About:
- Genres:
- Action-Adventure
- Science Fiction
Fix: Fan Nostalgia, Platonic Love, Aliens, Time Travel, Found Family, Trans Representation, Disability Representation
Platforms: Disney+
Disney+ Summary:
Special 1: “The Star Beast”
The Doctor is caught in a fight to the death as a spaceship crash-lands on London. But as the battle wreaks havoc, destiny is converging on the Doctor’s old friend, Donna.
Special 2: “The Wild Blue Yonder”
The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Donna to the furthest edge of adventure. To escape, they must fight the most desperate fight of their lives, with the fate of the universe at stake.
Special 3: “The Giggle”
The giggle of a mysterious puppet is driving the human race insane. When the Doctor discovers the return of the terrifying Toymaker, he faces a fight he can never win.
FYA Summary:
Fifteen years ago (see episode 4.13, “Journey’s End”), a human woman named Donna Noble accidentally absorbed the powers of her time-traveling, telepathic alien friend, the Doctor. Since the transformation was threatening her life, he stopped it by erasing all her memories of him instead. Since then, Donna has tried to be content with her ordinary life, but she knows there’s something missing. When the Doctor suddenly reappears in her neighborhood, having just regenerated into the same body he had when they first met, he makes every effort to avoid her, because remembering their friendship might kill her. With the usual Doctor-Who-style alien invasion breaking out, however, not remembering might get her, her family and/or all of London killed as well.
Familiar Faces:
Catherine Tate as Donna Noble and David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor
Tennant’s back, delightfully eccentric as always, but having learned from his previous selves to be more honest about his feelings. He can actually admit he loves someone now, which – for me at least, remembering the Tenth Doctor’s era – is a real relief.
Tate carries off the same difficult balancing act she did before, playing a loud, abrasive, insecure and deeply loving woman who will make you roll your eyes one moment and cry for her the next – now more than ever, as she is also a fiercely supportive ally to her trans daughter Rose.
Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble
Finney, who previously appeared as Elle Argent in Heartstopper, is a welcome addition to the Doctor Who cast. She brings warmth and enthusiasm to the role of Donna’s daughter, a plush toy maker and appreciator of all things alien.
Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott
World War II veteran, amateur astronomer, Donna’s beloved Gramps and the Doctor’s old friend, this character was Cribbins’ final role before he passed away in 2022.
Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker
The actor who played Barney in How I Met Your Mother appears as an evil cosmic entity with a cartoonishly fake German accent.
Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor
The newest Doctor, who recently played one of the Kens in Barbie, has a joyful effervescence that contrasts perfectly with the older, more careworn Fourteen. I’m looking forward to his upcoming season.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Old And New Companions
As a long-time Whovian, I loved watching these episodes and could catch (almost) every reference, but given the helpful recaps, straightforward stories and great acting, even someone who’s new to the show should be able to understand them.
Recommended Beverage: TARDIS Coffee
The Doctor’s beloved sapient spaceship now has her own coffee machine in the console. You’ll need it to stay awake to discuss the paradigm-shifting plot twists in “The Star Beast” and “The Giggle”.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Allons-y!
I’m honestly not sure how to describe these episodes, not just to avoid spoilers, but because I might not stay professional, or even coherent. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending for Ten/Fourteen and the Noble family’s stories, or a better beginning for Fifteen’s. Russell T. Davies has always known how to strike at the heart of a story, no matter what kind of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff happens around it. This is the Doctor Who I’ve missed, and I’m so happy to get it back. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I am VERY EXCITED to watch these. Ten and Donna have always been my favorites. I just have to finish 13’s run first …
I love Ten and Donna too. Have fun!
I gave up on Doctor Who at some point during Capaldi’s era (he was fine, the stories just got boring to me) and I felt bad but I had zero interest in Jodie’s seasons when I kept hearing how crap the writing was. But this definitely reminded me of what I liked about the show (and Donna was my fave companion, so I’m glad she got to have her memories back), and Ncuti’s few minutes were so good! His smile is freaking RADIANT and it makes me want to smile when I see his grin. I loved Ncuti in Sex Education, and I feel like he is going to be absolutely fantastic at this, so I will definitely be tuning back in for new episodes.
I think episode 2 was my favorite (I love a good space horror story).
The ONLY thing I didn’t like about the episodes was the end of episode 1 when Rose and Donna are like, oh we know how to get rid of the Time Lord’s powers, and the Doctor is asking how and Donna is like, you didn’t think of it because you’re [basically] a silly man and not thinking with feminine sensibilities — you just let them go! Like…until barely a day ago, the Doctor WAS a woman, and it’s been consistently mentioned that the Doctor isn’t really “gendered”, and you just got done being all rah-rah trans / non-binary people, let’s not judge! And then they have Donna make a reductive “men are stupid” joke, especially one that hinges on this big thing happening to her? I don’t get how that made it through to the final edit. It would’ve been enough for me to just say, well now they’re both splitting the power so it’s easier to give it away than it would’ve been for one person. Anyway.
I agree with you about all of this, including the “let the power go” moment. The Doctor was offered the Presidency of Gallifrey, and later Earth, and turned it down because he knew it wouldn’t be good for him. He used to give River his regeneration energy to heal her. He knows how to let power go.
And yes, Ncuti Gatwa’s smile is radiant!