More videos breaking down The Giggle are now live! Easter eggs and references: ua-cam.com/video/RyLixd9BbPE/v-deo.html Spoiler discussion: ua-cam.com/video/4XnKKn0GB18/v-deo.html
I think people are missing the main take away here: when the Bi-generation happened 14's clothing was divided between them and 15 got the underwear, so 14 spent that entire time commando
This episode had a horror element, a sci fi element, a history element, a cosmic wonder element, an interpersonal familial element. This episode had everything Dr Who has been known for
I particularly enjoyed the implication kate and Donna's employment negation made: if you've traveled with the doctor, unit will pay you WHATEVER your price.
UNIT respects The Doctor’s judgement. If he picked you to travel with him, and you survived, you’re worth hiring. Now, they’re limited by those who are on Earth in the 21st century, and some of those might be independent operators like Graham and Ryan.
I don't mind the bigeneration. I instantly assumed the 14th would become "The Curator". The 50th special introduced him and was stated he was the doctor who retired, and now the 60th showed his origin. To me, The Doctor wouldn't willing retire knowing there were people out there that needed help, but now with the bigeneration 14th can retire and become The Curator and live a "peaceful" (for The Doctor) life, and the 15th Doctor can continue saving the universe.
"I instantly assumed the 14th would become "The Curator"." - BLOW ME... I NEVER CONSIDERED THAT! I am not sure how I feel about the Bi-geneartion... I like how people have theorised how and why it happened... I will get used to it... Though I will say it was an amazing introduction for Nchuti... I dont know the actors previous work, and with Doctor Who - I try to view it on that initial feel when they appear as The Doctor... and HE SOLD ME RIGHT AWAY! He is going to make a GREAT DOCTOR!
I thought that 14th will become The Valeyard. Yes, now he is happy, but remember the curse of the time lord. Imagine that all your friends are dying. It could drive you mad. But also appreciate your theory
Makes me wonder she shows some signs of retaining fragments of the Doctor's memories, can she recall bigger things from his past like strategies and what not maybe that's why she appears to not get scared easily in this.
I think Wilf shooting moles at the end isn't a reference to the Wombles, but to the fact that, one time when RTD tried to call Bernard Cribbins on the phone, Bernard's wife Jill replied that he couldn't speak at the moment as he was shooting moles. It's a bit of an obscure reference, but it can be found in the obituary to Bernard Cribbins in Doctor Who Magazine issue 581.
I liked how it paid off Tennant’s seemingly bitter frustration in his first regeneration. He wasn’t ready to go, and wanted to do so much more. This time he was ready to let go and move on, but kinda poetically: he was allowed to have his happy ending after saving the world.
You forgot one .... the partial regeneration that led to the creation of a double, who got to live happily with Rose Tyler for the rest of his life while Dr #10 soldiered on saving the universe for another season!
@edcollins9377, that's true. Unfortunately we don't know what's going on in that universe on screen at least. I don't know if they use it in books or other forms of storytelling.
@edcollins9377 it was a weird episode to see a half human doctor. I suppose David is the 21st century equivalent to Tom's doctor of the 20th century fan favorite. I grew up watching Tom's 4th doctor incarnation on what used to be called WOR tv channel 9 in NYC, and then PBS stations aired him as well and the other doctors.
@@edcollins9377 With the bi generation, that means 10 and 14 had vanity issues since they both went through a partial regeneration but didn't change. Lol.
Also, how lovely that Donna's story comes full circle. Following on from her advice to the Doctor at the end of The Runaway Bride ("Sometimes you need somebody to stop you."), she's the person who gets him to stop running and build a 'found family' on Earth.
and she invites him for christmas dinner that first time and he doesn't come to him being at the table on just a random summer day clearly at home...ugh, so lovely
I really thought this line was going to crop back up! "I think you need someone to stop you. To tell you when you've done enough." now has such a BEAUTIFUL double meaning and I can't believe they didn't directly reference it, but I think I'm glad they didn't??
There's a brief line where Ncuti tells Tennant that he's whole and healthy because Tennant took the time to get whole and healthy. Time Lords doing therapy out of order. Makes me think that when Tennant dies, his regeneration will pull him out of spacetime and drop him in his past, back at the 60th anniversary, to the moment Ncuti appeared. Its not that there are 2 Doctors now...technically as a time traveler all his incarnations are around at all times, its that the regeneration happened out of order. Personally I like this.
This is perhaps the best explanation I've seen to date... But now it needs to be done. I forever feel with RTD the fan theories or head canon are way better. So to avoid this any spin off would need to have this pay off perhaps?
@@duckypresents ya I'm hoping if Tennant is a recurring guest star or, god forbid, a regular cast member in a UNIT spinoff, that eventually he decides to quit/leave the show and they regenerate him then and go full circle. Hoping. We'll see what they do I guess.
What a missed opportunity that the final game wasn’t “Guess Who” Would have been such a great way to give homage to all the past companions. The toy maker could have had a field day with this game
Could be an interesting premise for if they were to bring the toymaker back (with his Legions comings it’s plausible). Gives Ncuti a chance to be emotional and how he remembers all the companions whilst his new companion will be witness to what the doctors life is like.
@@jordanmcculloch1169 I thought they were his minions tbh but a pantheon of gods may be cooler to have for story’s going ahead involving different gods/celestials
@@tgiacin435 Agreed... but of course, considering the whole "Timeless Child" arc, this could be the set up to imply that The Doctor is one of those "gods/celestials". A way to try to "retcon" The Doctor back into something we already know about partly within already existing canon. In fact, I remember someone somewhere online suggesting years ago that The Doctor could not be a Timelord at all but one of those beings in Timelord form (much like the Toymaker in human form). Since The Doctor is now not a Timelord but something else, well, 🤷...
A sly, cunning, evil force. From the underuniverse. Winning or losing. A villain the doctor has alas come across after ages. Ages. And. It loses. A game. Of catch....
This was the best episode in a long long time, Neil Patrick Harris was just outstanding in his role and it felt like everyone else upped their game accordingly. Ncuti Gatwa also did a great job, I felt like he just slipped straight into the role, here's hoping he gets some great stories and writing that he can make the most of.
a myth that had never been mentioned in the past. Bi regeneration was just terrible writing. Most of the special was terribly written apart from the second one.
@@EyeSpyFire I dont know, perhaps any of the situations that occurred in the past 60 years worth of discussing regeneration, or how the doctor fears regeneration or how the doctors companions fear his regeneration, or when any of the villains whose aims are to kill the doctor discuss the possibility of him regenerating. Plenty of oppurtunity. Im not blaming Russel T Davies, im blaming the primary school aged children who are shadow writing for him.
@@Coryod1909 Why would it be relevant in any of those situations? He's dying and says to his companions "Oh btw there's a chance i'll split into two people, it's never happened before but it's a timelord myth so there's a chance right?". As SuperCrazyfin said, it would be right that it came up when the meta crisis happened I think that would of been appropriate so i'll take back my point on that anyway. Still though even in that situation, the doctor didn't really have the opportunity to talk about how that happened, he asked Donna what happened and Donna answered for him.
I think that with Ncuti saying something about “the Toymakers energy still lingering” means that rather than it being linked to regeneration it was more that 14s prize was for him to go back to his dimension, and 15s prize was to duplicate the TARDIS.
23:08 If you listen closely, you can hear the soldiers hit the ground with a *thud* when he says “Still falling.” I was watching this with my best friend and he had his subtitles on and there is an actual thud. I also slightly heard it too.
Did anyone else laugh at that? Also the very Rick and Morty-esque death of the soldiers that turned into screaming balls, with the Doctor immediately saying "they're dead I'm so sorry"
At 29:03 I think there IS logic to the tooth being left behind. The Doctors' prize was to banish the Toymaker from existence. The tooth isn't the Toymaker himself; it's The Master, so by the rules it stays behind while the Toymaker disappears :)
@@JacktheRah I don't agree tbh. The clothes were just how the Toymaker presented himself. He wasn't "wearing clothes" as much as he was appearing to have clothes on. They were just representations of how he wanted to appear, rather than clothes he found and put on. The tooth was somewhat different in that, though the Toymaker also wore the gold tooth, it was itself its own being (being the master) and wouldn't vanish if it's just the Toymaker himself being banished. That's my interpretation of the logic anyway. Hopefully it makes sense!
I just realized on a rewatch of the giggle the significance of the 14th Doctor not wearing the running shoes after the Bi-generation signifying his end to running. I love the level of detail put into this show.
Interestingly, after "The Split" the Closed Captioning identified Tennant's 14th Doctor as "Tenth Doctor" whenever he spoke while still atop the UNIT building.
@@whatspoppingproductions technically they both should be the Fiftheenth Doctor imo. Fourteen still regenerated. Glowy face and everything. He just regenerated into twins. But if we're supposed to take this as Canon and he is the Tenth again MAN this man spreads himself wide. Tenth, Handy, Fourteen, Tenth-Again... you can almost man a Power Rangers Team just with David Tennant-Doctors. Completely if you include the Doctor Donna. (His Daughterwife can be the Green Ranger.)
@@RotalHenricssoni think it was just miscommunication between the captioners and the writers, they probably didn’t know what to make of david tennant being back let alone the scene itself. it’s confirmed though that he is still the 14th doctor and at the end of his life, he’ll return to that moment as Ncuti
Sean, Thank you mate. I am physically disabled myself with multiple conditions, all of which are not visable to those around me. And I cannot tell you how often people refuse to believe I am disabled. I've been doing advocacy work for over 15 years lobbying my government for better treatment and assistance for the disabled and it is heart breaking to see how hard people have to struggle to have their conditons recognized. So thank you so much for speaking about it. I loved the episode, I loved NPH as a kind of evil version of Q and I loved Ncuti's intro. Doctor Who has a fresh burst of life in it and I can't wait for Christmas. Great job @WhoCulture!
I'm also the victim of multiple invisible disabilities. Well done with all your advocacy. I've finally received government funding for myself and my daughters after many years of advocacy but some people still don't understand how multiple disabilities have a significant impact whether the disabilities can be seen or not.
Thank you for lobbying wherever it is you are, as someone with a pretty severe yet frustratingly not visable disability myself, I truly appreciate any and all efforts to help with the poor treatment and lack of assistance found unfortunately everywhere ❤
My dearly departed fiancée was disabled. We once got accused of using a fake handicap pass because both of us could walk. Oh did my fiancée go all Donna on that woman!🤣 Yeah, she could walk, but not for long distances without assistance. I always let her push the shopping cart so she’d have something to hold onto.
There was a nice little call back in that scene at the end, when the Doctor was telling the story involving the race that communicated with their eyebrows. In Pertwee's first episode (Spearhead from Space), there is a scene where he is examining his new face in a mirror, and remarks how flexible it was and how that could come in handy on their planet.
The TARDIS splitting into two made sense to me because it was what the Toymaker owed Ncuti and was a result of his lingering powers -- since he won too and deserved a prize.
Did people catch the Toymaker saying he made a “jigsaw puzzle” of the Doctor’s life? It was such a throwaway, but I thought that was a wonderful way of explaining all of the inconsistencies in the show, including Ruth and The Timeless Child.
I caught it, and I love the twist. Toymaker has the power to reshape reality and play with the Doctor’s past. Interesting to think Timeless Child is a manipulation.
I think now that this bigeneration happened that one of 2 things could happen 1. Tennant’s doctor could go mad when something tragic happens to the Nobles and his new family and he becomes the Master or 2. Loki could come to the universe and being the God of mischief he makes Tennants doctor to start messing with the new doctor and then we find out that Loki is actually the master in disguise.
Would be nice if UA-cam added an option to enable dislike counts. Heck, disable it by default if you want. We need basic functionality. Extensions shouldn’t be doing your jobs.
