‘Doctor Who’: First and Twelfth Doctors to appear together in Christmas special

William Hartnell as the First Doctor in "Doctor Who" bbc.co.uk

“Doctor Who” will feature the First and Twelfth Doctors together, according to a new report. The British sci-fi series’ Christmas special will apparently see the first and current incarnations (Peter Capaldi) of the Time Lord joining forces to save Gallifrey.

The Mirror reports that “Harry Potter” actor David Bradley will be playing the First Doctor for the Christmas special, where Capaldi’s Twelve is also expected to regenerate into the still unnamed Thirteenth Doctor. William Hartnell, who died in 1975, originally played the character from 1963 until 1966.

The plot will apparently see the First Doctor helping Twelve to play out his last mission in the TARDIS. They must work together to save Gallifrey, their home planet, by moving it to another dimension.

“David was convincing as Hartnell, it’s exciting he’s back,” an insider told the publication, referring to Bradley’s performance as the late actor in the docudrama “An Adventure in Space and Time” in 2013. “Four years ago, it took all the previous Doctors to save Gallifrey, so maybe some of the others will also pop up in Capaldi’s swansong. It’s great that the First Doctor will be there to help out during those all-important regeneration.”

The publication adds that the close-up shot of Capaldi’s eyes from the 50^th anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor,” which only featured half of his face, was the start of his own regeneration. The show will reportedly bring back the brief scene during the Christmas episode as Twelve regenerates into Thirteen.

Bradley first played Hartnell in “An Adventure in Space and Time,” a documentary to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the sci-fi series in 2013. In the drama, he had a brief scene with the then-current Time Lord, Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), as well as the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton (played by Reece Shearsmith).

Last week, it was claimed that BBC had already selected Capaldi’s successor, a rumour that the British network has denied. According to the Mirror, actor Kris Marshall would join the cast as the titular character in season 11. If the report was true, then the “My Family” actor would be the first redhead to play the main character.

Meanwhile, Pearl Mackie has garnered praises after appearing in her first episode. She plays the Doctor’s newest companion, Bill Potts, a cafeteria worker at a university whom the Doctor took an interest to.

“Doctor Who” 10^th season is Capaldi and showrunner Steven Moffat’s last before exiting the show. According to reports, Mackie will also leave the series at the end of the season. The show premiered Sunday in Australia on the ABC.