WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
The Giggle had a lot at stake as the final story in the 60th Anniversary trilogy of Doctor Who, featuring the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the Doctor and Donna. It has to wrap up the arcs of the two main characters whilst also making the return of the Toymaker worthwhile and provide a role for Ncuti Gatwa in a way to make his future run feel exciting. I think Russell T Davies balances these priorities in an impressively neat way which fully works for the 60th Anniversary of the show. Let’s delve into it.
The plot of the Giggle follows on from the events of Wild Blue Yonder where the Doctor and Donna return to earth to find the human race having gone insane. Humanity has fallen into irrational fear, selfishness and conspiracy; in conflict with one another, causing chaos. The Doctor and Donna unite with UNIT as it turns out to be the result of a giggle in everyone’s mind planted by the first television image. It’s revealed to be the work of the Toymaker who the Doctor must face in a rematch after a very long time.
What’s remarkable about the Giggle is the amount of stuff it manages to balance within its runtime. I love the fact that its central premise and idea stems from something real from history. It’s in the nature and part of Doctor Who to mine history for things to use to terrify children. Stooky Bill is incredibly eerie and terrifying and made perfect sense to use. There is something peculiar and horrible about dolls and creepy toys that gets under people’s skin. The slightly inhuman look and artificial truth of Stooky Bill means he can quite easily make your skin crawl and make you feel uncomfortable. It provokes a surreal reaction which you want from the audience. The smile and stillness of Stooky Bill is naturally very sinister and horrible and creates a fear that feels natural to the themes and fears of Doctor Who. Dolls and toys have always had a creep factor. The fear of toys having an unknown evil to them has a mystery that is very appealing as a story idea and comes from something tangible as a fear.
The other interesting thing about Stooky Bill is his origins in the genesis of television with John Logie Baird. Stooky Bill was, in fact, the first televised image by him. It’s a very enlightening nugget of history and well integrated within the story, and acts as a springboard for the rest of the episode. I love how it shows the ability of Russell T Davies to be able to pick out interesting parts of history to use for science fiction potential to create a gripping and scary story. It’s nice to see that Doctor Who’s ability to terrify children behind the sofa has become a priority. In the Jodie Whittaker era, I felt the show was lacking the scariness it once had, which is part of what made it feel very bland and uninteresting. However, Stooky Bill and the utilisation of the origins of television means the story has a real boldness to it which has been lacking in recent years. The scariness and fear factor stems from imagination and something relatable, authentic and real which exists. There is nothing more scary than something which we understand and is familiar to us.
It also feels appropriate when celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who as a legend of the BBC to create a story which deals with the origins of television itself. It’s a less obvious kind of celebratory story but it highlights Doctor Who’s relationship with television and the impact of the Doctor as a television character in a very clever way. The idea of the giggle being planted in everyone’s minds and in every screen from the first television image is a very interesting idea. It uses the spookiness of Stooky Bill and the medium and device of television and elevates the threat to a grand scale, creating enormous stakes and danger for the characters. UNIT’s involvement and the scale and feel of the story sets this satisfying feeling of unknown and unstoppable dangerous menace in place. Television is a plot device within the story, a clever plot device but a mechanism that allows for a very refreshing and relatable kind of menace.
It is kind of impressive that Russell T Davies manages to find a place for the creepiness of Stooky Bill and the historical significance of television to the story whilst working in the 21st Century social commentary. The human race going mad has stakes in a way an alien threat does not. It creates something more relatable and rooted in our society. It’s a heightened idea, but in some ways it’s a threat that feels more severe because we are aware of the terror that comes from humanity. Humanity’s selfishness is a problem we have been unable to remedy and therefore elevating that to an extreme and toxic level creates something that feels unmatched. The central threat comes from an idea and a prospect and it preys on our own despair with the current state of the world, our politics and what has been exposed of the worst of humanity through crisis. Russell T Davies cleverly uses science fiction and Doctor Who to reflect reality with relatable and poignant truths.
The Giggle reflects a lot of the worst parts of society through COVID and multiple lockdowns. COVID was a bad time in terms of people’s selfishness and sense of individualism and inconsideration of their actions. I like the idea in this story of something using humanity’s worst qualities and the story firmly displays humanity’s most toxic aspects in a very transparent way. It brilliantly shows the consequences of people’s fear and inability to find reason with one another. It shows how prone people can be to the lies and misinformation of conspiracy and the rejection of the truth. It exposes and reflects the reality of a lot of the issues that have been faced with anti maskers and anti vaxxers during the pandemic as well as tackling the hatred of 21st Century internet culture. At its centre, the Giggle condemns humanity’s own arrogance and cuts to the truth of things.
