I think the puppet show from the toy maker’s point was to show Donna what happened to many companions after her - I.e. Dying. It would’ve been a bit naff for him to go ‘Zis is Graham O’Brien. He was scared about his cancer coming back, and ze doctor fobbed him off’. ‘I was still socially awkward’ ‘Well that’s alright then!’ There’s no reason for 13’s companions to be there imo.

I don't think the point Donna's making in The Giggle is that the *14th* Doctor's running on empty, but that the Doctor as a whole (as it were) has been doing so for a long time. And arguably that fits in with continuity - ever since they were given a new regeneration cycle in The Time of the Doctor, they've technically been living past the end of their natural life. You could even argue that it's reflected in the two incarnations since: 12 all but lost the ability to relate to people, including (especially?) the goodies, and 13 was pretty much always playing catch-up to the baddies. So Donna's suggestion that they regenerated back into an old face to alert themselves to the fact that they'd worn everything else out kind of holds, if you ask me.

Isn't the whole character of the Doctor based around the fact that he can't settle down or be compatible with ordinary human day to day life?

"Why waste Bonnie Langford's time and talent?" ...Tradition?

I'm glad you brought in the Graham Norton clip. I was in the crowd and it was even more awkward on the studio floor. The amount of angry responses I got saying 'it wasn't a problem, you over-exaggerated' once it had aired was infuriating

I mean 13's companions are still alive so there is no reason for the toymaker to use them to guilt trip the doctor. He uses Amy Clara and bill all who have 'died' from travelling with the doctor.

Honestly, I think that the idea of 14 teaming up with 15 to defeat The Toymaker before settling down with Donna could easily have been done without the bigeneration. The Toymaker could have just summoned a Post-Regenerative 15 and his Tardis to play the final game, he then gets his new clothes with the help of 14, Donna, Shirley, and Mel, and then he takes off in his Tardis before telling 14 he needs to settle down in order to become him, and the episode can end the same way with 14 having dinner with The Nobles in the garden and 15 taking off for further adventures. See, plain and easy. All possible without the bigeneration. What's worse is that it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Is The Doctor 2 separate entities now? Can 14 still regenerate and will there be 2 15th Doctors? Hopefully we'll find out soon when the time comes.

10:36 “There’s the Prime Minister expressing open contempt for humanity, so same as usual.” Truer and funnier words have never been spoken. I can just see the right wing reactionary’s and conservative viewers losing their minds over that scene. Well done.😂

Honestly this episode just made me sick of David Tennant's Doctor. 10th gets to have his cake and eat it. Again. The way it's done, it doesn't even feel like it's The Doctor that got the therapy, only 10th, only he gets to have the special thing, he gets to have two numbered incarnations, he gets to have a TARDIS for himself, he gets to run out of therapy to do whatever when he is supposed to stay put, he gets to exist independent of all the other Doctors after the end of his run, he gets to live forever. Like are you kidding me.

I came up with a better way the Toymaker could have been defeated. Keep the moment where the Toymaker is throwing those balls at 14 but they are green this time. Jump forward to the final game, the Toymaker pulls out a red ball and they start playing catch. Towards the end of the montage, 14 and 15 both wind up and try to put the Toymaker off, 15 throws the ball and the Toymaker catches it on the edge of the helipad, barely. He gets up and starts talking about how this game could go on forever, etc. 15 then tells him he lost, Toymaker asks what he means and the two Doctors look down at the floor next to the Toymaker. A red ball rolls and stops at his feet. The Toymaker is holding a green ball. The one 14 pocketed earlier

Thank you! It’s nice to see someone ACTUALLY critically reviewing this special.

Three thoughts: 1) Regeneration is, I think, an important part of the show because it serves as a healthy introduction to the concept of life continuing after death for an audience that is, at least in part, made up of kids. I don't care about bigeneration from a lore perspective, because Doctor Who's canon is so loose that even cornerstones of the show's universe regularly change depending on what the story needs, but it seriously muddles what I think is a very valuable metaphor, 2) It's kind of messed up that _only_ Tennant gets to leave duplicates of himself behind. The finality of regeneration bows to fan popularity. Every other Doctor is done once their tenure is over, barring anniversary specials, but RTD just can't seem to let go of Ten, and 3) I think it could've been more interesting if two Doctors teaming up to defeat the Toymaker was possible because it was a reverse multi-Doctor special - a Doctor we haven't seen yet crossing his own timeline to deal with a universal threat and safeguarding his own existence in the process. You know you're killing off Tennant going in, Tennant already had a farewell, so if you wanted to try that, this would have been the best opportunity to have a Doctor from the show's future travel back to its present.

