Doctor Who 60th Anniversary: A Triple Review! ( The Star Beast, Wilde Blue Yonder, The Giggle) 

No reactions this time! Video got a bit long :( what did you guys think about the specials?

I quite liked there was just a normal Doctor Who type episode in the middle of two episodes which call heavily back to the Doctor’s past.

I like the new take on the theme except for the tinnitus pitch mixed in with it, which is legitimately painful when I have a migraine. 😅

Great reviews btw! And yeah I was worried about the bigeneration too for the same reasons, I was really worried it'd be a bit disrespectful to Ncuti but I've since turned around on it given all the talk from fans as to how it works lol...that was until RTD implied it happened to previous Doctors in which case I'm back to disliking it lol

I think it would have been funnier if that wasn’t actually Newton and The Doctor was wrong. This would also remove the need for future writers to remember to use mavity instead of gravity (and if they do remember, potential audience confusion since not everyone will remember the throw-away joke long term).

I'm interested in the idea that the show is moving more towards fantasy than before. Perhaps the flames have died down enough that he can actually get Lawrence Miles on board. At least IP wise, if not for writing an episode. Since Miles actually watched these specials, and he refused to watch the show for the longest time. If not, oh well, there's always Iris Wildthyme.

great review of the 3 specials, agree with a lot of the points - would love to know your thoughts on whether the specials might have benefited from one of them being a two parter?

Hey Doc wanna settle down with someone you can love and who loves you back? No? Wanna move in with a former companion and her family like an uncle who the family will be too polite to ask to leave but will need to leave at some point because its getting awkward? Yes? Why? Oh right female lead bad, male lead safe and we can ignore the Docs gay romance, because studios can't allow leads to be gay in a major IP.

I really hated the specials, Neal Patrick Harris was a highlight wished we spend more time in his domain but everything else felt like a glorication of Tennant era, we never got a legit explanation why he was 14th? Why does he always get special treatment , getting happy end & constantly overshadowing his successors. Power of the doctor felt like a more solid anniversary special than this. I honestly don't understand why Tennant is so popular , his era is so inconsistent, his arrogant ego and treatment of Martha made him painful to watch.

I really, REALLY wanted to love the specials... but alas, I didn't. I had enjoyable moments, but it's potentially the most disjointed I've ever felt with Who on a production perspective, sadly. I had heard about the leak, and I hated it. And unfortunately, I hated it even more watching the actual episode. I'm not against big new changes to the show (I love the Timeless Child for example), it's not the lore stuff that bothers me, it's the real world metatext and optics of the creative choices, it all feels so incredibly disrespectful to both Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa. The script is metatextually screaming that the Doctor (AKA the show) has been run into the ground and needs put to bed, to the point that it needs good old Russell to split off a wholly new version to start from scratch. It plays so much into the horrible bullcrap that assholes have been spewing since Jodie's casting. It also robs Ncuti's first big moments to really cement himself, instead he- the first black lead of the show- has to play second fiddle and be the emotional support therapist to the old popular white dude. That doesn't feel right at all (not to mention Donna's INSANE comment of "coming in all colours" WTF???). And not only does Tennant's happy ending just sort of feel like a rehash of his metacrisis ending in Journey's End, but if the rumours are true and it's ultimately to set up a spin-off, how is Ncuti supposed to compete with that? Why would Russell saddle his new star with that burden? How is he supposed to lead the show into a new era, when one of the most popular Doctors is STILL clinging on with a series of his own, that we all absolutely know assholes will unfairly compare him to. Sorry if this is overly negative.

I know they couldn't mention all the companions which is fine but the fact that he mentioned Amy Pond SOLO. That bothered me. Rory was just as important and losing him was just as hard as losing Amy. Rory didn't deserve to be skipped when you were already talking about Amy.

I'm in agreement with you,all the way. I like Tenant well enough; and I enjoyed his performance; but only The Giggle felt like a legitimate Anniversary story. Star Beast was an OTT runaround with occasionally clumsy messaging (that misandrist line - even when taken as a joke - was infuriating to me; and completely daft with regard to all the previous male-presenting Doctors); WBY was a strong story,but felt like an archetypal scary Who episode (which is great,but not what we actually wanted). Although it was pleasent to have a happy ending for 14, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he exists in order to be a reliable ratungs booster some way down the line - as well as being a gift for BigFinish. For me,Power of the Doctor - for all it's insane plotting - was a much more fitting Anniversary story.