The time has come! Doctor Who has unveiled the latest Christmas special, full of timey-wimey twists, heart-wrenching turns, and Easter eggs that even the most eagle-eyed Whovian might overlook.
"Joy to the World" not only brings Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan into the ever-expanding ensemble of Doctor Who, this 2024 Christmas special also reunites showrunner/executive producer Russell T Davies with former showrunner/executive producer and this episode's screenwriter, Steven Moffat.
Mashable interviewed the pair to get details on this ep's juiciest secrets. Below, we break down all the Easter eggs worth snatching up.
"Joy to the World" opens with sirens blaring over 1940 Manchester, which is ablaze from bombings. The Blitz is on as Mr. & Mrs. Flockhart (Peter Benedict and Julia Watson) try to enjoy a peaceful Christmas holiday.
Coming away from the window, Basil Flockhart comments to his wife, Hilda, "The Cathedral's been hit. Used to know someone who lived up that way. Long time ago." His wife asks if it was a woman, and he responds, "Two women, in fact."
Subtly, Basil is alluding to the Silurian Sherlock and her wife/Watson, who were in another Moffat-penned ep, "A Good Man Goes to War," Series 6, episode 7.
Moffat confirmed this in Mashable's interview, noting a shift in the scene's location from London to Manchester might have obscured the reference.
After surprising the Flockharts, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) pops in on a lone woman (Niamh Marie Smith), riding in a train cabin on the Orient Express through Italy in 1962. Notably, she cradles a handwritten letter and a copy of Agatha Christie's 1934 novel, Murder on the Orient Express. Now, Christie ran into the Tenth Doctor in "The Unicorn and the Wasp," Series 4, episode 7, which was set in 1926. But who is this fan of her work, reading the whodunnit on the train that is its setting?
The credits of "Joy to the World" reveal the character's name and her connection to another epic British franchise. She is Sylvia Trench, a Bond girl whose presence changes her lore and loops the iconic spy into the Whoniverse.
When the Doctor pokes his head into that tent in 1953's Everest Base Camp, he's popping in on the history-making team of New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (Phil Baxter) and his guide, Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay (Samuel Sherpa-Moore).
On May 29, 1953, they'd be the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest — 29,028 feet high — and would go onto worldwide acclaim. Hillary would be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and immortalized on New Zealand's five-dollar bill, while Norgay was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine.
So, it turns out the Doctor snatching some of their equipment wasn't an issue for the expedition.
Last season, Russell T Davies not only cast Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) in "Space Babies," but also dug into Bridgerton mania with "Rogue," a Regency-set episode full of secrets, romance, and deadly shapeshifters!
With "Joy to the World," Doctor Who welcomes Bridgerton's Season 3 leading lady Nicola Coughlan into the fold, playing the titular Joy. But keen-eyed viewers will also notice that at the Time Hotel, several extras are swanning around in gowns and towering wigs that harken back to the grandeur of Bridgerton's balls.
The "lizard man" (Jonathan Aris) who strolls into Joy's room with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist is — as the Doctor explains — a Silurian, "the proudest race and original inhabitants of Earth."
First introduced in 1970 with the Third Doctor's "Doctor Who and the Silurians," this scaled species has appeared in several TV episodes and spinoff comics. They memorably resurfaced on the rebooted series with the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in "The Hungry Earth," in which the subterranean humanoids are awakened by drilling in South Whales. This Silurian hotel manager's appearance shows a future where his kind lives in peace with humans, just as the Doctor had hoped!
The bland wallet the Doctor carries contains a blank piece of paper to the untrained eye. But Whovians know this device allows the Doctor to flash any kind of identification he needs to infiltrate even the most secure locations, be they military instillations or Time Hotels with earnest service staff.
Early in the episode, we see him flash the psychic paper to pacify Time Hotel staffer Trev. But when the tables turn and he's serving guests at the London hotel where he met Joy and Anita, the psychic paper signals to him what the guests actually want to order. Diets be damned! Jelly and biscuits for all! (Or Jell-O and cookies, if you're American.)
