Doctor Who Christmas special confirms full cast – and is that a James Bond connection?
Sylvia Trench, is that you?
With the Christmas TV schedules now having been confirmed, it's time to get seriously excited for what's coming to our screens in a matter of weeks.
One of the most anticipated episodes on the big day itself is, of course, Doctor Who's Christmas special, Joy to the World.
Well, as well as knowing just when it will be airing on Christmas Day, we now have a complete cast list and a teaser of what's to come.
According to the official BBC One listing for the episode, the synopsis reads: "When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the earth, just in time for Christmas."
Underneath the synopsis, we now have a cast list which teases some of the characters set to appear – and it looks as though there very well could be some kind of James Bond connection.
One of the characters, who will be played by Niamh Marie Smith, is named Sylvia Trench. Now, 007 fans will know that Trench was the first Bond girl to be introduced to the hit film franchise.
Originally played by Eunice Gayson, Trench appeared in the first two Bond films, Dr No and From Russia with Love, alongside Sean Connery.
As for whether this is simply just a happy coincidence or if it points at some kind of Bond reference set to unfold in the Doctor Who episode, we'll just have to wait and see.
We already knew Ncuti Gatwa and Nicola Coughlan would be leading the festive special, but the rest of the cast includes Plebs actor Joel Fry, Steph de Whalley, Good Omens star Jonathan Aris, Casualty's Julia Watson, Peter Benedict, Extraordinary's Joshua Leese and more.
Read more:
- Doctor Who Christmas special will show Doctor "when he's got no one to be the Doctor for"
- Doctor Who Christmas special will solve "longest-standing mystery"
While we've been treated to some first-look teasers and pictures of the upcoming episode, we're sure there's set to be plenty of twists in store for the Doctor and Joy.
The episode has been penned by former showrunner Steven Moffat, who has recently teased that this festive special is set to be a little more light-hearted than some of his other notable episodes.
"It's got your Christmas whimsy in there, so I suppose it leans toward the slightly more humorous end, to a degree," he told SFX magazine.
"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."
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He went on: "It's whimsical and heartwarming and emotional. It's not Blink. That's how they review all my episodes - it's not Blink!"
Moffatt did previously reveal some intriguing plot details in an interview with BBC South News, saying: "Imagine in the far, far future that a hotel chain got hold of the idea of time travel.
"What's the first thing a hotel chain would do if they had time travel? They'd realise they had an opportunity to sell all the unsold nights in their own hotels in history."
Doctor Who: Joy to the World will air on Wednesday 25th December on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 5:10pm. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
