Saying goodbye is often bittersweet but today for Peter Capaldi’s final Comic-Con panel as Doctor Who, a rousing Hall H send-off could not have been a bad way to exit – especially with the roars that erupted when a teaser for the Christmas Special of the BBC America series was dropped for the fans.

Months ahead of its holiday broadcast, the peek at the Capaldi’s last turn as the Time Lord and Jodie Whittaker’s introduction as the 13th Doctor started with a snow bound TARDIS. As you can see above, the teaser of the just finished filming “Twice Upon a Time” special also saw multiple Doctors “refusing to regenerate,” according to EP Steven Moffat, explosions galore, and Pearl Mackie reunited with the Time Lord. Mackie also confirmed onstage today that her Bill Potts character will not be returning as the Doctor’s companion after the Christmas Special.

“Time ran away with me but it’s just been fabulous to work with all theses guys, this talent,” Capaldi himself told the welcoming 7,000 strong crowd of his three-season run as the two-hearted Gallifreyean. “I think Jodie is going to be amazing,” added Capaldi of the Broadchurch alum, “she’s a great choice.” The actor also generously praised Moffat, Michelle Gomez for her performance as the female Master AKA Missy, Mackie and others on the panel.

At one point in today’s panel, Moffat scoffed at the notion that there was fan backlash of any kind about casting a woman as Doctor Who, similar to how he’d said earlier this year that there was no backlash against Mackie’s companion character being a lesbian. To cheers in the hall, the departing showrunner told those in the media who are fanning the flames of a negative reaction to Whittaker’s Doctor to “shut the hell up.”

Following a panel from fellow BBC America series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, today’s Who panel included Capaldi, Moffat, cast members Mackie, Matt Lucas (Nardole), Gomez and writer and actor Mark Gatiss. The latter of whom also made an appearance in the Christmas Special teaser as a character from Who lore. This SRO panel was the last Hall H hootenanny of the 2017 San Diego confab.

Sunday’s panel also saw a video retrospective of Capaldi’s stint as the 12th Time Lord that played to repeated applause from the SDCC audience and a standing ovation for the actor at its conclusion – the first of several this afternoon.

The Christmas Special airs on, yep, Christmas with Season 11 season of the re-launched Doctor Who with Whittaker expected in mid-2018.