If I had a nickel for every time *Russell T Davies wrote the final episode for David Tennant’s Doctor and somehow missed the point of regeneration and left me disappointed* I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

It's not "Bi-generation" it's "Bi-Winning" cause The Doctor wins here and he wins over there just like Charlie Sheen intended

Whilst I was disappointed by the costume changing at the end of The Power of The Doctor, I totally understood RTDs out of universe reasoning for this, that it could potentially be weaponised against tabloids. Having Ncuti Gatwa make his first appearance through a bi-generation with no trousers on really undercuts this reasoning imo.

This is a problem that we all thought was exclusive with Chibnal but can be seen throughout new who. Be a Toymaker episode, or be the political adventure about humanity being driven mad by their screens and social media, being both means that both suffer and I wouldn't say messing with humanity like this is necessarily the Toymaker's MO, he's usually happy to have one on one games with people and it seems too, planned if you know what I mean. Like this is how the Master would take control, not the Toymaker

I dislike that this episode makes it clear that The Nightmare Fair and The Magic Mousetrap did never happen and that the Toymaker is not one of the Guardians of Time. RTD keeps taking ideas from the spin-off media and instead of building upon what the books and audios, or in the case of The Star Beast comics, had already done, just does his own version that renders the source material moot and serves as a statement that nothing that isn't on TV can be considered canon or in-continuity.

In my opinion, all these specials should have been maybe two hours like “day of the doctor.” or “time of the doctor.”

I could not agree more about how the bigeneration cheats Ncuti Gatwa and his entrance. I also think it's crazy that his first appearance/regeneration. will always be marked by the fact that he's half naked.

When it comes to Bi-generation, as a means to retire David's incarnation, it's flawed but in execution moving. However if its a means to keep him around as a recurring character or give him a spin off, then it's a bit of a cynical cash grab. While these specials were fun and it was nice to have David back, I'll stand by the fact it should always have been a retroactive epilogue.

Thank you, had people telling me "Oh no! David didn't overshadow Ncuti at all!!" on posts when I made similar points not soon after airing

I wish that these specials were longer- 5 would have given 14’s arc more time to breath 1) The Star Beast to reintroduce everyone to the show and characters 2) Wild Blue Yonder for a fun out there dr who episode 3) fun historical with Issac Newton (show how exhausted 14 is and how he needs to stop) 4 + 5) The Giggle part 1 and 2 Then episode 6 in the 60th year is Ncuti’s first real episode

I could not agree more with your review. The Giggle has some great excellent things to offer but it’s a hot mess and I really believed RTD would give Ncuti the best start possible but instead he just muddied the water with the whole bi-generation concept. It doesn’t really feel like we’re going into a bit of a reboot like it had seemed because we essentially have two Doctors existing simultaneously, I don’t buy it for a second that 14 wouldn’t help out in an invasion on Earth. I really felt like they needed to let Tennant go give him an ending like he did have in the end of time. It was disappointing because I love Ncuti I think he really shines but he shouldn’t have his predecessor hanging around at the start of his era

Also the idea that even a comparitively learning disabled Time Lord like the Doctor needs something as basic and human as rehab when he's as far ahead of humanity in terms of cultural, scientific and evolutionary development as humanity is from the common blob fish is kinda insulting.

I know RTD's work well so I 100% see the bigeneration as a metaphor for queer trauma. For all of new who the doctor has dealt with the trauma of loss and the time war. Now he gets a chance to process it through friends and chosen family. Much like RTD has done in the decades following the AIDS crisis. I don't think it's a coincidence Ncutis first episode has him meet Ruby while dancing in a club, just like how RTD met his future husband in 1998.

"Sven was many things - a harsh warrior, a brutal killer, a violator of women..." "But he was not a traitor to his king!" "OH, WELL THAT'S ALRIGHT THEN!"

I think the reason why the Toymaker didn’t mention the Thirteenth Doctor’s companions in the puppet scene was because none of them died. If anything, I think it’s Russell condemning Moffat for his unwillingness to kill off his characters. I do agree with your sentiments concerning Donna, though. If the Doctor regenerated back into the form of David Tennant in order to remind himself that he needs to stop, why does he have to settle down with Donna, of all the companions he’s travelled with? Heck, if he wants a family, he’s still got a granddaughter.

Its an odd thing, but Giggle both feels padded and too short. What's required for the plot? Set up, flipping a card and playing catch. It fills the time with stuff like UNIT and the Toymaker's realm segment which are nice but not necessary. Perhaps the UNIT stuff is set up for the future, but in that case its odd to set up stuff for "Season one" by referencing some ancient history. At the same time, as said here the emotional arcs do not land and need more time.

Yeah, to me it’s kind of gross that the first queer, black actor to play the Doctor isn’t THE Doctor and has to share the universe with his predecessor who may or may not regenerate again into him at some unspecified time in the far future, we don’t really know. And it actually does bother me that it’s Tennant’s face because he’s literally the mot popular Doctor and now the show has introduced the concept that it continues with just him somewhere off screen and shown Ncuti supposedly flying away in a copy of the “real TARDIS.” Just all of the choices surrounding this regeneration were bafflingly infuriating.

