The Doctor Who Christmas Special has its cake and eats it

Returning doctor who Showrunner Russell T. Davies might have pioneered the modern. doctor who Christmas specials (Christmas monsters, extravaganza, an occasional amount of Kylie Minogue), but it’s arguable that it was his successor, Steven Moffat, who really nailed the balancing act of how good he is. doctor who The Christmas story should be. The answer, paradoxically, is not really a great science fiction story, or at least, that’s not as important as a display of earnest, almost saccharine sentimentality about the romance of the season. This year’s offering, Moffat’s first Christmas script since the Twelfth Doctor launched “Twice Upon a Time” in 2017, mostly manages that balancing act with an interesting time twist. doctor who An adventure adorned with festive charm, one that really leans on the latter to help make up for some mistakes in the former.

“Joy to the World,” which airs next week on Christmas Day, has some parallels to Ncuti Gatwa’s full debut as the 15th Doctor in last year’s Christmas episode, “The Church on Ruby Road,” in so much so that it relies on a variety of charming performances to try to mask when its story doesn’t quite cohere. It swaps the fantastical bent of creepy baby-kidnapping elves for a more traditional sci-fi aesthetic as the Doctor stays at a futuristic “Time Hotel” for the holidays, offering temporary gateways to Christmases throughout human history. . also leans heavy Also in that seasonal aesthetic, with lots of snow, tinsel and trees, feeling much more of the season rather than just being an old episode that airs near the end of December.

Intrigued by the mystery of a strange suitcase that appears to be fatally swapping between the hotel’s hosts, it is in this festive and temporary setting (and through the aforementioned doors of the Time Hotel) that the Doctor crosses paths with the lonely Joy (Nicola Coughlan). ). ), while checking into a run-down hotel in London during Christmas 2024. The mystery of why Joy becomes so important to the Doctor’s latest adventure is actually pushed aside for a good portion of “Joy to the World.” ” as he steps sideways to explore the ramifications of the Time Hotels’ gateways and the temporal paradoxes that accompany them. It’s all perfectly Moffat, a mix of laughs, time-bending narratives and the almost obligatory melancholy that accompanies his best outings as a writer, as the Doctor finds himself thrust into the life of another lonely woman along the way (Steph’s Anita). Whalley, perhaps secretly the breakout star of “Joy to the World”). he is a murderer doctor who story idea, one that also deftly touches on the Doctor’s own loneliness after separating from Ruby. It just so happens to be appropriately seasonally filled inside another doctor who episode that is… well, I don’t have time to breathe something so interesting.

“Joy to the World” makes up for those structural deficiencies with Joy’s story by allowing that element of the episode to be where all the sentimentality of the holiday season is expressed, with a climactic narrative full of moving emotional drama to make up for the fact that it is playing a little fast and loose with the logistical fundamentals, especially in contrast to the plot within the plot to which the first half of the episode is dedicated. For the most part it works, thanks to stellar performances from Gatwa and Coughlan, and will strike an especially bittersweet chord for people spending Christmas without their loved ones. But if you find yourself particularly immune to doctor whoWith the sentimental charm offensives this time of year, you might be a little lacking the culmination of it all and wondering what the episode would have been like if it had stuck with that initial plot within a plot as the main idea.

But even if you don’t find yourself resonating with the excitement of it all, there’s still at least a good portion of great doctor who which is found in “Joy to the World,” even if it is not the final focus of the episode. There is enough here to satisfy anyone looking for an excellent doctor who idea, or someone who just wants something big and Christmassy to fill their heart with the seasonal spirit as they sit through the festive period, and at this point of doctor whoDespite the long history of Christmas specials, the fact that we can still get stories that manage to balance both is a welcome little gift under our collective trees.

doctor who returns to Disney+ worldwide and to the BBC in the UK and Ireland on Christmas Day, December 25.

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