Doctor Who has become synonymous with Christmas thanks to the many memorable episodes that have aired during the holiday. After six years without a Christmas Special, Russell T Davies restored the tradition when kicking off Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor era. While Davies has written seven of the show’s Christmas specials, it’s Steven Moffat (who assumed showrunner duties when Davies first left in 2010) who has written the most and arguably many of the best Christmas specials. He returns to pen this year’s entry and delivers another festive episode that’s equal parts whimsical and wistful.

“Joy to the World” finds the Doctor traveling alone, having parted ways with Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) in Doctor Who season 14’s finale. While visiting a Time Hotel in the year 4202 – where every room takes its guests to other hotel rooms littered across time and space – he becomes suspicious of a man checking in with a briefcase handcuffed to his hand. As he is wont to do, the Doctor investigates and winds up on a timey-wimey adventure that sees him visiting Christmas Day 2024, prehistoric Earth, and several times in between.

It’s in our present day that he meets Joy (Nicola Coughlan) when a subsequent carrier of the briefcase enters her hotel room, eventually transferring the case to her. Once attached to the briefcase, Joy is compelled to carry on with its mysterious mission, forcing the Doctor to figure out what that is and how he can free her. It’s a fast-paced adventure with the Doctor working against the clock, as he so often does, but it’s the moments when the episode slows down that make it a great Christmas special.

The Briefcase Plot Winds Up Being More Of A Means To An End

But The Ending Is So Deeply Moving It Hardly Matters

“Joy to the World” is a very accessible episode and could easily be someone’s first foray into Doctor Who, which is a nice change as recent Christmas or New Year’s specials haven’t been so standalone. Its use of time travel is clever, with the Doctor not really using the TARDIS and instead relying on the Time Hotel’s many rooms. The episode swings between being a timey-wimey adventure and a heartwarming holiday tale, and it’s a credit to director Alex Sanjiv Pillai that the two elements blend as well as they do.

The whole briefcase plot is where the Christmas Special is weakest. It’s a plot that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, and if not for how much fun it is, the episode would probably be a dud. Thankfully, unraveling that mystery is secondary to what Moffat is really writing about — loneliness. He examines how terrible being alone is through the Doctor, Joy, and he even turns the spotlight on us by referencing the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s never named directly, but the trauma we still collectively carry from that time is at the crux of the episode’s most emotionally charged scenes.

Moffat has always been a master at wringing an emotional response from us, and he does it again here.

It’s these scenes that brought on tears, as I was reminded of the awfulness of 2020. Then, in true Doctor Who fashion, the ending’s twist puts a happier spin on a dark moment, and I found myself crying all the harder. Moffat has always been a master at wringing an emotional response from us, and he does it again here. Some will surely find where and when the story ultimately winds up cheesy, but it’s the sort of cheesiness Doctor Who can usually get away with, especially when it so directly connects to the holiday at hand.

Gatwa Remains An Inspired Choice For The Doctor

And His ing Cast In This Special Are Sublime

Gatwa’s Doctor is confident, a bit flamboyant, and unafraid to show his emotions. He’s been another great addition to the show’s long legacy, and it’s evident how comfortable he’s become in the role since his debut. I particularly love his line delivery because it brings a playfulness to the Doctor that’s not always present in other incarnations. Be it some witty retort, a comforting phrase, or a grand speech, he deftly handles it all. This is good, as a Moffat script is never short on wit, emotion, or speeches.

No matter how long his Doctor is with another character, he makes it so believable that he cares deeply for them.

Since the Doctor is working opposite an entirely new ing cast, Gatwa has to build a rapport quickly, and he makes it look easy. No matter how long his Doctor is with another character, he makes it so believable that he cares deeply for them. It’s one of his Doctor’s greatest strengths, this unabashed willingness to be there for someone, even as he’s trying to put up walls.

Among the ing cast, Coughlan’s Joy has been marketed as Gatwa’s new companion for the special, but she’s actually one of many new characters he interacts with. Her character’s bubbly personality hides a deep sadness and she gives a powerful performance, particularly when it comes to divulging where that regret stems from. Joel Fry plays an employee of the Time Hotel and he’s one of those great companions who isn’t really around long enough to be considered a companion, but he manages to endear himself in a very short amount of time.

The standout among the new cast, however, is Stephanie de Whalley’s Anita. She runs the hotel Joy is staying at for Christmas 2024 and her brief time with the Doctor makes for the episode’s best scenes. The friendship that blooms between them exemplifies the episode’s theme of how the Doctor wouldn’t be so lonely if he just slowed down every once in a while.

This year’s Christmas special is at times a fun romp and at others a somber reflection on the loneliness that can strike during this special time of year. It’s also a great episode for Gatwa’s Doctor, tapping into his strengths and allowing him to turn in another excellent performance. “Joy to the World” may not be Moffat’s best Christmas Special (that title still belongs to the truly excellent “A Christmas Carol”), but it’s easily the best Christmas Special Doctor Who has had in many years.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special, "Joy to the World", premieres December 25th on Disney+ and BBC.