The upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special is set to reveal a side of the Doctor that it rarely features. After Ruby Sunday left the TARDIS in the season 14 finale, the Doctor is preparing to celebrate another Christmas before season 15’s May 2025 premiere. It will be his last appearance in 2024 and will leave a months-long hiatus before his next adventure. The special has been titled “Joy to the World” and will premiere on December 25.
While the holiday should be a delightful time for many of its viewers, it will be a lonely period for the Doctor. In an interview with SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar+), writer and former showrunner Steven Moffat offered early insight into the episode. While acknowledging that the show is largely about the companions, Moffat admitted that this special will see the Doctor alone. The episode will explore who he actually is without having to put on a show for his companions. Check out his explanation below:
The show isn’t really about the Doctor. It’s about whoever he meets. Doctor Who does not begin with him stealing the TARDIS and running away. It begins with the schoolteachers following Susan home, and encountering him. When it begins again [in 2005], it begins with Rose, trying to work out who he is. So you do experience him through the eyes of the companions.
The moment there isn’t a companion in situ, you’re sort of thinking, ‘There he is, alone in his TARDIS…’ We do go into that a bit in this one, as to what actually goes on in that weird man’s head when he’s got no one to be the Doctor for .
What The Doctor Being Alone Means For The Christmas Special
The Doctor Has Spent Several Christmases Alone
Moffat’s explanation that the show is focused on the companions is generally an excellent observation. The Doctor is rarely without a relatable partner, who can serve as a perspective character for audiences. In Doctor Who season 15, the Doctor is likely to pick up a new companion, played by Varada Sethu (Andor). For now, however, the Doctor will need to function by himself. After decades of adventures alongside humans and occasional aliens who can temper his worst impulses, he will be left to his own devices in a rare opportunity.
There have also been a number of Christmas specials since the 2005 revival, which each feature the Doctor with a new one-off companion.
There have been several episodes without companions, which are generally known as companion-lite episodes. They generally occur when Doctor Who has not cast its next companion. These include season 9, episode 11, “Heaven Sent”, season 4, episode 10, “Midnight”, and more. There have also been a number of Christmas specials, which each feature the Doctor with a new one-off companion. 2007’s “Voyage of the Damned”, 2008’s “The Next Doctor”, and 2011’s “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” each fit that description. If the Doctor has no companion at all, however, it would be entirely unique among the specials.
Our Take On The Upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special
The Doctor Is Always Fascinating With Or Without A Companion
Because the Doctor is not necessarily the star of the show, it is always thrilling to see the Doctor without having a regular companion by his side. It would not work as a long-term solution, but “Heaven Sent” proved that it certainly works brilliantly in short-term adventures. The Doctor will still be able to play off of Nicola Coughlan, who will portray a hotel guest in the episode, but there will be no one to temper him. Whatever happens in Doctor Who‘s upcoming special, it will portray who the Doctor really is when his friends are not at his side.
