Doctor Who specials (2022)

Doctor Who
2022 specials
DVD cover art for the first two specials
Showrunner	Chris Chibnall
Starring	Jodie Whittaker Mandip Gill John Bishop Sophie Aldred Janet Fielding
No. of stories	3
No. of episodes	3
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	1 January (2022-01-01) – 23 October 2022 (2022-10-23)
Specials chronology
← Previous Series 13 Next → 2023 specials
List of episodes

The 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who are three additional episodes that follow the programme's thirteenth series. The first special aired on BBC One on 1 January, followed by the second on 17 April, and the final on 23 October. They are the final episodes to be overseen by Chris Chibnall as showrunner.

The specials star Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor as well as Mandip Gill and John Bishop as her time-travelling companions, Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis. Whittaker, Gill, and Bishop, also departed the series at the end of the third special. The final episode also stars Sophie Aldred as Ace and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.

Chinball wrote all three specials, co-writing the second with Ella Road. They were directed by Annetta Lauger, Haolu Wang, and Jamie Magnus Stone. Filming took place from June–October 2021 and was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some post-production work continued into 2022. Other members of the production staff also exited the programme once production was complete.

The first two episodes were produced alongside the preceding series while the third was commissioned later to coincide with the BBC's centenary. Three soundtrack albums were also released to accompany the specials. The three specials received some criticism to the resolution of its overall story arc and saw a decline in viewing figures.

Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, and John Bishop (top, left to right) led the main cast across the three specials, while Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred (bottom) also headlined the final special.

Jodie Whittaker returned as the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor for the three episodes,^[3] with the final special being the last regular appearance of Whittaker in the role.^[4][5] Mandip Gill and John Bishop also return as Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis, respectively.^[6][7] Gill and Bishop initially stated they were unsure if they would depart after the third special.^[8] but Gill confirmed her departure from the show in the final special on 3 May 2022.^[9] while Bishop's exit was confirmed following its broadcast.^[10] Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred also headlined the final special, returning to the programme as former companions Tegan Jovanka and Ace.^[11][12] Fielding last appeared in the programme in 1984 while Aldred was last seen in the 1989.^[13]

In November 2021, it was reported that Aisling Bea and Pauline McLynn would appear in the New Year's Day special.^[14] Bea portrayed Sarah, the owner-operator of ELF self storage. Adjani Salmon appeared as Nick, a regular customer of Sarah's.^[15] Nicholas Briggs voiced the Daleks^[16] and Jonny Dixon reprised his role as Karl Wright in a brief cameo.^[17] In "Legend of the Sea Devils", Crystal Yu was cast to play Madame Ching while Arthur Lee and Marlowe Chan-Reeves guest starred as Ji-Hun and Ying Ki.^[18] David K. S. Tse appeared as Ying Wai while Craig Els played Marsissus, the chief Sea Devil.^[19] Nadia Albina appeared as Diane.^[20]

Sacha Dhawan played the latest incarnation of the Master and Patrick O'Kane portrayed Ashad, in "The Power of the Doctor".^[21][22] Also returning in this special are Jemma Redgrave, appearing as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and Jacob Anderson, in the role of Vinder.^[23][24] Nicholas Briggs voiced the Daleks once more, as well as the Cybermen.^[25] The episode saw David Bradley, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Jo Martin make cameo roles as previous incarnations of the Doctor.^[26][27] David Tennant, who previously portrayed the Tenth Doctor, is introduced as the Fourteenth Doctor.^[28] Bradley Walsh guest starred as Graham O'Brien, a former companion of the Doctor.^[29] Actors of other former companions, Ian Chesterton, Jo Jones and Mel Bush, portrayed by William Russell, Katy Manning and Bonnie Langford, appear in brief cameos near the end of the episode.^[30]

On 29 July 2021, the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) announced that Chris Chibnall, who serves as executive producer and showrunner of Doctor Who, would depart the series alongside Whittaker after a run of specials in 2022.^[31][32] Chibnall stated their departures were part of a "three series and out deal" he made with Whittaker prior to the eleventh series.^[33] The first two specials were produced as part of the eight episodes ordered for the thirteenth series.^[34] The BBC's Chief Content Officer, Charlotte Moore, later commissioned a third special which would be feature-length to coincide with the centenary of the BBC and serve as Whittaker's regeneration episode.^[35] This special is also the 300th Doctor Who story since the programme's inception in 1963.^[36] Executive producer Matt Strevens, who joined the series alongside Chibnall, also departed once production was complete.^[37] Nikki Wilson, a co-executive producer, also left following the centenary special, after being part of the show since "The Sontaran Stratagem" (2008), and its spin-off show, The Sarah Jane Adventures.^[38] Composer Segun Akinola announced that he would not return after the final special.^[39]

Chibnall continues as the head writer for the traditional New Year's special "Eve of the Daleks", which features the Daleks in a loose trilogy that connects their appearances in the past New Year's specials, "Resolution" (2019) and "Revolution of the Daleks" (2021).^[40] Chibnall also wrote the following specials, co-writing the second, "Legend of the Sea Devils", with Ella Road.^[41] The second special features the return of the Sea Devils in their first appearance since Warriors of the Deep (1984).^[42] Chibnall wrote the third and finale special, "The Power of the Doctor", which featured the Daleks, the Cybermen, and The Master.^[43][44] Reportedly Chibnall had planned to include the Master in the next regeneration story since the twelfth series and had reached out to Sacha Dhawan, who portrayed the Master, for suggestions on how to incorperate the character. Dhawan said he wanted to explore the theme of the Master's disguises, which was used as a major plot thread of the episode.^[45]