Can I just say what a joy Ncuti Gatwa is? I am ALWAYS reticent about the new Doctor, but he won me over the second he took Tennant in his arms and said "I got you." I was like, yes, he's the Doctor. He is someone who just lights up a room. Capaldi will always be my #1 (Smith, to date, is #2) but I am looking forward to what Ncuti will offer us. I'm excited to see where we go from here. BRAVO RTD, you won me back from when I walked away (I thought permanently till now) from the dregs of the Chibnal era!
One thing that people need to understand about RTD is that he's predominately a drama & soap writer; due to this he tends to focus on emotional journeys within Doctor Who stories. This is why you often get the cited complaint of how his stories are "simple" or rely on "contrivances". He tends to be rather loose when it comes to plot threads and story details, but he creates emotional groundwork for everything within a story arch. Bigeneration and everything surrounding it may not have been set up in the story, but it was definitely set up emotionally. If you're looking at purely the story beats you're going to think bigeneration was pulled from a wormhole, but if you've more been following the emotional journey of the 14th Doctor, you really should've seen something like this coming.
I for one am fine with that. The one thing I got tired of last few years was watching the emotional beats get blown past or cut short to serve the overblown plotting. Getting all the emotional moments with just enough time to breathe in this episode left me genuinely happy (and crying). Ncuti's appearance was pure joy from the first moments for me because he was instantly so expressive and emotionally driven. He's the Doctor Uplifted, he literally left behind a lot of his emotional baggage, and was a new man ready to face the universe and help his friends (and literally his own self).
@@InappropriateFabOn the contrary, I think the decision to use bigeneration is going to allow for Ncuti’s debut arc to be a lot less emotionally taxing. I’m all for RTD’s decision-making here!
Ngl I think this was probably the best of the three. Patrick Harris was amazing. Ncuti Gatwa sold me on the fact that he was the doctor in a matter of minutes
The Toy Maker was like a cross between The Joker from Batman and Q from Star Trek. Neil Patrick Harris was awesome as The Toy Maker. I absolutely enjoyed this episode.
Really glad that second down wasn't just me. Not only was it to a room full of his friends and allies (supposedly), but there have been so many monologues by the doctor over the years about how much he loves the human race. I think I remember a few monologues that were even able to acknowledge the bad and still rejoice in the good. This just made me wonder why the heck the doctor was even bothering to save humans over and over again if he always held that much bitterness.
I also found it very interesting that the toymaker mentioned there was one person he didn't dare challenge to a game neglecting to elaborate further. I imagine that that too will come back in some fashion.
The Toymaker named it The One Who Waits. That sounds like a being that will send minions to poke and prod throughout the season until the Doctor walks into its plan in the last few episodes.
@@13g0man I took it to be a reference to the Marvel Loki series. The one who remains. The various franchises have given nods to each other before. Since it was done with Disney, I imagined they were ok with it.
River officially died in an episode that Donna was present for. So, of course The Toymaker wouldn't include her. He's trying to show her what bad fates befell those since her. Basically that his track record regarding his "duty of care" had fallen dramatically since they parted ways. Hence why he probably didn't mention Yaz and Co, though I do think she should have at least gotten a name-drop.
Why would the Toymaker ever mention Yaz, Ryan, Graham and Dan? They are stilll alive. It's not that far into the future after Jodie regenerated into David, or is it? Was there an accident killing 13th Doctor's companions? I wonder.
I didn't mean mentioned by the Toymaker. Just a name-drop from one of the two Doctors in some way would have been nice. But as you said, it wasn't that long ago and not wholly necessary enough to spoil the episode.@@Croftice1
Sean, as an ambulatory wheelchair user myself, I massively appreciate your little monologue on how disability isn’t just one thing, from the bottom of my heart thank you for that, and as for Ruth Madeley I cannot wait to see more of her as we both share the same condition being Spina Bifida and as I said an ambulatory user, and I absolutely adore her character she’s just amazing and hopefully with the ramp we’ll see her in the TARDIS quite a lot, but what I’m trying to say is thank you for that small section of the video
And in that scene when Mel and Donna are holding his hands, You hear the music for "You were fantastic, Rose. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I"
I loved that the 15th Doctor hugged the 14th and said "I've got you" and that they are both men. As men we don't do that often enough for each other. If, as you rightly say, there's an element of self-care here here, it's also about expressing care for each other
Yeah i already feel like he might be one of the more affectionate doctors. And maybe even a bit more emotionally open now that 14 has taken time to heal and process
This was an amazing episode. The Celestial Toymaker was a top tier villain. Bravo NPH. The funhouse was proper creepy. The play with the puppets showing the companions all dying was 👌. I know it’s gonna be contreversal but the bi-reneregation is such a fun direction for the show. I was so happy to see this face get to be part of Donna’s family and be totally content at the end. David Tennant’s Doctor was the most human of all The Doctors after all.
@sw-gs Because it's a mouthful, not because it's a different character. The Doctor offering to take him across the stars and saying how they could be celestial seemed like a pretty obvious nod.
I think the scene when Kate asks where are my staff and the Toymaker they are still falling is more horrific because if you listen carefully just after the Toymaker says that I'm sure you hear the thud of the bodies hitting the ground. 😮
This is why I watch Doctor Who. 2 / Troughton said it best, with a friendly gleam in his eye: "That's the exciting thing! There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing." The secret: "we" is not just the Doctor and companions. It includes us, the fans! We can! We get to go with all the Doctors if we want to. Been enjoying it for 42 years, and it STILL surprises me. It's an insane, incoherent metamyth with a great big wholesome heart and I love it, and can't wait to see what happens next.
I think something interesting to think about here: One of the major story telling through lines of RTD's first era was the idea that the Doctor will not always be on Earth to protect it. What then? And we saw RTD explore several things based on this idea, like the Master spending a full year taking over the Earth and the Doctor just not even noticing. We also got several spinoff shows based on that idea. This time though, RTD is taking a different approach. The Doctor will always be on Earth now, because there's 2 Doctors, one of which is semi-retired. Also, now we can have the retired Doctor possible go back in time and live out a life as the Curator we saw in the 50th. Since the Curator was wearing an older face, it would make sense that he comes from 14 regenerating again, who's maybe still nostalgic for old faces. I had a really hard time imagining Matt Smith eventually retiring and becoming the Curator, but I can 100% see Tennant now that he's retired doing it instead, especially since you have another Doctor still running around like the madman in the box he is. I like it. It allows us to explore both aspects of the Doctor!
Omg your comment reminded me of the "revisting some old faces but only the favorites" and it makes sense now!! Maybe 10's face was the first favorite and somewhere down the line he becomes the curator with the 4th of another of the favorites. That's a really cool idea!
I'm thinking that, while it may not happen with every regeneration, bi-regeneration may not be all that uncommon. It would explain Tom Baker as the Curator in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. The whole scene between him and Matt Smith played out as though it were two Doctors having a conversation.
Finally. FINALLY. We get to see The Doctor forgive and reassure himself as well as giving himself permission to...rest. The sheer weight of increasing emotional burden and pain that The Doctor has been carrying since the Time War, never mind Classic Who's run as well, would (arguably) make it less and less feasible to have the Doctor continue to be a positive and optimistic entity. So thank you RTD, for finding a genuinely beautiful way to allow 14th to set that burden down plus acknowledge that struggle and begin his recovery with his friends. There's an important message here too, in that if we don't look after our own well-being - emotional and/or physical - then we really aren't equipped to properly look after anyone else and may indeed, albeit unintentionally, lead us to even more mistakes, regret, misery and so the burden increases. The other opportunity 14th resolution brings us is fabulous. It makes sense that we now have a burden free 15th Doctor, and gives Ncuti the opportunity to play a Doctor who oozes with fun, charisma, optimism and adventure.
"would (arguably) make it less and less feasible to have the Doctor continue to be a positive and optimistic entity" Thats true! And we started to see the doctor turn more angry and negative with the 12th doctor and even with 14 there were moments where he seemed very angry
@@account1307 100%! 13th also struggled with forming meaningful relationships and avoided empathising with her companions. Avoidance like this makes sense as it can be a subconscious aspect of protecting yourself from potential loss or further emotional pain. Huge commendations to RTD for both spotting this emerging pattern and for finding such a relatable (self care) and fascinating way for 14th and 15th to resolve this👏👏👏
This is exactly why I didn’t understand everyone’s worries. The kind of “resolution” we got is going to allow us to enter a new era with Ncuti filled with a special kind of energy and fun. I simply can’t wait!
I loved this episode. The Doctor has seen and felt so much pain and loss, and has himself lost so much, and he's been running from that pain for so long. The Doctor deserves a rest, and deserves happiness, and now he finally gets it. While 14 gets to rest and heal, 15 will be carrying on the job of protecting the universe. I know I've seen complaints about the bi-regeneration, and complaints that Ncuti's 15 didn't get to properly shine by having an episode to himself when he debuted, but I disagree. I think he shined mightily. The impression I got is that when he separated from Tennant's 14, 15 left behind much of that guilt and pain, effectively unburdening the Doctor of much of his trauma, while 14 will go about healing from it all, and get to enjoy life with people he cares about and who care about him. In this way both Doctors get to recover, and live happier lives. If my interpretation is correct, that means the new series of Doctor Who will see a happier, more playful Doctor, which I think is a wonderful new direction for the show. It now makes sense that they are referring to the time of the 15th Doctor as series/season 1 of Doctor who, because we are getting, in effect, a brand new Doctor, in more ways than one. Not just a new face, but a revitalized, renewed Doctor. I cry tears of joy knowing that the Doctor is getting a much deserved rest and reward, while simultaneously going forward as a happier, healthier person. It is truly the best of both worlds for The Doctor, and I look forward to watching the Christmas Special and the new series, as well as whatever spinoffs they produce, especially if that means we get both Donna and 14 together as well as the adventures of 15. But even if we never get to see Donna and 14 again, I'm happy knowing that he is happy, and look forward to the adventures of 15 with bated breath. At least in regards to Doctor Who, we are living on the best of timelines. Now if only the rest of the world would follow suit. Thank you David Tennant and Catherine Tate for your return for these specials, and a hearty welcome to Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, and a thank you also to the rest of the cast of The Giggle. Thank you Sean for the Ups & Downs, as well as the rest of the WhoCulture crew who worked on this. Bernard Cribbins, we miss you and love you. Live Long and Prosper, and Allons-y!
The second tardis didnt spawn from regeneration powers, it was the left over magic from the toy makers realm and seeing as two doctors won the game 14th had his prize in banishing the toy maker and 15th prize was to get a new tardis, 15th even explains it in the episode 😅
I like to think that the retired doctor is the one who will eventual regenerate into the Curator "You might revisit a few, but only the favorites" and "Perhaps I was you, or perhaps you were me"
You would think that The Toymaker being a more powerful villain (one the doctor is more afraid/wary of at least) it would take more than one episode to defeat him, but if he loses the game, he loses the game. How quickly/slowly depends on how the game goes (how the writers decide to do it) and whether it’s by luck or not is irrelevant. So much plot and many episodes dedicated to war with daleks, cybermen, and the Master etc. etc. - but the toymaker just turned the Master into one of his teeth! He can just change/play with reality… I feel like though there were horror aspects (which I appreciated because they were done well) the comedic aspects sometimes overshadowed the threat and what was really going on… humanity gone mad from the giggle, we see people fighting in the street and stuff, but as this is set in the present and it affected everyone (including world leaders) wars could have started and bombs all over the place killing people over those 2 days. The Doctor even mentions the downsides of humanity.
The Toymaker didn't mention Rory because Rory was technically Amy's companion, not the Doctor's. Ryan, Graham, Dan, and Yaz left of their own accord and lived. River Song had her happy ending and sacrificing herself for the 4,022 saved people.
I love how Seán was complaining that the Toymaker didn't mention Yaz, Ryan and Graham but he left out Dan :D Also, the Doctor saying "Her consciousness lives on" for me meant a reference to the New New Earth glass people. The Doctor doesn't know about what happened to Bill with Heather and I'm glad that this episode didn't undo this tragedy of the Doctor still thinking that Bill died.
