Happy holidays everyone, thank you all for stopping by! My review of Church on Ruby Road will be available sometime in January, followed up by 5-part review series of Torchwood: Children of Earth. In hindsight, I can definitely appreciate the idea that Tennant's Doc (who always set his sights on being selfless) would be able to see the fruits of his labours by "retiring". I'm still left conflicted due to the fact he was gifted another TARDIS. I'm not sure if the original plan was to recreate the old TARDIS interior but I still can't settle on the idea of the Doctor settling down if he can still run around in time and space whenever he pleases. I believe it was done to tease his potential return in future episodes, but as we saw in the 50th anniversary - Tennant always can return. For me, banishing the metacrisis Doctor meant he could not return for the logistical nightmare that is having duplicate Tennants on screen (we saw how hit and miss that was VFX wise in Wild Blue Yonder). The bigeneration was a beautiful was of tackling that issue, and as much as I believe Gatwa didn't get enough to chew on in this episode.. neither did any of the previous Doctors in their first appearances. I'm so unbelievably excited to have Gatwa shine on his own (as he tremendously does in a show like Sex Education) and will truly be Christmas gift to see him as the Doctor.

I liked the detail he was changing his voice because the Dr defeated him last time by mimicking his voice. I wish it was acknowledged somewhat though.

Oh man. The wheelchair ramp was for Wilf, but Bernard passed away before they could film it.

The biggest thing for me is - the Toymaker, a being that transcends time, can turn bullets into flowers and teleport, the world is at his fingertips. How does he get defeated? He loses a game of catch. He was hyped up so much, "Donna get back to the TARDIS"... The Doctor is terrified of him, and he gets defeated because he can't catch a ball lmao.

The reason the Toymaker was dressed in Chinese robes was a reference to the Trilogic Game he plays with the Doctor being the Towers of Hanoi. Throughout the serial the Toymaker's various henchmen also dress up in a thematically appropriate costume for each of the various games that the Doctor's companions go through, except this dressing up element of the story has been mostly forgotten because 3 out of 4 episodes from the serial have been lost. Outside of the title of the first episode and the overall accepted title of the serial, the word "celestial" is only used to refer to the Toymaker once when he's first named by the Doctor, and for the rest of the story he's simply called the Toymaker. These two points are important here, because they're the basis for the fan misconceptions. They're the reasons which led to the Toymaker being consistently referred to as the Celestial Toymaker in fanzines and non-TV stories, and consistently portrayed in the mandarin robes. This tied both the Chinese imagery and the "celestial" adjective together in the popular fan perception of the Toymaker, and so both eventually led to this latter-day accusation of the Toymaker being racist, which RTD has now legitimised. It's ironic because The Celestial Toymaker is objectively the most racist story in all of Classic Who anyway, for reasons entirely unrelated to the Toymaker himself.

Honestly NPH dancing to spice up your life, made the remainder of my year 😂

I agree with what you said about the celestial toymakers name to be bang on. How can you see a multidimensional god like being or whatever he is in an episode of doctor who and think celestial meant anything other than from space

There is nothing racist about a European man dressing in Chinese clothing. Just like an Asian man wearing a suit and tie isn’t racist. Or the alien Doctor wearing a Uboat captain costume.

"not a bad episode but it could've been better" is probably the best way I can describe all three of the specials. They were so strong but hit bumps along the way. Best episodes we've had in years but there was definitely room for improvement.

My biggest complaint about the 3 specials was how disjointed they all felt. One big over-arching plot would've been better IMO.

poor martha. the only 10 companion not to get a take-home doctor

One thing I thought was missing was any sort of depiction of the humans coming back to their senses after the satellite was taken down. I was expecting some wide-eyed bewilderment as the mental fog was lifted and everyone saw the devestation around them. But nope! The actual carnage of the "alien invasion" really took that much of a backseat that not a moment was given to the resolution of what was going on outside of the ivory tower.

NPH was definitely the highlight of this episode, and tbh I love that he kinda acts surprised at both Clara being killed by a bird (just that short pause he does like he’s checking he’s right) and later during the whole bigen thing Tennants face when the Toymaker was talking about Bill was also beautiful. While Amy and Clara both made their choices, Bill really felt much more like a bystander with the closest thing being her admitting to be human getting her killed. While overall it has some mixed parts, what it does right it really does right and the acting was just so good !