I liked it honestly, I just wish the bigeneration was teased beforehand somehow though

I agree that the story really needed the length of a two-parter. the problem is that I fear RTD would have just used the extra time to put in even more ideas that also wouldn't be fleshed out or be integrated into any coherent story

17:24 Listing Yaz, Graham, Ryan, and Dan probably wouldn't work for what the Toymaker was trying to say since none of them died.

I really, REALLY want to like this episode. Despite the fact that RTD has clearly never actually watched what's left of the original story, the Toymaker was a wonderfully fun villain and NPH ran circles around the rest of the cast. There's just too much to dislike for me to consider it good. I could list out 2 dozen things that the episode did wrong, from minor nitpicks to actual plot-holes, but I'd rather just ignore it and pretend Ncuti appeared in Power of the Doctor.

For once, I actually agree with everything you said. The problem with the specials is that they were all standalone, but they should have been all linked together with Toymaker beimg in all 3 episodess

To me Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker is the best part of the specia I mean that scene with that Spice Girls soundtrack that will never get weirdly old, Also that 'Well that's alright then' meme.. Need I say more? Also Bonnie Landford as Mel, I know she already appeared in 'Power of the Doctor' but it was nice to see her again after her last proper appearance on Dragonfire in over 35 years, At least we see some expenation what has happened to her since she left the Doctor, And... I think the ending is just alright, At the very least the 'David Tennant' 14th Doctor got a happy ending, I know that some didn't like it from what I heard but I don't think it's that bad, So if I have to rate the story as a whole... I give it a 7.5/10, Still has some flaws but still good enough to watch.

I still love the giggle, but respect the take One thing that I think would have sold the doctors emotional exhaustion a bit better is if he reflected on making the wrong decision in Wild Blue Yonder Also, I think the puppet scene would have hit more if we saw flashes of the scenes Amy, Rory, Clara and Bill died as the toy maker finishes talking about them, and then cut to david tennant with tears in his eyes. similar to the effect they used that flashed back to the doctor and toymakers first meeting

Nolly was filmed in the same building I went to therapy in, the old Pilkington Glass Headquarters. I remember the sets being disassembled and getting carried through the corridors.

I'm probably in the minority here when I say this but David Tennant shouldn't have been the 14th Doctor, Ncuti should've been the 14th.

Thank. You. I've been stewing over this episode since it came out and you've perfectly put into words the issues I had with it. I think the point you brought up about the story not doing nearly enough to justify Donna's return can also extend to tennant as 14 as a whole. I couldn't escape the feeling of the whole thing being empty fanservice, because I was never given enough of a reason to feel otherwise. Why is this face afforded the chance to have this "happily ever after" with this specific companion? Is it really just because they're fan favourites? Is it really narratively responsible to set the precident that tragedies can be retroactively undone as long the characters or actors are popular enough? I don't know, it just felt like Tennant was being presented as "The MAIN Doctor", which is so antithetical to what this show is, if you ask me.

I would argue Jodie's departure already got watered down by bringing back David Tennant in the first place. In spite of 10 being my favourite Doctor, in spite of all the arguments the fandom has been having for the last year, my opinion remains the same: David Tennant returning at all diminishes both Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa. They deserve better than being part of the "epic 2008 David Tennant return" sandwich

The issues I had with The Giggle reminded me a lot of those in Nightmare in Silver. That episode was originally written as a two-parter and similar "playing mind games for control" with the CyberDoctor and the Toymaker. Both end up completely underused even though they're some of the best parts of the episode.

This was a very satisfying watch. Madsive glaring issues no one seems to have addressed, well-articulated. This bit in particular means a lot tho 39:37

I really appreciate your critiquing on this episode. While I don't agree on some points, I really value that you're genuinely critiquing and not just hating on the episode because of the trans/black/gay characters (which of course I knew you wouldn't do) I'm sick of seeing blatant homophobia, transphobia and racism being painted as a review by so called fans. I'll keep coming back here for your content, it feels safe.

Nothing happened to 13's companions lol. What would the Toymaker even have to say?

I thought this was a great end to the 60th specials, David and Catharine were great and it was fun to get Kate, Mel and Shirley back. It was also great to get an extended look at Ncuti’s 15th Doctor before the Christmas special and season 1.

Your summation matches my own. Gatwa deserves a clean break and clear hand off.

According to RTD and Phil Collinson in behind the scenes stuff, the puppet and card stuff actually was all NPH himself. Collinson suggested getting NPH for the role specifically because they knew he was a puppeteer and magician in real life, so casting him would mean they'd have someone who could legitimately do what was in the script. I'm sure I recall NPH talking about how taxing it was to be acting while puppeteering at the same time too.

