Date, time and plot of Doctor Who Christmas special with Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan, will she appear again?

Nicola Coughlan, who is best known for her roles in Derry Girls and as Penelope Featherington in Netflix’s Bridgerton, sent a special message to attendees of Hall H at the San Diego Comic-Con and said: “I am so sad to say that I can’t be at San Diego Comic-Con but I hope you are having an amazing time.”

Nicola Couglan also said: “I am thrilled to be joining Doctor Who for the Christmas special this year and I am so excited for you to meet my character Joy, a determined woman whose life is changed forever when she meets the Doctor. I had the best, best time shooting this episode with Ncuti and the whole crew. I cannot wait for you all to meet Joy. Now before I go, I want to personally give you all a first look at the special coming this Christmas to Disney plus and BBCiPlayer. Enjoy.”

Nicola Couglan who is appearing on this week’s episode of Graham Norton, alongside Daniel Craig, Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, has said that she didn’t watch Doctor Who growing up in her native West of Ireland and confessed that “I can’t tell you anything, not because of secrecy but because I had no idea what was going on.

“I was brought up in Ireland so didn’t see it as a child so when I got the part, I looked it up on Wikipedia – it was like reading War and Peace and it was so confusing with monsters and time travel.”

According to the synopsis on the BBC about the Doctor Who Christmas special, “When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.

“Where has the Doctor been? What is going on in Joy’s hotel room? An old enemy of the Doctor’s is lurking in the wings and all of human history hangs in the balance. Can the Doctor save Christmas, everywhere, all at once?”

The Doctor Who Christmas special ‘Joy to the World’ is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day at 5:10pm. Nicola Coughlan will only be appearing in the Doctor Who Christmas special.