Classic era During the first run of the programme (1963–1989), special episodes were not a frequent occurrence. During the
third season, the twelve-part serial ''
The Daleks' Master Plan'' was broadcast weekly beginning in November 1965 and ending in January 1966, with its seventh and eighth episodes scheduled for Christmas and New Year's Day, respectively. The former, "The Feast of Steven", was scripted as a comic interlude in the style of a
pantomime, in the middle of an otherwise epic adventure. In its final scene, as the Doctor and his companions celebrate Christmas with a toast, the
First Doctor (
William Hartnell) turns to the camera and breaks the
fourth wall by saying "Incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home." The first episodes of
Day of the Daleks (1972) and
The Face of Evil (1977) were first shown on New Year's Day, but make no reference to the holiday season. The classic run had no subsequent holiday episodes. This became a yearly tradition for the programme with additional holiday specials being produced annually. A special episode aired on New Year's Day in 2010 in addition to the typical
Christmas episode in 2009. The trend of episodes airing on Christmas Day continued under Davies' successor
Steven Moffat, culminating in his final episode as showrunner, "
Twice Upon a Time" (2017). After
Chris Chibnall assumed the role of showrunner of the series in 2018,
Doctor Who moved to producing yearly New Year's specials instead. The three holiday specials made during Chibnall's tenure, airing in 2019, 2021, and 2022, all featured the
Daleks and formed a loose three-part
story arc. In lieu of a special episode in 2020, the first episode of the
twelfth series, "
Spyfall, Part 1", was broadcast on New Year's Day outside of the programme's normal timeslot. When Davies returned to
Doctor Who, one of the first things he requested was the return of the Christmas special. A special was not produced for the 2022 holiday season, but a new trailer for the programme's
60th anniversary was released in its absence. Christmas specials then returned with "
The Church on Ruby Road" in 2023. Moffat also returned to write the 2024 special, "
Joy to the World", the first festive special not to be written by the incumbent showrunner. In 2025, following the conclusion of the
fifteenth series, the BBC announced that a further Christmas special, written by Davies, would air in 2026. ==Episodes==