All the BBC Doctor Who Christmas specials ranked – number one may surprise you

made a triumphant return to the Day TV schedule last year for the first time in six years having been moved to New Year’s Day in 2017. It served to properly introduce the fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, to audiences as he embarked on his first official adventure with his new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).

Although he made a brief appearance at the end of the final 60th anniversary special The Giggle, when ‘s Doctor bi-generated into this incarnation, this was his first full episode. He was only the second Doctor to make his first regular appearance in a festive special – the first being David Tennant back in 2005 in the first special of the modern Doctor Who era followng the reboot.

With a full series now under his belt Ncuti is back for more festive thrills this year in a special called Joy To The World, which sees ‘s Nicola Coughlan guest star. She plays Joy who checks into a London hotel in 2024 and opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel where she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor.

Christmas specials were never a thing during the classic era. In fact Christmas only featured once in that period. The twelve-part serial The Daleks’ Master Plan was broadcast weekly over the 1965–1966 Christmas period, with its seventh episode scheduled for Christmas Day.

To mark the occasion, the episode was scripted in the style of a pantomime. In its final scene, as the Doctor and his companions celebrate Christmas with a toast, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) turned to the camera and broke the fourth wall by saying “Incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home.”

When Russell T. Davis returned as showrunner, he assured fans the much loved specials would be back and it appears he is remaining true to his word. As the Doctor prepares to save the world yet again, has ranked the previous specials using viewing figures and the Audience Appreciation Index (AI) to guage their popularity.

14. The Church on Ruby Road – 2023

The most recent Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road is also the lowest rated in the history of the Christmas episodes. Despit this it was the ‘s third highest rated show over Christmas Day 2023. For the purposes of this we are using the official figures as although it also airs on Disney Plus that is only outside the UK.

Since it was Ncuti Gatwa’s first full outing as The Doctor the episode served to set up future storylines and introduce new characters such as companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). She was abandoned at birth at the church of the title and raised by a foster mother Carla.

When Carla takes in a new foster baby named Lulubelle the child was kidnapped by goblins. Ruby chases after them on to the roof, where she is joined by the Doctor who helps her retrieve the infant. However, when Ruby disappears The Doctor realised the goblins travelled back in time to kidnap her as a baby and eat her. This means he too must head to the past to save her (it’s a very timey wimey episode).

It also introduced the mysterious Mrs Food (Anita Dobson) whose true identity still remains a mystery and has kept fans specualting for a year.

The consolidated ratings figures for the episode were 7.49 million viewers and the episode had an AI of 82 which places it at the bottom of the ratings.

13: The Husbands of River Song – 2013

The 2015 Christmas special dealt with The Doctor’s relationship with his wife River Song, played by fan favourite Alex Kingston. Set on the planet Mendorax Dellora in 5343, a case of mistaken identity he is recruited by River to assist her in removing a diamond from the head of King Hydroflax after his maligned attempt to steal it.

Surprisingly she doesn’t recognise his newest face, and the Doctor struggles to break the news to her, He is also shocked to learn how she acts on her own and how many other lovers she has had. The pairt brought the head of Hydroflax to the starship Harmony and Redemption to sell it, and eventually River discovers the Doctor’s identity.

When the starship is caught in a meteor strike and crashes into the planet Darillium, the Doctor and River are fated to have their final date together, which lasts for 24 years – the span of a night on Darillium.

This brought River Song’s story full circle as fans had already seen her demise in the 2008 David Tennant episode Silence In The Library. However, despite the character’s popularity it is one of the lowest rated of all the specials with 7.69 million viewers and an AI of 82

12. The Return of Doctor Mysterio – 2016

Peter Capaldi strarred as The Doctor in this super hero themed festive offering. Along with Nardole (Matt Lucas) he investigateed the New York branch of Harmony Shoal, a multinational research company which was also being investigated by journalist Lucy Fletcher (Charity Wakefield). Together they discovered that the organisation was transplanting alien brains into humans.

