Congratulations to John Hurt who has received an honourary knighthood as part of the Queen’s 2015 New Years Honours.

The actor, whose career has spanned more than five decades, has been awarded the prestigious accolade for his services to drama. He is best known to Doctor Who fans for playing the War Doctor in last year’s 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor.

Meanwhile, Doctor Who alumni James Corden and Sheridan Smith have been made OBEs for their contribution to the arts.

As confirmed at the end of Last Christmas, Doctor Who will return next year in The Magician’s Apprentice.

Not much else is known about the Series 9 premiere episode at the moment but we can assume it will be written by Steven Moffat. It has also been confirmed that Jenna Coleman will be returning to reprise her role as Clara Oswald after the recent speculation surrounding her future in the series was resolved during last night’s Christmas Special.

Filming on the 2015 series begins in Cardiff in January.

What do you think of the latest title? What are your hopes for Series 9? Let us know below!

“It’s a long story.” Click here to discuss this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special!

The overnight UK rating for Last Christmas has been revealed.

This year’s Christmas Special, which aired on BBC One last night, was watched by an unofficial audience of 6.3 million viewers making Doctor Who the 7th most watched programme of the day with a 27.5% share of the total TV audience.

In the episode, the Doctor and Clara joined forces with Santa Claus on a festive escapade in the North Pole.

“It’s a long story.” Click here to discuss this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special!

After weeks of speculation it was confirmed in tonight’s Doctor Who Christmas Special that Jenna Coleman will be returning for Series 9 next year.

The actress’ future in the show has been up in the air since her character, Clara Oswald, parted ways with the Doctor at the end of the last series but during Last Christmas, which aired this evening, she stepped back aboard the TARDIS for more timey-wimey adventures. “It’s wonderful,” Jenna said. “I get a whole other series of stories with the Doctor and I couldn’t walk away with the story being unresolved.”

She continued: “There is so much more to do. I think they have finally just reached a point where they really understand each other. The arrival of the 12th Doctor has just kind of dropped this whole bombshell and allowed the dynamic to totally change, so I think just when Clara was feeling more comfortable in the relationship, it has suddenly thrown something new up.”

Meanwhile, Peter Capaldi has revealed he’s “thrilled” he’ll be reunited with his co-star when filming resumes in Cardiff next month. “Jenna’s always a pleasure to work with,” he added.

Are you happy Clara Oswald will be back in next year’s series? Share your thoughts below…

“It’s a long story.” Click here to discuss this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special!

Two heroic icons – the Doctor and Santa – along with Clara Oswald, are thrown together in one of the Time Lord’s most incredible adventures yet!

Christmas Day is here again but so far there’s been one rather important present missing from the festivities. That all changed tonight when the Twelfth Doctor returned to light up our screens in his debut Doctor Who Christmas Special – it was like he’d never been away!

He hasn’t really been gone that long, of course, but any length of time away is too long whenever our beloved Time Lord is concerned. He was back with festive bells on in Last Christmas, though, which proved – if anyone even had any doubt after 10 years of them – that a Doctor Who yuletide adventure really is the greatest gift of all. They’re usually full of seasonal cheer but this one was even more so as it featured none other than Santa Claus himself who joined forces with the Doctor for an adventure in the North Pole. Just ’cause.

Described as “The Thing meets Miracle on 34th Street”, Last Christmas was pretty much as Christmassy as it gets but was it worth unwrapping? Rate and Discuss it in the comments below and let us know what you thought of the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas Special, the twists and turns, the monsters, the guest stars and the festive fun and jollity in between…

NOTE: This discussion will NOT be spoiler monitored so please do not read the comments if you haven’t seen Last Christmas. You have been warned!

We’d just like to take a moment to wish all of our visitors a very Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a happy and safe holiday and enjoy whatever it is you’ll be doing to celebrate the special day. Don’t forget (not that you would, of course!) that the Doctor will be doing his bit to light up our festivities in his tenth annual yuletide outing – and Peter Calapdi’s first as the Twelfth Doctor – in Last Christmas which premieres at 6:15pm on BBC One. We’ll be discussing it from 7:15pm so come along if you can pull yourself away from your presents.

Speaking of which, the Doctor will be joining forces with Santa Claus tonight but before his starring role in the Christmas Special, we hope he leaves you an abundance of Doctor Who themed treats under your tree. Let us know if he’s good to you in the comments below…

So, enjoy your day, the turkey, the fun and then enjoy the Doctor Who Christmas Special!

It is a most beloved tradition, the annual Doctor Who Christmas episode. Starting with Ten, with alien remote controlled Christmas trees and “pilot fish” that piont to something bigger, like say, the Sycorax, and David Tennents debut. Of course what is a Doctor Who Christmas episode without rigged and dangerous Christmas decorations? What Whovian will look at their Christmas tree the same ever again? Nobody does killer Christmas like Doctor Who!

