Steven Moffat, writer for this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, has called the episode “whimsical and heart-warming and emotional,” with the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in the aftermath of having bid farewell to his companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).

He also says it’s far removed from his Tenth Doctor classic, Blink.

Moffat explained:

“It’s got your Christmas whimsy in there, so I suppose it leans toward the slightly more humorous end, to a degree. But actually, it gets quite emotional, and there’s also the fun element that within the context of the wider series, the Doctor has just lost one of his mates. That puts the Doctor in a particular place, and in the modern show, we’ve always honoured that. So it’s the Doctor alone – which makes it sound sombre – and it’s really not. It’s whimsical and heart-warming and emotional. It’s not Blink. That’s how they review all my episodes – it’s not Blink!”

Joy to the World is the first 21st Century Doctor Who Christmas episode not written by the current showrunner; Moffat, however, obviously knows what he’s doing, as he was showrunner from Series 5 to Series 10, a period which also included the franchise’s 50th anniversary. In fact, this will be his 50th script for the show.

And he’s written a TARDIS-load of classics like The Girl in the Fireplace, The Eleventh Hour, A Good Man Goes to War, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Day of the Doctor, Listen, Heaven Sent/Hell Bent, and World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls.

So we can’t wait to see Joy to the World on Christmas Day!