What’s On: A New ‘Doctor Who,’ a Chilly ‘Midwife’ Christmas Special

Merry Christmas to all, and yes, there is something new to watch, even on this holiday!

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time (9/8c, BBC America): This year’s Christmas special marks a historic moment for the enduring fantasy franchise, as the tenure of the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) comes to an end, making way for the first-ever regeneration into a female doctor, lucky No. Thirteen (Jodie Whittaker). But first, the current Doctor teams up with the first-ever Doctor (David Bradley) for an Arctic adventure involving a WWI captain (Mark Gatiss).

Call the Midwife (9/8c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): Another popular British drama delivers its annual holiday episode, set amid the Big Freeze of 1963, the U.K.’s coldest winter in 300 years. The weather presents even greater challenges than usual to the midwives as they persevere against snow, ice, power outages and frozen pipes while caring for their needy patients.

Murdoch Mysteries (streaming on Acorn): A subscription to this classy international streaming service would make a wonderful gift, just saying. And Acorn offers a smorgasbord of new programming on Christmas Day, including the launch of a new 18-episode season of Canada’s Murdoch Mysteries, which opens with the detective (Yannick Bisson) framed and jailed for murder. … Acorn also offers several season finales, of its most popular drama, the Australian saga A Place to Call Home; the UK’s Love, Lies & Records, starring Ashley Jensen; and New Zealand’s The Brokenwood Mysteries.