Doctor Who: The Giggle Review (Ups & Downs) 

More videos breaking down The Giggle are now live! Easter eggs and references: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RyLixd9BbPE.html Spoiler discussion: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4XnKKn0GB18.html

I think people are missing the main take away here: when the Bi-generation happened 14's clothing was divided between them and 15 got the underwear, so 14 spent that entire time commando

For me, it wasn't the mention of River Song that buckled my knees... It was them finally acknowledging that Sarah Jane is gone.

From 1966 and Tom Campbell in Dalek Invasion Earth, to 2023 and Wilfred Mott, Bernard Cribins deserves his eternal recognition in Dr Who history.

I think Wilf shooting moles at the end isn't a reference to the Wombles, but to the fact that, one time when RTD tried to call Bernard Cribbins on the phone, Bernard's wife Jill replied that he couldn't speak at the moment as he was shooting moles. It's a bit of an obscure reference, but it can be found in the obituary to Bernard Cribbins in Doctor Who Magazine issue 581.

When the doctor said you have my permission to me that sounds like he's using his authority as president of earth

I particularly enjoyed the implication kate and Donna's employment negation made: if you've traveled with the doctor, unit will pay you WHATEVER your price.

This episode had a horror element, a sci fi element, a history element, a cosmic wonder element, an interpersonal familial element. This episode had everything Dr Who has been known for

I liked how it paid off Tennant’s seemingly bitter frustration in his first regeneration. He wasn’t ready to go, and wanted to do so much more. This time he was ready to let go and move on, but kinda poetically: he was allowed to have his happy ending after saving the world.

I don't mind the bigeneration. I instantly assumed the 14th would become "The Curator". The 50th special introduced him and was stated he was the doctor who retired, and now the 60th showed his origin. To me, The Doctor wouldn't willing retire knowing there were people out there that needed help, but now with the bigeneration 14th can retire and become The Curator and live a "peaceful" (for The Doctor) life, and the 15th Doctor can continue saving the universe.

Also, how lovely that Donna's story comes full circle. Following on from her advice to the Doctor at the end of The Runaway Bride ("Sometimes you need somebody to stop you."), she's the person who gets him to stop running and build a 'found family' on Earth.

The “best two of three” really takes a double meaning with the two doctors beating the toy maker!

At 29:03 I think there IS logic to the tooth being left behind. The Doctors' prize was to banish the Toymaker from existence. The tooth isn't the Toymaker himself; it's The Master, so by the rules it stays behind while the Toymaker disappears :)

14's final words were essentially "I've never been so happy in my whole life" and not "Allons-y" and it truly made me cry.

I think that with Ncuti saying something about “the Toymakers energy still lingering” means that rather than it being linked to regeneration it was more that 14s prize was for him to go back to his dimension, and 15s prize was to duplicate the TARDIS.

I just realized on a rewatch of the giggle the significance of the 14th Doctor not wearing the running shoes after the Bi-generation signifying his end to running. I love the level of detail put into this show.

This was the best episode in a long long time, Neil Patrick Harris was just outstanding in his role and it felt like everyone else upped their game accordingly. Ncuti Gatwa also did a great job, I felt like he just slipped straight into the role, here's hoping he gets some great stories and writing that he can make the most of.

What a missed opportunity that the final game wasn’t “Guess Who” Would have been such a great way to give homage to all the past companions. The toy maker could have had a field day with this game

There's a brief line where Ncuti tells Tennant that he's whole and healthy because Tennant took the time to get whole and healthy. Time Lords doing therapy out of order. Makes me think that when Tennant dies, his regeneration will pull him out of spacetime and drop him in his past, back at the 60th anniversary, to the moment Ncuti appeared. Its not that there are 2 Doctors now...technically as a time traveler all his incarnations are around at all times, its that the regeneration happened out of order. Personally I like this.

There was a nice little call back in that scene at the end, when the Doctor was telling the story involving the race that communicated with their eyebrows. In Pertwee's first episode (Spearhead from Space), there is a scene where he is examining his new face in a mirror, and remarks how flexible it was and how that could come in handy on their planet.

Thank you for touching on the absolute bs we ambulatory (we use that word vs "full time" users- "confined" is generally outdated) wheelchair users get from ignorant people. Shirley is a great character, definitely deserved her 'up'! Also love Kate and the scene between them was well done :)

23:08 If you listen closely, you can hear the soldiers hit the ground with a *thud* when he says “Still falling.” I was watching this with my best friend and he had his subtitles on and there is an actual thud. I also slightly heard it too.

