Doctor Who: 10 New Pictures From The Christmas Special

2. More Guest Stars And A Partridge In A Pear Tree

On the topic of glittering guest stars, Doctor Who will well and truly be keeping it in the family this year as one of the characters in the Christmas Special will be played by Michael Troughton who, if you hadn't guessed from his surname, just so happens to be the real life son of Patrick Troughton. That's probably as far as the connection will go, though, so fans shouldn't be holding their breath for his character, Professor Albert, to be revealed as a secret human meta-crisis version of the Time Lord's section incarnation, although stranger things have happened in a Steven Moffat script. This Christmas, Michael will be following in the footsteps of his older brother David who appeared in Series 4's Midnight as, coincidentally, another Professor called Hobbes. There may just be some sort of link there to satisfy the Doctor Who trivia hounds. Accompanying Michael on the mission to light up our Christmas in the guest star department - including the aforementioned Nathan McMullen and Dan Starkey - will be Casualty actress Maureen Beattie playing Bellows as well as rising star of the small screen Faye Marsay as Shona. Faye recently achieved critical acclaim for her performance in the popular E4 teen drama Glue and if any of these guest stars turn out to be the Doctor's new time travelling companion, a lot of fans are no doubt hoping it's her.