David Tennant recently returned to Doctor Who as the Fourteenth Doctor in the first of three specials. However, this December will also see the release of a Christmas episode featuring Ncuti Gatwa's first adventure as the Fifteenth Doctor.
Unsurprisingly, we recently learned that it will premiere on Christmas Day on Disney+ in the U.S. and BBC in the UK. The episode will be titled "The Church on Ruby Road," likely a reference to the Doctor's new companion, Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday.
We now have a new look at their first team-up and it appears the Doctor and Ruby will find themselves in hot water. There are also some very atmospheric shots of the show's holiday setting, along with guest star Davina McCall (who, if you're outside of the UK, isn't likely to be someone you'll recognise).
The Christmas special will be followed by an eight-episode season 1 in 2024 which will put Gatwa and Gibson front and centre. While "The Church on Ruby Road" will be the former's first full-blown episode as the Doctor, we're expecting Tennant's Doctor to regenerate into this new iteration in the final of those 60th-anniversary episodes.
BBC has also confirmed that the special will star Michelle Greenidge and Angela Wynter as Ruby's adoptive mother Carla and grandmother Cherry, along with Anita Dobson as Mrs. Flood.
"Little is known about Ruby Sunday as she was abandoned on Christmas Eve as a baby," reads a brief synopsis. "Now living with her mum, Carla and grandmother, Cherry her world is about to be turned upside when she encounters the Doctor and the two set off on their first adventure together..."
Check out those new stills below.
Looks pretty good, right? We also have a clip from tomorrow's second 60th anniversary special, "Wild Blue Yonder," below (via SFFGazette.com).
Doctor Who is the longest-running action-adventure television series in the world spanning 60 years and winning over 100 awards. This quintessentially British show has a massive global following, with 9.6m fans across social platforms/channels and 100m video views on YouTube in the last year alone.
The 60th-anniversary specials are written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Rachel Talalay, Tom Kingsley, and Chanya Button, respectively. We're still waiting for additional details on the aforementioned Christmas episode.
Are you excited to see Gatwa's debut as the Doctor? As always, keep checking back here for more on Doctor Who as we have it!