My favorite moment is after the card game at the ,,stage". Doctor: DONNA! Donna: I'm already running! Just peak Doctor Who I love it.

i really liked how 15 was just like ''you can rest now, i will look after the universe for you, i got this''

SO excited for the ncuti era!

I love the idea that bi-regeneration was a myth, meaning that Tennant’s salt at the end of the universe also made the myth come into being.

Interestingly, after "The Split" the Closed Captioning identified Tennant's 14th Doctor as "Tenth Doctor" whenever he spoke while still atop the UNIT building.

I also found it very interesting that the toymaker mentioned there was one person he didn't dare challenge to a game neglecting to elaborate further. I imagine that that too will come back in some fashion.

Did people catch the Toymaker saying he made a “jigsaw puzzle” of the Doctor’s life? It was such a throwaway, but I thought that was a wonderful way of explaining all of the inconsistencies in the show, including Ruth and The Timeless Child.

Sean, Thank you mate. I am physically disabled myself with multiple conditions, all of which are not visable to those around me. And I cannot tell you how often people refuse to believe I am disabled. I've been doing advocacy work for over 15 years lobbying my government for better treatment and assistance for the disabled and it is heart breaking to see how hard people have to struggle to have their conditons recognized. So thank you so much for speaking about it. I loved the episode, I loved NPH as a kind of evil version of Q and I loved Ncuti's intro. Doctor Who has a fresh burst of life in it and I can't wait for Christmas. Great job @WhoCulture!

Can I just say what a joy Ncuti Gatwa is? I am ALWAYS reticent about the new Doctor, but he won me over the second he took Tennant in his arms and said "I got you." I was like, yes, he's the Doctor. He is someone who just lights up a room. Capaldi will always be my #1 (Smith, to date, is #2) but I am looking forward to what Ncuti will offer us. I'm excited to see where we go from here. BRAVO RTD, you won me back from when I walked away (I thought permanently till now) from the dregs of the Chibnal era!

Really glad that second down wasn't just me. Not only was it to a room full of his friends and allies (supposedly), but there have been so many monologues by the doctor over the years about how much he loves the human race. I think I remember a few monologues that were even able to acknowledge the bad and still rejoice in the good. This just made me wonder why the heck the doctor was even bothering to save humans over and over again if he always held that much bitterness.

The first game was a game of brain. The second a game of luck. The third a game of skill. Impressive

The TARDIS splitting into two made sense to me because it was what the Toymaker owed Ncuti and was a result of his lingering powers -- since he won too and deserved a prize.

And in that scene when Mel and Donna are holding his hands, You hear the music for "You were fantastic, Rose. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I"

I loved that the 15th Doctor hugged the 14th and said "I've got you" and that they are both men. As men we don't do that often enough for each other. If, as you rightly say, there's an element of self-care here here, it's also about expressing care for each other

One thing that people need to understand about RTD is that he's predominately a drama & soap writer; due to this he tends to focus on emotional journeys within Doctor Who stories. This is why you often get the cited complaint of how his stories are "simple" or rely on "contrivances". He tends to be rather loose when it comes to plot threads and story details, but he creates emotional groundwork for everything within a story arch. Bigeneration and everything surrounding it may not have been set up in the story, but it was definitely set up emotionally. If you're looking at purely the story beats you're going to think bigeneration was pulled from a wormhole, but if you've more been following the emotional journey of the 14th Doctor, you really should've seen something like this coming.

River officially died in an episode that Donna was present for. So, of course The Toymaker wouldn't include her. He's trying to show her what bad fates befell those since her. Basically that his track record regarding his "duty of care" had fallen dramatically since they parted ways. Hence why he probably didn't mention Yaz and Co, though I do think she should have at least gotten a name-drop.

We actually hear the soldiers hit the ground a few seconds after and the Toymaker glances to the side upon hearing it.