When one of the alien workers found them they were rescued by a superhero called the Ghost, an alter ego for Grant Gordon, played by Shameless US star Justin Chatwin, whom the Doctor met several years beforehand when Grant as a child. It transpired that The Doctor accidentally turned him into a superhero. In his civilian guise Grant is a nanny working for Lucy who is unaware of his true identity.

When the Doctor and Nardole found the aliens’ ship, they discovered it had been turned into a bomb that will crash into New York as part of a complex plan to implant the alien brains into world leaders giving them control of the Earth. However, the Doctor saves the day by aiming the ship towards New York earlier than planned and the collision was stopped by Grant who then revealed his identity to Lucy.

He and Lucy declared their love for and he threw the ship into the sun. UNIT then shut down Harmony Shoal, but an alien brain implants itself into a UNIT soldier in a scene that hints at things to come.

Despite piggybacking on the succss of superhero movies this only 7.83 million people tuned in to this and it has an AI of 82 making it second from last on the ranking.

11. Twice Upon A Time – 2017

After massively impressing fans when he played Willaim Hartnell aka The First Doctor in the film An Adventure In Time And Space, David Bradley was enlisted to play the first Doctor in this special four years later.

This would mark Peter Capldi’s final episode as The Doctor and his regeneration loomed heavily over the special. He and the Doctor were approached by a displaced, confused and injured First World War British captain and all three were abducted by a spaceship, where inside they met former companion Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) who had been converted to a Cyberman in an earlier episode.

They were both offered freedom by the ship’s holographic pilot in exchange for allowing the return of the captain but they escaped instead and and took themFirst Doctor’s TARDIS to Villengard. Thaks to a rogue Dalek Rusty the Doctor learnt that the pilot and its ship were designed to extract people when they died, and archive their memories and Bill was one such avatar.

After saving the day The First Doctor informed the Twelfth that he was prepared to regenerate, and returned to his TARDIS. After time alone with Bill’s avatar, the Twelfth Doctor returned to his TARDIS and regenerated into Jodie Whittaker’s thirteenth incarnation.

Although an impressive 7.92 million people tuned in and it garnered an AI of 81 this doesn’t make the top ten in the rankings.

10. Last Christmas – 2014

Coincidentally the tenth Doctor Who festive special also comes in at number ten on the countdown. This Twelfth Doctor adventure sees Clara (Jenna Coleman) discover Santa Claus, played by special guest star Nick Frost, on her rooftop.

As she denies his existence, the Doctor arrives and takes her away in the TARDIS. eanwhile there are issues at the North Pole as a group of scientists try to save their colleagues who have been taken over by crab-like creatures.

When The Doctor and Clara are attacked by the creatures they are rescued by Santa. The Doctor eventually realises that the creatures are Dream Crabs, alien crabs that induce a dream state while devouring a person’s brain meaning that everyone is in a dream, with Santa being part of it.

They all escape when they dream that Santa is flying them home and one by one they wake up and their crabs die. Back in reality, the Doctor asks Clara if she wants to rejoin him aboard TARDIS and she accepts setting the scene for more adventures.

While this garnered 8.28 million viewers and has an AI of 82 it just barely makes the top ten.

9. The Runaway Bride – 2006

The 2006 special introduced viewers to future companion Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate. To the Doctor’s surprise she materialised in his TARDIS in her wedding dress.

Although he returned her safely to her wedding, the adventure didn’t end there as the reception was attacked by robots dressed as Santa Claus. The Doctor discovered that they were being controlled remotely from space whch led him to the spider-like Empress of the Racnoss, played by an unrecognisable Sarah Parish, who had been hiding in hibernation at the edge of the universe.

The Doctor took travelled back billions of years wth Donna and discovered that an inert Racnoss ship became the core of the Earth as the planet formed around it. In the present day The Empress was trying to wake her children aboard with huon particles, which it turned out Donna’s fianceé had been spiking her with, which is why she materialised on board the TARDIS.

Although The Doctor attempted to offer a peaceful solution, the Empress refused, and the Doctor was forced to flood the pit with water from the Thames in order to save the planet. Although he dropped Donna back home, this wouldn’t be the last we would see of her and she went on to become one of his most popular companions.

