Doctor Who Is Getting a Christmas Special After All

Featuring Doctor Who's most underrated Doctor

When the BBC put Doctor Who up for competitive tender, it brought terrible news for Whovians who had been waiting for more information about the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special. This year, there wouldn't be one, as both showrunner Russell T. Davies and production company Bad Wolf threw in the towel to make way for new creatives to lead the series into a different era.

However, there is always a silver lining. As it turns out, a Doctor Who Christmas special is on the way after all, and Christopher Eccleston will lead it.

Doctor Who's 2026 Christmas special reunites an unlikely pair

Eccleston is best known for his time as the Ninth Doctor, when, alongside Billie Piper as his companion Rose Tyler, he battled Daleks, Slitheen, and even sentient gas masks during his short time as the Time Lord. After twenty years, Eccleston has returned to star in a special full-cast audio drama from Big Finish: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: The Wash.

Written by Robert Valentine, The Wash reunites two generations of Doctor Who: the Ninth Doctor and his granddaughter, Susan, with Carole Ann Ford returning to voice her in this new audio-only drama. Read the full summary of the adventure below.

When Rose and Jackie start early Christmas prep, the Doctor opts to do the laundry. The Wash Inn is a hub and haven for lonely souls, and who is more lonely than the last of the Time Lords?

But why has the memory of his granddaughter, Susan, begun to trouble him? What terrible force lurks in an innocent washing machine? And is there enough Brite White in the world to deal with it? It will all come out in the Wash…

Eccleston shared his appreciation for the upcoming special. "This was a brilliant, really outstanding script, I thought. I love that notion that as we go through our lives, particularly if you’re a Time Lord, everybody you meet remains with you," Eccleston said in an interview with Big Finish. "And working with Carole was really exciting. I’d been looking forward to it. I think that 'An Unearthly Child' is the greatest episode ever made — when I made the TV series, that was the one I watched as inspiration. And she’s a pro, she was absolutely brilliant — a real honor.”

"An Unearthly Child" is the very first episode of Doctor Who. It introduced the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell, and his four companions, including his granddaughter Susan Foreman, played by Carole Ann Ford.

"[The Wash] is such a strong story," Ford shared with Big Finish. "Susan pushes this Doctor to try and sort himself out and not be so touchy with people. I think listeners will be cheering Susan on!"

Where can you watch The Ninth Doctor Adventures: The Wash?

The Ninth Doctor Adventures: The Wash arrives at a perfect time, streaming on the official Doctor Who YouTube channel on Dec. 22 and giving Whovians worldwide a chance to listen in together.

However, even if fans miss it, the audio drama will remain free to stream on the Doctor Who YouTube channel for a month afterward, granting fans the perfect opportunity to listen to this Christmas-themed adventure over the holidays.