[JAS84]

There's nothing more to tell. They just used the news ident for the rest of the night because David Tennant was no longer The Doctor. The next morning, of course, they reverted to normal idents (the Christmas special that year was a two parter which aired on Christmas Day and New Year's Day).

There'd have been no issue with that had it happened after they stopped airing Christmas idents on New Year's Day. This year's Who Christmas Special will be a debut episode for Ncuti Gatwa's new Doctor, after next month's three specials with Tennant, so if the ident did feature the Doctor, it wouldn't be rendered out of date after it airs like the 2009 idents were.

[JMT1985]

I think we will get Doctor Who idents for November 2023, leading up to and including the 60th anniversary

Someone mentioned on here how they miss the non programme style of former Christmas idents - problem for BBC One is they have churned out so many Christmas idents, there isn't much more left for them to give us.

Since the late 1970s until the present day (2003 Christmas excluded of course) BBC One has given us a new ident/package for Christmas - that is quite a churn, without trying to look repetitive - this is probably why they go with a certain key Christmas programme idents for Christmas

[Edogawa Ranpo]

To be honest, they need to go back to the Christmas idents matching the normal ident package. The Lens idents at least need a Christmas ident set that go with the rest of the package.

[Brekkie]

I think there are concepts they could do with the Lens though. Was absolutely right to deviate from the main ident concept during the Oneness era but now they've something half decent perhaps they should work with it more.

[ViridianFan]

I have to admit I do miss the Christmassy idents. Like others have said in recent years they’ve felt more and more like a trailer for the show.  The lens theme would lend it’s self perfectly to a Christmas scene. 

I’m going to sound a right misery but they start too early now. By the time it’s Christmas I’m fed up of them. Start them on 15th or around that time

[Brekkie]

Agree - around the 21st felt about right, but seems to be a tendency in society now to do everything early and almost make more of the build up than the event itself. A neighbour has had Halloween decorations up for two weeks for example and loads around the village have pumpkins out already, which I guess will be rotten by the 31st October.

I do think a compromise would be to have a set of returning idents which can debut at the beginning of December - but then you hold back a new addition to the set until a few days before.

Actually C4 have had it right in recent years, using idents around Christmas specials in the run up to Christmas alongside their regular idents and then around all junctions for the Christmas period itself.

[Worzel]

Using the lens idents as a Christmas bauble looking at festive scenes may not be the most imaginative idea, but would certainly fit the theme nicely.

[Kim Wexler’s Ponytail]

It probably will not be long before Christmas idents launching in November becomes the norm. Maybe it is just my street and my bubble but Christmas seems to be changing. Decorations are going up earlier and coming down earlier (some even before the new year!) People seem to be done with it after Boxing Day now. Increasingly, it is becoming more about the run up with Christmas Day being the climax and then back to normal.

Edit: Sorry, must've overlooked Brekkie's post. It's obviously not just my street then.

[Stuart]

To be honest, they need to go back to the Christmas idents matching the normal ident package. The Lens idents at least need a Christmas ident set that go with the rest of the package.

To be fair, they did do that a couple of times during the 'Oneness' period, but most of us pres geeks are still in therapy about that whole package we suffered for 5 years.

However, I really liked the 'Supporting Act' ones in 2017. They had a bit of a story to them, but stood alone as amusing individual idents rather well.

www.youtube.com 

[mark]

Am I being blind as a bat? I can't see a reference to idents in the Tabby McTat press release.

If it's just the Christmas trees in the background of the image, the Julia Donaldson films often feature something a little bit Christmassy that isn't in the book - for example, Christmas decorations and snow on the shopping street at the end of the Highway Rat - as a nod to their place on the Christmas Day schedule. Or it might just be a bespoke image created by the studio for the promotion of the Christmas schedule.

I'd be happy with another set of Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler idents this year, though - my daughter would love them.