The Giggle

303 – "The Giggle"
Doctor Who episode
Promotional poster
Cast
Doctor David Tennant – Fourteenth Doctor
Companion Catherine Tate – Donna Noble
Others Charlie De Melo – Charles Banerjee Neil Patrick Harris – The Toymaker John Mackay – John Logie Baird Ross Gurney-Randall – Middle Aged Man Alexander Devrient – Colonel Ibrahim Ruth Madeley – Shirley Bingham Jemma Redgrave – Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Bonnie Langford – Melanie Bush Glen Fox – Pilot Tim Hudson – Edward Lawn Bridges Aidan Cook – The Vlinx Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Vlinx Lachele Carl – Trinity Wells Leigh Lothian – Voice of Stooky Sue Luke Featherston – The Toymaker Dance Double Karl Collins – Shaun Temple Jacqueline King – Sylvia Noble Yasmin Finney – Rose Noble Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor
Production
Directed by	Chanya Button
Written by	Russell T Davies
Script editor	Scott Handcock
Produced by	Vicki Delow
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Jane Tranter Joel Collins Phil Collinson
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	2023 specials
Running time	62 minutes
First broadcast	9 December 2023 (2023-12-09)
Chronology
← Preceded by "Wild Blue Yonder" Followed by → "The Church on Ruby Road"
List of Doctor Who episodes (2005–present)

"The Giggle" is the third and final of the 2023 60th anniversary specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, written by Russell T Davies, directed by Chanya Button and broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 December 2023. It features the final regular appearance of David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, introduces Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and guest stars Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, a character last seen in The Celestial Toymaker (1966). The episode also features Jemma Redgrave and Bonnie Langford as UNIT commander Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Mel Bush, respectively.

Set directly after the events of "Wild Blue Yonder", the episode sees the Doctor, Donna and UNIT confronting the return of the Doctor's old enemy, the Toymaker, who is behind a series of signals in a form of a "giggle" being transmitted, causing majority of the human race to go mad over their beliefs.

The episode was watched by 6.85 million viewers and received positive reviews from critics, who praised Harris’ performance and the writing.

Plot

In 1925 Soho, an assistant to John Logie Baird purchases a Stooky Bill doll from an eccentric German toymaker to test out a new invention called the "television".

In the present day, the Doctor, Donna, and Wilfred Mott are taken by UNIT to its headquarters, with Wilfred taken to safety per Donna's request. The Doctor is reunited with Shirley, Head of UNIT Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and former companion and friend Melanie Bush. With the help of an alien named the Vlinx, members of UNIT are immune to the signals being transmitted and making people go mad over their beliefs, while Donna, Mel and Wilfred are immune due to their extensive travels with the Doctor. The Doctor determines the signals have been playing for years and discovers the Stooky Bill video from 1925. He and Donna travel via TARDIS to 1925 to locate the video's source.

The Doctor and Donna find the toy store and the Doctor deduces the German man is the Toymaker, whom he defeated in a game many years ago.^[a] The Toymaker traps the two in his labyrinth and conjures horrifying illusions for them; taunting the Doctor by using a puppet show to tell Donna of the Doctor's future companions (Amy Pond, Clara Oswald and Bill Potts), their unfortunate fates and the destructive impact of the Flux, and also reveals he transmitted the signal to make humanity play a never-ending game of debates by making all of their opinions supreme and get violent if they're proven wrong. He also reveals he faced numerous pains of his own, such as trapping the Master within his gold tooth and encountering a being called "The One Who Waits", which he fearfully refused to challenge. The Doctor and the Toymaker play a game of cards, with the latter winning. However, the Doctor states that since he won the last game, they are tied. The Toymaker resolves to have one final game with him and transports himself to the present day, with the Doctor and Donna in pursuit.

