Doctor Who's latest Christmas Special, "The Church on Ruby Road," arrived last night (or yesterday morning depending on where you live) and it put the spotlight squarely on Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and his companion, Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday.
It was a fantastic effort from all involved which included musical numbers, some clever time-travel shenanigans, and a very different Doctor who is (mostly) unburdened of his tragic past. Once the episode aired, we were treated to a glimpse of what's to come with a new teaser and confirmation the show returns in May.
There aren't any major reveals here, and certainly no familiar foes from the past, but it certainly looks like Doctor Who is getting the fresh start promised by returning showrunner Russell T Davies.
Heading into the Christmas Special, there were concerns that many fans might not accept Gatwa's Doctor when David Tennant's version is still alive on Earth with his own Tardis.
There being two Doctors resulted from a controversial bi-generation which the Fifteenth Doctor addressed head-on in a recent interview with IGN (via SFFGazette.com).
"I got cast and then a couple months, maybe two months later, I had to go and meet all the producers, just they wanted a little celebratory drink, like, ‘You're the Doctor, welcome to the family,'" Gatwa said of how he learned of Davies' shocking plans. "He just told me! He told me what was going to happen."
"I was like, 'Things are going to be done differently from now on. Russell, I can see the cogs turning in your mind, just thinking of all new places to take the show.'"
Despite that, the actor confirms there will be "little bits" of story related to this Doctor's bi-generated status and emphasises that his Doctor is, without any shadow of a doubt, also the Doctor. "Fifteen's origin story is just the Doctor's origin story; he is fully just the next Doctor in the line. It's a new mythology that Russell has created, that the Doctor can regenerate fully or double."
Gatwa concluded by teasing, "There is a whole bunch of mythology that Russell is bringing in, there's a whole pantheon full of different villains and lore and mythology that he's bringing into the show. [Bi-generation is] just very exciting and very indicative of the new adventures we'll be going on in Doctor Who."
Take a look at the Doctor Who season 1 teaser, the new opening credits, and a BTS video in the X posts below.