Doctor Who: The Giggle, review: David Tennant hands over to Ncuti Gatwa in unprecedented regeneration
Warning: this review contains spoilers
It was never going to be a straightforward regeneration. Last year, as Jodie Whittaker drew to the end of her time in the Tardis, we sat and watched as she regenerated into Ncuti Gatwa. Except she didn’t. To the astonishment of even the TV critics, who had not been given prior warning, she regenerated into David Tennant, ushering in the most exciting new Doctor Who era for some time.
This time, the third and final episode of this micro-series, the regeneration wasn’t just complicated, it was unprecedented. In a clever bit of Whovian trickery, Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor was yanked in from the future (clearly unexpectedly; he was only wearing a shirt and underpants) – and bizarrely ended up briefly spliced with Tennant’s Fourteenth.
This “bi-generation” means we’re in multi-Doctor territory, which has certainly happened before but is normally only temporary. For now, Tennant’s Doctor remains, taking a well-earned break with Donna and her family (it turns out 900-year-old aliens need to look after their mental health too), meaning he could be open to on and off-screen adventures. And Disney will certainly be looking to expand the Whoniverse, Marvel-style. What’s unclear is how much of a shadow he will cast over Gatwa’s new, cheeky and confident Doctor. It would be very unfair if Gatwa weren’t given the chance to fully take centre stage.
Doctor Who showrunners do love to keep their fans on their toes – as much as they like to draw heavily on current trends and repackage them for a sci-fi story. Here, Russell T Davies took a modern thing – the interminable squabbles on social media – and presented it to us in real-world form. The sudden chaos that greeted the Doctor and Donna (Catherine Tate) when they stepped out of the Tardis in Camden at the end of last week’s episode was caused by almost everyone on Earth now thinking they were always right about everything. Yes, this was Twitter – sorry, X – brought to life.
Fortunately, this was only part of what was another very good episode. Davies has dug deep into the Whoniverse bank vault to dust off a very old villain: the Toymaker, originally played by Michael Gough opposite William Hartnell’s First Doctor. (Just one of his four episodes still exists but the rest have been earmarked for animation.) Now he’s played with twinkling flair by Neil Patrick Harris, as the clearly-up-to-no-good owner of a toyshop in 1920s Soho.
It’s a wonder the Toymaker hasn’t popped up more often in Doctor Who. He’s great fun – an immortal unworldly being who, in 1966, challenged the Doctor to a game that he had to win to escape being the Toymaker’s plaything for the rest of time. And this new Toymaker has splendid outfits, a healthy love of the theatrical and dances to the Spice Girls’ Spice Up Your Life. In the human race, he found himself with 8 billion playthings.
This widespread Earthly turmoil meant the fictional military organisation UNIT were back, as was Jemma Redgrave’s Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, wearing an electronic armband that controls that urge to always be right. (“What do we do this time, Doctor? How do we fight the human race?” she begged, so stressed her eye might well have twitched.)
Also working for UNIT was – another treat for old-school Whovians – Sylvester McCoy-era companion Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) in a warmly performed cameo, which also leaves the door open for her return. And, it seems, open for Donna, as she soon received a job offer from UNIT. The quipping redheads could make quite the double act; a UNIT spin-off is rumoured to be in the works too.
In all, it was a vividly created and enormously entertaining episode. You know you’re onto a good Who when it makes you laugh (when the Toymaker demonstrated how the Doctor keeps accidentally killing his companions), boggle (at the bi-generation), tremble (at the malevolent puppet family) and cry (at the end, naturally). This was always going to be a moving finale. It’s been marvellous to have Tennant back – and we may yet see him again. But, as seen in that prolonged glimpse of Gatwa’s jubilant Doctor – not just regenerated but rejuvenated by his earlier self’s time kicking back and relaxing with Donna – more exciting times really do seem to be afoot. Roll on Christmas Day.
