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 This is the last story of Season Thirty Six (New Series 10) and is Peter Capaldi's fourth and final Christmas special as the Twelfth Doctor and featured not one, not two, but three incarnations of The Doctor, as the end of this story marked Jodie Whittaker's first on-screen appearance in the show as the Thirteenth Doctor - the first female incarnation of The Doctor in the history of the show.
This story begins with a recap and partial retelling of the final moments of the 1966 First Doctor story "The Tenth Planet", the story which introduced the Cybermen and saw the First Doctor regenerate. We see his two companions from that era - Polly Wright and Ben Jackson - originally played by Anneke Wills and Michael Craze, but in this story (in recreated scenes) portrayed by Lily Travers and former Hollyoaks cast member Jared Garfield.
This story is a continuation of events after "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls", addressing the cliffhanger that the previous story ended on, and takes place during the final story of the First Doctor; footage from "The Tenth Planet", is used in this special.
This story was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay, and was broadcast as the thirteenth Christmas special on the 25th December 2017 on BBC One. It features the final regular appearance of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, the first official appearance of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, and guest-stars David Bradley as the First Doctor, having previously portrayed original First Doctor actor William Hartnell in the 2013 docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time. Pearl Mackie guest stars as the Twelfth Doctor's former companion Bill Potts, while his other companions make guest appearances - Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and Matt Lucas as Nardole.
This story is the last Doctor Who story to be written and produced by Steven Moffat, who served as the show's Executive Producer and chief writer since taking over from Russell T Davies in 2010. After this special's broadcast, Steven Moffat was succeeded as chief executive and showrunner by Chris Chibnall. This story is also the last to be made by Executive Producer Brian Minchin.
In January 2016 Steven Moffat announced that he would step down as the programme's showrunner after Season Thirty Six (New Series 10), to be replaced by Chris Chibnall beginning with Season Thirty Seven (New Series 11), in 2018. However, this Christmas special was not mentioned in the plans at that time. The change in showrunners almost caused the annual Christmas special for 2017 to be cancelled, as Steven Moffat originally planned to leave after the two-part story "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls" and Chris Chibnall did not want to begin his run with a Christmas special. However, when he learned of Chris Chibnall's plans, Steven Moffat elected to stay long enough to produce one final story, as he was concerned that the show would lose the coveted 25th December slot in the future if it missed a year. As a result, he had to rewrite his plans to allow Peter Capaldi to appear in one more story.
As with the last change of showrunners, Chris Chibnall wrote the final moments of the story, so as to allow him to write Jodie Whittaker's first lines on the show. This happened in the 2010 special "The End of Time", when Steven Moffat took over from Russell T. Davies in the final moments of that story, writing Matt Smith's first words as the Eleventh Doctor.
Steven Moffat and Rachel Talalay, both previously wrote and directed the previous two-part story "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls". Rachel Talalay’s other previous credits include "Dark Water/Death in Heaven" (2014) and "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent" (2015).
On the 30th January 2017 Peter Capaldi confirmed that this season would be his last as the Twelfth Doctor.
The casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor was announced on the 16th July 2017 following the 2017 Wimbledon Championships men's final.
It was then revealed at the San Diego Comic Con that this Christmas special would mark the last appearance of Peter Capaldi as The Twelfth Doctor, before he handed over the role to Jodie Whittaker - the Thirteenth Doctor. It was also revealed that Peter Capaldi would be starring alongside David Bradley who reprised his role as William Hartnell's first incarnation of The Doctor.
After a surprise appearance at the end of "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls", the First Doctor was an integral part of this Christmas special. David Bradley had previously played the original actor William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time. Interestingly An Adventure in Space and Time was written by Mark Gatiss, who plays The Captain in this story.
Though previous incarnations of The Doctor, from the original run of the show, had appeared in the show before, since it was revived in 2005, this was the first televised interaction between an incarnation of The Doctor in the current era of the show since the 2007 mini-story "Time Crash".
This story marks the First Doctor’s first full appearance in the show since the Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors". This also makes David Bradley the third actor to play this role in the television programme, after William Hartnell and then Richard Hurndall (in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors").
David Bradley has also appeared in Doctor Who twice before - as Solomon in the 2002 Eleventh Doctor story "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" and then in the final part of "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls" when he made his debut as the First Doctor in the show.
It was announced that companion Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie, would be returning for this story after apparently leaving for good in the previous story "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls". Bill Potts joined the two Doctors, and Captain Lethbridge-Stewart, as a Testimony glass avatar. Past companions Nardole and Clara Oswald also made brief appearances.
