The Giggle – Big Blue Box Writing Team Review

Since we recorded our Round Table review of the first two 60th Anniversary episodes the writers have been itching to get their thoughts and reviews down for the final story The Giggle. Let’s do this, Who fans…

Harry

The Giggle wasn’t bad. I continue to be impressed with “Disney Who’s” incredible production values. I loved seeing Mel back. Ncuti Gatwa is immediately loveable as Doctor Who. Neil Patrick Harris was superb. The stuff with the moving puppets was creepy.

However, I’d be lying however if I said it was largely a disappointing episode. There didn’t feel like enough presence from the Toymaker and all the associated weirdness of the games and the celestial, unexplainable happening. I expected way more variety, way more chaos, and way more… time! More time for the Toymaker and an actor such as Neil Patrick Harris to make an impact. This character is the most powerful being in the known and unknown universe, and he’s dealt with in under an hour’s television.

This was a real missed opportunity to bring back one of the Doctor’s greatest enemies and make them truly formidable. In his first appearance in 1966, he was nearly impossible to beat. In the Toymaker’s return, he seems like more of a walk in the park for the Doctor. I can only hope that they bring him back and rectify this if they can find time before they inevitably bring back the Master from the Toymaker’s golden tooth.

Aside from this, there is the bi-generation of the Doctor. The whole thing doesn’t annoy me as such, I just wonder what the implications are of having David Tennant’s Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor in the same universe knocking about. It is intriguing to think what they might do with this idea but I definitely feel more apprehension around it than excitement. And dramatically, I don’t think 14 settling down on Earth being ‘happier than ever’ really works, considering 15 is simply gonna go off and having adventures. Bearing in mind, that he’s literally the same Doctor, is he not just essentially continuing to ‘run away’ from all his problems?

Like I say, this isn’t a bad episode by any stretch. But it is certainly the weakest and most baffling of the three 60th-anniversary specials.

Maria

The Giggle was such an intriguing title that I am glad it’s finally revealed. There was a lot of good stuff about this episode but who in their right mind would look at Stooky Bill and decide yes, I want to buy him? What were you thinking of Charles and John Logie Baird? I did love that twisting of history however to suit the Toymaker’s aim. The shop and endless corridors were suitably creepy and Donna’s encounter with Stooky Sue and the Babbies and the Doctor’s discovery of Charlie as a puppet with strings was a memorable blend of horror for adults and children alike. Donna’s rhyme “well my name’s Donna and Stooky Sue you’re a goner” and she then pulled and kicked the demon doll to touch had me cheering.

Neil Patrick Harris played The Toymaker sublimely with the right level of menace He seemed so irritating initially with the cod German accent accentuating his language and mocking Charlie but in the context that he is playing with humanity, it makes sense that he uses a broad range of negativity of the human race against them. The changing of accents was an interesting playful choice for the Toymaker. “They shout, they type and they cancel” so everyone is right. You’ve got to love Russell T Davies he doesn’t hold back on the ire against keyboard warriors. Twitter and the internet have always had their venomous back corners where it’s better not to engage.

I do have to mention one of my favourite scenes The Toymaker arriving at UNIT with a flourish dancing to the Spice Girls. It could have seemed cringey for him to come in like that but he stepped back from what was a well-directed grand entrance The Toymaker was utterly savage throwing Kate against the wall, spinning Mel to the floor and killing the UNIT personnel. He isn’t human and there isn’t any humanity. Mentioning the final game, the ball game this is where I thought the ideas ran out of steam a bit. The power of The Toymaker was so evident being able to change bullets to rose petals, imprisoning those unlucky to lose to him. I mean The Toymaker held the Master in a gold tooth! He moved through time with an ease that a mere game of catch seemed below The Toymaker’s more usual complex games. The Toymaker definitely deserved a two-parter so I hope he returns at some point.

I wanted so much to see Kate Lethbridge Stewart get a larger role and I was glad that we got the chance to see Kate in a different light hugging the Doctor and then when she’s out of control. She seemed more human than I’d seen in ages.

Mel Bush from Pease Pottage, or now Melanie, was a lovely surprise. Bonnie Langford has grown up to be a calmer character who is using the equipment she should as a computer programmer and Mel is employed by UNIT (I smell a role in a spin-off?) Russell gave us more about Mel in five minutes than we ever knew in the 1980’s.

Regarding the bi-generation, I’m not sure how I feel about it. It is in no way as bad as The Timeless Children but still a lot to consider. It’s unusual to see the 14th Doctor being pushed and pulled, almost like childbirth (I mean that’s how it comes across) so the 15th Doctor appears. I hope to be honest it’s a one-off as a regeneration scene and only because of the Toymaker’s interference. Also, the 15th Doctor was in a white shirt and boxies! I mean it was too distracting watching him but I don’t doubt that Ncuti is going to exclude his doctor with charm and fun. That huge smile and confidence that he exudes are captivating.

Someone said in a recent podcast that these three specials have been about identity and I think that is such an interesting concept. Donna found her memories, Rose her daughter found her true self and the 14th Doctor found the reason why his face came back and who he needed to be. I mean the Toymaker showed him with the puppet show. All the losses he endured. When the 14th Doctor said he loved Sarah Jane I felt the emotion coming from David Tennant.

I said in the recent round table that I wasn’t ready to let the 14th Doctor go so I’m glad that he got a happy ending. Somehow, I don’t see him ready to stay on Earth permanently but who knows? David Tennant and Catherine Tate have been superb in these specials. David Tennant has grown as an actor since he was the 10th Doctor and I loved the subtle differences of the 14th Doctor. There was a definite difference between the two incarnations as well as the similarities. I don’t mind that the 14th Doctor is still around but this does leave a bit of a dilemma if Earth’s in trouble in the future as to why he doesn’t step in.
Russell T Davies or perhaps Disney didn’t want Ncuti’s Doctor to be burdened by all the back history of Doctor Who (I mean there is 60 years) so this draws a line under the past and is a soft fresh start going into Season 1 for him. The 15th Doctor’s companion will be Ruby and new adventures.

Jordan

Firstly, I loved The Giggle. It was fun and imaginative and really creative, honouring what the show has been for the last sixty years while looking to the future and giving us a taste of what is to come. David Tennant and Catherine Tate put in amazing final performances, Tennant in particular has never been better in the role squaring up opposite Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker. Harris was fantastic in the role too, easily taking what Michael Gough did in 1966 and giving it a modern spin, though I’m not sure about Russell T. Davies’ decision that he should be racist because of his costume from 1966. However fun he was, the puppet scene was amazing, like a warped Pinocchio and Donna felt like he’d borrowed heavily from films like Coraline but it worked brilliantly.

There were plenty of nods to the show’s history. Not including UNIT and the return of Bonnie Langford as Mel, we had mentions of Amy Pond, Clara, Bill, Mavic Chen, The Key To Time, the Guardians and Logopolis to name a few. But it’s the ending of the episode that really wraps up the last sixty years, with the Doctor having worn himself out so much that he realizes he finally needs a family and Donna is happy to accept him into hers. Seeing the Doctor so happy at the end, while the next Doctor flies away was a great way of looking to the future, though continuity-wise things might get a little confusing. Is the Fourteenth Doctor going to turn into the Curator? Does that mean that we’ll have more two-Doctor stories in the future? Or is he having a TARDIS, Russell’s get-out-of-jail-free card so that whenever something bad happens, the Tennant Doctor can be somewhere else?

The Bi-Regeneration is no doubt going to be divisive, but remember it’s Bi as in Binary, so two incarnations of the same Time Lord can exist at the same time. That scene in particular was enormous fun with Ncuti Gatwa instantly stealing the rest of the show and I hope that level of performance will keep up. I also liked that there was none of the post-regeneration stuff, he just got stuck in and helped to save the day. Gatwa looks set to be a great incarnation of the Doctor heading into Christmas Day.

