How to watch Doctor Who New Year Special online: stream for free from the UK or abroad

To think, we're about to wrap up another year and enter 2020. So what's the perfect way to celebrate? A big party? Celebrations with the entire family? Or maybe you just want to watch the Doctor Who New Years Special online - surely the best way to start a new year!

And considering Whovians have had to hold out an entire year since the last time they got to see a new dose of Doctor Who action, this will be at the top of most people's festive TV watching plans.

And some even better news - this episode is set to be one of the biggest and longest in the show's entire history, so big in fact that they've split it into two parts just to fit all of that action.

Of course, Doctor Who is normally somewhat of a Christmas tradition, moving from its Christmas Day slot into the New Year. So for those losing their favorite Christmas past-time, this double bill action will be just the news you were looking for.

We've done the research, tracked down times, locations and everything you need to know to watch Doctor Who New Year Special online and listed it all below. We've even got options for those out of the UK while the episode airs!

How to watch Doctor Who New Year special online for free in the UK:

Ready to catch Doctor Who in all of its glory once again? Tune into BBC One on New Year's Day at 6.55pm to see it all go down. And then lucky us! There's a follow up episode coming along on Sunday, January 5.

Rather watch the episode from your laptop, tablet, mobile or other device? Luckily, that's still possible. Simply head to either the BBC iPlayer app or the TVPlayer service. Both are completely free to use and will give full access to both New Year Doctor Who episodes.

Stream Doctor Who from anywhere else in the world for free:

Away on holiday for New Year's Day or currently living abroad? Sadly, this will mean the Doctor Who episodes are geo-blocked for you. Luckily there's an easy solution to remedy this.

All you have to do is appear like you're back in the UK thanks to the use of a VPN. A VPN is a tool that alters your IP address to make it look like you're somewhere else - perfect for trying to stream TV.

Our vote for the best VPN service goes to ExpressVPN but how do you install one and how can that be used to watch Doctor Who New Year Special online? Read on to answer all of these questions.

How to watch Doctor Who in the US

Watch old episodes of Doctor Who online

New to the Doctor Who franchise? There's a lot to catch up on but luckily, no matter where you are, it's easy to watch all of the Doctor Who episodes:

Watch all the series of 'new' Doctor Who from the UK

Doctor Who has a very long history and unfortunately there is no easy way to watch every episode ever. However, BBC has stepped on up in heroic fashion to offer you everything since the show returned in 2005. That means you can catch up a wealth of content over on BBC iPlayer.

The show was also free to watch on the Amazon Prime subscription for a while but will now cost you per episode if you look to go that way. Looking for a full session of binge-watching? Britbox will be the way to go, with all the classic Doctor Who dating from its first ever episodes in the 60s. However, Britbox will require a VPN to circumvent its USA and Canada geo-restriction – scroll up for all the info on that.

Watch previous Doctor Who seasons online in the US

Doctor Who fans Stateside can also revisit old episodes of the programme via the Britbox service mentioned above.