There is a KZfaqr called Tharies, he's a wheelchair user, he does Doctor Who news. He met RTD at a convention and told how much he loves his era with the Doctor even though he could never go on the Tardis. So RTD wrote in the new Tardis with a ramp and on set it was referred to as the "Tharies Ramp".

If I had a penny for every time David Tenant's Doctor duplicated himself as a result of a regeneration and settled down with a family on earth, I'd have two pennies, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice right

Donna: I wasn't the first redhead? Mel: No. That was me. Turlough, off in the distance on Trion: You WHAT?

Hooray for someone who got the classic who references

In 1985, the comedian Lenny Henry made a tv comedy sketch about a newly regenerated Doctor. This sketch can still be seen on KZfaq. I highly recommend it, for how Lenny's version of the Doctor is dressed, is almost similar to the way Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor will appear in the Christmas episode, right down to the thin moustache.

Pretty good episode, love it that when the gold tooth was picked you could hear all the Master's laugh.

That quiet little "ffs" when Tennant says Alons-y was priceless

The 14th Doctor went commando.

Glad toymaker was back I remember years ago watching your reaction to the reconstruction of the first doctors celestial toymaker but a definite 9.5 out of 10 my favourite of the specials and 2 doctors now from now on

They don't have to explain everything, and I like that.

I think the one that waits is fenric, he did like games after all ❤

Good news regarding the Toymaker: the BBC is releasing an animated re-creation of the episodes, like they did with Shadi. As for the bi-generation, they said in the episode that they're "doing rehab in reverse". Which indicates that 15 is happy, only BECAUSE 14 spent time with Donna and her family, finding some peace for himself.

I liked what I assume is a callback to the first appearance of the Toymaker in NPH switching his accent a number of times because it was by mimicking his voice that the first Doctor defeated him.

I loved seeing Mel again! She was one of me favorite companions. I know she didn’t get much love at the time but I found her a breath of fresh air after Tegan and Peri (no disrespect I love them both as well but for different reasons). The Doctor had a slightly bickering relationship with them….but Mel LOVED what she was doing traveling with the Doctor! Made me happy!

Ah, but he'll be able to watch the Toymaker's original appearance quite soon, since that's the next story getting its missing parts animated!

Great reaction Marie-Claire, nice to see you had company with your boyfriend and of course your Niece (She will go far!) my husband and I both enjoyed this story alot. Great that you have watched Classic Who, so you were able to get all the references mentioned. Lovely to see the Toymaker, the Puppets were pretty creepy. Mel returning was one of the highlights too. It's sad but fitting as well that Sarah Jane was mentioned as having passed on. Gnuti looks set to be alot of fun I think. Plus with 14 still around there could be a possible spin-off with Unit, Donna and Mel.Time will tell. It would be great to see your reaction to the Christmas Special but of course if you are visiting and stuff, then do it a few days after. Hope you have a lovely Christmas and looking forward to all your future reactions in 2024.

Aw., that was fun. Happy to see your niece enjoy the show!

When the Master's ring was picked up in the Mr Saxon era, it was a character we had not seen before. So I doubt this was Kate.

I see charisma runs in the family -- your niece seems very cool. She could easily run a reaction channel to rival yours! And, I gotta agree with her; those puppets were _super_ creepy! I really like the idea that the bigeneration means Ncuti Gatwa's doctor gets to have all the benefits of the time David Tennant spends with Donna's family. We've gotten some excellent stories out of the trauma the Doctor has been carrying for all this time, but I'm glad to get some degree of resolution to that, and have the chance to see what stories can be told with a Doctor who's taken the time to work through it (even in a weird timey-wimey double-existence kind of way). I remember when this first aired, that was the thing I found most intriguing, which made me want to see where the show would go next!

