Doctor Who The Giggle Review Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

So this was it; the episode where everything changes and a new era begins. But was it worth the wait? Was the hype justified for a 60th anniversary? The return of an old face, an old enemy an updated UNIT and nuggets of faceless foes for the future all blended in with the departure of the not only the Doctor but what we knew about regeneration.

When John Logie Baird televised the very first image on television, it was of a ventriloquist dummy called Stooky Bill. He bought the dummy from a toymaker’s shop owned by the Celestial Toymaker. He implanted a giggle in the head which burned itself into every screen and electronic imaging device in the world. Now with the world totally connected by the internet, the signal has driven everyone mad. Everyone now believes they are right from the ordinary person to politicians to kings and queens. Strange; I’ve been like that for years. it must have affected me early….

Neil Patrick Harris was superb as the Celestial Toymaker. His changing accent and dancing in the street as a French Man were just a prelude to his Spice Up Your Life entrance into UNIT. This was a brilliant moment compared to the Master’s Rasputin number and not cringe worthy at all. It just added to the over the top character as he revelled in the game with his old foe. Yet in his quiet moments was poised like a snake ready to strike. Did you know that Harris wasn’t in the running for the part until he was suggested by one of the producers? They knew he could sing, dance and cut cards, everything they needed the Toymaker to do and once sent the script, had to do it.

Tennant’s fear is palpable when he realises who he is facing as the world burns around him. The human puppet on a string is creepy and unnerving as are the Burtonesque puppets that attack Donna. The Toymaker apparently was let into our reality thanks to the Doctor’s salt trick at the edge of reality in Wild Blue Yonder. I find this hard to swallow to be honest because as we discover the Doctor’s regeneration from 113 to 14 when even his clothes regenerated had nothing to do with the Toymaker. Ignoring this when they keep referencing the Flux is sloppy. Are they really expecting us to believe that the Doctor is in so much inner pain that he can now regenerate outfits as well?

I can accept the notion of a biregeneration but not nitpicking the bits leading to these specials just to suit the story does not sit well. If they have the balls to mention a disaster like the Flux and it was the final straw for this Doctor’s literal breakdown but water down the clothes regeneration as her at the time simply wanting to come home to be with Donna is Chibnall worthy. No, it would have been much better to have the Toymaker kickstart this three parter out of amusement and revenge. Indeed yuo could still have doen the regeneration the same way but as a unexpected side effect of the Toymaker’s game. It’s time travel so the Doctor’s future actions influence the present; cause and effect.

UNIT have now become the Avengers Tower but drop the robot. However It was a very welcome surprise to see Mel Bush back working alongside Kate Stewart and having seen her in Power of the Doctor, we know she works alongside Tegan and Ace too. Also note Martha presumably still works for UNIT too. Thankfully her return was not a mere cameo but a full integral role. Her computer skills are at the fore and we even get a glimpse of an unseen story as she tells the Doctor what happened after she left him on Iceworld. After Sabolom’s death she came back to Earth. Her family were gone when she returned to Earth. As a new member of the Noble family it brings an unity to the history. I loved the line that Donna wasn’t the first red head in the Tardis. Mel’s presence also reminds the Doctor that his past is mostly good and she becomes a vital part of his regeneration. Mel will once again team up with the new Doctor in upcoming episodes.

One moment that brings a smile and is a great example of this unity is when the new Doctor asks Mel what she thinks of his new self. She says he is beautiful. The fourteenth Doctor leans in and says that she means still beautiful while Donna leans in and asks if he comes in a range of colours. The physical and comedic timing is impeccable as past and future stand together to defeat the Toymaker.

I mentioned nuggets for the future and we get them in spades. The Master is trapped inside the Toymaker’s gold tooth which is retrieved by someone with red nail varnish ala the Last of the Time Lords. It was lovely to hear all the previous Master’s laugh here. The Toymaker’s legions are coming too. Who is he who waits that scares even the Toymaker? Who is the Boss mentioned by the Meep? What is Mel’s role going to be in the upcoming fight?

So my question really is where is the 60th celebration? Was the Power of the Doctor it? Where are the other Doctors? The closest we come to is the Doctors talking in the Tardis about the journey they have taken. So many old adventures mentioned as this new exuberant Doctor, healed from the guilt of so much death and destruction in their wake thanks to the fourteenth Doctor needing a family to belong to. The mention of Adric is welcome but the reveal that they have lost Sarah Jane brings a chill. The Master’s laugh as I said, the fifth Doctor regeneration reference, “Feels different this time”, the Eccleston final moments regeneration score and Mel calling the Doctors fantastic recalls Eccleston and a variation on the Brigadier’s splendid chaps all of you quote. We also learn the Black and White Guardians were turned to voodoo dolls by the Toymaker and the Archangel Network is mentioned. Also talking with eyebrows is how the third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) introduced himself to Liz Shaw when he was exiled to UNIT and fought the Autons for the first time. Oh and God was turned into a jack in the box. It reminds us the Whoniverse is still churning in unseen stories. What we get is a mere glimpse. This along with the Doctor’s pep talk to himself is the celebration. So many stories, so many memories; friends we have lost, the friends we have found again. It is through Mel and Donna that he sees that he was nev forgotten but loved still. Not even decades across time and space can break those bonds. The Doctor just never let himself see them. Indeed could it be his meeting Sarah jane again as well as Jo Grant been a sign that he was subconsciously coming back to them on pupose like he did Donna?

