On Christmas Day, fans will be treated to the Doctor Who special Joy to the World, which will include both pain and joy.

According to Fifteenth Doctor actor Ncuti Gatwa, the special is quite poignant. Two lonely people find solace — and challenges in each other.

“It’s got such a joyous, lovely, warm Christmassy feel. There is so much heart in this story which touches on loss, love and humour, which is exactly what you want for a Christmas Day adventure with the Doctor. I can’t wait for the audience to see it, it’s very joyous.”

“We find the Doctor at the start of this episode alone. He’s lost his companion and he’s on the hunt for some milk! He’s landed in a very exciting hotel, and then the adventure ensues. He’s obviously still dealing with losing Ruby, who is back at home with her family, and he’s trying to fill that void with an adventure, and it is a big one!”

And adventure he finds with fellow Christmas singleton Joy Almondo (Nicola Coughlan), who checks into a hotel alone on Christmas Day. Joy’s room contains a door to The Time Hotel where she encounters both a Silurian (Jonathan Aris) and the Doctor. Somehow in this exchange Joy finds herself handcuffed to a briefcase containing a dangerously volatile Star Steed.

“I think [the Doctor and Joy] have a really interesting dynamic. Their relationship isn’t plain sailing and there are bumps in the road, but I think Joy forces the Doctor to look into himself and his life and question it somewhat. There are also some really funny moments between them.”

And the Doctor returns the favour by challenging Joy to open up about her struggles, according to Nicola Coughlan.

“Joy is someone that comes across very shy and retiring when you first meet her. She’s somebody who never wants to cause a fuss, and it’s a bit strange at the beginning because you see her checking into this hotel on her own on Christmas Eve and you don’t really know what her story is going to be at this stage. It seems quite unusual, and then you realise that she’s somebody who is hiding a lot of pain and has a lot of struggle in her life, but is not really facing it.”

“I think the dynamic between [the Doctor and Joy] is very, sort of, he pushes her and she tries to remain a brick wall. A very polite and sweet brick wall, but he knows that in order to get to where needs to be with Joy, he needs to push her to uncomfortable places. It’s a very interesting dynamic because she wants to remain polite and unaffected but the Doctor is not going to let her do that.”

Writer Steven Moffat describes the Doctor as even more severe in SFX magazine.

“I was keen to see him go mean. He does go a bit mean for once in this, and he does it for quite a long while. I always think that at some point the ancient beast has got to snarl, or you don’t think it’s him.”

“Underneath whatever set of flourishes and fripperies he’s currently sporting, he’s still that same bloke. He’s quite dangerous and he can be bracingly unsentimental when he wants to be.”

According to director Alex Pillai, there is a love story in the special.

“…I actually literally thought Steven had written this episode for me because it has all the things I love in Doctor Who and love in drama in general – there’s a love story, there’s a race to the end, and the dialogue is very witty and funny and fast. I just felt very connected to it.”

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies expounded on the theme of two lonely people finding companionship in each other.

“Just lovely, here comes another new best friend for the Doctor! That’s partly what the story is about. Steven has written that aspect in really beautifully, the fact that the Doctor is alone now and it’s Christmas, and he normally has a companion at his side. I don’t often go on set, but I did go on set for the jungle sequence for this episode, which is one of the most extraordinary sets we’ve ever built. It was just two really great mates sitting down together, laughing, working, happy and collaborating. It’s a really lovely partnership.”

Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Alex Pillai, Joy to the World, starring Ncuti Gatwa, Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Aris and Joel Fry, will transmit on Christmas Day, 25 December, from 17:10 to 18:10 GMT, 2024 on BBC One in the UK and Ireland and Disney+ everywhere else where available.