The second tardis didnt spawn from regeneration powers, it was the left over magic from the toy makers realm and seeing as two doctors won the game 14th had his prize in banishing the toy maker and 15th prize was to get a new tardis, 15th even explains it in the episode 😅

I think the scene when Kate asks where are my staff and the Toymaker they are still falling is more horrific because if you listen carefully just after the Toymaker says that I'm sure you hear the thud of the bodies hitting the ground. 😮

Sean, as an ambulatory wheelchair user myself, I massively appreciate your little monologue on how disability isn’t just one thing, from the bottom of my heart thank you for that, and as for Ruth Madeley I cannot wait to see more of her as we both share the same condition being Spina Bifida and as I said an ambulatory user, and I absolutely adore her character she’s just amazing and hopefully with the ramp we’ll see her in the TARDIS quite a lot, but what I’m trying to say is thank you for that small section of the video

I think something interesting to think about here: One of the major story telling through lines of RTD's first era was the idea that the Doctor will not always be on Earth to protect it. What then? And we saw RTD explore several things based on this idea, like the Master spending a full year taking over the Earth and the Doctor just not even noticing. We also got several spinoff shows based on that idea. This time though, RTD is taking a different approach. The Doctor will always be on Earth now, because there's 2 Doctors, one of which is semi-retired. Also, now we can have the retired Doctor possible go back in time and live out a life as the Curator we saw in the 50th. Since the Curator was wearing an older face, it would make sense that he comes from 14 regenerating again, who's maybe still nostalgic for old faces. I had a really hard time imagining Matt Smith eventually retiring and becoming the Curator, but I can 100% see Tennant now that he's retired doing it instead, especially since you have another Doctor still running around like the madman in the box he is. I like it. It allows us to explore both aspects of the Doctor!

I'm thinking that, while it may not happen with every regeneration, bi-regeneration may not be all that uncommon. It would explain Tom Baker as the Curator in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. The whole scene between him and Matt Smith played out as though it were two Doctors having a conversation.

Ngl I think this was probably the best of the three. Patrick Harris was amazing. Ncuti Gatwa sold me on the fact that he was the doctor in a matter of minutes

I like the idea that Tennent stays and eventually becomes the museum curator that Matt Smith meets

Another UP would be NPH doing all the sleight of hand himself. He's an incredibly talented guy, and magician, too. The only person with red nail polish seen in the episode (on the UNIT HQ) is Kate Stewart. A down is 15 saying he's older, when he's not. At that moment, they're exactly the same age. This will alter as they go individually on their way through time and space forever.

I'm calling it now, the master will also bigenerate at some point

I liked how NPH said "I accept the challenge" - gave me throwback to his role as Barney Stinson.

The Toy Maker was like a cross between The Joker from Batman and Q from Star Trek. Neil Patrick Harris was awesome as The Toy Maker. I absolutely enjoyed this episode.

what about Nardol? he basically died protecting people from the cybermen. Just because we last saw him still alive and fighting didn't change his fate. yet it was only the girl companions who had bad ends that were mentioned.

I loved this episode. The Doctor has seen and felt so much pain and loss, and has himself lost so much, and he's been running from that pain for so long. The Doctor deserves a rest, and deserves happiness, and now he finally gets it. While 14 gets to rest and heal, 15 will be carrying on the job of protecting the universe. I know I've seen complaints about the bi-regeneration, and complaints that Ncuti's 15 didn't get to properly shine by having an episode to himself when he debuted, but I disagree. I think he shined mightily. The impression I got is that when he separated from Tennant's 14, 15 left behind much of that guilt and pain, effectively unburdening the Doctor of much of his trauma, while 14 will go about healing from it all, and get to enjoy life with people he cares about and who care about him. In this way both Doctors get to recover, and live happier lives. If my interpretation is correct, that means the new series of Doctor Who will see a happier, more playful Doctor, which I think is a wonderful new direction for the show. It now makes sense that they are referring to the time of the 15th Doctor as series/season 1 of Doctor who, because we are getting, in effect, a brand new Doctor, in more ways than one. Not just a new face, but a revitalized, renewed Doctor. I cry tears of joy knowing that the Doctor is getting a much deserved rest and reward, while simultaneously going forward as a happier, healthier person. It is truly the best of both worlds for The Doctor, and I look forward to watching the Christmas Special and the new series, as well as whatever spinoffs they produce, especially if that means we get both Donna and 14 together as well as the adventures of 15. But even if we never get to see Donna and 14 again, I'm happy knowing that he is happy, and look forward to the adventures of 15 with bated breath. At least in regards to Doctor Who, we are living on the best of timelines. Now if only the rest of the world would follow suit. Thank you David Tennant and Catherine Tate for your return for these specials, and a hearty welcome to Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, and a thank you also to the rest of the cast of The Giggle. Thank you Sean for the Ups & Downs, as well as the rest of the WhoCulture crew who worked on this. Bernard Cribbins, we miss you and love you. Live Long and Prosper, and Allons-y!