John Logie Baird - the inventor of television - is the reason why Australia's top television awards are called "The Logies". Disappointed that there wasn't a proper , overt 60th celebration story featuring some sort of closure for Susan (and Carole Ann Ford), something I had desperately hoped for. As good as they were, none of the three adventures screamed "anniversary special" for me.

Hmmm….one who waits? Likes playing games? Enter Fenric stage left.

Lovely to meet your niece, and it sounds as if you have made a convert! The whole bigeneration concept was handled pretty well, I thought - I wonder if the Doctor’s salt trick in Wild Blue Yonder made the myth reality, just as it allowed the Toymaker to enter this domain? The danger is that, with the previous Doctor still hanging around, there is scope for the new Doctor to be overshadowed, but I would imagine RTD will make sure that the focus is on Ncuti for the foreseeable future. He made a positive first impression, and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Some nice seeding as well of things we will no doubt return to, like the “One Who Waits” and the Toymaker’s tooth being picked up by the Master - that was a nice callback to the original Toymaker story, where the Doctor ends up losing a tooth after eating the Cyril’s sweet. Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that taken with Neil Patrick Harris’s performance, as it made the Toymaker feel too similar to the Simm and Dhawan Masters, especially when he started dancing. I preferred Michael Gough’s more controlled portrayal, which also gave a greater sense of the Toymaker as an all-powerful immortal being. It was nice to see Mel, even if she didn’t get that much to do, but we will be seeing her again soon - my big hope for these specials was that Susan might return, given that this might have been the last big chance for us to see Carole Ann Ford back in the show, but it wasn’t to be. As for the Christmas Day episode, I wouldn’t put yourself out to do a reaction when you have got so much else going on, but if it is something you can manage then that would be great.

RTD has said the Master thing was just a callback and there aren't any concrete plans to bring him back as he (like the Daleks) need a "rest".

I never picked up on the split clothing until watching Watch with Marcella.

Great review Marie-Clare. I agree, Mel is great. I hope we see more of her. And handsome boyfriend... Looking forward to your new series reviews.

Woo it's here! :D

My only quibble is that the Doctor shouldn't have known what Clara's fate was. She was erased from his mind.

Loved this one. I see the ending as thay 14 leads to being the curator. Glad they explained how Mel got to modern day earth. I do think Rory, Dodo, Steven and Katarina and Sara deserved mentioned also dying or just being in toymaker. They also mentioned the story which 2 of them died. With unit link, Luke works for unit also now and any companion from Modern day got offered a job from Kate.

...Honestly, "Thankyou for those who have left unkind messages, it still helps the algorithm" got me to click your subscribe button at the start of watching this reaction. It normally takes until I've at least watched a single full reaction at least to get me to subscribe to reaction channels I find. NPH did his own marionette work during the puppeteering scene, incidentally.

As 15th said Bi-generation is a myth and the presence of the Toymaker made myths real, just like the goblins we are getting in the Christmas special

Crikey, here we go again. Looking forward to your reaction.

Loved the episode and I actually think it’s a goodbye to the 2005 era. The David Tenant version going into retirement. I doubt we’ll see him again for long while. We’re getting into brand new era and narratively it’s going to be very different. Allons Y!

It continues to amaze me that children still come to the show. But why? I was not yet 5 when I first saw it - and it was already on its 15th series then. I was 32 when David first appeared. And here I am, approaching 51 and there's potential for another generation to come on board with Ncuti. Will the circle be unbroken?

❤❤❤❤ l love the last episode ❤❤❤❤

I believe the person that picked up the tooth is Kate because the person had manicured red fingernails and I went back and noticed when Kate hugged the doctor that she had exactly that.

When this episode first aired, I really didn’t know what I thought of it. It was a lot to take. I recommend watching it again a second time. Having watched it a few times now, I think it’s brilliant. I think the bigeneration was the best decision. It ties up all the timelord victorious stuff in a way I didn’t see coming. It’s about mental health, self care, and friends/family. I also liked the political subtext running through this episode. RTD doing what RTD does best.

