Russell T Davies delivers quite possibly his most ambitious, and certainly one of his best episodes yet - this regeneration story is genuinely like no other and I have to applaud RTD for going with this idea, and executing it brilliantly.
The episode begins with a introduction to the Toymaker, an old foe, and throughout the story Neil Patrick Harris was fantastic in making a character the audience genuinely hates, as he taunts the Doctor and Donna.
This episode was so quickly paced, it could have been made into an entire series arc, but that's full credit to RTD for being able to make all of this fit within one episode. The concept of the giggle being engrained in human minds is great, and given it's origin, allows for some creepy puppet scenes.
The sequence with the Doctor and Donna being taken through the haunted house and the creepy dolls was exactly what I want from Doctor Who, especially considering the heartfelt conversation the Doctor and Donna had half way through it. This is what RTD can do best, it's not a case of occasionaly bringing the story back down to Earth, actually, among all the craziness, it's all down to earth emotional drama. And it's brilliant.
The use of UNIT was great, I can imagine them playing a big part in the future of Doctor Who. Speaking of which - Ncuti Gatwa burst onto the scene in the first bigeneration of the show. To have David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa act along side eachother was incredible, especially knowing that for one, this will be their last episode, and the other, this is their first.
A game of throw and catch as the climax of the episode? I can see why people may have issues with that, but I'm here for a good time and I thought it worked in a classic RTD way.
Then the next 10 minutes is just wonderful Doctor Who - the 14th and 15th Doctor's figure out where they stand with some beautiful writing, acting, and music.
And as the 10th/14th Doctor's theme transitions into the 15th Doctor's theme, we know who's in charge now. It feels like Murray Gold has a new "I Am the Doctor" now, and that piece was a great way to end a fantastic episode of music!
I think it's going to be controversial to some, but I also think this will go down as a favourite, especially in years to come. When Gatwa becomes a popular Doctor as I'm sure he will, we'll look back at his first appearance, acting alongside potentially the show's greatest Doctor, with great fondness.
Russell T Davies, David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa, Catherine Tate, Murray Gold. Well done all.
To conclude: Fantastic episode from start to finish. Was it an anniversary celebration like the Day of the Doctor was? No, but it didn't need to be. Brilliant episode. 9/10.
The episode begins with a introduction to the Toymaker, an old foe, and throughout the story Neil Patrick Harris was fantastic in making a character the audience genuinely hates, as he taunts the Doctor and Donna.
This episode was so quickly paced, it could have been made into an entire series arc, but that's full credit to RTD for being able to make all of this fit within one episode. The concept of the giggle being engrained in human minds is great, and given it's origin, allows for some creepy puppet scenes.
The sequence with the Doctor and Donna being taken through the haunted house and the creepy dolls was exactly what I want from Doctor Who, especially considering the heartfelt conversation the Doctor and Donna had half way through it. This is what RTD can do best, it's not a case of occasionaly bringing the story back down to Earth, actually, among all the craziness, it's all down to earth emotional drama. And it's brilliant.
The use of UNIT was great, I can imagine them playing a big part in the future of Doctor Who. Speaking of which - Ncuti Gatwa burst onto the scene in the first bigeneration of the show. To have David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa act along side eachother was incredible, especially knowing that for one, this will be their last episode, and the other, this is their first.
A game of throw and catch as the climax of the episode? I can see why people may have issues with that, but I'm here for a good time and I thought it worked in a classic RTD way.
Then the next 10 minutes is just wonderful Doctor Who - the 14th and 15th Doctor's figure out where they stand with some beautiful writing, acting, and music.
And as the 10th/14th Doctor's theme transitions into the 15th Doctor's theme, we know who's in charge now. It feels like Murray Gold has a new "I Am the Doctor" now, and that piece was a great way to end a fantastic episode of music!
I think it's going to be controversial to some, but I also think this will go down as a favourite, especially in years to come. When Gatwa becomes a popular Doctor as I'm sure he will, we'll look back at his first appearance, acting alongside potentially the show's greatest Doctor, with great fondness.
Russell T Davies, David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa, Catherine Tate, Murray Gold. Well done all.
To conclude: Fantastic episode from start to finish. Was it an anniversary celebration like the Day of the Doctor was? No, but it didn't need to be. Brilliant episode. 9/10.