He only wore that costume in the 60s because they ran out of budget and pulled it out of the props cupboard

Honestly, feels like a cop-out. It's a way to keep David around as an emergency button, but then the whole episode had me kinda wanting something more. Like if we really were heading to Tennant's retirement story, we didn't really have enough relevance on the connection between his internal conflict and settling down. Feels like a bandaid to a headache, a perceived cure that does nothing, just cause it was just blurted out at the end. And it takes away from the fact that we have another Doctor we're supposed to focus on when we've mostly had Tennant's story on the fore. So really, it's just super disjointed. It's like many people doing what they want in a story that cannot accommodate all their agendas, so we have a very jarring collab of creative direction.

Was feeling a bit low today, but this video really helped spice up my life. Thanks Harry!

This would've been amazing if it was a 2 parter or 3 parter

RTD saying that whatever somebody says you cant do, that you must do, is the same line of reasoning that will tank this show.

im just disappointed that it didnt feel like a 60th anniversary

I had a blast with the episode, very unique and finally a happy ending for Tennant. NPH was phenomenal, and I think the new doctor is gonna be a ton of fun. I was sceptical of how RTD would wrap up the specials, but he definitely stuck the landing for me.

( 2:05 ) But 14 says the word “celestial” to the toymaker before he gets shot so why make a thing of not using that word, only to use it?

RTD didn’t read his own scripts. Either that or these were just laying around from the first 2000’s runs and he thought “oh, why not?”.

“I like the idea of the Toymaker using race and accents” So associating disability with evil is bad but associating accents with evil isn’t. Russell has lost it

3:00 Seeing those clips of RTD being all self righteous, and mocking fans for caring about inconsistencies, like the clothes regenerating without explanation, makes me feel like his ego has been boosted way too much! I guess he is on his Showrunner Victorious arc! And I thought Chibnall was insufferable!

My biggest gripe with the bi-regeneration isn’t really the canon or lore implications of them, those are relatively easy to reconcile. No, my issue is how it’s already been handled and 15’s character specifically. From the moment he was on screen, Ncuti played 15 with a set personality. He knows exactly who he is, he has his mannerisms down, his personality fixed and his foibles pretty set in stone. To which the obvious question is: Why? Why does he know? In every other incarnation, the first episode isn’t just adjusting the Doctor to the audience but the Doctor adjusting to himself as he comes to terms with the change and processes what’s stated the same and what’s different. This was most explicit with 10’s speech to the Sycorax leader and least with 11 who was also pretty well established but to some degree, they all had that uncertainty and insecurity about who they were now. But 15 just doesn’t. And you’d think of all the Doctors, he would be the most uncertain of them all. He’s the first in an entirely separate body, he should be feeling Mauler Twins levels of confusion about what he is and whether he actually is still the Doctor… but no. None of that will ever be acknowledged as a character angle, he’s just played as confident and suave from the literal beginning of his character. But I can also set that aside too, he’s obviously going to be a more showy and ostentatious Doctor so I’ll let it slide. But that then brings us into the other problem which is that despite being the Doctor, he doesn’t act like he is. Actually listen to the way he talks to 14. He doesn’t talk to him like it’s him from 5 minutes ago, he talks to him like he’s either a whole other person with a separate life experience or someone who is so far ahead in their journey as to have reached a state of nirvana that 14 just isn’t capable of yet. See, unless we say that 15 isn’t the same character as that previous body, and that’s a whole other can of worms to unpack, then he is the same person who mindwiped Donna, who lost Amy to the Angel, who lost Clara to the Raven, who lost Bill to the Cybermen, who failed to stop the Flux and so on. He should not be as cavalier and gleeful as he is about travelling if the idea is that 14 is so worn down and tired that he needs to stop. What 14 feels, 15 should also feel. What applies to 14 also applies to 15. Yet the show treats them as two separate characters entirely, that the trauma 14 feels is something unique to him, and that’s just so fundamentally at odds with who the Doctor is, as is the idea of settling down. Now, the response I’ve heard since the episode aired is “Well it makes sense because 15 was pulled from in the future. 14 will live with Donna until he regenerates into 15 to come back when he’s recovered from his trauma. Like he said, he’s doing rehab in the wrong order.” First of all, that is an INSANE reach based on next to nothing. All that line means is that 15 is magically better, the “pulled from the future” theory is just that, a theory with next to no supporting evidence and quite a lot contradicting it since 15 doesn’t act like he’s seen all this before, he acts like a person seeing it for the first time would. And that’s not even addressing the INSANE implications of not just bi-regeneration but *time travelling through regenerations* as well, which is yet another can of worms Russell isn’t nearly ready to open. But beyond all that is a far more fundamental problem with this theory - what’s the point? Why have his recovery all done off screen? What’s the point in bringing this character arc up if you’re not going to do any of the work to get us to the resolution of it? Why break the golden rule of screenwriting by telling and not showing? There’s nothing wrong with the Doctor having trauma given all he’s lost, and especially since we’re going to be back here whenever Ruby and all future companions leave, why bother? Why go to this insane effort to tell us you’re fixing a problem that not only doesn’t need fixing but is destined to repeat itself by the nature of the show, which is why it’s never been done before? There’s just no way you can rationalise this to have it make sense. Look, I loved that final scene, I was nearly at tears for it and if it were the final episode of Dr Who ever, I’d say that was as perfect an ending for the character as you could possibly get, and that’s what Russell wanted to give David and Catherine… but the shows not over. It carried on from Hartnell, and will carry on from Tennant. So Russell wants to have his cake and eat it too, he wants 14 to have that happy ending while allowing 15 to go on unburdened and you just can’t do that. The finality and the loss and pain defines the Doctor as much as the joy and thrill of travelling. Otherwise why couldn’t a bi-regenerated Tom Baker traveller with Sarah forever or a bi-regenerated Jodie with Yaz? It’s not just that it’s happy for the sake of it, it’s that it’s happy in spite of all the people who’ve had to move on with their lives when the Doctor did too. And the same will happen to 14 too. Unlike the Metacrisis Doctor who had a human life, 14 is a Time Lord. He is immortal. Meaning he will outlive everyone around that table, and in 100 years all the Nobles will be gone but he will still look the same. So what will happen then? He’ll do what he always does - get in the TARDIS and fly away. He will be right back where he started, meaning the whole point of creating bi-regeneration in the first place was completely pointless. The problems with bi-regeneration aren’t just lore based for me, they go to a far deeper problem that betrays a misunderstanding of who the Doctor is, why he always regenerates and why he always keeps travelling in the TARDIS forever. And while I’m sure Ncuti will be great - though he didn’t win me over nearly as much as everyone else tbh - it will be impossible to forget that while he’s there, David Tennant is very much still there too. Or perhaps that is the point, so that he can return when needs be. And if so, that’s significantly worse as a reasoning than anything Chibnall did to the lore of the series, Timeless Child included. That was at least easy to compartmentalise and ignore. This? …Not so much.

