Doctor Who Christmas specials ranked: rating all 13 episodes from The Christmas Invasion to Twice Upon a Time

The upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road will introduce the Fifteenth Doctor's companion Ruby Sunday, ahead of season 14 starting in 2024. Doctor Who Christmas specials were a staple of festive viewing since the sci-fi show was rebooted by the BBC in 2005.

However, this year's special is the firs to air on Christmas Day since Twice Upon a Time in 2017. Ahead of the new episode, we have the definitive ranking of all 13 Doctor Who Christmas specials, from The Christmas Invasion to Twice Upon a Time.

A Christmas Carol - 2010

There was no reason for Doctor Who to go this hard for a Christmas special, but the producers really knocked it out of the park here. Michael Gambon lent some gravitas to this episode with his huge acting chops that are missing from the other specials, with this sci-fi take on the classic Dickens tale. 

The Christmas Invasion - 2005

The first special of New Who, and still one of the best, this episode saw a newly regenerated and very weak Tenth Doctor take on the Sycorax Armada. The special also juggled Rose’s conflict in seeing the person she was in love with physically transformed into a completely new likeness, and showed us the darker side of the Doctor as he coldly ended Prime Minister Harriet Jones’s career with six words.

Twice Upon a Time - 2017

This episode was really a bit of fan service for those who grew up on classic Who, bringing in David Bradley as the First Doctor, replacing William Hartnell who died in 1975. With Capaldi’s Thirteenth Doctor refusing to regenerate he goes on one heartwarming final adventure with his old self. A smashing crossover.

The Time of the Doctor - 2013

Matt Smith wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, coming hot on the heels of one of the most popular Who actors of all time, David Tennant. However, he really came into his own in his swansong episode, facing off legions of enemies on the planet of Trenzalore before succumbing to old age and going out a hero.

Husbands of River Song - 2015

Another supremely emotional episode, this one brought River Song’s story to a close, in her world anyway, as we learn that this is the last time she will see the Doctor before the events of  Forest of the Dead, where her character dies saving him. River’s character arc is handled adeptly here and we see the soft side of Capaldi’s Doctor too.

The End of Time – Part One - 2009

It’s hard to judge this on it’s own merits as it’s half of a two-parter, the second half coming on New Year’s Day 2010, but nonetheless this was a beautiful setup to David Tennant’s final turn as the 10th Doctor, not accounting for the 50th anniversary special in 2013. Fantastic performances from Tennant, John Simm, and Bernard Cribbins.

The Runaway Bride - 2006

Perhaps not the best artistically, The Runaway Bride is one of the most fun Doctor Who specials, and that’s all down to Catherine Tate as Donna Noble and her chemistry with Tennant. There’s a tragic undercurrent to the episode as the Doctor has just lost Rose Tyler, the love of his life, but in Donna he finds a great pal, and we are fortunate that they brought her back as a companion for season four and later specials.

The Snowmen - 2012

Clara Oswald and the Eleventh Doctor meet properly for the first time in this special, and it makes for a pretty good romp, with a returning villain from the classic era in the form of the Great Intelligence. It remains fairly surface level and Eleven and Clara don’t match the screen presence of Ten and Donna in Runaway Bride.

Last Christmas - 2014

This one’s just too silly, even for a Doctor Who Christmas special, it doesn’t really go anywhere or show us anything new about the Doctor, and it features the worst companions of the new era, Clara and Danny. Not even Nick Frost as Santa Claus can save Christmas here.

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe - 2011

A Second World War period drama crossed with a Doctor Who special works better than you’d expect but this one still feels bloated. Doctor poses as a caretaker to a war widow and her two children an unforgettable Christmas, but things go awry predictably, a it’s all a little dull. 

The Next Doctor - 2008

In the midst of speculation about who would replace Tennant as the next Doctor, this episode seemed like a joke on the viewers and an attempt to throw entertainment reporters off the scent. The Cyberking could have been a great villain but ended up lacklustre, and thank God David Morrissey wasn’t picked as the Eleventh Doctor.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio - 2016

If you’re relying on Matt Lucal for comic relief, then you’re in trouble. A silly plot and a rubbish villain make for a weak episode ahead of a pretty duff tenth season. But hey, it’s still leagues ahead of the next episode on our list.

Kylie Minogue falling to her death on a wrecked Titanic spaceship is the only thing fans remember from this episode, and there’s a reason - it was rubbish.