The futuristic control room of the TARDIS with lots of buttons and flashing lights.

Liv Thomson

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

In the final episode of this epic three-part series of Doctor Who specials, it’s finally time to say goodbye …or is it?

The Return Of Some Familiar Faces

‘The Giggle’ picks up right where ‘Wild Blue Yonder‘ left off, with the Doctor and Donna desperately trying to figure out why the whole world has seemingly gone mad. It’s not long before they discover that this global phenomenon is the evil work of a nemesis that writer Russell T Davies refers to as a “god of games.”

Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) is the Toymaker: an old, classic, and very deadly enemy. This dastardly villain first appeared in 1966, in ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ episode.

Alongside other familiar faces, such as Kate Lethbridge Stewart (Gemma Redgrave), Bonnie Langford returns as former companion to the sixth and seventh Doctors, Melanie Bush. Mel left the TARDIS 36 years ago, and this is her first time back by the Doctor’s side since. She now works with Kate at UNIT — certainly a pairing to be reckoned with.

Expect The Unexpected

‘The Giggle’ maintains the electricity, pace and stakes of the previous two instalments of Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary trilogy, making for an exceptional finale.

The puppet show is a great feature in the gothic-horror-esque sequence inside the Toymaker’s lair. Here, the Doctor is stripped bare as his losses are played out with dolls. While the Doctor may try to deny it, it’s impossible to ignore the toll these tragedies have taken on him. It’s a credit to Tennant’s acting capabilities, not just in this episode, but in every episode of Doctor Who in which he has starred.

One welcome surprise is a dance sequence to rival the Master’s (Sacha Dhawan) in ‘The Power of the Doctor’ finale last year.

This time, it’s not ‘Rasputin’ by Boney M, but ‘Spice Up Your Life’ by the Spice Girls, making for the brilliant blend of hilarity and horror that so vividly captures what The Toymaker is all about.

The Toymaker also alludes to a game they played, and won, with the Master, before trapping them in their gold tooth. This tooth is then retrieved at the end of the episode by a female red-nailed hand — who could this be? Undoubtedly, this is a reference to the last time the Master’s subconscious was trapped in an item and later found. I bet this isn’t the last we hear of this.

Introducing The Fifteenth Doctor

Fans emotionally prepared themselves for a painful goodbye to David Tennant as the Doctor, for the second time in fifteen years. But if we’ve learned anything from these three specials, it’s that Russell T Davies has a fresh vision for the show. With that comes the fruition of an old Time Lord myth, that sees Tennant bi-generate into Ncuti Gatwa. Two Doctors! There’s never been a regeneration like it before.

“‘The Giggle’ is Doctor Who at its finest”

After the announcement way back in May 2022, Gatwa finally stepped into the role of the fifteenth incarnation of the Doctor. He is a dynamic presence: witty, dramatic and incredibly personable. While ‘The Giggle’ is not his story as such, he doesn’t let that stop him from making an incredible first impression. It’s a promise of what’s to come.

While not as visually and technically impressive as ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, ‘The Giggle’ is perhaps Doctor Who at its finest. Featuring a classic villain, destruction, humour, and the Doctor and their friends working to save the world, it follows the show’s blueprint. This is the secret behind Doctor Who‘s more than 60 years of success. Russell T Davies doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. His execution of new things is certainly bold and is sure to ruffle feathers, but ultimately, the formula remains the same. It likely always will.

The Doctor’s Enduring Appeal

“People come and go through the TARDIS doors, but Donna is always the person the Doctor comes home to”

While ‘The Giggle’ delivers an hour of weird and wonderful television, it stays true to the more intimate narrative of Doctor Who. This is clear in the episode’s ending, more specifically, at the end of the story of the Fourteenth Doctor.

The Doctor and Donna’s relationship is unlike many before, for one simple reason: it has an enduring appeal. People come and go through the TARDIS doors, but Donna is always the person the Doctor comes home to. After all the tumultuous things that have happened in the time they’ve been apart, the Doctor needs time to rest with his family and his best friend in the whole universe.

Davies delivers this sentiment in beautifully crafted scenes. It is a wholesome and fulfilling end to their journey, and also spreads the wonderful message that it’s okay to slow down and take time to heal. More importantly, it leaves the door open for a future return.

Who knows what could happen? This is Doctor Who, after all.

Doctor Who will return on Christmas Day with ‘The Church on Ruby Road’, starring Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor and Millie Gibson as new companion Ruby Sunday.

Catch up on every episode now on BBC iPlayer and Disney+.

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Featured image courtesy of Charlie Seaman on Unsplash. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.

Just another argumentative antithetical dream girl trying her best to make her sentences pretty. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology and is currently pursuing a Master's in broadcast journalism.

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