The cameo appearance of Jenna Coleman, as Clara Oswald, is explained by The Doctor's memories of his former companion, lost during "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent", being restored. The scene was the last to be filmed and so represents the last scene directed by Steven Moffat; while Jenna Coleman was willing to come back to film, timing between the filming of this special and her work in Victoria was difficult to arrange. As Steven Moffat revealed ‘How many times have I killed that girl off and she was right there in my last shot! It's absolutely extraordinary. The unkillable Coleman’.
Companions Ben Jackson and Polly Wright make a brief re-reappearance in the show for the first time since their departure in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Faceless Ones".
William Hartnell, Anneke Wills and Michael Craze appeared as the First Doctor, Polly and Ben respectively through archive footage as also did Patrick Troughton as the freshly regenerated Second Doctor.
Played by Mark Gatiss this story introduced Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart, credited as ‘The Captain’ - a new member of the Lethbridge-Stewart family.
Mark Gatiss first appeared in Doctor Who playing the eponymous professor in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Lazarus Experiment". He also played the part of Gantok in the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "The Wedding of River Song" and as ‘Danny Boy’ in both the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "Victory of the Daleks" and the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "A Good Man Goes to War". Mark Gatiss has also written nine stories including the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "The Crimson Horror" and the 2017 Twelfth Doctor story "Empress of Mars".
The German soldier, who the Captain speaks to and later assists, is played by Toby Whithouse who wrote "School Reunion", "The Vampires of Venice", "The God Complex", "A Town Called Mercy", "Under the Lake/Before the Flood" and "The Lie of the Land". Toby Whithouse is the second person involved in the revived series as both an actor and a writer, following Mark Gatiss.
Nikki Amuka-Bird voices the Glass Woman making this her second appearance in the Doctor Who universe following her appearance in the Torchwood episode, "Sleeper". Nikki Amuka-Bird is credited as Helen Clay on-screen, and as The Glass Woman in the Radio Times.
The ‘Good Dalek’ Rusty, from the Twelfth Doctor’s second story "Into the Dalek", makes his second appearance - in Villengard, a location mentioned only once before, in Steven Moffat's second television story, the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances".
This story featured the following (all uncredited): From "The Tenth Planet" Robert Beatty (General Cutler), Reg Whitehead (Krail), Roy Skelton and Peter Hawkins (Cyberman Voices) and Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor); From "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang"; Nicholas Briggs (Cyberman Voice); From "The Waters of Mars" David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor); From "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" Julian Bleach (Davros).
Recording of this story began on the 12th June 2017. This included the filming of the final scene of "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls", involving David Bradley as the First Doctor.
The main production of this story concluded on the 10th July 2017. However, the final scene of this story, in which Jodie Whittaker makes her debut as the Thirteenth Doctor, was not filmed until the 19th July 2017.
This story features a rare instance in which actors that only appeared through use of archive footage were also credited. Another notable instance of this happening is in the 2013 story "The Day of The Doctor".
Director Rachel Talalay had actually shot a number of scenes from "The Tenth Planet", with a complete set reconstruction, recast characters, and the Mondasian Cybermen that had appeared in the previous two part story "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls". She revealed in an interview that she tried to make both the set, and the cinematography, as accurate to the original scenes, and original production values, as much as possible. She did admit to having fun with some parts of the set in particular, and embellishing with a Sixties feel, and noted that some details of the action had to be invented. These scene recreations however, were not used in the final edit of this story - original footage was used in its place. However, these specially shot re-tellings were shown in the cinema feature.
During the final moments of "The Tenth Planet", the First Doctor leaves his companions Ben and Polly and returns to the TARDIS. There they find him collapsed in the console room, where he undergoes his first regeneration. Derek Martinus, the Director for "The Tenth Planet", reportedly cut a line from the original script which suggested that The Doctor was refusing to give in to the regeneration process. "Twice Upon a Time" creates an extended narrative around that part of that story, in which the First Doctor delays his regeneration and encounters his future self - the Twelfth Doctor - in the snowy wasteland of the South Pole.
Even though the final part of "The Tenth Planet" no longer exists in the BBC archives the sequence where the First Doctor regenerates (as seen towards the end of this story) remains available as it was used as a clip in Blue Peter, and luckily the edition in which this clip featured had survived.
The recreated interior of the First Doctor's TARDIS actually included props from the original set in the 1960s. As revealed by Mark Gatiss these included the brass pillars, which are the actual brass pillars from way back in 1963. Other aspects of this set were recreated.
