Writer Steven Moffat promises that his Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special is lighter and more fun than his previous episodes: "It's not Blink"
Nov. 30, 2024Exclusive: Moffat teases that ‘Joy to the World’ is funnier compared to his previous Doctor Who episodes
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Writer Steven Moffat has penned some of the best Doctor Who episodes of all-time but they aren’t always exactly the lightest of instalments. 2007’s ‘Blink’, which introduced the haunting Weeping Angels to the show, was truly terrifying, whilst most recently ‘Boom’, which we gave thefull five stars to in our review, was a tense affair seeing Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor stranded on a landmine.
But this is Moffat we are talking about, so you should still expect plenty of emotion too. The writer teases: “It’s got your Christmas whimsy in there, so I suppose it leans toward the slightly more humorous end, to a degree. But actually it gets quite emotional, and there’s also the fun element that within the context of the wider series the Doctor has just lost one of his mates.”
Here, Moffat is referring to Millie Gibson’s companion Ruby Sunday, who waved goodbye to the TARDIS in the last series finale ‘Empire of Death’. We know it’s not a final farewell given that she will appear in the upcomingDoctor Who season 2in some capacity, but for now, the Doctor is once again alone.
And whilst that will be explored in the Christmas special, Moffat is keen to emphasize it’s not all doom and gloom: “That puts the Doctor in a particular place, and in the modern show we’ve always honored that. So it’s the Doctor alone – which makes it sound sombre, and it’s really not. It’s whimsical and heartwarming and emotional. It’s not ‘Blink’. That’s how they review all my episodes – it’s not ‘Blink’!”
Gatwa’s Doctor will be joined by Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan in ‘Joy to the World’, so she is sure to bring humor too. In the episode Coughlan will appear as a stranger named Joy who the Doctor meets at a hotel and has a strange connection to a mysterious briefcase… intriguing!
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The Doctor Who Christmas special ‘Joy to the World’ airs on Christmas Day on BBC One in the UK and streams viaDisney+ in all other territories. Read more inthe latest issue of SFX magazine, which features the episode on the cover and hits newsstands on Tuesday, December 3. Check out the fittingly festive cover below…
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As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I’ve worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.
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