List of Doctor Who Christmas and New Year's specials

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The show has had a large influence in the media and across society since its inception in 1963. Beginning in 2005, yearly special Christmas episodes were produced in addition to a regular series until 2017. From 2018–2022 (with the exception of 2020) the show temporarily transitioned to New Year's Day specials instead. Beginning in 2023, the programme returned to producing Christmas specials. From 1963–1989 episodes were occasionally broadcast on holidays but often had little mention of the occurrence.

The holiday episodes have proven to be a success with viewers, by bringing in larger viewing figures than regular episodes of the programme. The 2008 special, "Voyage of the Damned" is the most-viewed Doctor Who episode since 2005 and held a record for the highest watched BBC drama from its broadcast until 2021. "A Christmas Carol" is often considered by critics to be the best Christmas episode.

In 2015, a DVD and Blu-ray boxset was release containing 10 of the Christmas specials. Doctor Who, along with other television series in the Whoniverse, have occasionally broadcast episodes on other holidays.

Doctor Who revolves around an alien Time Lord called the Doctor who travels with a companion in a time and space machine called the TARDIS. Instead of dying, the Doctor regenerates by changing every cell in their body and taking on a new appearance. Throughout their adventures the Doctor and their companion frequently stop other aliens from committing acts of violence.

Classic era
During the first run of the programme (1963–1989), special episodes were not a frequent occurrence. During the third season, the twelve-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan was broadcast weekly over the 1965–1966 Christmas period, with its seventh and eighth episodes scheduled for Christmas and New Year's Day respectively. The former, "The Feast of Steven", was scripted as a comic interlude in the style of a pantomime, in the middle of an otherwise epic adventure. In its final scene, as the Doctor and his companions celebrate Christmas with a toast, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) turns to the camera and breaks the fourth wall by saying "Incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home." The following episode, "Volcano", returns to the main narrative of The Daleks' Master Plan, although its ending briefly features a contemporary New Year's Eve. The first episodes of Day of the Daleks (1972) and The Face of Evil (1977) were first shown on New Year's Day, but make no reference to the holiday season. The classic run had no subsequent holiday episodes.

Revived era
When Doctor Who was revived in 2005 with Russell T Davies acting as showrunner the first proper Christmas special, "The Christmas Invasion", was broadcast in 2005. This became a yearly tradition for the programme with additional holiday specials being produced for yearly. A special episode aired on New Year's day in 2010 in addition to the typical Christmas episode in 2009. The trend of episodes airing on Christmas day continued under showrunner Steven Moffatt until 2017 when they briefly ended with "Twice Upon a Time". After Chris Chibnall assumed the role of showrunner of the series in 2018, Doctor Who moved to producing yearly New Year's specials instead. The three holiday specials made during Chibnall's tenure, airing in 2019, 2021, and 2022, all featured the Daleks and formed a loose three-part story-arc. In lieu of a special episode in 2020, the first episode of the twelfth series was broadcast on New Year's Day outside of the programme's normal timeslot. When Davies returned to Doctor Who, one of the first things he requested was the return of the Christmas special. A special was not produced for the 2022 holiday season, but a new trailer for the programme's 60th anniversary was released in its absence. Christmas specials then returned with "The Church on Ruby Road" in 2023. Moffat also returned to pen the 2024 special, "Joy to the World" being the first time the incumbent showrunner did not write the holiday special.

Reception and impact
Doctor Who holiday specials have consistently brought in higher viewing figures than other episodes of the programme. "Voyage of the Damned" is the most-viewed episode of Doctor Who since its revival in 2005. It also had the highest overnight audience of any BBC drama until 2021 when it was beat by the sixth series finale of Line of Duty. "A Christmas Carol" is frequently considered by critics to be the best holiday special, while others have named the best to be "The Runaway Bride", "Last Christmas",  and "The Husbands of River Song". Richard Riley, a Biostatistics professor at the University of Birmingham conducted a study and claimed that there was a connection between Doctor Who Christmas specials and lower death rates across England and Wales. The study compared mortality rates across the UK from 2005–2017 to those from years before the specials began. Riley said that as many as seven fewer deaths per 10,000 people occur when the specials were consistently broadcast. A further editorial by the professor admitted that while there were "impeccable mathematical models [...] a single television broadcast cannot affect an entire country's mortality rates."

Home media release
The Christmas specials between "The Christmas Invasion" (2005) and "Last Christmas" (2014), inclusive, were released as a DVD and Blu-ray boxset titled Doctor Who – The 10 Christmas Specials on 19 October 2015.

Other holidays and elsewhere in the Whoniverse
The Doctor Who episodes "Planet of the Dead" and "Legend of the Sea Devils" were scheduled to broadcast on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, respectively, in years that lacked a full series. Many series of the revived era either launched or aired a new episode during Easter weekend. Additionally, the first episode of the thirteenth series, "The Halloween Apocalypse", was shown on Halloween day. In 2007, the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood aired the final two episodes of its first series, "Captain Jack Harkness" and "End of Days", on New Year's Day. That same day, the first episode of another spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures was broadcast. The penultimate episode of Torchwood's second series aired on Good Friday.