TV Review: Doctor Who - The Giggle

 

Things don't stay the same for long in the Whoniverse these days and there are several interesting developments in this episode which is something of a game of two halves. The first half follows the series’ conventional approach for contemporary stories with a big threat, a supervillain, and some powerful visuals. Then something happens during the second half wherein the story takes a bold right turn that will no doubt irritate some fans. Then again we don’t want the programme to be too predictable do we?

 

Spoilers aplenty after the break

“Talkin’ ‘bout bigeneration…”

 First the episode title, itself the subject of much speculation as it seemed to be such an unlikely moniker. The titular Giggle comes from a doll called Stooky Bill that really was the first thing seen in a tv screen courtesy of John Logie Bird in 1925. Only its laugh has been secretly embedded in every tv, computer and device screen and two days ago in 2023 when one hundred percent of the world came online it started to make everyone act on their self righteous opinions. This had led in turn to countless arguments, fights and general mayhem of the sort glimpsed at the end of last week’s episode and seen further this week. Our villain is The Toymaker – as just about everyone with a basic knowledge of Doctor Who had already guessed a year ago- played with an alarming Germanic accent and much gusto by Neil Patrick Harris. Scooped up by UNIT who always seem to know where he is, the Doctor plus Donna have to help sort it out by travelling back to 1925 whereupon they become trapped in the Toymaker’s deadly world of games.

It’s a straightforward plot that borrows liberally from some of the modern show’s signature episodes. So we have a signal implanted in technology, a villain who likes a song and dance routine, the Doctor giving a speech admonishing humanity for its self destructive behaviour, a companion who gets to live with her Doctor albeit in unusual circumstances and even the remains of The Master being picked up by a woman with red nail paint. I’m assuming it’s a woman of course; these days it may not be! There are broader similarities too, the endless corridors of a strange place, terrifying wooden puppets, UNIT’s expensive base under attack and most importantly the concept of the emotional strain the Doctor’s life puts upon him or her.

That said if you are going to repeat ideas why not use the best ones and it all provides plenty of heft to this episode.  It successfully conveys the mayhem with a terrific tableau of street hassle, crashing cars and fighting. In the midst of all this the Toymaker in top hat and tails twirls amidst the chaos he’s creating. As an image it is perfect especially when he then dances with the Doctor. Its neat too that the cause of all this trouble is the signal that heightens natural human selfishness and a belief that we are always right. I’m sure RTD must have taken this from scrolling down any series of messages on social media which somehow seems to have got more extreme since the pandemic. It’s an enactment of what the world would be like if many people’s online attitudes manifested in real life. Probably that passed a lot of viewers by but it’s a relevant point. 

The hollowness of some of these arguments is demonstrated  later when Kate Stewart removes the protective band that keeps UNIT personnel sane and starts to vent anger at the Doctor for being an alien and also Shirley who she suspects of trickery because though she uses a wheelchair, she has seen her walk. Unwittingly this actually mirrors social media comments made about the character after `Star Beast` aired (this was all filmed last year) and demonstrates, admittedly with a heavy hand, how a lot of `opinions` are based on  lack of knowledge or understanding.

In the midst of all this we’re also reintroduced to Melanie Bush. Surely, she should have introduced herself to Donna as “Melanie, known as Mel.” Apart from looking like Bonnie Langford the character has nothing in common with the vintage Mel, in other words she’s being written as a real person now and it’s nice to see. The reunion is almost as abstract as her goodbye back in 1987. The episode’s most involving scenes come once the Doctor and Donna are inside the Toymaker’s Victorian styled traps with endless doors and some nasty puppets.

However different the Toymaker superficially may be behaviour wise he’s pretty much the same as modern madcap Masters and even borrows the idea of having a dance routine. I think three times is probably enough now for this particular gimmick. Neil Patrick Harris is tremendous though, imbuing the character with all the excess he can. He can shift his demeanour in a split second and also gives a very physical performance. One sequence where he sort of re-enacts past adventures using puppets is so much fun and does support the overall intent of this story which is headed towards the Doctor allowing a part of himself a rest to help assuage the guilt and weight of people he has lost and things he has seen. The puppets themselves may be small but like all those Victorian looking toys seem cold and evil even before before they start moving. And the most disturbing scene sees Baird’s assistant (whom we glimpsed at the start buying the puppet) turned into a man on strings himself operated by a giant Toymaker against a sullen sky. Its like a Seventies album cover!

