So, another series of Doctor Who is over.

Saturday’s (December 5) series 9 finale ‘Hell Bent’ certainly drew a range of opinions, though there was a lot of focus on Clara’s return (despite her presumed exit in ‘Face The Raven’).

However, there were many general divisions among Whovians over the episode:

https://twitter.com/Cthuluhulahoop/status/673273585063055362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/effiestardust/status/673273460550967296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Series 9 finale was loads better than the Series 8 finale #DoctorWho

— Charlie Schneider (@AwesomEmergency) December 5, 2015

https://twitter.com/MacMhicheil/status/673275541642977280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Frustrating finale. Great ideas but the return of Gallifrey and a rare shocking death of a companion completely thrown away. #DoctorWho

— Dean Tucker (@deantucker91) December 5, 2015

Not quite sure how I feel about Doctor Who finale :/ It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either!

— Shay (@pmaxshay) December 5, 2015

Slightly disappointing #DoctorWho season finale but THAT SCREWDRIVER!!!!

— Finn H. Drude (@FinnHD) December 5, 2015

Next time on Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song, the 2015 Christmas special, written by Steven Moffat.

Synopsis: It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor is hiding from Christmas Carols and Comedy Antlers. But when a crashed spaceship calls upon the Doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy. King Hydroflax (Greg Davies) is furious, and his giant Robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas) survive? And when will River Song work out who the Doctor is? All will be revealed on a starliner full of galactic super-villains and a destination the Doctor has been avoiding for a very long time.

It premieres Friday 25 December, 5.15pm to 6.15pm on BBC One.

BBC One will boast “more than 90%” of new programmes in peak time over Christmas, the acting director of television has announced.

Speaking at a BBC TV Christmas Press Launch, Mark Linsey said there will be fewer repeats between 6pm and 10.30pm.
” Firstly, it’s important to reiterate that no one invests as much in original programming over Christmas as the BBC,” he stated.

“We are still finalising our schedules, but I can promise you that in BBC One peak time, more than 90% of programmes will be brand new.

“I think this is an impressive commitment, not least given the BBC is facing unprecedented financial pressure and is in the process of saving £1.6 billion.
“These cuts will make the challenge even more difficult in future, but we will always try to offer our best shows in Christmas peak time,” he stated.

However, Mr Linsey also defended the decision for some festive repeats as long as they are “used carefully”.
“But many people appreciate – or even expect – a chance to watch old favourites again,” he said.

“Five million tuned into a repeat of Mrs Brown’s Boys last year and we shouldn’t forget that online video streaming services that are growing so rapidly right now mainly offer programmes from the archive.”

He continued: “So we should make no apology for giving viewers another chance to watch some classic BBC programmes and modern family favourites again, as long as they are used carefully and offered alongside a distinctive mix of new programmes, like we have this Christmas.”

Mr Linsey hailed this year’s Christmas line-up, which includes Sherlock, Doctor Who, Luther and Strictly Come Dancing, as “the BBC’s best ever”.

“How could a commitment to distinctiveness be clearer than one that includes documentaries such as Attenborough on the Great Barrier Reef, gold-standard drama like And Then There Were None or Sherlock and world-beating entertainment like Strictly Come Dancing?”

He also touched on the debate sparked by the Government’s consultation paper on the future of the BBC.
” The truth is that some of the claims made against us during Charter are, like the Christmas board game, Balderdash.”

Linsey also hailed an “amazing” year for the BBC, naming just a few of the achievements.
“We had Wolf Hall – BBC Two’s most successful drama in a decade, the national moment that was The Great British Bake Off, the unprecedented ambition of Big Blue Live, and Strictly waltzing back in dazzling form.

“Our output stretched from Poldark to People Just Do Nothing. Professor Green’s documentary on suicide to Peter Kay’s brilliant Car Share.”
He concluded with a reminder about the BBC’s value for money.

“We know viewers have high expectations of the BBC – especially at this time of year – but consider what you get for your £12 of Licence Fee in December.

“You get all those brilliant TV programmes, but also our outstanding radio stations, our world class news and our superb online services. A ll, incidentally, for roughly the same price as it costs to download season seven of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”

Showrunner addresses concerns about BBC sci-fi drama’s lower overnight figures.

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has suggested that “loads of things” contributed to the dip in the show’s overnight ratings.
Series nine premiere, ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’, drew an initial audience of 4.6m – down over 2m on the previous year’s launch.

“I don’t want to get on anyone’s case but that wasn’t our best-run launch,” Moffat told Radio Times.
“This year is not a new Doctor year, it’s not an anniversary, or a new companion year.

“We can just concentrate on making Doctor Who, which is quite nice in a way. But it’s dangerous when you don’t have that special extra bit to launch a show with.”The way it always goes is our highest episode is the first one, but this is the first year we’ve gone up mid-season – after the rugby [World Cup] died down. Our ratings went up with episode five.”

In the same interview, Moffat spoke about his eventual exit from Doctor Who – hinting that he is “actively engaged” in the hunt for his successor.
He is currently signed as head writer and executive producer for at least another 13 episodes.

The current series of Doctor Who will conclude this Saturday at 8pm on BBC One, with finale ‘Hell Bent’.

Steven Moffat has spoken about his future on Doctor Who and indicates that the right person to take over has still not emerged.

