For the first time in a long time, we will not be getting a Doctor Who Christmas Special. Instead, this year we will be getting a New Year’s special. So in the absence of a much-missed Doctor Who tradition, we look into some of the great Christmas Specials from years gone by…

After the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) has escaped the revenge of the Master (John Simm / Michelle Gomez) and the Cybermen, he finds himself face-to-face with his first incarnation (David Bradley) in a world frozen in time. Together the Doctors must find their way out of the frozen time, from which they both have moments in destiny to fulfill…

During TARDISblend 113, we talk about the long-awaited arrival of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor, we explore the interactions between the First Doctor and the Capaldi Doctor, and comment on presumably Steven Moffat‘s final goodbye from Doctor Who after seven years as showrunner.

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!

Doctor Who: The Time Lord Letters
Hardcover | Kindle
by Justin Richards
Harper Design | HarperCollins Publishers
Release date: September 29, 2015

Ahhh, what would it mean to know the mind of a Time Lord? It must be something to know what a Time Lord saw. There must be wit! There must be wisdom! There must be an ambivalence, a humor about the mundane moments. There must be perspective that comes from the understanding of time and history as a sometimes malleable thing. So, we are presented with a book called Doctor Who: The Time Lord Letters. What does it tell us?

In the end, it doesn’t tell us much. It tries to create a narrative of Doctor Who history that is approachable for younger television viewers. The actual history of the show is far more complex than that, due to reasons that have little to do with good storytelling. The full-color hardcover title does little to weave together all the historical threads of the Doctor’s lives. Instead, the book’s best appeal is to provide both older and younger viewers with an excellent photo collage of the entire history of Doctor Who. That, I think, is what will keep readers coming back to this book.

With Doctor Who starring Peter Capaldi set to return to television screens for Season 9 of the revived series, it seems like a good time to go back in time about 50 years and revisit some lesser known aspects of the series’ beginning. Though Doctor Who began with a historical serial now commonly known as “An Unearthly Child,” it rocketed into the national consciousness with its second serial, now called “The Daleks.” In a show much known for its monsters, the Daleks were the originals. They put the show into a format that we recognize today. They also caused a craze in Great Britain that came to be known as Dalekmania and brought the series audience figures of over 9 million viewers a week. It has only periodically equaled those numbers in the 50 years since.

The story of the Daleks was told in three different ways, with two different Doctors. First, there is the teleplay by Terry Nation. Being part of a weekly adventure series, it tells the story of how the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and her schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright arrive on the radioactive world of Skaro and meet the Daleks. The Daleks are mutated survivors of an atomic war who hate any creatures who are not like themselves. This is original version and, excepting certain accommodations for budget and pacing for a half hour television serial, it is the best. It is also canonical.

The month of Doctor Who celebratings is in full swing, with lots of original programming planned for the long-running series’ 50th anniversary. Along with The Day Of The Doctor special, which will bring together familiar faces of Who past, comes An Adventure In Space And Time, a new BBC special starring David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) as William Hartnell, the first Doctor, and tell the real-life story of how the Doctor Who television series came about in 1963.

BBC has released a trailer for upcoming 90-minute special – watch it here below.

An Adventure In Space And Time will air on BBC America on November 22, 2013 at 9PM ET/PT and on BBC Two on November 21, 2013 at 9PM.