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Television Review | Doctor Who

Doctor Who: ‘Joy to the World’ — a mostly merry Christmas Special, if slightly overstuffed

When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs, and The Doctor…

Dan Owen
Frame Rated
Published in
7 min readDec 29, 2024

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CChristmas was reclaimed by Doctor Who last year when audiences got their first look at the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) in “The Church on Ruby Road”, and it seems showrunner Russell T Davies is ensuring this tradition is maintained after a half-decade where the show’s winter special was punted to New Year’s Day — which is ironically a more popular time for UK TV viewing now, as the culture has shifted away from families gathering on the sofa during Christmas Day. Regardless, “Joy to the World” bridges the gap between Gatwa’s inaugural run and Series 15 next year, with Steven Moffat dropping in to write a seasonal treat.

Interestingly, after RTD left Doctor Who, he didn’t return to write a single episode during the ensuing eras, but now that he’s back in charge, the same isn’t true of his successor. Moffat seems to have resumed…

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Dan Owen
Dan Owen

Written by Dan Owen

Freelance writer and TV addict raised on films • Socials and links: https://linktr.ee/danowen

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