The BBC has released a lovely little interview with Fifteenth Doctor actor, Ncuti Gatwa, in which he enthuses about this year’s Christmas special, Joy to the World, and working with Nicola Coughlan, who plays Joy, effectively his one-off companion.
Plus, he says some rather lovely things about Martha Jones and Silence in the Library!
What do you think makes Doctor Who at Christmas so special?
It feels very nice to be back with a Christmas special. It’s got such a joyous, lovely, warm Christmassy feel. There is so much heart in this story which touches on loss, love, and humour, which is exactly what you want for a Christmas Day adventure with the Doctor. I can’t wait for the audience to see it — it’s very joyous.
What can we expect from Joy to the World?
We find the Doctor at the start of this episode alone. He’s lost his companion and he’s on the hunt for some milk! He’s landed in a very exciting hotel, and then the adventure ensues. He’s obviously still dealing with losing Ruby [Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, who left at the end of Empire of Death], who is back at home with her family, and he’s trying to fill that void with an adventure, and it is a big one!
What was your reaction to reading the script for the first time?
Fighting a T-Rex and working with Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Aris, Steph de Whalley, and Joel Fry was great fun! It was a really great cast and a really beautiful touching script. I was excited for the character development for the Doctor in this episode; I thought ‘this is good for you, you need this!’.
Describe the dynamic between the Doctor and Joy.
I think they have a really interesting dynamic. Their relationship isn’t plain sailing and there are bumps in the road, but I think Joy forces the Doctor to look into himself and his life and question it somewhat. There are also some really funny moments between them.
How was it working with Nicola Coughlan?
It was so much fun working with Nicola. We are fans of each other and each other’s work, and see each other out and about in London, and I’ve always loved and respected her as an actor. We’ve always wanted to work together and so this was the perfect opportunity. It’s quite tricky describing what it was like working with Nicola because everything just sounds like a bad pun – she was a Joy, she is a star, quite simply that.
Do you have any standout memories from working with Nicola on set?
Working on the jungle platform with Nicola was precarious! It was on a gimble so it would move and the whole set was like a bucking bronco! It was mad to watch the crew have to reset everything after each take. Oh, that was fun. It was a set where you had to let whatever be, be, because everything was going to break, and not going to do what it was meant to do because everything was going to obviously fall. It humbled us all. The things we can do here are really cool.
Where will you be watching the episode on Christmas Day?
I still find it mortifying watching things I’m in! And so I don’t know whether I’ll be watching it with my family and friends or pretending it isn’t happening and catching up later.
If you had access to the Time Hotel, where would you go first?
I would go to bed – that’s something I’ve not seen a while! (Laughs)
If you had to spend Christmas on the TARDIS, where would you take it?
The TARDIS I would take to The Library [from Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead]: with that many books you’d never be bored again.
If you could invite any Doctor Who character – friend or foe – over for Christmas dinner, who would you pick and why?
I’d ask Martha [Jones, played by Freema Agyeman] over for Christmas dinner. It would be lovely to see her again.
What does your perfect Christmas Day look like?
In Scotland. Lots of snow. Lots of food.
Written by Steven Moffat, Joy to the World will be broadcast on BBC1 on 25th December 2024, at 5:10pm, and will be available to stream on Disney+ outside the UK the same day.
