Dr. Who Reaction 14x Christmas Special - Joy to the World
Added 2025-08-16 14:00:08 +0000 UTCHey everyone, just so you know I´m writing this a few days after recording. Just wanted to let you know that I´m much better. And please, don´t worry about me, I´m good :) Keep that in mind while watching. :)
Comments
"Ham and cheese toastie and a pumpkin latte!", The Doctor, "Joy to the World" This is a good fun episode of Doctor Who - for me, it's probably Steven Moffat's best Christmas episode since "Last Christmas", which I also really liked. "Close the window, Basil. There's a war on.", Hilda, "Joy to the World" There's fun time-travelling into multiple locations in the story - not with the TARDIS, this time. The visit to the Everest base camp in 1952, is interesting. The characters we meet are Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who would be the first to get to the summit of Everest on 29 May. BTW: The actor that plays Tenzing Norgay is apparently the great-great-grand-nephew of the real Tenzing Norgay. Also, the passenger on the Orient Express has the same name as a character in a James Bond story - interesting. And there's a dinosaur too! We like a dinosaur. "No, seriously, I'm on ... I'm on this. This is going to be the least I've ever let anybody down.", Trev, "Joy to the World" Trev, the loyal security guard, was delightful. His direct interaction with the Doctor is so short but you really feel for him when he dies and feels he's let the Doctor down. "But I'm actually going to die!", "Not for several seconds. Just live in the moment.", Joy and the Doctor, "Joy to the World" Joy was fun and sweet - good for a nice Christmas episode but probably not full "running around putting yourself in danger and getting the Doctor out of scrapes"-companion material. "This is my favourite night of the week.", "Yeah. Chair night.", "Chair night.", Anita and the Doctor, "Joy to the World" Anita at the Hotel was just wonderful. The original story concept did not have her play as big a role, but the Doctor's extended stay at the hotel meant Anita's role grew and she is probably the most memorable side-character in the story. "Er, is this armed?", The Doctor looking at a sink plunger, "Joy to the World" "It doesn't take me where I want to go.", "Ah, but it takes you where you need to go.", Anita and the Doctor, "Joy to the World" I love the Who callbacks. "Where do you get them?", "Online, mostly. For some reason, there's loads of them.", Anita and the Doctor, "Joy to the World" And the short scene when we see the Doctor in his (Joy's) hotel room with lots of little blue model Police call boxes is very nice. "I don't usually live like this, one day after the other, in the right order. And I always wondered what it would be like. And do you know what it was like? Amazing. And do you know why it was amazing? You.", The Doctor, "Joy to the World" There were lots of "The Power of Three"-vibes in the Doctor hanging around waiting for the next Christmas Eve. I did wonder whether the Doctor might have been able to track down David's Doctor in the year and use his TARDIS for a quick jump to the following Christmas - but that would have meant us missing on the most delightful part of the episode. Without seeing the year he spent waiting, the story plot would have been a bit bland. "Villengard. Oh. Biggest arms manufacturer in recorded history. Very old enemies of mine.", The Doctor, "Joy to the World" And more callbacks to give us Who-watcher a buzz. "I'm not dying. I'm changing. I'm saving something beautiful. The flesh will rise and the star will shine. I will shine ... everywhere and forever. And sometimes, my funny little Doctor, on you.", Joy, "Joy to the World"
Andrew Vignaux
2025-08-22 02:45:42 +0000 UTCI really liked this episode and, yes, the casting was great. Joy and Trev were perfect for their roles but, like Merlin's Cat (I think) I liked the section with the Doctor and Anita living an ordinary, linear life together the most. I think you missed both the Steven Moffat credit at the beginning and (possibly) the final scene of Bethlehem, year 0001 at the end. So it really was the original Christmas star. I lost my mother in 2020 and (like Joy) during one of the Covid lockdowns so we couldn't visit her in her nursing home. The reference that Joy makes to following the rules made by "those people with their wine fridges and parties" is a dig at the British government and their staff at 10 Downing Street who were holding regular parties with lots of drinking while the rest of us were told to isolate ourselves. One rule for us and another for them was the feeling that swept the country when it all came out.
Stephen Foreman
2025-08-16 20:23:03 +0000 UTC
