Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T Davies, has spoken about the most recent Christmas special, Joy to the World, and what to expect from the next season of the show.
He says the thing he’s most proud of is the journey of new companion, Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu. He also mulls over why Doctor Who is so perfectly suited to Christmas…
What do you think makes Doctor Who at Christmas so special?
Christmas is just built into the show. It’s a family show – it’s entertaining, it’s fun. Also, Doctor Who is a good old-fashioned melodrama. All the best Christmas stories have ghosts and monsters, and then all of a sudden there’s a danger at the edge of it.
It goes right back to the early years of the show. The first Doctor Who Christmas special was in 1965 where they decided to do a crossover with Z-Cars. For those old enough to remember, it was a very old police show. It was such a pantomime and at the end, the Doctor turned to the camera and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. It’s been there in the bones of the show for decades now – for 60+ years, so it’s become a great tradition.
What was your reaction when Steven Moffat told you his idea for this episode?
We had been talking for a while about writing this idea for Season 2, and then that idea became this, so it was a long conversation. The moment he mentioned [the] Time Hotel, I had a huge smile on my face because I just knew that it would work, little knowing how brilliant he would actually make it. He always promises something, and then delivers far, far more so it was a joy to get that script.
Can you tell us about how Nicola [Couglan]’s casting came about?
Nicola was the number one choice for the number one part. It was one of those offers you make first, immediately, and hope that it works. Nicola is so busy, she’s on Bridgerton and travelling all over the world, but we knew that Ncuti [Gatwa] and Nicola knew each other, so that was a great advantage. It gave us more of a chance than before. Then she said yes immediately, and we laughed all the way home that night. What a joy she is, a really lovely woman.
What was your reaction seeing Nicola as Joy for the first time?
It’s a beautiful costume. Pam Downe, our costume designer, got that exactly right. We had quite the conversation about the beret, and whether that would be too cute or too funny or too sweet, and then Nicola puts it on and it was just too perfect. I remember being told a long time ago by a magazine editor that they like any images that clearly show Christmas in them – holly and tinsel and snowflakes. We’ve got Joy looking joyous, and so it felt really lovely.
If you had access to the Time Hotel, where would you go first?
I would go to Christmas 2012, in Swansea. I wasn’t actually there. I was in Manchester. I can’t go into too much detail but somebody in my family got so drunk and so rude about the rest of the family that it’s now become legend, and I’ll go to my grave wishing that I had been there. We’re still laughing about it to this day. It’s twelve years later, and it’s still the funniest thing that ever happened to the Davies’!
Can you tease anything to come in the upcoming second season?
Danger. Enemies like we’ve never seen before. We stretched the envelope last season, but we get even madder and wilder. The joy, really, is the new companion – Varada Sethu playing Belinda Chandra – who comes aboard the TARDIS with a very strong story that spans the entire season. It’s glorious, and I’m very proud of it.
Doctor Who Series 15 will air later this year.