By the same logic used to include Amy, Clara and Bill's "deaths" River totally should have been included. The wife aspect could've helped the emotionality of the situation plus nice for Donna to finally know who she was
Another UP would be NPH doing all the sleight of hand himself. He's an incredibly talented guy, and magician, too. The only person with red nail polish seen in the episode (on the UNIT HQ) is Kate Stewart. A down is 15 saying he's older, when he's not. At that moment, they're exactly the same age. This will alter as they go individually on their way through time and space forever.
I think 15 saying he's older what them telling us that the doctor didn't just split into two simultaneous creatures. Instead, 15 is the regeneration after 14, with all the changes that 14 will go through throughout his life ALREADY impacting 15. Without memory, because spoilers. The line "I'm okay because you rested" confirms that imo. He was just moved back in time/back in his own timeline to coincide with the previous regeneration. So yeah, he is actually older
Someone on Twitter mentioned the leg crossing. I explained to them that I'm a support worker, and several people I support are wheelchair users, and use their legs to maneuver around their residential support home. The character crossing her legs was of no surprise to me, and once I explained this, they were happy to be corrected. Knowledge about these things is a wonderful thing, and I was happy to share. People who are labelled disabled face barriers in society that disables them - physically and by a lack of understanding.
Oh sure there'll be people rocked to their core that she stood up this week. Because disabilities definitely can't look differently on different people how can they!
Yeah, I remember I had a friend in college who had a wheelchair but could walk for brief periods of time, it looked weird when he did it and he was clearly uncomfortable but he could still walk. It comes out in different ways
Most of the time I can walk "fine" even dance run and jump mostly, yet due to fibromyalgia the more I do, the more I suffer later and have needed to use various mobility aids including wheelchairs, between physical and mental fatigue and wanting to give my body a break so I actually can move the next day or so... most wheelchair users are ambulatory to different degrees and I wish more would understand this.
Given how much I love David Tennants Doctor's I felt Ncuti Gatwa would have a hard time winning me over, but would Eventually. But that last 1/3 of the episode. The Bi-generation, the chemistry of David and Ncuti, the game of catch to hammering a new Tardis into existence. It was stupid, it was ridiculous, it was so insanely fan servicy and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. I am already sold on Ncuti and also so happy that David's Doctor still exists within the universe. Russel T Davies played a blinder!
I agree Ncuti nailed it. It takes me a bit before I feel like the new actor is The Doctor. It took over a season for me to see the twelfth as the Doctor. It took Matt Smith an entire episode before I could say he was the doctor. Even David Tennet took a few scenes in his initial appearance as the tenth for me to say, "ok. he's the doctor". But within his first line, Ncuti had me convinced he is the Doctor.
You've already stated everything I was going to say. I *love* that Tennant's doctor gets to live out a leisurely retirement (at least for now), but still has his TARDIS if he starts to feel antsy. What a perfect ending! And I loved Neil Patrick Harris in this episode. I rarely get this type of feel-good satisfaction from an episode of any show, but this one is right near the top of that small collection.
To see a Doctor regenerate and then to still BE there to see his new self and be happy enough for them both to hug each other like brothers……I LOVED that!!
Excellent review, Sean! I like your voice and you deliver a clear, entertaining and insightful message that provides complete coverage of all we need to know about the culture of Doctor Who!😀
I liked what the 15th Doctor said about them being Time Lords and doing rehab in the wrong order and that the 15th is OK because the 14th has fixed themselves (or been healed, or something along those lines.) Thus the 15th Doctor can be happy again because of the 14th's rehab life with the Mott-Noble-Temple clan. Through this "retirement" 14 has come to grips with their past and can leave behind the baggage of the Time War, Flux and the billions of lives lost over their many regenerations (some of which they caused).
Russell repeated himself very quickly, the ending is the same as Journey's End, just swapping Rose for Donna. The way he let see that The Master will return is the same way he used in Last of the Time Lords. I feel like in some season finale 14th and 15th will have to team up to defeat the master and 14th will die saying I'm ready to go or something, repeating the way he closed his first run. The redeeming feature of the episode is the performances, all very good, I think Ncuti will be a very good Doctor.
@@SleepyHarryZzz callbacks like 10th saying “I dont wanna go” at the end of the Day of the Doctor, or mention Amy, Bill and Clara are cool, bring old characters like Mel is awesome, but do the same is lazy writing or worst, been out of fresh ideas
Well I'm afraid that's been a feature of this trilogy ie Davies just rehashing old ideas and dialing up the woke a bit. Very lazy and disappointing. He can do much better than this but clearly believes he doesn't need to.
I read an article about one of the main reasons Russel came back to Who is to help him heal from the loss of his husband, who was with him during the initial run. So much of the writing is centered around loss and healing from that loss. So we might not be getting RTD's most cutting edge, innovative stuff right now, and that's ok by me. We've long been reminded that 10 and Donna were left in a terrible place, not having enough time to do all the amazing things they wanted to do (or not remembering doing them), and so it makes sense to me that Russel would give the show the space and time (heh) to fix things in that wibbly wobbly way that only Doctor Who can. They can make up arbitrary plot devices whenever they want to, and it's ok. Some twists and explanations are a bit clunkier than others (ahem... Timeless Child), and certainly in 60 years (give or take) there will definitely be lots of repetition, but it's all within the spirit of a show about a rebellious and inexplicably lucky Lord of Time gallivanting around and enjoying the entire universe.
I just found your channel recently. But, I feel like I’ve known you forever. I love the way you discuss the doctor. It’s like you’re saying what I’m thinking. I’ll be back to watch all of your videos and I’ll leave a like and comment for every one. Thank you.
I'm with Ellie, because I also cried and screamed when River Song was mentioned. Then I remembered the hand that took away the tooth and I thought, was that River's hand? Will she come back? I hope so. It's possible it's just wishfull thinking on my part. But still I'm very hapy that at least she was mentioned again after all these years
My first thought was river as well. But i would think whoever picked the tooth up is going to be on the side if the master and wants to release him. I think it's possible that it's going to be jinkx monsoon's character. After all she's said to play a villain
@@christinakohl6111 this is the second time someone mentioned that the master is in the tooth. Where did you get that from? Is it officially confirmed?
@@mihaelabanu8942 the toymakes said he found the master, played a game with him, he lost and then got sealed in that tooth for all eternity. It's in the episode
This how I see Story of Doctor Who Show Volume One Chapter 1 - First Doctor Chapter 2 - Second Doctor Chapter 3 - Third Doctor Chapter 4 - Fourth Doctor Chapter 5 - Five Doctor Chapter 6 - Sixth Doctor Chapter 7 - Seventh Doctor Epilogue - Eight Doctor Volume Two Prologue - Ninth Doctor Chapter 1 - Tenth Doctor Chapter 2 - Eleventh Doctor Chapter 3 - Twelfth Doctor Chapter 4 - Thirteenth Doctor Epilogue - Fourteenth Doctor Volume Three Chapter 1 - Fifteenth Doctor
It's hard for me to articulate this, but I really liked how much *better* Mel is portrayed here than Ace and Tegan were in Power of the Doctor. Ace and Tegan kinda just felt like they were brought in for nostalgia and not for any other reason, and the acting, writing, and directing was very low effort, whereas Mel actually felt like she had a reason to be there, and Bonnie's performance and RTD's writing didn't feel phoned in, unlike Chibnalls script and the direction for the two ladies (remember, a good actor is nothing without a good director). It's the exact same thing that happened with Sarah Jane, where she was reintroduced with a great script and care being put in from RTD. Again, I'm bad at articulating this well, but it's the same feeling I get from the COllection announcement trailers. The actors arent' putting in their best work because they dont need to, they already practically own the roles, they created them. And that's fine for some trailers for a bluray set, but when it's a full performance for an hour long TV special, then they need to bring their best. Bonnie Langford absolutely did. Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding unfortunately did not.
I have a theory about what caused the bi-generation. It was the manifestation of the feelings the Doctor had after the flux, the timeless child and after losing so many companies. those emotons literally tore him apart. Maybe that was also the reason why the face from 10 came back. It was the desire to fix at least one bad thing. I mean we had seen before that subconscious thoughts and feelings have an impact on regeneration with the 12th doctor In one scene I thought the doctor was being torn apart like confetti candy. The scene where we see the toymaker with the flashbacks was cool, as was the calback with the person who picks up the tooth with the master. and I'm looking forward to having an excuse to have as much David as we want and hoping for a sitcom family spin off called DoctorNobleTemple
It could also be because he regenerated so soon after 13 did so he grew another doctor after dying like how he grew a new hand when it was cut off in the christmas invasion
My view was that it was the toy marker’s incompatible rules. He said it was “the next doctor” who owed him the third game, but it was Tennant-doctor he agrees to it wirh and says he’ll see for it. The rules require both doctors be there.
Now that we know Bigeneration is a thing, I’m curious what that means for the Master. Does it retroactively explain why, despite Missy’s turn to the good side, yet continued evil in Sacha’s depiction? Perhaps they bigenerated at one point and we never knew, so Missy became one branch of the Master while Sacha became another?
I hope not. Bigeneration is supposed to be impossibly rare and I would hate to see the Master also randomly split into 2. Tennant Doctor always had the strong desire to remain this form which could have contributed to this bizarre regeneration, plus he's not actually Galifreyan so his regenerations could behave differently than a regular time lord.
Ncuti's legs - yes - totally agree!! I loved this episode - it had a great pace, and balanced the heartwarming moments with the horror elements. I have to say I'm loving Donna's development in these specials - my take is that she possibly retained some of the Doctor's smarts, and it seems she has accepted her place in the world, and embracing it fully. This was a perfect episode - loved the bigeneration - and Ncuti from the get go established his Doctor's character - I warmed to him very quickly. Neil Patrick Harris completely aced The Toymaker, unhinged, and insidiously evil. So much to love about this episode!! Loved your review!
Unpopular opinion, thr 14th doctor wont be the curator. The 15th doctor even said "we are doing therapy in the wrong order" thats why the 15th doctor is fine and the 14th is full of regret. They are still connected and arent separate I think when the 15th doctor regenerates he will combine with the 14th and create the 16th doctor
But doesnt that take away from Ncuti's Doctor? That he has to be bookmarked between the most popular Doctor of nuwho instead of allowing him to stand on his own?
I absolutely adored this episode. I was prepared to cry but I didn't expect it to be tears of happiness. Happiness for number 14 living with Donna and her family saying....I've never felt so happy in my life....ah🖤 And than sheer happiness because I truly believe Ncuti is going to be nothing less than amazing.
The scenes when Ncutis Doctor consoled David's ... and when he convinces him to stay, gives him that second TARDIS... for me that was an instant nod to who this new regeneration is gonna be: The Healer. A doctor in the very sense of the word. Compassion, strength, hands-on and just the right bit of pazzaaazz. And I am SO here for it!
what about Nardol? he basically died protecting people from the cybermen. Just because we last saw him still alive and fighting didn't change his fate. yet it was only the girl companions who had bad ends that were mentioned.
Arguably, same for Rory. He shared Amy's fate and wasn't mentioned. My only thought was that RTD and therefore the Toymaker stuck with the "official," singular companion. Rory was Amy's plus one. Nardol was River's employee.
@@lanapowellEven with that logic he was also 12's assistant when he worked at the uni, while that time wasn't explored much on screen before Bill came into the picture, it could be argued he was canonically a solo companion for awhile
I actually quite liked the scene where the doctor pointed out the darker side of humanity. he's always talked about how brilliant and unique the human race is and the admiration he has for us. but he must know of our short comings. he must be able to see the bad aswell as the good. and to see him acknowledge that was quite intriguing to see.
to me it felt like russel was trying to bring acceptance to some of the less than great speeches jodi was given. having david give a speech similar to her more preachy style, makes her more of a legit doctor in my eyes. her delivery of those speeches felt out of character of all previous doctors. now not so much. :)
I actually loved the Doctor’s little rant about the human race’s flaws as that seemed very in character, and such things are kind of the point of having a non-human protagonist, to hold a mirror up to ourselves.
yeah, I feel like the doctor has always been very clear that humans are both the most wonderful and the most awful, they point out different traits at different times but this felt totally within what the doctor has already said.
