Doctor Who’s Joy to the World: A Whimsical Adventure with a Dash of Constraint

Regarding Doctor Who Christmas specials, I tend to be more lenient towards the exaggerated cheesiness than I am throughout the rest of the year. If one cannot celebrate the exuberant spirit of Christmas with an overt message about the joy of existence, then when is the right time? Nevertheless, Joy to the World pushes my tolerance to its limits, as it ardently seeks to force-feed me as much saccharine sentimentality as it can.

It’s such a stark contrast to how the episode begins, which is such a swift and delightful setup to the scenario that it immediately put me in a great mood to enjoy a zany Doctor Who escapade. The last time Steven Moffat penned an episode for Gatwa’s Doctor, he confined him to a solitary location and adopted a rather serious tone, so I’m pleased we were able to witness the alternate facet of Moffat’s writing style here, where he allows 15 to be his energetic self right from the outset, figuring out what’s amiss and how to resolve the issue with a grin and a series of brilliant jokes that had me in stitches.

It compels you to pause and contemplate when the episode abruptly halts 20 minutes in, leading us to a side quest that stands out as the most captivating aspect of the episode, yet it has absolutely no connection to the main storyline.

It’s consistently entertaining to witness the Doctor placed in situations where he must live like an ordinary individual. I relished the roughly ten-minute segment showcasing his daily life for a change, engaging in a multitude of mundane activities around the hotel while somehow still imbuing everything with a sense of wonder in his unique manner. I prefer watching 15 simply “chill” without a crisis more than any other Doctor, and this segment serves as the quintessential illustration of why.

I can only wish it had any significance to the primary plot of the episode. I understand that it’s thematically connected to a broader narrative arc for the Doctor that we will see explored in the 2025 season, but apart from a few lines that loosely link it at the conclusion, it appears disconnected from the other events occurring here. I still found enjoyment in it, but it felt somewhat incongruent.

As for the main plot that I’ve been bypassing, it’s quite straightforward, aligning with my expectations for a Christmas episode. This isn’t a moment for us to become mired in intricate plots or intense confrontations; we merely require a simple premise for the Doctor to dart around and avert the world’s destruction for an hour, and that’s precisely what the Star Seed achieves.

The introductory part presents us with a solid mystery as the briefcase continually changes hands, and the speed at which each detail unravels is excellent, constantly providing new elements to ponder.

It illustrates Moffat’s remarkable talent for devising entertaining yet straightforward sci-fi ideas and then executing peculiar and whimsical scenarios with them. The Time Hotel is an incredibly clever concept – the type that sparks your imagination the moment you hear it. Every door leading to a different time frame offers endless possibilities to explore, and the episode expertly utilizes this, depicting the Doctor using a train in 1962 to access an ancient tomb in 1 AD by using a rope from 1953, all within a futuristic hotel – that’s the lighthearted yet enjoyable content I seek in a Doctor Who Christmas special.

When the episode attempts to take a serious turn, it begins to lose me. Joy is an immediately relatable character, portrayed with an awkward energy that clearly demonstrates her attempts to mask her true feelings about a situation at any given moment, fearing disruption. However, this very fact causes her to blend into the background whenever the Doctor asserts himself in the scene.

As a result, when she resolves to accept the Star Seed into herself and make the sacrificial choice, I didn’t feel sufficiently connected for it to resonate as deeply as intended. Moreover, we abandon all subtlety and straight-up express to the Doctor that he is too lonely, even though the episode had done a commendable job of illustrating this until now.

Nonetheless, if it had concluded with Joy embracing her fate and departing with a smile, I would have embraced that dose of cheesiness and regarded it as a sweet albeit heavy-handed ending. However, it progresses with a series of scenes that frantically strive to emphasize the point, and it’s simply excessive. Alright, include a brief scene of Ruby contacting her mother since that keeps things simmering for the upcoming season, but did we genuinely need the random, transient characters from each time zone discussing how everything is suddenly wonderful now?

Then there’s the moment featuring Joy’s mother in the hospital. Each person will have a different but potent reaction whenever the Covid pandemic is utilized for a dramatic scene like this, but for me, it remains in that “too soon” territory where I find it cringeworthy and exploitative to invoke it to elicit a reaction from the audience. There’s no need for further emotional reflections on the pandemic; Bo Burnham managed one for all, and no one else needs to attempt it.

Speaking of cringe-inducing moments, I couldn’t contain my laughter upon discovering that the final scene occurred in Bethlehem in 1 AD. It’s such an outright absurd way to conclude the episode that I almost respect it, but if Moffat genuinely believed that would be an emotional or impactful way to finish the episode, then I’m at a loss for words. Perhaps he simply felt guilty about how much his earlier episode criticized religion, but this is quite the overreaction.

The conclusion may have been excessively heavy-handed, yet I appreciated nearly everything that led us there. The sidetrack of the Doctor being marooned on Earth was the segment of the episode that resonated with me the most, although it does lose points for a lack of cohesion. It shouldn’t feel as though we’re pausing the episode halfway through. Nonetheless, it made me smile richly, combining enjoyable action sequences, clever quips, and a brisk tempo that kept my attention locked, which is all I truly request from a Christmas special.

Score: 7/10