Now I’m going to move onto the Toymaker returning after 57 years played by Neil Patrick Harris. I think it was rather appropriate during the 60th Anniversary celebrations to bring back a character who first appeared during the William Hartnell era, especially since he was setup to return. I think the Toymaker fits very well into the plot involving Stooky Bill and Neil Patrick Harris is just perfect for the role. The Toymaker is genuinely my favourite part of the story, and I am so thrilled with how he was masterfully reinvented by Russell T Davies. Neil Patrick Harris finds a perfect blend between campy and creepy and creates an incredibly memorable and very sinister performance. He is able to underplay the part with a subtle sense of spookiness in the way the Toymaker absorbs himself into a character. Neil Patrick Harris is given variety to play with, which you can tell he relishes the chance of. The Toymaker retains his calculated and menacing side and the childish and petty aspect of the character, which is important. However, Neil Patrick Harris injects the villain with a dark but lively and perverse energy and campiness that is deeply dangerous but very playful. I love the Spice Girls music sequence because as much as it is hilarious, it is also deeply unsettling.
The original version of the Toymaker did have some unfortunate racist undertones and some decent thought has been put into updating him for a 2023 audience. The way the Toymaker settles into playing characters redefines him from the costume and “celestial” background and title he has become known for. The image of him as a 1920s toyshop owner I think automatically makes more sense and is a much creepier feel for him. His ability to take on different personas also re-contextualises him cleverly from his first appearance and acknowledges the racist aspects of him in a way that makes him villainous as he uses race as a form of attack. The Giggle takes advantage of the concept of the Toymaker and his domain in a way in which the original story never did, especially with the endless nature of his domain and the creepiness of Stooky Sue and the Stooky Babbies. The Toymaker is approached as a majestical and ancient force operating on different rules. There is a fantasy to his concept with a lack of scientific logic, which the universe is based upon. The lack of definitive rules for the Toymaker and his power make him an unpredictable and surreal villain with a great amount of menace. He has no morality or right and wrong and simply follows the rules of the game, which makes him difficult to reason with. You can only outwit him through his own rules, which creates a tremendous challenge.
There is also a wonderful relationship and chemistry between Neil Patrick Harris and David Tennant, who are a pleasing match for one another. There is an excellent sense of history and rivalry between the Doctor and the Toymaker as the Doctor feels out of his depth and outsmarted. The story succeeds in feeling like a delivery of a years long rivalry which the 60th Anniversary was a fitting time to bring about.
David Tennant delivers his final performance as the Fourteenth Doctor and his character is taken in a very unexpected direction, but Tennant certainly succeeds. There is an angst and fear in his relationship with the Toymaker and a proper sense of powerlessness which preys upon the guilt which the Doctor feels which is well handled. When the Doctor is forced to sit through the memories of past companions' fates played out like a puppet show, you can tell it is very painful and traumatic for him. The anger of the Doctor towards humanity’s worst qualities also speaks to the characters' long relationship with the species which gives him a weathered age I like. There is a weight and emotional baggage to the Fourteenth Doctor but he carries it with a heroic sense of selflessness. Whilst I really liked the bi-generation itself, I was underwhelmed by the cause of death. I feel it could have been framed to be a more heroic sacrifice if he had sacrificed himself to save Donna in this moment, as the cause of death itself felt like it fell flat.
The bi-generation is an idea I find really interesting and works for the story. Regeneration has been an evolving idea since 1966 and with an unconventional kind of regeneration anyway, I admire the confidence to shake things up and explore something different with the changeover between Doctors especially during the 60th Anniversary. It only aligns with such a landmark year of Doctor Who to take the opportunity to push the show into new territory. It’s also not something pointless and without purpose. It allows the incoming Doctor and past Doctor the chance to interact, which is thrilling and fun to see and a chance to pass the torch to the incoming incarnation in a very pleasing manner. I also love the happy ending which the Fourteenth Doctor is provided with. The happy ending makes perfect sense with the character development of the Doctor across the specials. The story acknowledges the baggage and unprocessed emotional trauma the Doctor has avoided dealing with across their lifetime and provides a natural endpoint for the character. It’s lovely that for the 60th Anniversary after years of following this version of the Doctor that they have the chance to live a happy and normal life they have been denied up to this point. The Doctor becoming happy and satisfied with Donna and her family helps them to achieve closure and it’s nice to see that. This wouldn’t have been possible without the bi-generation concept, which gives the Doctor a pleasing and optimistic happy ending whilst also giving the show a future. It especially works for the Fourteenth Doctor with a face that originally didn’t want to go getting to live a fuller life. It’s rare to get an end to the Doctor’s story and for them to be able to put the baggage of their past behind them, it feels unique but very meaningful.