Doctor Who is a legacy. Each and every person that has fought with him, died with and for him and left him are indelibly burned into his hearts. He doesn’t look back because it hurts too much. Like mental health and stress if you don’t open up and let it build, you will burn yourself out and fall apart. The biregeneration is a way for the series and the character to begin afresh.

We have seen this theme right from the ninth Doctor’s Time War survivor guilt to the twelfth Doctor refusing to regenerate because he cannot go on. The Doctor needs to stop and be loved as part of a family unit that shows him that he has done the right thing; a home where he is reminded he is loved in between the battles. They are the reason he fights. It was Sarah Jane that once told him in Journey’s End that he acts like a lonely man but he has the biggest family on Earth. If he took a second to look back he could see Davros was wrong; the Doctor does not turn his friends into weapons. He makes them better versions of themselves to fight the good fight and see the universe is more than just a tweet or instagram post.

He finds that loving home with the Nobles and Mel in the Noble’s garden having lunch. The simple joy of sitting down for a meal with people you love is precious. No monsters and no end of the world, just simple food and welcome company. Now that Donna has bagged a £120,00 with 5 weeks holiday a year job from UNIT she can afford it. Another great touch. I wonder does Mel, Ace and Tegan know?

This is a series reset at the end of the day with shades of sam Beckett was in control of the leaps all the time taste. You know the old saying that a person cannot be helped unless they want to be helped? Well here’s perfect example. Only the Doctor will listen to himself and when the new Doctor takes the old broken one in his arms, it speaks that it is okay now. You can stay and find what he has sought for so long with the Nobles. His new self can continue their journey free from guilt and anguish as is seen in the Christmas trailer with a new relish for life. And how exciting is it that there are now two Doctors roaming the universe? Of course the Meep labels the Doctor as the creature with two hearts so will the Boss come after the Tennant version and bring them together again? Who knows?

I have to mention the wheelchair access Tardis and I have to say I agree. It was a running joke for years as to K9 managed it. Having been a wheelchair user for a few months now I can tell you just how disabled unfriendly the world is. Places I took for granted I will never be able to go into again. It is embarrassing to have to rely on someone to tilt you back in your chair so you can access a house. That is if you have someone to help you do that.

Independance or rather the feeling of being independent is vital to anyone disabled given people do treat you differently. I am delighted that people especially children now have that in their heads that they too can join the Doctor aboard the Tardis because he cares for everyone. That’s the power and magic of Doctor Who. Even I can board the Tardis in my new state when before I walked just like everyone else. But keep the woke out. Asking wheelchair Shirley is it is okay to say parked a wheelchair gets my blood boiling. I will park my wheelchair where I want. There is no other word for it. And if you’re offended by that word go away. But if I wasn’t in a wheelchair I’d be rolling my eyes. I now have a new perspective and isn’t that really what this story is about? The Doctor gaining a new perspective through his own self. Ain’t that what he does with his companions? Let them see the universe through a new perspective?

I felt that the Star Beast and Wild Blue Yonder were woke influenced to a degree. Rose chiding the Doctor about assuming pronouns grated especially when on entering the Noble house to see the Meep, Rose exclaims “It’s that man!!” So having a double standard in your story just shows the stupidity of this. Representation is a wonderful thing which I try to put into my books on a constant basis but you need to write them respectfully too. You can’t just shoehorn them in for fear of being criticised. Rose is an important figure to many but she needs have her own voice not the writer’s. She is a great chance to show the struggles of a trans person at that age in a genuine and solid way surrounded by such down to earth characters as Donna, Shaun and Sylvia. I felt her pain when she was taunted in the street about her transitioning and would have threw a brick after the wee shits. Already I’m being protective of her which is exactly what I should be doing if the writing is spot on but keep agendas out of it.

But that is something we need work on. Times are changing, not all for the better so the show must too in order to survive. These three very different episodes were worthy additions to the Doctor Whoniverse and resolved and rebirthed a lot. Each very different in style and content. The last two especially impressed. Let’s face it, the Jodie Whittaker era was a disaster so their only hope was bring back the tenth Doctor as the fourteenth and resolve the Donna Noble story. They wanted to draw viewers back and hopefully Ncuti Gatwa will restore the golden age of Doctor Who wearing trousers this time. I think we are in for something very new but comfortably familiar at the same time in the months to come.