The BBC has revealed the first clip of Joy to the World, this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special — featuring the return of the Silurians!

Or at least, one member of the homo reptilia race.

The scenes were shown at Hall H at the San Diego Comic Con, and further introduces Nicola Coughlan as the titular character, Joy. The clip shows the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) zipping around the world — from Manchester in 1940 to Italy in 1962, from Mount Everest in 1953 and to a hotel in London in 2024 — offering people a ham and cheese toastie and a pumpkin latte.

In the latter, he meets Joy, a new arrival at the hotel, and she meets… a Silurian!

Here’s the full clip:

We reckon the Silurian could be played by Jonathan Aris, who was Anderson in Sherlock, but we may be wrong.

The episode, which is expected to air on Christmas Day 2024, is written by Steven Moffat, the first festive episode not written by the contemporary showrunner.