Former Doctor Who showrunner and writer of the upcoming Christmas special, Steven Moffat, has promised that the story’s guest star will “break your heart”… but he can’t say much more than that!

We know that the episode is called Joy to the World — and we wouldn’t be surprised if guest actress, Nicola Coughlan, plays a character called Joy. Similarly, we think she’s likely to act as the Fifteenth Doctor’s (Ncuti Gatwa’s) one-off companion, seeing as Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) left the TARDIS, albeit temporarily, in Empire of Death, and the new companion, played by Varada Sethu, isn’t joining until Series 15.

Moffat told Ireland AM:

“Nicola is wonderful in it; she will break your heart. I’m not allowed to say anything about it. At least I think I’m not allowed to say anything about it so I’ll just shut up.”

This is the first festive special of 21st Century Doctor Who not to be written by the current showrunner. Instead, this is Moffat’s 50th Doctor Who script!

Current showrunner, Russell T Davies, also teased:

“I can’t give away much more but work has begun on it already, and it’s mad — it’s one of the maddest Christmas specials you’ll ever see.”

Nicola Coughlan is a big star right now, owing to her role in popular TV show, Bridgerton, and coming off of her starring part as Clare Devlin in the sitcom, Derry Girls.

Joy to the World is expected to screen on BBC1 and stream on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ on 25th December 2024.