MovieChat Forums > Doctor Who (2006) Discussion > My assessment of the 2023 specials

My assessment of the 2023 specials

posted 4 months ago by sati_84 (441)
4 replies | jump to latest

Star Beast

First thought: My GOD, it's great to see Tennant again as the Doctor! He remained my favorite Dr., and lost zero of his charm in between the years, and he was brilliant throughout. Same for Donna, she is just the same, and although she wasn't my favorite companion, it was nice to have her around again.

The plot though is pretty paper-thin in this one. There is only one twist, and... it can be guessed immediately (my wife and I looked at each other as soon as the Meep showed up, and in unison we said: "He is the bad guy!"). So no surprises in the "what" section of the plot, so on to the "how" - and that's nothing special either. It was just a straightforward episode with some nonsense, so it hit the mediocre level - which was still a breath of fresh air after the awful Chibnall era. I expected something better from RTD if ot for anything else, than on account of this being the great returning episode for Tennant's doctor - he deserved way more!

The solution was too simple - again, not a surprise when it comes to RTD episodes, but still - but the interplay between D and D was great, the actors really carried the episode. All in all - meh, but a pleasant experience to watch - thanks to Tennant's return!

Wild Blue Yonder

Now this is a proper mystery episode! I mean the setting is a spaceship, where something dangerous is happening. Great start, but it got a bit duller as it went on. It was better than the previous episode, with the proper amount of silliness, but again, the whole scenario and the solution was too simple.

The void creatures had much more potential both in the threat department and in silliness - neither was properly presented. This ep should have been chock full of absurd, wacky ideas, but it was ultimately not creative enough. Anyways, Tennant was again a joy to watch, and it was still miles better than any Chibnall ep.

The Giggle

I went into this one a bit uncomfortable, because in the end I expected Tennant to be gone again, and I had a pleasant surprise. I'm not versed enough in the lore to determine if bi-generation was mentioned in any eps of the old series, but in NuWho, it was not (unless I missed it...), so it came across as something that was invented for just this occassion. And if this is the case, a series can get away with something like that every 60 years, so ultimately I did not mind.

The leadup to this was kind of weak though. The plot was just one idea, stretched to a full ep, with unclear rules. They say a satellite allows non-stop internet access everywhere, but the people who went rioting in the streets were not looking at screens... and if they were, surely they were looking at screens way before the satellite was launched, and the giggle is embedded in all the screens, so they should have gone crazy way before 2023... Unless I missed something, this whole ordeal did not really make any sense - as to why it is happening en masse now.

The Toymaker's rules were also not entirely clear, most apparently in the ball catching game at the end... that was even filmed in a very distracting, confusing fashion. We never established why was the last throw so special, so the victory did not feel earned at all. It would have been better if the doctors somehow took advantage of the fact that they are in a 2v1, but this was a missed opportunity.

Anyways, this was the best sendoff for Tennant's Doctor, it is somehow very comforting to know that he is there with his own TARDIS, surrounded by friends (practically family at this point), and he is even doing some trips to here and there. As much as I love seeing Tennant again and again, it would be a tiny bit cheap if they pulled him as a last minute rescuer in any of the following eps. Technically he could be a plot device, since he has a TARDIS, but the writers should allow the new Doctor to stand on his own two feet, so... I would be content never to see Tennant again - although maybe in the future they could build a plot around someone or something that pulls both TARDIS(-es?) to the same place where they should together deal with a threat? But as I said I'm fine either way - and Tennant's sendoff seemed like this is really the end for him.

All in all - the episodes were kind of weak overall, the middle one was the best, but that one had much more potential. The ending made up for most of the shortcomings of the eps, but overall any of these eps was better than the whole Chibnall era eps combined... Looking forward to the next Doctor, but the Ruby Road episode was kind of run-of-the-mill for the series. Still, I'm glad RTD is back, I hope he has new ideas up his sleeve. No matter how good the actor for the next Doctor is, the writing must improve. It was not the fault of poor Jodie that the first female Doctor's run was so abysmal...

[–] peter_t_2k3 (979) 4 months ago

I agree with a lot of your points although my preferred episodes where 3,1,2

Episode 1 I felt was a fun adventure and a reintroduction to 10/Donna. It wasn't the best story but had great action. Rose being passed down the timelord DNA would have worked fine on it's own as a resolution but then we get them just deciding to let it go which kind of ruins the threat we originally saw in Journey's End.

Episode 2 feels like the filler episode. There's a couple of weird stuff but it feels generic at the same time and just not really an anniversary special. I feel it wouldn't feel out of place in the middle of a past series.

Episode 3 was a lot better. There's some good out there stuff that I found worked better here than episode 2.