The Toymaker being in Chinese clothes was because the episode "The Celestial Toymaker" had almost no budget due to the show spending so much money on the prior story (and because the new producers wanted rid of Hartnell), so they were forced to scramble around the BBC studios looking for props, sets and costumes to use in the episode, and what Michael Gough's Toymaker is wearing is actually from a production of Marco Polo. It's ironic that he's considered a bit of a racist character, because the script itself doesn't seem to make him that way at all (he's not even called "Celestial" in anything beyond the title, as far as I know- The Doctor just called him "Toymaker"). The woman who picks up The Master is presumably The Rani, a villainous Time Lady from the classic show...although, everyone thought that at the end of season 3 as well (The Rani has been caught up in copyright issues; maybe they've finally been resolved?). Whether The Rani is this ultimate villain above the Toymaker is questionable though, as she was never more dangerous than The Master, just different.

My mates prefered this one ovr the other two, which is fair enough but I was so confused that none of them thought the defeat of the toymaker was anticlimactic. It feels good having someone else repeat your opinion. Wild blue was definently my favourite of these three, the ending to that had me genuinely tense. Cheers for these excellent reviews Harry!

The main problem with this is the toymaker himself The toymaker is a literal god who loves to make and play Bu there was one huge rule If he loses his universe dies which he can rebuilt Why not make that the big reason 14th dies Knowing earth is his new home and doctor willing to risk his own life Hell put donna in a game against the puppets that doctor is scared that donna could die and her family will lose someone again

I just really enjoyed knowing it was filmed in Bristol, the city I'm from. I even took pictures of the area filmed hours before the episode aired and sent it to my Dr who friends being like, nothing bad has happened so far.

I'm really curious to see what's going to happen in the future of this new doctor who era