The Toymaker attacks UNIT before taking control of its galvanic beam. He reasons that since he faced separate incarnations of the Doctor for each game, he must face another, and mortally injures the Doctor with the beam, triggering his regeneration. However, to everyone's surprise, the Doctor instead splits into two incarnations via "bi-generation". Both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors challenge the Toymaker to a basic game of catch. The Doctors emerge victorious and the Toymaker is sealed away in a box, though he warns the two of his legions' arrival. UNIT then has the box locked in their vault. As everyone leaves, the Toymaker's gold tooth is left behind and is collected by an unidentified woman.

Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctors remember past loved ones, including some of those they have lost — Adric, Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, River Song — and their shared experiences. The Fifteenth Doctor advises his predecessor to rest and heal from the extensive traumas that his past incarnations have accumulated across their lives. Donna suggests to the Fourteenth Doctor that his old face returned because, subconsciously, he needs to return 'home' to deal with these traumas. She invites him to consider retiring from travelling and stay with her and her family, but the Doctor signals his intention to not leave the TARDIS behind. The Fifteenth Doctor, realising the Toymaker's rules of play still apply, uses a mallet from within the TARDIS to create a second identical TARDIS, which he departs in. The Fourteenth Doctor settles down with Donna, her family, and Melanie, while the Fifteenth Doctor travels the universe in his TARDIS, seeking new adventures.

Continuity

A similar unknown hand picks up the Master's ring in the third series episode "Last of the Time Lords" (2007) after his death.^[1]

Production

David Tennant and Catherine Tate returned to the series as part of the 60th anniversary specials.^[2] Tennant stars as the Fourteenth Doctor while Tate reprised her role as Donna Noble.^[3] Ncuti Gatwa made his first appearance as the Fifteenth Doctor. Neil Patrick Harris portrayed the Toymaker, a character last seen in The Celestial Toymaker (1966), then portrayed by Michael Gough.^[4][5] Chanya Button directed the episode.^[6] Filming for the specials commenced in May 2022, and wrapped at the end of July 2022.^[7] Due to failing health, Bernard Cribbins' role as Wilfred Mott was reduced, however, he was able to film one last appearance for the ending of "Wild Blue Yonder", his final performance before his death on July 27 2022, one day after production for the specials wrapped.^[8][9] An uncredited double stood in as Wilfred for "The Giggle", which featured usage of an archival audio recording of Cribbins from "The Poison Sky" (2008).^[10]

Broadcast and reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	100%[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Empire	[12]
The Independent	[13]
The Guardian	[14]
The Daily Telegraph	[15]
the i	[16]

Broadcast

"The Giggle" was broadcast on 9 December 2023 as the third and final of the three 2023 specials, filmed for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.^[17]

Ratings

"The Giggle" was watched by 4.62 million viewers overnight, and had an Appreciation Index score of 85.^[18] It was the third most watched programme of the day.^[19] The consolidated ratings figures for the episode were 6.85 million viewers, making it the tenth most watched programme of the week behind episodes of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Strictly Come Dancing.^[20]

Critical reception

The special received positive reviews, with praise for Harris' performance and the writing.^{[14][21][13][22]} On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator website, 100% of 7 critics gave "The Giggle" a positive review. The site's consensus reads "Capping off David Tennant's encore run, 'The Giggle' puts a twist on Doctor Who's regenerative conceit and gives fans the best of both worlds."^[11]

Home media

"The Giggle", along with the other two specials "The Star Beast" and "Wild Blue Yonder", were released on home media on 18 December 2023.^[23]

In print

A novelisation of the episode, written by James Goss, was released as an eBook 14 December 2023^[24] and is due to be released in paperback on 11 January 2024 as part of the Target Collection^[25][26] and as an audiobook read by Dan Starkey on 1 February 2024.^[27]

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Fourteenth Doctor.

• "The Giggle" at BBC Online
• "The Giggle" at the Doctor Who Stories Website
• "The Giggle" on Tardis at Fandom, an external wiki
• "The Giggle" at IMDb