THE BIG PICTURE
- Steven Moffat hints at an emotional and unique Christmas Special with Nicola Coughlan.
- Moffat’s decision to continue the emotional tone from the recent season.
- The return of the Christmas Special is celebrated after a hiatus under showrunner Chris Chibnall.
As per Radio Times, Steven Moffat, former showrunner for Doctor Who and the writer of the upcoming 2024 Christmas Special, “Joy to the World”, has given an intriguing update about what to expect from this year’s festive celebrations. In particular, Moffat referenced the special’s guest star, Nicola Coughlan, who joins Doctor Who off the back of a major 2024 that saw her star in the third season of Bridgerton. Speaking to Ireland AM, Moffat said, “Nicola is wonderful in it, she will break your heart. I’m not allowed to say anything about it. At least I think I’m not allowed to say anything about it so I’ll just shut up”.
The promise of an emotional hour comes as no surprise following the end of the most recent season, which saw Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) finally learn of the identity of her birth mother and even track her down and rekindle their relationship. The final episode certainly received mixed reviews, with many citing it as the poorest outing of the season, but the emotional impact of this moment in particular cannot be doubted. It seems that Moffat will continue this tone heading into the Christmas Special, an episode that the writer promises to be unlike anything audiences have seen before. Speaking in a special behind-the-scenes YouTube video, Moffat said, “I can’t give away much more but work has begun on it already, and it’s mad, it’s one of the maddest Christmas specials you’ll ever see. It’s epic, it goes to so many different places. And it’s a great story of who the Doctor is when he’s alone.”
Chris Chibnall Removed the Christmas Specials For Far Too Long
Ever since the 2005 reboot of Doctor Who, the Christmas Special has been a staple of the show. From battling vicious snowmen to deadly Christmas trees and even a run-in with Santa Claus himself, Doctor Who and Christmas have gone together like salt and pepper. However, when the mantle was passed from Moffat to new showrunner Chris Chibnall in 2017, he made the strange decision to axe the primetime holiday spot and exchange it for a New Year’s Special.
This was, of course, met with outrage upon the announcement, with many fans still to this day unsure of the thought process that went into this decision. Nevertheless, a move back to showrunner Russell T Davies brought about a revival of the Yuletide special, with the first returning episode, “The Church on Ruby Road”, also the first full episode for the new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa. Hopes remain that the Christmas tradition will be maintained going forward, with it guaranteed to continue at least for this year.
Writer Steven Moffat has provided an exciting update for the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Joy to the World”. You can catch up with the most recent season of the sci-fi show right now on Disney+.
