A blend of comedic family adventure, a brush with historical celebrity, a chilling bottle episode, and a grand, world-ending finale echoing classic series moments – the 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who, culminating in “Doctor Who: The Giggle,” served not just as a birthday bash, but as a mini-season showcasing the breadth of what Doctor Who excels at. These episodes skillfully closed one chapter while boldly launching a new one. While perhaps not the ideal entry point for brand new viewers (that role is reserved for the Christmas special), they were precisely what the show needed to recalibrate itself for a fresh era and reconnect with long-term fans who may have drifted away during the Capaldi or Whittaker eras. Russell T Davies’ signature NuWho flavor is back, vibrant and familiar, yet also venturing into exciting, uncharted territories.
Following the more conventional narratives of “The Star Beast” and “Wild Blue Yonder,” “Doctor Who: The Giggle” emerges as the most audaciously experimental of the trio. It’s a unique episode, defying easy categorization within the Doctor Who canon, and it was here that the overarching vision of these specials truly clicked for me. Considering that Donna’s original departure was problematic for sidelining her perspective in favor of the Doctor’s anguish, I initially anticipated these specials would recenter themselves on her viewpoint. Perhaps the return of the Tenth Doctor’s face was intended to reconcile with Donna, or even to alleviate Wilf’s lingering guilt over his part in the Doctor’s prior regeneration.
A Mini-Season of Doctor Who at its Best
However, these specials have proven to be some of the most intensely Doctor-focused episodes Davies has crafted. The seemingly standalone plot of “Wild Blue Yonder” acts as a clever misdirection, obscuring its crucial role in the emotional trajectory of this trilogy. It’s in that episode where the Doctor first openly confronts the depth of pain he has accumulated in the fifteen Earth years since last seeing Donna Noble. And it’s where Davies begins to subtly sow the seeds of the Doctor’s profound need for healing – to process his accumulated trauma instead of perpetually evading it, to move beyond the reflexive “I’m always alright” and actively work towards genuine well-being, essentially, to enter emotional rehab.
Image: David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Doctor Who The Giggle, showcasing their on-screen chemistry during the 60th anniversary special.
The Doctor’s Emotional Journey: “Rehab Out of Order”
From a narrative standpoint, the unfolding of this story with the Tenth Doctor is essential. This regeneration is arguably the most defined by emotional repression. Born from love for Rose Tyler, Ten embodies the most human facets of all the Doctors, complete with the inherent complexities and vulnerabilities. He is the Doctor who recoiled at the prospect of losing his identity, opting to create a Meta-Crisis counterpart rather than face regeneration, and whose parting words were a poignant, “I don’t want to go.” It’s almost inevitable that he would eventually seek a way to perpetually endure.
While I haven’t yet gauged widespread online reactions to “Doctor Who: The Giggle,” I anticipate some viewers might be critical of what could be perceived as the Tenth Doctor’s overly convenient happy ending. The “bi-generation” – a seemingly rule-breaking concept introduced to allow Tennant’s Doctor to persist even as Ncuti Gatwa’s iteration assumes the primary continuity – might strike some as a contrivance. Yet, the brilliance of this conclusion lies in its mirroring and inversion of “The Stolen Earth”/“Journey’s End.” In that prior scenario, the Tenth Doctor unilaterally decided everyone else’s happiness, banishing Rose and his Meta-Crisis self to a parallel universe – a decision that was both an exercise of power and, arguably, a correct assessment of the situation. (The thematic resonance with an episode centered on individuals convinced of their own rightness is palpable).
However, in “Doctor Who: The Giggle”, after a lifetime of self-sacrifice, Tennant’s Doctor finds himself on the receiving end of a forced happy ending, orchestrated by the one being who truly comprehends him: himself. The image of a composed, gentle Gatwa embracing a weary, guilt-laden Tennant is a profoundly moving portrayal of self-love, uniquely delivered through the lens of Doctor Who. Crucially, Gatwa’s Doctor isn’t just aiding a past self; he’s aiding himself. “I’m fine because you fix yourself,” Gatwa’s Doctor elucidates. “We’re Time Lords, we’re doing rehab out of order.” It’s the Fourteenth Doctor’s period of convalescence and emotional repair that enables the Fifteenth Doctor to emerge as a more emotionally balanced and open version of the character—even if the mechanics of this process remain delightfully timey-wimey and enigmatic.
Image: Ncuti Gatwa and David Tennant in the bi-generation scene from Doctor Who The Giggle, a pivotal moment of self-love and healing.
The Toymaker’s Playful Chaos and Neil Patrick Harris’s Performance
As is typical of Davies’ finales, the concluding fifteen minutes of “Doctor Who: The Giggle” are so intensely emotionally charged that they risk overshadowing the preceding narrative. (Even within the complex two-parter of “Army of Ghosts”/“Doomsday,” the Bad Wolf Bay scene often becomes the sole focus of discussion.) Yet, viewed in its entirety, “Doctor Who: The Giggle” stands as a remarkably impressive hour of television, and one of Davies’ most thematically resonant finales.
