WBY was a very solid, spooky episode (and a great tech demo for the show's new budget). Not the match of Midnight, but solid, creepy work. I still hope Susan appears in the final special.

Impressive.

It's that time, @Faulkner

And of course:

 

 

 

One Doctor to another:

 

 

 

 

 

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A morning show clip from The Giggle features a colorized flashback to The Celestial Toymaker with Michael Gough and Hartnell:

 

 

 

Watching The Giggle now. Thus far this is a pretty pointed, smart and in keeping with RTD unsubtle analogy on the pandemic/misinformation era. But sometimes unsubtle is necessary - we live in unsubtle times, and on issues like this he should be bold and loud on public broadcasting.

Kate and Mel's reintroduction to Fourteen was very sweet. Bonnie is playing it in an interesting way; Mel is a calmer soul. I never thought I'd hear about Sabalom Glitz again. I did not know Melanie apparently had no surviving family - it's mentioned as though we should know about it, but we don't AFAIK. We got very little onscreen backstory on her. I wonder if this will be revisited in this episode or more likely next year.

Nice to see RTD remembered Moffat's bit with Twelve being de facto President of Earth - he can give UNIT authorization.

Edited December 9, 20232 yr by Vee

So: The Giggle. I can already tell which parts @DRW50 will not be a fan of! I did like this episode's OTT musical interlude though. If you bring in the Toymaker it is kind of an invitation to camp. Plus the character work in this episode was very strong and mature.

Some thoughts (mostly spoilered):

Ncuti Gatwa is already an incredible force. And

 

he and Bonnie Langford already have serious, serious chemistry. You could see her just flourish the moment he appeared. I am so glad she'll be back with him. The Toymaker calls Mel an orphan - I may be wrong but I don't remember us getting many onscreen or full-on canon details as to her origin or backstory, there is clearly much more to talk about there with Mel next series that RTD is hinting at. Along with the Toymaker's golden tooth (which contains the Master) being taken by a female hand - I immediately was reminded of Lucy Saxon but I'm pretty sure she's dead. Then there's the mysterious other figure both he and the Meep I think alluded to. I really enjoyed Fourteen's sweet reunions with Kate and Mel. Jemma Redgrave did some really great work this episode. I did call Donna going to work for UNIT.

We see with this episode the reason behind Fourteen's physical appearance and muted emotional distance, a la Tom Baker's final year - the reason Fourteen has always been presented as gaunt (as Donna and co. repeatedly note throughout the specials) and disheveled with five o'clock shadow is because his de-regeneration was a kind of cosmic PTSD, and a sign for him to stop. I was fine with that explanation. And I was fine with the long-leaked bi-regeneration as presented.

Gatwa was instantly in command, and it's so refreshing and bold to see absolutely no attempt to tone down any queer-sided or even feminine aspects of Fifteen's character. This is a resolutely queer Doctor but also a nurturing one. His energy is fresher than Tennant's, very modern and not like anything we've really seen before.

What a rush hearing the Doctor(s) mention Adric and River. "Sarah Jane is gone, can you believe that for a second?" And I enjoyed the sequence with the Toymaker calling out Moffat's many caveat deaths (though I loved the Moffat era). The look on Tennant's face when Amy, Clara and Bill's fates were described was great.

Like DRW, I was very, very tired of David Tennant's Doctor when he left. I was not thrilled to see him return - Tennant is a lovely man, a great actor and a brilliant ambassador for the show, a seminal icon, but I thought it was regressive and Ten had been overexposed and could hurt Gatwa's rollout. So I feel I've been very fortunate to get to see him in a new light as Fourteen, and very fortunate that he's in fact ushered Gatwa in properly. Yes, he's had his shouty moments but for the most part he's given a very strong performance as a different, weathered and wary iteration of his Doctor, a kind of nuanced transformation we rarely get to see over the course of one actor in this role. I definitely would enjoy seeing the mature, calmed Fourteen again in small doses.

