Doctor Who's Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat reveal their favourite Christmas specials
"I wish I’d written all of Steven's – and if ever I'm thanked on the street, I did."
As Doctor Who fans prepare to celebrate another Christmas special, Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have revealed their favourite of each other's festive episodes.
Between them, the current showrunner and former showrunner (who penned this year's instalment, Joy to the World) have written 15 Christmas outings for the Doctor – but even they have the ones they love and return to time and time again, as they said in the Christmas double-issue of Radio Times, which is available to purchase from Tuesday 10th December.
"I wish I’d written all of Steven's – and if ever I'm thanked on the street, I did," Davies says, prompting a cackle from Moffat. "I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve got, 'I love those Weeping Angels…' 'I know… aren’t I brilliant?'
He adds: "I love all your specials, but I think [2010 episode] A Christmas Carol is a majestic piece of work for that moment of Michael Gambon realising that he is seeing his future self.
"It's an absolutely astonishing piece of drama, full stop – never mind Doctor Who, never mind fantasy, never mind the original Christmas Carol. What a piece of work that is, I love that."
Moffat responds: "I think my favourite episode for a very long time was your first one, The Christmas Invasion [in 2005].
"I was wondering what Christmas was going to be like for Doctor Who and I thought it was perfect. I was nervous about the fact that the Doctor wasn't going to turn up for ages but I thought it was brilliant.
"It was the moment at which you realise, 'No, it’s back for good.' The regeneration has worked, and it was not a guarantee back then at all."
"Remember when David Tennant was unknown?" Davies muses. "What a world."
Teasing this year's Christmas special, Moffat says we can look forward to "the solution to the longest-standing mystery in, not only the Doctor Who universe, but the universe as a whole. The Doctor will tell you the answer to that question you've been asking since you were a small child."
"Unless you spend your life in Premier Inns," Davies quips.
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Joy to the World will star Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor alongside Nicola Coughlan as Joy, and will follow a hotel that gets hold of time travel, selling stays across history.
The first-look images recently released of the episode show the Doctor preparing to battle an old enemy.
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
Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.
