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  1. Entertainment
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  4. Doctor Who

New Doctor Who Christmas special trailer teases an emotional cameo from Ruby Sunday following her departure from the TARDIS

News
By Emily Murray published 5 December 2024

Does the new teaser for 'Joy to the World' tease Ruby's return?

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Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday and Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor in Doctor Who
(Image credit: BBC)
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Disney Plus has dropped a new and very festive trailer for the upcoming Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special 'Joy to the World' – and one moment in particular has us very intrigued.

You can watch the teaser here:

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Set to some Christmassy music, we see Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor meet Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan's Joy at the Time Hotel, an establishment which allows its guests to visit moments in history. As the pair band together for a top secret mission, we see them encounter dinosaurs to Elizabethans as they travel throughout time.

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However, the part that has our eyebrows raised is the Doctor bumping into what seems to be a future version of himself. Asking what on Earth is happening, this future Doctor avoids all these questions, which leads a very frustrated Doctor to exclaim: "Why do you have to be mysterious all the time? That's why everyone leaves you, that is why you are always alone."

As these words are uttered, we cut to a scene of Millie Gibson's companion Ruby Sunday hugging the Doctor in the TARDIS. Now, as you may recall Ruby said farewell to the Doctor in last season's emotional finale, 'Empire of Death'. And if you really have a good memory, you'll recognize this footage as being from that very episode, meaning it is not new for this trailer and is being reused to help emphasize that the Doctor is now truly alone.

But this is Doctor Who and they do love to tease us, so maybe this glimpse of Ruby is teasing that she will have a cameo in the upcoming special. We do already know that Gibson's companion will appear in episodes of Doctor Who season 2 and therefore an appearance in this special is not off the cards. In fact, it would be a shame if she doesn't appear, given how beloved the character is.

If she does appear it is sure to be an emotional reunion for the pair but hey – what even is Christmas Day without shedding some tears over Doctor Who.

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The Doctor Who Christmas special 'Joy to the World' airs on Christmas Day on BBC One in the UK and streams via Disney Plus in all other territories. In the meantime, here's the best shows on Disney Plus you can watch right now.

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Emily Murray
Emily Murray
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Writer

Emily Murray is a former Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar+, once responsible for overseeing all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Emily has previously worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more. When Emily isn't writing about film and TV, she can be found cuddling her cat on the sofa, likely bingeing New Girl for the millionth time (Nick Miller is the love of my life). You can also find her waxing lyrical about Christopher Nolan on a podcast dedicated to his filmography.

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