Doctor Who Day 2024 Highlights (Spoilers)

Yesterday was the 61st birthday of Doctor Who and I purposely held off posting anything because I wanted to do a round up of stuff. Without further ado, here goes.

First of all, let's talk about upcoming Christmas special, Joy To The World. The festive special written by Steven Moffat and directed by Alex Pillai.

• A clip was released during Children In Need last week showing the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Joy (Nicola Coughlan) facing off a dinosaur.
• The concept of the episode seems to involve a time travelling London hotel of sorts. There's a mix of different time periods though Joy is a contemporary character.
• No idea who the actual villain is but we do have a Silurian played by Jonathan Aris and Villengard also make an appearance.
• The episode will be simulcast on BBC1, iPlayer and Disney+ on Christmas Day. The exact time to be confirmed.

Stepping away from the special, as part of the show's 61st birthday, the BBC made the scripts for Season 1 (Series 14) available, including scenes that didn't make it into the episodes available. There's also a 10 minute video on the official YouTube page of deleted scenes to delight in.

Meanwhile if you've enjoyed the colourised version of The Daleks from last year, then how about another one. Yup, I'm talking about the imminent release of The War Games.

• It'll be a 90 minute version of the ten episode serial and will air on BBC4 on December 23rd. Exact time to be confirmed.
• It'll have an updated sound and score as well as visual effects to appeal to a modern audience.
• The episode will feature a never seen before regeneration between Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee's respective Doctors.
• Though not confirmed, I'd expect a physical release at some point for this updated version of the classic story.

Other highlights from yesterday included the mention of an auction for props and costumes (including an 11th Doctor jacket) in February 2025 as well as Steven Moffat having done a watch along for Boom last night. Oh and there was a six hour livestream of highlights, currently available on the official YouTube page and a Casio A159 watch with limited edition Christmas box and free TARDIS badge. Yup, that's a thing.

Last but by no means least, I haven't forgotten about upcoming spin off series, The War Between The Land And The Sea. What's been going on with that since I last talked about it?

• Thanks to set reports, Russell Tovey's character is called Barclay, who seems to be a political figure romantically involved with a Sea Devil.
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw seems to be playing the Sea Devil that Tovey's character is involved with.
• Other cast members who have been confirmed for the show include Patrick Baladi, Vincent Franklin, Adrian Lukis, Francesca Corney and Mei Mac.
• The Sea Devils have gotten a modern update akin to the Silurians from 2010.
• Russell T. Davies has written the first and fifth episodes while Pete McTighe has written the second and third episodes. Both of them wrote the fourth episode together while Dylan Holmes Williams has directed all five episodes.

As for the main show itself, Season 3 (Series 16) has yet to be officially greenlit by the BBC and Disney+ and we likely won't find out until after the upcoming second season airs in early 2025. Personally, I think it'll be renewed but with a few shake ups. 

Doctor Who - Joy To The World will air on BBC1/iPlayer/Disney+ on Christmas Day with Season 2 in early 2025. The War Between The Land And The Sea will also air, likely in late 2025.