What I want to know s why the Toymaker is already calling him Stooky Bill, seeing as Stooky is Scots and Baird only called him Stooky BIll because he was Scottish.

17:23 - that's because none of 13's companions died, they all got to live normally after leaving the Doctor. It really annoys me that they DIDN'T explain why the Doctor's clothes changed from 13 to 14, like???

Yay it’s here!!! I was waiting so eagerly for this video. The DW fandom spaces I’m a part of all seemed to have nothing critical to say about this episode and before I watched the stream you did on it I was really wondering if it was just me. I loved RTD’s era so much and I’m so excited to see what he’s going to do this time around but this episode has made me sort of nervous. To me it wasted the Toymaker and the Stooky Bill plot, cheapens Rose and Tentoo’s ending, gives Donna and Fourteen a really shallow resolution and denies Ncuti all the rituals that come with being a new Doctor. I grew up with and adore these characters but I felt *nothing* watching that scene at the end where they’re all having lunch. Everyone else said they were weeping and that it was such a brilliant resolution and to me it just didn’t feel earned. One of my biggest issues with this episode though is the vagueness around Fourteen going forward. Some people think he’s mortal now (like Tentoo), some think he’s going to regenerate into Fifteen eventually. My understanding is the latter but that creates the issue of him still being immortal and, if he’s going to stick around on Earth for a while, eventually outliving all of his loved ones. This was something that haunted the Doctor for the entirety of RTD1, and it gave so much weight to Tentoo’s creation and ending with Rose. Is Fourteen meant to heal himself while watching everyone he loves die? That all being said, I still enjoyed watching it but it could have been so much more!

I’ve watched Doctor Who from the very beginning in 1963 when it was conceived with An Unearthly Child, so a spinoff of the First Doctor as played by David Bradley has to be my choice as a fan of 60 years. William Hartnell remains my favourate Doctor, so from my perspective if RTD and the BBC care about the world’s longest running science fiction series this has to be on the cards.

I loved The Giggle while I was watching it, but you've absolutely nailed why I didn't feel satisfied by it. Thanks for this great review.

It does definitely feel like Russ wanted to have his cake and eat it too, which is a common problem with his finales. It's got some pretty serious pacing issues and I think that the bigeneration was probably not right for this moment, giving NMDs fuel for their fires and undercutting Ncuti's introduction. I do smile though knowing David was one of Ncuti's favourite Doctors and he was probably really happy that he got to share some scenes with him. At least he probably enjoyed it :) Overall it's a 6/10 episode for me. Lots of fun, action and some really nice and emotional scenes but ultimately too full of stuff for its own good. At least The Church on Ruby Road was a banger. Now that's an introduction for a Doctor. As for the politics, yeah the line about cancellation is a bit rich, but I do like the thematic parallel you drew between the austerity-bashed audience and 14's exhaustion. I really like how you're able to make deep and introspective insights into the show's production and themes, far better than the reactionaries who can't see anything below the surface level. Let's hope that Russ will have cooked successfully by May, eh?

It's a shame because Wild Blue Yonder is legit a minor classic and in fan consensus it's going to be lost in the middle of this clunky trilogy. Kind of like how Extremis is a fantastic episode on it's own terms but isn't really on people's radars because it kicks of the Monk trilogy.

People always bring up the Watcher from "Logopolis" as a way to make the bigeneration make sense, but I don't think the comparison holds very much water. The Watcher was a plot device to foreshadow the Fourth Doctor's impending regeneration, not a character in their own right, and to be honest it didn't make much sense there either. If the Watcher had just been Peter Davison bouncing around and playing second banana to Tom Baker, that would have felt really unsatisfying to watch because you'd have to spend an already busy story splitting the attention between Baker's goodbye and Davison's introduction. Oh, and Davison wouldn't be wearing any pants for most of it. The concept breaks down if you think about it for too long, and I'm just sick and tired of people coming up with excuses for why RTD essentially robbing the first openly queer actor of color to play the Doctor of his time to shine *in his introductory episode* was in any way okay.

I honestly thought the "come in a range of colours" thing was a reference to 15th's queerness, not his skin colour, but it does sound like it's about skin colour. Also, the Doctor feeling "tired", like "he's staggering" I don't think it's physical, it's emotional. It's feeling worn out by age, not just by trauma. It feels like a perfect consequence of 13's emotional struggles. In fact, Tennant feels like he's pulling more from Whittaker's performance than his own as 10.

I agree with the point of Ncuti's regeneration being undercut, and put in the background. I also think the did the same to Jodie, with her not being able to pass the torch to a new doctor, and put to the side in her last story. Both stories are good, but have problems, like messing up the regeneration numbering.

