It’s been revealed that the three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials will be “hour-long spectaculars”, and that Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor Doctor will make his full debut over the Christmas 2023 period.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine teases:

“When Russell [T Davies] ran Doctor Who for five years in the 2000s, he turned it into a huge critical and commercial success. He’s returning with some big, bold, next-level plans, kicking off in November 2023 with three special episodes – hour-long spectaculars – starring David [Tennant]’s Fourteenth Doctor, before Ncuti takes over as the Fifteenth, around the festive period.”

This is also further confirmation that Doctor Who will return next November, i.e. for the show’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

It’s been rumoured for some time that Doctor Who will get a Christmas special again from next year, and while DWM remains tight-lipped about the schedule (which is ultimately to be decided by the BBC anyway), we’re inferring that Gatwa’s first full episode will come on Christmas Day — after all, “the festive period” could still mean New Year’s Day or indeed any time from around 20th December. Nonetheless, smart money’s on 25th December 2023…

And actually, we expect to see Gatwa before then, certainly after his surprise appearance in the trailer at the end of The Power of the Doctor, looking forward to the 60th anniversary.

So: three 60-minute (ish) episodes with David Tennant and Catherine Tate, then another new Doctor takes over the TARDIS soon after.

Next year is just the beginning of a very exciting new era for our favourite Time Lord…