The three episodes explored an overarching plot of a potential same sex romance between the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz.^[46] Chibnall and Strevens revealed that this narrative was not originally in the plans for the story arc of the characters, but that they chose to incorporate it into the programme after viewers began shipping them and began referring to the two as "Thasmin".^[47] Road also contributed to this storyline in her episode, stating that it "felt really special" to write and mentioning that she is queer herself.^[48] The writing team ultimately opted for the two characters not to kiss on screen, with Chibnall explaining that it felt more emotional than if they had.^[49] He also said that if he "had to make a decision about Yaz and the Thirteenth Doctor again, he would make it differently".^[50] The specials also furthered some threads that began in the previous series and leading towards the Doctor's impending regeneration.^[51]

The first two episodes were filmed as part of the eight-episode production run commissioned for the thirteenth series.^[53] Production on all episodes was affected by the impact of COVID-19 on television.^[54][55][56] Annetta Laufer directed "Eve of the Daleks"^[57] which was filmed in Bristol in June 2021^[58] with cinematographer Robin Whenary.^[59] Filming for "Legend of the Sea Devils" followed throughout June and July with a mix of sound stage and location shooting.^[60][55] Haolu Wang made her television directorial debut with this episode^[61] while Mark Waters was the episode's cinematographer.^[62] Principal photography wrapped on this special by 25 July.^[63]

"The Power of the Doctor" filmed in Cardiff in September and October^[64][65] with director Jamie Magnus Stone.^[66] The rgeneration scene was filmed on a green screen which was overlaid on backdrop footage recorded elsewhere.^[67] The main cast concluded filming their scenes by 13 October,^[68] but additional photography continued the following day.^[69] The three specials were in picture lock by February 2022^[70] while post-production and visual effects work continued later into the year.^[71][72] The final moments of "The Power of the Doctor" were filmed on 13 May 2022, also on a green screen.^[73] Rachel Talalay directed footage recorded on this day as Stone was unavailiable.^[74]

Production blocks were arranged as follows:^[58][60][64]

The first details of the New Year's Day special, "Eve of the Daleks", were revealed following the conclusion of "The Vanquishers", the finale of the thirteenth series.^[40] Information regarding "Legend of the Sea Devils" was published after "Eve of the Daleks" concluded.^[42] Ahead of the second special, Scottish musician Nathan Evans released a Doctor Who-themed adaptation of the sea ballad "Wellerman".^[75] A teaser trailer for the centenary episode, without yet revealing the title or airdate, was likewise released after "Legend of the Sea Devils" concluded.^[43] The title of the special, "The Power of the Doctor", was announced in Doctor Who Magazine on 14 September 2022.^[44]

Two of the eight episodes originally commissioned for the thirteenth series of Doctor Who were already set to be held for broadcast in 2022.^[76] The first of the three specials was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 1 January 2022 in the series' traditional New Year's Day time slot.^[77] The following specials were also broadcast on BBC One; the second special aired on 17 April 2022 as an Easter special,^[78] with the third and final special airing on 23 October 2022 as part of the BBC's Centenary celebrations.^[79] All three episodes were also broadcast on BBC America in the United States,^[80][81][82] on CTV Sci-Fi in Canada, and on ABC TV Plus in Australia, where the first special also aired on ABC Television.^{[83][84][85][86]}

• ^(B) indicates a Blu-ray release
• ^(D,B) indicates a simultaneous DVD and Blu-ray release

On 18 November 2022, composer Segun Akinola announced that three individual soundtracks featuring selected pieces of score from each special would be digitally released on 2, 9, and 16 December 2022 respectively. A physical CD release containing all three soundtracks was released on 13 January 2023.^[96][97]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 32 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.63/10 for all three specials.^{[98][99][100]} ScreenRant's Craig Elvy wrote that the "2022 specials are avoiding the mistakes that killed Flux", explaining that the standalone episodic format serves the story better than the seralized format of Flux.^[101] Diane Darcy with Comic Book Resources noted the parallels between the romantic relationship of the Tenth Doctor and Rose and the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz, writing that "history seemingly repeated itself, but somehow worse than before".^[102] Maddie Davis, from the same publication, echoed these sentiments, stating that "Chibnall undoubtedly dropped the ball there". Davis went on to say that this represented a wider problem in the media with a lack of LGBTQ+ television writers.^[103] Many critics, including BJ Colangelo at /Film, Marc Burrows at The Guardian, and Ellie Wilson with The Phase Magazine felt that the Thasmin plotline was queerbaiting. Colangelo also said he felt that the story had an intentional lack of closure.^[104] Some viewers also criticized the resolution of this story arc.^[50]

"Eve of the Daleks" experienced a 300,000 decline in viewership compared to that of the thirteenth series finale broadcast a month earlier.^[105] With 4.4 million total viewers^[106], it also saw a decline in year-over-year data when compared to the two previous New Year's Day specials.^[107] "The Power of the Doctor" peaked at 4.04 million in its final moments.^[108] The three specials averaged 4.39 million viewers in consolidated data,^[106] which is lower than the average of 4.8 million seen in the previous series and 5.4 million average brought in by the twelfth series. Strevens defended the programme's lower ratings, stating that they were "very strong" for a broadcast series.^[109] They also maintained an average television share of 18.3%.^[110] In the United States, Doctor Who averaged 340,667 viewers in its first broadcast on BBC America,^{[111][112][113]} also down overall from Flux and Whittaker's debut series.^[114]