The Cutprice Guignol

To be quite honest, I had some concerns about this episode going in.

Not because the two episodes that preceded it were bad – no, if anything, The Star Beast and Wild Blue Yonder have been a triumphant return to the show for Russel T Davies, and David Tennant and Catherine Tate have bought a real joy to Doctor Who all over again with their unique chemistry.

But there was just so much to fit into The Giggle, and that’s what concerned me. Questions about the nature of Tennant’s return posed at the start of the special hadn’t really been addressed; the banner villain advertised for this special, The Toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris), hadn’t even been introduced yet. And then, of course, there’s the first appearance of Ncuti Gatwa’s iteration of the Doctor, the most impactful part of the special on the future of the show. Thrown in Russel T Davies teasing major mythology reveals in this episode, it looked to be lot to fit into an hour, for sure. And, well, I think they fit it all in – but I’m not sure how convinced I am of the execution.

One of the things I was most looking forward to about this episode was Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, a returning villain from the classic series who was mostly lost to the annals of time after the episodes featuring him were lost. In some ways, I think he’s a really smart choice as a villain pick, because we don’t have anything more than the concept of him, since his episodes have been lost – there’s nothing to directly compare him to, and that gives Neil Patrick Harris a lot of room, appropriately, to play.

And play he does. Neil Patrick Harris soars in this role, instantly earning a place in the ranks of the most iconic villains of the show’s run. He goes so big that it comes back around to brilliant again, a seven-pound side of ham wrapped in a generous seasoning of silliness. His powers over the world make for an entertaining and consistently discomforting excuse to play with production design, giving The Giggle a distinct and unique feel in it’s endless looping corridors and garish stage lights. Using UNIT as the backdrop for this story was a really great idea – seeing Kate taken over by the power of the Giggle is genuinely unsettling, given how professional and controlled she usually is, and Ruth Madeley making a return as Shirley was beyond welcome (if you haven’t seen her in Russel T Davies project Years and Years, do so).

From the explosion of self-assuredness causing chaos in the present to the Toymaker’s slavish adherence to his own rules, it’s packed with brilliant ideas and moments that would have had me cowering behind the sofa as a child. In fact, I think the Toymaker plot in this episode might be one of my favourite things Russel T Davies has ever done in the show. It’s a masterpiece of storytelling and tone, swerving between sinister and witty with unsettling ease: that Spice Up Your Life song-and-dance number a perfect example, blending absurdity with horror against a bubblegum pop background.

But that plot is, by far, the most successful part of the episode for me. The rest of it deals with the Doctor trying to work out the reason for the return of his previous form, and the regeneration (well, sort of, but we’ll get to it) into his next form. Now, the return of an actor for a new regeneration is unprecedented in the show’s run, and, though I do adore Tennant in the role (and what a performance this episode is for him, especially), I’ve always been a bit skeptical about it. It felt like there needed to be a really good reason to bring him back, and I’m not convinced I got it here.

The Doctor, after being hit with a Big Beam of Plot Movey Forward, splits: both David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa take on the Toymaker and win, and now, apparently, there are just…two Doctors running around. Tennant’s Doctor returned, it seemed, so he could hand over main show duties to Gatwa’s Doctor instead, while he has warm, fuzzy dinner parties with Donna and her family. And, don’t get me wrong, the scene that closed out this episode, of the Doctor spending time with his chosen family, was a lovely one – a reminder of the heart of the show, the connections and relationships that underscore every part of it. But I have to admit, I really don’t like the thought of this as a plot point going forward. It’s a show-breaking shift – while media featuring various Doctors has always been produced concurrently, the thought of two of them in the show opens up a shift in the importance of the central Doctor I’m not that taken with.

Having two Doctors in the show proper – both with Tardises, too, and apparently both with the same Time Lord abilities, unlike Tennant’s other version in an alternate universe or his fiftieth anniversary return with Matt Smith – feels like kind of a cheat to me. I think that the best thing the show can do to launch a new Doctor’s run is to successfully close out the chapter of the one that came before, and, though there was some kind of emotional dénouement here, there’s no getting around the fact that Tennant’s Doctor is just still…out there. Craicing about. I’m not sure how, if at all, it’ll play into the show going forward, but it feels like Davis was trying to have his cake and eat it too with this conclusion. One of the best parts of the new Doctor is bidding farewell to the one who came before, and the bittersweetness of getting to know a new version of this character – a bit of sadness is built into this aspect of the show, but I missed it here.

(And this probably doesn’t matter to anyone but me, but I found myself wishing that we could have had a similar plot with Jodie Whittaker and David Tennant if it had to happen at all – I would have liked to see two established Doctors getting to bounce off each other, and, because the Toymaker’s return was related to the Flux, it seemed like an obvious choice)

But I did get Ncuti Gatwa, and I am so excited for what his run on the show is going to bring. If this episode is anything to go by, I love the emotional layers they’ve built into his version of the Doctor – his kindness to Tennant’s Doctor, their embrace, is one of the high points of this episode to me, as is Gatwa’s Doctor quietly apologising to the Tardis after hitting it with a hammer. I would have liked to see Gatwa get at least some part of this episode properly to himself, without Tennant’s Doctor still kicking around, but it’s only a few weeks until we get that, so I guess I won’t have to wait long.

Overall, I do think this episode is a really good one – the Toymaker plot, and I cannot stress this enough, is a truly brilliant story for New Who, a camp, cinematic, creepy, and compelling piece of writing that stands beautifully on it’s own. But I’m really not taken with the way the bi-generation turned out (and trust me, that’s the only kind of bi I have a problem with) – it took away from Ncuti Gatwa’s arrival for me, and poses some questions about how Tennant will play into the show in future.

Well, thanks so much for joining me on this little triptych of Doctor Who-ness – I hope you’ll check back in for the Christmas special. In the meantime, what did you think of the 60th anniversary special? How did you find the introduction of the new Doctor? What did you make of the bi-generation? Let me know in the comments!

If you’d like to read my other Doctor Who articles, you can check them out here (and take a look at my books if you’re feeling curious!). Here’s my Patreon for anyone who fancies getting access to exclusive content!

(header image via Radio Times)