No matter where the show goes and wherever Russell and Gatwa take it, the future looks bright and promising. The Giggle was the perfect wrap-up for not only the 2005-2023 era but also the show since it began in 1963. Ever since the Doctor and his granddaughter fled Gallifrey to see the stars, what he’s really been seeking is a family, saving people and planets and taking on companions so that he can feel that family unit he’s always wanted. It’s a brilliant end to an era that started as a mild curiosity in a junkyard while looking to a destiny that is in the stars…

Matt

Well, here we are again, how did the specials go by that fast? It seems only yesterday we were typing away, giving you our hopes and dreams for the trio of 60th-anniversary specials. In the blink of an eye, we’ve said goodbye (again) to David Tennant and hello to the enigmatic 15th Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. Here are a few of my thoughts on The Giggle:

The Toymaker

Every so often some roles come along that seem almost made for the actor portraying them and The Toymaker is most certainly one of them. Neil Patrick Harris is mesmerising in his portrayal of the immortal celestial entity, seemingly effortlessly combining the fun with the downright chilling. I thought the way the Toymaker used his eerie laugh to turn the whole world mad was an ingenious idea and showcased a lesser-known part of history from the creation of television perfectly. Hats off to RTD here as not many showrunners could intertwine a camp pop classic from The Spice Girls with brutal murder successfully, but somehow, he manages just that.

I absolutely adore the spookier turn Doctor Who has taken, especially with the last two specials. Wild Blue Yonder flipped the script and took things into an almost horror-like tone, with disturbing scenes and even the occasional jump scare or two. While things stay rather sinister in The Giggle, the darker moments are woven in with the sadistic humour that NPH so wonderfully brings to life as the Toymaker.
Don’t even get me started on how damn creepy Stooky Bill, Stooky Sue and her babies are. As is the case with a lot of people, I am creeped out by dolls, it’s something about that blank stare that unnerves people, needless to say, the creepiness of those scenes landed perfectly for me.

Trinity Wells.. just kidding, Tennant & Tate

Whilst I’m on the subject, I thought all the little nods to the show’s past were charming, from the TARDIS being airlifted by UNIT, the mention of Sabalom Glitz, to the former AMNN news anchor herself, Trinity Wells!

When David Tennant and Catherine Tate agreed to return to Doctor Who after 13 years, there were the occasional murmurs from certain critics of ‘can they still pull it off?’ or ‘will this tarnish what has come before?’, well to say they smashed it would be doing the actors a disservice. From the moment the dynamic duo stepped back on our screens, I was enthralled. Continuing as if they’d never been away, but perfectly portraying a slightly different Doctor and Donna than previously seen, having been shaped by the years apart.

What a flex and victory lap it is to come back to a show they left 13 years ago and not only captivate the audience with a stellar performance but also, in my opinion, produce some of the best episodes of Doctor Who in years. Echoing the Tenth Doctor, I don’t want them to go!

Ncuti Gatwa

The time has come when Ncuti Gatwa; star of Sex Education, will now read, Ncuti Gatwa; star of Doctor Who and just like the proverbial star, didn’t he SHINE! Bursting into the second half of the episode, Gatwa steals the show with the immediate air of a light, fun & charismatic Doctor. Moving away from the traditional regeneration process, The Doctor “bi-generated” leaving the 14th Doctor healed but not gone, meaning the 14th and 15th Doctors can co-exist and together they can defeat the Toymaker by winning his game. Ncuti and David work wonderfully together, the pair bounce off each other so naturally, every scene was an absolute joy to watch.

Whilst this major cannon-altering move has certainly been divisive between fans, I rather like it. I don’t think it takes anything away from Gatwa’s Doctor, in actual fact, by having the 14th Doctor effectively ‘retire’ to process and heal, I think it’ll be an interesting take to see Ncuti’s Doctor slightly move away from all the trauma that haunts them and be able to explore the universe without such a heavy heart.

In Closing

All in all, I think The Giggle was a damn near perfect episode in my opinion, it had me laughing, tense, emotional, and above all else, happy. It was a fitting and well-deserved ending for Tennant’s Doctor and the Noble family, and I can safely say that by the end of the episode, I was left immensely excited for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor to take control of the TARDIS and all the amazing adventures to come. Doctor Who is firmly in safe hands. Roll on Christmas Day!

Thank You Writers

A big thank you to our awesome writers and their thoughts on The Giggle. As a group, that’s our last outing of 2023, believe it or not! We’ll be back with our January Round Table to review the Christmas Day Special – The Church on Ruby Road. From all of us… we wish you a very Happy Christmas. Stay safe, be amazing and we all hope you get to do something (and have numerous presents) Doctor Whooooooooo… related!