5:14 agreed i would have loved if this was a 2 parter because toymaker almost lost too easily

I loved the name drop of glitz. An the fact that she stayed with glitz for so long.

I liked what the 15th Doctor said about them being Time Lords and doing rehab in the wrong order and that the 15th is OK because the 14th has fixed themselves (or been healed, or something along those lines.) Thus the 15th Doctor can be happy again because of the 14th's rehab life with the Mott-Noble-Temple clan. Through this "retirement" 14 has come to grips with their past and can leave behind the baggage of the Time War, Flux and the billions of lives lost over their many regenerations (some of which they caused).

There is some people who actually miss it. When the toymaker says the staff are still falling, as soon as he finishes the sentence, you can hear two bodies colliding with the earth below. I managed to hear it because I was hearing headphones and actually turned it back to listen again to make sure I wasn’t hearing something else. I love this episode.

This is why I watch Doctor Who. 2 / Troughton said it best, with a friendly gleam in his eye: "That's the exciting thing! There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing." The secret: "we" is not just the Doctor and companions. It includes us, the fans! We can! We get to go with all the Doctors if we want to. Been enjoying it for 42 years, and it STILL surprises me. It's an insane, incoherent metamyth with a great big wholesome heart and I love it, and can't wait to see what happens next.

This was an amazing episode. The Celestial Toymaker was a top tier villain. Bravo NPH. The funhouse was proper creepy. The play with the puppets showing the companions all dying was 👌. I know it’s gonna be contreversal but the bi-reneregation is such a fun direction for the show. I was so happy to see this face get to be part of Donna’s family and be totally content at the end. David Tennant’s Doctor was the most human of all The Doctors after all.

I took me a minute to understand why Ncuti was in his underwear then I saw that Tennant didn't have shoes because they were sharing half the clothes. That was a very subtle touch. And the legs, of course the legs. 😅

I’m adding an up because when 15 hits the tardis to duplicate it, he immediately apologises to it and that is hilarious.

Someone on Twitter mentioned the leg crossing. I explained to them that I'm a support worker, and several people I support are wheelchair users, and use their legs to maneuver around their residential support home. The character crossing her legs was of no surprise to me, and once I explained this, they were happy to be corrected. Knowledge about these things is a wonderful thing, and I was happy to share. People who are labelled disabled face barriers in society that disables them - physically and by a lack of understanding.

If i had a nickel every time david regenerated into himself i would have 2 nickels which is not a lot but its weird it happend twice

Defeating the toy maker because he didn't catch the ball really annoyed me. Felt like such a throw away

First time in my life I cried in front of TV at the end of the episode when the Doctor says he has never been as happy as now 😭

"Despite having 47 extra teeth..." Yeah I'm not unseeing that now. How did I miss that?

Finally. FINALLY. We get to see The Doctor forgive and reassure himself as well as giving himself permission to...rest. The sheer weight of increasing emotional burden and pain that The Doctor has been carrying since the Time War, never mind Classic Who's run as well, would (arguably) make it less and less feasible to have the Doctor continue to be a positive and optimistic entity. So thank you RTD, for finding a genuinely beautiful way to allow 14th to set that burden down plus acknowledge that struggle and begin his recovery with his friends. There's an important message here too, in that if we don't look after our own well-being - emotional and/or physical - then we really aren't equipped to properly look after anyone else and may indeed, albeit unintentionally, lead us to even more mistakes, regret, misery and so the burden increases. The other opportunity 14th resolution brings us is fabulous. It makes sense that we now have a burden free 15th Doctor, and gives Ncuti the opportunity to play a Doctor who oozes with fun, charisma, optimism and adventure.

NPH played the toymaker the same way he played count Olaf. It worked really well.

As a wheelchair, user with cerebral palsy, the ramp, now being on the tardis, and all the inclusion in all of the specials, just makes my heart so full! I can now truly feel feel like I’m a part of one of my favorite franchises! The new cannon will take some getting used to but I really like what what happened here because I think the idea of all the doctors getting a happy ending instead of a sad one is really brilliant and open the door to make multi doctor stories make a lot more sense, i.e. it fully explains tales of tardis, for example. Neil was just amazing as the toymaker!

The Toymaker didn't mention Rory because Rory was technically Amy's companion, not the Doctor's. Ryan, Graham, Dan, and Yaz left of their own accord and lived. River Song had her happy ending and sacrificing herself for the 4,022 saved people.

