Steven Moffat: ‘I wanted to give Tory rule-breakers a kicking with Doctor Who special’

Spoilers for the Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy To The World, follow.

Seven years after his Doctor Who swan song, former showrunner Steven Moffat unexpectedly returned to the Whoniverse for Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor era.

After an acclaimed response to his season one episode, Boom (featuring the new companion Varada Sethu), he returned to screens for a Christmas special, Joy To The World, starring Nicola Coughlan.

‘The only thing I’d forgotten is how fast you have to start,’ Steven, 62, tells Metro about his return to the BBC writers’ room. ‘It took me three goes to get Boom started.’

But, much like learning how to ride a bike, it took no time at all for the gears to click into place as he penned not one but two episodes filled with out-of-this-world threats, a quirky cast of side characters and a race against time.

No surprise considering Steven has written more episodes of the Doctor Who reboot than anyone, outpacing returning showrunner Russell T Davies and Jodie Whittaker era boss Chris Chibnall.

Steven Moffat returned to Doctor Who this year for two episodes, including the Christmas special (Picture: BBC Studios/Dan Fearon)

From his first Eccleston episodes (The Empty Child two-parter) to his latest festive romp, he has probed into the mind and heart of every Doctor who has graced our screen (aside from Jodie), making him a foremost expert in what makes the Doctor tick.

And just how different it is to write for say, Matt Smith, compared to Ncuti.

‘It’s different enough that the Doctor is now somebody else.
Accents change, I think the Doctor probably glances in the mirror once he’s got up and says, “okay, right I’m a grumpy old guy” or “I’m a sexy young man” or “I’m a beautiful woman”.

‘The objective is not to convince everybody that’s a new Doctor. The objective is to convince everybody it’s the same old Doctor with a new face. Otherwise, the kids will stop watching,’ he joked.

So he baked in all the things we know and love about the Doctor – his compassion, tenacity and thrill-seeking tendencies – into the latest adventure which sees the 15th Doctor and Nicola’s Joy team up to save planet Earth.

AKA, business as usual.

‘I loved the idea of [Joy] being Nicola. I love her in Derry Girls. and that sweetness, that kindness, that face just seemed to belong in the universe,’ he said about the Irish actor coming on board.

Needless to say, a lot goes into making a festive special hit all the right notes.

Steven reflected on writing for Ncuti – and including that Covid plotline (Picture: BBC Studios/Lara Cornell)

The Sherlock creator shared his aspiration: ‘This is a big Christmas meal of a show. You want to leave them flopped on the sofa wiping tears away. You want that big, full-on in your face Doctor Who.

‘And, of course, I want them to then what want to watch the next season.’

As the Doctor gets to know Joy, alongside the audience, we soon discover she is harbouring a deep trauma that has led to her spending Christmas day alone in a hotel room.

Her mum died on Christmas day in hospital in 2020, and she had to say goodbye over the iPad due to Covid restrictions.

It’s a bold choice to make for the beloved family show but for Steven it was the best explanation he could conjure up for why Joy was so angry.

‘Human beings are very predictable and what makes us sad tends to be losing a lover but we felt that was just a little bit obvious,’ he explained.

‘What other universal relatable truths are there? Well, a lot of people had the pain of an elderly relative that they couldn’t say goodbye to.’

One eyebrow-raising moment is during Joy’s cathartic monologue in which she blatantly criticises government members who were discovered to have allegedly broken the lockdown rules.

The ex-Doctor Who showrunner wanted to give the rule-breakers ‘a kicking’ (Picture: Getty/Dave Benett)

‘It’s not a jab not to the government, but to the people who broke the law, just be clear,’ he reiterated.

‘There’s no political element to this. There are plenty of people in the Tory government who did not break the law. Plenty of them who are equally angry, equally furious, so it’s not a political point.

‘When people claim it’s me having a jab at the Tories, I say, “do you think Margaret Thatcher would have done that?” the answer is “no, she would not.” Actually, most of them would not have done that. 
It’s the party of law and order after all.

‘I think when people break the law and break hearts, then they can take a bit of stuffing for that as far as I’m concerned. I think that’s legitimate and proper.’

He later added: ‘It’s the fact that we all took the pain on but a few twats somewhere didn’t and they can get a kicking for that.’

One theme that has tied together Steven’s run on the show is the villainous outer space weapons company, Villengard.

‘Truthly it was to facilitate a joke about a banana in The Empty Child and and didn’t get mentioned again until I was writing what I thought then was my very last one [Twice Upon A Time],’ he admitted.

‘I thought, oh “I’ll mention something from my first one to round it off”.’ Except his ‘last one’ has now happened twice again.

The episode also featured the weapon maker Villengard (Picture: BBC Studios/Lara Cornell)

His episode Boom featured the actor behind next season’s companion, Varada Sethu (Picture: James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios/PA Wire)

‘I’ll just keep hauling out Villengard. I like the idea that there’s a villainous organization, some evil schemers out there in the universe that we never see… an untold contest between the doctor and some evil weapons makers,’ he added, which should quench the curiosity of fans.

Although Steven left as showrunner in 2017, Davies has set the precedent for a grand return after a long hiatus. So is it something he would ever consider?

‘Completely out of the question,’ he quickly rejected this idea.

‘I’d rather stay married is my general answer,’ he jokes, before adding: ‘But that’s not fair. I did it for six seasons on the trot and I loved it. I loved it but that was enough.

‘I don’t need to do it again. 
I’m old. I’ve got other things I want to get done.’Even returning for another episode is lowdown on the priority list compared to fresh projects, he noted.

As for what comes next on Doctor Who, Steven jokes: ‘That’s a question for Russell’.

Although Boom star Varada is coming back to the Tardis full-time, there was very little he could reveal.

‘I knew nothing about that until [Russell] emailed me a few months ago and said, “This is what we’re doing with the new companions.”

‘It’s going to be her, but it’s not the same character. Things are going to be explained [but]
I don’t know what the explanation is. My knowledge ends at the end of Joy To The World. The future is an absolute mystery.’

Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and new episodes on Disney Plus worldwide.

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