Neil Patrick Harris: Great when he was using the Toymaker's original voice and being more serious. Extremely redolent of SNL's "Sprockets" when he was doing the rest. A little of that went a long way for me. But whatever, it's the Toymaker, of course they're going to go big. It's an anniversary party, I let it be. The evil puppets were alternately very silly and very creepy. But that's Doctor Who for you (especially RTD).

This ending was leaked over a year ago - I was pretty annoyed when I heard about it. But it's somehow worked for me, at least so far (I reserve the right to moan if we get a Fourteen/Donna spinoff or too many guest returns). The retirement angle with Fourteen is on par with something that's become in vogue in recent years  in pop culture at large - the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight films, for example, end with a conclusive ending for his incarnation of Batman, and force a reset of the franchise continuity because his and Christian Bale's take is considered seminal. The same was very recently done for Daniel Craig's James Bond in his final 007 film, in which the character meets a final end. Neither of these things were ever done for the characters before those incarnations in their respective franchises. Here, instead of regenerating into the next man and dissipating unto history as is custom, a portion of the Doctor's line and lineage 'ends' with David Tennant's Fourteenth, who lives out a normal lifespan presumably largely offscreen but will coexist with the new man. I am okay with that as it is sort of closing a book on the first epoch of Modern Who and leaving Tennant to his happy family life. And I loved the family dinner with the Nobles and Mel. As long as they don't make too much of it in the future, it's fine with me.

All in all, a very strong run of specials and a nice love letter and farewell to the last 18 years. And Gatwa is already stunning. Very excited for Christmas.

Edited December 9, 20232 yr by Vee

It was Ok! The first half was so strong. But that final match was… anticlimactic. But it was OK!

That tooth with The Master and the hand who grabbed it was so RTD and I loved it lol

Mel is one of the most hated companions in the fandom yet the actress still reprised the role. Love it. She wasn’t as great as Ace or Tegan last year.

The Bi-regeneration was…. Yeah… it was just.. idk. I think there will be coming more from it (I hope)… 

That they always act like Donna was THAT special companion to Tennant just coz they couldn’t get Billie Piper. lol No way does he love Donna more as a friend than Rose. He loved her maybe as much but not more. Hell nah. Even when Rose returned in series 4 she was THAT special friend. Haha

NPH was OK. The OG Toymaker was mystical and serious and we got…. NPH! He played a good villain but for a serious one like this.. nah.. NPH was just being NPH again. It was OK

I was dissapointed that during the dead companion skit  Rory wasn’t mentioned. I mean Rory died more than once coz of Doctor-ish situations and died the same as Amy. Did RTd did not watch DW during Moffat’s time and had no clue who he is? Lol

I loved the creepy dolls and the corridors with the doors scenes. That felt like series 4! Epic.

BUT what really made Me upset.. It’s the 60’s anniversary special series and they even tackle on one of the biggest enemies from the classics and don’t even bother to mention Steven and Dodo who were with the Doctor against him? 
 

I have to admit that Jodie’s final special/episode last year felt more like the 60th anniversary than those 3 combined. Sorry not sorry! (I even watched the classics with reconstructions/animations etc.)

But maybe the Christmas special will end the anniversary coz otherwise it was a letdown for a 60th. Felt more like a Tennant Anniversary 

2 minutes ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

That they always act like Donna was THAT special companion to Tennant just coz they couldn’t get Billie Piper. lol No way does he love Donna more as a friend than Rose. He loved her maybe as much but not more. Hell nah. Even when Rose returned in series 4 she was THAT special friend. Haha

Donna has been more popular than Rose for a long time now, I'd argue.

And now: 

 

17 minutes ago, Vee said:

Donna has been more popular than Rose for a long time now, I'd argue.

And now: 

 

By who? The same people that trashed Jodie’s era? Ok.. 

 

Trailer looks good. I can already feel the energy 

1 minute ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

By who? The same people that trashed Jodie’s era? Ok.. 

What the fûck do Rose or Donna have to do with Jodie Whittaker?

6 minutes ago, Vee said:

What the fûck do Rose or Donna have to do with Jodie Whittaker?

I mean u said that Donna is more popular than Rose.. So I just asked by what people? I Mean the DW fandom is quite toxic when it comes to favorites lol