Instead of the bigeneration, they should have had just Tennant in all the scenes up to the rehab scene in the garden, then a timeskip of an unknown time to the future (in a location that doesn't show a time period) and have him regenerate into 15 there. Maybe even without seeing tennant's face or him speaking, maybe something similar to the first teaser for 15 where it's just a silhouette against the stary sky, then the regeneration. That way, the keep basically the exact same story but have 14 actually leave.

This is all 100% true. The story feels so rushed with no breathing room, and having music in literally every moment I think also makes it so fatiguing and hard to connect with on a dramatic level, let the actors do their job without a constant score undermining them. And the ending made me feel so weird, it felt like the first POC actor to play Dr Who proper is made out to kinda be a copy or different version of the original, which feels like such bad optics, also for the sake of property rights that's late-stage capitalist nonsense. This is late-stage Dr WHo.

The Giggle definitely needed to be a 2-part story at the bare minimum. We spent most of the Chibnall era criticising overstuffed stories, so this feels like very familiar grounds. The giggle had enough to cover all 3 specials imo, but k imagine the format was set by higher-ups at the BBC or Bad Wolf. I think RTD having so much to set up couldn't get to his best with these episodes. I'm still hopeful for Ncuti's era, especially after Ruby Road.

Snow isnt snow until it falls. That is the issue with the 14th Doctor.

I really didn't like much of how they wrapped up 14 but especially not that they make out like it's the doctor coming home to Donna and her family - He barely knew Shaun and Rose for a day and Sylvia seems to have only mellowed more recently and warmed to him after putting Donna in constant danger. The Ponds would have been a much better choice to have for that and if they wanted they could have even had a send off like 10 had for his friends before he "retired". It all was quite out of the blue and the fact they didn't bring up the Curator, 12 or the Edge was a massive disservice to what the show had built up. I understand wanting to draw a definite line under the BBC run yo focus on Ncuti but it really does a disservice to fans outside of 10 and Donna stans as well as it doesn't really work.

What's a case of The Bristol? just a curious Bristolian wondering.

40:02 that's Russell's greatest shortcoming, surely. Turn Left, Years and Years. What's he actually saying? What's the mesdage of his dystopia, or the solution?

Good review of The Giggle! I really enjoyed it and I love Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker. Who do you think is the one who is waiting? I know Harbo Wholmes said that Fenric might be the one who is waiting, and he has played The Doctor before.

I honestly feel like a 60th anniversary mini series of like 6 episodes would have been better as the star best feels like an introduction to a new series, wild blue yonder is just a very good doctor who episode and the giggle feels like a rushed ending that while I enjoy feels like a true celebration of doctor who with returning villans and companions and a kinda multi dactor special

It was an ending and fan service no one asked for. We've already got enough of that. I was waiting for the moment in the episode where 14 has some sort of heart failure or something after the bi generation so that 15 finally gets their moment in the spotlight to become the doctor. I thought there would be some call back dialogue along the lines of 15: Bi generation has never happened before and we now know why that is. 14: Because there can't be. Doing a nice metacrisis reference, then maybe 14 sort of passes into some sort of rift energy effect. I don't know I'm not a writer. But in my head that gives so much more closure and makes so much more sense than whatever is going on in the Nobles garden. I get it's rehab out of order, but where's the rehab? or is 14 saying no no no?

"ge-raining" and the other "ge-" words the Toymaker uses are just imitating German verb conjugation but it's both too silly and subtle to work since you have to know German to even get it

5:26 _"What the hell is ge-raining?"_ - Past participles in German add a "ge-" prefix to the core verb. For example: "gefunden" (found"), "gespielen" (played), "gesprochen" (spoke). Adding such prefixes to English verbs became a device for writing comedy Germans e.g. "He verblundered around in ze dark, getripped into ze puddle und voss gedrenched!"

21:51 Agreed. It's Orphan 55 last speech level of lecturing.

100% agree, thank you for putting into words what I've been feeling and trying to argue for a couple months now.

Oustanding review. I agreed with almost everything. The Giggle cemented for me that bringing Tennant back was a bad creative decision. RTD barely even *tries* to justify it in-universe; it's just a Thing that Happened for Reasons. The only reason he does give, The Doctor 'coming home' is a huge slap in the face to the Moffat and Chibnall eras, as well as making absolutely no sense at all in-universe. And I fully agree, as a whole, the episode, although having great moments, was a confusing, muddled mess.

That Graham Norton episode had such a strange vibe like what was even going on

I thought the split custume was a result of the bi-regeneration? It would have been really weird if the bi-regeneration, a supposedly biological process, caused his his clothes to be replicated too. Yes I know the criticism could also be made about Jodie's regeneration into Tennant, but most of the criticism I agree with.