Despite initial concerns about balancing Neil Patrick Harris’s high-profile guest appearance with the episode’s other narrative demands, the Toymaker is impeccably integrated. Harris embodies the role with relish, delivering a performance that is both delightfully campy and genuinely unsettling. His Spice Girls lip-sync rivals Sacha Dhawan’s “Rasputin” dance break in sheer entertainment value. Yet, crucially, he never overshadows the Doctor’s central storyline.
While the Toymaker’s scheme to incite global chaos by amplifying humanity’s conviction in their own infallibility offers sharp social commentary, Davies exercises commendable restraint. The storyline effectively highlights contemporary socio-political anxieties without belaboring the point. Similarly, the script deftly incorporates UNIT into the narrative while maintaining the episode’s Doctor-centric core.
Playfulness, Vibes, and the Future of Doctor Who
Similar to last week’s edge-of-the-universe setting in “Wild Blue Yonder”, the Toymaker’s terror stems from his operation outside the established rules that govern the Doctor’s universe. He is unbound by conventional logic or laws, adhering only to the capricious rules of games—a concept familiar to the First Doctor from their 1966 encounter. Thematically, the Toymaker compels the Doctor to confront his accumulated guilt over companions and worlds lost (the Toymaker’s puzzle box house subtly echoes the psychological torment of “God Complex”). Primarily, however, the introduction of “play” as a force distinct from order and chaos cleverly sets the stage for the paradigm-shifting bi-generation.
Doctor Who is, at its heart, a show deserving of serious consideration, but its enduring appeal lies in its inherent sense of playfulness, its “anything-can-happen,” improvisational spirit. The climax of “Doctor Who: The Giggle” involves three grown men tossing a ball around, with Gatwa’s Doctor casually explaining the creation of a second TARDIS with a nonchalant, “We won the game. You get a prize, honey.” Doctor Who operates on emotional resonance and “vibes” far more than strict adherence to logic. While future episodes might offer logistical clarifications, the bi-generation is best understood on these more fluid terms. Perhaps Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor eventually regenerates directly into Gatwa’s Fifteenth, or perhaps he evolves into the enigmatic Curator from the 50th anniversary special. The core emotional message is that trauma no longer needs to define the Doctor. He is now free to progress and heal.
The prospect of Gatwa’s Doctor as a kind of “post-therapy Doctor” is a compelling starting point for his era, which Davies has explicitly framed as a new “season one.” These 60th anniversary specials, therefore, represent a symbolic passing of the torch, not just between Doctors, but between eras. The show’s rich past remains, safely preserved in a sunlit London garden. But now, the time has come to forge a vibrant new future.
Stray Observations
- When I began my “Star Beast” review by highlighting the Nobles as the Tenth Doctor’s family, I had no idea it would become such a textually significant element of the show! It’s gratifying to feel so aligned with a Doctor Who showrunner once again.
- Bernard Cribbins was initially slated to appear in this episode as well, but unfortunately, illness prevented filming, and he passed away shortly thereafter. This makes his appearance in “The Star Beast” even more poignant, and Davies’ decision to keep Wilf alive on the show feels particularly meaningful.
- If I have a minor quibble with Tennant’s happy ending, it’s the slight ease with which his Doctor retains his TARDIS. I almost wish Davies had revisited his deleted idea from “Journey’s End,” where the Doctor was originally intended to give Rose and the Meta-Crisis Doctor a piece of coral to cultivate their own TARDIS. This would have better aligned with the “take time to slow down” theme, while still allowing for Tennant’s potential future cameos.
- I appreciate the detail of Tennant and Gatwa effectively splitting the Doctor’s costume: Tennant gets the undershirt, vest, and trousers, while Gatwa inherits the shirt, tie, underwear, and shoes.
- For those who haven’t seen Whittaker’s regeneration special, “The Power of the Doctor” (which is highly recommended!), it introduces Kate Stewart’s initiative to recruit former Doctor companions into UNIT. This storyline pays off delightfully with the return of Bonnie Langford’s Melanie “Mel” Bush, who traveled with the Sixth and Seventh Doctors.
- Lachele Carl’s American newscaster, Trinity Wells, a reliable recurring character from the original Davies era, made a wonderfully unhinged reappearance as an anti-Zeedex commentator.
- It’s always amusing when Doctor Who acknowledges William Hartnell’s First Doctor as the “young” iteration of the character – a delightful mind-bending concept.
- Teasers for Gatwa’s upcoming Doctor Who run include: The Meep’s “Boss,” the Toymaker’s “Legion,” the enigmatic “One Who Waits,” and, of course, the gold-toothed imprisoned Master and the mysterious hand that retrieves him.
- Looking forward to reconvening in just over two weeks for this year’s Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road.”