@@lavendargooms2056 100% agree! I read it in the moment as him saying, "Humans are flawed creatures by nature and have all this negativity that they choose to let out, but they're still worthy and wonderful because of all they can be at their best," which is why he continues to love and protect humanity so fiercely.
I like the bigeneration regeneration. It seems like a direct reference to when Donna said “is this how time lords reproduce?” during the End of Time when the meta crisis Doctor appears. Plus it’s the inverse of what happened in Classic Doctor Who when the 5th Doctor (or 6th?) was in disguise during a storyline then merged with the 4th (or 5th?) to help him regenerate. If a future incarnation can merge with the previous to regenerate, why not have them split?
I grew up with Tom Bakers era... I have been and am still dubious about how I feel about the Bi-Geneartion.. But teh more I read the comments, the more I go "Yeah, You know what.. Its actually kind of cool!" - Thanks for giving me another way to look at it and decide if I like it or not! :)
Wait a minute, if the 5th helped the 4th regenerate by merging with him, and the 4th is Tom Baker's Doctor, could it be that with the bi-regeneration those two Doctors were unmerged? With Ncuti being from the 5th, and Tennant being from the 4th, which not only makes sense numerically, but also if 14th eventually becomes The Curator, who is also Tom Baker, that would explain why that face returned.
Loved the episode and I feel that the bi-generation was made possible by the Toy Maker bringing his rules to our universe. Also, to me, Ncuti Gatwa instantly felt like the Doctor, like when Matt Smith started. No need to get a couple of episodes to feel it with the others.
Did your accent slip? I love tighter writing. NPH hits an upper-deck homerun. Edit: the dude at 9:47 is a very sharply written character. It'll get missed. Watch the Doctor's measured response to the dude that hasn't actually gone nuts. Real world, we all actually pay (in taxes) for road work even if we never drive a car. Pointed sci-fi is the best science fiction.
There is some people who actually miss it. When the toymaker says the staff are still falling, as soon as he finishes the sentence, you can hear two bodies colliding with the earth below. I managed to hear it because I was hearing headphones and actually turned it back to listen again to make sure I wasn’t hearing something else. I love this episode.
The Giggle did something I had wished for with Doctor Who but didn't think could really be done: a regeneration episode that was also a multi-Doctor episode with the next Doctor. No one playing the Doctor would want their big final moment overshadowed by introducing the new Doctor. But bringing David Tennant back as the 14th solved that - it was only a 3 episode run AND he already had a big goodbye scene as the 10th.
There is a plot hole concerning the fact that exposure to the TARDIS makes you immune to the Giggle. Its a good idea and helps to explain why Donna and Wilf arent affected. But... why is Kate affected? Kate was on board the TARDIS in Power of the Doctor. She was on the TARDIS for longer than Wilf. Wilf only travelled round in London. So why is she being affected?
@@alliex51 he was on board the TARDIS twice and never left modern day London. Kate had a trip in Survivors of the Flux and travelled to a different planet and helped use its controls in POTD
One little nitpick and not a criticism at all; in the original celestial toymaker episode the first doctor said he met the doctor before. So the Giggle would actually be the third meeting with the Toymaker.
I loved this episode. I like your review, especially your comment about the actress who uses a chair. If I have an opportunity to say, I am not confined by my chair, it enables me to move about independently. It's society that blocks my independence. I cried when I heard Russell say of course will make Tardis accessible and then he puts the words in the Doctors/David's mouth. I cried again. Now, as a 66 year old Canadian, I can dream about being of travelling with the Doctor. David has always been my Doctor, since I saw him comforting an older woman on doubledecker bus. My sadness is with missing Wilf /Bernard.He was the best Grandpa for everyone/me. I love the new Doctor and the fact that we the audience got to know him and the new Doctor earlier. I never knew him in his previous work. Happy/ Merry Christmas to you Sean & Ellie.
I can't help but feel that, while the "retirement" does feel deserved, they are keeping 14 on standby in case Ncuti doesn't get fully accepted as the new Doctor & so that's why they decided to do the bi-generation instead of a complete regeneration so they can bring him back & put him in the forefront once again. I know David Tennant loves the role & has done a good job as 10, Meta & now 14, but there's also the risk of oversaturation if they keep bringing him back as more "different" iterations of The Doctor.
I don't think they'll bring him back in such a fashion. That would be really rude to ncuti too. People had always something to say about the new doctor since 11 so i don't think they'll start planning for such events. I do however think they have the ability now to bring him back as either 14 or he'll become the curator.
My one complaint (It actually is just a nitpick what can you do) about Bigenartion is that I wish they'd set it up a bit earlier in the specials- even if it was a throwaway joke. Otherwise, I loved it and I loved how 14 and 15 just got on so well and broke the trauma of regeneration with this because 15 just looks so confident and I love that!
It definitely gave the impression of one story done done done and another beginning. Made me understand why they're starting over numbers for the next season (series?) at 1. It does feel like a distinctive shift.
I felt like the bigeneration was set up but subtlety. With the whole Binary talk and her daughter Rose with their memories safely unlocked in the first episode special. Plus in the alternative universe there is now Rose Tyler and the Human Doctor. Well, that's how I saw it as anyway.
Surely Ncuti's legs are an up each? Really tho I do find it funny he got like half of Tennant's clothes and means Tennant is flying commando till at least the flash forward to the dinner scene. Talk about living life to its fullest :P
One thing at 23:22, on the iPlayer subtitles, it actually says [DISTANT THUD] and [GLASS SMASHING], indicating you actually hear them land as they're talking.
More videos breaking down The Giggle are now live!
Easter eggs and references: ua-cam.com/video/RyLixd9BbPE/v-deo.html
Spoiler discussion: ua-cam.com/video/4XnKKn0GB18/v-deo.html
I think people are missing the main take away here: when the Bi-generation happened 14's clothing was divided between them and 15 got the underwear, so 14 spent that entire time commando
Barefeet commando...
Oh, by the way, did this mean that the 14th Doctor was wearing no pants?
Yeah its a phrase that means wearing trousers but no underpants
Well, now we know the Doctor does wear underwear underneath their clothes, never thought I'd actually see them though. 😅
Ah, thats why Tennant was barefoot
For me, it wasn't the mention of River Song that buckled my knees... It was them finally acknowledging that Sarah Jane is gone.
Absolutely gutted me.
Just reading your post has done it again... We miss you Sarah Jane :(
yes that got me too!
Our Sarah Jane, that reference alone brought tears to these eyes
Yeah that was the one moment that made me go sad face. Really got to me.
When the doctor said you have my permission to me that sounds like he's using his authority as president of earth
I think he was. Only that Kate wasn't using that title anymore, just the authority
Agreed
@@whatspoppingproductionssame
@@jupamoers why would they need to, it's already been fully established
I think it was mirroring it but I think it's mostly
Kates respect for the doctor as the highest authority on earth
This episode had a horror element, a sci fi element, a history element, a cosmic wonder element, an interpersonal familial element. This episode had everything Dr Who has been known for
It even had poor story resolution which Doctor Who is also known for. Building up great mystery boxes and not being able to solve them. 😄
@@JacktheRah i wish i could disagree. up until the ending the episode was great. also if we dont get more of the toymaker now ill be really sad
@@JacktheRahwould you elaborate?
From 1966 and Tom Campbell in Dalek Invasion Earth, to 2023 and Wilfred Mott, Bernard Cribins deserves his eternal recognition in Dr Who history.
R.I.P 🫡
dang he died in real life 😕
@@petemarqdadonyes you just realised that did ya
@@tshelby5212No need to be mean man, we all find things out at different times
It seems like Wilf just barely made the cut! I'm glad he was able to check in one last time before he left us! RIP Mr Cribins!
I particularly enjoyed the implication kate and Donna's employment negation made: if you've traveled with the doctor, unit will pay you WHATEVER your price.
Negotiation not negation
And it calls back to the Star Beast where she's unemployed and actually needs a job.
Well, maybe not everyone who’d travelled with The Doctor, like say, Turlough?
UNIT respects The Doctor’s judgement. If he picked you to travel with him, and you survived, you’re worth hiring. Now, they’re limited by those who are on Earth in the 21st century, and some of those might be independent operators like Graham and Ryan.
Makes me wonder where that silly arse from season 1 with the thing in his forehead, is now.....
Can't remember his name, oh, Adam, thats the chappy
I don't mind the bigeneration. I instantly assumed the 14th would become "The Curator". The 50th special introduced him and was stated he was the doctor who retired, and now the 60th showed his origin. To me, The Doctor wouldn't willing retire knowing there were people out there that needed help, but now with the bigeneration 14th can retire and become The Curator and live a "peaceful" (for The Doctor) life, and the 15th Doctor can continue saving the universe.
I like that😊
Except , there's no way any incarnation of The Doctor would 'sit this one out'. Next universe ending threat, they're going to want to be in it.
"I instantly assumed the 14th would become "The Curator"." - BLOW ME... I NEVER CONSIDERED THAT!
I am not sure how I feel about the Bi-geneartion... I like how people have theorised how and why it happened... I will get used to it... Though I will say it was an amazing introduction for Nchuti... I dont know the actors previous work, and with Doctor Who - I try to view it on that initial feel when they appear as The Doctor... and HE SOLD ME RIGHT AWAY!
He is going to make a GREAT DOCTOR!
@@markrankin1094 except if they knew that there was an incarnation already dealing with it (aka 15+)
I thought that 14th will become The Valeyard. Yes, now he is happy, but remember the curse of the time lord. Imagine that all your friends are dying. It could drive you mad. But also appreciate your theory
My favorite moment is after the card game at the ,,stage".
Doctor: DONNA!
Donna: I'm already running!
Just peak Doctor Who I love it.
I LOVED how her facial expression was just conveying the mundane routine of running away
@@ivymoon5084 She was just knew what to do, no questions asked.
Makes me wonder she shows some signs of retaining fragments of the Doctor's memories, can she recall bigger things from his past like strategies and what not maybe that's why she appears to not get scared easily in this.
I loved that too
Also we got a “DONNAAAAAAAAA”!
I think Wilf shooting moles at the end isn't a reference to the Wombles, but to the fact that, one time when RTD tried to call Bernard Cribbins on the phone, Bernard's wife Jill replied that he couldn't speak at the moment as he was shooting moles. It's a bit of an obscure reference, but it can be found in the obituary to Bernard Cribbins in Doctor Who Magazine issue 581.
That makes sense. It seemed a surprising fit for Wilf.
I liked how it paid off Tennant’s seemingly bitter frustration in his first regeneration. He wasn’t ready to go, and wanted to do so much more. This time he was ready to let go and move on, but kinda poetically: he was allowed to have his happy ending after saving the world.
You forgot one .... the partial regeneration that led to the creation of a double, who got to live happily with Rose Tyler for the rest of his life while Dr #10 soldiered on saving the universe for another season!
@edcollins9377, that's true. Unfortunately we don't know what's going on in that universe on screen at least. I don't know if they use it in books or other forms of storytelling.
@@madmanmark8387 Exactly, I'm glad to see that you remember that episode, also.
@edcollins9377 it was a weird episode to see a half human doctor. I suppose David is the 21st century equivalent to Tom's doctor of the 20th century fan favorite. I grew up watching Tom's 4th doctor incarnation on what used to be called WOR tv channel 9 in NYC, and then PBS stations aired him as well and the other doctors.
@@edcollins9377 With the bi generation, that means 10 and 14 had vanity issues since they both went through a partial regeneration but didn't change. Lol.