Martha should get a Doctor now

Awh man , my name wasn’t in the credits ?! SDJames was missed , it’s in the last one but not this one ? Plus I completely agree, I believe it felt like a bit of a half measure that Ncuti didn’t get his first appearance stand-alone to show the way of the new doctor becoming… well the doctor !

Not sure I agree with every individual point, but I definitely feel the overall sentiment, even if the Giggle was the most enjoyable special while watching it. The reason something like bigeneration is a harder sell to me than the Timeless Child is because while TTC had questionable execution, I felt the ideas were compelling and any disappointment I have is BECAUSE it never reached its full potential. Whereas with this, even if the idea is being utilised more, it feels as you say more indulgent, there just for the sake of it. I definitely don't disagree with the idea this could've used more time.

I have an idea for what they potentially could have done for 13's companions There could be some mention of how all recent companions had survived, to which the toymaker would be like: "Ohhh, but ze doctor left Dan wizthout a home! Ryan and GrayHam, zey lost zeir dear old Grazce, and poor littel Yazmin, OH! You really did break her heart, doctor! Zey may still be aliven but Zeir lives will nevar be ze same after you! ... do you not feel any SHAME...?" I think it would work! pardon the amateur fan fic writing lol

Mel being underused doesn't bother me too much seeing as we know she's back in the Ncuti Gatwa. By way of comparison, I think some fans might be more forgiving of Captain Jacks underuse in Revolution of the Daleks if that episode wasn't likely to be his last appearance in the franchise for the forseeable future. Of course Barrowman himself is largely to blame for that.

Amazing review Will, i completely agree with everything youve said and you articulated it so well. Its such a shame because i love so much of the toymaker stuff, but evrything else including the resolution to that plotline is so poorly handled that its hard to even appreciate the good bits in isolation. I just feel bad for Ncuti, feels like this episode doesnt have full faith in him given its keeping Tennant around, which is such a shame because as shown in the christmas special i think hes excellent and is going to be something truly special as an incarnation

i was so disappointed with the toymaker because he's a GREAT villain conceptually but the only times he was actually good in the episode was during the scene in the toy shop and when he did the spice up your life

I'll probably come up with a paragraph on why the brief inclusion and re-tooling of "The Shepard's Boy" was thematic genius, but I'm too tired, that excellent review was very detailed. All I gotta say at the moment is, I liked it, I've listened to it like 20 times now and Murray Gold needs a raise.

My head canon is that 14 becomes the Valeyard. I have no reason outside of this incarnation feeling the effects of everything the Doctor has been through and the fact I don't think he can regenerate again because then we'd have two 15th Doctors. Obviously this undercuts the whole arc Russell was going for.

Your description of an hour long End of Time is how I feel about the Daleks colourization. I like the slow pacing of the episode and it lost so much cutting it down imo

I agree, this story really needed breathing room. I love Wild Blue Yonder. It's nice to have a classic style story with Donna and The Doctor. But, if there was absolutely no way to get 4 specials, then I would be fine dropping it for a Giggle part 1 and part 2.

This anniversary was so frustrating to watch. It just proved my stance that Ncuti Gatwa should have been the 14th Doctor right after Jodie Whitaker left, and RTD and the others shouldn't have come back. It's cool in a vacuum to see more David Tennant, but these specials are basically series 4b, undoing everything for cheap fanservice. They defeated the point of the Star Beast by copying the comics and acting like the comics never happened. The solution to the metacrisis completely undermined series 4's finale, but what's worse is that in its own episode, the consequences of the ship taking off are literally reversed like magic. I liked most of The Wild Blue Yonder, but it's almost ruined by the convoluted exclusion of the sonic screwdriver, which wasn't necessary, as the TARDIS didn't need it to fix itself before and the Doctor didn't need it in the first place. And the classic Steven Moffat Switcheroo, where the Doctor says something that he or the Timelords established as fact eons ago just to be contradicted later by the plot, because either the plot demanded it or it was deemed funny, credibility of the protagonist be damned. And the Giggle was just too much, especially the Toymaker's constantly horrible accents. The bi-generation was just facepalmingly disrespectful to Ncuti and the show. He DEFINITELY deserved better, and this is the big reason why I consider these specials to be a mistake. I really liked Ncuti Gatwa, though. When he apologized to the TARDIS for using the mallet on her, I thought, "Yep, that's the Doctor. Can't wait to see more of him." I liked the character moments, but they're useless with such a sloppy and careless plot. And there were a lot of mistakes that were so easy to avoid. It was like RTD was trying to fall into the pitfalls of tori talking points and give them ammunition. It just had me asking why? I did like the Church on Ruby Road, so I am hopeful that series 14 will be a bounce back to Doctor Who proper, moving forward instead of back. It's ironic for a show with a time machine.

