Advance reviews (more than just this but I'm not posting them all) for the Christmas special are good:

 

RTD claims there are no plans for Tennant to return. I think he will inevitably appear at some point, but what I've heard is he's definitely not back in the next year in any way:

The second Series 14 episode referred to above re: the Beatles is titled "The Devil's Chord" and is rumored to be a musical episode.

There are rumors that Fifteen shares a dance and kiss with Jonathan Groff's character (who may be a Time Agent) in the period episode later in the series with Indira Varma, but I don't know any more about that.

 

It is interesting to me how much the end of The Giggle and the conclusion with Fifteen urging Fourteen to seek help and settle down, 'do rehab' (which makes Fifteen the more contented and stable character he is - he is the future product of that Earthbound rehab) connects with the Tales of the TARDIS shorts. Particularly RTD's - he wrote the specials but also the (very good) Five/Tegan Tales short in which they discuss the events of Earthshock. In that short, Tegan says many of the things Donna says to Fourteen in the specials; that he never stops running, never takes care of his mental and emotional health after the traumas they suffered. The aged Five then suggests that perhaps the memory TARDIS they find themselves in is a form of therapy, something Fifteen tells Fourteen to get.

From what we've been told since the last special, the aged Doctors in the Tales shorts are almost certainly their bi-generated selves from the alternate, split timelines created retroactively by the events of The Giggle - I believe either Colin's or McCoy's confirms this in their short, that they are from AUs where they never regenerate. What I'm curious about now is if we will see the memory TARDIS from Tales in future episodes of the main show. It's obviously a setup and an ethos that RTD has some investment in. As for Fourteen, I hope he is relegated to rare, perhaps feature-length specials in series hiatus periods, preferably 3-5 years apart. I've enjoyed the iteration but less is more.

Edited December 14, 20232 yr by Vee

Another for @DRW50, from the commentary for "The Giggle" only available in the UK:

Quote

Stookie Bill was originally the central villain. "A puppet trying to become a man." He'd have turned the Doctor into a living puppet (not a marionette) and marched around UNIT HQ like NPH does.

And at one point the Vlinx was going to be a big cow who sits at a desk ("the Ruminant") who would've revealed themselves to be a disguised Steven, as in Peter Purves Steven.

Edited December 14, 20231 yr by Vee

Thanks. That sounds like it would have been interesting, but difficult to explain or put together.

The latest Blue Peter winner goes BTS at Doctor Who. Her name: Verity.

 

1 minute ago, Vee said:

The latest Blue Peter winner goes BTS at Doctor Who. Her name: Verity.

That's lovely. I'd forgotten Blue Peter was still around.

Another fun clip from the Christmas special:

 

Slightly longer version.

And a lovely story from Millie Gibson about getting advice from Karen Gillan, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill.

Ncuti thinks the Doctor is an Aquarius (like me). Haha, fun clip:

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BBC Radio 1 (@bbcradio1)

Some lovely fanart:

Click to enlarge. I especially like the pix of Amy, Clara and Bill in the first one, and Sarah Jane featured in the second.

 

Two days:

 

It's time, @DRW50