Doctor Who Christmas special shines – but doesn’t fix the show’s biggest problem
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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. Doctor Who has returned for another festive special featuring timey-wimey adventures, Ncuti Gatwa’s trademark flare, and the inimitable Nicola Coughlan.
![[Nicola Coughlan as Joy and Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233533131-583b.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
This special, aptly titled Joy To The World, also marked Steven Moffat’s first Christmas episode since 2017. Of course, it includes many of the Whoniverse’s classic motifs from unwieldy hotels (think season six’s The God Complex) to enrapturing one-off guest stars – all with a fresh twist.
![[Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SEI_202990633-d65a.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
When Joy Almondo (Nicola) books into an unassuming London hotel in 2024, her hotel room soon becomes a portal into the mystical Time Hotel and the accidental epicentre for her world colliding with the 15th Doctor. Along the way, we meet the usual circuit of weird and whacky characters like the endearing bellman Trev (Joel Fry) and the disarmingly charming hotel everywoman (seriously it’s unclear what her role is) Anita (Steph De Walley).
![[Trev (JOEL FRY) & The Doctor (NCUTI GATWA)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233533133-c824.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
There’s no doubt that Nicola is the crowning jewel of this episode, showing off her magnificent acting range. We see her witty rapport with the Doctor as she fights to be heard in the face of a deathly threat in the form of a black briefcase that’s inexplicably attached itself to her.
![[Ncuti Gatwa and Nicola Coughlan]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233533177-cee9.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