With 9.35 million viewers and an AI of 84 it is far from the most popular Doctor Who special but it does mark a pivotal point in the series.

8. The Christmas Invasion – 2005

The first Doctor Who special of the rebooted era also marked David Tennant’s debut as The Doctor after the departure of Christopher Eccleston. However, he spent most of the episode in his pyjamas in bed recovering from the effects of regeneration.

This meant that most of the focus of the episode was on tried and tested companion character Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). When she and her boyfriend are attacked by Santa robots; the Doctor theorised that energy from his regeneration has lured them here.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) was threatened by the leader of alien race the Sycorax into giving them half of the Earth’s population as slaves. After Rose and her mother and boyfriend drag the Doctor onto the TARDIS, it is detected by the Sycorax and they transport it to their ship.

The pyjama clad Doctor challenges the Sycorax leader to a sword fight for the future of the Earth, which he eventually wins saving the planet.

With the new era of Doctor Who only one season in this garnered 9.84 million viewer and an AI of 84 making it the eighth most popular epsiode.

7. The Snowmen – 2012

The eighth special in the modern Doctor Who era gave fans their second glance at new companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) although, just to confuse the issue, she was called Oswin Oswald.

Set in Victorian London this boasted a stellar list of guest stars including Sir Ian McKellan and Richard E Grant. The “Great Intelligence”, a form of “memory snow” mirrored the thoughts of anything around it and hatched a plot to create an army of ice people.

Refusing to investigate the snowmen The Doctor returned to the TARDIS, in a cloud above London. That is until Clara turns to him for help.

To fans surprise after the Doctor decided to take her on as a companion, Clara was thrown off the edge of a cloud and fell to her death. Afterwards he discovered that her full name was Clara Oswin Oswald and concluded that she is likely still alive in some other time and left in the TARDIS to find her.

This offering came in with just under ten million viewers at 9.87 million and an AI of 87 making it the seventh most popular special.

6. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe – 2011

Outnumbered star Claire Skinner guest starred in the Narnia inspired 2011 Christmas special playing, unsurprisingy, a frazzeld mother. The Doctor crash-landed on Earth in 1938 and was helped back to the TARDIS by her character Madge Arwell. Fast forward three years and it’s the middle of the Second World War.

Madge’s husband Reg has disappeared while piloting an Avro Lancaster bomber but she is keeping it a secret from her two children, Lily and Cyril. When they evacuate London to stay at a house in Dorset, the Doctor masquerades as the caretaker.

Cyril is lured through a portal to a winter planet leading the Doctor and Lily and later Madge to follow. Following Cyril’s tracks to a tower they are confronted with wooden humanoids who attempt to put a crown on Cyril, which will allow the souls of the trees to escape.

Madge, she is forced to fly the tower vessel to safety and when they land, it tuns out that Reg is alive as he had followed the light from the tower and landed safely.

The snowy special had 10.77 million viewers and an AI of 84 making it the sixth most popular on the list.

5. The Time Of The Doctor – 2013

This epic episode, which was Matt Smith’s last appearance as The Doctor, saw him spend hundreds of years fighting and defending a planet called Trenzalore against hordes of aliens determined to prevent the Time Lords from returning.

A prophecy had stated the Doctor would spend the last of his years on this planet and with Matt’s replacement, Peter Capaldi, already announced everyone new where this story was ultimately going.

His companion Clara (Jenna Coleman) eventually returned to the planet to find that the Doctor had fought for so long, with no more regenerations, that he was on the cusp of dying of old age. As he resigned himself to his fate Clara convinced the Time Lords to give him a new regeneration cycle.

Of course he saved the day and after vowing to remember the incarnation he was and hallucinating a final goodbye to former companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillen), he regenerated into the Twelfth Doctor.

This episode drew 11.14 millon viewers and has an AI of 83 making it the fifth entry on our list.

4. A Christmas Carol – 2010

As the title suggests Matt Smith’s first Christmas special as The Doctor in 2010 was loosely based on the classic Charles Dickens tale. When his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillen) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) have their honeymoon interrupted when their space liner becomes caught in an electrified cloud The Doctor is summoned to investigagte.