Even when Rose is home for Christmas, she still can’t get away from adventure – much to Mickey’s chagrin who just wants to spend time with her – There is no Christmas vacation for the Doctor and his companions. Can a still regenerating Doctor save the world? Of course. Nothing like fighting aliens on Christmas day. All in the work of a Time Lord! Luckily the Doctor is still regenerating and when he gets his hand cut off it grows back (and of course his cut off hand comes to great use later on).

The next year we were introduced to Donna via the Christmas episode, though she wouldn’t become a companion for another season. Who can forget Donna trying to jump from the moving car to the flying TARDIS as she screams about her wedding dress and the Doctor says, “Yes, you look lovely, now jump!” Never without humor or positivity, the Doctor, even during a crisis. Something we could all learn.

Donna continues to call Ten a martian, to which he responds, “I’m…I’m…I’m not from Mars,” Donna is pure Earthling, constantly calling the Doctor a Martian. She doesn’t yet seem to have an understanding that there’s more out there then Mars. She falls into the Martian cliché right away instantly associating “alien” with “Mars” but as we see in coming seasons, she very much grows out of that and becomes The Most Important Woman in the Universe. Donna really does come a long way!

A Christmas wedding should be magical and romantic and full of holiday spirit – but not for Donna Noble, no no, Donna Noble spends her Christmas wedding not getting married but instead fighting aliens and consequently meeting The Doctor (lucky girl!) Of course, despite Donna’s poor broken heart, her not getting married to Lance turns out to be a very good thing!

The Racnoss ship even looks like a Christmas star, glittering and shining in the sky above London, as if it could just fit on top of a spacey Christmas tree. Though unfortunately, the pretty star in the sky is not a Christmas tree topper. Imagine living in London.

Christmas night and you’re on the town with your best mates, celebrating (perhaps a little too much even) when you look up at the sky and see a giant sparkling silver star hanging above you. Has the City of London actually put this together? How did they pull this off? It’s beautiful and puts you in the Christmas spirit. Then suddenly each point of the star begins firing off electric beams and London is in chaos. The Thames ends up drained and you wake up with a hang over. What a Christmas! And all the while you have no idea of the Doctor’s involvment.

This is how the Doctor works, largely behind the scenes for most of humanity. Only a few select people ever get to experience what the Doctor does. He is very much like Santa! Only without delivering presents all around the world and a less round belly. An alien fighting Santa!

Sometimes it’s not just humanity who needs saving. Sometimes the Doctor does too. Sometimes the Doctor is more broken then we – or even himself – thinks he is, and he needs someone like Donna to step in and show him the way. Donna shows him reason and stops him from going too far; one reason why he always needs a companion. We see the Doctors less forgiving side, which, lets be honest, is kind of scary. But Donna had the strength – or the gumption? – to stand up to him and bring him down a few notches.

What we see in a Doctor Who Christmas episode is everything we expect to see: Action, adventure, snark left and right, and all the Christmasy feels they can pack into one episode. We’re a pretty lucky fandom us Whovians. Because even after the regular series is over, we still get that one last Christmas episode squeezed in, and it’s usually used for important happenings such as regenerations and a change of companion.

What will this years Christmas episode hold in store for us being Capaldi’s first Christmas as the Doctor? We can only wait impatiently to find out! From this Whovian to every Whovian out there: Merry Christmas and may you’re Christmas tree not to try to kill you.

Written by Becca Christian

All this month you’ve been voting for your favourite Doctor Who Christmas Special and the results are now in!

With 23.6% of the final vote, you have named the Doctor’s 2010 yuletude outing, A Christmas Carol, as the greatest of them all, and it’s not surprising really seeing as it’s pretty much the epitome of everything that Christmas stands for. It features snow, crackers, a timey-wimey take on the Charles Dicken classic and even Katherine Jenkins thrown in with a heartwarming festive song for good measure. What more could you possibly want!?

It was also special because it was Matt Smith’s debut seasonal adventure as the Eleventh Doctor and he spent it teaching lonely old miser Kazran Sardick – played by Professor Dumbledore himself Michael Gambon - how to love again. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Which has been your favourite Doctor Who Christmas Special to date?

A Christmas Carol (2010) (23.6%)
The Christmas Invasion (2005) (20.8%)
The Time of the Doctor (2013) (12.5%)
The End of Time, Part One (2009) (9.7%)
The Runaway Bride (2006) (9.7%)
The Snowmen (2012) (8.3%)
Voyage of the Damned (2007) (8.3%)
The Next Doctor (2008) (5.6%)
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011) (1.4%)

The festive adventure continues tomorrow night in Last Christmas at 6:15pm on BBC One.

T’was the night before Christmas and to celebrate the best way we can, we’ll all salute the Doctor by honouring a fan!

Our festive Fan of the Month has been revealed and flying the flag for Whovians around the world this December is Amreen, aged 17, from Kent. She put herself forward for the coveted title because she’s been following the Doctor since she was 14 and she has even written poems dedicated to her beloved Time Lord. The Doctor would be proud, Amreen!

