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312 – "Joy to the World"
Doctor Who episode
Promotional poster, with the caption of "Joy to the Worlds", mirroring the title "Joy to the World".
Cast
Doctor Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor
Companion Nicola Coughlan – Joy Almondo
Others Millie Gibson – Ruby Sunday Joel Fry – Trev Simpkins Steph de Whalley – Anita Benn Jonathan Aris – Hotel Manager Peter Benedict – Basil Flockhart Niamh Marie Smith – Sylvia Trench Phil Baxter – Edmund Hillary Samuel Sherpa-Moore – Tenzing Norgay Ruchi Rai – Receptionist Joshua Leese – Mr Single Ell Potter – Server Liam Prince-Donnelly – Barman Fiona Marr – Angela Grace
Production
Directed by	Alex Sanjiv Pillai
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	David Cheung
Produced by	Alison Sterling
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Jane Tranter Joel Collins Phil Collinson Steven Moffat
Music by	Murray Gold
Running time	54 minutes
First broadcast	25 December 2024 (2024-12-25)
Chronology
← Preceded by "Empire of Death" Followed by → —
List of episodes (2005–present)

"Joy to the World" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One and released on Disney+ on 25 December 2024 as the fifteenth Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai. It stars Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Nicola Coughlan as his companion Joy Almondo.

Plot

The Doctor arrives at the Time Hotel, an establishment that allows people to take vacations at various different points in human history. The Doctor gains the aid of Trev, a hotel worker, and begins to investigate a mysterious man holding a briefcase. Trev is tricked into holding the briefcase, which takes control of his mind, and then takes control of Trev's Silurian manager. Trev disintegrates due to the briefcase. The Silurian arrives in Joy Almondo's 2024 hotel room, with the Doctor following behind him.

The briefcase takes control of Joy, causing the Silurian to disintegrate, but the Doctor is able to open the briefcase, finding a strange object inside. The briefcase threatens to kill Joy if the Doctor doesn't give a security code. A Doctor from the future arrives and gives the past Doctor the code. The future Doctor seals the way back to the Time Hotel, leaving the past Doctor stranded in 2024. The Doctor takes up a job at the hotel Joy was staying at, befriending its manager, Anita, while waiting until a path to the Time Hotel opens in 2025.

The Doctor re-enters the Time Hotel via a hotel in New York City, and gives his past self the code, departing with Joy. The Doctor insults her, saying that no self-respecting person would stay alone at a hotel on Christmas Day. This goads Joy into lashing out, explaining that her mother died in hospital on Christmas, with Joy only able to say goodbye through a screen due to COVID-19 regulations. This anger allows Joy to break the mind control. The briefcase disconnects from Joy, and reveals itself to be of Villengard origin. Villengard plans to detonate a "star seed" to use as an energy source, using time travel to leave it in the past to grow. The Doctor then states that the entire history of Planet Earth will be erased when the seed “goes boom”.

The briefcase is eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the Doctor and Joy flee. Trev, who connected psychically to Villengard's system before he died, contacts the Doctor through his sonic screwdriver. Trev reveals the briefcase's location, and the Doctor finds it sealed in a shrine. The Doctor is able to open it, but Joy takes it outside, revealing she has let the seed enter her. Joy and the other people killed by the seed pilot it into space, where it detonates safely. The star is seen throughout many Christmases including during the Bombing of Britain in Manchester, near the Orient Express in the Italian Alps in 1962, at a Mt Everest base camp in 1953, outside of Ruby Sunday's flat in London in 2024, near Anita’s hotel in the near-future (during which she gets a job at the Time Hotel via the locked door), and outside of the Royal Hope Hospital in 2020 where Joy’s mother merges with the star and joins her daughter as part of the star.

The Doctor returns to the Time Hotel, as it is revealed that the star created by the seed was the Star of Bethlehem.

Production

Development

Russell T Davies, the Doctor Who showrunner, initially began writing the 2024 Christmas special. Davies had sent a portion of the script to former showrunner Steven Moffat to get his opinion on it. At the time, Davies was in discussions with Moffat to have him write a script for the fifteenth series. When Davies realised he was too busy to complete the script, he shelved it and asked Moffat to write the Christmas episode instead. Moffat considered writing a farce, but decided against it, believing that such an episode would be better suited mid-series. Despite this, Moffat said the episode still had a comedic tone with emotional elements.

