“The Giggle,” the last of the three 60th Anniversary Doctor Who specials was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, we got to see another clash with the Toymaker – and see a stellar guest starring turn from Neil Patrick Harris. On the other, Russel T. Davies opted to play fast and loose with the ideas around Time Lord regeneration, allowing the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa, who gets extra points for being willing to start his journey as the Doctor in only a dress shirt and a pair of white boxer briefs) and the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) to continue to co-exist in the universe at the same time – something that has never happened before and something I’m not entirely sure I love as a choice (even if it essentially offers us the exact opposite ending for Donna Noble – one of happiness and contentment, with her family and best friend at her side – that she got in her first time on the series).
Before I try to wade into the bi-generation discourse, I wanted to take some time to praise what was, for all intents and purposes, a pretty solid, creepy episode of Doctor Who. I’m someone who firmly believes that Harris can be a hit or miss performer, but boy was he used incredibly effectively in this episode. The creepy laugh, the varying accents and languages, the ability to turn from charming to sinister in the blink of an eye. It was a pitch perfect performance which, when combined with the always creepy marionettes and ventriloquist dummies, turned what could have been a pretty heavy-handed story about the modern online discourse into something more complex and flat out scary. Since we knew regeneration would be on the table for the Doctor this episode, there was also the added bonus of having true stakes in the story: Would the Doctor make it out alive? Would Donna be able to get a true happy ending? How about Kate, Shirley, or the returning Mel (another nice touch!)? It turns out, the story opted for the Who meme of “Everyone lives!” and I can’t fault Davies for opting for that considering the way things ended for Donna in particular the last time she dealt with the Doctor. But I can’t help but wish there was something a bit darker in the solution to the Toymaker’s game.
Sure, catch is a fun game, but it’s not a particularly engaging one in terms of cinematic options. And boy was that game of catch a dull watch*. There was far more suspense in the card cutting game earlier in the episode. There was a part of me, however, that was expecting Fourteen to drop the ball, leading to some sort of sudden death with the Toymaker and Fifteen, which would lead to the victory over the Toymaker and the demise of Fourteen in the process. Now, I’m not sad to see that Fourteen gets a chance to rest – the Toymaker’s tale of the tragic ends to his past several companions and the impact of The Flux was a nice touch in highlighting how rough they have had it of late – and I’m very much not sad that he and Donna get to hang out in the process (and if this means that we might get another one-off special with the pair down the line . . . well, I wouldn’t say no to that, as Tate and Tennant continue to have the best chemistry around). But one of the key elements of the previous Doctor regenerating into the next was that it forced the audience to say goodbye to the old actor and hello to the next. That way, the fanbase couldn’t say “Well, why can’t you just bring back the last guy?” This time around, they can. And that’s not the most fair situation to place Gatwa into – having to prove himself as the Doctor while one of the most popular actors to ever play the role is technically still hanging out in the wings.
*Don’t think I didn’t clock the woman’s hands picking up the Toymaker’s golden tooth which holds the Master – complete with the laughter of all the previous Masters playing over the action. I’m happy to have the Master back out there in the Who universe, ready for the next confrontation with the Doctor.
I guess if my major complaint with the episode is that it kept the door open for the Fourteenth Doctor to reappear at some point in the future, that’s not too much of a complaint seeing as I adore Tennant’s portrayal of the character. But still, the episode felt unfinished to me as a result. Sure there were a ton of fun callbacks – recognizing their past companions and losses, including the loss of Sarah Jane – and a truly great villain. And Gatwa was a very different but compelling Doctor in his brief appearance, which made me very intrigued to see just what he’s going to bring to the role moving forward. I loved him on Sex Education, and I know he has the acting chops to handle whatever Davies has in store for him in the coming years. So, “The Giggle” wasn’t quite the explosive finale I was hoping to see. And that’s okay. It was a joy getting to spend time in the Tardis with Tennant’s Doctor and Tate’s Donna one more time – even if it might not be the last chance we get. And this was a great introduction to Gatwa’s Doctor. I think I’ll keep watching this incarnation to see just what he will get up to – hopefully complete with a pair of trousers in his next adventure.
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