 "Joy to the World" is the 2024 Christmas Special that was broadcast on BBC One and released on Disney+ on the 25th December 2024 as the fifteenth Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai. It stars Ncuti Gatwa, as the Fifteenth Doctor, Nicola Coughlan, as Joy Almondo, and Steph de Whalley, as Anita Benn.
This is the ninth Christmas special written by Steven Moffat, and the first to be written by Steven Moffat, after having written his last Christmas Special as the showrunner for the show, with the 2017 story "Twice Upon a Time". This special is also Ncuti Gatwa's second Christmas special.
"Joy to the World" sees for the first time that anyone, except for the current showrunner, that has written either a Christmas or New Year’s special with Steven Moffat having previously written eight Christmas specials during his own tenure. These being "A Christmas Carol" (2010), "The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe" (2011), "The Snowmen" (2012), "The Time of The Doctor" (2013), "Last Christmas" (2014), "The Husbands of River Song" (2015), "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" (2016) and "Twice Upon a Time" (2017).
Steven Moffat, previously wrote the Season Forty One (New Series 14) story "Boom". He teased that we may endure some heartbreak during this Christmas special too! He said of returning for this festive adventure: ‘It was just fun and it was quite nice that I had my old job back for exactly one episode and then I could go lie down. Russell as to keep toiling away all the time, constantly’.
As well as the writer for this story Steven Moffat also once again assumed an Executive Producer role during the production of this story. He was also an Executive Producer for last season’s "Boom".
Russell T Davies teased what fans would expect from this special, during a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube for "The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death", - saying: ‘I can't give away much more but work has begun on it already, and it's mad, it's one of the maddest Christmas specials you'll ever see’. He also added that: ‘It's epic, it goes to so many different places. And it's a great story of who The Doctor is when he's alone’.
Just like all of Steven Moffat's previous Christmas specials, the title comes from another piece of pre-existing Christmas media. This time it is from an English hymn and Christmas carol. It was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts. The title also serves as a wordplay on the name of the character Joy Almondo featured in this special.
It has been reported that when Russell T Davies returned to helm the show he said that airing it on Christmas Day was a condition of his return. ‘I just think it suits Doctor Who. I think the stories are more fun. Any story with tinsel in it is better than a story without tinsel in it’.
At the ending of the previous story, "The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death", we saw Millie Gibson, who played The Doctor's previous companion Ruby Sunday, depart the TARDIS in an emotional scene. Even though it was confirmed that she will be back in a smaller role during Season Forty Two (New Season 15), initial reports indicated that Millie Gibson would not appear in this special. However, she did make a brief cameo appearance near the end of this story.
In November 2023, Nicola Coughlan was initially announced as appearing in an undisclosed role in an upcoming Doctor Who story. It was later revealed that she would star in the 2024 Christmas special as one-off companion, Joy Almondo - a guest at a hotel who ‘gets caught up in The Doctor's adventures’.
Nicola Coughlan has described the character of Joy as ‘a determined woman whose life is changed forever when she meets The Doctor’. Steven Moffat has confirmed that ‘Nicola is wonderful in it, she will break your heart’. Nicola Coughlan previously starred as Clare Devlin in Derry Girls (Channel 4’s teen sitcom set in Northern Ireland) and as Penelope Featherington in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton.
In November 2024, Jonathan Aris, Joel Fry, Julia Watson, Steph de Whalley, Peter Benedict and Niamh Marie Smith were also announced as guest stars.
Peter Benedict is best known for his portrayal as Aleksander Tiedemann in the Netflix thriller Dark. He plays the part of Basil and along with Casualty star Julia Watson, as Hilda, (the pair seen at the Queens Hotel in Manchester, during the Second World War).
This special saw the return of a Silurian - This turned out to be the manager of the Time Hotel and was played by Jonathan Aris. The Third Doctor first encountered the Silurians in the 1970 story "Doctor Who and the Silurians".
It has been reported that showrunner, Russell T Davies initially began writing this story and had sent a portion of the script to former showrunner Steven Moffat to obtain his opinion. Russell T Davies then realised that he was too busy to complete the script and so he shelved it and asked Steven Moffat to write the Christmas special instead, which he agreed to do. Steven Moffat completed writing this story by the 20th July 2023.
It has also been revealed that half the script had been completed before it was realised that Ruby Sunday would no longer be travelling in the TARDIS. The character of Anita originally only had around ten lines but her presence was then increased.
Speaking in a behind the scenes video on YouTube for "The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death", Russell T Davies has said: ‘Now The Doctor voyages forward, and guess what always happens to The Doctor every so often - Christmas! Here comes Christmas. I can't give away much more but work has begun on it already, and it's mad, it's one of the maddest Christmas specials you'll ever see. It's epic, it goes to so many different places. And it's a great story of who The Doctor is when he's alone’.
