Doctor Who – 60th Anniversary Specials Ranked

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the RTD / David Tennant / Catherine Tate Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials finally released … and they were quite something to say the least!

There are a whopping three episodes for me to rank and review (I’ve got my work cut out for me this time …), and it seems everyone online has wildly different opinions. Time to ruffle some feathers while dipping into some SPOILERS along the way!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Good

3 – The Giggle (Episode 3)

We’re starting off with a red-hot take – “The Giggle” was very nearly my second favourite of the anniversary specials, but there were too many aspects that held it back and soured the overall finale experience.

Let’s start with the two lesser issues I had. The climactic game of catch was ridiculous and not in the good way, and I was disappointed that RTD forgot to show a better sense of the worldwide chaos. In seasons past we would’ve been cutting back to the war-torn streets, and then once the Toymaker lost we would’ve seen everyone returning to normal.

But the thing from this episode that fans will debate on for years to come is the bi-generation. Personally, I’m not a fan. While I like how it gave The Doctor a chance to retire (potentially becoming The Curator down the line), it was a bizarre writing choice that posed more questions than answers. Why didn’t it happen before? How does it even work? Which Doctor is the real one? I know for all intents and purposes Ncuti is The Doctor moving forwards, but I’m not looking forward to the uncomfortable internet arguments.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though – Neil Patrick Harris was perfect as The Toymaker and stole every scene, and the Fourteenth Doctor retiring and finally being happy nearly brought a tear to my eye.

Great

2 – The Star Beast (Episode 1)

The episode that every Whovian was waiting for. While “The Star Beast” was a let-down in some areas, it whole-heartedly nailed the assignment in others.

First and foremost, it was so much fun seeing The Doctor and Donna teaming up once again. Not only did it scratch that nostalgic itch for Season 4 lovers such as myself, but David Tennant and Catherine Tate were better than I could have ever imagined!

The initial fifteen minutes fired on all cylinders with the charm, comedy and action (apart from that bizarre exposition dump cold open), The Meep was a fun creature, the new Sonic powers were cool, and that signature RTD camp was a welcome change from previous seasons.

Unfortunately, the latter half of the episode is what holds it back. I didn’t like the Donna fake-out death, the ending where Donna and Rose simply “let go” of the DoctorDonna was a cop-out, and I think RTD missed a trick by not having the regeneration and Rose’s transitioning be an allegory running in parallel. Why introduce a trans character in a regeneration episode of all things and not bring up the similarities?

Amazing

1 – Wild Blue Yonder (Episode 2)

“Wild Blue Yonder” was the episode I was looking forward to most in this batch of three – we were told little to nothing about its plot or premise, and that got everyone’s minds racing. While some people got a little too carried away, I kept my expectations low and was rewarded as a result.

It’s a simple story of The Doctor and Donna exploring an abandoned spaceship loitering at the edge of the universe, but once they meet the No-Things everything turns on its head. I cannot begin to describe how spine-chilling all of the dialogue interactions were.

As the No-Things grew in intelligence, the situation seemingly became more and more impossible. When the wrong Donna boarded the TARDIS, my heart sank like it had never done in this show before – well done RTD for giving me goosebumps in a kids show!

A couple of things hold this back from perfection – namely the bizarre Isaac Newton cold open and the wonky CGI at points – but otherwise this was a phenomenal episode of Who that reminded me why I love this show so much.

Overall Rating: B

If nothing else, the 60th Anniversary Specials were oodles of fun. It was great having RTD back but I feel we haven’t seen his best work yet, and I wish that we got more of the Toymaker across the three episodes and that there was a tad more of a focus on the anniversary aspect (i.e. more call-backs and fanservice other than just “David Tennant and Catherine Tate are here”).

Aaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: