However, he also went on to confirm that the Christmas special doesn’t exactly exist as such yet. “Not at the moment because I’m busy on [The War Between the Land and the Sea],” he said when asked about whether he was writing the holiday episode. “I’m also shooting a show in Manchester [the LGBTQ drama Tip Toe], so next year my plate clears, and we’ll get to work on that.”
While this certainly seems like a tremendously quick turnaround given that the episode is set to air next December and has (obviously) yet to be filmed, Davies may actually be a little further along in his process than he originally hinted.
In the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, the showrunner shares a three-word tease with readers about what they can expect from Doctor Who’s return. “Twelve months-a-waiting! Next December, I’ll be here to trumpet and toot about the 2026 Christmas Special,” he said. “It contains these three words. ‘Bafflers,’ ‘Winternox’ and ‘village’.”
Village seems fairly self-explanatory. My money’s on Winternox being the name of whatever the holiday monster of the week happens to be. And to spare you a Google: “Bafflers” can mean either a particularly difficult puzzle or riddle, or a device that’s used to prevent the spreading of sound or light in a particular direction. Heck, in the world of Doctor Who, it could easily mean both. Weirder things have happened.
Honestly, this is a lot to say that we have no idea what’s coming next. This is probably normal, given that we’re over a year from the episode’s release. Given the epically messy nature of the BBC and Disney’s breakup — see also the almost purposefully disparate War Between the Land and the Sea release dates — it’s likely that any plans to get Who back on our screens are in the early stages at best, and there’s so much we just don’t know. Beyond the BBC’s insistence that the show will continue, there’s no word yet on when we can expect another full season, or if Davies will still be in charge of things when that happens.
Maybe we just take this small bit of news for the Christmas gift it is, and take the rest of it as it comes. (And figure out how we’re all going to watch the spinoff in the meantime.)
