Ncuti Gatwa will return as the Fifteenth Doctor<\/a> in the 2024 Christmas special, which has been written by former showrunner Steven Moffat<\/a>.<\/p>\n We might have a while to go until we all gather around the TV for the Doctor\u2019s next festive adventure, but we do know a fair bit about what awaits us!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s everything we know so far about the Doctor Who Christmas special 2024, Joy to the World.<\/p>\n While no official announcement has been made, hopefully we\u2019re pretty safe in assuming the Doctor Who Christmas special will air on Christmas Day 2024<\/strong>. Timings will be confirmed closer to that date.<\/p>\n Of course, this hasn\u2019t always been the case, with the festive special instead shifting to New Year\u2019s Day during Chris Chibnall\u2019s reign as showrunner.<\/p>\n However, Russell T Davies, who returned to helm the show when Gatwa took over the keys to the TARDIS, has previously said that the show airing on Christmas Day<\/a> was a condition of his return.<\/p>\n He said on Doctor Who: Unleashed: \u201cThis was kind of like number one on my shopping list \u2013 Christmas Day. I literally went to the BBC saying, \u2018Back on Christmas Day, thank you very much. Let\u2019s have this.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI just think it suits Doctor Who. I think the stories are more fun. Any story with tinsel in it is better than a story without tinsel in it.\u201d<\/p>\n While we don\u2019t know a huge amount about the cast for Joy to the World, we do have a few key names down.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s who we\u2019re expecting to star in Joy to the World:<\/p>\n Derry Girls star Coughlan has been confirmed to star in Joy to the World, with Moffat telling Ireland AM<\/a>: \u201cNicola is wonderful in it, she will break your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n While this hasn\u2019t been confirmed, we also wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we saw some of the following cast members back in action:<\/p>\n While the season 14 finale episode Empire of Death<\/a> saw Gibson\u2019s Ruby depart the TARDIS<\/a> in emotional scenes, it has been confirmed she\u2019ll be back in a smaller role in season 15<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n So it wouldn\u2019t be out of the question to see the Doctor pop in to check on the Sundays \u2013 especially since it\u2019ll be Ruby\u2019s birthday!<\/p>\n We\u2019re also not ruling out any surprise cameos \u2013 after all, last year saw Davina McCall playing herself and a host of baby-eating goblins, so anything could happen!<\/p>\n As for what will happen in Joy to the World? That\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess. Doctor Who\u2019s Christmas episodes are almost always a standalone story that the family can watch together.<\/p>\n However, former showrunner Moffat is, of course, known for his iconic Doctor Who monsters<\/a>, including the Weeping Angels and the Silence. So, could we be seeing a darker Christmas than usual?<\/p>\n As detailed above, he\u2019s also referred to Coughlan\u2019s performance as \u201cheartbreaking\u201d \u2013 so we might want to brace ourselves!<\/p>\n Showrunner Davies has also given us a clue. Speaking in a behind the scenes video on\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0for Empire of Death, Davies said: \u201cNow the Doctor voyages forward, and guess what always happens to the Doctor every so often \u2013 Christmas! Here comes Christmas.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t give away much more but work has begun on it already, and it\u2019s mad, it\u2019s one of the maddest Christmas specials you\u2019ll ever see. It\u2019s epic, it goes to so many different places. And it\u2019s a great story of who the Doctor is when he\u2019s alone<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We\u2019ll share any new information on this page as and when it comes.<\/p> Not yet<\/strong>! We\u2019ll share any footage as and when it comes.<\/p>\n Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.\u00a0Previous seasons are available to stream on\u00a0BBC iPlayer<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Nicola Coughlan stars in the “mad” festive adventure! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":54739,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/doctor-who-christmas-special-2024-everything-we-know-about-joy-to-the-world-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Nicola Coughlan stars in the \"mad\" festive adventure!","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/54738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Doctor Who Christmas special 2024 release date speculation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/steven-moffat-doctor-who-boom-fb27b10-e1715951039658.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Steven")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Doctor Who Christmas special 2024 cast: Who will star in Joy to the World?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1204532275-11f6459.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"taskmaster-2020-lineup\\"\/")
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Doctor Who Christmas special 2024 plot: What could happen in Joy to the World?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Doctor](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/478607-3a78c7e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414\" "\\"Doctor")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Is there a trailer for the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas special?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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