How to watch Doctor Who New Year's Day Special from anywhere in the world

Want to make sure you're ready to watch the Doctor Who New Year's special to avoid any spoilers before they're plastered all over the internet? That's a wise decision - seeing as this looks to be a fun, Groundhog Day-esque adventure and streaming the Doctor Who New Year's special allows you to enjoy it on the day itself. 

Season 13's Flux miniseries left fans divided with its realm-hopping finale back at the start of December. However, it might be a little easier to remember where (and when) you are in the New Year's Special, as "Eve of the Daleks" sees Whittaker and pals stuck in a Dalek-infested time loop. 

If nothing else, this will also be the first of Jodie Whittaker's final three episodes as the Timelord (she's set to regenerate into a new Doctor in the Fall) so it's worth trying to watch the Doctor Who New Year's special to see how her multi-season storyline draws to a close. And hey, being able to stream the Doctor Who New Year special while feasting on leftovers is a pretty good way to ring in 2022, right?

So, how exactly do you go about doing that? Here's everything you need to know to watch Doctor Who New Year's special.

• Need more? Here's how to watch Doctor Who in full

How to watch Doctor Who New Year's Special in the UK

How to watch Doctor Who New Year's Special online in the UK

BBC One / BBC iPlayer
The Doctor Who New Year's Special will be shown on BBC One at 7pm GMT, January 1. That means you'll also be able to watch live on BBC iPlayer if someone else has nabbed the TV. 

You'll still need your TV license, but BBC iPlayer is completely free to use and you'll be able to catch up if you missed the original broadcast as well. You can watch through your laptop or smart device, as well as a whole host of TV streaming devices, like Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, and Chromecast. 

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How to watch Doctor Who New Year's Special around the world

If you're away from home, you'll need to use a VPN to get through to BBC iPlayer's content. Luckily, that's easy to do and there's a massive range of services to choose from (with most offering free trials as well). 

We're always on the hunt for the best VPN for Netflix, and in all our testing, ExpressVPN comes out on top. Express is excellent at streaming global content, with a wide range of reliable server locations and some impressive privacy options as well. It's also compatible with a wide range of streaming devices - however, it is not compatible with BBC iPlayer on an Amazon Fire Stick. If this is your setup, we'd recommend checking out Nord VPN instead. 

Follow these simple steps to get set up within minutes to get ready to watch Doctor Who New Year's Special online:

Express VPN
Express VPN is our number one pick for streaming, which means anyone looking to watch Doctor Who New Year's Special from outside the UK should take note. There's also currently a 30-day money back guarantee, and 49% off an annual discount, with three months included for free. 

To use ExpressVPN to watch Doctor Who New Year's Special, install the software and then select UK as your region from your browser. You're then free to head over to BBC iPlayer as usual.

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