Also, how lovely that Donna's story comes full circle. Following on from her advice to the Doctor at the end of The Runaway Bride ("Sometimes you need somebody to stop you."), she's the person who gets him to stop running and build a 'found family' on Earth.
and she invites him for christmas dinner that first time and he doesn't come to him being at the table on just a random summer day clearly at home...ugh, so lovely
all that's missing is for luke clyde and rani to show up at the end.@@lavendargooms2056
I really thought this line was going to crop back up! "I think you need someone to stop you. To tell you when you've done enough." now has such a BEAUTIFUL double meaning and I can't believe they didn't directly reference it, but I think I'm glad they didn't??
There's a brief line where Ncuti tells Tennant that he's whole and healthy because Tennant took the time to get whole and healthy. Time Lords doing therapy out of order. Makes me think that when Tennant dies, his regeneration will pull him out of spacetime and drop him in his past, back at the 60th anniversary, to the moment Ncuti appeared. Its not that there are 2 Doctors now...technically as a time traveler all his incarnations are around at all times, its that the regeneration happened out of order. Personally I like this.
I agree, I'm surprised they didn't say it in the Ups and downs, maybe it'll be in one of the other videos this week
This is perhaps the best explanation I've seen to date... But now it needs to be done. I forever feel with RTD the fan theories or head canon are way better. So to avoid this any spin off would need to have this pay off perhaps?
i was thinking he'll regenerate into his older faces, one of them being the "curator" from the 50th anniversary.
i half missed that line but remember it now my brain must have tagged it:) thanks:) that makes perfect sense - awesome xxx
@@duckypresents ya I'm hoping if Tennant is a recurring guest star or, god forbid, a regular cast member in a UNIT spinoff, that eventually he decides to quit/leave the show and they regenerate him then and go full circle. Hoping. We'll see what they do I guess.
What a missed opportunity that the final game wasn’t “Guess Who” Would have been such a great way to give homage to all the past companions. The toy maker could have had a field day with this game
Could be an interesting premise for if they were to bring the toymaker back (with his Legions comings it’s plausible). Gives Ncuti a chance to be emotional and how he remembers all the companions whilst his new companion will be witness to what the doctors life is like.
@@TyNels01 his legions aren't fellow toymakers etc, they're a pantheon of gods
@@jordanmcculloch1169 I thought they were his minions tbh but a pantheon of gods may be cooler to have for story’s going ahead involving different gods/celestials
@@jordanmcculloch1169I’m just glad they’re acknowledging there are species out there more powerful than the time lords
@@tgiacin435 Agreed... but of course, considering the whole "Timeless Child" arc, this could be the set up to imply that The Doctor is one of those "gods/celestials". A way to try to "retcon" The Doctor back into something we already know about partly within already existing canon. In fact, I remember someone somewhere online suggesting years ago that The Doctor could not be a Timelord at all but one of those beings in Timelord form (much like the Toymaker in human form). Since The Doctor is now not a Timelord but something else, well, 🤷...
The “best two of three” really takes a double meaning with the two doctors beating the toy maker!
A sly, cunning, evil force. From the underuniverse.
Winning or losing.
A villain the doctor has alas come across after ages. Ages.
And. It loses. A game. Of catch....
@@hamzahnaushad5114 were you expecting him to cheat? At least he didn't lose in the high low game
@hamzahnaushad5114 they explained the only rule he sticks to is no cheating
This was the best episode in a long long time, Neil Patrick Harris was just outstanding in his role and it felt like everyone else upped their game accordingly. Ncuti Gatwa also did a great job, I felt like he just slipped straight into the role, here's hoping he gets some great stories and writing that he can make the most of.
hopefully he'll put trousers on and stop calling all the men honey
@@Fredkitchens The trousers, sure, but why should he stop calling people "honey"? Why does that bother you so much, honey?
He's a bit camp, but that doesn't bother me, met plenty of people like that irl and some of them were excellent human beings.
I love the idea that bi-regeneration was a myth, meaning that Tennant’s salt at the end of the universe also made the myth come into being.
a myth that had never been mentioned in the past. Bi regeneration was just terrible writing. Most of the special was terribly written apart from the second one.
@@Coryod1909 In what situation would that myth EVER have been mentioned though?
@@EyeSpyFire I dont know, perhaps any of the situations that occurred in the past 60 years worth of discussing regeneration, or how the doctor fears regeneration or how the doctors companions fear his regeneration, or when any of the villains whose aims are to kill the doctor discuss the possibility of him regenerating. Plenty of oppurtunity. Im not blaming Russel T Davies, im blaming the primary school aged children who are shadow writing for him.
@@EyeSpyFire Meta-Crisis would've been a time I feel it would've come up.
@@Coryod1909 Why would it be relevant in any of those situations? He's dying and says to his companions "Oh btw there's a chance i'll split into two people, it's never happened before but it's a timelord myth so there's a chance right?". As SuperCrazyfin said, it would be right that it came up when the meta crisis happened I think that would of been appropriate so i'll take back my point on that anyway.
Still though even in that situation, the doctor didn't really have the opportunity to talk about how that happened, he asked Donna what happened and Donna answered for him.
I think that with Ncuti saying something about “the Toymakers energy still lingering” means that rather than it being linked to regeneration it was more that 14s prize was for him to go back to his dimension, and 15s prize was to duplicate the TARDIS.
That’s one hundred!
15s prize was to get his TARDIS from the future. Davies said himself that it's the same TARDIS but from the future.
I just saw it as meaning that the laws of reality are still weak because of the toymakers presence, letting ncuti do whatever he did
@@Mrcool210 oh OK lol, I had no idea I don't really look at the social media stuff or trailers, just watch the show a d listen to the dramas
you dont need to think that, that is literally what happened
23:08 If you listen closely, you can hear the soldiers hit the ground with a *thud* when he says “Still falling.” I was watching this with my best friend and he had his subtitles on and there is an actual thud. I also slightly heard it too.
Did anyone else laugh at that? Also the very Rick and Morty-esque death of the soldiers that turned into screaming balls, with the Doctor immediately saying "they're dead I'm so sorry"
I heard it. I was surprised nobody else had mentioned it in any of the videos I've seen about the show, so I'm glad you noticed!
@@VJacquette It took my second watch to realize it
At 29:03 I think there IS logic to the tooth being left behind. The Doctors' prize was to banish the Toymaker from existence.
The tooth isn't the Toymaker himself; it's The Master, so by the rules it stays behind while the Toymaker disappears :)
Oh that's brilliant
Though by that logic any clothes would also have been left over. Eh it's not really strictly logical but it doesn't have to be.
@@JacktheRah I don't agree tbh. The clothes were just how the Toymaker presented himself. He wasn't "wearing clothes" as much as he was appearing to have clothes on. They were just representations of how he wanted to appear, rather than clothes he found and put on. The tooth was somewhat different in that, though the Toymaker also wore the gold tooth, it was itself its own being (being the master) and wouldn't vanish if it's just the Toymaker himself being banished.
That's my interpretation of the logic anyway. Hopefully it makes sense!
I just realized on a rewatch of the giggle the significance of the 14th Doctor not wearing the running shoes after the Bi-generation signifying his end to running. I love the level of detail put into this show.
14's final words were essentially "I've never been so happy in my whole life" and not "Allons-y" and it truly made me cry.
Interestingly, after "The Split" the Closed Captioning identified Tennant's 14th Doctor as "Tenth Doctor" whenever he spoke while still atop the UNIT building.
I noticed that immediately. I was wondering if that was intentional or…
@@whatspoppingproductions technically they both should be the Fiftheenth Doctor imo. Fourteen still regenerated. Glowy face and everything. He just regenerated into twins. But if we're supposed to take this as Canon and he is the Tenth again MAN this man spreads himself wide. Tenth, Handy, Fourteen, Tenth-Again... you can almost man a Power Rangers Team just with David Tennant-Doctors. Completely if you include the Doctor Donna. (His Daughterwife can be the Green Ranger.)
@@RotalHenricssoni think it was just miscommunication between the captioners and the writers, they probably didn’t know what to make of david tennant being back let alone the scene itself. it’s confirmed though that he is still the 14th doctor and at the end of his life, he’ll return to that moment as Ncuti
That really annoyed the shit out of me. Like, the people writing the captions had no idea what show they were doing it for.
@@theblackwidower lol ikr it threw me off for a moment (or 2) there
Sean,
Thank you mate. I am physically disabled myself with multiple conditions, all of which are not visable to those around me. And I cannot tell you how often people refuse to believe I am disabled.
I've been doing advocacy work for over 15 years lobbying my government for better treatment and assistance for the disabled and it is heart breaking to see how hard people have to struggle to have their conditons recognized. So thank you so much for speaking about it.
I loved the episode, I loved NPH as a kind of evil version of Q and I loved Ncuti's intro. Doctor Who has a fresh burst of life in it and I can't wait for Christmas.
Great job @WhoCulture!
Thank you so much for comment Stephen, and lovely to see you here! ❤
I'm also the victim of multiple invisible disabilities. Well done with all your advocacy. I've finally received government funding for myself and my daughters after many years of advocacy but some people still don't understand how multiple disabilities have a significant impact whether the disabilities can be seen or not.
@@sean.ferrick Thanks for all your hard work. Your insights are incredible.
Thank you for lobbying wherever it is you are, as someone with a pretty severe yet frustratingly not visable disability myself, I truly appreciate any and all efforts to help with the poor treatment and lack of assistance found unfortunately everywhere ❤
My dearly departed fiancée was disabled. We once got accused of using a fake handicap pass because both of us could walk. Oh did my fiancée go all Donna on that woman!🤣 Yeah, she could walk, but not for long distances without assistance. I always let her push the shopping cart so she’d have something to hold onto.
There was a nice little call back in that scene at the end, when the Doctor was telling the story involving the race that communicated with their eyebrows. In Pertwee's first episode (Spearhead from Space), there is a scene where he is examining his new face in a mirror, and remarks how flexible it was and how that could come in handy on their planet.
Indeed, the residents of the planet Delphon... presumably "Delphonians" :)
i really liked how 15 was just like ''you can rest now, i will look after the universe for you, i got this''
The first game was a game of brain.
The second a game of luck.
The third a game of skill. Impressive
A mental game, a mystery game, a skill game (that was also quite physical). Then The Toymaker got an automatic lock in...
@davidstttrains I thought of that. You expressed it far more elegantly than I was going to.
.. most impressive
Shame RTD has lost his skill!
the first episode was a game of sexism. The second a game of weird. The third a complete mess.
The TARDIS splitting into two made sense to me because it was what the Toymaker owed Ncuti and was a result of his lingering powers -- since he won too and deserved a prize.
Exactly, he even says it.
Yep. It was pretty clearly explained in the episode. Not sure how Sean missed that.
Future incarnation of the Tardis to go with a future incarnation of the Doctor. The Doctor lies and sometimes he does it to himself.
Did people catch the Toymaker saying he made a “jigsaw puzzle” of the Doctor’s life? It was such a throwaway, but I thought that was a wonderful way of explaining all of the inconsistencies in the show, including Ruth and The Timeless Child.
This!
I caught it, and I love the twist. Toymaker has the power to reshape reality and play with the Doctor’s past. Interesting to think Timeless Child is a manipulation.
It also helps those of us who want to keep the spinoff media stories involving the Toymaker, including the sublime audio _Solitaire..._
SO excited for the ncuti era!
UA-cam knows what's up 🙌
Glad someone is
UA-cam fr popping out of nowhere 💀
I think now that this bigeneration happened that one of 2 things could happen 1. Tennant’s doctor could go mad when something tragic happens to the Nobles and his new family and he becomes the Master or 2. Loki could come to the universe and being the God of mischief he makes Tennants doctor to start messing with the new doctor and then we find out that Loki is actually the master in disguise.
Would be nice if UA-cam added an option to enable dislike counts. Heck, disable it by default if you want. We need basic functionality. Extensions shouldn’t be doing your jobs.
