First look at Doctor Who Christmas Special!

Doctor Who will return to our screens at Christmas, exactly a year since we saw the show last. Entitled The Return of Doctor Mysterio, it sees the Doctor “teaming up with an investigative reporter (played by Charity Wakefield) and a masked vigilante (Justin Chatwin) to defend New York from a terrifying alien invasion.”

As part of Friday’s Children in Need telethon, we got our first look at the special so far, which you can see below.

As ever, I’m looking forward to it, but this time particularly so - I’ve always thought that Doctor Who is at its best when it’s doing something new, and Doctor Who meets superheroes is undoubtedly that. Certainly, with superheroes right at the centre of the cultural zeitgeist right now, it seems to be the perfect time for Doctor Who to tackle this genre.

This episode will also see the return of Nardole (Matt Lucas), ahead of his role as a recurring guest star throughout series 10. Admittedly, I’ve got some concerns here - Nardole’s previous appearance in The Husbands of River Song was far from a persuasive case that he should join the show full time, and this clip wasn’t exactly a compelling argument either. My fear is that Nardole will only act as comic relief, in a very specific, rather trite, self-aware way - but then, I’m likely judging far too early, and based on far too little, to have a fully formed opinion.

Regardless, though, there’s a lot to like in this clip - I’m particularly fond of the rather ingenious idea to turn their back on the gunman. It shows that, even going into his final year, Steven Moffat remains an inventive as ever - and that we’ve still got a lot to look forward to from Doctor Who.

Related:

Why Doctor Who should be a little more worldwide

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