The TARDIS is as much a part of Christmas as turkey, mince pies, and mulled wine, and former “Doctor Who” showrunner Steven Moffat certainly knows his way around a festive adventure. This year’s holiday offering, “Joy to the World”, is the writer’s ninth, and it comes with all the trimmings you’d expect.
Alongside the obligatory festive moments, Moffat (the brains behind “Blink”, “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Heaven Sent”) brings his trademark clockwork plotting to the holiday party. In “Joy to the World”, the Doctor spends Christmas in the company of the titular Joy (“Bridgerton”‘s Nicola Coughlan), as the duo have an eventful stay in a hotel that provides a gateway to the most exciting destinations in history — and stumble on a sinister plot instigated by an evil corporation.
Below we explain what the bad guys are up to, and how Joy manages to live up to her name.
Spoilers ahead! Don’t peek unless you want to ruin your Christmas surprises.
Check out our How to Watch Doctor Who Christmas Special guide to find the best place to watch in your country, and then come back to compare notes when you’ve seen it. We’ll be waiting.
What is the Time Hotel?
In 4202, guests can check into a London hotel where every door is a portal to another time and destination. As the Doctor puts it, it’s essentially the answer to the biggest mystery in the universe: “Why is there always an extra door in your hotel room and why is it always locked?” For this reason, you can only use a room if it’s not already occupied in its local time period.
Services available to Time Hotel guests include kitchens located half an hour in the future, designed so that your meal can be prepared before you’ve even ordered it. And for the benefit of British guests old enough to remember a certain kids’ cartoon from the 1970s, you can pick up era-appropriate outfits at Mr Benn’s Any Era Clothes in the hotel lobby. It’s worth noting the red knight costume in the window display, much like the one Mr Benn wore on TV.
We also spotted a caveman chatting with a group of World War II army officers, which we’re pretty sure is a reference to the residents of Button House in “Ghosts”.
How does Joy find herself at the Time Hotel?
Entirely by accident.
Joy actually checks into the very ordinary Sandringham Hotel in London for the 2024 holiday season. We later learn that her mother died in hospital at Christmas during the COVID-19 pandemic — lockdown rules at the time meant that, tragically, Joy had to say goodbye via an iPad. Feelings of regret mean she’s wanted to escape…
