Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder Review: spoilers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Last week in typical Donna fashion, she set fire to the brand new Tardis with a cup of coffee making it fly off uncontrollably to God knows where. En route they meet Isacc newton with his apple and a new word is introduced to the English language.

Now as they fall from the Tardis doors consumed by flames they find themselves somewhere that makes the Tardis run away in terror.

I went into this adventure with no prior knowledge of what was going to happen or any titbits whatsoever. A friend of mine would be sitting down in shock at that one because spoilers don’t annoy me in the slightest except when the twist is dumb (Yes you Star Trek Into Darkness ; Khan my ass). So what initially appeared as a talk filled story turned out to be an effects filled claustrophobic character piece that brings new sides to both the Doctor and Donna.

Trapped aboard a spaceship stuck in the middle of nowhere at the edge of the universe which is reconfiguring itself with a robot that takes a step with every configuration along with a bangimg and words they can’t make out, the travellers find themselves battling…themselves.

With no other cast it allows the story to focus on the Doctor and Donna and see what they are like fifteen years later. Are we the same people when we reunite with old friends? Old Donna was determined to travel with the Doctor forever but now her family is her focus. This trip with the Doctor is a fleeting thing for her and a step towards making sure he knows he is part of her family and welcome any time. So connected are the Nobles, old and new, with the Time Lord, he will always be family to them. Equally, you can see it in him too as he spoke about Wilf last episode and caught up on their lives. But she is the same old, kick ass Donna as ever but with time we change. And if Donna thinks her life has changed then the Doctor’s has been shattered and is still lying in pieces.

But these reveals are not made to each other but to two creatures that look exactly like them. Of course they don’t realise at first that it isn’t their friend until their arms are too long, literally. We get a touch of Mr Fantastic as limbs and jaws fall like rubber. There is a touch of the episode Midnight here as sthe aliens are assimilating the Doctor and Donna’s forms and minds so that when the Tardis returns they will take it. They are driven by what they can hear from our universe and want to live it all by whatever means necessary. They don’t want to be friends or allies; they just want to be complete. It also feels very fairy tale like with the giant Doctor and Donna bringing to mind Jack and the Beanstalk while the body popping Doctor reminds us of the Exorcist with a sprinkle of Event Horizon and the Black Hole. Maybe the Doctor used the salt trick like they use on leprechauns to test one theory.

We have only one episode before we lose this Doctor so we address how he feels about the revelations from the Timeless Children. His pain is that he no longer knows where he is from or where he belongs or who he truly is. While he is part of Donna’s family and once the Ponds’, this is a nice reflection and potential theme that his home is with people he loves. I think the whole Timeless Children story was a load of shit quite frankly that did not make sense and shoehorned and totally ignored elements of the show in to suit the new theory. Awful.

See how I show the illogic of it all by clicking on this link

How The Timeless Children Completely Screws Doctor Who

The Doctor is hurting but does not show it and despite the love of his friends, he may never get over it unless he gets some answers. Again all he has to do is open the chameleon fob watch hidden in the Tardis and at least get some answers so am I the only one shouting this at the screen?

Once the mystery is solved and the Doctor and Donna escape, the Doctor wonders if he made a mistake with the salt deception because the walls of reality are thin here and you never know who is listening. Why does that concern him so much ala naming Daleks in Destination Skaro? Is this connected to the Meep’s boss mention last week to be resolved in the final episode? We land back on Earth and meet Wilf patiently waiitng in the alley for them. A couple of days have passed and the human race has gone violent on a massive scale.

It is lovely to see Bernard Cribbins again and his delight at seeing the tenth Doctor’s face is touching given Bernard’s subsequent passing. Again this Doctor is more open emotionally than his other self and his joy is palpable.

So this is it. The final batlle between the Celestial Toymaker before the regeneration, Donna leaves, Tennant leaves and Ncuti Gatwa takes over. But then again, will it be that simple and pedestrian? Bringing Tennant back could not end so mekly. There has to be a twist in the tale. Is the Toymaker behind all of this and if so why? Revenge? Amusement? The joy of touring the Doctor by pitting him against his favourite species?

Overall, Wild Blue Yonder is a marvellous mystery piece that gives us a glimpse behind the Doctor’s mask like never before, a reminder that evil can wear our face and solid performances and direction all round.