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Every single thought I have about the Doctor Who 60th specials… (Part 2/2)

Part 1

I feel like I’m losing my mind with all the opinions, questions and theories I have about what we’ve watched over the last three weeks so this is part 2 of a full semi-comprehensive list of pretty much all of it so I can get it out of my head and (mostly) move on

The Giggle

Toymaker Stuff

I didn’t love the mad guy’s speech at the beginning, it felt very unnatural idk

Wilf isn’t affected by what’s going on so that would surely mean that Kate shouldn’t be affected either because they both went into the TARDIS for pretty short amounts of time. Wilf probably even less than Kate as far as I can remember. I’m kinda just gonna assume it’s to do with when episodes were written, filmed and aired like I guess RTD didn’t know that Kate would end up in the TARDIS during PoTD and it was too late to change it when he found out

The tune in everyone's head reminds me of the Master in S3 using the beat to get everyone to vote for him

I don’t know how I feel about the Toymaker showing up because of the salt in WBY like.. Okay I guess. Wait I don't think I really care that much either way actually. It’s fine

NPH did a fine job for the most part but I low-key wish the Toymaker was played by someone unknown because I just couldn't get out of my head that it was NPH lmao but maybe that’s just a me problem

I liked the Spice Girls scene but I didn't love the lip-syncing idk, it didn’t have enough power to it, just felt kinda awkward. Also while I loved it, it is probably my least favourite out of the three scenes like that that we’ve had. Rasputin number one!

I’m not sure if I like the bit where the Doctor basically does what he did with the Master and offers to be with the Toymaker and go travelling and stuff like.. Did he mean that? What would have happened if the Toymaker agreed? I do get what he’s saying though about how the Toymaker can do all of that and chooses to cause problems for people but idk, offering to go out to space with him isn’t my fave like why are you tryna give the Toymaker a redemption arc rn fuck him

The flashback to 1 and the original Toymaker!! Love it

RTD said in the commentary that the ‘I made a jigsaw out of your history’ comment was kinda to relax the rules a bit and make more sense of contradicting things we’ve seen like the half-human thing and the Timeless Child for example and like.. Okay, I guess. I think it’s an unnecessary addition tbh. And the ‘Did you like it?’ comment is like right, are we saying the Doctor has memories of, say, believing they were half human because that’s so silly to me. Just chalk it up to a dumb writing choice that went nowhere and move on. We don't need an in-universe explanation for it.

‘I made every opinion supreme. That's the game of the 21st century. They shout and they type and they cancel. So I fixed it. Now everyone wins.’ - CRINGE sorry. Like ppl say Chibnall has on the nose commentaries (@ the Orphan 55 speech) but some of the stuff in this ep was like yeah okay Russ mate we get it. Also I don’t trust that a 60yo man fully understands what ‘cancelling’ is and it always makes me side eye ppl when they mention cancelling bc I’m like right but ‘cancelling’ is a lot of the time actually just people being held accountable for things but whatever. I get though that the point in this episode was to make people extreme so there were examples of ‘cancelling’ in the ridiculous sense rather than the holding accountable sense so whatever

I cba to check what he specifically said but there was a moment where the Doctor was like ‘if I told you he [could do this thing] would you believe me’ and the person he was talking to was like ‘can he do that’ and the Doctor was like ‘no’ so um why mention it then? Dumb as fuck

Not sure about the Toymaker being racist, feels unnecessary? Obviously recognising that the original character is fucked up is important but I don’t know if having the new Toymaker straight up be racist towards someone and spend the episode doing different accents was really needed? Like was the actual character of the Toymaker racist in that original serial or did he just have aspects to him (like name and outfit) that we now recognise as being fucked up? And he’s not from Earth so idk why he would be racist and also in unleashed they’re like ‘he is now a white character played by a white actor’ which he also was in the 60s so?? Unless what they’re saying is that back then the character was intended to be Chinese but was obviously played by a white person? Idk everything about the original Toymaker so maybe overall it does work that he’s racist, idfk

Hints

The Master - RTD said in the commentary for this episode that he hasn’t got any Master plans right now and if that’s true then I truly do not understand why he would bring the Master up at all let alone hint at their return (in the same way he hinted at it back in S3 mind you like get some new actually decent ideas Russell I’m begging). It’s just such a waste of time to do that. Let whoever decides to bring the Master back in the future figure out how they want to do it, and if it’s RTD that ends up doing it, do the hinting and explanation at a time when it makes sense, not in the midst of an episode two plus seasons from the Master even coming back. Baffling choice. I did love the laughs we heard as someone picked the tooth up though and also I love the idea of the Master going up against the Toymaker.

