Doctor Who’s many Christmas Specials are very rarely anchored to reality too tightly. Whether it’s 2023’s “The Church on Ruby Road,” with flying goblin pirate ships, vanishing babies, and even a musical number, or 2008’s “The Next Doctor” having cyber-converted-dog-people walk around Victorian London, these episodes of the series don’t always take themselves too seriously. This year’s festive special, “Joy to the World,” takes things to another level.
The entire 55-minute story is just one mad moment after another, from hotels with rooms that lead to distant parts of Earth’s history to a secret code that no one can ever work out. It’s refreshing to have such an unapologetically far-out episode to add to Doctor Who’s more than 60-year canon, especially following the first season of a brand-new era which deliberately sought to shake up the show and turn its formula on its head.
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“Joy to the World” is a classic example of writer Steven Moffat just having a fun time. There are callbacks to other episodes he’s written, lines of dialogue which only work in the context of the cast’s gently heightened performances, and storylines trying so hard to be clever that they often actually succeed. It’s a truly bonkers treat for Christmas Day, and there are so many surprises in store that both fans and new viewers alike are sure to enjoy themselves throughout.
The Time Hotel and Its Many Rooms
The entire concept of the Time Hotel is essentially an excuse for “Joy to the World” to show off as many different eras of human history as possible. Obviously, there’s the present day, from which Joy (Nicola Coughlan) accidentally wanders into the Time Hotel, but there are also doors which lead to the Stone Age and early Antarctic expeditions. There’s even a door which leads to prehistoric Earth — no humans, just dinosaurs!
The result of this is that the Time Hotel is a mix of a huge range of different people, with different outfits, different ways of speaking, and entirely different vibes all wandering around the hotel. There’s even a Silurian character from the future, played by Jonathan Aris, whose presence in the hotel justifies the wheeling out of the oh-so-familiar Silurian prosthetic design. All of this leads to a particular kind of fun which is familiar within Doctor Who Christmas Specials, even if that’s very much the priority over the plot.
A Bootstrap Paradox and More Than One Doctor
Ncuti Gatwa gets his second opportunity for a multi-Doctor story in “Joy to the World” (after his first-ever appearance in the show was opposite David Tennant’s previous incarnation of the Time Lord). The twist here is that the other Doctor is also Ncuti Gatwa. The Fifteenth Doctor crosses his own time stream in this story, but all is not quite what it seems. There’s a joyous opportunity here for Gatwa to act alongside himself, and it’s clear that the star is relishing every moment of it. Crossing one’s own time stream can cause a paradox, which is exactly what happens here — but not before Gatwa has had the chance to cycle through every emotion under his belt opposite himself.
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The ‘bootstrap paradox’ is a concept which will undoubtedly be familiar to Doctor Who fans — especially those who watched Steven Moffat’s tenure as showrunner with a keen eye. The idea centers around traveling to the past because of something that happens in the future, only when in the past, the events of the future are caused. The bootstrap paradox is complex by design, but it’s used in a somewhat refreshing way in “Joy to the World” (even if, especially alongside the reappearance of the Villengard Corporation, it feels a little like Moffat playing his greatest hits). The important thing is that it adds to the already increasing madness of this Christmas episode.
What Christmas Is All About in ‘Doctor Who’
At the end of the day, Doctor Who has always had an interesting relationship with Christmas. It’s a chance for the show to gently apply the breaks and tell stories which don’t need to contribute necessarily to a wider arc or deeper plot. While there have often been poignant moments in Christmas Specials (looking at “The Husbands of River Song” or “A Christmas Carol”), they’re also just an opportunity for the series to relax into a classic low-stakes runaround.
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While “Joy to the World” absolutely embodies the latter half of this sentiment, the stakes are unusually high for a Doctor Who Christmas story — and so all the wacky ideas introduced throughout the episode come to a head in the final few minutes. The ending of this episode is action-packed, exciting, emotional, and exactly what a festive special should include. However, after the main plot is wrapped up, there are a couple of additional scenes which demonstrate how far-reaching the main events of the episode are.
The very last example shown is likely to divide the fanbase, and is by far the maddest thing “Joy to the World” does. It will no doubt have some viewers sitting back on their sofa and taking another sip of sherry while sporting a knowing smile, while others may be inclined to shout at their televisions. Either way, it’s a bold way to end such a bonkers Christmas special.
Doctor Who: “Joy to the World” is available on Disney+ on Christmas Day 2024 worldwide and BBC iPlayer in the UK. Watch it on Disney+ below:
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Originally premiered in 1963, Doctor Who is a sci-fi series that follows a powerful being known as a Time Lord, referred to as the Doctor. Using an interdimensional time-traveling ship known as the TARDIS, the Doctor travels time and space with various companions as they solve multiple problems and help avert catastrophe as much as they almost cause it. Though the Doctor is always the same character, they experience regenerations, allowing them to be recast every few seasons as a unique immortal being with new personality traits.
Release Date
December 25, 2023
Main Genre
Sci-Fi
Franchise(s)
Doctor Who
Network
BBC
Cast
Ncuti Gatwa
, Millie Gibson
, Susan Twist
, Michelle Greenidge
, Angela Wynter
, Jemma Redgrave
, Yasmin Finney
, Anita Dobson
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