Posted in: BBC, Disney+, TV | Tagged: christmas, doctor who

Doctor Who: BBC Christmas 2024 Guide Includes "Joy to the World" Info

The BBC's lineup for Christmas and New Year's Eve 2024 on TV and Player includes a rundown/overview for Doctor Who: "Joy to the World."

Earlier today, we looked at whether or not writer and ex-showrunner Steven Moffat is really wrapping up his run writing for the long-running series after the upcoming Nicola Coughlan-starring Christmas Special "Joy to the World" ("Joy to the Worlds"?). But now, we have a look at what the BBC has to officially say about the upcoming adventure from Showrunner Russell T. Davies' Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) and Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday)-starring Doctor Who. Along with Gatwa and Coughlan, the special also stars Steph de Whalley as Anita, Jonathan Aris as Melnak, Joel Fry as Trev, Peter Benedict as Basil, Julia Watson as Hilda, and Niamh Marie Smith as Sylvia.

Produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television and set to hit Disney+, BBC One, and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day, here's a look at the overview released in the BBC's holiday rundown:

Ham and cheese toastie and a pumpkin latte? The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, returns this Christmas for a time-hopping trip through the history of Earth.

The episode introduces Joy, starring Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls), who checks into a London hotel in 2024, only to discover that her quiet stay is anything but ordinary. When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.

Where has the Doctor been? What is going on in Joy's hotel room? An old enemy of the Doctor's is lurking in the wings and all of human history hangs in the balance. Can the Doctor save Christmas, everywhere, all at once?

Doctor Who: The Road to "Joy to the World"

In November 2023, Coughlan checked in personally via video to let fans know that they can expect to see her in the 2024 Christmas Special as a guest star in the "Joy to the World":

"Happy New Year's Eve! And the point is – there, right behind us, that's one of the sets from the Christmas 2024 episode of Doctor Who! The future! Right there ♥️ But what terrible secrets does it hide..? (etc)," Davies wrote in an Instagram post on December 31, 2023, dropping one of the earliest clues to what's to come:

In March of this year, social media posts included screencaps of Producer Alison Sterling's CV that listed the 2024 Christmas Special – with Pillai directing and Moffat penning the script. Shortly after, the listing was removed – but not replaced with a "corrected" writer. During the Radio Times Covers Party that same month, Moffat looked to shut down the idea of his returning to the long-running series. "It would be career madness, even by my standard, to go back into a junior capacity on a show I used to run. I would have to be insane to do that!" Moffat added – eventually proving that he truly was insane by penning the Season 1 episode, "BOOM."

Two months later, Moffat confirmed to TV Choice that he was writing the Pillai-directed "Joy to the World" – which would be the writer and ex-showrunner's 50th Doctor Who script. "I should probably introduce that one from an armchair, 'Here we are — number 50,'" Moffat shared. "But I'm not involved in next year's series. There are other things coming for me, so I might never write for 'Doctor Who' again. As I got to the end of 'Joy to the World,' I did think, 'Is that it? My final moment?' So that could be my goodbye. Number 50? I'll take that."

Near the end of the video above (kicking in at around the 8:45 mark) offering a behind-the-scenes look at "Empire of Death," Davies notes, "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."

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