What do we know about the Doctor Who Christmas special?

The third and final 60th anniversary special for Doctor Who, called “The Giggle”, airs on BBC One on Saturday night (December 9), but fans of the beloved sci-fi show won’t have to wait long to see Ncuti Gatwa’s first full adventure as the newly regenerated Fifteenth Doctor, as the Christmas special – “The Church on Ruby Road” – airs just a few weeks later on Christmas Day.

So what exactly do we know about the Christmas special?

The episode description

The BBC’s description of the special reads: “Long ago, on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, goblins, stolen babies and, perhaps, the secret of her birth."

The new companion

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Oh, and of course, we’ll be introduced to new companion, Ruby Sunday. We found out in November last year, during the Children in Need telethon, that she would be played by former Coronation Street actor Millie Gibson.

A BBC press release shared earlier this month gave some more details about Ruby’s character, noting that she was the baby abandoned on Christmas Eve and that she is “now living with her mum, Carla [Michelle Greenidge] and grandmother Cherry [Angela Wynter]”.

Davina McCall?

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Yes, the Long Lost Family co-presenter and former Big Brother presenter will be making an appearance in the Christmas special – as herself.

We wish we had more details to share about exactly what she’s up to in the episode, but that’s all we know.

Perhaps Ruby appears on Long Lost Family in the search for who abandoned her?

Goblins

The big bad of the episode appears to be “The Goblin King”, according to writer and showrunner Russell T Davies. A teaser image has been released of the creatures, and they certainly don’t look very welcoming…

And to top it off, Doctor Who will release a Christmas single called 'The Goblin Song' on Monday, composed by Murray Gold and raising money for Children in Need.

Gold said: “I don’t like these goblins and you won’t either but they have agreed to donate everything from their song to BBC Children in Need so let’s not give up on them.”

“The Church on Ruby Road” airs at 5:55pm on BBC One on 25 December.

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