Steven Moffat explains why the pandemic is such an important part of the Doctor Who Christmas special

As a show about time travel, Doctor Who She has never been afraid to incorporate contemporary moments into her stories. but This weekend’s special “Joy to the World” made a particularly sentimental and pointed catchphrase from recent memory part of its entire emotional arc — and that Writer Steven Moffat It felt impossible to ignore.

Part of “Joy to the World” Guest ‘companion’ sees Nicola Coughlan, the titular Joy, become host to a mysterious, armed briefcase that the Doctor has been tracking – a process they both discover is lethal to whomever the briefcase holds. Trying to figure out how to free Joey from the bag without killing her, the Doctor suddenly turns on his new friend: he angrily mocks her for putting up a false front for other people, and hiding her misery and sadness on Christmas of all days. The Doctor continues to push and poke Joy until she suddenly attacks him: the reason she whisked herself away to a dingy hotel for Christmas was to avoid others, to avoid facing the anger she felt when she watched her mother die in the hospital. On Christmas Day at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“She died on Christmas Day. On Christmas day“And I said goodbye to the iPad because of the rules,” she shouted at him. “She died alone!” And those horrible people with their wine refrigerators, and their dancing, and their parties, and I listened to them, and I left my mother to die alone.”

“I think there was something else in the first draft, I can’t remember what it was. And then I was sitting there thinking: ‘Why do you get angry on Christmas Day?'” Moffat said recently. Hollywood Reporter About winning the story. “And I thought, ‘Okay, oh my God, that’s it!’ Once you think about it, you won’t leave it behind. this “Why do you get angry on Christmas Day?”

It’s a particularly clear reference not just to the pandemic itself, but the anger felt in the UK at the time after a series of reports revealed that several members of the then Conservative government, including… Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnsonboasting new rules and laws against gatherings of multiple people during lockdowns throughout 2020, Organizing parties in government offices— one of the many scandals that ultimately led to Johnson’s eventual resignation in 2022. But for Moffat, incorporating that anger, and incorporating the pandemic specifically, was natural.

“I think a certain amount of anger was on the minds of quite a lot of people. But it’s not something you want to make a big point about. It was just looking for a reason that meant something about why someone would be sad on Christmas Day,” the writer continued. I’ve heard this version of that story many times. So Several times. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know someone who has that story, or who has that story themselves. It’s a piece of our history now. Our very recent history; We have been defined. So, if someone is going to be angry on Christmas Day, why wouldn’t they be? “It was a good reason.”

It definitely is Far from the first time– And it certainly won’t be the last – as we see Doctor Who You have a less than friendly view Contemporary British politics. But that’s probably not the most fun thing about a Christmas Day adventure.

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