This is probably one of the episodes of Who I feel the most conflicted about. There is a lot of- and I mean a LOT - of really good, high quality stuff in this episode, the show at its absolute peak. But it’s also got a lottttt of baggage. First, the actual plot that involves the giggle part of The Giggle. While I think the theme is kind of hamfisted and delivered rather bluntly and inelegantly, with several lines of expository dialogue that could have been refined, I really like the overall idea here. That humanity’s addiction to their screens is brainwashing us to make us worse and worse all the time ever since the very first television was turned on. The idea that the thing we rely on for everything is the very thing that’s poisoning us against one another has been done many times before but also feels fresh and interesting in this episode. So while it could have been refined, overall a really solid part of the episode. Which then brings us into the source of these problems, the Toymaker played by Neil Patrick Harris. I *adored* him in this role. His charm, glee and enthusiasm all blend perfectly with the character’s ruthlessness, ambition and drive. He’s written supremely well and Neil acts him to perfection. I thought the Master’s “I Can’t Decide” was the best villain musical the show would have but the Toymaker absolutely knocks it out of the park with his show stewing scene. But more than that, the fact that he knew exactly how to torture the Doctor to compel him to play his games was brilliant and what makes him such a compelling villain. BUT… the way he was defeated was fucking stupid. You can’t even utilise the setup to come up with a clever way to defeat him? 15 just throws the ball and gets lucky? Aight. And… yeah, let’s talk about that elephant. Bi-regeneration is a stupid idea. Not just because there’s no precedent for it or even a hint that it was possible but because there’s not even a good reason for it. It just… happens, with no explanation when it’s one of the most universe shattering reveals ever, you have to justify such a huge addition to the lore and Russell simply doesn’t. It’s dumb, nonsensical and contrived. I will never not be a fan of it. But with that being said, I think they handled it about as well as they possibly could and made it feel as seamless as possible. Overall, this is the only episode that actually feels like a special of the show. Commemorating as much as they can while still delivering a story that feels epic and grand in scale on its own terms to begin 15’s era. If they were not dead set on the bi-regeneration, it would probably be one of my favourite episodes of the entire show. But while that’s the only weight dragging this episode down, it’s a very heavy weight indeed. Like I said, I’m conflicted about it still, and while I liked the episode overall, I don’t think that is something I’m ever going to get over.

Roaring laughter at the wheelchair accessible tardis 😭😂😂😂😂

“Do you know what you need? A chair” Yeah, Capaldi had _four_ of them. Where did they go, set designers?

They didn’t need to duplicate the tardis. They are time travellers, give one to Tennent he goes off and eventually just brings it back to the same point

I really wish we saw more of what was happening outside. Like you said, we only really saw it through screens in UNIT Tower. They should've made the episode longer to fit it all in. The episode could've gone on for another hour and I wouldn't have complained

The lack of subtlety when it comes to morals and all that in Dr Who as it currently is, is a slight issue. But I'm willing to look passed it as long as it doesn't start to get worse. Yeah I wish the 'catch the ball' scene were edited differently so you could see all 3 of them in the same shot. ALSO!!! I just realised that clothes being added to regenerations despite that not making any sense is wierd.

This may be a hot take, but it should have been Martha instead of Mel.

As soon as the toymaker gets on the UNIT helipad the episode goes downhill for me. Why is the toymaker, who previously turned bullets to confetti and can do ANYTHING, so enthralled by a big lazer gun? The game of catch is SO ANTICLIMACTIC. Everything up to when they go back to 2023 felt like a fantastic warmup act for the main event. The first game being simple was effective. They were clearly building up to a complex, emotionally challenging, visually mind boggling climactic battle of minds AND THENNN.... they play catch. The Toymaker being beaten by losing a game of catch feels like such a disservice to the character. And after that it feels kinda like a disney wrap up ending. Although I do like the idea 14 could go on to become The Curator and it also leaves the door open for more 14 stories.

I thought the reason they didn't give the Toymaker chinese outfit because they still wanted to call him The Celestial Toymaker, but to my recollection they never call him that in the episode

Yes. 14 is commando through the whole Gatwa-shared scene. :P

I was watching this with my grandparents and when it ended and they both looked at me all I could say was "I don't know how to feel about that." I agree with a lot of the stuff RTD has said and done this year, but I really disagree with the rest of it. It's like having a mate whose heart you know is in the right place but sometimes they're so incredibly out of touch it's boggling.

I somewhat feel as if we haven't seen the last of Tennants doctor, I feel as if he might return for the last episode and then regenerate into Gatwa, who then in turn teleports back to the first episode, because how come he had a juke box in his Tardis? Seems like he collected it at some point. Either this or I don't think it was concluded very well.

I never thought in a million years I’d ever want the show to end, but honestly my truest feeling is that it should’ve all ended with Capaldi, I think that might just have been as beautiful an ending as we will ever get.