The One Who Waits - Okay. Idk how anyone can have any theories about this tbh but someone who the Toymaker would rather avoid has gotta be pretty rough

‘My Legions are coming.’ - They say in the commentary that this is true and every few episodes the story is kinda supernatural and the rules are suspended a bit and I’m SO excited for that, sounds really interesting

Name Drops

Obsessed with the companion puppet show. I’ve seen a lot of people basically try and clown on the fact that no Chibnall companions got mentioned during that as if it’s the funniest thing in the world and Chibnall has been skipped for shady reasons or something and I find it so embarrassing. It’s literally like well no, 13 managed to get all her companions home safe so why would the Toymaker mention them in a puppet show about the Doctor’s dead companions? Like ppl seem to think it’s funny bc they’re skipping Chibnall’s companions but imo it’s more funny bc it makes the Toymaker’s little story less impactful like he’s got a run of three companions that leave via traumatic experiences but then he has to skip four whole companions bc they literally got home fine like it ruins the flow and is kinda embarrassing for him if he’s tryna prove that the Doctor get’s everyone killed all the time bc clearly they don’t. But anyways

The lack of Yaz mention in the scene at the end literally full of namedrops is frustrating icl. Like, the whole conversation they’re having is around the Doctor never resting. The Doctor is literally about to go and rest by staying in one place for an extended period of time with a companion, FIXING THEMSELVES SOMEWHERE, and you don’t think now would be a good time to do a quick mention to the companion the Doctor left less than 24 hours ago that they decided they couldn’t be with because they ‘couldn’t fix themselves to anyone’? Are you being fr? Like, a Yaz mention fits in so perfectly with that conversation so the fact they left her out is CRAZY.

I don’t think it would have made sense to mention her along with River and Rose because the vibe of the conversation was about like, hugely devastating moments/experiences and the Doctor leaving Yaz isn’t quite on that level in terms of Yaz is just in Sheffield if the Doctor wanted to see her whereas they lost both Rose and River in devastating ways. But I think when people point that out they do it as a reason to not mention Yaz but to me it’s like, well no, she should still have got a mention, just at a different point in the conversation. Even if it wasn’t in relation to the whole fixing themselves to someone thing, they could very easily have had 15 been like ‘Yaz left less than 24 hours ago and I bet you haven’t even tried processing that’

Idk. I know so many ppl are clowning on the fact Yaz wasn’t mentioned or trying to justify why there was no reason to mention her anyways but it’s like no matter what you think of the previous era and the quality of it, it is a FACT that the Doctor thought of Yaz very highly, literally comparing her to River, so not mentioning her during that scene, especially when the Doctor left her not even 24 hours ago, is beyond ridiculous and I’ll genuinely never stop being baffled by it

I know some people don’t like the Sarah Jane mention and feel like she deserved something bigger but I liked it tbh. The Doctor was like ‘Can you just think for a second about how crazy it is that you’ve been so busy doing shit that you not only haven’t been to see your old companion in YEARS to just catch but also it’s taken you so long to do so that she’s died.’ I get wanting more emotion but I kinda liked that it was more of a call out and also like a ‘woah’ moment because I think Sarah Jane is one of those characters you wouldn’t think of dying so her being gone is in universe now too IS a woah moment

The Mavic Chen mention was kinda unnecessary. Idk I don’t really know anything about the character other than it’s a white guy portraying an Asian character so like… of all the characters to mention idk why that would be the one. I don’t even know if they’re that significant of a character, the racism is literally the only thing I hear people mention which leads me to think there’s not really much else going on there that’s worth them getting a name drop after however many decades but whatever

Bigeneration, Face Explanations

I think bigeneration as a concept is interesting and I actually do like the moment where it gets brought up and they’re like ‘It’s a myth apparently not’ and 15 is like ‘myth, myth, myth,’ like ‘the details don't matter right now, what’s happened has happened, moving on’ but at the same time, while the details didn’t matter in that moment, I actually do want details.

