15 Random Thoughts on Doctor Who: The Giggle

The third Doctor Who Special, The Giggle is here — and of course I have thoughts on it.

Just as I’ve already done with Wild Blue Yonder and The Star Beast, I want to avoid spoiling anything for anyone.

That’s part of the reason I’ve left these thoughts until the evening, Australian time, to allow more of my friends time to see The Giggle properly.

But just in case you’ve landed here without watching The Giggle, I’m going to embed a YouTube video below. Past that lie SPOILERS… so tread carefully.

As before, these are random thoughts in no particular order. I’m not recapping the plot, because I am presuming you’ve watched The Giggle with your own eyes (or someone else’s, I won’t judge), so here we go.

And my, do I have THOUGHTS about this one.

1. Man who wants to stand in the road that the Doctor saves? I think his full name is Mr S. Tory. Exposition.
2. I think I’ve figured out the Unit budget breakdown. 20% lasers, 10% ineffective guns, 20% excessive salary demands and 50% on chewable scenery. Because my goodness, NPH gets a lot of scenery to chew. He’s fun to watch, though, as always.
3. Tennant and Tate do still have an easy, effortless chemistry together. They’re good. I want to say that now, because of a point I’m going to make later on.
4. The bit with the doors closing on Donna and The Doctor is the EXACT SAME thing as Wild Blue Yonder did last week. I mean, I get it (sort of), but maybe a different way to split them up would have felt fresher.
5. Loved the Toymaker’s shop, but I do wish there had been more “games” behind it, to really drive home the way the Toymaker works. Donna’s jump scare dolls thing is well handled as a scene, but what’s the “game” behind it? Why not have them run through a few games, call back to the original serial and make it clear what governs the Toymaker (and what doesn’t)
6. Equally, the way to not get lost in the doors, I would think, would be to open them but NOT walk through. You can see what’s going on without having to walk through a door.
7. Mel! I’m all for classic companions, but I kind of feel as though she was a little wasted here. What exactly did Mel do that changed the story, besides being there?
8. What’s the Notice To Carmen bit on the building in Soho? A bit of Google searching suggests it’s to do with 19th century/early 20th century showmen, as per here… but is there something else I’m missing?
9. I did smile to see Trinity Wells back again.
10. Saving the entire world via a game of catch is a very nice little play on the nature of “play”, and I liked that.
11. For a moment there — just a moment — I thought RTD would go through with a mid-story regeneration. Honestly… I wish he had, because that would have created a really interesting dynamic where Gatwa’s Doctor has his fresh regeneration energy to take on the Toymaker. Instead… we get split Doctors… and they’re FULL Doctors?
12. One thought here that might have been nicer than that slightly chaotic game of catch would be for the Toymaker to still be “beating” both Doctors. They realise they cannot win… so Tennant realises he has to make the same kind of sacrifice he chose on Donna’s behalf years ago, merging INTO Gatwa to give him full focus. Throws the Toymaker off guard, throw ball, win.
13. I do like Tennant (haven’t met a Doctor I’ve not liked, wonderful chaps all of them and all that), but I feel as though RTD wanted to have his cake and eat it too here, leaving the Tennant Doctor with a FULL TARDIS on Earth. It leaves Gatwa always in his shadow, with elements of the fandom pushing for more Tennant stories (and maybe that’s the plan?), instead of focusing on the new Doctor. That’s long been the strength of the series; when an old Doctor leaves, the new one gets to make their mark. That can’t happen with quite as much oomph here — plus they’re going to have to always explain for any earth-bound stories why both Doctors can co-exist. Also, somewhere in the corner, the Blinovitch limitation effect is having a good old cry…
14. The Master being stuck in the Toymaker’s tooth was fun, and even the pickup of the tooth is a nice callback to The Last of The Time Lords. But really, where was (presumably Missy?) standing when it was picked up? In mid-air? How did NOBODY see that?
15. Added one thought: Is this the first pants-less Doctor we’ve seen on screen? Nope — Jon Pertwee was in a shower in his first episode, fact-fans!

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That was enjoyable though — and because I’ve done this in the past, I’m going to rank the specials in order. An easy ranking, though.

1. The Giggle
2. The Star Beast
3. Wild Blue Yonder

Thoughts? Comments? Drop them below!