As David Tennant and Catherine Tate quickly get everyone up to speed in the opening scenes of the new Doctor Who anniversary specials, I am struck by how neither actor seems to have changed one bit in fifteen years. Upon hearing the Tenth Doctor’s catchphrase, ‘allons-y’, I am instantly transported back in time, exactly like how the BBC intended.
For those who have managed to avoid the show’s intense marketing campaign, Doctor Who recently marked its 60th anniversary with three new episodes. The anniversary specials coincide with the return of showrunner Russell T. Davies, who ran the show in 2008, when David Tennant played the Tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate his companion, Donna. Having grown up with the series, I was thrilled to hear of Russell T. Davies’s return and even more so that Tennant and Tate would accompany him. Both actors are undoubtedly some of Britain’s most beloved, and it is a clever tactic to attract both old viewers who have lost interest in the show and new viewers who may know Tennant primarily from his recent work in the hugely successful Good Omens.
The first special, ‘The Star Beast’, takes fans on a nostalgic journey. Adapted from a 1980s comic strip, it is a classic Doctor Who adventure: aliens land in London, sending its inhabitants into a frenzy, and it is up to the Doctor to save the day. Featuring a cute and seemingly harmless creature that soon turns out to be an evil monster, it is the perfect episode to get new viewers started in a series whose long history may otherwise render it intimidating. Where the episode falls short is the ending, which resolves the problem that concluded Donna’s initial run on the show by having her just ‘let it go’. It is an underwhelming ending to an otherwise entertaining episode that fails to create a logical solution to Tennant and Tate’s return. Nonetheless, it lets them tackle more adventures in the next two specials.
‘Wild Blue Yonder’ takes the Doctor and Donna to the literal edge of the universe. The Doctor loses his TARDIS and sonic screwdriver, the two tools that usually get him out of any situation. The ‘no-things’ that start copying their very beings force the Doctor and Donna to confront who they are, ultimately revealing the mental toll the Doctor’s adventures have had on him. But the star of the second special is neither of the main characters but the late Bernard Cribbins, who reappears as Donna’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott, in the concluding scenes. His reunion with the Doctor gives the episode a sense of familiarity and the Doctor’s adventures a sense of purpose.
‘The Giggle’ fittingly brings back a villain from 60 years ago to finish the 60-year-anniversary specials. The premise has great potential: the ‘Toymaker’ amplifies everyone’s sense of righteousness, which leads keyboard warriors to take their fights from Twitter to real life. One of the Doctor’s allies sums up the problem when she asks: ‘How do we fight the human race?’ The special would have benefitted from exploring the premise in greater depth, but it must also make space for introducing the new Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education), who will star in the upcoming season.
The new concept of ‘bi-generation’ allows Tennant’s and Gatwa’s Doctors to meet, and the special culminates in a poignant scene that Russell T. Davies has subtly but steadily built up to. As Tennant hands the reins over to Gatwa, they reminisce about all the people they have lost. The many chase scenes that see the Doctor running through corridors become a metaphor for his life: is it finally time for the Doctor to stop running and settle down? It would have been impossible to top the heart-wrenching final scenes of the 2008 season, so going in the opposite direction and, for once, letting the Doctor be happy, was the right call.
Showrunners digging up old ideas can often get overbearing. At some point, you have to move on. But maybe the anniversary specials were precisely what the show needed to bring fans together, incorporating elements not only from the show’s very first seasons but also from its more recent ones. A celebration of the long history of Doctor Who. A last hurray before it starts anew. Something tells me that the show will have difficulty letting go, though. At the same time, Russell T. Davies seems bent on giving the show a fresh start. He is rebranding season fourteen as season one, and by employing the up-and-coming actor Ncuti Gatwa as the next Doctor, he is signalling a new era for Doctor Who.
The decision to bring back David Tennant and Catherine Tate is bold, but both actors effortlessly step back into their old roles, and it’s like they never left. They evoke just enough nostalgia to keep returning viewers on board while the script acknowledges how both characters have developed since we last saw them. More importantly, the BBC succeeded in their aim to revive interest in the show. They managed to lure me back into the Whoniverse, and I couldn’t have been the only one. It remains to be seen whether the new season will live up to the expectations set by the anniversary specials, but they go to show that a revival in interest in Doctor Who is always possible. Like the Doctor, it has the power to re-invent itself.
WORDS: Helena Thiel