“That is an issue and one I’m actively engaged in but I can’t say much about that,” he told the Radio Times. “Everything is difficult in Doctor Who, including leaving, and I would never do anything to harm it. I would never leave it in the lurch because it means too much to me. Yes, it’s a problem. Let’s not pretend it’s not a big problem. But there will be a solution.

“In terms of the emotional difficulty of leaving, it’s hard … I take it a year at a time and that’s the only answer I’ll ever give on that one. How hard [will it be to give up], I don’t know … I won’t be leaving because I’m suddenly miserable. It’ll be because I want to do something else. ”

On whether he will continue to write for the show once he has left: “I’ve no idea until I’m there. I mean, I can understand Russell [T Davies not doing it]. I’m gobsmacked by how much Doctor Who I’ve written – an insane amount.”

He also spoke about this year’s ratings taking a hit: “I don’t want to get on anyone’s case but that wasn’t our best-run launch. This year is not a new Doctor year, it’s not an anniversary, or a new companion year. We can just concentrate on making Doctor Who, which is quite nice in a way. But it’s dangerous when you don’t have that special extra bit to launch a show with. The way it always goes is our highest episode is the first one, but this is the first year we’ve gone up mid-season – after the rugby died down. Our ratings went up with episode five. ”

On the next companion: “I’m beginning to have an idea of the kind of person, specific ideas but not a specific actress. A new companion gives us the chance to launch the show again. It began in 1963 with the story of Ian and Barbara and then in 2005 with Rose Tyler. Arguably it begins again with the story of Amy Pond. You can recruit new viewers when somebody else meets the Doctor. And I think we’ve got a really cool new idea about how to do that. “

The BBC have locked down their Christmas TV schedules today and the premiere time for The Husbands of River Song has been confirmed.

As expected, Doctor Who takes a prime spot in BBC One’s Christmas Day schedule, although it’s on a lot earlier than last year.

The special begins at 5.15pm this year and will run for 60-minutes.

Having returned to Gallifrey the long way round, the Doctor seeks revenge against the Time Lords who trapped him in his own confession dial. But what is his ultimate objective? Just how far will he go to achieve it? And will the truth about the Hybrid finally be revealed?

In keeping with the overall tone of this current series, Hell Bent is very much a character-driven piece that uses its extended run-time – the episode clocks in at bang on an hour – to explore the Doctor’s anger and grief, how far his sense of loss at Clara’s death takes him, and gives a glimpse of why the War Doctor was so feared even by his own kind.

Viewers hoping for a big showdown between the Doctor and the Time Lords will be disappointed by the lack of action. But this is a finale that is big on words – the Doctor’s most powerful weapon, after all – rather than pyrotechnics.
Steven Moffat does a good job tying up loose ends here, something he hasn’t always been completely successful with, including plenty of call-backs to old friends, enemies and adventures.

The ending is both uplifting and utterly heart-breaking, but I suspect the biggest and most controversial talking point is one that occurs mid-episode. Remember the furore last year over the appearance of the Cyber-Brigadier? That split Who fandom down the middle. This one is potentially even more divisive. You have been warned.

Unleashed earlier today were striking new images of some of the characters involved in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song.

Some faces may be familiar and some not so (sorry, there’s definitely NO Jenna Coleman here!).
To help you out, here’s a guide to who’s who on Christmas Day!

THE DOCTOR

Peter Capaldi is back for his second Christmas Day outing (three, if you count his brief role in Matt Smith’s 2013 finale) and the actor has been in outstanding form this year with immense performances in episodes like The Zygon Inversion and Heaven Sent.
Looks like the shades are gone but it also appears the Time Lord has a new toy to play with – is that a brand new Sonic Screwdriver.

He’s got no Clara for festive fun, but he does boast comedy antlers!

RIVER SONG

Who doesn’t adore Alex Kingston? One of the UK’s finest, Alex is always cosmic as the Doctor’s sometimes wife, River Song.
But there’s a problem, she doesn’t recognise him.
The daughter of the Ponds hasn’t met The Twelfth Doctor (and, technically, he shouldn’t exist).
Will she accept him by the end of the episode?

It’s only a massive robot! Without a head! This blighter is a nine-foot bad boy played by Greg Davies.
Little is known at the moment about The Inbetweeners actor’s role, but the synopsis tells us that he’s ‘furious’ and ‘out of control’. Just like any Christmas Party here on Earth really.
Fellow comedian Matt Lucas is also starring in the special, playing Nardole, and has been spotted briefly in a BBC One Christmas trailer.

Love an alien at Christmas! This odd-looking chap bears a slight resemblance to Chantho from Malcassairo (she appeared with the Master in the 2007 episode Utopia, starring David Tennant). She was also blue and insecty.
Fleming is played by Rowan Polonski who had a role in the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service.

This guy is part of River Song’s squad, who appear to be up to no good. We wonder if he is one the ‘husbands’ of the episode’s title.
Phillip Rhys plays Ramon, he’s had recurring roles in shows such as the BBC’s revival of Survivors in 2008, Nip/Tuck (as Jude Sawyer), season two of 24 and has popped up in the likes of Warehouse 13 and Glee.

Doctor Who, The Husbands of River Song airs 5.15pm, Dec 25 on BBC One.