'Doctor Who' introduces first Black Doctor, wraps up 60th anniversary with perfect flair
Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers from the third and final 60th Anniversary "Doctor Who" special, "The Giggle."
Isn't it good to be watching "Doctor Who" again?
I'm not talking about the break between Season 13 of the series, which concluded in a 2022 special, and the trio of 60th anniversary specials, which began in November, celebrating the longest-running science fiction series of all time. I'm talking about the break between the last two-ish seasons of the venerable series, which, through no fault of the actress playing the Doctor at the time, Jodi Whitaker, swerved into ridiculous and frustrating narrative territory. In fact, in every incarnation of the time-traveling alien, who first made his appearance on the BBC on November 23, 1963 and has been played by a bevy of performers since, there are things to complain about for longtime fans with their own ideas of what the ideal "Time Lord" should be.
So it was refreshing and exciting to see such an old-fashioned trio of "Who" episodes starring David Tennant as the 14th Doctor (he previously played the 10th) and Catherine Tate as companion Donna Noble. For many it felt like an act of pure fan service to bring back Tennant, the most popular Doctor of the modern series, and Tate, his most loved companion.
But fan service is only a crime when it fails to produce good storytelling. Writer Russell T. Davies, himself a returning member of the team − Davies was the producer and writer who helped resurrect the series in 2005 after a decade off the air − knows how to write a crowd-pleaser. His episodes were snappy, smart, hilarious and heartfelt. They managed to contain all the elements that make "Who" so very special to fans both in the U.K. and around the world. It had complex sci-fi babbling, historical silliness, terrifying villains, family-friendly high jinks, platonic love, beloved cameos, and a free-wheeling sense of adventure. Compared with the somber, serious 50th anniversary special from 2013, the trio of 60th specials are practically jolly. And that's just what the long-running series (and the world) needs right about now.
The first episode of the trio was a pretty standard family-friendly episode which had a too-adorable monster and helped Donna safely remember the Doctor (it's complicated). The second was a staggering and philosophical journey to the end of the universe where Tate and Tennant played warped, horrific entities posing as the Doctor and Donna. The third and final special sees Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, a villain from the Doctor's distant past, threatening the Earth. The Doctor's battle with the Toymaker leads to his regeneration, er, "bi-generation." Instead of just turning into a new person, as the long-running sci-fi series has done each instance when it's been time for a fresh face to take on the role, this time the Doctor split in two. Tennant remained as the 14th Doc, but young Ncuti Gawa ("Barbie" and "Sex Education") appeared as the 15th Doctor (the first Black person in the role, he'll take over full time in a Christmas special later this month).
Harris, who seemed an odd choice for a science fiction role, was surprisingly well-cast as the evil and single-minded Toymaker, who was portrayed in his first incarnation in a 1966 episode by Michael Gough. The song-and-dance man was giddy delight as the flamboyant villain with the powers to bend the laws of physics and a glittering hatred for the Doctor and humanity.
When the Doctors defeated the Toymaker together, Davies offered an unprecedentedly happy ending for them. Gawa's Doctor went off on his own for adventures in time and space, but Tennant's battle-scarred, exhausted time lord stayed on Earth with Donna, his best friend, and her family.
It was a bit of brilliant plotting on Davies' part that helped refresh the series in time for Gawa to take over and give a distinctly youthful approach to the character (at 31, Gawa is one of the youngest actors to ever take on the role).
The Doctor has been so very exhausted and old for so many seasons and regenerations lately, no matter the age of the actor or actress playing the character. The sheer amount of trauma built up in the Doctor's person from having to make hard choices to save his friends, his people and the entire universe had hung heavy on his (or her) shoulders. By splitting the character literally in half with the silly sci-fi explanation of "bi-generation" (also a possible nod to the bisexual "B" in LGBTQ+, a likely reference from the very queer positive writer Davies), the show has allowed that trauma to be lifted. Tennant's 14th Doctor goes to live with the Noble family and work through his issues (I hope therapy is in his future) while Gawa's 15th Doctor gets to be the Gen Z hero he was meant to be (Gawa may be a millennial, but he has Gen Z energy).
It's no coincidence that when the pair split and each took some of the clothes Tennant was wearing in the moment previously, Gawa was the one more skimpily clad. This isn't your grandpa's Doctor, this is a young, hot kid ready and raring to go.
And once Gawa officially takes over in the Christmas special (streaming. Dec. 25), the tone of the show is bound to change to match his energy and character. As it should. But while ruminating on 60 years of a veritable British institution, it was nice to take a nostalgic trip with Tennant's Doctor, who is so very familiar. Was it fan service? Sure, probably.
But does it matter if the fans are well served?