Can I just say what a joy Ncuti Gatwa is? I am ALWAYS reticent about the new Doctor, but he won me over the second he took Tennant in his arms and said "I got you." I was like, yes, he's the Doctor. He is someone who just lights up a room. Capaldi will always be my #1 (Smith, to date, is #2) but I am looking forward to what Ncuti will offer us. I'm excited to see where we go from here. BRAVO RTD, you won me back from when I walked away (I thought permanently till now) from the dregs of the Chibnal era!
One thing that people need to understand about RTD is that he's predominately a drama & soap writer; due to this he tends to focus on emotional journeys within Doctor Who stories. This is why you often get the cited complaint of how his stories are "simple" or rely on "contrivances". He tends to be rather loose when it comes to plot threads and story details, but he creates emotional groundwork for everything within a story arch. Bigeneration and everything surrounding it may not have been set up in the story, but it was definitely set up emotionally. If you're looking at purely the story beats you're going to think bigeneration was pulled from a wormhole, but if you've more been following the emotional journey of the 14th Doctor, you really should've seen something like this coming.
I for one am fine with that. The one thing I got tired of last few years was watching the emotional beats get blown past or cut short to serve the overblown plotting. Getting all the emotional moments with just enough time to breathe in this episode left me genuinely happy (and crying). Ncuti's appearance was pure joy from the first moments for me because he was instantly so expressive and emotionally driven. He's the Doctor Uplifted, he literally left behind a lot of his emotional baggage, and was a new man ready to face the universe and help his friends (and literally his own self).
Why not...both?
One of RTD's most unfortunate contributions to Doctor Who is turning it into a young adult soap opera.
Arc not arch
@@InappropriateFabOn the contrary, I think the decision to use bigeneration is going to allow for Ncuti’s debut arc to be a lot less emotionally taxing. I’m all for RTD’s decision-making here!
Ngl I think this was probably the best of the three. Patrick Harris was amazing. Ncuti Gatwa sold me on the fact that he was the doctor in a matter of minutes
The Toy Maker was like a cross between The Joker from Batman and Q from Star Trek. Neil Patrick Harris was awesome as The Toy Maker. I absolutely enjoyed this episode.
I was thinking he was like Mr Mxyzptlk, the Superman baddie
@@SpikeMatthewsmaybe a chaotic neutral
A really strong performance from NPH.
The UNIT segment had me and my Husband going "Oh Gods, THEY LET Q IN!"
Really glad that second down wasn't just me. Not only was it to a room full of his friends and allies (supposedly), but there have been so many monologues by the doctor over the years about how much he loves the human race. I think I remember a few monologues that were even able to acknowledge the bad and still rejoice in the good. This just made me wonder why the heck the doctor was even bothering to save humans over and over again if he always held that much bitterness.
It also doesn't make sense for him to frame it as "you humans are all like this" when we have plenty of reason to believe that Time Lords are too.
I also found it very interesting that the toymaker mentioned there was one person he didn't dare challenge to a game neglecting to elaborate further. I imagine that that too will come back in some fashion.
The Toymaker named it The One Who Waits. That sounds like a being that will send minions to poke and prod throughout the season until the Doctor walks into its plan in the last few episodes.
@@13g0man I took it to be a reference to the Marvel Loki series. The one who remains. The various franchises have given nods to each other before. Since it was done with Disney, I imagined they were ok with it.
River officially died in an episode that Donna was present for. So, of course The Toymaker wouldn't include her. He's trying to show her what bad fates befell those since her. Basically that his track record regarding his "duty of care" had fallen dramatically since they parted ways. Hence why he probably didn't mention Yaz and Co, though I do think she should have at least gotten a name-drop.
Why would the Toymaker ever mention Yaz, Ryan, Graham and Dan? They are stilll alive. It's not that far into the future after Jodie regenerated into David, or is it? Was there an accident killing 13th Doctor's companions? I wonder.
I didn't mean mentioned by the Toymaker. Just a name-drop from one of the two Doctors in some way would have been nice. But as you said, it wasn't that long ago and not wholly necessary enough to spoil the episode.@@Croftice1
Sean, as an ambulatory wheelchair user myself, I massively appreciate your little monologue on how disability isn’t just one thing, from the bottom of my heart thank you for that, and as for Ruth Madeley I cannot wait to see more of her as we both share the same condition being Spina Bifida and as I said an ambulatory user, and I absolutely adore her character she’s just amazing and hopefully with the ramp we’ll see her in the TARDIS quite a lot, but what I’m trying to say is thank you for that small section of the video
I liked how NPH said "I accept the challenge" - gave me throwback to his role as Barney Stinson.
Me too. I just was waiting for him to really say „challenge accepted“ 🤣
And in that scene when Mel and Donna are holding his hands, You hear the music for "You were fantastic, Rose. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I"
I loved that the 15th Doctor hugged the 14th and said "I've got you" and that they are both men. As men we don't do that often enough for each other. If, as you rightly say, there's an element of self-care here here, it's also about expressing care for each other
Yeah i already feel like he might be one of the more affectionate doctors. And maybe even a bit more emotionally open now that 14 has taken time to heal and process
This was an amazing episode. The Celestial Toymaker was a top tier villain. Bravo NPH. The funhouse was proper creepy. The play with the puppets showing the companions all dying was 👌.
I know it’s gonna be contreversal but the bi-reneregation is such a fun direction for the show. I was so happy to see this face get to be part of Donna’s family and be totally content at the end. David Tennant’s Doctor was the most human of all The Doctors after all.
That is not The Celestial Toymaker but Toymaker. He was never called that.
@@sw-gsthey are the same character it's been confirmed, stop being a contrarian
@sw-gs Because it's a mouthful, not because it's a different character. The Doctor offering to take him across the stars and saying how they could be celestial seemed like a pretty obvious nod.
Seeing as Kate Stewart gave Donna a job and UNIT could that mean Donna could be featured in the rumoured unit spin off show.
@@macshaw6479 as long as Donna is not just an office admin temp.....
I think the scene when Kate asks where are my staff and the Toymaker they are still falling is more horrific because if you listen carefully just after the Toymaker says that I'm sure you hear the thud of the bodies hitting the ground. 😮
Yup, it was horrific.
You definitely do, the subtitles confirm a few thuds and glass shattering.
This is why I watch Doctor Who. 2 / Troughton said it best, with a friendly gleam in his eye: "That's the exciting thing! There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing."
The secret: "we" is not just the Doctor and companions. It includes us, the fans! We can! We get to go with all the Doctors if we want to.
Been enjoying it for 42 years, and it STILL surprises me. It's an insane, incoherent metamyth with a great big wholesome heart and I love it, and can't wait to see what happens next.
I think something interesting to think about here:
One of the major story telling through lines of RTD's first era was the idea that the Doctor will not always be on Earth to protect it. What then? And we saw RTD explore several things based on this idea, like the Master spending a full year taking over the Earth and the Doctor just not even noticing. We also got several spinoff shows based on that idea.
This time though, RTD is taking a different approach. The Doctor will always be on Earth now, because there's 2 Doctors, one of which is semi-retired.
Also, now we can have the retired Doctor possible go back in time and live out a life as the Curator we saw in the 50th. Since the Curator was wearing an older face, it would make sense that he comes from 14 regenerating again, who's maybe still nostalgic for old faces.
I had a really hard time imagining Matt Smith eventually retiring and becoming the Curator, but I can 100% see Tennant now that he's retired doing it instead, especially since you have another Doctor still running around like the madman in the box he is.
I like it. It allows us to explore both aspects of the Doctor!
Omg your comment reminded me of the "revisting some old faces but only the favorites" and it makes sense now!! Maybe 10's face was the first favorite and somewhere down the line he becomes the curator with the 4th of another of the favorites. That's a really cool idea!
I'm thinking that, while it may not happen with every regeneration, bi-regeneration may not be all that uncommon. It would explain Tom Baker as the Curator in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. The whole scene between him and Matt Smith played out as though it were two Doctors having a conversation.
I loved the name drop of glitz. An the fact that she stayed with glitz for so long.
Finally.
FINALLY.
We get to see The Doctor forgive and reassure himself as well as giving himself permission to...rest.
The sheer weight of increasing emotional burden and pain that The Doctor has been carrying since the Time War, never mind Classic Who's run as well, would (arguably) make it less and less feasible to have the Doctor continue to be a positive and optimistic entity.
So thank you RTD, for finding a genuinely beautiful way to allow 14th to set that burden down plus acknowledge that struggle and begin his recovery with his friends. There's an important message here too, in that if we don't look after our own well-being - emotional and/or physical - then we really aren't equipped to properly look after anyone else and may indeed, albeit unintentionally, lead us to even more mistakes, regret, misery and so the burden increases.
The other opportunity 14th resolution brings us is fabulous. It makes sense that we now have a burden free 15th Doctor, and gives Ncuti the opportunity to play a Doctor who oozes with fun, charisma, optimism and adventure.
"would (arguably) make it less and less feasible to have the Doctor continue to be a positive and optimistic entity"
Thats true!
And we started to see the doctor turn more angry and negative with the 12th doctor and even with 14 there were moments where he seemed very angry
@@account1307 100%! 13th also struggled with forming meaningful relationships and avoided empathising with her companions. Avoidance like this makes sense as it can be a subconscious aspect of protecting yourself from potential loss or further emotional pain. Huge commendations to RTD for both spotting this emerging pattern and for finding such a relatable (self care) and fascinating way for 14th and 15th to resolve this👏👏👏
My thoughts exactly 😊
I wish I could like the OP and all the thoughtful replies a million times
This is exactly why I didn’t understand everyone’s worries. The kind of “resolution” we got is going to allow us to enter a new era with Ncuti filled with a special kind of energy and fun. I simply can’t wait!
If i had a nickel every time david regenerated into himself i would have 2 nickels which is not a lot but its weird it happend twice
I loved this episode. The Doctor has seen and felt so much pain and loss, and has himself lost so much, and he's been running from that pain for so long. The Doctor deserves a rest, and deserves happiness, and now he finally gets it. While 14 gets to rest and heal, 15 will be carrying on the job of protecting the universe. I know I've seen complaints about the bi-regeneration, and complaints that Ncuti's 15 didn't get to properly shine by having an episode to himself when he debuted, but I disagree. I think he shined mightily. The impression I got is that when he separated from Tennant's 14, 15 left behind much of that guilt and pain, effectively unburdening the Doctor of much of his trauma, while 14 will go about healing from it all, and get to enjoy life with people he cares about and who care about him. In this way both Doctors get to recover, and live happier lives. If my interpretation is correct, that means the new series of Doctor Who will see a happier, more playful Doctor, which I think is a wonderful new direction for the show. It now makes sense that they are referring to the time of the 15th Doctor as series/season 1 of Doctor who, because we are getting, in effect, a brand new Doctor, in more ways than one. Not just a new face, but a revitalized, renewed Doctor. I cry tears of joy knowing that the Doctor is getting a much deserved rest and reward, while simultaneously going forward as a happier, healthier person. It is truly the best of both worlds for The Doctor, and I look forward to watching the Christmas Special and the new series, as well as whatever spinoffs they produce, especially if that means we get both Donna and 14 together as well as the adventures of 15. But even if we never get to see Donna and 14 again, I'm happy knowing that he is happy, and look forward to the adventures of 15 with bated breath. At least in regards to Doctor Who, we are living on the best of timelines. Now if only the rest of the world would follow suit. Thank you David Tennant and Catherine Tate for your return for these specials, and a hearty welcome to Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, and a thank you also to the rest of the cast of The Giggle. Thank you Sean for the Ups & Downs, as well as the rest of the WhoCulture crew who worked on this. Bernard Cribbins, we miss you and love you. Live Long and Prosper, and Allons-y!
