Usually with Doctor Who, I find it much easier to concentrate during an episode. This time, however, was different. We were still opening presents in our household, which partly contributed to the episode feeling harder to follow than usual, although judging by the reaction to the episode afterwards, it does seem like some of it is also the way the narrative itself was written.

Joy To The World is an episode I enjoyed a lot. The Time Hotel is a fantastic concept; I love the idea of a hotel where the rooms lead to different periods. However, it does also lead to the episode feeling a little disjointed. When the Doctor is bouncing between rooms that go to such wildly different times and places, it can make it harder to follow. It also doesn't help that the episode doesn't do much to explore the central concept. It never really makes full use of the idea of a hotel where you can go to any time, or spend much time in the time periods the Doctor travels to. It would have been nice to have seen more of the prehistoric era, for instance.

Joy is also surprisingly underwritten. Before the episode aired, I expected Joy to be the star of the show, as so much of the marketing of the episode was focused around her. She's strangely underutilised however, and abandoned for a large chunk of the plot when the Doctor is locked out of the Time Hotel by his future self.

On the other hand, I loved the Doctor's friendship with Anita. Their dynamic as friends is engaging to watch during the year that the Doctor spends working at the normal hotel, and Ncuti Gatwa and Stephanie de Whalley have tons of chemistry. I actually came away from this episode hoping Anita would become a future companion at some point, and I expected to feel that way about Joy.

Another highlight of the episode is when the Doctor manipulates Joy by being mean toward her, hoping it will make her angry to stop the suitcase brainwashing her mind. This scene felt like a classic Doctor moment, similar to the scene where Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor manipulates Sarah Jane out of the air vent in The Ark In Space. It culminates in a fantastic emotional sequence, where Joy talks about her mother's death and how she was unable to see her in hospital during COVID. It's Joy's best moment as a character, and Nicola Coughlan's best performance in the role.

The reveal that the Villenguard's artificial star is the Star of Bethlehem felt like a fitting means of tying the special to the Christmas period. I have no doubt that it was probably controversial and upset some diehard Christians, but I thought it was clever, and a neat way of explaining an iconic Christmas element within Doctor Who's lore.

It was lovely also seeing Millie Gibson briefly cameo as Ruby Sunday. She was not announced prior to the episode airing as featuring within Joy To The World, so I was surprised when she appeared. It felt like a nice and unexpected Christmas treat, as Ruby has been one of the best aspects of RTD2 so far. Overall, I would give Joy To The World an 8/10. It has a bold and brilliant concept, but the time hotel is confusing and underutilised, and Joy as a character feels surprisingly weak. I was expecting more from Joy, whilst Stephanie de Whalley's Anita was the true guest star who shined.

I watched this during the airing at 9pm, and it confirmed my suspicions that the 90 minute edit would be an improvement over the original version. This War Games is a much tighter narrative, with less padding and a far stronger pace. It helps to give the story the epic feel it deserves, concerning soldiers from various Earth time periods transported to another planet to fight one another.

The colourisation is also stronger than in The Daleks. I was so amazed by the colourization work that at times, I forgot I was watching a production from the 60s. It's a clear, crisp picture that remarkably looks as though it could have been filmed today.

Most impressive is the CGI in this new War Games. It's extremely cool seeing the modern Gallifrey and regeneration effect in Patrick Troughton's final serial, but I was most blown away by the regeneration sequence. The fact that they managed to create a whole CGI Troughton in his TARDIS, complete with the transition into Pertwee, is nothing short of astounding.

The War Games very much feels like one for the fans. It's packed with references to everything from the common fan theory that the War Chief is the Master to the UNIT dating controversy. It's impossible to watch without a massive smile on your face.

A fantastic conclusion to Dalek Universe. A prospect of a Dalek/Movellan alliance is an exciting one, and Mark Seven is tragic, seeming not to remember the Doctor and Anya until towards the end. The story's ending also ties in with The Day Of The Doctor/The End Of Time, with the Doctor setting off to romance Queen Elizabeth I, which is a neat way to fit it into continuity.

A very strong retelling of the repeat of the story. It gives greater insight into Jamie's thoughts and feelings as the Doctor tests him for the human factor, as well as a look into the Doctor's perspective during his manipulative actions. Evil Of The Daleks also ends with a beautifully poignant moment where Jamie suggests the Doctor showed Zoe the adventure because he still misses Victoria, showing that the companions never truly go away for the Doctor.

A simple, yet hugely exciting story. It concerns a human prison ship keeping Davros prisoner, and the Daleks and Movellans both fighting over stealing Davros from the human fighters. The Doctor/Davros scenes, as usual, are top-notch, and it ends on a killer twist, revealing Mark Seven as the First Movellan.

An exciting, action-packed opener to the third Dalek Universe box set. This time, the Tenth Doctor and Anya Kingdom find themselves inside the Dalek and Movellan war.

The River Song mystery regards whether she's a Movellan or the real deal is interesting, especially considering the human/Movellan hybrid Kamen who refers to her as his 'mother'. It does seem judging by the end of this story, that The First Son is the one and only time River features in the box set, which is surprising given her prominence on the cover art.

A very interesting story. It concerns the Doctor crashing with Anya Kingdom on a strange planet, with a Godlike entity called Lost who was imprisoned there. The ending is possibly the best part. Never expected to hear a Dalek proclaim "Hello sweetie".

A really fantastic dramatic instalment concerning the hunt for the missing Arborecc onboard the Space Security Station. The twist that Major McLinn has been turning people onboard the space station into Daleks really pushes the characters emotionally, especially with one of the Daleks being Mark Seven's friend Felicity. It does have shades of Parting Of The Ways, but the idea of Dalek conversions always works well from a dramatic perspective.

A scene that really stands out is when the Arborecc Dalek begs to be 'exterminated'. It's heartbreaking and reflects how harsh the major's actions are. He is weaponising people onboard his space station without their permission, and turning them into the thing they hate.

An action-packed opener to Dalek Universe 2. It gives some interesting backstory to Mark Seven, being set on his home planet, and revealing that the android's parents were killed by Daleks.

The bear-like creatures feel like excellent traditional Doctor Who monsters also. Despite being called Dalek Universe, the box set does a great job at building plenty of new characters outside of the Daleks too.

A sublime conclusion to the first Dalek Universe box set. It starts off in style, with the Doctor, Arya, and Mark facing space pirates, and then dives into a deep exploration of the Kingdom family tree. Merrick Kingdom is a brilliant character, and his connection to Arya as her Grandfather, as well as being the Dad to the late Sara Kingdom, adds an engaging sense of family to the story.

There's some really great character drama here, that feels reminiscent of the first RTD era. Sara's resentment of her Granddad, blaming him for her mother's death, gets a lot of focus, and the fact that she never fully forgives him even when he dies feels very human. It's the kind of thing that reminds me of some of RTD's Doctor Who scripts, which combine these very domestic ideas with the otherworldly, which is high praise for Andrew Smith.

Whilst the Daleks don't feature in this Dalek Universe story, their presence is still felt in the way the characters talk about them, and the way it incorporates iconic characters and elements relating to Dalek lore, such as their enemies the Mechanoids, and the Varga plants. It means that it still feels very much like a story about the Daleks, even without Nicholas Briggs shouting into your ear.