Doctor Who’s 2024 Christmas Special highlighted a side of the Fifteenth Doctor that I personally cannot wait to see more of in season 15.Doctor Whohas been a favorite show of mine since the revival kicked off in 2005. From the moment I saw Christopher Eccleston take Rose by the hand and race around London, something clicked about the way the stories were told, and the energetic, exciting sci-fi action that played out on screen. But it was the rest of the episodes in Russell T Davies season 1 that really got me hooked.
The most thrilling part ofDoctor Whois, of course, the Doctor, but when you have a character whose face can change, and a new actor is cast to play the titular lead, the character has to be more than one personality, with one set of traits, and a TARDIS. TheDoctor is a man of many faces, who reveals parts of his whole self to the audience over time. Just asMatt Smith’s Eleventh Doctoracknowledged before he regenerated, “We all change, when you think about it, we’re all different people; all through our lives, and that’s okay, that’s good, you’ve got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.” And I’ve begun to see more of the complex Doctor in Ncuti Gatwa’s performance after “Joy to the World.”
If I had to summarize Gatwa’s performance as the Doctor in one word after season 14, it would probably be joyful. It appears as though the bi-generation did wonders tocleanse the Doctor’s conscience and help them move onto a new era. But if I’m being honest, a happy, guilt-free Doctor is a boring one. The Doctor is more interesting when they have a balance of upbeat, outrageous excitement, and fiery, intense darkness. And I think it took the 2024Doctor WhoChristmas Special to really highlight the duality for the first time with Fifteen.
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The 2024 Christmas special of Doctor Who, “Joy to the World,” contains multiple references to certain episodes from Steven Moffat’s era of Doctor Who.
But the thing is, the subtle streak of darkness remains if you look for it. In his first proper adventure with Ruby Sunday, the Doctor is confronted with something completely bizarre, and utterly tragic, with a crew of space babies. But, rather than being immediately sympathetic and sweet, theDoctor sees the funny side of the traumatizing situation. Then, at the end of season 14, when theDoctor confronts Sutekh, he has genuine anger and hatred towards the menacing monster. Beyond this, the Doctor has brief glimpses of anger or frustration, such as when he is confronted by the racists in Finetime, but overall, he keeps a lid on that darkness.
The Doctor Mocking Joy To Break Her Conditioning In “Joy To The World” Is Brutal
The 2024 Christmas Special Sees The Fifteenth Doctor Get Cruel
But in “Joy to the World,” the Doctor delivers a cold, bitter, awful barrage of questions and assumptions at Joy, the young woman he is intent on saving from becoming a star, against her will. Yes, this was ultimately to save her, and help break the psychic link, but didn’t it feel like theDoctor got a little too into berating this poor lonely woman? He literally insults her and bullies her to the point that she stops being the soft-spoken, sweet young woman, and lets the Doctor know how awful he is being. While this scene was challenging, and it saw the Doctor appear to be cruel to be kind, it was also reminiscent of moments fromPeter Capaldi’s outstanding performance as the Twelfth Doctor.
This duality and the lack of a clear line, makes them more compelling as a heroic alien who puts his lives on the line to save others.
At times, he would withhold truth, and engineer social situations in ways that seemed like he was being heartless and cruel, but it served a greater purpose. And the reason the Doctor can pull this off with such success and bravado is because he is genuinely dark in some ways, while also being a hero and someone who seeks to preserve and uphold life. This duality and the lack of a clear line,makes them more compelling as a heroic alienwho puts his lives on the line to save others.
Doctor Who Season 15 Needs More Of Fifteen’s Darker Side
Doctor Who Season 15 Can Make The Doctor Even Better
For me, the Doctor became a more interesting character when Christopher Eccleston became genuinely angry, screaming at people like Cassandra or Adam in season 1. He became more real, andmore believable as a hero with a dark history. When David Tennant assumed the role as the Tenth Doctor, his giddy, excited fun, combined with the definitive punishments he doled out to the Family of Blood, proved he was not just any hero. Matt Smith’s ability to transform from a mad man in a box to the oncoming storm was unprecedented, and it helped to further define the character.
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The same happened with Capaldi and Whittaker to an extent, but for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor to really succeed, he needs to embrace the inner darkness of the character. The Doctor isn’t all fun and smiles all the time. He does cry, he does break down, he does lose the fight every once in a while, and he definitely gets angry. Ncuti Gatwa has the range and the talent. RTD has proven his talent for creating this complex character in the past, andDoctor Whoseason 15is the time to bring it all together and make the Doctor into a more fully rounded character.
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Doctor Who: Released on Jun 22, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
