There are some American television traditions that are eternal: Super Bowl commercials, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. In the U.K., one of the biggest TV traditions is gathering around the TV to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special, an annual one-off adventure that started to become a fixture of the show with its 2005 revival.
But as traditional as the episode may be, the series has been taking some risks... with some questionable results. But finally, in 2024, we’ll see a return to the formula that made the Doctor Who Christmas special such an institution in the first place.
Doctor Who’s Christmas Tradition
The Doctor Who Christmas special has a tendency to follow a checklist with its plot: The Doctor finds themselves alone and goes on a journey with brand new characters, completely unrelated to the main plot — bonus points if that adventure ties into the Christmas holiday in one way or another, such as showing the Doctor fighting off a spaceship posing as a “Christmas star” or using the TARDIS’ time travel properties to do a take on A Christmas Carol.
There are occasional exceptions. A Doctor’s first and last episodes were usually a Christmas special to give the reveal an appropriate emphasis. David Tennant’s first full adventure was “The Christmas Invasion,” the first Doctor Who Christmas special, and his send-off was in the two-part Christmas adventure “The End of Time.”
But in recent years, this formula was completely abandoned. The 13th Doctor era not only changed the format of the episode, essentially treating it like a season premiere, but it also changed the Christmas schedule — instead of airing on the 25th, the episode aired a week later on the first day of the new year.
The companions who were present in the bulk of the season were also present for these stories, making them lose what made the specials special in the first place.
How Doctor Who is Changing
The 15th Doctor’s first Christmas special was his introductory episode and introduced both him and his companion Ruby Sunday, so a lot is riding on the 2024 special “Joy to the World.” But every sign so far points to the episode bringing the series back to what made its Christmas specials so great. New footage revealed at San Diego Comic-Con introduced Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan’s brand-new character Joy, who will accompany the Doctor on his new adventure now that Ruby has left the TARDIS to spend time with her family.
In a recent interview with Collider, Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa revealed that the absence of Ruby is part of the plot of the entire episode. “When we find him, he's sad,” he said. “He's bored and he's looking for an adventure. He's lost his best pal!” Showrunner Russell T. Davies agreed, saying “That's what it's about in many ways, isn't it? That he's missing her.”
“Joy to the World” is also penned by Steven Moffat, a longtime Doctor Who writer and former showrunner who has penned some of the best Christmas specials in Doctor Who history, including “The Snowmen” and “Twice Upon a Time.”
Doctor Who may have a new star and a new streaming service, but the Christmas special promises to bring back a key part of the series’ Golden Age.