The second tardis didnt spawn from regeneration powers, it was the left over magic from the toy makers realm and seeing as two doctors won the game 14th had his prize in banishing the toy maker and 15th prize was to get a new tardis, 15th even explains it in the episode 😅
I like to think that the retired doctor is the one who will eventual regenerate into the Curator "You might revisit a few, but only the favorites" and "Perhaps I was you, or perhaps you were me"
5:14 agreed i would have loved if this was a 2 parter because toymaker almost lost too easily
Imagine if they challenged him to a game of Rock Paper Scissors instead of catch. They would've instantly beat him 😂
Agreed 👍🏻
You would think that The Toymaker being a more powerful villain (one the doctor is more afraid/wary of at least) it would take more than one episode to defeat him, but if he loses the game, he loses the game. How quickly/slowly depends on how the game goes (how the writers decide to do it) and whether it’s by luck or not is irrelevant. So much plot and many episodes dedicated to war with daleks, cybermen, and the Master etc. etc. - but the toymaker just turned the Master into one of his teeth! He can just change/play with reality… I feel like though there were horror aspects (which I appreciated because they were done well) the comedic aspects sometimes overshadowed the threat and what was really going on… humanity gone mad from the giggle, we see people fighting in the street and stuff, but as this is set in the present and it affected everyone (including world leaders) wars could have started and bombs all over the place killing people over those 2 days. The Doctor even mentions the downsides of humanity.
The Toymaker didn't mention Rory because Rory was technically Amy's companion, not the Doctor's. Ryan, Graham, Dan, and Yaz left of their own accord and lived. River Song had her happy ending and sacrificing herself for the 4,022 saved people.
The Doctor was Rory’s companion, thank you _very_ much 😏
Also Rory died wayyyyy too many times to be shown
He was just trying to make Donna jealous
I love how Seán was complaining that the Toymaker didn't mention Yaz, Ryan and Graham but he left out Dan :D
Also, the Doctor saying "Her consciousness lives on" for me meant a reference to the New New Earth glass people. The Doctor doesn't know about what happened to Bill with Heather and I'm glad that this episode didn't undo this tragedy of the Doctor still thinking that Bill died.
By the same logic used to include Amy, Clara and Bill's "deaths" River totally should have been included. The wife aspect could've helped the emotionality of the situation plus nice for Donna to finally know who she was
Another UP would be NPH doing all the sleight of hand himself. He's an incredibly talented guy, and magician, too. The only person with red nail polish seen in the episode (on the UNIT HQ) is Kate Stewart. A down is 15 saying he's older, when he's not. At that moment, they're exactly the same age. This will alter as they go individually on their way through time and space forever.
I think 15 saying he's older what them telling us that the doctor didn't just split into two simultaneous creatures. Instead, 15 is the regeneration after 14, with all the changes that 14 will go through throughout his life ALREADY impacting 15. Without memory, because spoilers. The line "I'm okay because you rested" confirms that imo. He was just moved back in time/back in his own timeline to coincide with the previous regeneration. So yeah, he is actually older
We actually hear the soldiers hit the ground a few seconds after and the Toymaker glances to the side upon hearing it.
Someone on Twitter mentioned the leg crossing. I explained to them that I'm a support worker, and several people I support are wheelchair users, and use their legs to maneuver around their residential support home. The character crossing her legs was of no surprise to me, and once I explained this, they were happy to be corrected. Knowledge about these things is a wonderful thing, and I was happy to share. People who are labelled disabled face barriers in society that disables them - physically and by a lack of understanding.
Oh sure there'll be people rocked to their core that she stood up this week. Because disabilities definitely can't look differently on different people how can they!
Yeah, I remember I had a friend in college who had a wheelchair but could walk for brief periods of time, it looked weird when he did it and he was clearly uncomfortable but he could still walk. It comes out in different ways
Most of the time I can walk "fine" even dance run and jump mostly, yet due to fibromyalgia the more I do, the more I suffer later and have needed to use various mobility aids including wheelchairs, between physical and mental fatigue and wanting to give my body a break so I actually can move the next day or so... most wheelchair users are ambulatory to different degrees and I wish more would understand this.
Given how much I love David Tennants Doctor's I felt Ncuti Gatwa would have a hard time winning me over, but would Eventually.
But that last 1/3 of the episode. The Bi-generation, the chemistry of David and Ncuti, the game of catch to hammering a new Tardis into existence. It was stupid, it was ridiculous, it was so insanely fan servicy and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. I am already sold on Ncuti and also so happy that David's Doctor still exists within the universe. Russel T Davies played a blinder!
I agree Ncuti nailed it. It takes me a bit before I feel like the new actor is The Doctor. It took over a season for me to see the twelfth as the Doctor. It took Matt Smith an entire episode before I could say he was the doctor. Even David Tennet took a few scenes in his initial appearance as the tenth for me to say, "ok. he's the doctor". But within his first line, Ncuti had me convinced he is the Doctor.
Would be great to see them both act together again in future episodes!
You've already stated everything I was going to say. I *love* that Tennant's doctor gets to live out a leisurely retirement (at least for now), but still has his TARDIS if he starts to feel antsy. What a perfect ending! And I loved Neil Patrick Harris in this episode. I rarely get this type of feel-good satisfaction from an episode of any show, but this one is right near the top of that small collection.
I don’t... It made me “giggle”
I must admit I enjoyed Gatwas scenes way more than I thought I would. He was fabulous
To see a Doctor regenerate and then to still BE there to see his new self and be happy enough for them both to hug each other like brothers……I LOVED that!!
ALL the Ups for the hugging!
Excellent review, Sean! I like your voice and you deliver a clear, entertaining and insightful message that provides complete coverage of all we need to know about the culture of Doctor Who!😀
I liked what the 15th Doctor said about them being Time Lords and doing rehab in the wrong order and that the 15th is OK because the 14th has fixed themselves (or been healed, or something along those lines.) Thus the 15th Doctor can be happy again because of the 14th's rehab life with the Mott-Noble-Temple clan. Through this "retirement" 14 has come to grips with their past and can leave behind the baggage of the Time War, Flux and the billions of lives lost over their many regenerations (some of which they caused).
I think NPH nailed it in part due to Tennant's reaction to him. He sold the fear.
Russell repeated himself very quickly, the ending is the same as Journey's End, just swapping Rose for Donna.
The way he let see that The Master will return is the same way he used in Last of the Time Lords.
I feel like in some season finale 14th and 15th will have to team up to defeat the master and 14th will die saying I'm ready to go or something, repeating the way he closed his first run.
The redeeming feature of the episode is the performances, all very good, I think Ncuti will be a very good Doctor.
I mean, it is an anniversary special. I think it's perfectly acceptable - even encouraged - that there are callbacks and thematic rhyming in there
Meh the master gotta be on some big ass amp cuz there’s no way bro is a bigger threat than toymaker
@@SleepyHarryZzz callbacks like 10th saying “I dont wanna go” at the end of the Day of the Doctor, or mention Amy, Bill and Clara are cool, bring old characters like Mel is awesome, but do the same is lazy writing or worst, been out of fresh ideas
Well I'm afraid that's been a feature of this trilogy ie Davies just rehashing old ideas and dialing up the woke a bit. Very lazy and disappointing. He can do much better than this but clearly believes he doesn't need to.
I read an article about one of the main reasons Russel came back to Who is to help him heal from the loss of his husband, who was with him during the initial run. So much of the writing is centered around loss and healing from that loss. So we might not be getting RTD's most cutting edge, innovative stuff right now, and that's ok by me.
We've long been reminded that 10 and Donna were left in a terrible place, not having enough time to do all the amazing things they wanted to do (or not remembering doing them), and so it makes sense to me that Russel would give the show the space and time (heh) to fix things in that wibbly wobbly way that only Doctor Who can. They can make up arbitrary plot devices whenever they want to, and it's ok. Some twists and explanations are a bit clunkier than others (ahem... Timeless Child), and certainly in 60 years (give or take) there will definitely be lots of repetition, but it's all within the spirit of a show about a rebellious and inexplicably lucky Lord of Time gallivanting around and enjoying the entire universe.
"Despite having 47 extra teeth..." Yeah I'm not unseeing that now. How did I miss that?
I just found your channel recently. But, I feel like I’ve known you forever. I love the way you discuss the doctor. It’s like you’re saying what I’m thinking. I’ll be back to watch all of your videos and I’ll leave a like and comment for every one.
Thank you.
NPH played the toymaker the same way he played count Olaf. It worked really well.
I like the idea that Tennent stays and eventually becomes the museum curator that Matt Smith meets
That would be good.
But why would he be Tom Baker's incarnation?
I think it would make sense for this Doc to be more comfortable with reusing faces as he's gotten practice in. @@_-LK-_
Same.
Dude, think you need to fix your spell check
"Oi I'm on your side" deserves its own up!!
I absolutely loved this episode! The stand out line of this episode to me was from Donna: "I'm already running!" I actually LOL-ed when she said that
I'm with Ellie, because I also cried and screamed when River Song was mentioned. Then I remembered the hand that took away the tooth and I thought, was that River's hand? Will she come back? I hope so. It's possible it's just wishfull thinking on my part.
But still I'm very hapy that at least she was mentioned again after all these years
My first thought was river as well. But i would think whoever picked the tooth up is going to be on the side if the master and wants to release him. I think it's possible that it's going to be jinkx monsoon's character. After all she's said to play a villain
@@christinakohl6111 this is the second time someone mentioned that the master is in the tooth. Where did you get that from? Is it officially confirmed?
@@mihaelabanu8942 the toymakes said he found the master, played a game with him, he lost and then got sealed in that tooth for all eternity. It's in the episode
This how I see Story of Doctor Who Show
Volume One
Chapter 1 - First Doctor
Chapter 2 - Second Doctor
Chapter 3 - Third Doctor
Chapter 4 - Fourth Doctor
Chapter 5 - Five Doctor
Chapter 6 - Sixth Doctor
Chapter 7 - Seventh Doctor
Epilogue - Eight Doctor
Volume Two
Prologue - Ninth Doctor
Chapter 1 - Tenth Doctor
Chapter 2 - Eleventh Doctor
Chapter 3 - Twelfth Doctor
Chapter 4 - Thirteenth Doctor
Epilogue - Fourteenth Doctor
Volume Three
Chapter 1 - Fifteenth Doctor
It's hard for me to articulate this, but I really liked how much *better* Mel is portrayed here than Ace and Tegan were in Power of the Doctor. Ace and Tegan kinda just felt like they were brought in for nostalgia and not for any other reason, and the acting, writing, and directing was very low effort, whereas Mel actually felt like she had a reason to be there, and Bonnie's performance and RTD's writing didn't feel phoned in, unlike Chibnalls script and the direction for the two ladies (remember, a good actor is nothing without a good director). It's the exact same thing that happened with Sarah Jane, where she was reintroduced with a great script and care being put in from RTD.
Again, I'm bad at articulating this well, but it's the same feeling I get from the COllection announcement trailers. The actors arent' putting in their best work because they dont need to, they already practically own the roles, they created them. And that's fine for some trailers for a bluray set, but when it's a full performance for an hour long TV special, then they need to bring their best. Bonnie Langford absolutely did. Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding unfortunately did not.
Tegan was quite annoying when she was brought back, Ace less so.
That is why Chibnall failed so hard.
I have a theory about what caused the bi-generation. It was the manifestation of the feelings the Doctor had after the flux, the timeless child and after losing so many companies. those emotons literally tore him apart. Maybe that was also the reason why the face from 10 came back. It was the desire to fix at least one bad thing. I mean we had seen before that subconscious thoughts and feelings have an impact on regeneration with the 12th doctor
In one scene I thought the doctor was being torn apart like confetti candy. The scene where we see the toymaker with the flashbacks was cool, as was the calback with the person who picks up the tooth with the master. and I'm looking forward to having an excuse to have as much David as we want and hoping for a sitcom family spin off called DoctorNobleTemple
Now we can magic away things like the metacrisis situation, the biregeneration won’t even need to be explained
Correction, Doctor-Mott-Temple-Noble
It could also be because he regenerated so soon after 13 did so he grew another doctor after dying like how he grew a new hand when it was cut off in the christmas invasion
"The Family Doctor"
Edit: wait, this has legs! Imagine all the madcap hijinks at UNIT that we *don't* get to see. I'd absolutely watch that!
