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This is the 4th time the Doctor has regenerated into David Tennant (Eccleston -> Tennant, Tennant -> Tennant, Whitaker -> Tennant, Tennant -> Tennant again) out of 15 lives, so anytime the Doctor regenerates there’s about a 26% chance of him turning into David Tennant lol.
As the old saying goes, 1 in 4 doctors is David Tennant.
Recommended by 4 out of 5 Tennants.
Don’t forget female clone of Tennant.
Mrs. Tennant in several ways.
That strange sense of weirdness and confusion is probably the closest I’ll ever get to the feeling viewers in the '60s must have had watching William Hartnell regenerate into Patrick Troughton.
A fun episode for sure, with a lot of turns I wasn’t expecting. Acting as always was top notch, from the Doctors and also NPH as the Toymaker. The episode does feel rushed though. There weren’t many moments to breathe and take in what was happening before being whisked off to the next plot point. All coming to a head when we have this never before seen mythic bi-generation, but we have to whizz past everyone’s reactions so we have time to play catch and wrap the episode up within the time limit. I don’t want to come off as overly negative because there was a lot to like here and I did enjoy it, but it really could have done with being a two-parter.
I also found it immensely funny that the Toymaker had nothing interesting to say about 13’s companions and had to skip past them.
Because they didn’t die. But the Doctor didn’t point that out! He could’ve been like, ‘I didn’t kill the last four!’ But it wouldn’t have fit the tone.
I kinda agree, not that it should be a two parter, but it did lack the breathing room for key moments.
Frankly this whole series of specials felt that way to me. I get they had a lot they wanted to accomplish, and I think what they ended up with was fine, but I am hoping this isn’t setting precedent for the next series. It felt so cramped and rushed.
I hope he finds some pants
15 got the pants, 14 got the trousers. Maybe this is the Doctor that rescues the universe in their drawers.
I thought it was hilarious that they split 14’s outfit, they each got four pieces of it
Judging from the xmas special trailer, he’ll transition into a kilt before he wears trousers 🙂
I love a Doctor Who script that understands that time travel screwiness aside, the thing that really works about Doctor Who is giving great actors a place to wax poetic and dramaticly chew the scenery. I felt that this episode did that nicely.
All four lead cast members rose to the occasion, and shared their energy.
I’m not sure I liked how the catch scene was done, but it’s also kind of perfect. That was never going to work without NPH, and I’m not sure anything less silly could have felt right.
Definitely my favorite of the specials. Thought the acting was great. I wish they didn’t do “catch” for the final game especially when they so poorly edited in all the catches. But whatever. And then i was shocked when Donna said “you don’t have to stay forever” and they completely missed the line “I dont want to go”. Felt like it would have been a great way to tie it up.
I would also suggest that ‘fetch’ came before ‘catch,’ but I doubt that would have made as compelling a scene since it would just be one throw off the
Avengers TowerUNIT building.Oh wow, yeah. You nailed it. That would’ve been perfect.
Well that ending felt weird
Definitely feels weird. I know it really doesn’t matter, being a time travel show and all, but the doctor splitting into two different people was definitely something I was not expecting. I hope they can wrap this up in a satisfying end, and that they don’t just leave 14 on earth never to be seen again.
It’s definitely a back door for a UNIT spin=off with Donna and Tennant able to pop in once in awhile.
I kinda like that he’s out there, like Donna was, he just exists in the world but he’s no longer our story.
I feel like Big Finish is gonna have a field day with this lol. Infinite room for David Tennant box sets!
I’m thinking Russel did that to address to issues, the curator in the 50th special, and the Renegade Doctor. I know a lot of fans, m’self included, want her to return, but how do you explain her? Well, if the doctor bifurcated… Sorry, bi-generated in the past, willingly or unwillingly, that could mostly explain her, and if 14 and 15 are running around at the same time, no reason she can’t either. Thinking about the curator, that might even explain why Russell brought Tennent back.
Maybe it’s because I’ve ignored previews and trailers, but I was surprised (not unpleasantly so) that Gatwa used his native Rwandan accent rather than a British accent. He will clearly be a groundbreaking doctor in many ways.
Ahhh I was wondering about that.
I’d be fully onboard with bi-generation, if instead they had explained it happening because of the Toymakers abilities to mess with the laws of physics. I’m surprised they didn’t go that route.
EDIT: I’ve been reading people talk about this idea on other social media platforms. I bet eventually RTD will confirm this. The bi-generation was a myth but the Toymakers powers did indeed bend the laws of the universe and make the myth a reality.
Doctor Who has always been a mix of utter brilliance and painful stupidity.
And RTD likes to lampshade the things he doesn’t think fans should care about…
They did explain splitting tardis is because of toymaker power, but didn’t think to use that excuse for the doctor
I’m thinking it might be a natural thing for the Doctor. While I wasn’t watching for a while, I’ve caught bits and pieces of the Timeless Child, which IIRC is the Doctor and he’s not actually Gallifrean? So maybe things are different for him, plus this explains the Curator and the Renegade Doctor.
Fun episode. I loved the puppetry scene, but the bi-generation feels a bit weird to me. Interesting if they want to keep 14 around, or if he’s gone after the Christmas special.
I figure, considering David Tennant’s age, and past willingness to reprise the role, and the age of the show, it’s a safe bet he shows up a few more times, even if they had killed him off.
even if they had killed him off.
That’s the fun of shows like this - literally nothing is off the table. It’s like kids playing games at recess, making up rules as they go. There’s a bit more to it than pure “lawlessness”, but the rules can always give way to fun. I love it.
There are rumors of a UNIT spin-off, there could be some way to tie Tennant into that somehow.
There’s been rumours of a UNIT spin-off for decades, though.
