This year, Nicola Coughlan is joining the likes of Kylie Minogue, David Morrissey and Katherine Jenkins in taking on the role of a one-off companion to the Doctor in a Doctor Who Christmas special.
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She will play Joy, a woman who checks into a hotel in London but whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor.
Gatwa and Coughlan have history, as they previously starred together in 2023's Barbie. However, something Coughlan has less history with is Doctor Who itself.
Speaking with the Christmas double-issue of Radio Times, which is available to purchase from Tuesday 10th December, Coughlan revealed: "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!"
Ncuti Gatwa and Nicola Coughlan in Doctor Who: Joy to the World. BBC
As well as Gatwa and Coughlan, the Christmas special, called Joy to the World, will also star Joel Fry, Steph de Whalley, Jonathan Aris and Julia Watson, among others.
Of course, there is the possibility that Coughlan's character Joy could show up beyond this special - after all, Catherine Tate's Donna Noble was originally conceived as a one-and-done character for 2006's Christmas special The Runaway Bride, before returning as a full-time companion for season 4 in 2008.
Like in The Runaway Bride, Joy to the World writer Steven Moffat has teased that the special will see the Doctor having just recently said goodbye to a friend, in the form of Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday.
Moffat said of this dynamic: "That puts the Doctor in a particular place, and in the modern show we've always honoured that. So it's the Doctor alone - which makes it sound sombre and it's really not.
"It's whimsical and heartwarming and emotional. It's not Blink. That's how they review all my episodes - it's not Blink!"
RT 2024 Christmas cover.
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.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
