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TARDIS Guide

Review of Joy to the World by Carter_S

30 December 2024

This review contains spoilers!

Wow. Okay, that was a fun one. Ncuti was as always a great Doctor, even if he's acting very Moffat-ish. Deliberately provoking Joy was a bit of a dick move, and having come straight from Invasion of the Dinosaurs, the new Dinosaurs were great. However, this special was littered with missed potentials. While using it to essentially time skip the creation of a star was clever, I can't help but feel like it's almost impossible to properly utilize the setting without giving it a properly timey-wimey story. Fifteen spending a year on Earth is very fun, I like the montage. That being said, there will now be three Doctors in 2025. Fourteen in therapy, Fifteen in the Hotel, and Fifteen when we inevitably spend most of Season 2 on Earth. Joy wasn't super likeable, but I did enjoy the COVID allegory. That being said, I will admit the scene where Joy's mother was sweet, but unnecessary. I think that scene was mostly there to elicit a tear-jerker reaction. Also, slight nitpick. Moffat messed up the year. When Joy takes her place as the star of Jesus, it's 0001; thus Jesus would be one, not a newborn. God, I can't believe I just wrote that. Then again, I'm surprised Doctor Who hasn't delved explicitly into religion. Also, another nitpick, everyone pronounces Villengard different to how it is in Series One. Yes, I know it also happened in Boom, but I noticed it in this one.