GAUCHE = french word for LEFT... the opposite of the direction right. Left hand, right hand. Expression : to act in a Gauche manner = to be clumsy. Maladroit. Avoir 2 mains gauches : having two left hands = meaning to be clumsy

I usually enjoy your analysis, and although I especially agree with the runtime bit, I'm gonna have to give some counterarguments to the stuff you're saying because I feel like it was mostly pretty good and some of your points aint it (This is coming from a fan of your content and I don't want to be attacking you, so bare that in mind. Also, sorry for the length): - I do think, in terms of your analysis of 14 needing to settle down, I do think there was set up. I don't think your overall point is harmed by this, because it can still be argued that the setup wasn't very good for the resolution it got. However, narratively speaking, all of these traumatic events brought up in all 3 specials (losing Donna, the Flux, the Moffat era companions "dying") was evidently intended to set up that the Doctor having gone through these things but not emotionally working on them. They keep running almost as a distraction, because any time they stop they'll just get eaten away at by their own emotions. I think It's still executed satisfactorily, because I think it's clear that the Doctor is needed to reflect with a supportive family dynamic. Trenzalore and St Luke's had them on a mission. He wasn't literally running, but they've got a job to do which is why they keep running on. Darillium was the Doctor essentially prolonging a farewell so they get to spend as much time as possible with someone they care about. Here, I think there was set up, and the intent made it clear why this was different, although I do have to admit that Donna's dialogue surrounding it did kinda muddy some waters a bit, and the Doctor didn't feel like he had the most agency here. I will admit that dialogue has been an issue in the 60th trilogy as a whole for me, but not enough for me to write off any of the episodes (just maybe not quite consider them favourites). - The Toymaker not bringing up the fate of the 13th Doctor's companions makes sense though? I don't get what people are criticising with this. It would kinda ruin the moment to go "AND ZEN YAZ LEFT THE DOCTOR FOR NO REASON AND LIVED A HAPPY LIFE AND DIDN'T DIE". The scene was evidently the Toymaker taunting the Doctor over his grief over losing so many people, including half the universe to the Flux, as well as, again, bringing up the Doctor's mental processing of trying to rationalise these events so he can keep going forward. - I got nothing really to counter the point about Donna not really doing much. I don't think most of the characters did, but honestly I don't see that as much of an issue. Rewatching a bunch of Chibnall era episodes made me realise people were a bit harsh on the companion characters, since they did get stuff to do and have personalities. Donna was really meant to be a guiding figure in this episode, and Mel (who also didn't get too much to do) was just great to see as well. Not only are the returning characters fan service, but because they're strong enough characters with big enough presences that they could deliver any dialogue and it'd be entertaining, I don't really see much issue with them not being central to a story more about the Doctor. That said, I'm not gonna deny that it happened, I think it just depends on how much you find character involvement necessary and to what degree. - "This deserves to be in a better episode" to me is never really an argument that rings true to me, because it both fits this episode and is good on its own merit. It just feels like you're trying to complain about something you liked to justify having a "this episode bad" stance. Also Donna had plenty to do in the first 2 episodes. Literally half of Wild Blue Yonder was about her as a character. - A payoff for the Giggle itself would've been great, and although I don't feel like it was absolutely necessary, it does feel like it should've been there. Also, in this context, I don't see anything wrong with the Doctor lecturing since he's, you know, right about humanity? An emotional coda for humanity only doesn't make sense if you consider we've had very clear examples of "hate bad" thrown in our face, but when its come time for us to make decisions on that, we never learn from it. So why would humanity learn from the Giggle? - I like the Vlinx. I find it charming, and I would find an explanation of its existence would distract from what the episode is trying to do and the pacing of it. I don't think everything needs to be explained, the Vlinx is an example. This episode has an example of something that should (the bigeneration) but the Vlinx is not. - I don't think the past companions are robbed of their individuality because they're still core to what makes them *them*. Also, it was set up in The Power of the Doctor, and now we're seeing it get paid off. Not gonna disagree with anything else to do with UNIT here tho. - A lot of the issues with 15s introduction are kinda mediated by The Church on Ruby Road existing, ad I felt that at the time too. - The bigeneration itself feels purposely made to finish off 14s arc and pay off the set up I pointed out that you missed. I think your statement about it *just* being done because it's a new idea is flat out wrong. The bigeneration wasn't explained well, I admit, but "it wasn't set up" and "it was just made to be a new idea" isn't the problem. - I didn't feel any lack of confidence with it. I don't think you're wrong to say this, I just think it's subjective, and I disagree. - Anniversary specials have the right to have references. - Not sure if the "emotional wellbeing of the UK" reading was necessarily intentional. It's a nice reading but expecting a payoff to something that may not be there just feels like you're projecting. It seems no different to me than the people who were annoyed that Matt Smith wasn't in Wild Blue Yonder. - RTD is a crowdpleaser, I agree, but I think perhaps he thought the crowd would be pleased at a happy ending rather than a melancholic one. Overall, I think I disagreed with almost every point. All the positives you laid out I agreed with, and I do feel there are some issues with pacing and dialogue, which leave me personally emotionally engaged if feeling the script is a little muddled. I'm sorry it wasn't for you but I hope Ncuti's era of at least 18 episodes is enough to redeem 15 minutes of an episode that admittedly wasn't his but still could have worked a lot better. Sorry for the comment length once again.

