Doctor Who spoilers follow.
Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat has revealed the first details about this year's Christmas special.
Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan will be starring in the title role of 'Joy to the World' as a traveler checking into a London hotel over the festive period.
Before long, Joy's quiet holiday is interrupted by a Silurian wandering into her hotel room and the sudden arrival of The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) to take her on a time-travelling adventure.
During an interview with BBC South East, Moffat confirmed that the special will take place "in the far, far future" where a hotel comes up with an unexpected use of time travel.
"Imagine that a hotel chain got hold of the idea of time travel," he teased. "What's the first thing a hotel would do if they had time travel? They'd realise they have an opportunity to sell all the unsold nights in their old hotels [throughout] history."
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The plot has a typically Moffat-style wibbly wobbly, timey wimey twist that was first seen in a teaser clip released over the summer.
In the footage (which you can watch above), The Doctor pops from the Orient Express to World War II-era London to the present day in search of someone special.
While Moffat couldn't reveal any more plot information about 'Joy to the World', he did share how excited he was to be writing a new Christmas special so many years after his Doctor Who showrunner stint.
"The truth is, I actually love doing Doctor Who Christmas," he explained. "I'm a big fan of Christmas. I absolutely adore Christmas."
The writer confirmed that Davies initially reached out to ask for his help because he was struggling to fit in time to write a 2024 Christmas special before moving on to next year's full season.
Earlier this year, Steven Moffat said he was conflicted while writing the 2024 Christmas special since it may be the final time he writes for Doctor Who.
"As I got to the end of 'Boom' and 'Joy to the World', I did think, 'Is that it? Is that the final moment?' I think they both have quite good final moments for the Doctor, [so] I was thinking, 'Yeah, that could be goodbye'," he told TV Choice.
Doctor Who airs on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere. Classic episodes of Doctor Who are available on BBC iPlayer in the UK.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
