It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for Doctor Who fans — and it’s a Christmas that will include dinosaurs. Yes, really. For the BBC’s Children in Need televised event recently, the series released a clip of the upcoming Christmas special “Joy to the World” and revealed not only that dinosaurs will make an appearance in the special episode but so will one of the Doctor’s old foes — Villengard. You can check out the clip for yourself in the video below.
In the preview, the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) examines a mysterious briefcase that turns out to be from Villengard — “very old enemies” of the Doctor — and it’s soon revealed that every living thing will be in danger if the corporation is able to plant a star seed as they plan to, no matter where in time. Of course, exactly where they are in time in the mysterious time hotel is soon revealed when a dinosaur shows up and makes things so much worse. The episode will see Gatwa’s Doctor teamed up with Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan’s Joy and is written by Steven Moffat. The special will air Christmas Day on Disney+.
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As for more details about the episode, Moffat shared some additional details to BBC South East (via RadioTimes), offering up a little more information about the “time hotel”.
“I can tease something about the Christmas special. Imagine in the far, fare future, imagine that a hotel chain got hold of the idea of time travel,” Moffat said. “What’s the first thing a hotel chain would do if they had time travel? They’d realize they had an opportunity to sell all the unsold nights in their own hotels in history.”
Moffat has also previously praised Coughlan’s performance in the Christmas special, revealing that the actor will “break your heart”.
“Nicola is wonderful in it, she will break your heart,” Moffat said earlier this year. “I’m not allowed to say anything about it. At least I think I’m not allowed to say anything about it so I’ll just shut up.”
As for the new season of Doctor Who, fans can anticipate the arrival of Season 2 on Disney+ and BBC One sometime in 2025. The season has already wrapped production on Season 2. While not much is known about Season 2 just yet, showrunner Russell T. Davies has confirmed that Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday will return, even after the emotional goodbye between Ruby and The Doctor in the Season 1 finale.
“I absolutely can tell you that Ruby Sunda has not finished her story,” Davies said. “Millie Gibson’ coming back. That’s not a spoiler, it’s an absolute fact. We’re very excited.”
The Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Joy to the World”, will air Christmas Day on Disney+ and BBC One.
