DanaK December 18 Share December 18 2024 Christmas special with Ncuti Gatwa and guest star Nicola Coughlan Premieres Christmas Day, Wednesday December 25 17:10pm GMT on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ internationally (that would be 12:10pm ET in the US) Synopsis: When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the earth, just in time for Christmas. Writer: Steven Moffat Director: Alex Sanjiv Pillai Full production info https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026d24 Trailer #1 Trailer #2 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/
taanja December 19 Share December 19 I saw it advertised! A perfect xmas day activity! 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8536691
DanaK Wednesday at 06:26 PM Author Share Wednesday at 06:26 PM That was fun though fairly cheesy in the ending scenes. Nice cameo from Millie. Several self-referential lines that you would expect from Moffat. They were definitely suggesting Covid happened in the Doctor Who world with Joy’s mom 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540261
tessaray Wednesday at 06:51 PM Share Wednesday at 06:51 PM Aww... poor Trev. But yay! for Anita getting a great new job. Not too much of a plot but I'm a fan of episodes where the slow path or the long way around plays a part. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540269
bugsmum Wednesday at 08:07 PM Share Wednesday at 08:07 PM Okay I loved that. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540302
gail56 Wednesday at 09:09 PM Share Wednesday at 09:09 PM That is one of the best episodes ever! I cried at the end. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540318
baldryanr Wednesday at 09:18 PM Share Wednesday at 09:18 PM So did 14 not spend the rest of his life (mostly) not zipping around in the TARDIS? You'd think he'd a lot more accepting of it than 11 was back in the day. You'd think Anita would be his first choice for a new companion, but instead I guess getting to work in a better hotel counts for something. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540325
bugsmum Wednesday at 10:29 PM Share Wednesday at 10:29 PM 1 hour ago, gail56 said: That is one of the best episodes ever! I cried at the end. Same. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540355
Lantern7 Thursday at 06:19 AM Share Thursday at 06:19 AM I'm a little surprised I wasn't spitting out teeth after ingesting all of that sugar. I mean . . . good story and all, but did Joy really turn into the North Star? Just . . . argh. Yes, we did get a "Doctor living one year one day at a time" story in "The Power Of Three," but I think it was done better here. And I liked the concept of the Time Hotel . . . though I can't see the appeal of seeing an assassination unfold. It wasn't a bad episode. I still think the bottom for Christmas specials was "The Return Of Doctor Mysterio," mostly because that felt like an inventory story with tinsel sprinkled on it. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540487
DanaK Thursday at 12:15 PM Author Share Thursday at 12:15 PM Overnights: Who got 4.11 million viewers, 6th most watched program of the day. The Gavin & Stacy and Wallace & Gromit specials beat everything else handily 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540531
baldryanr Thursday at 12:42 PM Share Thursday at 12:42 PM 6 hours ago, Lantern7 said: And I liked the concept of the Time Hotel . . . though I can't see the appeal of seeing an assassination unfold. Are you kidding? Every conspiracy theorist in the world would want to see that play out in person even though it was actually recorded. Plus for these people the assassination was more than 4000 years ago so they're going to be a bit more emotionally detached. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540537
DanaK Thursday at 02:06 PM Author Share Thursday at 02:06 PM Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540562
Llywela Thursday at 03:51 PM Share Thursday at 03:51 PM 18 hours ago, baldryanr said: So did 14 not spend the rest of his life (mostly) not zipping around in the TARDIS? You'd think he'd a lot more accepting of it than 11 was back in the day. You'd think Anita would be his first choice for a new companion, but instead I guess getting to work in a better hotel counts for something. Various Doctors have spent considerable time staying in one place, living one day after another, yet every time it happens (in New Who) it is written as if it is the first time it has ever happened to him and a terrible ordeal that he has no idea how to handle. Because the idea of the Doctor as someone incapable of standing still is more important - to the writers, at least - than the actual history and lived experience of the character. He could so easily have gone back for Anita, but there is no rhyme or reason, really, why one person he befriends becomes a companion and another doesn't. Or rather, there is, but those reasons are always external rather than internal to the show's universe. I had lots of nitpicks, watching. Overall, an entertaining but forgettable episode, for me. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540604
DoctorAtomic Thursday at 07:14 PM Share Thursday at 07:14 PM Anita was the most compelling character for me. I thought maybe she was going to join the adventure. Joy had a good backstory, but I found her to be kind of a drip. I did buy that she'd be the star at the end. Though I rolled my eyes at the final part. There was a ton left on the table with the concept of the Time Hotel. Of course, it's been a million years since the last series so I don't know remember why Ruby left. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540692
lovett1979 Thursday at 07:57 PM Share Thursday at 07:57 PM 40 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said: Of course, it's been a million years since the last series so I don't know remember why Ruby left. She found her birth mom and wanted to spend time with her. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540709
baldryanr Thursday at 07:57 PM Share Thursday at 07:57 PM One other thing I was thinking about: Moffat LOVES the idea of aliens using the voice/likeness of dead people (or just various people in general) to communicate, doesn't he? River's team at the Library, the soliders who were killed by the Weeping Angels, Prisoner Zero, that water thing going after Bill, the ambulances from last season. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540710
