'Doctor Who': 5 Best Uses Of Historical Events In NuWho

WARNING! SPOILERS for Doctor Who: Joy to the World.

The latest Doctor Who Christmas special, 'Joy to the World', has aired to a mixed reception from fans and critics. Written by former showrunner Steven Moffat, a mid-story twist revealed that companion character Joy Almondo (played by Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan), spends her Christmases alone out of guilt over not being with her Mother when she died in Hospital on Christmas Day, 2020, having only been able to say goodbye via video call. While the disease is not mentioned by name, a combination of the year, and a brief mention of Boris Johnson's controversial Christmas party, heavily implies that Joy's Mother died during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While some fans disliked the twist, it isn't the first time that the Doctor Who revival, usually called NuWho by fans to differentiate it from the classic series, has incorporated real-life historical events into it's stories. Here's a few of the best uses of historical events in NuWho.

Note: 'The Unquiet Dead', 'The Shakespeare Code' and 'Vincent and The Doctor' are all great historical episodes, but as they relate more to the historical figures rather than a known historical event, they will not be mentioned here.

1. The London Blitz ('The Empty Child'/'The Doctor Dances')

'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances', episodes 9 and 10 of the Doctor Who revival's first series, also the revival's first two-parter and the first episodes to have been written by Moffat, are set during the London Blitz Bombing in WWII. A young boy, Jaime, who was killed during one of the bombings, is discovered by helpful alien nanogenes who 'repair' him, not realizing that his gas-mask is not his face. Jaime and his Nanogenes then set out to 'repair' any other humans they come across.

The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler eventually convince Jaime's young, guilt-stricken Mother, Nancy, to intervene, with her genetic connection to Jaime convincing the Nanogenes of their mistake, after which they correctly repair and revive Jaime, and everyone else they had helped. The episodes cemented Moffat as a potential Whoniverse legend.

2. Mt. Vesuvius Erupts ('The Fires of Pompeii')

Series Four's second episode sees The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble inadvertently arrive in Pompeii on the day before Mt. Vesuvius is due to erupt and destroy the city. They discover that sculptors across the city (including Caecilius, whose family the pair befriend) have been commissioned to craft circuit boards, which the alien Pyroviles plan to use in an energy converter to transform all of humanity into Pyroviles.

The only way to stop the plot is to trigger the eruption of Vesuvius, killing the people of Pompeii, but destroying the converter and sparing the the rest of the Earth. Donna convinces The Doctor to save Caecilius and his family, reminding him that he can, sometimes, bend the rules to save a life. The Twelfth Doctor later takes on Caecilius's face as his own to remind himself of this lesson.

3. The Christmas Armistice ('Twice Upon A Time')

In 2017's Christmas Special, 'Twice Upon A Time', The First and Twelfth Doctors, both resisting regeneration, happen to land on the same WWII battlefield, which then becomes frozen in time. The pair are stumbled upon by a British Military Captain, the only being apart from them to have avoided the freeze, befriend him, and attempt to rescue him from glass-like beings they believe mean to do him harm. However, they eventually learn that the glass creatures, known as Testimony, only wish to record the Captain's memories, and return him to his historic moment of death during the war.. The arrival of the two Doctors caused a paradox that interrupted the process.

The Twelfth Doctor reluctantly agrees to return the Captain, but tweaks the time of their arrival just slightly, so that it coincides with the Christmas Day armistice of 1914, and the Captain, an ancestor of The Doctor's late dear friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, is spared. It was a perfect way to incorporate a moment of true Christmas History.

4. Rosa Parks refuses to stand ('Rosa')

While trying to get her new friends Graham, Ryan, and Yaz safely home, The Thirteenth Doctor ends up landing the Tardis in Montgomery, Alabama, days before Rosa Parks is due to make her historic refusal to stand for a white passenger on the bus, driving the Civil Rights movement forward. When they discover Krasko, a racist fellow time traveller, attempting to disrupt the events leading to Rosa's sit in, The Doctor and her friends become guardians of history, ensuring the events unfold as they were meant to.

The events of 'Rosa' are sometimes uncomfortable, but hey are supposed to be, especially when The Doctor and co are forced to become part of the story by riding Rosa's bus, and cannot intervene against the injustice of her arrest, even knowing it is for the greater good. The episode is considered one of the best of The Thirteenth Doctor's run, if not the revival series as a whole. There have even been recommendations that it be used in Schools to teach the Rosa Parks story to students.

5. The Partition of India ('Demons of the Punjab')

When Yaz seeks the truth behind a mysterious watch gifted to her by her Nani, Umbreen, The Thirteenth Doctor takes Yaz, Graham, and Ryan back in time to the day before Umbreen's wedding, only to discover that the man Umbreen is marrying, Prem, is not the man Yaz knows to be her Grandfather. Complicating matters further, they have arrived on the eve of the Partition of India, which split the country into India and Pakistan along Muslim/Hindu lines. Prem is one of the possible millions destined to die during the partition, and tragically, The Doctor cannot prevent his death, as it would lead to Yaz never being born.

Like 'Rosa', 'Demons of the Punjab' is one of the best-reviewed episodes of the Thirteenth Doctor era, praised for refusing to shy away from a bloody piece of history that does not often receive enough recognition.

One of Doctor Who's original mission statements was to present history lessons in a way that would leave viewers with a lasting impact and understanding of the events. The above episodes are that concept at it's very best.