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

Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday and Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor in Doctor Who
(Image credit: BBC)

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:

Doctor Who | Trailer Christmas 2024 | Disney+ - YouTube Doctor Who | Trailer Christmas 2024 | Disney+ - YouTube
Watch On

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.

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.

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.

Emily Murray
Entertainment Editor

As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I've worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.

Read more
Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Nicola Coughlan as Joy in the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas special
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special ending explained: who dies, is Ruby Sunday in it, and what is the Star Seed?
Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Nicola Coughlan as Joy in Doctor Who Christmas special Joy to the World
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: "Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat"
Anita Dobson as Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies teases season 2's "scariest episode" and a "big surprise" from the mysterious Mrs Flood
Doctor Who
Doctor Who season 2: Release date, cast, and everything we know about Ncuti Gatwa’s next season
Varada Sethu and Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who season 2
The first full-length trailer for Doctor Who season 2 is here – and fans think they've spotted the mysterious Mrs. Flood
Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who season 2
Doctor Who fans think they've spotted a tease for surprise villains in new season 2 trailer
Latest in Sci-Fi Shows
Alien Earth teaser
New Alien: Earth teaser introduces us to new cast members and the cutest little cat – and if a Xenomorph eats it, I will be furious
The Last of Us
The Last of Us season 2 is giving a game character the Bill and Frank treatment – and he's so deep-cut you might barely remember him
The Last of Us season 2 first look
Pedro Pascal says "beautiful" scene that made him want to join The Last of Us got cut, but it’ll thankfully appear in season 2: "He was like, ‘That’s half the reason I’m here!’"
Diego Luna in Andor
It looks like a key Star Wars event mentioned in Rebels will be shown in Andor season 2
Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who season 2
Doctor Who fans think they've spotted a tease for surprise villains in new season 2 trailer
The Xenomorph in Alien: Earth
New look at Alien: Earth has fans theorizing over whether they can hear a Predator in the background
Latest in News
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Death Stranding 2 Collector's Edition
Hideo Kojima reveals Death Stranding 2: On the Beach release date, and the Collector's Edition includes exactly what I predicted it would
Kingmakers
Kingmakers is a strategy game about taking on medieval armies with a gun, but its devs thought the giant mech was too much
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip