The Trailer for 'Doctor Who' Special "Joy to the World" Brings Christmas Everywhere All at Once

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Doctor Who Christmas special season! Yes, we're mere weeks away from the iconic sci-fi series' annual holiday installment, and this year the show's swinging for the fences with a Bridgerton star, a Time Hotel, and the reappearance of an old enemy of the Doctor's. 

Historically, Who holiday outings tend to highlight the show's lighter, goofier side. We've seen murderous robot Santas, a spaceship version of the Titanic, mind-altering dream crabs, and even Old Saint Nick himself. Last year's "The Church on Ruby Road," which technically had to double as an introduction to a new Doctor, a new companion, and an entirely new era of the show, still managed to include a band of singing goblins and a musical number. It's kind of a thing. 

Titled "Joy to the World," this year's special will be Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa's first proper holiday installment --- or at least one that doesn't require the show to explain who his character is in such detail -- as well as his first companion-light episode.  During showrunner Russell T. Davies's first turn as showrunner, festive specials were often one-off adventures that allowed the show to bring on interesting guest stars and give the Doctor a chance to pal around with a new friend rather than their regular traveling partner. With Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday currently getting to know her birth mother, it's time for the show to get back to that trend. 

Nicola Coughlan is the latest Doctor Who Christmas special guest star, including such familiar names as Catherine Tate, David Morrissey, Katherine Jenkins, and Kylie Minogue. She plays a young woman named Joy, whose holiday trip goes awry when she opens a door to the Time Hotel, a place that, in turn, can connect to various points throughout history. A chance meeting with the Doctor (along with a surprised Silurian and a rather aggressive T-Rex) means her Christmas is almost certainly not going to go as planned. 

Here's the episode synopsis. 

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.

The clip released as part of 2024's annual Children in Need telethon suggests that this is all connected to the Villengard, a deadly weapons manufacturer that the Doctor has previously faced off against. They most recently played a key role in last season's "Boom", but the group has been in conflict with the Doctor off and on since he wore Christopher Eccleston's face. (According to "The Doctor Dances," it was Nine who destroyed their main production facility, so maybe there's some kind of time-wimey grudge involved.) 

Alongside Gatwa and Coughlan, the special's cast includes Steph de Whalley (Midnight Taxi) as Anita, Jonathan Aris (Sherlock) as Melnak, Joel Fry (Our Flag Means Death) as Trev, Peter Benedict (Casualty) as Basil, Julia Watson (Doctors) as Hilda, and newcomer Niamh Marie Smith as Sylvia.

"Joy to the World" is written and executive produced by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai (Bridgerton). Current showrunner Russell T Davies is also an executive producer, alongside Joel Collins, Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner, and Jane Tranter. Doctor Who is produced by Bad Wolf, with BBC Studios for Disney Branded Television and BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Doctor Who's 2024 festive special will stream on Disney+ on Christmas Day, December 25, at 5:10 p.m. BT/12:10 p.m. ET. (Yes, the episode will drop simultaneously on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer as it airs on BBC One.) Gatwa's first season as the Doctor is currently streaming on both Disney+ and BBC iPlayer; his second will premiere at an as yet unannounced date in 2025.