tkc Thursday at 07:59 PM Share Thursday at 07:59 PM I found this to be one of the weaker Christmas specials. Although Joy was ostensibly the centre of the story, she actually got little story time. Joy's most memorable scene was being the butt of Fifteen's (feigned) insults, and that came across as being mean more than anything else -- especially since she already seemed like someone who was going through a tough time. In The Lodger, Eleven launched a fake set of insults at a character (Sophie), but she responded with strength and quickly saw what Eleven's point was. I didn't get that same sense of relief upon hearing Fifteen's explanation. In addition, Trev and the Silurian fellow (the actor who I'll always think of as Anderson from Sherlock) had nasty (but not atypical in Who), random deaths but Fifteen didn't really seem all that sympathetic. When that happened to people around Twelve, he might not have been all that sympathetic either (as in the victims in Mummy on the Orient Express), but at least he'd acknowledge that it was a brutal fact of the universe. Also, I would say that Anita was the most successful character introduction in the episode. The story built her up from worker stuck in a tedious job to person with potential... and left her as worker in a fancier version of the tedious job. I hope she enjoys bringing towels around more in the Time Hotel than she did in the Sandringham! Finally, the tag scene over Bethlehem was a bit on the nose. The earlier joke about no room at the inn was funny, but I would have been fine if they had left the Racnoss' webstar as the current series' only Christmas Star. Oh yes -- despite my criticisms and seeming grumpiness, Merry Christmas 🎄 to all, and best wishes for the New Who Year! 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540712
DoctorAtomic Thursday at 08:31 PM Share Thursday at 08:31 PM I did like the quick line from Anita about the weeping angels. It seemed like Fifteen was telling her tall tales of his adventures. 30 minutes ago, tkc said: I would have been fine if they had left the Racnoss' webstar as the current series' only Christmas Star I don't know anything about that; too bad there wasn't a mention. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540741
HauntedBathroom Thursday at 09:30 PM Share Thursday at 09:30 PM Top notch, more like this please! Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540775
dalek Thursday at 09:37 PM Share Thursday at 09:37 PM I thought this was good but not great. I liked Anita better than Joy, but I think that was the fault of the writing and the pacing, not a result of Nicola Coughlin's acting. And while I do get what they were going for (with the subtlety of a chainsaw) with Joy Almondo's name, it mostly makes me think of the candy bar, not "Joy to the World." And i'm "meh" on the ending with Joy becoming the star and it being the Bethlemhem star. On the plus side, the doctor didn't cry his way through the episode. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540781
b2H Yest. at 12:47 AM Share Yest. at 12:47 AM Is it only available on streaming services in the US? We were watching BBC America and the scroll reminded that the new season starts there on 1 January, but a review of their schedule that day includes no Dr. Who episodes. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540862
tessaray Yest. at 02:11 AM Share Yest. at 02:11 AM 1 hour ago, b2H said: Is it only available on streaming services in the US? We were watching BBC America and the scroll reminded that the new season starts there on 1 January, but a review of their schedule that day includes no Dr. Who episodes. Just Disney+ in the US. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540897
snarktini Yest. at 03:09 AM Share Yest. at 03:09 AM I totally lost it at: "You are being mansplained by a briefcase." "I thought I was being mansplained by you." "Honey, the Doctor is in the room, this is mansplain central". "Oh I'm getting that." Also the chairs, yelling at himself: "You live in a great big giant spaceship and there aren't any chairs. And you haven't even noticed because nobody ever comes round!" (thinks) "Oh my God. I don't have any chairs." Like the Doctor, it had also never occurred to me that the TARDIS had no chairs lol. Not that it even makes sense for anybody to come inside, but it's a good comedy bit. While I appreciate his friendship with Anita, she didn't have "companion" written on her. She did not strike me as having enough brashness / adventure in her, though I am sure she'll appreciate the better job. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8540917
DanaK Yest. at 12:56 PM Author Share Yest. at 12:56 PM 9 hours ago, snarktini said: Like the Doctor, it had also never occurred to me that the TARDIS had no chairs lol. Not that it even makes sense for anybody to come inside, but it's a good comedy bit. Trust me, I thought about that a lot during Jodie’s era as well as the current era with Ncuti with his version of the Tardis control room that’s way too big and has no place to sit except maybe on a ramp Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8541034
DoctorAtomic Yest. at 01:27 PM Share Yest. at 01:27 PM There has to be chairs somewhere. Not even by the pool? 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8541039
DanaK Yest. at 01:49 PM Author Share Yest. at 01:49 PM 16 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said: There has to be chairs somewhere. Not even by the pool? Probably, including in the kitchen, but we mostly see just the control room and that’s mostly what we know. I recall the 12th Doctor having a library area on the second floor above the control room and that had chairs. Jodie’s era didn’t have chairs in the control room but it did have steps starting in Series 12 that characters could sit on. So far in Ncuti’s era, no chairs in that huge, empty control room Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151139-s00e165-bbcd-joy-to-the-world/#findComment-8541048
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