Here's the pitch that got me the job. You know in just about every hotel room you've been in there's a locked door? It's weird, but there always is. Okay. We're about to blow apart the truth of that. In the far future there is a place called the Time hotel, and the Time Hotel has realised something brilliant, which is following the discovery of time travel they have an opportunity to sell all the rooms they failed to sell the last time. So they have built extensions into more or less every hotel room in history, and you get access to it occasionally.

— Steven Moffat, "The Joy Bringer", SFX 3 December 2024

Half the script had been completed before Davies informed Moffat that Ruby Sunday wouldn't be in the special. Working titles for the episode included "The Time Hotel" and "Christmas, Everywhere All at Once", but the episodes title was eventually revealed to be "Joy to the World". The story further explores the "Villengard Corporation", a recurring fictional weapons manufacturing company that has been mentioned in a number of Moffat's Doctor Who episodes. The Doctor last confronted Villengard in the fourteenth series episode "Boom." Moffat once again assumed an executive producer role during production of the episode.

Casting

In November 2023, Nicola Coughlan was announced to be appearing in an undisclosed role of an upcoming Doctor Who episode. It was later reported that Millie Gibson, who portrays the Doctor's current companion Ruby Sunday, would not appear in the 2024 Christmas special. The following May, it was revealed that Coughlan would star as the Doctor's one-off companion.

In November 2024, it was revealed that Jonathan Aris, Joel Fry, Julia Watson, Steph de Whalley, Peter Benedict and Niamh Marie Smith would also be guest stars.

Filming

Principal photography began on 23 October 2023 at Bad Wolf Studios, with the 2024 Christmas special "Joy to the World" assigned to the first block, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai. Filming for the episode continued through November 2023. Post-production ended on 29 August 2024, with the final sound mix.

Broadcast and reception

Broadcast

"Joy to the World" was broadcast on BBC One and released on BBC iPlayer on 25 December 2024 at 5:10 PM GMT. In the United States the episode was released simultaneously on Disney+ at 9:10 AM PT. Disney also handled international distribution of the episode outside of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	86%
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	6.8/10
Review scores
Source	Rating
A.V. Club	B–
Bleeding Cool	10/10
Empire
GamesRadar+
IGN
Radio Times
The Telegraph

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.

Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Michael Hogan referred to "Joy to the World" as "the best Christmas adventure for more than a decade." He further elaborated by saying that "there’s something here for all generations to enjoy" and praising the guest cast, namely Nicola Coughlan, Steph de Walley, and Joel Fry. Authoring a review for Radio Times, Louise Griffin also praised the guest cast but felt that Coughlan had been underused.

IGN's Robert Anderson wrote that the special "masterfully blends the show’s signature whimsy with heartfelt storytelling, delivering a cozy, deeply human tale about the transformative power of friendship" and that "Moffat’s excellent script is central to the episode’s success." The writing was also applauded by Adi Tantimedh, who writing for Bleeding Cool, said "Moffat pins down the core of what makes Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor different from all his predecessors."

Stephen Robinson with the A.V. Club criticised the Doctor's characterization, saying the "the story that directly contradict the Doctor’s former growth" and that "he's a mix of the 'lonely god' from Russell T Davies' first run and Steven Moffat's 'madman in a box,' and the effect is discordant." Emily Murray from GamesRadar+ also criticised a portion of the episode, writing that the "villains quite frankly feel like an afterthought and feel threadbare."