I can’t remember which Doctor it was but one of them says to the Toymaker, ‘you did this, you doubled us’ so I guess we’re saying that the reason the bigeneration happened is because of the Toymaker. That’s fine by me tbh. Like okay, the Toymaker, and people as powerful as the Toymaker, are rarely around to make that happen so I guess it makes sense that bigeneration could be SO rare that it’s thought of as a myth rather than a real thing. But that’s about the only thing about bigeneration that I think is even remotely clear or like, un-annoying enough for me to just be like okay cool whatever

From the commentary - ‘I think down the timeline they all separated and came back to life with their TARDISes, the gift of the Toymaker. What I'm calling the Docterverse. I want to create a future in which Sylvester McCoy could just survive and have an adventure. Because one of the thing about The Star Beast is to get you back we had to jump through so many hoops which is a great story but it's like why can't you just arrive and step out of the tardis. So hopefully it creates a story where that happens.’ - This is just unnecessary and I don’t really see the need for it and the reasons RTD gave aren’t really THAT compelling to me.

First of all, the ‘gift of the Toymaker’ comment is proof of him being why the bigeneration happened. I don’t think the bigen is in any way related to the state the Doctor was in after years of bottling things up like I think some people have speculated. But also there is a moment in the episode where 15 says ‘bigeneration has never happened before’ so that makes me be like well if it hasn’t happened before why would it be a myth? And I guess how do you know it’s never happened before? IDFK

Second, ‘we had to jump through hoops to get DT and CTATE back’... You quite literally did not. 13 regenerated into DT, Donna magically survived with the help of girl power and her plot device daughter. It was actually quite simple.

Third, I get the thing of wanting to be able to tell a story that’s set in a world where Sylvester McCoy didn’t regenerate when he did and instead went on to continue travelling with Ace or met new companions or grew old or whatever else but I just don’t think bigeneration was the solution for that. You can absolutely write those kinds of stories without bigeneration. Like somebody introduce Rusell to the concept of Alternate Universe fanfiction fuck me. All of that stuff does not need to be added to the official canon timeline of the Doctor. Doctor Who is already a massive franchise with content all over the place but imo the idea that every Doctor bigenerated adds to that on such a ridiculous level. And also I know that there’s already so many Doctors travelling the universe but the fact that now I guess there’s TWO of every Doctor is like.. Why?

I also think all of it happening in the same universe cheapens the story of our main Doctor and each incarnation’s life and ‘death’ on some level. Like, now RTD is basically saying that 13 bigenerated and 14 went on like we saw in the 60th but 13 coulda gone back to Yaz and said ‘Actually I’ll be with you because I can do that now.’ and I just HATE IT. That would completely take away all the emotional impact of their ending because it’s all in the same universe as what took place in the show. That’s not some AU Yasmin Khan that now gets to have a happily ever after with the Doctor, it would be OUR Yaz from this universe and that’s STUPID. For another example, 10’s final words of ‘I don’t wanna go’ well don’t worry, he didn’t go! Like omg write all the AU fanfics you want about 13 running back to Yaz or 10 crying about not wanting to go only to then actually not have to go or whatever else but don’t put that shit into the actual canon Russell?? Not that 13 going back to Yaz is in the canon now (10 not actually ‘going’ is tho according to RTD’s everyone bigenerated theory), but it’s possible we’ll get some EU book that’s about that and I just would much prefer stuff like that to be kept to fanfics or even be official DW content but be specifically alternate universe/what if style stuff.

Idk like at the end of the day I will just be ignoring that RTD is saying every Doctor bigenerated in that moment unless we see some stuff related to it in the main show (though even then I’ll probs be like nah) because it’s genuinely one of the dumbest things a showrunner has ever come up with but even though I’m gonna ignore it, it still winds me up because I’m just so baffled that it’s even real and the reasons for it aren’t even good.