I’m in two minds about this episode (because you know, humans can think two opposite things are true at the same time). On the one hand I really liked it, I enjoyed the spectacle, I liked how we got a glimpse of the next doctor and thought it was nice that we got a happy ending… BUT it was kinda messy. The plot thread with how the toymaker affected the humans was just dropped at one point, a lot felt like set up for the series to come while at the same time trying to wrap up everything that came before, which was just kind of wierd from a narrative perspective, neither Donna nor Mel really had much to do and the bigeneration gave the feeling that instead of Ncuti taking over as the doctor he just kind of appeared as another character to save the day and then stand of to the side as we wrapped Tennant’s story (I mean, he did play a part in this, but the focus was on 14). But yeah, despite my grievances I also really liked the episode, which, to be honest, isn’t a particularily new feeling for me when it comes to Doctor Who, especially in regards to the Moffat era.

Great to see evidence that the magic of Doctor Who still works on the young people! The Master bit was totally a callback to the end of series 3 where the master's ring was picked up at the end of the episode. This bi-regeneration was a way for RTD to have his cake and eat it - he settles the 14th doctor down with his adopted family, which apparently includes mad Auntie Mel now, and allows the 15th Doctor to say he is healed because the Tennant Doctor has rested. Ncuti's energy has me looking forward to seeing his Doctor. I'm excited for new Doctor Who in a way I haven't been for years. Great reaction, Marie Claire.

Hello Marie-Clare! Long-term viewer, first time commenter. Thought I’d stick my two penn’orth in. Though it might end up more like six penn’orth! Thus far I’m not a subscriber. I rarely subscribe to *anyone* and certainly don’t tap that notification bell. I generally just like to dip in to things as and when (e.g. in your case Brigadier return stories are a good example). In any case I could never have followed your FULL journey as there are still a few stories I haven’t seen myself from across the classic era. You are quite possibly the reactor I have watched the most, however. I’ve appreciated some of your other uncommon choices of things to react to such as Worzel Gummidge, Emmerdale Farm and EastEnders (have you ever seen the first episode of Coronation Street?) and it was also nice to see your sister a couple of times. I was disappointed that those reactions from Rose onward never got going (I thought for a moment that she might’ve been your special guest today.). It’s also always nice to see your Who Collection in the background - especially the cuddly toys! My main reason for writing today is to say how nice it was to see your actual special guest. It’s lovely to be able to see the show through the eyes of a child, so it was great to hear how much your niece enjoyed it and that she wants to see more. I really hope she is able to join you on your planned re-watch. I don’t know of any other children reacting to Who so I think I’d break my normal rule and subscribe to enjoy the full journey. Well, almost the full journey - I’d still have to skip Fear Her for now as it’s the one NuWho episode I’ve still never seen. I hope we’ll be able to seeEmily’s actual reactions though, rather than only seeing her at the beginning and end - though anything would be better than nothing. Is she Beatrice’s daughter? Perhaps they could do the reactions together? Anyway, thank you for sharing your Who Journey with us. I’m sure we’d all love to see your reaction to the Christmas special - it doesn’t matter if it appears a few days or even a week later. If you’re open to suggestions of other shows to react to, did you ever watch Lost? One less frequently reacted to that is great is Orphan Black. I hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas.🎄

Good reaction. Question is, who picked up the gold tooth containing the master? Reminiscent of the ring 💍 being picked up at the end of last of the Timelords. It was a woman with nail varnish, the only one I noticed wearing it was Kate who seemed to be acting strangely this episode, especially when the doctor was asking questions earlier in the episode and she remarked it was an invasion of privacy especially from an alien asking her questions. Is Kate under some strange influence?