To see a Doctor regenerate and then to still BE there to see his new self and be happy enough for them both to hug each other like brothers……I LOVED that!!

If The Master was in The Toymaker's tooth all the time, was the Spy Master really The Toymaker? Missy was begging for life to The Toymaker and lost her game. Then The Toymaker destroyed Galifrey and discovered The Doctor's Backstory of the Timeless Children. Why he said, he took a buzz saw to his history.

Ncuti's legs - yes - totally agree!! I loved this episode - it had a great pace, and balanced the heartwarming moments with the horror elements. I have to say I'm loving Donna's development in these specials - my take is that she possibly retained some of the Doctor's smarts, and it seems she has accepted her place in the world, and embracing it fully. This was a perfect episode - loved the bigeneration - and Ncuti from the get go established his Doctor's character - I warmed to him very quickly. Neil Patrick Harris completely aced The Toymaker, unhinged, and insidiously evil. So much to love about this episode!! Loved your review!

I like to think that the retired doctor is the one who will eventual regenerate into the Curator "You might revisit a few, but only the favorites" and "Perhaps I was you, or perhaps you were me"

"Oi I'm on your side" deserves its own up!!

I can't help but feel that, while the "retirement" does feel deserved, they are keeping 14 on standby in case Ncuti doesn't get fully accepted as the new Doctor & so that's why they decided to do the bi-generation instead of a complete regeneration so they can bring him back & put him in the forefront once again. I know David Tennant loves the role & has done a good job as 10, Meta & now 14, but there's also the risk of oversaturation if they keep bringing him back as more "different" iterations of The Doctor.

Okay, so now we have two extra Tennant doctor versions, three Tardises and a half timelord still flying around.

Russell repeated himself very quickly, the ending is the same as Journey's End, just swapping Rose for Donna. The way he let see that The Master will return is the same way he used in Last of the Time Lords. I feel like in some season finale 14th and 15th will have to team up to defeat the master and 14th will die saying I'm ready to go or something, repeating the way he closed his first run. The redeeming feature of the episode is the performances, all very good, I think Ncuti will be a very good Doctor.

Given how much I love David Tennants Doctor's I felt Ncuti Gatwa would have a hard time winning me over, but would Eventually. But that last 1/3 of the episode. The Bi-generation, the chemistry of David and Ncuti, the game of catch to hammering a new Tardis into existence. It was stupid, it was ridiculous, it was so insanely fan servicy and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. I am already sold on Ncuti and also so happy that David's Doctor still exists within the universe. Russel T Davies played a blinder!

Loved the episode and I feel that the bi-generation was made possible by the Toy Maker bringing his rules to our universe. Also, to me, Ncuti Gatwa instantly felt like the Doctor, like when Matt Smith started. No need to get a couple of episodes to feel it with the others.

I really hope that the recreation of the Master's ring scene, with that exact same hand means a return of John Simms because he was my absolute favorite Master.

It's hard for me to articulate this, but I really liked how much *better* Mel is portrayed here than Ace and Tegan were in Power of the Doctor. Ace and Tegan kinda just felt like they were brought in for nostalgia and not for any other reason, and the acting, writing, and directing was very low effort, whereas Mel actually felt like she had a reason to be there, and Bonnie's performance and RTD's writing didn't feel phoned in, unlike Chibnalls script and the direction for the two ladies (remember, a good actor is nothing without a good director). It's the exact same thing that happened with Sarah Jane, where she was reintroduced with a great script and care being put in from RTD. Again, I'm bad at articulating this well, but it's the same feeling I get from the COllection announcement trailers. The actors arent' putting in their best work because they dont need to, they already practically own the roles, they created them. And that's fine for some trailers for a bluray set, but when it's a full performance for an hour long TV special, then they need to bring their best. Bonnie Langford absolutely did. Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding unfortunately did not.

The fact that they mentioned Adric the first companion to die in Dr Who. Nice nod

No, it wasn't London, it was Bristol. In the centre, in the King Street area if anyone wants to take a look around. DT filmed there in June of last year.

You forgot the ramp for accessibility. I figured there must be some kind of levitation ray or something so I could be included. Finally a whole new group of people can be welcomed into the adventure. And yes to bringing the understanding that a wheelchair user includes those of us who can stand long enough to transfer to another chair. There is so much needed in awareness and I agree the competence of machine assisted people. Beyond that, I loved this episode so much on all the levels and all the feels. I am so ready for this new era of Doctor Who.

