Nicola Coughlan on Doctor Who, "magnetic" Ncuti Gatwa and "long overdue" Derry Girls reunion

You starred in the comedy drama Big Mood, stole the show in Bridgerton and now join the Doctor for his festive adventure – are you exhausted?

It's been amazing. It's been the busiest year of my life – I think we went to eight different countries on the Bridgerton press tour – but in a really lovely way, with two shows I'm so proud of. And it feels really nice to end the year with Doctor Who. I'm getting to sit down with my family at Christmas to watch it. Very few things I do are actually family-friendly, so it's really lovely to have one!

Actually, because I filmed it around this time last year, last Christmas, my family and I did sit together and watch last year's Christmas special, and it was really exciting. But then telling kids it's going be a year on, they're like 'Well, is it not now?' And you're saying, 'No, you have to wait...' I always want to impress my niece and nephew. So that's going to be the big thing on the day. Hopefully they'll enjoy it.

How old are they?

They're 8, 13 and 15. I took them to Back to the Future recently on the West End, and they adored that. That really hit the spot. I feel like Doctor Who lives in that world, so we could be onto a winner.

What else do you enjoy watching at Christmas?

I really love Little Women, and I will watch both of the recent movies. I'll start with the 1994 one, because I grew up with that. My plan is to have it on when I'm doing the tree, which I haven't done yet, because I like a real tree and I don't want it to collapse on me and look very, very sad by Christmas Day.

What are your own Christmas traditions?

There's always bartering between me, my mum and my sister about who's going to cook what part of the Christmas dinner. I like to cook, and I'm a bit of a control freak, so it's all three of us arguing about who’s going to do the potatoes. I also love making little canapés for Christmas Day. Christmas foods are some of my favourite things. I’m going to have a Christmas with friends soon, and get everyone to bring a dish.

Speaking of old friends, do you keep in touch with the Derry Girls gang?

Louisa Harland and I talk all the time – she was at my house the other day. But otherwise everyone's been so busy! I actually have a bottle of champagne that we were given on the wrap of series 1, and I keep saying I'm going to have them all around for dinner, and we're going to toast Siobhán McSweeney's BAFTA win. It's so long overdue.

Have you got any other plans this year?

Well, I'm back to filming Bridgerton. It's such a juggernaut that show, but it's so lovely to be part of. And it's much more chill for me this time around, because it's Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha's love story, and they're doing amazing, and they're doing all the heavy lifting. So it's quite fun for me to come in and just enjoy myself and chill out. It feels like a real homecoming to do that. And I wrapped a film, Magic Faraway Tree, [about] two months ago.

So that was a really cool experience. And I'm meeting up with some of my cast mates from that. Working with Rebecca Ferguson has been amazing. And then I was in another comedy ensemble with Dustin Demri-Burns and Oli Chris, and Nonso Anozie. It was weird because I've never been just with all the boys! So that was quite fun. But I'm meeting them for a Christmas lunch as well.

And any New Year's resolutions? What are your hopes for 2025?

What are my hopes for 2025? Oh, gosh, I'm really excited to have a little bit more free time. I would love to make an indie movie. I would love to travel a bit more. I'm trying not to give myself super harsh New Year's resolutions, because then I always feel like I let myself down…

How does it feel that now, for the rest of time, some Whovians will only ever want to discuss Doctor Who?

I didn't grow up with Doctor Who. In my house in Ireland, we only had the two Irish channels, no BBC, so it wasn't in my day-to-day. When they asked me, I was super-keen. But when I tried to do the research, I thought, "Oh my God… this is a full universe!" I was kind of overwhelmed. But then I thought the thing to do would be just try to do my best acting and hopefully make the Who fans happy!

What can we expect from the Christmas special, Joy to the World?

Oh, it's just beautifully written. It's funny, and it's heartbreaking, and it's full of adventure and excitement and aliens. It's exactly the kind of thing you want to sit down and watch after Christmas dinner. I think it's a real homecoming with Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies working their magic. And Ncuti as well! He truly has that charisma in real life. I'm just lucky to be along for the ride.

You and Ncuti were both in Barbie – did you know each other well?

I didn't know him super well, because I was only on Barbie super, super briefly, but I'd always been a fan of Ncuti's. I think he's just such a magnetic performer. He's someone that I loved watching. I remember watching him on Sex Education being like, 'God, I hope I get a chance to act with him one day.' And honestly, the experience of sharing a screen with him is something very, very special, Sometimes you meet actors, you see episodes on screen, and then in person, it's a very different thing. But he's just like a real, once in a lifetime kind of performer. So I loved it.

It’s set in a time hotel – if you could travel to any period of history for Christmas, where and when would you go?

There's a bit where the Doctor goes on the Orient Express. I asked to visit the set because it was so beautiful. There's something about travelling by train, the 1930s and the glamour. But New Year’s Eve on a train like that would be amazing. The perfect way to see in 2025.

A condensed version of this interview appeared in the Christmas edition of Radio Times magazine – order your copy here.

Read more:

• Doctor Who Christmas special theories: What could happen in Joy to the World?
• Doctor Who's Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat preview "emotional" Christmas special

Doctor Who: Joy to the World will air on Christmas Day (Wednesday 25th December) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 5:10pm. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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