Doctor Who Christmas Special Rumored To Feature Another Doctor

07/01/2017 03:28 pm EDT

One Doctor is preparing to make his exit from Doctor Who this Christmas, but this year's Christmas Special may also feature the surprising return of another Doctor.

Set photos suggest that David Bradley (Game of Thrones, the Harry Potter movies) will guest star in the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special as the First Doctor, originally played by William Hartnell in the earliest episodes of Doctor Who.

Bradley played Hartnell, the actor, in An Adventure Through Space and Time, a docudrama about Hartnell and the early years of Doctor Who that was written by Mark Gatiss and released in 2013 to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

A photo from the set of the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special shows Bradley on set walking with assistant director Lauren Pate and apparently in costume as the First Doctor.

The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special will be the last episode for showrunner Steven Moffat. One of Moffat's hallmarks as a writer has been the examination of the show's own mythology. Having the Twelfth Doctor and the First Doctor meet seems very much like something Moffat would do, even if it is perhaps just a flashback.

Then again, perhaps the show is going to get even more meta, and the Doctor will meet Hartnell. Or maybe this is just some sort of an Easter egg, cameo, or other such ambiguous role, similar to Tom Baker's appearance in the 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor."

Time will tell (no pun intended), but it will certainly give Doctor Who fans something to chew on while they wait for Christmas Day.

Peter Capaldi took over as The Doctor in Season 8, after Matt Smith's departure. After three seasons, he will depart the show alongside showrunner Steven Moffat, who has steered the series since Season 5. Moffat was a breakout writer during the Russell T. Davies seasons of Doctor Who.

Moffat will be handing the reins over to Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall for Doctor Who Season 11. Chibnall is a longtime Doctor Who fans who also wrote for the series during the Russell T. Davies era and was head writer on the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood.

Doctor Who Season 10 also introduces Pearl Mackie as the new companion, Bill Potts, replacing the previous companion, Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald, who left after Season 9. Whether she will join the new Doctor in Doctor Who Season 11 is still unknown

The Doctor Who Season 10 finale airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.

via Bleeding Cool

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