16:10 The watcher is exactly what I think of with this episode. Theory is that after regenerating into 6, part of the poisoned 5th doctor was cast off to wander the universe and when he was satisfied that he got to keep on existing despite 6 taking over so quickly, he went back to his inception to merge with himself and become himself. Other theories suggest he did that because 4 was having a difficult regeneration and unlike him who got to split into the Watcher, he was alone without Romana and with 3 children to look after, the Watcher wanted to help 4 in his last moments. I think that is also exactly what happened with 14 and 15. They split apart like the Watcher and 6. But I also think that a better cooler explanation could be that after that split, 14 still perished from his wound, or was injured the same way that the Watcher was still poisoned. So 15 traveled back in time from a future after he lived out his life with Donna and absorbed the excess regeneration energy so 14 could keep living. The Tardis splits the same way it did in "the 5 doctors" and the way the console tried to change to suit 3 doctors in "Day of the Doctor"

I would've preferred the story if it were either a two parter to fix the pacing issues or if the whole story was just Donna playing the toymakers game alone or something

I wish they'd explained the bigeneration properly in the episode, cause the idea (I think) is that 14 stays behind to "heal" from everything he's been through, eventually regenerating from old age or something. At which point some timey wimey shenanigans occur thanks to the toymaker and the future version is pulled back in time at the point of regeneration. so it's kind of a weird time loop.

They brought back David Tennant but didn't bring back the Doctor's daughter. Missed opportunity.

I personally like to think the Bi-Regeneration was for one of two things 14 will visit old faces when he regenerates and becomes the Curator Or even better He regenerates into the Fugitive Doctor so that they can retcon the Timeless Child

Another thing is it kinda deprives Capaldi's speech. "I'm the Doctor, and I save people. And if anyone happens to be listening, and you've got any kind of a problem with that, to hell with you!" The Doctor whining in the Toymaker's hallway was kinda off-putting

Strangely, NPH was in the same room for the catch scene.

NPH absolutely outacted everyone in the show. The Bi-Generation was a terrible idea and when RTD stated later that every Doctor Bi-Generated he effectively ruined history... again. Awful ending but NPH absolutely did himself proud!

Could be wrong but the behind the scenes footage showed nph was on set with ncuti and david but That might be how they cut that too on purpose

While David coming back was great, we shouldn't had a 60th Anniversary with the Toymaker meddling with his regenerations. The clothes was applied to him by the Toymaker so he can get the Doctor back into action with his latest game. In that way, Bi-Regeneration wouldn't be as messy. It would've just been Ncuti taking over permanently with David regenerating with a smile "I'm ready to go." David's just **there** now. Yeah he's the goat but having too much of a good thing takes that away.

Nobody seems to be mentioning it, so I'll say it: When the red-nailed woman picked up the ring in Last of the Time Lords, RTD joked with the idea that it was the "Hand of the Rani". I genuinely think this is a nod to this idea (possibly?) coming to fruition. He's made note that he wanted to bring back older characters / villains, so this might just be her modern debut.

Yes, you should definitely watch classic who. Definitely missing out in my opinion and you could always review them also giving the channel more content :) and yes, was also confirmed by RTD and Gatwa on separate occasions that one Doctor gets half the costume and the other gets the other half. So Tennant was indeed going commando

I get your disconnect with Mel. I thought she was fine, but I don't really have any strong opinions towards her opposed to, say, Sarah Jane who I loved the moment she turned up in School Reunion.

My issue is why were the zygons not fighting to be out their skin if they thought they were right

I’m so happy Mel is here ❤😭

Would love it if the female hand who took the golden tooth containing the master was the Rani and the one who waits who even the Celestial Toymaker is scared of is the Valeyard. Probably too much wishful thinking but a man can hope.

I really like this one, best of the three specials imo. It’s really just an epic conclusion with plenty of great references to the past, a fun villain and a sneak peak at the next Doctor.

Did we watch the same episode? Ncuti was absolutely not outshined by Tennant?

i hope we get a special by 14 trying to find Jenny, his daugther. After a new refound idea of 'family'. But that would be to smart.

Just gotta be grateful they didn't fully update The Toymaker for 2023, and make him some master at Fortnite or whatever..

Great review

It's frankly bizarre that the conclusion of the episode is that the Doctor needs to slow down, settle, and not travel all the time... When 11 spent hundreds of years on Trenzalore, and 12 spent like 50 guarding Missy's prison - all in an episode which acknowledges the past 9 series since Tennant left

pesonally i feel the episode had a really strong start, and over the course of the first half, i was pretty entertained, but just kinda fizzled out as it went on plus on how they actually win against the toymaker is naff, plus tbh, i'm not sure how to think of the double regeneration thing they've done

stooky bill was reminding me of billy the puppet from saw quite a lot of the time

my problem with biregeneration isnt the biregeneration itself. its the fact that they havent explained it at all. like, who has regeneration energy? how is it a myth? whats the idea behind it? how does it work? will 14 be able to regenerate again or not? also, the fact that 14 is now alive and well on earth means that the question of "wheres 14" is always gonna appear now. one thing i also really didnt like how 15 just... loses his trauma? its really lazy writing to write off his trauma with regeneration, even though weve seen it doesnt work like that. just more unexplained things. and also, his clothes changed with his regeneration which i cant shake that tiny detail off

How the heck does a game of catch have a winner or loser? What are the rules which dictate a winner or loser? If a Doctor just lobs it dozens of feet over the Toymaker's head so he can't catch it, why wouldn't they win there and then?