Like ‘now we can bring a Doctor back whenever and not have to worry about where they fit in their timeline or how old they look’??? How STUPID omg I actually can’t cope. There’s basically infinite space in every Doctor’s timeline where you can just be like okay let’s say they came from that point. The need to be like well now we don’t have to figure that out is SO lazy. A lot of stories don’t even get too specific, because half the time it doesn’t really matter much

And the whole them aging thing is like did anyone give a fuck that they looked old in Power of the Doctor? No. Because it doesn’t matter. And if it did matter, just recast them. Like if we ever got a full on multi Doctor episode with a Classic Doctor (like TUaT) I would much prefer to see them be recast than have the character be played by the older actor and have it rationalised by saying ‘Well they bigenerated and they’ve got old’ like how FUCKING DUMB get me out of here. Just recast them and think for two seconds about what point in their timeline they could be coming from.

And if you want to tell stories where they magically survived and met new companions or went on adventures that wouldn’t fit with what we know their general timeline/arc is then create specific alternate universe content, don’t make every Doctor magically survive their regeneration. The Tales of the TARDIS stories on iPlayer are interesting but the idea of it being in our main Doctor’s universe/timelines is just silly. Say it’s an alternate universe where the Doctor didn’t regenerate at the point they did omg, it’s that simple

He also literally says ‘it’s what everyone does in their imagination’ and ‘it's Big Finish’ and um yes Russell, there is a reason that stuff is imagination and alternate universe and not like, canonically a part of the Doctor’s life, because it’s just silly.

Also I’m not fully clear on what this means for 14 like okay so (1) is he going to get old and die, (2) is he his own Doctor now that will regenerate as normal for potentially an infinite amount of times or (3) is he gonna at some point regenerate and magically appear as the 15 that bigenerated out of him however many years previously on the roof?

I want to say it’s (3) mainly because of 15 saying ‘I’m fine because you fix yourself’, and it does make sense that 15 is the way he is because he’s a result of the recovery 14 goes through but it raises more questions because like... How tf does that happen? 14 regenerates one day and turns into a puff of smoke while his consciousness travels across the country to the roof and implants itself into 14’s brain as the Toymaker shoots him and then he pops out as 15? Like? It’s SO ridiculous. This is kinda the only thing that makes me want bigeneration to come up again in future seasons because maybe RTD has a clear explanation in mind that will play out better on screen and make more sense than what we’re working with right now

Tbh I think option (1) would’ve been my favourite if we’re saying every Doctor bigenerated because it makes things a lot simpler and also would mean that whatever the Doctor goes through post bigeneration doesn’t effect the main Doctor so essentially our main Doctor would be existing as if the bigenerations never even happened because unlike if option (3) is what’s going on, they won’t have any memories of what the post-bigenerated Doctor got up before they magically get transported back to become them yknow? It does kinda make 15 being like that (happy, therapized) less interesting though because it would basically mean that he is a true fresh start for the Doctor and he basically fobbed all the trauma off onto 14 when he popped out rather than having memories of overcoming that trauma etc while living with Donna. And that’s kinda cop out-y and doesn’t make sense if we’re saying EVERY other Doctor also bigenerated (which I’m not saying bc fuck that but it’s Russell’s theory so).

Like if 11 bigenerated in Time of the Doctor, 12 would NOT have that personality bc he presumably would have fobbed all the trauma onto 11 and came out fresh as fuck like 15 did (and like obviously the reason that actually didn’t happen is because bigeneration wasn’t invented back then out of universe but you know what I mean, if we’re saying retroactively that it DID happen then it doesn’t make full sense. Unless 14’s bigeneration was a one off and not every bigeneration results in one Doctor being left with the trauma and the other Doctor being fine. Wait, I'd much prefer that actually…

If the explanation we’re going with is every Doctor bigenerated then I prefer the idea that both Doctor’s that come from the bigeneration are exactly same, but maybe bc 14/15 are the main focus and reason the bigenerations happened, that’s why 14 is fucked still and 15 is recovered. So then 14 lives his life, dies of old age. Then 15 continues as the Doctor. And for previous Doctors, 12 would still be the 12 we know because the bigeneration didn’t change the Doctor’s personality.