The First and Twelfth Doctors meeting in this story features the scene acted out differently than that seen at the end of "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls". This is similar to how episodes in the 1960s reshooting the prior scene’s cliffhanger, often resulting in little differences. The same situation also occurred in 2006 when "The Runaway Bride" followed the cliffhanger in "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday".
Near the end of this story, the two Doctors part company and return to their respective TARDISes to undergo their respective regenerations. The First Doctor's regeneration is shown, using original footage from "The Tenth Planet" staring William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.
The Twelfth Doctor's regeneration has a new visual and sound effect to those used previously in the revived series. Resembling slow travelling, elongated golden lightning. It is the first regeneration for The Doctor, since the Seventh Doctor's regeneration in 1996, to use an effect which is visually distinct from that seen in "The Parting of the Ways", with the Ninth Doctor up to "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls".
On the last day of filming, Mark Gatiss brought in the jacket that Jon Pertwee wore in the 1973 story "Planet of the Daleks". It is seen hanging from a stand in the background in the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS during the regeneration scene. Mark Gatiss also published a behind the scenes picture of Peter Capaldi wearing the jacket.
This is not the first time that later incarnations of The Doctor have met the First Doctor and have struggled to remember the encounter (see "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors" and "The Day of The Doctor").
The First Doctor remarks on his successor playing the electric guitar (see "The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar", "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent" and "The Pilot").
The First Doctor is confused about the sonic screwdriver. This device was first seen in the 1968 Second Doctor story "Fury From the Deep". However, the First Doctor's amazement and confusion would appear to contradict events in the Virgin Books' The Missing Adventures novel "Venusian Lullaby", written by Paul Leonard, which features the screwdriver being used by the First Doctor.
As well as not approving about the sonic screwdriver the First Doctor also does not approve of the Twelfth Doctor's sonic sunglasses.
The Twelfth Doctor gets concerned when the First Doctor asks what a browser history is. He previously warned Osgood not to look at his browsing history in the 2015 story "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion" and also to Bill Potts in "Smile".
Bill is heard to ask the First Doctor about his reason for running away from Gallifrey.
Again we witness different incarnations of The Doctor banter about their differences (see "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors", "The Two Doctors", "Time Crash" and "The Day of The Doctor").
The Twelfth Doctor addresses his original incarnation as 'Mary Berry', 'Corporal Jones', and 'Mr. Pastry'. Mr. Pastry was a children's show character played by actor Richard Hearne, who was once considered for the role of the Fourth Doctor. Richard Hearne, however, wanted to play The Doctor as a version of Mr. Pastry, so he was passed over in favour of Tom Baker.
The Doctor paraphrases philosopher Bertrand Russell when he advises his future self that 'hate is always foolish and love is always wise'.
When the Testimony show the First Doctor images of his future incarnations, clips from both eras of the show are used. These are: the Third Doctor from the 1974 story "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"; the Fourth Doctor from the 1975 story ("Genesis of the Daleks"); the Fifth Doctor from the 1983 story "Arc of Infinity"; the Seventh Doctor from the 1988 story "The Happiness Patrol"; the Eighth Doctor from "The Night of The Doctor"; the War Doctor ("The Day of The Doctor"); the Ninth Doctor from the 2005 story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways"; the Tenth Doctor from the 2009 story "The Waters of Mars" and "The Day of The Doctor"; the Eleventh Doctor from the 2013 story "The Day of The Doctor") and the Twelfth Doctor from "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls". The Testimony also shows Davros from the 2008 story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".
The Testimony shows the First Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor the amount of times they have become associated with wars (see "The Day of The Doctor", "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" and "The Name of The Doctor".
The Doctor is referred to as 'The Doctor of War' (see "A Good Man Goes to War", "The Name of The Doctor" and "The Day of The Doctor"). The Testimony also calls The Doctor by other titles associated with conflict, as did the Daleks (see "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways", "Asylum of the Daleks" and the War Doctor novel "Engines of War" written by George Mann) and the Great Intelligence (see "The Name of The Doctor").
The Eleventh Doctor's conflict at Trenzalore is mentioned by the Testimony ("The Time of The Doctor") as is the Pandorica ("The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang"), the Last Great Time War ("Dalek") and the destruction of Skaro ("Remembrance of the Daleks").
The Testimony tells The Doctor that he is in the shadow of The Valeyard (see The Trial of a Time Lord stories "The Mysterious Planet", "Mindwarp", "Terror of the Vervoids" and "The Ultimate Foe"). The Valeyard had previously caused the Sixth Doctor to regenerate (see Big Finish Productions' 2015 audio anthology "The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure" audio stories: "The End of the Line", "The Red House", "Stage Fright" and "The Brink of Death").
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