Doctor Who Magazine has revealed further cast members for the Doctor Who Christmas special 2024 — and confirms we’re going to meet two more important historical figures: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the first people to climb to the summit of Mount Everest!

Joy to the World will star Derry Girls‘ Nicola Coughlan, and as suspected, Jonathan Aris, best known perhaps for starring in Sherlock, is Melnak, the Silurian seen in the special clip released from the festive episode at the San Diego Comic Con.

The clip showed the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) dotting across numerous different places and timezones, and it appears that the episode will revisit Everest, as Phil Baxter is set to play Sir Edmund Hillary and Samuel Sherpa-Moore will be Tenzing Norgay.

We especially like that they’ve got a Sherpa to play Tenzing!

Joining them are Peter Benedict and Julia Watson as Basil and Hilda, Niamh Marie Smith as Sylvia, and Steph de Whalley is Anita.

Coughlan will play Joy, a stand-in companion after the departure of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) — though Ruby will return for Doctor Who Series 15 next year.

Joy to the World, written by former showrunner Steven Moffat, is expected to air on Christmas Day 2024.