Steven Moffat and Nicola Coughlan analyze the impactful ending of Doctor Who2024 Christmas Special, from the greater meaning behind the Starseed to the emotional climax of Joy's story. The 2024 special brought together Ncuti Gatwa's fifteenth doctor and Coughlan's lone traveler Joy as a sinister package is being transported through a hotel offering rooms from throughout human history. Set after the events of Doctor Who season 14, "Joy to the World", also stars Joel Fry, Jonathan Harris and Steph de Walley.
With Doctor WhoIn 2024's Christmas episode coming to a touching and hopeful yet bittersweet end, Moffat and Coughlan opened up to TV Insider about the seasonal twist of the Star Seed plot. With the episode dealing with many Christmases throughout history, Moffat felt that creating a story involving the first Christmas was the best decision for the story. Additionally, with the story focusing on the event, the decision was made to have the Starseed explode in a more aesthetically serene and peaceful way before concluding. that Joy becoming the star would be a fitting conclusion to her story:
Moffat: I was trying to figure out what we could do. We had all those Christmases and I logically thought, well, we should have the first one too, shouldn't we? And then I thought, well, oh, wait. And so I created a whole storyline around the starseed so that someone, the case could be transported.”
I originally thought they were just going to detonate the star and get rid of it. But then I thought that would make the star a big explosion. She should be the most beautiful star of all. It is a star that exudes love, and when people look at it, they feel changed and uplifted. You actually see a star and it changes the way you think and feel. So I thought, well, Joy should become the star and go from being a sad woman who attracts misery to become the star who radiates joy and actually comes out every Christmas after that and in the end saves her mother.
Later, Coughlan praised Moffat's writing for creating a wild and eccentric yet moving story, especially through Joy and the Doctor's respective journeys. Check out Coughlan's response below:
Tosselan: It's a tribute to Steven Moffatt's writing that he manages to fit this kind of adventure, the humor, the dinosaurs, and the true heartbreak all into a one-hour special. But I feel like there's something very relatable about what he wrote. And it's that thing at Christmas, it all comes down to all that really matters are the people we love. And both Joy and the Doctor feel this in different ways.”
How “Joy To The World” Will Impact Future Doctor Who Adventures
Gatwa had to lower its walls to allow people in once again
"Joy to the World" is not the first time that Doctor Who talked about the myth of the Nativity. Both David Tennant's Tenth Doctor and Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor mentioned being present in Belém for the eventbut the 2024 seasonal episode is the first story to reveal that the Time Lord helped create the guiding star. However, it could be argued that the episode's story is exactly what the Time Lord needed most.
Through his adventure at the Time Hotel, the Doctor was able to process his worst habits and past traumas. Season 14 left him evaluating his impact on the universe after being turned into a tool for Sutekh's (Gabriel Woolf) plot and forced to become his worst self. However, his year on Earth with Anita (Walley) and adventure with Joy made him relearn what it means to let people into your life and that pain doesn't have to scare you. With Millie Gibson's Ruby set to return in season 15 alongside Varada Sethu's new companion Belinda, the Doctor will take Joy's words to heart with a renewed sense of hope.
Our thoughts on Gatwa's hopeful Doctor Who Christmas adventure
The episode gave the doctor a much-needed new perspective
With the 2023 Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” acting as an introduction to the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby, “Joy to the World” was a welcome adventure that explored the depth of the Doctor of Gatwa. An underlying core element of his character since his first full episode of 2023 has been him questioning what his impact on the universe has been, with season 14 putting him on several adventures that test his impact on other people. In particular, Ruby and the rest of the universe have been put in danger by her decision multiple times.
As such, “Joy to the World” is a moment of welcome and hope for the Time Lord after a holiday-appropriate testing season. As Doctor Who Reaching season 15 in 2025, many may wonder how the Doctor's new lease on life will shake up Gatwa's second season.
Source: TV Insider