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Doctor Who Christmas Specials

The TARDIS wrapped up for Christmas (2006)Image source, 大象传媒 Archives
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A gift that鈥檚 bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside (2006)

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"It was a present. And it wasn't supposed to be opened 'til Christmas Day. Honestly, who opens their Christmas presents early?" The Eleventh Doctor (2011)

Doctor Who Christmas Specials, which are often more light-hearted than the series stories, are now an annual tradition that began in 2005 with The Christmas Invasion.

Image source, 大象传媒 Archives
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David Tennant (The Doctor) and Billie Piper (Rose) with Santas and Sycorax in The Christmas Invasion (2005)

Prior to 2005 there had only been one Doctor Who episode broadcast on Christmas Day, the 1965 missing episode 'The Daleks' Master Plan: The Feast of Steven'.

Unlike its much-revered modern-day contemporaries, this episode did not go down well with many of the viewers, according to this 大象传媒 Audience Research Report from 1966.

Image source, 大象传媒 Archives
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'One of the worst programmes I have seen and definitely not Christmas material' (1966)

Image source, 大象传媒 Archives
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Some viewers did not think that the acting did anything to redeem their impression of a 'terrible' script (1966)

While the pictures of the missing episode might be lost in time, the sounds live on. You can listen to the missing episode The Daleks' Master Plan: The Feast of Steven originally broadcast on 25 December 1965 now on 大象传媒 Sounds.

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The Doctor and his companions are under arrest on Christmas day (1965)

The Doctor continued to make festive appearances, even if it wasn't on UK television screens. Here is Tom Baker (The Fourth Doctor) turning on the Derry Christmas Lights in 1978 in front of a huge crowd of adoring fans.

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Tom Baker (The Fourth Doctor) making Derry merry just before Christmas (1978)

In 2005 showrunner Russell T Davies started what was to become a festive fixture on 大象传媒 One in the UK - the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Here, David Tennant and Phil Collinson talk about the first Doctor Who Christmas special and establishing the new tradition.

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David Tennant discusses the filming of the first Doctor Who Christmas Special (2005)

In this clip, first broadcast on The One Show in 2008, John Culshaw goes behind the scenes of 'The Next Doctor'.

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John Culshaw on the set of the Doctor Who Christmas Special (2008)

Doctor Who鈥檚 Christmas Special became such a firm fixture in the schedules that The Doctor fronted 大象传媒 One鈥檚 festive promotions.

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Doctor Who 大象传媒 One Christmas ident (2009)

After five Christmas specials, David Tennant made way for the Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith. This clip from Doctor Who Confidential (2012) takes a look behind the scenes of 'The Snowmen', the first Christmas special featuring Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman.

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Jenna Coleman and Matt Smith on the streets of Bristol filming 'The Snowmen' (2012)

Joining The Doctor in The Snowmen are the Paternoster Gang, better known as Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax.

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Join Strax and the gang for a seasonal Sontaran sing-song!

In 2014 Peter Capaldi filmed the first of his four festive specials as The Twelfth Doctor. Whilst promoting his 2016 Christmas episode, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, he spoke to Sophie Raworth about how the Christmas Day episode has a special role to play and how it has become a British tradition.

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Peter Capaldi interviewed by Sophie Raworth (2016)

And finally, in this short clip broadcast in 2007, producer Phil Collinson discusses his hope that children will grow up with Doctor Who as part of their Christmas.

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Doctor Who Confidential (2007)

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