Those who watched the latest Doctor Who special with their Disney+ subscription over the holiday might've clocked a trend that pops up again and again when Steven Moffat has a hand in the story's creation. The former Doctor Who showrunner returned ahead of Season 2's run on the 2025 TV schedule for the big holiday episode, and as he often does, found a tragic way to write off another companion, Nicola Coughlan's Joy. In fairness, Moffat warned us he would ahead of the episode, but CinemaBlend still had to ask why he loves to do this to characters that fans adore.
Joy's transformation from human to star is not the wildest thing that's happened to a companion during Steven Moffat's tenure. Amy Pond and Rory were trapped in the past until their deaths, Clara Oswald was fated to die to protect the timeline, and Bill Potts became trapped in a sentient puddle. Those are some pretty horrific exits for beloved characters, but when I talked to him ahead of "Joy To The World," he explained why all these endings have to be so definitive:
In general terms in the modern show we've always, and Russell's done this too, try to work out why they aren't seeing The Doctor anymore. In the old show they used to say, ‘I'm not gonna travel with you.’ Yeah. What? You're never gonna come around for dinner? I mean, what's the matter with you? You have to have a reason that they have the parting of the ways you might say.
Steven Moffat makes an excellent point. Doctor Who actors exit the show all the time. And when they leave, the departure has to be developed in a way that makes it so the series doesn't have to constantly explain why that person isn't around. I guess this isn't different from how characters leave in other shows. However, it's just a bit weirder because they all exit in a very wild way rather than just moving to a new city or something.
Such is the case for Joy, who transforms at the end of the episode from a woman who doesn't like Christmas to the star over Bethlehem mentioned in the classic biblical story around the birth of Jesus. Moffat revealed to CinemaBlend that it wasn't in his original plans to have Joy become a star, but he ultimately realized it was better for her ending:
In terms of Joy with the star plot, I knew I wanted to launch the star over Bethlehem. Originally, I was just going to blow up the suitcase over Bethlehem. But it occurred to me that Joy going from the woman who avoids Christmas to the star that creates Christmas, It would be such a wonderful story for her. All that love trapped inside her that she's trying to deny suddenly spills out all over the universe. That just seems like a lovely way to, not to go out with a bang. She doesn't go out the bang. She shines, she shines.
The downside of Joy's exit is The Doctor is left without another person he could've considered a friend, which is a theme of the episode. The Time Lord is also currently separated from Ruby Sunday, who only briefly appears in the episode, but Russell T. Davies has confirmed she will return alongside new companion Belinda Chandra in Season 2. So, while it's always sad to see a companion go, we can find comfort, for now, knowing that a character we already know and love is coming back.
Doctor Who's new era continues to be a blast, and while the Christmas special didn't give any huge clues about where Season 2 is headed, we have some clues from Season 1. No doubt The Doctor will continue to square off against the gods of the Pantheon and maybe find out who is pulling the strings behind this big plot before too long. We may even find out what the deal with Mrs. Flood is, though I think that may be a mystery for at least another season.
We will find out what's up when Doctor Who returns to Disney+ in 2025. I hope the wait for more episodes isn't too long, but with no firm release date at this time, we can only cross our fingers and hope for the best -- and that includes hoping for less tragic companion departures, even though I get why they do it.