Eventually the action moves to UNIT’s helicopter landing pad wherein the Toymaker atop the now less than top secret organisation's latest super weapon taunts the Doctor before shooting him with enough force to trigger a regeneration. And this is where it gets weird. You know what happened so I don’t have to describe it but its definitely an interesting idea even if its not completely clear what it means.

(Flashback in sepia) The showrunners meet on a windswept wasteland twenty years ago to play a high stakes game. “I’ll have the Doctor fall in love with his companion and have Gallifrey already destroyed by the Doctor himself to finish a terrible war”, declares the First. “I’ll make it so that Time Lords can change gender when regenerating. And I’ll bring Gallifrey back. And then hide it again. And have the companion re-create the Universe from her memories,” says Number Two.  “I’ll have the Doctor not be from Gallifrey at all. Plus I’ll destroy half the Universe”, reveals Three. The others turn to One for his next move; “Well then, I will have the Doctor come back with the same face as a previous version then regenerate so the previous incarnation remains and there will be an instant Two Doctors”. Whereupon Two announces, “…(cut)

(Present day) Often the showrunner’s public statements on the matter of lore have been of the opinion that the show has too much baggage that needs to be left at the door. I’m not sure replacing the old baggage with a lot of new baggage moves the series on that much and bigeneration is not an idea without issues. The one thing that struck me was- what will the fourteenth do whenever there is an invasion of Earth because with Donna now working for UNIT she’s bound to come home and mention it? Especially as invasions these days tend to be high profile affairs rather than happening in isolated research centres or country houses like they used to. And Shirley must be worried for her job now her original predecessor as scientific advisor is permanently around. Perhaps all of this is for a UNIT spin off show?

I have to say I found the idea that different incarnations can just be kind to each other rather than the sniping that previous meetings have resulted in a lot more pleasing. The scene where the two discuss previous events is surely the most subtle use of continuity references in some time. It’s also a neat inversion of the previous idea of trouble heading towards Donna; now it seems only good things are and it fits in with David Tennant’s more subdued demeanour a lot of the time in these specials as if the Doctor is getting tired.

Will there be a spin off show with the fourteenth Doctor? Is this just an incarnation that, like the last Pope, has broken with tradition and retired before dying? It’s probably only an idea the older Russell T Davies could have and it does make a change from the post regeneration trauma of old. The bigeneration also seems to gift the new Doctor with instant strength (though not new trousers) as both incarnations take part in a gymnastic game of catch. I did find this slightly underwhelming if only because the Toymaker is defeated so easily, a common fate for many fantasy antagonists who ten minutes earlier had seemed invincible.

First impressions of Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor are that he’s a warm, casual, self assured, cool character with a zest for adventure though its too soon to draw any real conclusions. He seems to spark off his predecessor and Donna well enough and he calls someone "honey". A word too about Catherine Tate who has been excellent throughout these three specials. It’s so rewarding that Donna has finally got pretty much the perfect life now. This episode shows how acclimatised Donna has become to everything- “I’m already running” she says before the Doctor tells her as the one of the Toymaker’s illusions crumble around them. She realises what the Giggle signal is and deals with the attacking puppets with equal assurance. Never mind the Doctor, I wonder if she’ll miss the adventures?

There are certainly enough continuity references for those who say this anniversary has avoided them including a random namecheck for Mavic Chen! Perhaps he’s that `boss` the Meep mentioned and this is the start of the series mining Sixties villains. There's even some new continuity to take forward concerning "The One Who Waits". This is probably an episode that will divide fans (mind you what episode doesn’t these days) but though the pace slackens towards the end it is overall a strong conclusion to the anniversary specials. If this is a final bow for David Tennant (and I suspect somehow its not) then he has surely cemented his place as emblematic of the twenty first century series as much as Tom Baker remains the most recognisable icon of the twentieth century version. Next -bring on the singing Goblins!!