After an explosive first season as the fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa will return for a one-off festive special in 2024 before his second full outing.
The Doctor Who Christmas Special was brought back last year and was Ncuti’s first adventure with Ruby Sunday. But what’s in store for 2024? Thanks to the latest (bonkers) trailer, we know a bit more about what to expect.
Here’s all you need to know about the Doctor Who Christmas Special, the episode of which is titled Joy to the World.
What is the air date and time of the Doctor Who Christmas Special?
In the UK, Joy to the World will air on Wednesday 25 December (Christmas Day) at 5:10pm GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The US will get it on Disney+ also on Christmas Day at the same time it airs in the UK – that’s 9:10am PT / 12:10pm ET.
BBC/Disney/Bad Wolf Studios
Who is the companion for the Doctor Who Christmas Special?
Joining Gatwa in the TARDIS will be the brilliant Nicola Coughlan as the companion – she’s had a huge year, leading the latest season of the steamy romance Netflix hit Bridgerton as Penelope Featherington. Before that, she was best known for her role as Clare Devlin in Derry Girls.
She is playing Joy Almondo, the titular character of the episode. Coughlan describes her character as “a determined woman whose life is changed forever when she meets the Doctor”, while writer Steven Moffat said that her performance will “break your heart” (via Radio Times).
BBC/Disney/Bad Wolf Studios
Is there a trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas Special?
You’re in luck, because there are several!
Here’s the latest full trailer, revealing a strange hotel that Joy finds herself in, as well as double Doctors…
This clip from Children in Need reveals we’ll be going pre-historic in this episode:
This video starts with a message from Nicola for Hall H at Comic-Con, and then shows a clip from the episode, with Joy checking in and meeting the Doctor for the first time:
What is the Doctor Who Christmas Special about?
Joy to the World is set in a mysterious hotel in London. As Joy tries to settle into her room, a Silurian and the Doctor interrupt her evening. She ends up travelling through time, where she encounters dinosaurs and discovers a threat that is ready to overtake Earth.
According to Digital Spy, the hotel is using time travel to sell nights throughout history to make more money.
BBC/Disney/Bad Wolf Studios
The official description for the episode says:
“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?”
This episode follows the departure of Ruby, and Moffat told the Radio Times the following: “You could go back to that Time Hotel and do an actual farce. But I just thought that for Christmas Day you need something a bit more emotional.
“And he’s just lost a companion [with Ruby (Millie Gibson) having departed last season], which is always a bother. We’ve got to actually go through that, otherwise it just looks like, ‘Oh, well, you’re gone. You’ll do.’ Which is roughly what he does, but we try and disguise that.”
The latest trailer shows that we get double the Doctors, with one being very ominous – to the frustration of his doppelganger. We also see the Doctor riding on the top of the Orient Express, so this hotel will no doubt take them throughout time and space to a wide range of locations.
Who is starring in the Doctor Who Christmas Special?
Here is the full cast list for the episode… that we know so far, of course. If there’s any surprise cameos, they’ll have no doubt been omitted:
- The Doctor – Ncuti Gatwa
- Joy Almondo – Nicola Coughlan
- Trev Simpkins – Joel Fry
- Anita Benn – Steph de Whalley
- Hotel Manager – Jonathan Aris
- Hilda Flockhart – Julia Watson
- Basil Flockhart – Peter Benedict
- Sylvia Trench – Niamh Marie Smith
- Edmund Hillary – Phil Baxter
- Tenzing Norgay – Samuel Sherpa-Moore
- Receptionist – Ruchi Rai
- Mr Single – Joshua Leese
- Server – Ell Potter
- Barman – Liam Prince-Donnelly
When will Doctor Who return after the Christmas Special?
After Joy to the World, Doctor Who is expected to return in May 2025 for season 15 (or season two, if you listen to the official Disney branding).
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Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor
As Tech Advisor's Entertainment Editor, Hannah is the resident expert in all things streaming, film and TV. Before joining Tech Advisor in 2019, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and created a website dedicated to geek culture and lifestyle. She's also reviewed a whole range of gadgets including flagship smartphones, wearables and styling tools. Outside of Foundry, she's written freelance pieces for Polygon, Metro and Den of Geek, and is proud to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador for Google.