over Again

    February 8, 2024

    XCited for Tom

    January 27, 2024

    Living Day-to-Day with The Candy Man

    July 31, 2024

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (6→1)

    November 23, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (30→25)

    October 28, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (48→43)

    September 28, 2023

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Bearable Light-ness of Doctoring

    May 10, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025
  • Monochrome
    1. Patrick Troughton
    2. William Hartnell
    3. View All

    Stock(s) Company

    September 9, 2024

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (18→13)

    November 13, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (24→19)

    November 10, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (36→31)

    October 12, 2023

    The TARDIS whirled on it’s way again…

    December 24, 2024

    Have a Feast @ Doctor Who’s Tragical History Tour!

    December 6, 2024

    Quarter Zip

    July 21, 2024

    Roll Without the Rock, or the Schlock

    July 15, 2024

    Sold For a Song

    May 21, 2025

    The Demon Barber of Story Beats

    May 12, 2025

    The Bearable Light-ness of Doctoring

    May 10, 2025

    The Sunday Stratagem

    May 4, 2025
  • Tour du Jour
    • On This Day in Doctor Who History
    • The House of Holmes
    • 60 for 60
    • 50 for 50
    • The Randomizer
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    • The Feast of Steven
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Doctor Who's Tragical History TourDoctor Who's Tragical History Tour
Xmas Marks the Spot Peter Capaldi Matt Smith David Tennant William Hartnell

The Last ‘Last Christmas’ Specials Rankings #1

By -- DSWDecember 16, 201803 Mins Read
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It was good while it lasted, but with the move of the Series 11 Special away from Christmas Day to New Years Day after 13 consecutive years hopefully signals the end of one tradition and the beginning of another.  But the Tour has a long-standing tradition of our own mixing, marching, and ranking the specials.

The Tour however counts 16 Doctor Who Christmas Specials in the canon, and we’ll count these down in three parts as part of the Tours annual run-up to Christmas.

#16 – Voyage of the Damned – The Tour has a well worn distaste for this one.  Christmassy in some of it’s iconography but certainly not in spirit.  A take on the disaster genre that was itself a disaster.  Was Voyage really a bad story.  Not really.  Just misguided and wildly disappointing.

#15 – The Feast of Steven – Surviving only in audio and a spare few telesnaps it marked a departure from the regular story and made a rare indulgence for the series into farce and is notable for Hartnell’s closing speech not only to Steven and Sara but the audience too. As Christmas specials go it was an interesting diversion and is now more remembered for the curiosity value than anything else.

#14 – The End of Time Pt I – In our younger days, The End of Time Pt I was rated more highly, perhaps because it culminated a year of build-up and very occasional stories.  However … because it should be considered in full with it’s back half, and upon reflection, The End of Time Pt I has come down considerably in our estimations.  Of course, the resurrection of the Master was horribly contrived, but this first-half of a story, as so many RTD two-part stories did, had its share of moments, and at the core of it all was the relationship between the two old souls, the Doctor and Wilf.  Their scenes sparkled with the resonance of lives in full.

#13 – The Return of Doctor Mysterio – Sort of the same problem as with Voyage of the Damned.  It’s absolutely not a Christmas special but a Doctor Who take on the superhero genre.  Coming after a gap year it seemed just too incongruous to work all that well.

#12 – Last Christmas – Something along the lines of ‘Inception’, but with an undertone of the dour that ran through Series 8, Capaldi’s first special was the least ‘special’ of his specials and more like a regular series episode which just happened to include Santa.  Perhaps it’s just a little too thoughtful for the Tour’s liking.

#11 – The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe – Coming off an unqualified success in his first Christmas Special, it was only natural for fans to expect that Matt Smith’s second would be equally captivating.  But The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe, a variation of the C.S. Lewis classic, was more of a ‘winter’ story than a Christmas story, and lacked the timey-wimey charm of A Christmas Carol.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe, but mere mentions of Androzani do not a classic make.

Part 2 of our final Christmas Specials ranking coming quite soon.

Short Hops:

The Last ‘Last Christmas’ Specials Rankings #2 Pieces of Eight — The 8 Specials of Christmas The Ten Specials of Christmas — #7
Matt Smith David Tennant William Hartnell The Return of Doctor Mysterio Last Christmas The Feast of Steven A Christmas Carol The Doctor The Widow and the Wardrobe Voyage of the Damned Xmas Marks the Spot The End of Time Pt I Peter Capaldi
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On This Day in Doctor Who History

May 2025

Friday May 23

1964: The Aztecs [1--The Temple of Evil]
Recurs yearly
1970: Inferno [3]
Recurs yearly

Saturday May 24

1969: The War Games [6]
Recurs yearly
2025: Wish World
Recurs yearly

Sunday May 25

1968: The Wheel in Space [5]
Recurs yearly
1974: Planet of the Spiders [4]
Recurs yearly
2024: 73 Yards
Recurs yearly

Monday May 26

1973: The Green Death [2]
Recurs yearly
2007: Human Nature
Recurs yearly

Tuesday May 27

1967: The Evil of the Daleks [2]
Recurs yearly
1972: The Time Monster [2]
Recurs yearly
2006: The Idiot's Lantern
Recurs yearly
2017: The Pyramid at the End of the World
Recurs yearly

Wednesday May 28

1966: The Savages [1]
Recurs yearly
2005: The Doctor Dances
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Random Thoughts

12/3/2002

By -- DSWDecember 3, 2002 Roundel Roundabouts 1 Min Read

The Pertwee Sobriety Test

By -- DSWMay 23, 2010 Tour Updates 2 Mins Read

Stock(s) Company

By -- DSWSeptember 9, 2024 Who Not Who! 2 Mins Read
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