This is what kills me about Russell saying EVERY Doctor bigenerated btw. I'm so down for 14 bigenerating then living his life resulting in 15 being the way he is but it happenining to EVERY Doctor is where it falls apart. It’s STUPID. Because if we’re saying 15 is the way he is because 14 lived his life and go therapy then surely the same would’ve happened with all previous Doctors? And maybe they wouldn’t necessarily be thereapized but they wouldn’t have the traumas of what they just regenerated from because they would have just lived however many years between then becoming slightly or largely different people. Like if 10 bigenerated and didn’t go, essentially getting what he wanted, would the 11th Doctor then have wanted to run away to a fresh start like he did in S5? Because who knows what sort of things 10 would have got up to between bigenerating as himself and magically getting back there again as 11. Does any of this make sense omg I feel like I’m waffling like crazy

As for option (2), yeah, I hate that idea. Like, 14 (and every previous Doctor that apparently bigenerated (fuck you Russel T)) going on to live that life out but then also continue on regenerating and basically being their own person now that’s branched off from our main Doctor? Horrific. No thanks.

Regardless of how he got that way, I am so in love with 15’s vibes and just how happy he is. I feel like it’s not gonna last long (which I’m fine with because I love a traumatised Doctor) but I’ll love it for as long as it lasts

I love that 15 basically takes over the episode instantly like he says to push, he explains stuff, he has the throw that makes them win. Idk I understand why people were worried about the first main black Doctor being overshadowed by the people’s princess but I think anyone who believes DT overshadowed Ncuti in those final 15 or so minutes is SOOOOO wrong. 14 still had his moments obviously, but 15 was absolutely present and had great stuff too, probably more so

The ‘do you come in a range of colours’ comment from Donna was honestly kinda jarring like I know what she was asking and why she was asking it but the way she asked felt crazy. But also if she has memories of what the Doctor has been through since he left her then surely she knows he ‘comes in a range of colours’ because she would’ve seen 13 meet Fugitive? Unless I’m misremembering and Donna was being fr when she said she couldn’t remember the stuff she saw properly. Idk

There’s vibes to it that I don’t love but overall I think I am happy and okay with 14’s ending like I’ve seen a lot of people say it ruins 10’s ending for various reasons or like, it’s not fair that other Doctors didn’t get this but I think that’s kinda silly. In terms of 10’s ending, him bigenerating (according to Russell, I'm pretending that shit didn't happen) is what ruins his ending, not the fact that 14 now gets to be happy. And in terms of other Doctor’s deserving it, you just sound childish icl. Like yeah okay every Doctor deserves to be happy and healthy and rest up but that just isn’t what happened, grow up. Wish they got that, sure, but don’t act like 14 getting that instead of them makes the story bad because clearly if you want that for your fave Doctor then you mustn't think the story is that bad

I don’t think I looove the explanation that his face came back because he was wearing himself out and wanted to go home or whatever like idk. It feels kinda simple and boring. I do like the idea of the Doctor just being so worn out that he ends up spending a regeneration recovering, that’s VERY real and the Doctor defo needs that. But that being the whole reason the face came back is very cop out-y imo, much like the explanation for Donna surviving the metacrisis. Two big story points that could’ve had really interesting explanations but were kinda nothing in the end. I’m glad 14 got the ending he did but that part of the explanation was a bit boring

14 accepting he’s regenerating only to then.. Not regenerate is kinda haunting like everyone has BEEN saying oh it would be nice if 10 didn’t want to go and 14 finally got closure or whatever and was okay with it and then that literally happened and he didn’t even end up going like.. Okay. I think it makes sense for him to be okay with going bc as much as people love to say it, he’s not ACTUALLY 10 and the Doctor’s attitude to regeneration has changed since he was 10 but idk, I’m just wondering if the bigen kinda ruins that moment of acceptance from him

14 saying he fought all those battles and now he knows what for because he’s living a happy life makes me feel INSANE. Honestly, I think that’s the line that really makes me remember that this isn’t just 10 3.0, this is the Doctor with pre- and post-10 baggage and I really felt his age and felt how deserving the Doctor is of just being happy and living that life.

