'Doctor Who' Christmas Special "Joy to the World" Promises Dinosaurs for the Holidays

Nothing says Merry Christmas like....dinosaurs? That's the vibe in the latest clip from Doctor Who's forthcoming festive special "Joy to the World," which features Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor, a guest appearance by Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan, and a seemingly very angry Tyrannosaurus Rex. But given that previous holiday episodes from this franchise have featured everything from machine gun-toting robot Santas and brain-eating dream crabs to the space version of the Titanic, this isn't actually as weird as it might sound.

While former showrunner Chris Chibnall was never all that into the whole "Festive Special" idea — preferring to be more inclusive by dropping his extra episodes on New Year's Day and telling stories that had little to do with the holiday — Russell T. Davies loves a Christmas episode. Gatwa's introduction in "The Church on Ruby Road" aside, he tends to use the festive installment to lean into the show's more light-hearted, sillier side. (Though, to be fair, even Fifteen's inaugural adventure did feature singing goblins.) 

Davies also likes to use these episodes as companion-light installments, giving the Doctor a standalone adventure with a new friend instead of another story with his regular traveling partner. Coughlan's Joy is the latest in a long tradition that includes Kylie Minogue, David Morrissey, and Catherine Tate (before she was properly made a full-time companion). 

The sneak peek was released as part of this year's BBC Children in Need telethon, an annual charity event with which Doctor Who has long been associated. Most famously, this partnership produced the ninety-minute special "The Five Doctors" back in 1983; however, clips, trailers, and minisodes have regularly been released as part of nearly every year since the series returned in 2005. (This year features a heartfelt introduction to the organization from Gatwa.) 

This is the second scene released from "Joy to the World," following the one dropped during the series' San Diego Comic-Con panel over the summer. Where that clip showed the first meeting between Coughlan's character, a woman named Joy, and the Doctor, this one hints a bit more broadly at what sort of enemy the duo will be facing—and it's a familiar one. 

Fifteen references an organization known as the Villengard, the weapons manufacturer that played a crucial role in the Season 1 episode "Boom" (and whose main production factory was presumably destroyed by the Ninth Doctor, if "The Doctor Dances" is to be believed). They're apparently trying to grow a star on Earth to give themselves an infinite energy source, a process that would require most of the planet's lifespan to take place. Hence, the sudden appearance of a dinosaur — Fifteen and Joy have somehow been transported 65 million years into the past thanks to what appears to be a time-traveling hotel.

Though the Villengard's plans and the larger plot of "Joy to the World" are being kept under wraps — we haven't even gotten a proper trailer yet! — former showrunner Steven Moffat, who returned to pen the episode, shared a few details with BBC News about the overall idea behind the hour: "Imagine in the far, far future, imagine that a hotel chain got hold of the idea of time travel," he said. "What's the first thing a hotel chain would do if they had time travel? They'd realize they had an opportunity to sell all the unsold nights in their own hotels in history."

Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas Special, "Joy to the World," will premiere on Christmas Day on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K., and presumably Disney+ everywhere else. Gatwa's first season is currently streaming on both platforms; his next one is expected in the spring of 20205.