First picture of the New Year's special published

Doctor Who may be giving up its Christmas special for the New Year's version this season, but there is still a lot to be done for fans to celebrate thanks to a new photo released by the BBC.

On the job at the official Doctor Who Today, on BBC America's Twitter account, fans will have a glimpse of Jodie Whitaker's Thirteenth Doctor in a brightly colored striped scarf in what appears to be a direct tribute to Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor and his iconic scarf. Check below.

The scarves are cool.

The doctor packs in a new photo of the #Doctor Who New Year Special, January 1st @BBCAMERICA. pic.twitter.com/bALnb9Ig9X

– Doctor Who on BBC America (@DoctorWho_BBCA) November 27, 2018

The scarves are cool, indeed. The addition of a scarf adds another element of style from previous doctors to the Whittaker character. His outfit is already paying tribute to his predecessors with a long coat, a wink at the tenth doctor (David Tennant), straps at the eleventh doctor (Matt Smith) and Baker's fourth doctor already had a small nod in the stripes of his shirt.

While the fans of the long series will undoubtedly appreciate the praise of the head, the New Year's special marks a big change for Doctor Who. This year will be the first time since the launch of the series in 2005 that there will be no more Doctor Who Christmas Special broadcast on Christmas Day. According to Chris Chibnall, the showrunner, there is a good reason for this: the show is simply running out of ideas for the special.

"I kind of think we could have extracted, and maybe too much, all we could for Christmas Doctor Who and last time, we more or less ignored it, "Chibnall told the Mirror.

This is not the first time that the Christmas special was, at a minimum, at risk. Former showrunner Steven Moffat told ComicBook.com last year that he had made extra efforts to ensure Christmas special past, thus keeping the tradition alive.

"But we had the tricky affair that Chris [Chibnall] I did not want to start with the Christmas episode, and rightly so, "said Moffat." So there was the momentary possibility that there would be no Christmas episode, so I suggested doing the episode of Christmas and I talked to Peter [Capaldi] to make one more for that Doctor Who would not lose the slot.

"After doing that, of course, we had the problem of making the grand finale over an hour. And so it's a different kind of story. It's a story about the Twelfth Doctor, the Doctor himself at the end of his life, thinking, "I do not know if I can continue to do it, I'm tired" and find the strength to continue. You see, it's a Christmas resurrection for him and for the first doctor who is in the same mental state. They must therefore convince each other that additional regeneration is possible. So that's the kind of story. "

What do you think of this first look at the Doctor Who Special Day of the Year? Let us know in the comments.

Doctor Who Sundays at 8 pm ET on BBC America.