When Barabera passed out after the first dematerialisation what the heck did she sit on when she recovered? Oh yes... a CHAIR!

I wonder if they've "parked" 14 for now so he can come back to help face this big baddie that keeps getting referenced. To me it doesn't make much sense for him to sit at the sideline while the world falls apart.

i would love to see him back in ss1

Honestly I think that as much as there was things to enjoy about the other 60th specials, that turning all three into a three-part story centered around the Toymaker (with the Donna plot as the B plot developing throughout) would've been so much better. Here's a short description of a hypothetical way you could run this into a three-parter, and no, I didn't take ages to think over every idea, this is more or less a basic example, I'm sure there are problems with it somewhere. Episode 1: Panic in the Streets - The Doctor runs into Donna and is shocked to discover she is one of a small group of the unaffected in a world gone to chaos. With no one to immediately help him understand, and few bread crumbs, he is left on the small-scale to start, ensuring Donna's safety and the safety of her family. This could even result in The Doctor realizing that Donna is safe because of her travels in the TARDIS, and having to bring the whole family on a trip to immunize them. Realizing this could restore Donna's memories of him, he has to keep her blindfolded for the trip and swear her family to secrecy, but the connection between Donna and her daughter (the shared meta-crisis) causes Donna's memories to return alongside those her daughter has inherited... and it's not killing them! The Doctor realizes that splitting the metacrisis has diluted it to a survivable (at least for a time) level, though with the Doctor and two Time-Lord brained people at his side the trio can discover the source of the problem and invent the Zeedex. A clever plan has them strap one on to Kate Lethbridge Stewart, who is able to get UNIT back under control with their help (perhaps some sort of building lock down and knockout gas so they can strap mass produced Xeedex's to those still sleeping). The Doctor still needs to cure Donna and Rose before the metacrisis causes permanent damage, and find the source of the madness as the Zeedex can't be strapped to every person on Earth, it's simply too many people. Episode 2: The Toymaker Returns - With UNIT's resources, and Donna and Rose's intelligence alongside his own, they work out the source of the problem and put a plan in place to halt the madness-pandemic, but are stopped when the Toymaker himself intervenes. A series of minor games are run against the Doctor and his companions (maybe Kate can even get her own challenge) to prove he's "still as sharp as he was last they played". With the Doctor having proved himself, he challenges the Toymaker to a game 1-on-1 to function as a distraction. It's some exciting game of wit and guile that takes long enough that UNIT, Kate, Donna, and Rose are able to take out the satellite and bring the madness to an end. Realizing he's been played, that he's playing the Doctor's game in more ways than one, the Toymaker flies into a rage which gives him an edge. He defeats the Doctor and begins to describe what The Doctor's penalty for losing is when the Doctor points out that as far as their proper challenges against one another goes, they're now tied. Annoyed, the Toymaker relents and declares that he still gets to penalize the Doctor, as he suffered at his own defeat all those years ago, and proceeds to force the Doctor to regenerate. With the comment about having played one game with one doctor, and a second with another, that they will continue the pattern with a final tie-breaking game against a new face. However... as the regeneration is about to occur we cut away from a view focusing on the Doctor and instead pan to a confused and somewhat worried looking Toymaker as the episode hits the TO BE CONTINUED. Episode 3: One Last Game... - The Toymaker's shocked expression from last episode is the opener, as we pan back to the Doctor's regeneration which has him blasting regeneration energy from his body like usual... but the energy isn't simply dissipating... it's being expelled and then swirling around The Doctor, enveloping him in his own energy. The Doctor fades from sight behind the energy field before his voice is heard exclaiming in surprise. At first the Toymaker is unsure what has happened, but a second voice emerges from the same energy field and when it fades away there are two Doctors standing where there once was only one (Personally wasn't a huge fan of the physical splitting, push to separate us thing, but that's just me). They go through their little commentary about how bi-generation is supposed to be a myth, or at least the time lords thought so, but the Doctor knows better. Perhaps some reference to an instance of bi-generation being accomplished by the sisterhood of Karn, who had more control and knowledge of regeneration than any other timelord, even if it had never been replicated could exist. The Doctor assumed it was a quirk of their manipulation of regeneration, but apparently it can be present in normal Time Lord genes, just very special things need to occur for it to happen (I assume all this doesn't end up as wordily introduced as I'm putting here, I'm not a script writer lol) that seem to have triggered under these circumstances. Regardless, we now have two Doctors facing off against the Toymaker, who tries to protest, but when both Doctors agree they are one in the same and challenge him to round three he has no choice but to comply. The last episode will be at least 50% this great game between the Doctors and the Toymaker, before climaxing in the defeat of the Toymaker. After the game they go to check on Rose and Donna and find them lying in UNIT HQ hospital beds, their condition worsening quickly. Just because the metacrisis wasn't instantly lethal due to it being broken off into two humans rather than one, doesn't mean it's not debilitating pretty quickly and all the thinking they've been up to trying to save the world has worsened it to the point of being almost non-functional. 14 leans down to tearfully speak with Donna, unsure of how to fix this, that he put that mental block in place to avoid her death, but that things have progressed to far to save Rose and Donna now... unless... 15 cuts in with an idea. The Meta Crisis was possible because 10 sent his regeneration energy into his severed hand, a non-living but preserved bit of the Time Lord DNA that matched his own genes allowed it to happen, but that also caused the hand to become it's own Doctor when Donna interacted with it. 15 tells 14 that if he wants Donna and Rose to live he needs them to do what he did and funnel their regeneration energy (yes I know they probably can't regenerate, but the energy is visually the same on screen) into 14, but that it may prove too much for him. 14 loves Donna though, and chooses to go through with it, saving Donna and Rose by absorbing everything that was killing them. They begin to recover, able to stand up (on wobbly legs I'm sure) and approach 14, holding him as the regeneration energy is flooding his body. It almost looks like he is regenerating again, but says that with 15 already split from him he doesn't think what's happening will result in a new face, he says he feels himself decaying. Bi-generation isn't for raising the numbers of the species in the long run, it's for a purpose they decide, whether they knew what it was or not, their biology knew this was coming, and prepared to save Donna and Rose any way it could. 14 begins to disappear slowly, held in Donna's arms with 15 by his side, a hand on his shoulder comforting him. He tells him that they still live on in him, that he'll never stop saving the universe, that he can go in peace, and 14 make a comment about how even his own death could prove to be an adventure in itself (implying as they have off and on in Doctor Who, about a potential for an afterlife), and so, with one last adventure before him, 14 says Allonsy before dissolving into raw energy in Donna's arms, Donna collapsing into 15's arms as tears flood down her face. Then we do an emotional rap up, and a goodbye between 15 and Donna and her family, before setting off on a whole new adventure with The Church on Ruby Road. What do you think, any of it seem good to any of you?