References

1. Flook, Ray (23 November 2024). "Doctor Who Christmas Special Key Art Confusion: "World" or "Worlds"?". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
2. "Joy to the World". DoctorWho.tv. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
3. ^ Fullerton, Huw (5 December 2024). "Doctor Who's Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat preview "emotional" Christmas special". Radio Times. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
4. McEwan, Cameron K (19 December 2024). "'Doctor Who' Showrunner Russell T Davies and Writer Steven Moffat Tease Christmas Special". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
5. ^ Setchfield, Nick (3 December 2024). "The SFX Holiday Special". SFX. No. 386. Future plc. pp. 22–28.
6. Mellor, Louisa (5 December 2024). "Doctor Who 2024 Christmas Special Trailer Reveals Two Doctors". Den of Geek. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
7. Mellor, Louisa (14 May 2024). "Steven Moffat Confirms He's Written Doctor Who 2024 Christmas Special "Joy to the World"". Den of Geek. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
8. Eddy, Cheryl (15 November 2024). "Doctor Who Is Here to Inject Some Early Christmas Cheer Into Your Friday". Gizmodo. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
9. McEwan, Cameron K (17 May 2024). "'Doctor Who': Steven Moffat Talks Algorithms, Easter Eggs and That Explosive Casting Reveal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
10. Shafer, Ellise (5 December 2024). "'Doctor Who' Christmas Special Trailer: Nicola Coughlan Joins Ncuti Gatwa for a Dinosaur-Themed Adventure". Variety. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
11. Cremona, Patrick (14 November 2023). "Doctor Who reveals first look at Derry Girls' Nicola Coughlan in new role". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
12. Kanter, Jake (20 January 2024). "'Doctor Who' Shocker: Time Lord's Sidekick Millie Gibson Replaced After Just One Season". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
13. ^ Mellor, Louisa (14 May 2024). "Steven Moffat Confirms He's Written Doctor Who 2024 Christmas Special "Joy to the World"". Den of Geek. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
14. Steven Perkins (26 November 2024). "Doctor Who Christmas Special 2024: cast, plot, trailer and everything we know". whattowatch.com.
15. @bbcdoctorwho (23 October 2023). "TARDIS at the ready! 🎬 Filming starts today on Ncuti Gatwa's second series as the Doctor" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Twitter.
16. Laford, Andrea (14 October 2023). "Russell T Davies teases Doctor Who 60th anniversary and 2025 Series news". CultBox. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
17. Laford, Andrea (31 October 2023). "Ncuti Gatwa films Doctor Who in Cardiff". CultBox. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
18. Shafer, Ellise (9 November 2023). "Nicola Coughlan Will Appear on 'Doctor Who' With Ncuti Gatwa, Russell T Davies Says". Variety. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
19. Quinn, Jason (November 2024). "Issue 609". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 609. Panini Comics. p. 6.
20. Hibbs, James (3 December 2024). "Doctor Who Christmas special air date and time confirmed". Radio Times. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
21. Rahman, Abid (5 December 2024). "'Doctor Who' Christmas Special Trailer: Ncuti Gatwa, Nicola Coughlan Take on Danger and Dinosaurs". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
22. Clarke, Naomi (23 November 2024). "Doctor Who costumes and 50th Anniversary Tardis go on sale for Children In Need". Irish News. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
23. ^ "Doctor Who: Joy to the World". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
24. ^ Robinson, Stephen (19 December 2024). "Doctor Who's Christmas special feels a tad uneven and all too familiar". A.V. Club. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
25. ^ Tantimedh, Adi (19 December 2024). "Doctor Who: Joy to the World Review: Moffat Special Lives Up to Title". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
26. King, Jordan (20 December 2024). "Doctor Who: Joy To The World Review". Empire. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
27. ^ Murray, Emily (19 December 2024). "Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: "Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
28. ^ Anderson, Robert (19 December 2024). "Doctor Who Christmas Special Review – "Joy to the World"". IGN. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
29. ^ Griffin, Louise (20 December 2024). "Doctor Who - Joy to the World review: A Very Moffat Christmas pays off". Radio Times. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
30. ^ Hogan, Michael (20 December 2024). "Doctor Who: Joy to the World, first-look review: the best Christmas adventure for more than a decade". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 December 2024.

External links

• "Joy to the World" at BBC Online
• "Joy to the World" on Disney+
• "Joy to the World" at the Doctor Who Stories Website
• "Joy to the World" on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "Joy to the World" at IMDb

