Doctor Who: Every Festive Special Ranked From Worst To Best

"It's the most Doctor-ful time of the yearrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

Doctor Who and the festive season go together like roast potatoes and gravy. When the show returned to our screens in 2005, we were treated to a special episode on every Christmas Day... until this tradition got inexplicably bumped to New Year's Day from 2019 onwards.

Why would you do that to us, Doctor Who? Why?

Since the revival, there have been well over a dozen festive specials (with more on the way), but which adventures filled Whovians with the most holiday cheer? There's only one way to find out.

First up, some qualifiers: for this ranking, we've not only examined each episode's quality, but also how well it functioned as a Christmas/New Year's Day special. We've also added extra points to episodes that are historically significant in some way, as well as deducting points from ones we can't remember a single thing about.

The festive season means different things to different people, so you might not be satisfied with the results of this list. However, if a massive argument over something trivial doesn't sound like Christmas to you, then nothing will.

Premiering on New Year's Day 2021, Revolution of the Daleks had a lot of hard work to do to win fans round from the controversial Timeless Child reveal.

Did it do this? No, not really. It barely even tried.

The story tries to pull together all the loose ends of the previous season, while introducing a plot about a new breed of Daleks attempting to take over the Earth.

It's a decent enough adventure (and the return of John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness was long overdue), but overall, Revolution of the Daleks was just... bleugh.

Yes, it got the Thirteenth Doctor out of prison and bid farewell to Graham and Ryan, but the actual story just felt bland and tired.

Also, it wasn't festive in any way, shape, or form, which is a big no-no.