How to watch Doctor Who online from anywhere in three easy steps on New Year's Day

Well the jury consisting of millions of Doctor Who fans around the world seems to have decided – Jodie Whittaker's first stint as The Doctor has been a raging success. And the season climaxes on New Year's Day with the always-anticipated special episode. No matter where in the world you are, you've come to the right place to discover the best way to watch Doctor Who online – and it's absolutely free to do.

Fittingly for the day of broadcast, this year's special is called Resolution. And the plot is looking typically compelling: "As the new year begins, a terrifying evil from across the centuries of Earth's history is stirring. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?"

Unlike previous Christmas specials, the trailers and previews for Resolution suggest that this won't be a star-studded affair. That means all the focus will be on the brilliant Whittaker and her gang including Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole and we're certainly not complaining.

It's an unmissable festive TV treat set to broadcast on BBC One at 7pm GMT on New Year's Day, so easy to view if you're in the UK. But you can't watch iPlayer if you're overseas as it's geo-restricted. That's where this handy guide comes in as our simple instructions below will tell you how to watch Doctor Who online – that's something not even a sonic screwdriver can do!

Here are the three steps for watching the Doctor Who special from abroad:

1. Download and install a VPN

You'll need a VPN if you're outside the UK and want to watch the Doctor Who special online in order to get around the geo-blocking. This allows you to change your IP address so you appear to be in a completely different location. We've tested hundreds of VPNs and can recommend Express VPN as the best option currently available:

Express VPN (comes with a 30 day money back guarantee) is the #1 rated best VPN in the world right now. You can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets etc. Check out Express VPN and get 3 months free when you sign up for a year.

2. Set your VPN to a UK location

This is incredibly easy to do. Open up your chosen VPN (Express VPN or one of our other recommended best VPN services) and go to 'choose location' (this may differ from VPN-to-VPN, but will be called something like 'locations' or 'servers' - it should be pretty obvious). Then select any location in the US – Express VPN alone has six UK locations, and it shouldn't matter which one you pick.

3. Watch on TVPlayer.com

We always recommend using the free, legal TVPlayer.com for quick and robust streaming. After following step 2 above, your computer, phone or streaming device will now think it's in the UK. So you can live stream the Doctor Who broadcast at 7pm GMT without paying a penny, even if you aren't physically located in the UK this weekend.

Note that if you're in the US, BBC America will be showing the Doctor Who season finale, too. It will be broadcast at 8pm ET, 7pm CT, 6pm MT and 8pm PT, so Whovians  in the States can watch for free without even having to download a VPN. Great news!

Image courtesy of: bbc.co.uk