I wasn’t understanding how the Doctor allowed the Toymaker into our reality.
I heard him say that his sprinkling the salt on the ship deck in the second special is what allowed the Toymaker to enter, but I don’t understand why just sprinkling salt on the ground would allow that to happen.
Could someone elaborate?
(Disclaimer: There was a little explanation in the episodes, but I’m mostly extrapolating here)
He attracted a being of “game play” by playing a trick (ie 'game) on the edge of reality, where the borders are less solid, thus attracting the Toymaker’s attention and giving them an anchor into this universe. Given how powerful they clearly are, it wouldn’t take much to give them enough to make their way in.
As I understand it, in the previous episode the ship was on the edge of existence, with big parts of the universe now missing because of the Flux. With the salt he invoked a superstition at the edge of reality, where the boundaries are weaker which let the Toymaker get through somehow.
My understanding is that playing a game or trick on the edge of the universe could attact things from outside the universe?
Fair enough, though without going down the rabbit hole, I gotta wonder how they break through the barrier from their reality to ours? I guess its ‘thin’ at the edges??
That’s definitely a phrase I’ve heard before.
I’m not entirely sure the Doctor even knows for sure, or if he’s just guessing. I guess this is just one of those things where we have to suspend our disbelief and just accept it needed to happen for the episode to happen.
I appreciate the response, but I’m the type of person who wants my worldbuilding and lore to matter and make sense, even in more fanciful shows like Doctor Who.
When I was asking about was that he actually made some mention about the walls of reality breaking down or something (my paraphrasing), so I was hoping for someone to give a better explanation of that, specifically.
I totally get that! I think the specific answer they give in the episode is that he “played” at the edge of the universe by trying to hold off the Not Things with vampire rules. I’m not sure of the mechanics of it, but apparently playing at the edge of the universe lets in the Toymaker.
I don’t find this answer very satisfying myself, however, but I can’t seem to find a better one.
I don’t find this answer very satisfying myself
Yeah, I can see what they’re trying to do, but it seems like it needs a little bit more push to make it be a viable/acceptable reason why.
I guess at this point you’re right, we just ignore and move on, though I do wish the writers weren’t so ‘hand wavy’ lazy about their worldbuilding.
Not that it’s especially convincing but I think that the idea was that he was ‘playing a game’ when he’d been doing that stuff with the salt and then thrown it out into the ether for no reason other than messing about.
Or something? I don’t know. Much as I love a lot about RTD as a writer, he’s definitely not a details man on story elements…
This was my favorite of this series of specials. I was pretty concerned that they had cast NPH as The Master for a bit there (I’m a NuWho Noob, so I had never heard of The Toymaker), but aside from that, it was pretty good! Ended up skipping through the song-and-dance number, though. Just wasn’t for me. Intrigued by the bi-generation twist and the new generation. We got too little of 15 to really develop any sort of insight, but he seems solid enough so far. Looking forward to Christmas!
Also, where the hell did that hand come from at the end? It came from off the edge of the platform. Was it a POV shot? So confusing XD
The hand I think was a callback to Last Of The Time Lords where a hand with red nail polish retrieved the Master’s ring after he died to bring him back to life. The Toymaker mentioned that he beat the Master and trapped him in his gold tooth, so this is some sort of Master shenanigans I think.
Definitely a call back, but my question is more so the physicality of it in universe. That was the edge of a platform 50 some stories in the air, and the hand came from off the platform. Was it someone reaching through a hole in reality? An invisible floating entity that still cares about their nails? I’m very curious!
If the Toymaker is a being that can exist in our universe and also defy logic, he might not be the only one.
So who did the toymaker stayed away from and not play a game with? Is that the “boss” the Meep was talking about? Or was that the doctor and I missed something?
I think it’s the ‘Boss’ and they’re building up an arc.
With the whole gold tooth thing I really hope it’s not as obvious as The Master but who knows yet
It can’t be The Master. They were in the tooth because the toymaker beat them.
Maybe another time lord? Rassilon or The Rani
Maybe! I do think there’s been a plethora of Timelord big-bads already, so I’m hoping it’s something new, personally.
*(Spoiler-y ahead)Looking back on it, since 11’s timelord-less run, we’ve only had one season where the big bad wasn’t the Master or some other timelord. I think we’re due a change of pace.
Also… my reactions to seeing Mel were like this- *Thinks of Mel on TV* Ugh. Mel. *Remembers Mel on Big Finish* Hooray! Mel!
The whole episode up until the ending was amazing, it felt like how doctor who should feel especially thanks to donna. “Im donna and youre a gonner” shit made me and my friend laugh so hard. That was classic donna. And oh my god the toymaker explaining what happened to the docs companions after her? Incredible scene. And toymaker dancing around unit was awesome. But then it crashed hard, they pull bi-generation out of their arse. If its a myth the doctor knew about, something that big has to be built up to, to me it just felt like a cheap way to copy the 50th with having 2 doctors on screen.
Although from the small bits ive seen of him, ncuti seems to me like hes gonna be an incredible doctor. That one scene when he kicked 14 and donna out of the tardis, jokingly, with sass was awesome, felt like a NEW doctor, but still the doctor. Also his interactions with tennant were so heartfelt. No doubts hes gonna be great.
Too bad they fucked up the sonic so bad lmao. I can gurantee this new sonic wont be able to make FUCKING SHIELDS because thats op and they were just lazily thinking of a way to get 14 out of that situation.
Im going to give ncuti a go, but with that ending it felt like i had what doctor who used to be ripped from me. If they keep retconning things like davros for the sole purpose of: “wheelchair users cant be assosciated with evil” then the shows dead to me and thats really upsetting
I liked when they asked him if he was just going to leave without saying good bye ‘Would I do that?’ Ummm, how many times has the Doctor done just that?
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