Links to related articles

v t e Doctor Who episodes by Steven Moffat Ninth Doctor "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances" Tenth Doctor "The Girl in the Fireplace" "Blink" "Silence in the Library" / "Forest of the Dead" Eleventh Doctor Series 5 "The Eleventh Hour" "The Beast Below" "The Time of Angels" / "Flesh and Stone" "The Pandorica Opens" / "The Big Bang" Series 6 "A Christmas Carol" "The Impossible Astronaut" / "Day of the Moon" "A Good Man Goes to War" "Let's Kill Hitler" "The Wedding of River Song" Series 7 "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" "Asylum of the Daleks" "The Angels Take Manhattan" "The Snowmen" "The Bells of Saint John" "The Name of the Doctor" Specials "The Day of the Doctor" "The Time of the Doctor" Twelfth Doctor Series 8 "Deep Breath" "Into the Dalek" "Listen" "Time Heist" "The Caretaker" "Dark Water" / "Death in Heaven" Series 9 "Last Christmas" "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar" "The Girl Who Died" "The Zygon Inversion" "Heaven Sent" "Hell Bent" "The Husbands of River Song" Series 10 "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" "The Pilot" "Extremis" "The Pyramid at the End of the World" "World Enough and Time" / "The Doctor Falls" "Twice Upon a Time" Fifteenth Doctor "Boom" "Joy to the World" Mini episodes "Time Crash" Meanwhile, in the TARDIS "Space" / "Time" Night and the Doctor "The Night of the Doctor" "The Last Day" See also The Curse of Fatal Death v t e Doctor Who: Fifteenth Doctor television stories 2023 specials "The Giggle" Series 14 "The Church on Ruby Road" "Space Babies" "The Devil's Chord" "Boom" "73 Yards" "Dot and Bubble" "Rogue" "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "Empire of Death" Series 15 "Joy to the World" v t e Doctor Who Christmas and New Year's specials Tenth Doctor "The Christmas Invasion" "The Runaway Bride" "Voyage of the Damned" "The Next Doctor" "The End of Time" Eleventh Doctor "A Christmas Carol" "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" "The Snowmen" "The Time of the Doctor" Twelfth Doctor "Last Christmas" "The Husbands of River Song" "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" "Twice Upon a Time" Thirteenth Doctor "Resolution" "Revolution of the Daleks" "Eve of the Daleks" Fifteenth Doctor "The Church on Ruby Road" "Joy to the World" Related "The Feast of Steven" K-9 and Company "Invasion of the Bane" "Captain Jack Harkness" "End of Days" "Spyfall, Part 1" v t e Doctor Who: Silurian stories Television Silurians Doctor Who and the Silurians Warriors of the Deep "The Hungry Earth" / "Cold Blood" Madame Vastra "A Good Man Goes to War" "The Snowmen" "The Crimson Horror" "The Name of the Doctor" "Deep Breath" Sea Devils The Sea Devils Warriors of the Deep "Legend of the Sea Devils" The War Between the Land and the Sea Minor appearances The Mind of Evil Frontier in Space "The Pandorica Opens" "A Good Man Goes to War" "The Wedding of River Song" "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" "Face the Raven" "Joy to the World" Audio Bloodtide The Poison Seas The Coup Assembled Young Winston The Paternoster Gang Books The Scales of Injustice Blood Heat Happy Endings Eternity Weeps Video games Destiny of the Doctors Evacuation Earth The Mazes of Time The Eternity Clock Legacy See also Dimensions in Time Doctor Who Live v t e Doctor Who: Multi-Doctor stories Television Different incarnations The Three Doctors "The Five Doctors" The Two Doctors "The Day of the Doctor" "Twice Upon a Time" "Fugitive of the Judoon" "The Power of the Doctor" "The Giggle" Minor instances "The Name of the Doctor" "Deep Breath" "Listen" "The Doctor Falls" "The Timeless Children" "Once, Upon Time" Identical incarnations "Journey's End" "The Rebel Flesh / "The Almost People" "The Vanquishers" Minor instances "The Big Bang" "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" "Joy to the World" Audio The Sirens of Time Zagreus 100 The Four Doctors The Eleven Cold Fusion Books Timewyrm: Genesys Timewyrm: Revelation Who Killed Kennedy Cold Fusion The Eight Doctors Players Interference – Book One Interference – Book Two The Colony of Lies Wolfsbane Comics Emperor of the Daleks Assimilation Video games Dalek Attack Destiny of the Doctors Legacy Lego Dimensions See also Regeneration The Brain of Morbius The Trial of a Time Lord Dimensions in Time The Curse of Fatal Death "Time Crash" "Time" "Last Night" Regeneration stories

• 2024 British television episodes
• British Christmas television episodes
• British television specials
• Doctor Who Christmas specials
• Fifteenth Doctor episodes
• Television episodes written by Steven Moffat
• Television episodes set in hotels