Spoiler Alert
After a good start to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary, where I reviewed the first of three specials, the next one, “The Wild Blue Yonder,” sadly doesn’t raise the bar. It’s a surreal episode, and as for the third, “The Giggle,” that’s going to be an episode returning showrunner Russel T. Davies must have had a hard time writing. The result is neither nostalgia ridden or forward thinking.
It doesn’t feel like a full return to form when all fans got is the return of a few characters, like The Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris. There should’ve been more acknowledgement of the past rather than simply recycling and retconning characters (namely Davros in the latest Children in Need special). The return of Mel is nice, but what about the others? And why does U.N.I.T. headquarters look like the Avengers Tower?
This headmaster missed an opportunity to recognise all 60 years and fill in the gaps when the Doctor was hit with a huge blaster! He could’ve suddenly reverse regenerated or have a moment where his entire life flashed before his eyes to answer those questions. That way, all of his past incarnations could’ve made an apperance. And to have the faces of past companions give their farewell would have done a better job at acknowledging all that history! A few lines here and there isn’t enough to acknowledge all that history. The specials just didn’t feel like an anniversary when there’s very little said about how long this Time Lord has been around.
And after consulting the Internet, I agree that “The Church on Ruby Road” is too similar to the episode “Rose.” Had there been a different concept to acknowledge the holiday, I’d be eating up this episode with more gusto than say, “Uh, that was a letdown.”
What I offer in this late review is how I feel these episodes connect after seeing all four of these specials together in one sitting. Thankfully, this holiday episode doesn’t burden viewers with a grander story arc, and only teases. We’re introduced to Mrs. Flood, a character hook that will have me watching this series rather than deciding not to. Now if she’s The Master instead of any other fan theory out there, consider my mind blown!
And although Millie Gibson‘s character is similar to that of Rose (Billie Piper), her origin story has enough moments to make me think there’s more to her than meets the eye. Her abandonment at the orphanage makes for a great hook and I believe this grandmotherly figure knows something we don’t! And as for whether Ruby’s abandonment is a retread of Disney’s animated movie, Meet the Robinsons, only time will tell.
And in what I’ve seen so far, Ncuti Gatwa brings the same eccentric vibrancy as Tennant’s version, and I’m sure that after this performer finally hangs up the trousers, fans will remember this iteration for that smile. Just how he presents himself is at least better than Hugh Grant in Dungeons and Dragons the Movie. That is, the way he asserts himself isn’t too out of place when compared to Grant who wants to be sparkly in an otherwise medieval world.
Plus, that synergy he has with Ruby Sunday (Gibson) is smoking. It’s rare to feature Doctor and companion connect like they have, and unlike the Doctor Who Fox Movie, what’s presented as a potential love interest works better than to spring it to viewers as a surprise.
Until the season is out in full force, there’s some mystery to why this girl got abandoned by her biological mother. She may well be the next Donna Noble, a conundrum who holds secrets about what lies beyond time and space (if the second special is any indication). And to learn why that is so is the reason I’ll be watching instead of skipping this Disney era of Doctor Who.
Doctor Who 60th Anniversary and Christmas Special Teaser
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