While working at the hotel where he met Joy — going the long way 'round — the Doctor befriends front desk clerk Anita Benn (Steph de Whalley). The two begin hanging out in Joy's old room, playing board games like Snakes and Ladders and Clue. But also, they tell stories. Whovians who remember the harrowing days of "The Angels Take Manhattan" and "Blink" (both penned by Moffat!) will recognize their lore, even if they're not named.
The Doctor says, "Can't move if you're looking at them!" And Anita rejoins, "Rubbish!" But ask Amy Pond or Sally Sparrow. The Weeping Angels might look like stone statues of angels covering their faces. But when you're not looking they're on the move, and they are AFTER YOU.
When the Doctor first arrives at the Time Hotel, shots of the lobby reveal a curious shop called "Mr. Benn's Any Era Clothes." In the end credits, it's revealed that Benn is Anita's last name. Could this then be foreshadowing (in a time-wimey way) that she was fated to end up working at the illustrious lodging (thanks to a good word from an old friend)? Possibly! More likely though is the alternative.
Mr. Benn is the name of a children's book series that became an animated BBC show. Both center on the eponymous fellow who goes to a costume shop, tries on different outfits (spaceman, deep sea diver, knight), and then walks through a door to the setting in which they'd be appropriate to have an adventure. So, this allusion is perfectly suited to the needs of tourists at the Time Hotel. After all, we don't all have TARDIS wardrobe at our disposal.
What villainous capitalist endeavor would consider destroying Earth and all of human history to create their own power source by birthing a star? The biggest arms dealer in the Whoniverse, that's who.
Originally described as a planet known for weapons manufacturing, Villengard was re-introduced in "Boom," a 2024 episode also penned by Moffat. In that ep, a landmine trapped the Doctor in one place as he tried to make sense of a foggy planet at war.
Like in "Boom," "Joy to the World" shows innocent bystanders caught in the crossfires, not only of Villengard's machinery but also in their merciless pursuit of financial supremacy. (They consider the loss of all life on Earth across time as "collateral sacrifice.") Both episodes also see a victim slain by Villengard tech turning it into something saving instead of destructive, their uploaded consciousnesses becoming a helpful ghost in the machine.
In the world of Doctor Who "mavity" means "gravity," and has since 2023's "Wild Blue Yonder."
That episode began with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and the Doctor (David Tennant) traveling back to the pivotal moment when Isaac Newton sat under that apple tree. They tell him excitedly he can appreciate "the gravity of the situation." But Newton mishears them and decides the term for his scientific concept will be mavity.
Ever since then, the show has followed along. So when the Doctor is spiraling into science speak to hologram Trev in "Joy to the World," he asks, "Can you access air density, humidity, temperature, rotational mavity?"
This is as much of a tradition for this franchise as a decorated tree is for the rest of us. Some of the best (and most heartbreaking) Doctor Who Christmas specials have ended in loss, including "The Voyage of the Damned" and "The Husbands of River Song."
In "Ode to Joy," the Doctor loses a pair of new friends, though neither is meant to be seen as a tragedy. To save Joy — and every other inhabitant of Earth past, present, and future — he must leave behind his work friend, Anita. But they'll always treasure their year together. And while she's not an official companion, Anita does get the door opened to a wider universe and a brighter future, thanks to his recommending her to the Time Hotel. (Anyone who can politely brush off the chaos response of "The star seed will bloom and the flesh will rise" deserves a promotion!)
As for Joy, much like the late soldier John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson) in "Boom," she loses her human life because of Villengard's vicious plans for financial gain. But while the Doctor (and his audience) might weep for her, Joy refuses to. She tells him she will not die, she will "change." This is an idea echoed in "Boom," that death is not an end. Just a change.
Joy's change makes her a literal star, shining down across time on characters old and new, from the Doctor's last companion Ruby Sunday to his pal Anita to the birth of Jesus himself.
How to watch: Doctor Who is now streaming on Disney+.