I think the new series might fall like the classic series where the story gets obsessed with continuity from 2 decades ago then breaks down.

The Toymaker caused the Doctor to regenerate into 14. That’s why the Doctor’s clothes changed. The 60th Specials are one long paradox. Basically, when Toymaker re-entered the universe, he knew it was 14 and Donna’s meddling with the Not-Things that allowed him to do so. So the Toymaker, who is beyond the limits of time, retroactively manipulated events in the Doctor’s life from Power of the Doctor to The Giggle (turning him into 14, reuniting him with Donna, etc). All so that the Toymaker ensured his own existence. You’ll notice there’s a lot of coincidences across the Specials; I think the Toymaker is deliberately responsible. It’s all a “game” and paradox of his design. Admittedly this is just my personal theory and I likely put more thought into tying all the canon together than RTD did.

I loved Neil Patrick Harris in this. He’s always brilliant, and to have him just having the time of his life is wondrous (even if he isn’t really at all like Michael Gough). I also really liked the whole concept of The Giggle and all that. It had a proper good Doctor Who premise. I also liked UNIT’s inclusion even if they didn’t do much (surely Martha would’ve been a more appropriate companion to return but I digress). I didn’t really like the bi-generation. I think it upsets a lot more about the lore than even the Timeless Child (with the implication that all the Doctors did it, that is).

13 last words were so cheerful and hopeful yet apparently 14 needed therapy, what a load of codswallop.

"All of these together, in the third act no less- is stagnation." It's staggering how much better you are at this, Will. Nailed it in one.

Here we go again *deja vu to Colin Baker’s doctor who also deserves better*

19:21 but we know from DWM that essentially the idea to bring back DT and CT came from them joiining in some on-line watching of their old episodes on Twitter during the pandemic. So it is no wonder it doesnt add up at the end of the day

The way I look at the bigeneration is that it's the culmination of a mayfly incarnation, albeit one with a familiar face. Let's not forget, from Liberation of the Daleks to The Giggle - taking in Destination: Skaro, The Bedtime Story and various comic strips and short stories, the Fourteenth Doctor barely lasts a day (admittedly, I've not read the stuff from the annual, so it could be a number of days). As such, it makes sense to view this incarnation almost as a chrysalis or cocoon; a larval form of the Fifteenth Doctor, if you like. Kind of like the Watcher in reverse. Ultimately, the sloughed skin of 14 will fade, completing 15's rehabilitation. It also interests me the fact that RTD is openly criticising firm views on any subject - whether that's hating some people or cancelling others - and it hits a nerve of a lot of internet Whovians. By dismissing it, people are missing the point. Our ire at the views of others is significantly more self-destructive than just simply ignoring perspectives we don't agree with. Admittedly, I'm 48 and looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles, but it used to be you could have a conversation with someone and, if you hit a topic that enraged one or the other, an apology was offered and the subject was never brought up again. Except, of course, in the spirit of mickey-taking. We certainly didn't fall out with one another because we held different opinions. Or if someone did, they be regarded as emotionally immature or something. I don't know, maybe the days of friendly yet charged debate are long gone. Which would be sad if true. Yes, I know I've gone off on a wild tangent, but I felt it was worth pointing out nonetheless.

Remember when Moffat introduced the zygones and erased any memory the leaders and unit had as to who was who and then left them in a room to figure it out….only to return to it 2 seasons later. Yeah the 50th also had an issue with the starting conflict not having a conclusion in the special, so we may just have to wait until it is

If 14 just fizzled away in a cloud of regeneration energy when he says that he’s never been happier, it would have been a good ending and made the bigeneration more understandable.

When i watched the star beast and the giggle, i thought both of these stories required to be 2 parters. The ending of both is kinda rushed They also could’ve made the 3 specials all 1 story with the toymaker where the first episode is the second game(after william hartnell’s first), where we see the doctor lose. The second episode is the third game and see the doctor lose again leading to donna saying the doctor is burning out/staggering on. This would mean the final episode has the doctor trying to win against the toymaker who’s taken over earth but fails. We could then have Ncuti’s doctor come in meaning 2 doctors will be able to turn the tide and win.

36:14 triggered my Google assistant 😂😂😂