What is a Toymaker? Answer: 1:another race of Timelords 2:the time vortex given physical form

There were a lot of great moments, but it was really rushed. Needed to be a two or three parter. Actually I'd argue this entire arch of 14 and Donna needed a whole series to work better.

I think donna and the doctor's immunity subtly explains how some UNIT crew stayed rational during the giggle's epidemic, like 14, wilf and donna have travelled through time in the tardis and they seemed unaffected by it, why not UNIT members the doctor has brought with them on adventures?

the story had too many flaws for me to enjoy it, you pretty much pointed out all the ones I had on my mind after watching it

4:31 Careful, you're getting a bit close to The Closer Look territory with that kind of insert.

There were many things I disliked about this episode, but Murray Gold wasn't one of them.

Did you not notice left bridges hand had nail polish on too the same colour......

I’m tired of things being “good” but with so many caveats.

I wish the best of luck for Ncuti

Hmm.... I'm a tad torn. Not because you don't raise some solid criticisms, but because my interests in the last 2 of these specials is nearly inverted from yours. There is always a danger in relying so much on nostalgia in pushing a show like this forward if that is the only focus, and it was the primary issue with the first 2 specials (as well as some unsatisfactory conclusions to lingering plot points). I enjoyed this episode a lot more than the other 2, but it isn't perfect. I think better building up in the previous stories and streamlining the plots a bit more would have helped, but I think I was so eager to see 14's run wrapped up and get 15 started, I was a lot kinder to this special. Still, 15 is finally here, and I'm actually excited to see what happens on Christmas.

The the bacteria. Candle. The bacteria is universe microorganism

NPH is great. Apart from a couple of odd lines I didn't have a major problem with anything. It's better than the first special but nowhere near as great as the second. I don't have much faith in Russell at this point, I will give the next series a shot but I'm doubtful it'll be good.