On the planet beneath the liner he discovers that the atmosphere is controlled by the miserly Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon) who refuses to let the ship safely land. Taking a nod from the story of Scrooge, The Doctor travels back to his youth and tries to alter the past to make him the curmudgeonly Kazran kinder.

He spends time with young Kazran and a young woman named Abigail (Katherine Jenkins) , who was released from a cryogenic chamber as her singing abilities calm the sharks which occupy the atmosphere.

However, she was suffering from an incurable disease, and Kazran grew up bitter that she could not be let out of the chamber again or she would die. However the Doctor convinced him to release her so she could sing and calm the atmosphere, and after she saved the day the two enjoyed a last moment together.

The touching tale reached 12.11 million viewers and has an AI of 83 making it number four on the ratings list.

3. The End Of Time (Part One) – 2009

This two part special marked the end of David Tennant’s era as the Doctor. It also saw the return of fan favourite John Simm as The Master and featured Succession star Brian Cox don heavy prosthetics to play an Ood. The plot saw a cult of women resurrect the Master, but his wife Lucy Saxon sabotaged the ceremony, causing him to be brought back with incredible strength but constant hunger.

Meanwhile the Doctor arrived back on Earth on Christmas Eve and reunited with Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbens). He found the Master at wastelands outside London, and learnt that the Master has been suffering from hearing the sound of drums.

The Master is later placed in custody of Joshua Naismith (DAvid Harewood) who has recovered a broken alien “Immortality Gate” and wants the Master to fix its programming. The Master activates the Gate, which he has reprogrammed to replace all of humankind’s DNA with his own resulting in a planet full of lookalikes.

Elsewhere, the Lord President of the Time Lords (Timothy Dalton) asserted that the Time Lords would return.

The story is left hanging as part two was broadcast on New Years Day ensuring that the Doctor dominated the festive season. While this episode had 12.4 million viewers and an AI of 87 making it number 3 on the list of Christmas specials, it was actually beaten in the ratings part two with 12.27 million viewers and an AI of 89

2. The Next Doctor – 2008

The 2008 special The Next Doctor caused huge excitment as fans specualted that, after three years, David Tennant’s Doctor might regerneate into a new incarnation. However, the title turned out to be a curveball as the plot saw him encounter a man calling himself “the Doctor” who was played by David Morrissey.

Although initally The Doctor believed the man, who was suffering from amnesia, was a future incarnation of himself he later realises the Next Doctor was really a human called Jackson Lake. He was supposed to be the first missing person during the Cyberman invasion that had seen numerous children, pulled from workhouses around the city by Miss Mercy Hartigan (Derbhla Kirwan), are being put to work at an underground facility under Cybermen guard.

The Cybermen converted Hartigan into the controller for the “CyberKing”, a giant mechanical Cyberman powered by the energy generated by the children.When she refused the Doctor’s offer to leave the planet, he severed her connection to the CyberKing, exposing her to the emotion of what she had done which destroyed# both the Cybermen and Miss Hartigan.

The episode ended on a sweet note with with the Doctor and Jackson heading off to attend Christmas dinner in remembrance of those they have lost.

While not as popular as the number one on the list it still garnered an impressive 13.10 million viewers and an AI of 86 making it second in the popularity ranking.

1. Voyage of the Damned – 2007

David Tennant’s third festive special featured pop princess Kylie Minogue playing a waitress called Astrid Peth who works aboard the Titanic. However, it isn’t the legendary tragic vessel but rather a nuclear-powered interstellar cruise liner from the planet Sto, which is inspired by the original ship.

It is on a collision course for earth and it turns out that the culprit is the former cruise line owner Max Capricorn. He was bitter about being forced out of his own company and plotted the Titanic’s collision with Earth to bankrupt the company and frame the board of directors for murder.

Astrid sacrificed herself to save the Doctor and he used the heat from entry into the Earth’s atmosphere to restart the ship’s engines and prevent the collision. The episode is also noteable for giving us our first glimpse of Bernard Cribbens as Wilfred Mott

With 13.31 million viewers and an 86 AI rating it is a clear winner for the most popular special.