Doctor Who Specials

Had a good time but it was flawed

Enjoyed David Tennant and Catherine Tate back together again.

The exposition to tell what happened to Donna previously could have been added naturally

Liked the Meep sub-plot

That street battle whilst the gang got away went on too long

Some contrivances here and there. Like surely the Doctor would know that Unit set Wilf up with a place to stay. And it looked like they got in an elevator on the ground floor at one point just to open up on the ground floor (?)

Don't like that suddenly the sonic screwdriver can do holograms, bring up ship schematics in an instant, break down mortar, and teleport people in. Better to have restrictions in place. Heck they're going to forget that the doctor can now sonic shields the next time he regenerates from being hit from a laser.

The wheelchair science lady felt like she was just there as a plot device to get the characters out of a situation. The Doctor casually just talks to her like he knows her when this is our introduction to her. And she seemed to move between floors at one point when there is no lift.

Not a fan that they've done away with the threat of Donna dying within the first episode. I wondered how they were going to keep it going for four specials but it would have been a great use of tension as the Doctor tried to prevent her remembering. And the way they do away with it felt contrived as RTD side stepped the rules he set up 15 years ago. Like how J.K. Rowling contrived Harry Potter to have the elder wand.

And the whole binary thing fell flat for me. Like the Doctor won't understand because he's a man when he had only recently been a woman. Or for that matter many women according to the Timeless Child. Seriously? And did anyone believe the daughter was 14-15 years old?

Oh and the Tardis interior looks bland and sanitised now. Slightly beetter than whatever crystallised set up Jodie had, but come on a bit more character. 

The first one was great, wasn't so keen on the second one but lovely final role for the late great Bernard Cribbins. The last Jodie Whittaker special was more like the pervious anniversary specials with lots of past Drs and companions appearing whilst last last week's episode was more like a standard Dr Who story.

This week's one is the big one with Neil Patrick Harris as guest star and Ncuti's first appearance so I reckon RTD has got something pretty spectacular planned.

Apparently Ncuti is already well into filming his 2nd series and someone said they are even working on his third series already. I don't know if they are doing shorter series or Ncuti has cleared his scedules to devote his time to the role for a couple of years and as he is in demand they are gettng stuff in the can which they can show over next 2 or 3 years.

It was Nathaniel Curtis, probably best known for It's A Sin.

Loved it. Few bits that didn't work but overall excellent and RTD has really kicked the series into gear again.

And clearly if you were looking to create a cultural highlight in 2023 it helped to cast Bonnie Langford!

SPOILER!!!!













I found it to be a bit too ‘silly’ to really love but it was a great handover & gave RTD chance to keep relying on Tennant when it all goes to poop again. Aren’t there now 3 Tennant Dr’s roaming space & time? Bonkers.

Well it was Missy the last time that happened, so unless the Rani is returning I’d plump for that. I wondered at first if it might be Rose, but she already has her own Doctor.

I suppose the important thing is that the red nails were rescuing the Master.