I agree the ball game is quite anticlimactic. I'm not a fan of the bigeneration which I'll add is completely new. I saw someone mention how we had Ruth as the first shown black female doctor who's a past doctor who may never be seen again on the show or if she does, only in specials. The first male black doctor then doesn't even get his own proper regeneration.

I think the show just can't let go of tennant. It thinks doing this is being edgy but it's being pretty safe. Does tennant eventually merge back with Gatwa or will he have his own regenerations? There's now 3 versions of Tennant.

[–] sati_84 (441) 4 months ago

"There's now 3 versions of Tennant."

Yes, and there can never be enough! Kidding of course, but Tennant was by far the most popular Doctor for a reason, and I think the show treating him with respect is not wrong. Maybe for some it seems like a cop-out that they did not "kill" him in this, but... I like him, and for me this felt like a proper sendoff for him.

Yes, you worded it brilliantly: the specials did not feel special at all! This was my problem with the Ruby episode as well - I will talk more about that later.

Episode 3 being better than Ep 2... I still don't see that, and for me it comes down to the logic of the premise. Ep 2 had a simple but logical plot. Ep 3 was nonsense all the way - as I said I failed to see how a satellite launch contributed to the giggle, as I think this should have happened around the 1950s-60s already, the mass adoption of televisions made everyone look at a screen - and nothing happened? Why now? It is not explained at all! Compared to this, Ep 2 was at least build up properly. It even had a few surprises relationg to the physics of the void creatures and some details of the plot, although as I mentioned the solution and as such the whole plot was too simple, still at least it made sense, unlike Ep 3 for me.

Oh, and I dislike when UNIT shows up in the episodes, they seem to be totally and utterly useless every single time. They are just a backdrop of showing what happens to the people if the threat is not contained, but both in Ep 1 and Ep 3 this was done in an awful fashion...

Ep 1 - agreed on the action part, the production value was great, but the end was nonsensical, even for DW. I mean when that dagger rocket was started up, it made huge chasms all around, and some even went as far as the streets. And then, when D and D stopped the engine, the chasms "healed up" to normal, as it was nothing... this is just too simple, even for RTD...

[–] sati_84 (441) 4 months ago

EP 1 also had a too simplistic explanation for why the Meep went evil - "solar insanity" or whatever, and it was not explored at all, it was just told "he went nuts" and that's that. Hmm... I understand that the focus was on D and D and Rose, but hey, the main plot deserved something more detailed and intricate chain of events, but oh well. Still it was fun to watch, but as you said - nothing special.

Finally, some thoughts on RR. The new doctor is ok - I like the actor already from Sex Education, but he seems a bit odd as a doctor, in the way I did not feel any other Doctors to be odd. I think in time he will find his own footing, as I said, so not a problem. The goblins were nonsensical, and it pains me to say but Ruby's character is - so far - nothing special. To be a companion, one must show some special interest in baffling out of this world things, and Ruby as a person kind of did not show this at all. It felt she is becoming a companion by "birtright", has a mysterious person as her mother, and thus the goblins are after her. But that's it, really. She never really showed any agency, apart from the end when she suddenly wanted to travel - but that comes across as kind of "wrong" in the sense that she is leaving behind her responsibilities with those children... I mean if it was just a bit more obvious that she has an affinity for the weird, that she is fascinated by it, or something, it would have been ok. But I found her lacking in this department in this episode.

And fully agreed with you - again - the special episodes did not feel special at all! And that is including the RR episode.

[–] peter_t_2k3 (979) 4 months ago

I think the issue for me is Tennant is often seen as the face of the show even more than the current doctor. I'm not a fan of Jodie's era but with the timelord victorious stuff, at times he was getting more promotion than 13 and it feels a bit cheeky. There was an annual the last year of 13s run and it was 10 who was on the front cover.

I get why Tennant came back but it was very predictable. I also dislike how RTD gives characters multiple endings. The whole half human doctor/half time lord Donna, seemed like it was just crested to give Rose a half human doctor so she could have a happy ending and the doctor rose shippers where happy. The whole point of the show is the doctor moves on, companions eventually leave etc. It went against this and felt too fairytale like.

To have tennant come back as another incarnation and not 10 or the half human doctor, and to introduce a 3rd incarnation, was a bit annoying. Like why does Tennant get 3 versions. But to make things worse, the show decided to do a bore generation, meaning the first male black doctor doesn't get his own proper regeneration and is existing at the same time as another doctor.

As I mentioned, it's like the show is too scared to get rid of tennant. I didn't think that the doctor seemed tired until Donna said he was and can't imagine the doctor staying too domesticated. Interestingly 10 had the whole "I don't wanna go" part and I feel him accepting the change this time would have shown change.

As for the background of the meep, the story is actually based on a 4th doctor comic. I wonder if we'll see the meep again.

And as for the Christmas special, it was okay but nothing special. I didn't mind Ruby though. I actually don't think companions need to be special and often work best when real down to earth people