Steven Moffat has been writing episodes of Doctor Who for many years now. In the most recent season, he wrote "Boom," in which the Doctor becomes a living landmine, unable to move, on a distant planet. The episode was one of the highest rated of the rebooted season, and on Christmas Day, Moffat returns with his holiday special, "Joy to the World."
"Joy to the World" stars Bridgerton and Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan as Joy, a character who she says will break your heart. Coughlan had previously revealed that Joy is "a determined woman whose life is changed forever when she meets the Doctor." Coughlan unveiled a first look at the new installment earlier this year at San Diego Comic-Con. Check it out:
Steven Moffat reveals the premise of "Joy to the World"!
Appearing on a regional BBC station, Moffat recently dished out some details on his satirical, hospitality-themed Christmas episode. The episode takes place in a hotel, where the owners decide to expand their horizons and take in guests from across time and space. “Imagine in the distant future, a hotel chain discovers time travel. Their first business move? Sell the unsold nights throughout their own historical timeline,” Moffat explained.
Turns out Moffat wasn't originally going to pen the script for this Christmas special. Instead, showrunner Russell T. Davies enlisted his help. "The truth is I absolutely love doing Doctor Who Christmas," he said. "Because I adore Christmas. Then the email came through from Russell saying, 'Steven, I need to get with Series Two. I'm never going to finish this Christmas script. Could you come in and write one?' Not complete his script, but just come in and do another one from scratch."
I'm sure the Christmas Special will be every bit the chaotic, timey-wimey adventure we all expect. I can't wait to see Nicola Coughlan's debut, as well as the return of Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor at the end of next month. Bring it on!
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h/t Fiction Horizon