My view was that it was the toy marker’s incompatible rules. He said it was “the next doctor” who owed him the third game, but it was Tennant-doctor he agrees to it wirh and says he’ll see for it. The rules require both doctors be there.
Now that we know Bigeneration is a thing, I’m curious what that means for the Master. Does it retroactively explain why, despite Missy’s turn to the good side, yet continued evil in Sacha’s depiction? Perhaps they bigenerated at one point and we never knew, so Missy became one branch of the Master while Sacha became another?
Would explain the hand grabbing the tooth
that's totally possible! my money is still on the doctor just experiencing them out of order but that could be cool
It means what ever the script writer wants
Missy actually goes on to regenerate into a good-ish master in the audio books!! Still unclear canonically where Sacha fits in though
I hope not. Bigeneration is supposed to be impossibly rare and I would hate to see the Master also randomly split into 2. Tennant Doctor always had the strong desire to remain this form which could have contributed to this bizarre regeneration, plus he's not actually Galifreyan so his regenerations could behave differently than a regular time lord.
Ncuti's legs - yes - totally agree!! I loved this episode - it had a great pace, and balanced the heartwarming moments with the horror elements. I have to say I'm loving Donna's development in these specials - my take is that she possibly retained some of the Doctor's smarts, and it seems she has accepted her place in the world, and embracing it fully. This was a perfect episode - loved the bigeneration - and Ncuti from the get go established his Doctor's character - I warmed to him very quickly. Neil Patrick Harris completely aced The Toymaker, unhinged, and insidiously evil. So much to love about this episode!! Loved your review!
Defeating the toy maker because he didn't catch the ball really annoyed me. Felt like such a throw away
Unpopular opinion, thr 14th doctor wont be the curator. The 15th doctor even said "we are doing therapy in the wrong order" thats why the 15th doctor is fine and the 14th is full of regret. They are still connected and arent separate I think when the 15th doctor regenerates he will combine with the 14th and create the 16th doctor
I really hope you’re right. It would be awesome if 14 arrives as 15 regenerates and the two merge to create 16, just like 4 and 5 with The Watcher…
14th could end up being the watcher and eventually merging back into his timeline when the 4th Doctor is regenerating
But doesnt that take away from Ncuti's Doctor? That he has to be bookmarked between the most popular Doctor of nuwho instead of allowing him to stand on his own?
& the 16th doctor? Dwayne The Rock Johnson!
that not an unpopular opinion, thats literally what RTD said his intentions were for it. 14 never becomes the curator.
I absolutely adored this episode. I was prepared to cry but I didn't expect it to be tears of happiness. Happiness for number 14 living with Donna and her family saying....I've never felt so happy in my life....ah🖤 And than sheer happiness because I truly believe Ncuti is going to be nothing less than amazing.
All of the feels
Definitely a celebration
But also something fun, wild, and amazing
The scenes when Ncutis Doctor consoled David's ... and when he convinces him to stay, gives him that second TARDIS... for me that was an instant nod to who this new regeneration is gonna be: The Healer. A doctor in the very sense of the word. Compassion, strength, hands-on and just the right bit of pazzaaazz.
And I am SO here for it!
what about Nardol? he basically died protecting people from the cybermen. Just because we last saw him still alive and fighting didn't change his fate. yet it was only the girl companions who had bad ends that were mentioned.
Arguably, same for Rory. He shared Amy's fate and wasn't mentioned. My only thought was that RTD and therefore the Toymaker stuck with the "official," singular companion. Rory was Amy's plus one. Nardol was River's employee.
I thought Nardol survived by leading the people to another level of the ship. He wasn't present when The Doctor fought the Cybermen.
The "Testimony" version of Nardole claims that Nardole had lived happily ever after and died at the "ripe old age of 728"
@@Chris-bv1bk Ok, didn't know that, thanks
@@lanapowellEven with that logic he was also 12's assistant when he worked at the uni, while that time wasn't explored much on screen before Bill came into the picture, it could be argued he was canonically a solo companion for awhile
I'm calling it now, the master will also bigenerate at some point
I actually quite liked the scene where the doctor pointed out the darker side of humanity. he's always talked about how brilliant and unique the human race is and the admiration he has for us. but he must know of our short comings. he must be able to see the bad aswell as the good. and to see him acknowledge that was quite intriguing to see.
to me it felt like russel was trying to bring acceptance to some of the less than great speeches jodi was given.
having david give a speech similar to her more preachy style, makes her more of a legit doctor in my eyes.
her delivery of those speeches felt out of character of all previous doctors.
now not so much. :)
Exactly what I thought.
I actually loved the Doctor’s little rant about the human race’s flaws as that seemed very in character, and such things are kind of the point of having a non-human protagonist, to hold a mirror up to ourselves.
yeah, I feel like the doctor has always been very clear that humans are both the most wonderful and the most awful, they point out different traits at different times but this felt totally within what the doctor has already said.
@@lavendargooms2056 100% agree! I read it in the moment as him saying, "Humans are flawed creatures by nature and have all this negativity that they choose to let out, but they're still worthy and wonderful because of all they can be at their best," which is why he continues to love and protect humanity so fiercely.
Yeah it felt totally natural to have Tennants doctor say THAT
I like the bigeneration regeneration. It seems like a direct reference to when Donna said “is this how time lords reproduce?” during the End of Time when the meta crisis Doctor appears. Plus it’s the inverse of what happened in Classic Doctor Who when the 5th Doctor (or 6th?) was in disguise during a storyline then merged with the 4th (or 5th?) to help him regenerate. If a future incarnation can merge with the previous to regenerate, why not have them split?
I grew up with Tom Bakers era... I have been and am still dubious about how I feel about the Bi-Geneartion.. But teh more I read the comments, the more I go "Yeah, You know what.. Its actually kind of cool!" - Thanks for giving me another way to look at it and decide if I like it or not! :)
I assume you're talking about Four's regeneration into Five through the use of the Watcher?
Wait a minute, if the 5th helped the 4th regenerate by merging with him, and the 4th is Tom Baker's Doctor, could it be that with the bi-regeneration those two Doctors were unmerged? With Ncuti being from the 5th, and Tennant being from the 4th, which not only makes sense numerically, but also if 14th eventually becomes The Curator, who is also Tom Baker, that would explain why that face returned.
Becuase it's not explained at all and they said it's never been done before, so how did he know he can do that??
@@Starsteam1the doctor hinted it being an old galifreyan legend, Russ could elaborate on that
I wanted to know more about what the Toy Maker saw out in space that he said "was someone else's game"
Loved the episode and I feel that the bi-generation was made possible by the Toy Maker bringing his rules to our universe. Also, to me, Ncuti Gatwa instantly felt like the Doctor, like when Matt Smith started. No need to get a couple of episodes to feel it with the others.
Oh i like that explanation for the bi-generation! That sounds like a really plausible thing
The fact that they mentioned Adric the first companion to die in Dr Who. Nice nod
I didn't mind the Doctor's rant about our flaws. It tacitly explains why he's so drawn to humans and Earth in general. He knows that we need watching.
Did your accent slip? I love tighter writing. NPH hits an upper-deck homerun. Edit: the dude at 9:47 is a very sharply written character. It'll get missed. Watch the Doctor's measured response to the dude that hasn't actually gone nuts. Real world, we all actually pay (in taxes) for road work even if we never drive a car. Pointed sci-fi is the best science fiction.
He was so good.
These 3 specials have restored my excitement in Doctor Who! Can’t wait for the next one!
There is some people who actually miss it. When the toymaker says the staff are still falling, as soon as he finishes the sentence, you can hear two bodies colliding with the earth below. I managed to hear it because I was hearing headphones and actually turned it back to listen again to make sure I wasn’t hearing something else. I love this episode.
The Giggle did something I had wished for with Doctor Who but didn't think could really be done: a regeneration episode that was also a multi-Doctor episode with the next Doctor. No one playing the Doctor would want their big final moment overshadowed by introducing the new Doctor. But bringing David Tennant back as the 14th solved that - it was only a 3 episode run AND he already had a big goodbye scene as the 10th.
There is a plot hole concerning the fact that exposure to the TARDIS makes you immune to the Giggle. Its a good idea and helps to explain why Donna and Wilf arent affected. But... why is Kate affected? Kate was on board the TARDIS in Power of the Doctor. She was on the TARDIS for longer than Wilf. Wilf only travelled round in London. So why is she being affected?
Kate is also not as long term as Donna or Mel.. wilf was visited multiple times.
Wilf.... wilf.... that's a good point.
Wilf was just built different
@@alliex51 he was on board the TARDIS twice and never left modern day London. Kate had a trip in Survivors of the Flux and travelled to a different planet and helped use its controls in POTD
@@mrdr0161 right but is it impossible to think that wilf might have had some off screen adventures?
One little nitpick and not a criticism at all; in the original celestial toymaker episode the first doctor said he met the doctor before. So the Giggle would actually be the third meeting with the Toymaker.
Ye I thought of that, but I think the (young) doctor did manage to escape without playing
I loved this episode. I like your review, especially your comment about the actress who uses a chair. If I have an opportunity to say, I am not confined by my chair, it enables me to move about independently. It's society that blocks my independence. I cried when I heard Russell say of course will make Tardis accessible and then he puts the words in the Doctors/David's mouth. I cried again. Now, as a 66 year old Canadian, I can dream about being of travelling with the Doctor. David has always been my Doctor, since I saw him comforting an older woman on doubledecker bus. My sadness is with missing Wilf /Bernard.He was the best Grandpa for everyone/me. I love the new Doctor and the fact that we the audience got to know him and the new Doctor earlier. I never knew him in his previous work. Happy/ Merry Christmas to you Sean & Ellie.
I can't help but feel that, while the "retirement" does feel deserved, they are keeping 14 on standby in case Ncuti doesn't get fully accepted as the new Doctor & so that's why they decided to do the bi-generation instead of a complete regeneration so they can bring him back & put him in the forefront once again.
I know David Tennant loves the role & has done a good job as 10, Meta & now 14, but there's also the risk of oversaturation if they keep bringing him back as more "different" iterations of The Doctor.
I don't think they'll bring him back in such a fashion. That would be really rude to ncuti too. People had always something to say about the new doctor since 11 so i don't think they'll start planning for such events. I do however think they have the ability now to bring him back as either 14 or he'll become the curator.
My one complaint (It actually is just a nitpick what can you do) about Bigenartion is that I wish they'd set it up a bit earlier in the specials- even if it was a throwaway joke. Otherwise, I loved it and I loved how 14 and 15 just got on so well and broke the trauma of regeneration with this because 15 just looks so confident and I love that!
It definitely gave the impression of one story done done done and another beginning. Made me understand why they're starting over numbers for the next season (series?) at 1. It does feel like a distinctive shift.
I felt like the bigeneration was set up but subtlety.
With the whole Binary talk and her daughter Rose with their memories safely unlocked in the first episode special.
Plus in the alternative universe there is now Rose Tyler and the Human Doctor.
Well, that's how I saw it as anyway.
Surely Ncuti's legs are an up each? Really tho I do find it funny he got like half of Tennant's clothes and means Tennant is flying commando till at least the flash forward to the dinner scene. Talk about living life to its fullest :P
Anyone else love how villain dance numbers are becoming a thing? NGL I rewound his dance number. It was scary and hilarious and so beautifully camp
One thing at 23:22, on the iPlayer subtitles, it actually says [DISTANT THUD] and [GLASS SMASHING], indicating you actually hear them land as they're talking.
Yes absolutely and even in the episode i could barely hear it so its definitely there