Steven Moffat revealed to BBC South East the plot for this story: ‘Imagine in the far, far future that a hotel chain got hold of the idea of time travel. What's the first thing a hotel chain would do if they had time travel? They'd realise they had an opportunity to sell all the unsold nights in their own hotels in history’.
Set designs for this story were underway at Wolf Studios in Wales by the 11th October 2023. The Mesozoic Era room was built on a gimbal that allowed the set to tilt to give the effect that it was being attacked by the dinosaur. The art department was working on graphic designs by the 17th October 2023. It has been reported that the graphics team took fifteen 11-hour days to create enough artwork to fill The Doctor's hotel room. Seven different briefcases were also purchased by the props department for use in this story. A team at Millennium FX designed the Silurian prosthetics.
This story was filmed in the first filming block of Season Forty Two (New Series 15), which began on the 23rd October 2023, with recording extending into November 2023.
The Sandrigham Hotel, seen in this story, is a real hotel in Cardiff and the production team chose to purchase two floors for the filming of the hotel scenes. The Time Hotel’s lobby though was built in the studio. The top of the Orient Express set was built in front of a green screen and placed on rubber tyres to allow the special effects team to replicate the motion of a moving train.
The Doctor once again solves a problem via a Bootstrap Paradox, only knowing what the solution is (this is the code number for the briefcase) because his future-self told him, which he remembers when he meets his past self (see also the 2007 Children in Need mini-episode, "Time Crash" and the 2011 Comic Relief special, "Time").
After The Doctor, from the future, gives his past self the code for the briefcase, he says he found it out ‘the long way around’ (see also "The Day of The Doctor", "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent" and "Twice Upon a Time").
The Doctor is once again present during the Nativity. In "Voyage of the Damned" the Tenth Doctor claimed to have attended it and ‘got the last room’ at the inn in Bethlehem (see "Voyage of the Damned").
The Doctor reacts with fear when handed a plunger due to its resemblance to a Dalek manipulator arm.
Anita believes The Doctor is married (see "Blink", "A Christmas Carol", "The Wedding of River Song" and "The Day of The Doctor").
This story continues on from when Ruby Sunday leaves the TARDIS at the end of the previous story, "The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death", and sees The Doctor initially struggling to be alone during Christmas after parting ways with Ruby, who makes a brief appearance near the end of this story.
At the end of this story The Doctor witnesses Joy becoming the star that guides the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem, so confirming that Biblical events exist in Doctor Who in tandem with the mainly science fiction nature of the show.
In the end credits, the name of the passenger on the Orient Express is revealed to be Sylvia Trench. This is also the name of James Bond's love interest in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love) and is thus considered to have been the first ‘Bond girl’.
The Doctor is heard to mention the Weeping Angels to Anita (see "Blink").
This story further explores the Villengard Corporation, a recurring fictional weapons manufacturing company that has been mentioned in a number of Steven Moffat's stories for the show. The Doctor last confronted Villengard in the previous season’s story "Boom". He also encountered the Villengard in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" and in the 2017 Twelfth Doctor story "Twice Upon a Time". All three stories were also written by Steven Moffat.
The primary reason The Doctor travelled to the Time Hotel was so he could restock on milk. In "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" the Ninth Doctor previously discussed with Rose Tyler that the milk in the TARDIS would go quickly and so requires restocking frequently.
The Doctor reveals that the TARDIS has a nav-com algorithm that homes in on fresh milk whenever it has run out. The Doctor is heard suggesting that he could just install a fridge to prevent constantly needing to find milk.
The Doctor visits Mount Everest in 1953 on the day the summit of the highest mountain on Earth was first reached by Edmund Hillary and his team. In this story The Doctor meets them at the Everest Base Camp just before they set out for this historic event.
The Time Hotel features a clothes store called Mr. Benn's Any Era Clothes, a reference to the 1970 children’s character Mr Benn, who would go on adventures via a magic door in a costume shop. In the end credits of this story, ‘Benn’ is also revealed to be Anita's last name.
The name of the bar in the Time Hotel is DeTamble's, a reference to the book The Time Traveler's Wife, by American author Audrey Niffenegger. The Twelfth Doctor also owns a copy of this book (see "Dark Water/Death in Heaven").
The advertising material that The Doctor looks at while visiting the Time Hotel includes: ‘Discover the Ancient Pyramids of Giza’ and a ‘Presidential Assassination Special’ for ‘Kennedy’ and ‘Lincoln’. Interestingly the assassination of the former US president John F Kennedy is a real-life event that occurred on the 22nd November 1963 - the day before the first episode of "An Unearthly Child" (the very first Doctor Who story) was broadcast.