Check out Amreen’s full Whovian profile here.

Fan of the Month has been running since June 2008 and currently features over 70 profiles.

Last year we witnessed the fall of the Eleventh, the clock struck Twelve and Matt Smith sported more looks in one episode than ever before.

Simultaneously the least and most Christmassy of all the Doctor Who Christmas specials, ‘The Time of the Doctor’ is perhaps one of my all-time favourite ‘event’ episodes.

Yes, on Christmas Day 2013, Whovians watched with baited breath as the clock slowly counted down to Twelve – what we saw was, perhaps, one of the most moving regeneration episodes ever to be part of Doctor Who canon.

While the story initially takes a little time to get going, I believe this is deliberately paced to allow the audience an opportunity to drink in both Clara and the Doctor as they go about their lives independently. When the two meet again we have a lot of wonderful gags from Moffat centred around the Doctor’s nakedness – who can forget the moment the Doctor reveals to Clara that her family can’t see his clothes? Brilliant!

While the story ramps up shortly after this domestic interlude, we’re still given ample time to savour the story which is being laid out in front of us; indeed, Moffat and director Jamie Payne do a truly stellar job in adding variety of pacing to the episode, something episodes prior to this had struggled with, either going for glacial or warp-speed in terms of their storytelling speed.

With the introduction of Tasha Lem and the wonderfully bonkers Papal Mainframe we’re given some of the most inventive and original story telling in a very long time making ‘Time of the Doctor’ one of most dazzlingly enjoyable episodes of recent years. Tasha is an interesting, engaging and strong female character who gives as good as she gets – a truly wonderful addition to the roster of new Doctor Who characters.

One of the most impressive balances the episode manages to strike is between heart and humour. Some episodes are moving, some are funny; excellent episodes can do both without it being a distraction from the narrative – the sight gag of “the old key in the quiff routine” is utterly hilarious and the emotional roller coaster that is Handles’ saga are just two examples of how one episode can really keep an audience guessing while still managing to tell a rollicking good story.

When the Doctor lands on Trenzalore the audience know some serious business is about to go down; what many Whovians didn’t expect was a centuries long conflict which would test not only the Doctor, but the limits of modern day prosthetics. With the passing of time we get to see the Doctor in varying stages of old age. These work incredibly well and add to Matt Smith’s masterful performance without masking the actor behind a rubber mask – my one criticism with this is that the first iteration of the ‘aged’ Doctor looks a little false. That said it can’t be easy to age up an actor whose face is a cartoony contradiction of old and young.

Moffat again deploys his clever ‘timey wimey’ technique to show us Clara in the present day and the Doctor as he grows old protecting Christmas on Trenzalore – the fact that the Doctor tries to send Clara back home in a similar manner to how he tried to save Rose in ‘The Parting of the Ways’ was a nice moment of Nu-Who being self-referential which wasn’t so on the nose as other examples have been. The fact that these trips are almost instantaneous for Clara is perhaps one of the most poignant uses of time travel in the programme to date and allow the audience to see a nice reversal of the Doctor’s usual perspective – that of seeing his companions grow old – another example of how ‘The Time of the Doctor’ tugs at the heart strings in more ways than would be immediately obvious.

The montage of the Doctor protecting Christmas is incredibly well done and shows just how brilliantly Matt Smith works with younger actors – the town of Christmas truly comes to life and the original fairy tale tone of Smith’s first series makes a welcome return in his swan song. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was Moffat’s intention all along, given that he seems to be a fan of having arcs come full circle (eventually!).

Perhaps one of the most moving moments of the episode which had this writer sobbing into his cold turkey sandwich was the death of Handles. Any fan worth his salt will tell you that, while he was short lived on screen, he’s actually the oldest serving companion the Doctor ever had – making his heart-wrenching final moments all the more powerful. Who would have thought that the disembodied head of cyberman reminding the Doctor to patch the phone line back through the console would have thousands in tears?! Wonderful work from all involved, especially Kayvan Novak who voiced Handles with a gravitas otherwise unseen in the line of cyborg friends.

As if that weren’t bad enough, fans also had to say goodbye to the eleventh Doctor – a man many had fallen in loved in spite of their initial reservations. Smith had proved himself to be a truly remarkable Doctor, old and young, funny and sad, wise yet foolish – in short, he had played the Doctor in the most truly timeless way we’ve ever seen, harkening back to the golden years of Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker.

We all loved his daft face with his big chin and we all must have shed a tear when he gave his final speech – the speech that, while sentimental, wasn’t half so cloying or whiney as Tennant’s “I don’t want to go” moment.

In short, ‘The Time of the Doctor’ was an episode of the most brilliant contradictions – which, I suppose, is the most fitting swan song Smith could have hoped for.

Written by Christie Inman-Hall