return doctor who Showrunner Russell T. Davies may have been a forerunner of modern drama doctor who Holiday specials – Christmas Monsters, pageantry, the occasional Kylie Minogue – but arguably the one who really nailed the balance is his successor Steven Moffat. doctor who This is how the Christmas story should be. Paradoxically, the answer isn’t a great sci-fi story—or at least, it’s not as important as a series of sincere, almost cloying sentiments about the romance of the season. This year’s production is Moffat’s first Christmas script since 2017’s The Twelfth Doctor, and it’s a huge success with its balancing act and interesting time twist. doctor who An adventure full of festive charm – one that really relies on the latter to help make up for some of the former’s missteps.
Next week’s Christmas Day episode of Joy to the World bears some similarities to Ncuti Gatwa’s official debut as the 15th Doctor in last year’s festive episode of The Church on Ruby Road. As much as it relies on when the story doesn’t quite cohere, it can try to cover it up with a series of charming performances. It replaces the fantasy leanings of the creepy baby-snatching goblin with a more traditional sci-fi aesthetic, with the Doctor spending the holidays in a futuristic “time hotel” that provides a temporary portal to Christmas in human history. it also tilts heavy There’s also a seasonal aesthetic, with lots of snow, tinsel, and trees, giving it more of a seasonal feel than just any old episode airing in late December.
The Doctor is intrigued by the mystery of a strange suitcase that seems to have been fatally exchanged between the hotel’s owners, and it is in this festive scene, through the Time Hotel’s aforementioned gateway, that the Doctor Met lonely Joey (Nicola Coughlan). ), when she checked into a seedy London hotel over Christmas 2024. The mystery of why Joey is so important to the Doctor’s latest adventure is actually put on hold for a big chunk of “Joy Goes to the World,” as it takes a sideways step to explore the impact of the Time Hotel portal, and what comes with it. Time Paradox. It’s all perfectly Moffat-esque, mixing laughter, time-bending storytelling, and the almost inevitable melancholy that accompanied his best outings as a writer, as the Doctor finds himself swept up along the way into the life of another lonely woman (Steph de Whalley Anita, perhaps the secret star of “It’s a Killer.” doctor who The idea of the story also subtly touches on the Doctor’s loneliness after parting ways with Ruby. It just happens to be seasonally appropriate and stuffed inside the other doctor who This is…well, not enough time to breathe in anything interesting.
“Joyland” makes up for the structural flaws of the Jolly storyline and really makes the elements of the episode fully embody the sentimentality of the holiday season, with a climactic narrative filled with gripping emotional drama. Makes up for the fact that it’s a little fast and loose logistically, especially in contrast to what’s going on in the first half of the episode. It’s largely effective, thanks to stellar performances from Gatwa and Coughlan, and will have a bittersweet resonance especially for those spending Christmas without their loved ones. But if you find yourself particularly immune doctor whoA sentimental charm offensive this time of year, you might find the climax of it all a little lacking – and wonder what the episode would have been like if it had continued to have the plot from the original episode as its main idea.
But even if you don’t find yourself emotionally resonating with it all, at least there’s still a lot of great stuff out there doctor who It can be found in “Joyland,” even if it’s not the final focus of the episode. There’s enough here to satisfy anyone looking for greatness doctor who Ideas, or just people who want something big and Christmassy, to fill their hearts with the seasonal spirit as they sit down for the holidays – and at this point doctor whoWith a long history of holiday specials, we still get stories that manage to balance the two, which are welcome little gifts under our collective tree.
doctor who It returns on Christmas Day 25 December on Disney+ worldwide and on the BBC in the UK and Ireland.
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