I have a theory about what caused the bi-generation. It was the manifestation of the feelings the Doctor had after the flux, the timeless child and after losing so many companies. those emotons literally tore him apart. Maybe that was also the reason why the face from 10 came back. It was the desire to fix at least one bad thing. I mean we had seen before that subconscious thoughts and feelings have an impact on regeneration with the 12th doctor In one scene I thought the doctor was being torn apart like confetti candy. The scene where we see the toymaker with the flashbacks was cool, as was the calback with the person who picks up the tooth with the master. and I'm looking forward to having an excuse to have as much David as we want and hoping for a sitcom family spin off called DoctorNobleTemple

Now that we know Bigeneration is a thing, I’m curious what that means for the Master. Does it retroactively explain why, despite Missy’s turn to the good side, yet continued evil in Sacha’s depiction? Perhaps they bigenerated at one point and we never knew, so Missy became one branch of the Master while Sacha became another?

I think its more likely the line "were doing therapy in reverse " means 14 will regenerate into 15 after his stay on earth and then get pulled back into this momemt with the toy maker.

I loved this episode. I like your review, especially your comment about the actress who uses a chair. If I have an opportunity to say, I am not confined by my chair, it enables me to move about independently. It's society that blocks my independence. I cried when I heard Russell say of course will make Tardis accessible and then he puts the words in the Doctors/David's mouth. I cried again. Now, as a 66 year old Canadian, I can dream about being of travelling with the Doctor. David has always been my Doctor, since I saw him comforting an older woman on doubledecker bus. My sadness is with missing Wilf /Bernard.He was the best Grandpa for everyone/me. I love the new Doctor and the fact that we the audience got to know him and the new Doctor earlier. I never knew him in his previous work. Happy/ Merry Christmas to you Sean & Ellie.

The scenes when Ncutis Doctor consoled David's ... and when he convinces him to stay, gives him that second TARDIS... for me that was an instant nod to who this new regeneration is gonna be: The Healer. A doctor in the very sense of the word. Compassion, strength, hands-on and just the right bit of pazzaaazz. And I am SO here for it!

I think NPH nailed it in part due to Tennant's reaction to him. He sold the fear.

It also feels poetic. David's Dr was the one who split (yes I know thats not what actually happened) to be with Rose. It makes sense he is also the one to split and be with Donna and her family Kinda echos the most lovely scene of Matts tenure - when Amy tells him 'we always lay a place for you'

These 3 specials have restored my excitement in Doctor Who! Can’t wait for the next one!

I like the bigeneration regeneration. It seems like a direct reference to when Donna said “is this how time lords reproduce?” during the End of Time when the meta crisis Doctor appears. Plus it’s the inverse of what happened in Classic Doctor Who when the 5th Doctor (or 6th?) was in disguise during a storyline then merged with the 4th (or 5th?) to help him regenerate. If a future incarnation can merge with the previous to regenerate, why not have them split?

I didn't mind the Doctor's rant about our flaws. It tacitly explains why he's so drawn to humans and Earth in general. He knows that we need watching.

When the Doctor started his little “this has been in humanity all along, the Giggle didn’t create it,” it seemed so weird and unnecessary that I thought they were going to reveal the Doctor was being infected by the Giggle.

The difference in dynamic between Mel/Donna and Sarah Jane/Rose was 1.) Mel had made peace with her fate and chose her path, where Sarah Jane always felt abandoned and denied closure and choice. And 2.) Donna is confident, certain of her importance to the Doctor, where Rose is still young, petulant and insecure. The Doctor’s rant about how awful humanity is, reflects back to Wild Blue Yonder and the Entities claim that they became what they are because of what they took from humanity.

One little nitpick and not a criticism at all; in the original celestial toymaker episode the first doctor said he met the doctor before. So the Giggle would actually be the third meeting with the Toymaker.

Unpopular opinion, thr 14th doctor wont be the curator. The 15th doctor even said "we are doing therapy in the wrong order" thats why the 15th doctor is fine and the 14th is full of regret. They are still connected and arent separate I think when the 15th doctor regenerates he will combine with the 14th and create the 16th doctor

About the 'a billion years old' thing: By now it's really impossible to tell because of the Timeless Child arc, so it might as well be a billion. He just can't remember most of it.

The part where the toy maker says “they’re still falling I imagine” you can hear a couple of thuds when he finishes the line