In the Time Hotel we see a number of themed doors that hint to visits to: the O.K. Corral ("The Gunfighters"), Pompeii ("The Fires of Pompeii"), Giza ("Pyramids of Mars"), Mesopotamia ("Resolution"), the Stone Age ("An Unearthly Child"), pre-colonial Mexico ("The Aztecs"), the signing of the Magna Carta ("The King's Demons") and trips on Nostalgia Tours buses ("Delta and the Bannermen"). There is also a round door that looks very much like those used by the Hobbits from Middle-Earth in the film versions of J. R. R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
After The Doctor improves Anita's car, she mentions that her SatNav no longer takes her where she wants to go, only for The Doctor to say that it now takes her ‘where she needs to be’.
The Doctor fixes the microwave in the Sandringham Hotel, but also adds dimensional transcendentalism to it so making it bigger on the inside.
The Doctor is heard to say ‘mavity’ again instead of ‘gravity’ (see "Wild Blue Yonder").
The Twelfth Doctor previously encountered a Tyrannosaurus Rex in "Deep Breath".
At Anita's hotel in the year 2024, The Doctor is seen to read a newspaper article about a Clockwork Droid (see "The Girl in the Fireplace").
Joy's mother was being treated at the Royal Hope Hospital, the same hospital where The Doctor first met Martha Jones in "Smith and Jones".
Before being revealed as "Joy to the World", working titles for this story included ‘The Time Hotel’ and ‘Christmas, Everywhere All at Once’.
This story is the 156th story since the show was revived in 2005 - this is exactly the same number of stories in the original era of Doctor Who.
A teaser for this year’s Christmas Special - "Joy to the World" was unveiled at the San Diego Comic-Con. Nicola Coughlan introduced the trailer to fans in a specially shot video. This trailer sees The Doctor trying to deliver a ham and cheese toastie with a pumpkin latté at different points in history. The scene set at the Queens Hotel in Manchester, during the Second World War, features Peter Benedict and Julia Watson as Basil and Hilda. The action then moves to the Orient Express in 1962, where we see a woman called Sylvia Trench (Niamh Marie Smith) with a copy of Agatha Christie’s novel Murder on the Orient Express. Moving on to the base camp on Mount Everest in 1953, we meet mountaineers Edmund Hillary (Phil Baxter) and Tenzing Norgay (Samuel Sherpa-Moore). The trailer ends with a woman called Joy Almondo (Nicola Coughlan) arriving at the Sandringham Hotel, in December 2024, where she is shown to her hotel room by Anita Benn (Steph de Whalley). The Silurian who subsequently walks into Joy’s hotel room, through a door that was locked only moments ago, is played by Jonathan Aris. He was a regular in Sherlock (created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss) where he played Anderson.
A trailer for this story was released on the 15th November 2024 as part of the 2024 Children in Need broadcast. The press screening took place in the week prior to broadcast, which was hosted by Angellica Bell.
Promotional posters released by Disney+ captioned the poster with "Joy to the Worlds", mirroring the title "Joy to the World". This artwork was released on the 23rd November 2024 (to coincide with the 61st anniversary of Doctor Who). The title given on this poster caused confusion among some fans who initially assumed that the plural 'Worlds' was an error, Disney’s Doctor Who social media account then started replying to comments to indicate that something else was afoot. This then led to some fans to speculate that there could be a multiversal twist in store, while others have wondered if the UK and international versions of this story may be slightly different.
On the 5th December 2024, in anticipation of the Christmas special, a new trailer was released by the BBC, giving viewers the best look yet at what to expect from the Steven Moffat-penned instalment. This trailer teased viewers with two versions of the Fifteenth Doctor and a whole lot of time related shenanigans. The trailer sees the Fifteenth Doctor visiting a hotel utilising time travel, where he is told by hotel employee, played by Joel Fry, that they are celebrating ‘Christmas everywhere all at once’. The Doctor is seen visiting places in the past, present and future, as well as glimpsing his first meeting with Nicola Coughlan's new character Joy, The Doctor is also seen meeting another version of himself, seemingly from the future. And there is also an emotional flashback to the departure of Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday from this year's season finale, while the trailer also teases it will delve into ‘the biggest mystery in the known universe’.
This trailer confirmed that what seemed like an error, in the Disney+ poster when it seemed to call this story ‘Joy to the Worlds’ (with an s), was very much not so – When a caption at the end of this trailer stated: ‘Who Brings Joy to the Worlds’ and last word is seen to shift from ‘World’ to ‘Worlds’.
On the BBC iPlayer this story is mistakenly listed with the previous season’s stories.
This story was the sixth most-watched programme on Christmas Day, receiving 4.11 million viewers overnight.
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