Doctor Who Review – JOY-eux Noël (Disney+): a Christmas Special lacking magic

As tradition dictates across the Channel, Doctor Who is back for a special Christmas episode on Disney+. Today played by Ncuti Gatwa, he is preparing to experience new festivals full of twists and turns.

Yes, yes Christmas Special of 2023 introduced a new traveling companion for the Doctor in the person of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), Merry Christmas invites us to meet Joy, a transient sidekick played by the star of the Netflix series The Bridgerton ChroniclesNicola Coughlan. What is his shared adventure with Doctor Who worth? The answer in our review, guaranteed without spoilers.

The history of the series

When Joy stays at a London hotel in 2024, she discovers a secret door that leads her to the Time Hotel, towards danger, dinosaurs… and the Doctor, while a deadly threat hovers over the Earth on Christmas Eve.

Our review

Steven Moffat is not only a former showrunner of Doctor Whobut also a regular at Christmas specials. Ce Merry Christmas is also the ninth he has written for the series. He actually came to lend a hand to the current showrunner, Russell T. Davis, when the latter admitted that he did not have the time to devote himself to this traditional episode.

In fact, we should perhaps have suspected that this would not be a pivotal episode of Doctor Whoas could have been Ruby Road Church last year. Remember, this Christmas Special launched the new season of Doctor Who and presented the doctor's new companion, and therefore did not have the option of being anecdotal.

Unfortunately, this is the feeling this leaves Merry Christmas. Even if it is a good episode overall, entertaining and moving as can be in the tradition of Christmas Specials of the series, it does not transcend the category. The whole thing lacks adventure, a real worthy adversary, and even the character of Joy struggles to convince.

We come away with the impression that Moffat sometimes rests a little too much on his laurels, delivering a scenario with good ideas (notably all the mechanics around the Time Hotel), but overall banal and sorely lacking in Christmas magic.

Despite this disappointment, the screenwriter's writing remains admirable, especially when he studies the doctor closely. The most successful portion of the episode is the one that examines his loneliness and his desire to live a peaceful life. This is where Merry Christmas manages to really shine, and we would have liked the rest of the adventure to be of the same ilk.

Ncuti Gatwa also continues to play the doctor without a false note, and Nicola Coughlan brings all her freshness to the series, while Moffat's dialogues still hit the mark. This at least allows this Christmas episode to be a relatively enjoyable moment of entertainment, if not revolutionary.

In the end, Merry Christmas will undoubtedly remain in the annals of the series, alongside the others Christmas Specials the weakest of Moffat, such as The Doctor, the Widow and the Christmas Forestand far behind The Ghost of Christmas Past or The Husbands of River Song. What do you want, we can't be a hit every time.

The episode Merry Christmas of Doctor Who can be seen on December 25 exclusively on Disney+.

• Watch the trailer for JOY-eux Noël:

Conclusion

Overall rating