Well at least I wasn’t bored *stares at Chris Chibnall

So wait does that mean silvie and Shaun were effected by the giggle?

9:43 I watched this a few times and everytime I hear "a hollow beneath the under universe". What could that mean?

I liked the episode a lot, but My main let down was that game of catch being the means at which the Toy Maker is defeated, and every review I've come across feels the exact same. I don't know how Russell wrote that, and no one else told him; "Hang on, they play.... Catch.... The Toy Maker misses, and THAT'S how he is defeated..?" Everyone generally seems to feel the Toy Maker and the initial stakes of the episode were under utilised!

I flip flop between liking biregen, wanting David to just do the whole episode himself and regen at the end after time skip and healing montage. Maybe with elderly Donna. And third option would be for Ncuti to just take it over after Toymaker beams him. Other thing - I wanted them to go all out. It's rare to have reality bender in the show, just let him puppeteer whole street instead. Have multiple dancers or multiple instances of him dancing during the song montage or do it all in smaller place that actually makes it into extremely overblown performance. 11:11 The irony is if Toymaker went for Fam, Doctor would have nothing to say, because Grace is still in fact gone. 11:50 My bet is on Omega or the Vampires. Or Time. 14:35 Well Ncuti's "legs" were the entertainment value here. 15:00 I hope its Missy/Lumiat or that it's Rani. 19:40 Not gonna lie, I am kinda scared for next season. The blondie gal is giving me total reboot with Rose and I actually would love, if we got either an older companion or kid companion instead. I am over "eye candy" companions and this was good opportunity to bring something different. It would give us that young Amy plot we never got. And having a kid as companion would keep the age dynamics we usually have with Doctor. And what I'm scared the most is that RTD just type-casted Ncuti and we end up with girly having her best time playing with her best gay friend accessory or some other gross bs. I really hope they will write him well. And that they don't use too many comics or old villains as crutches. 20:15 Wait I just noticed - those veneers have way too many teeth. That's such good scary detail.

Been buzzin for this review, first comment lets goooo 🤙🤙

11:09 - that's because they didn't die and got to live normal lives in the present day post-Doctor, whereas the Moffat era companions well... weren't as lucky.

My opinion on this episode was it finished when it felt like it was only half way through. There was no tension, no big heartbreak that causes the Doctor to regroup and come back for the final battle. It was just a poorly shot game of catch and a soppy ending. Really dull

Finally someone looking at the good and the bad instead of just cherry picking all of the bad parts and pretending that the rest doesn’t exist or matter. Personally I enjoyed the episode and I am excited to see the new season with the new doctor. This was a good video.

The Doctor definelty felt the reprecussions of the public going mad by the end of the episode. But he did seem to be the only one though.

I think the hand belonged to Missy Maybe she didn’t regenerate like The Doctor. What if she bi-generated like The Doctor and gave ‘birth’ to Sacha Dhawn I like to think The Master left his younger self and stole her TARDIS and left her at Mondas leaving her to escape on her own somehow to track down her older self until now Imagine how the interactions would go The Master: Hello Mum Missy: Don’t call me, Mum, I’m technically younger than you. But regardless, I’m very cross with you The Master grins with a mocking stare The Master: Uh oh, am I going to be punished? Missy: You left me to die The Master: If it makes you feel any better, I was left to die Missy: And was stuck in a celestial being’s gob. Of all the ways I have been defeated that has to be the most humiliating. Actually, I’m curious, what was it like chewing his food? Or does he not eat food at all? Also, what’s with the Rasputin bit? Are you Rasputin or did you take on the form of Rasputin leaving the real one trapped in a matchbox? The Master: Whatever happened to surprises? Missy: I’m not gonna ask again. I’m just going to assume you’re going to be very difficult with that plot hole. Now, down to business what should it be? Torture or a forced life of servitude for you and your next regenerations? Or maybe I could start again. Forced regeneration? I could make you older. Or perhaps younger. Or maybe I could make you into a woman so we can have a girl’s night, sound fun?! Oh you’re me, of course it will be! First things first… Missy pulls out a razor Missy: Lose the beard Gandalf

I feel like this special would have fared better if one them involved the Doctors first encounter with the toymaker.

Was so looking forward to this review and I’m the same. I’m very very mixed. “You changed your face.. do you know why? To come home🥹..” when I heard this I was so angry. The whole thing was an absolute dumpster fire. The beginning scene until the laser scene was brilliant but beyond that… sigh.

Ashtray maze scene was brilliant honestly ❤

Is your new review coming out soon?