Joy to the World

Joy. Doesn't she look happy?

One episode (Joy to the World)

First broadcast: Dec 25 2024
Audience for story: 5.91m

REGULAR CAST

Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor) Born Oct 15 1992 Click here for Ncuti Gatwa's entry on The Giggle

Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) Born Jun 19 2004 Click here for Millie Gibson's entry on The Church on Ruby Road

GUEST CAST

Jonathan Aris (Hotel manager) Born Jan 24 1971

Career highlights

Jonathan made his debut in Bugs (1996), followed by roles in Metroland (1997), Pilgrims Rest (1997), As Time Goes By (1998), Bob and Margaret (1998), Topsy-Turvy (1999), Relic Hunter (2001), Ali G Indahouse (2002), The Brief (2004), Hotel Babylon (2006), The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006), My Family (2008), Bonekickers (2008), Merlin (2008), Being Human (2010), Peep Show (2012), Wolf Hall (2015), The Martian (2015), The Night Manager (2016), Rogue One (2016), The Death of Stalin (2017), Black Mirror (2018), Good Omens (2019), The War of the Worlds (2019), Dracula (2020), Grantchester (2021), A Very British Scandal (2021), His Dark Materials (2022), Red Eye (2024) and The Famous Five (2024). He also regularly played Anderson in Sherlock (2010-16) and Ralph in Stan Lee's Lucky Man (2017).

Facts

Jonathan is the son of actor Ben Aris, who appeared in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. He is married to fellow actor Louiza Patikas, best known as Moira Pollock in Coronation Street (2017-20) and Helen Archer in radio soap The Archers since 2008.

Phil Baxter (Edmund Hillary)

Career highlights

Further work includes Toast of Tinseltown (2022), The Gathering (2024) and Seize Them! (2024).

Peter Benedict (Basil Flockhart)

Career highlights

Debuted in I, Claudius (1976), followed by parts in A Touch of Frost (2001), EastEnders (2003), UKIP: The First 100 Days (2015), Transhuman (2017) and Executioner (2024).

Nicola Coughlan (Joy Almondo) Born Jan 9 1987

Career highlights

Irish Nicola made her screen debut in Flashpoint (1997) aged 10, followed by roles in Doctors (2012), Harlots (2018), Oliver Twist (2022), Barbie (2023), Dodger (2023), Big Mood (2024) and Seize Them! (2024). Nicola has done an awful lot of voice character work too, including on the English version of the series SimSalaGrimm II: The Adventures of Yoyo and Doc Croc (2010), Jelly T (2012) and The Velveteen Rabbit (2023), but she is best known for her roles as Clare Devlin in sitcom Derry Girls (2018-22) and Penelope in Bridgerton (2020-24).

Awards

2021: Irish Film and Television Rising Star Award

Facts

Politically-minded Nicola has campaigned for various causes over the years, including body conformity, Channel 4, anti-abortion rights and refugees.

Steph de Whalley (Anita Benn) Born 1988

Career highlights

Steph debuted in The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael (2005), then Cyber Bride (2019) and Midnight Taxi (2024).

Joel Fry (Trev Simpkins) Born May 20 1985

Career highlights

Joel's first screen credit was in the 2007 TV movie Sound, followed by parts in Casualty (2007), 10,000 BC (2008), The Wrong Door (2008), No Signal (2009), Octavia (2009), Tamara Drewe (2010), White Van Man (2011-12), Bedlam (2012), Twenty Twelve (2012), Death in Paradise (2015), Game of Thrones (2014-15), You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015), W1A (2014-17), Paddington 2 (2017), Yesterday (2019), Silent Night (2020), In the Earth (2021), A Boy Called Christmas (2021), Bank of Dave (2023) and Inside No 9 (2024). Regular roles include Leighton in Trollied (2011-13), Stylax in Plebs (2013-16) and Frenchie in Our Flag Means Death (2022-23).

Facts

Joel is also a musician, having released music as part of the band Animal Circus in 2012, and contributed to the soundtrack of Our Flag Means Death.

Joshua Leese (Mr Single)

Career highlights

Joshua's other credits include Chernobyl (2019), Extraordinary (2023), Archie (2023) and Silent Witness (2025).

Fiona Marr (Angela Grace)

Career highlights

Fiona debuted in Ted Lasso (2021), followed by roles in The Sandman (2022), Doctors (2023), Insomnia (2024), Signora Volpe (2024) and My Fault: London (2025).

Ell Potter (Server)

Career highlights

Ell's other work includes the 2016 short Surfing and the series Cheaters (2024). Ell is also an prolific audiobook narrator.

Liam Prince-Donnelly (Barman)

Career highlights

Liam's other work includes Payback Season (2012), Pennyworth (2019) and Children of Oceanville (2020).

Ruchi Rai (Receptionist)

Coming soon...

Fiona Scott (Joy's mum)

Career highlights

Fiona has also appeared in Closing Ranks (1988) and The Lesson (2022).

Samuel Sherpa-Moore (Tenzing Norgay) Born 2000

Career highlights

Samuel's further work includes Wonka (2023), The Boys in the Boat (2023) and The Crown (2023).

Facts

Samuel is distantly related to the character he played in Doctor Who, Sherpa Tenzing, as Norgay's grandson married Samuel's great-aunt (making him Samuel's great great uncle). His family runs the Sherpa Society tour guide firm in Nepal.

Niamh Marie Smith (Sylvia Trench)

Coming soon...

Julia Watson (Hilda Flockhart) Born Sep 13 1953

Career highlights

Julia's earliest credited screen role was in Park Ranger (1979), followed by roles in Tales of the Unexpected (1979), Rings on Their Fingers (1979), Shoestring (1979), Agony (1980), Maybury (1981), Dempsey and Makepeace (1986), Bust (1988), Lovejoy (1993), A Touch of Frost (2008), Midsomer Murders (2010) and The Freaks Come Out (2024). Julia may be best remembered for playing Lyn in the sitcom Never the Twain (1981-83) and Barbara "Baz" Wilder in 90 episodes of Casualty (1986, 1995-98 and 2003-04).

Facts

Julia is married to poet and writer David Harsent (aka novelist David Lawrence).

CREW

Steven Moffat (writer) Born Nov 18 1961 Click here for Steven Moffat's entry on The Empty Child

Alex Sanjiv Pillai (director)

Career highlights

Alex, who is of South Indian Tamil heritage, began directing with 1996's Thief Takers, followed by Flight (1997), Touching Evil (1998), The Last Train (1999), The Wyvern Mystery (2000), Blue Murder (2004), Wire in the Blood (2005), Silent Witness (1998-2008), Being Human (2009), Robin Hood (2009), Merlin (2011), Da Vinci's Demons (2015), Harry Price: Ghost Hunter (2015), Midsomer Murders (2012-17), Bull (2017-20), Bridgerton (2022), DI Ray (2022), Riverdale (2018-23) and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (2022-24).