Ncuti GatwaandNicola Coughlanare already bringing “Joy to the World” thanks to their work on series likeSex EducationandBridgerton. But they’re also doing it in a more official capacity, as the duo star in this year’sDoctor WhoChristmas Special, set to air on Christmas Day, aroundourworld, at least.
And in a new trailer released on Thursday by Disney+ and the BBC, the beloved British series will do what it does best — celebrate the holiday season with some cheery scraps and silly antics over the course of several misunderstood alien encounters. As the official synopsis reads:
When Joy checks into a London hotel in 2024, she opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel — discovering danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.
What Is This Year’s ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special About?
“Is this Christmas?” our current iteration of the Doctor (played by Gatwa) asks in the opening of the trailer. And: it is! All across the worlds, all at once, it seems. But with that level of inter-connectivity across the universe, something is bound to go wrong — and the Doctor and Joy will have to be the ones to stop it and save the day.
The special stars Gatwa and Nicola Coughlan as new character Joy. Additional cast includes 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. “Joy to the World” was written and executive produced by another oldWhoshowrunner, Steven Moffat — who also didSherlock— and directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai (who also directed episodes ofRiverdaleandBridgerton). Russell T. Davies is the current showrunner and executive producer.
Disney+ and the BBC also released several new images from the special, which can be seen in the gallery below:
The special is the first to star Gatwa as the Doctor and star of the show since taking on the longstanding mantle. It was also the first season to mark the return of beloved showrunner Russel T. Davies, who helped revitalize the show when it was rebooted in 2005.
Though the series has not been officially renewed for a third season, this special essentially kicks off the beginning of season two of Gatwa’s run in the TARDIS — his first largely hailed as a beloved return to form after a couple of slightly uneven seasons. Earlier this year, Gatwa explained that a third season of his Doctor adventures was already underway, production-wise at least, ona recent appearanceonThe Graham Norton Show.
Ncuti Gatwa Reveals Details of His Doctor Who Future
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa shared an exciting update about the fate of the Fifteenth Doctor.
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the series, as Davies and his creative team continue to push the beloved children’s show in a more modern, progressive, inclusive direction. Gatwa’s Doctor is more openly queer than any of his predecessors, and given the current political climate and often hateful rhetoric being blasted across the world in an attempt to fear-monger more bodily control of the human populace, it’s a necessary and vital change. After all, the children are our future and they need to know that the future is safe for them — no matter what planet they’re on.
After all, loving one another and letting one another live as we are is not the stuff of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey dreams. Even if we humans do need that reminder from time to time.
Doctor Who
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.
