Pearl Mackie as Doctor Who (Picture: BBC/BBC Worldwide)

The Doctor Who Christmas Special will feature Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, it was announced this evening during a cast panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

The news will come as a pleasant surprise for Doctor Who fans, as Bill was last seen taking off with a former love interest, apparently unable to return to her human form as she bid farewell to the Twelfth Doctor.

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The episode will be Peter Capaldi’s final episode as the Twelfth Doctor, and as announced last Sunday, it will see Jodie Whittaker take over as the Thirteenth Doctor.

How exactly Pearl will return though remains a mystery as viewers will have to wait to see the episode, which is called Twice Upon A Time.


The Captain (Mark Gattis), Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) and The First Doctor (David Bradley) (Picture: BBC/BBC Worldwide)

The actress’ character Bill was last seen in a not very human state as a Cyberman – hopefully, that’s not a spoiler for anyone right now as the episode aired July 1.



In another twist, it was also revealed that Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss will co-star in the episode in a guest role as World War One soldier – known so far only as The Captain.

This appearance will mark the 4th character that the 50-year-old will play in the sci-fi series; the Sherlock actor has previously appeared as a mutated scientist called Professor Lazarus in 2007 episode The Lazarus Experiment, voiced a World War II pilot nicknamed ‘Danny Boy’ in 2010/2011 episodes Victory of the Daleks and A Good Man Goes to War, and a mysterious figure called Gantok in The Wedding of River Song.

He also wrote Empress of Mars – the 9th episode of this series.

As previously revealed in the closing moments of the 2017 series finale, the special will feature Peter Capaldi’s current Doctor team up with the First Doctor, played by David Bradley.

The Doctor Who Christmas special will air on Christmas Day, December 25 2017.

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