There’s a moment where 15 says about how they’ve never just stopped and rested and I’ve seen people not like that and bring up things like Darillium or the time 11 spent mourning the Ponds or 12 working at the university and I defo understand where that POV is coming from but I think for me there is a difference between those and 14’s ending because 14’s ending is really just as simple as he is living on Earth pretty much permanently with the odd trip away and that’s just his life now whereas with all the others there was bigger things going on that the Doctor simply staying at a place because they feel like it. Darillium is probably the closest to being like 14 but I cannot imagine 12 and River just spent 24 years doing nothing, I’m sure they travelled during that time. And then 12 at the Uni had watching vault duties and 11 was in deep mourning. 14’s ending is a lot more simple y'know and focused specifically on his recovery and just living his best life.

Misc

The TODAY text that came up when we first saw 14 and Donna was so unnecessary. It’s 100% the kind of thing Chibnall would've got shit for bc ppl have a weird hatred for his location texts but I haven’t really seen anymore mention it even though it’s defo the worst location text the show has seen

I am obsessed with the music when 14 first appears in the ep and when they first meet the Toymaker in the shop, it’s so good. I’m not that happy about Murray Gold being back bc it’s suuuuuch a ‘getting the band back together’ thing like omg just hire some new ppl but I’ve always liked his stuff so whatever I guess

I like when the Doctor calls out about people and how they love to poison and hate each other like yeah, the Doctor loves humans but also he can see how shit we are at the same time, and calling those things out specifically was just really good imo idk

Idk why Mel was in this tbh like I have no attachment to her so I can’t even say it was nice to see her bc I don’t know her. All she did was sing a song, hold 14’s hand and carry a box around. I feel like she could’ve been used better. I’m hoping she gets used better the next time we see her. Also I’ve seen some ppl literally say that she was used better than Ace and Tegan were in POTD and genuinely if you think that you’re an idiot

Love the scene of Donna and the puppets, spooky

I like catch as a final game, I think I saw some ppl say it was too simple/boring

Why did 14 start explaining bits of the TARDIS to 15 like brother that is literally you I think he knows

The ‘you’ve finally caught up with the 21st century’ comment is cringe a fuck. Very an old man just wrote that coded. And also Shirley doesn’t even get to go in lmao

The whole old man, you’re older, I’m younger thing is a funny moment but also doesn’t make sense unless the intention is that 14 goes on to become 15, in which case, yes, 15 is the old man. If 14 never becomes 15 and they’re just living parallel lives from now on then they’re the exact same age

Why is Wilf shooting moles? That does not feel very Wilf at all

Giggle Commentary Misc

Russell said something like there’s proof Ncuti has the real TARDIS because he’s sure people will worry but um.. Why would people worry about it?

DT says in there that he didn’t make a conscious effort to play 14 differently to 10 and I find that baffling for two reasons - first because he FELT different, so the fact he wasn’t trying to be is kinda impressive and second because I’m like surely you know the character has changed over that time? Like I know 14 is essentially 10 but he is 10 with 1000+ years of extra baggage and not taking that into consideration when going into the part is borderline unprofessional? Naive? Embarrassing? Makes me think he wasn’t taking the story/character seriously? Idek. I find it strange. RTD’s fault too, I’m sure. Though the fact 14 feels a bit different is in part to do with the scripts etc

Also in the commentary they were laughing at the idea of DT coming back and playing the Doctor differently and like, I get it, obviously the excitement about him coming back was because people love 10 and the story they told made it make sense he was acting a lot like 10 but to laugh off the idea of him playing it differently is CRAZY, there’s surely interesting stuff that coulda been done there. Like one day an actor coming back to the role as a main incarnation and playing it completely different to how they played it the first time round and having a completely new arc etc would be really cool imo

I love seeing the Doctor be high on regen energy when they first regenerate, it’s one of the best parts of seeing a new Doctor, but I also kinda agree that it’s nice to do something different and seeing 14 and 15 interact with each other was 10/10. I do hope the next regeneration is a back to basics one though after two fuckeries in a row.

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