When a deadly suitcase keeps changing hands with lethal results, the Doctor and new friend Joy are pitted against an old foe which threatens all life on Earth – but in which period of history?

Erstwhile producer Steven Moffat steps up to take on writing duties for his first Christmas episode since the Twelfth Doctor’s swansong, Twice Upon a Time. It’s an expansive tale that flits about and has no end of fun with its numerous times and places. There’s room for everything – peril, drama, hijinks, love (Platonic and otherwise) and even real-life anger.

Nicola Coughlan’s Joy, lonely on the one day of the year no one should be and still full of righteous anger at the hypocrisy of those who told her she couldn’t be with her dying mother, is as adorable as expected, although surprisingly she’s not really the de facto companion we might have expected her to be. She’s initially a threat, through no fault of her own, and her screentime is mainly at the start and end of the tale. It’s Stephanie de Whalley’s Anita who really serves that role, not in terms of plot but as the Doctor’s connection to the people of Earth, in a beautiful core sequence which is as enjoyable as anything I’ve seen in modern Doctor Who in quite some years. It’s just eight minutes but in that time I went from broadly enjoying Ncuti’s take on the part to finally falling in love with him.

As if that wasn’t enough, a gander at the end credits (well, a freeze frame as they whoosh by of course) reveals her surname and, paired with a brief glimpse earlier of a certain animated fancy dress shop, is tantamount to the show rushing back to the early 1970s and giving little me a great big hug.

That’s not the only surprise the end credits drop. Check out the name of Niamh Marie Smith’s character, the woman writing the letter on the train (if it doesn’t ring a bell, Google it). Moffat has confirmed that it is indeed her, giving her a life beyond being routinely cheated on by her dirty stop out of a boyfriend. It’s an extraordinarily bold and potentially copyright-bothering move and one can’t help but admire his courage.

It’s not all references to things you may or may not know – there’s Earth to save after all plus there’s a T-Rex on the loose (rather more realistically sized than its Deep Breath predecessor, thankfully). The story is simple enough for all the family to follow but has enough of Moffat’s trademark complexity to keep fans engaged.

What it has in spades is heart and in line with many of Moffat’s seasonal (and indeed not so seasonal) tales it has an “everybody lives” vibe that although technically isn’t the case still feels like it. Perhaps “everybody lived” is the better description. On top of that it has an ending which is done with enough conviction to please those for whom Christmas means more than prezzies and family but with enough restraint to not irritate those of a more secular bent.

Is this the best Doctor Who story in years? Not for me to say, and different stories serve different purposes so why compare? Is it the one I have enjoyed most since at least Season 10’s World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls? Undoubtedly, although for entirely different reasons. I’ve been rightly or wrongly a bit cynical and cold towards the show for a good while, I just felt like I’d moved on, but this has me sitting up to attention and gleefully waiting for more. Fingers crossed it can keep not just this energy but it’s great big heart.

Oh and if that wasn’t supposed to be Arthur Dent’s dressing gown he was wearing I’ll eat my Stovepipe hat.

Verdict: Piles of fun for all the family that just gets it so right for the first time in ages. 9/10

Andy Smith