I didn't have Time Lord parthenogenesis on my bingo card (and other similar well-worn phrases) and it's difficult to know from this what the purpose of it may be. But, away from that, it does line up a rather lovely final section of the story. If I have one complaint about it, is that - rather as with episodes like 'Fugitive of the Judoon' - it rather undermines a big returning character slap bang in the middle of events. Then again, David Tennant started out defeating the big enemy of the moment on a giant ledge high above London, utilizing a previously unknown feature of regeneration. So why not?

Yes please do Ncuti's first story if time allows!

“The Giggle” is my favourite episode in over a decade! Not that there’s been much competition but I just loved it, even all the stuff that would otherwise pish me off I like cos I was so caught up in the excitement haha also what’s this about people leaving mean messages on your vids Marie-Clare??? I’ll bate their bake with a big stick.

Marie Clare where did you get that TARDIS in the background? 😍 I need one for my workstation at home

Oh, they are animating the Celestial Toymaker next. Unfortunatley it looms awful styled but atleast its being done

NPH (which sounds like a measurement of something - Niceness Per Hour?) apparently had no knowledge of 'Spice up your LIfe' (it only scraped into the US Top 20) but he makes it look like he's been performing it for the cameras for years, rather than two days. It's one of those performances that would probably be spoiled by the desire to bring him back. I do think that Russell making the Toymaker responsible for the 'Bi-generation' is a sly wink to the fans; referencing a certain 1960s Producer who was looking for an excuse to offload Bill Hartnell. It's all part of the lore.

Hi, just wondering did you react to the christmas special?

I’m thinking the Big Bad Woolf. Anyone else?

The Bi Regen isn't limited to this occasion. RTD said it was all past Doctors and Seven did it in Tales from the TARDIS. You could even say some examples in the Classic Era exist through that lens eg the Second Doctor's older self in The Two Doctors.

Marie,I'll subscribe if review humans,by stars. And I want your opinion on the series and do you want to see space 2199 reboot

I feel like its best if you did film a reaction being the first episode but if you can't help but watch alone earlier

The Bigeneration removes any jeopardy around the character of The Doctor going forward unfortunately. We're supposed to miss former Doctors after they leave , it's part of the DNA of the show. If past Doctors are now capable of reappearing on a regular basis it does lessen the impact of their departure. There was a real impact when Tom Baker returned in the 50th Anniversary Special as he had left the show 32 years previously. There seems to be a real reluctance among certain sections of fandom to let Tennant go and unfortunately RTD seems to be one of them. Overall I really enjoyed The Giggle but the Bigeneration is a mistake IMHO. Wishing you a very Happy Christmas Marie Claire!

Not a fan of the bi-generation if only that it's too soon after Timeless Child debacle to take such a risk. Not saying such a thing could never happen. In fact, I wrote a Dr. Who fanfic about 40 years ago in which the doctor was duplicated and the duplicate regenerated. Damn! That makes me (feel) old!

I enjoyed the episode Neil Patrick Harris as The Celestial Toymaker was fantastic I'm not keen on Mel's return but she was better in this. But I'm not a fan of the bi-regeneration at all I would had rather David Tennant had just regenerated into Ncuti Gatwa because now there's alot of Tennant baggage over Ncuti and that's not the best way to introduce a new Doctor it's like RTD doesn't have enough confidence on his new star i wouldn't want a Tennant spin-off the man's had his time.

Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, We Can Rebuild Him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster."

My rankings for these: Star Beast: 6/10 - Great story but other aspects let it down. Wild Blue Yonder - 3/10 - Interesting idea but the miscasting of Newton in a pointless scene that didn't need to exist and having so few characters bar doubles of themselves kinda looses it points. The Giggle - 11/10 and easily best episode since Matt Smiths era imo

I thought it was a bit... 'meh', RTD does not seem to know when to let go with characters. Wild Blue Yonder was great though.

For Ncuti's first appearance 15 out of 10 seems appropriate.

"I wasn't the first redhead" "No, that was me" So the erasure of Liz Shaw continues (after being denied as the first UNIT scientific advisor). And Turlough. And Sara Kingdom!