This year's Doctor Who festive special, Joy to the World, will be broadcast on BBC1 on Christmas Day at 5:10pm. Written by Steven Moffat, the episode features Ncuti Gatwa in his second Christmas outting, and also introduces Joy, played by Nicola Coughlan.

Other guest stars for the episode include Steph de Whalley as Anita, Jonathan Aris as Melnak, Joel Fry as Trev, Peter Benedict as Basil, Julia Watson as Hilda, and Niamh Marie Smith as Sylvia.

This Christmas, as well as the now traditional festive outtings for Strictly Come Dancing, Call The Midwife, Eastenders and Mrs Brown's Boys, BBC1 also sees the return of Wallace and Gromit with Vengeance Most Fowl, and the final episode of Gavin and Stacey (the highest rated Christmas programme in recent years!).

Doctor Who will be up against the film North by Northwest on BBC2, Bullseye on ITV1, The Piano: Christmas on Channel 4, and The Greatest Comedy Classics on Channel 5. 

Joy to the World will also be available on BBC iPlayer, and around the world on Disney+ where available.

Other Doctor Who related broadcasts in the Christmas week include:

• Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour, BBC4, 23 December at 9:00pm
• Doctor Who at the Proms 2024, BBC2, Christmas Eve at 4:10pm

After some six years Doctor Who has returned to Christmas Day, which of course makes it a candidate for being the most watched show on the day!

Though it is unlikely to make the top slot tomorrow - the King's Speech is almost certainly going to have that honour owing to its simultaneous showing across the major broadcasters - the bookies seem to generally agree that The Church On Ruby Road might well be the second-most watched programme of the day at 6-1! This is followed up by Call The Midwife at 8-1, and both Eastenders and Strictly Come Dancing at 9-1. ITV1 shows include Coronation Street at 16-1 and Emmerdale at 25-1.

Of course with six years between Christmas Specials, it's been six years since our ratings competition for Christmas Day, and this year you can win a copy of The Church On Ruby Road on Blu-ray or DVD. To enter, simply email us at comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net with your name and the consolidated one week figure you expect the episode to achieve, as reported by BARB early next year.

Please specify the number in millions to 3 decimal places, for example 6.848m as achieved by The Giggle at the start of the month. For guidance, the highest rated non-King's speech programme last year was 7.814m achieved by Call The Midwife, who also took the 'silver crown' in 2021 with 7.831m.

The competition is open to UK residents, the closing date is Tuesday 26 December at 8:00am.

The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who’s feature length centenary special - The Power of the Doctor – will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 23rd October. This episode is the last of three specials that aired this year, and will mark Jodie Whittaker’s final adventure as the Thirteenth Doctor. 

The Power of the Doctor trailer on YouTube

Images from the episode: