Doctor Who: EVERY Fifteenth Doctor Episode Ranked Worst To Best

15. Joy To The World

Steven Moffat's Christmas special gave us Nicola Coughlan's Joy, a positive yet deeply hurt woman, spending time in a hotel at Christmas. She meets Silurians, Tyrannosaurs, and even passes Mr Benn, before she ultimately decides to kill herself to become a star.

As one does.

Despite the muddled message of the episode's climax, Coughlan (pardon the pun) shines as Joy, bringing heart and a devastating maturity to a character who lost the chance to say goodbye to her mother. Though there were rumblings from certain corners of the internet at the episode's direct exposure of political misdeeds during the Covid-19 crisis, Moffat's script isn't too heavy-handed (at that point) and Nicola embues it with such emotion that its hard to feel anything other than empathy with her.

Steph De Whalley was a wonderful addition in the form of hotel manager Anita. Her year with the Doctor seems rife with opportunities to tell stories, and her return helped to raise the overall enjoyment factor of The Reality War (but exactly who is the Boss?!)

The final scene of the special moves beyond 'on the nose' and sits firmly at 'HA, HA, DO YOU GET IT?' which is a little disappointing. We can only hope to see the Time Hotel again in another context, with or without producing religion along the way.