The bi-generation also introduced Ncuti Gatwa for the first time as the Fifteenth Doctor. This is by far the most extensive role an incoming Doctor has had in an outgoing Doctor’s final story. Yet the end of the Giggle acts as a strong showcase for Ncuti Gatwa and why he is such a good fit for the part. He immediately takes centre stage as the main Doctor which I’m glad of. It’s very impressive that Ncuti Gatwa manages to act alongside David Tennant and be the centre of attention. The Fifteenth Doctor is automatically charismatic with a real cheekiness and humour to him. Ncuti Gatwa brings a lively energy to the character but also a warmth and sense of confident and open affection which is lovely to see in the Doctor. He manages to combine his youth with a sense of wisdom and elderly experience, and feels immediately like the Doctor. The Doctor feels freed from the baggage of his past, which refreshes the show and character. I’m very excited to see where he is taken.
Catherine Tate also makes her probably final appearance as Donna Noble. Donna at this point feels very emotionally comfortable in who and where she is which is great to see in her. She feels very at ease around UNIT and I like her contributions in figuring out the spike as a form of music. With Donna having lived her own life since she left the Doctor, I like the way that she is able to see the Doctor has become exhausted and worn out and convince him of the importance of settling down. It shows her human and empathetic concern as a strength and it aligns with her character from the Runaway Bride as someone who is able to see through the Doctor’s facade, challenge him, call him out and help him to be a better person. It makes sense Donna would be the one to convince him to live a normal life. What I really don’t like, though, is the resolution to the reunion of the Doctor and Donna. It was strongly implied in the Star Beast, with the Doctor getting his old face back and running into Donna again, that there would be some force behind this and their fates were intertwined. It felt like this was leading to some kind of revelation about why the two had been brought together again. It’s simply too big of a coincidence to overlook and the hints laid now feel like red herrings for no real reason than to be unsatisfying as an end result. The lack of delivery for the obvious setup does not work or live up to expectations.
Kate Stewart returns in this story alongside UNIT played by Jemma Redgrave with the same authority and sense of control the character usually has, and a trust in the Doctor at the same time which I enjoy. The series is obviously setting UNIT up to be a key part of the Fifteenth Doctor era and it puts the elements in place rather well in an organic way. You have a very likeable group of characters in this UNIT team with Kate Stewart, Shirley and Mel who bounce off one another very well and I would be happy to see together again. The Vlinx also works as a rather interesting design and alien being and a device for exposition. You can see the format for a spinoff coming together already.
You also have the return of Melanie Bush played by Bonnie Langford. I’m rather pleased by her return given how little Bonnie Langford was given to work with during the Sixth and Seventh Doctor eras. Here Bonnie Langford brings a much more mature sense of intelligence and a care for the Doctor with a history between the characters and a sense of generosity and positivity which is good. I do think Mel is slightly underserved with everything the story is juggling with little of an active role. However, you still get a solid sense of the life Mel has lived since she left the Doctor and how she has been impacted by them, which is very important. Given she is returning next year with Ncuti Gatwa, I’m not too concerned or worried by her lack of a role. This feels like a natural extension of the Companion Support Group idea from the Power of the Doctor and I’m happy to see Mel as a part of UNIT.
This story was directed by Chanya Button known for her previous work on World on Fire and the Spanish Princess. The story visually brings a very climatic sense of scale that is well earnt. The overhead UNIT helicopter shots and the way the characters are framed within UNIT brings a climatic sense of importance which fits the story. I also really like the way the dynamic between the Doctor and the Toymaker is visually presented. The close in on the Doctor as he first recognises the Toymaker is given a sense of weight and familiarity. Furthermore, the stakes are raised later in the toyshop visually creating a fulfilling faceoff. Chanya Button clearly has talent in the way she films the Spice Girls sequence and the ball game later on. It feels chaotic and dangerous, but you feel the full stakes.
So overall, how do I feel about the Giggle? It’s a fantastic story and a wonderful conclusion to the 60th Anniversary trilogy and very short Fourteenth Doctor era. You have a remarkable reinvention of the Toymaker with a very memorable performance from Neil Patrick Harris that stands out immensely. It’s enhanced with the presence of Stooky Bill and how the plot uses television to its advantage with an undercurrent of profound relatable political observations. The Giggle balances things rather well, with a fitting happy ending for the Fourteenth Doctor and powerful showcase for the Fifteenth Doctor. It provides an ending and also pushes the show forward. The story does have some oversights with an anti-climactic death for the Fourteenth Doctor, disappointing conclusion to the mystery around the Doctor and Donna reunion and an underserved role for Mel. However, it thrives through its madness, its boldness and the way it pushes the show forward.
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