Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special 2: "Wild Blue Yonder" full reaction
Added 2023-12-09 22:52:17 +0000 UTC"Savity... Havity... Mavity!"
Comments
This was such a great episode! I had a feeling that you would enjoy it. I'm glad you did. To be honest, I prefer Star Beast a bit more but this episode was still solid and really surprised me with how engaging and thought-provoking it was. It's even gotten better for me on rewatches and seeing people react to it. The opener with The Doctor and Donna meeting Isaac Newton and accidentally changing history with him mishearing "Gravity" as "Mavity" was funny. I really like how this episode was purely focused on just The Doctor and Donna. The slow burn for this episode was quite interesting when they were exploring the ship and discovering that they were at the edge of the universe. There was something very immersive and tense with the way The Doctor was intrigued and explaining everything to Donna while leaning closer to the window. The way it became silent in certain moments was really effective too. I have to really praise the sound design for this episode especially during moments where there was silence, the thudding from the outside of the ship and machinery of the ship operating every once in a while. This episode definitely gave a bit of Midnight vibes with hints and small shades of Smile, The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People two parter, Silence In The Library, Blink and slashes of Listen and Flatline wrapped together. The way they shot The Doctor and Donna scenes with them working in separate rooms unknowingly with their doppelgangers was effective. Then the sudden reveal of the cosmic body horror with the fake Doctor and Donna was very bizarre, funny and unsettling at the same time. Even them growing into giants and their faces being distorted made them even more threatening in a weird way. It was funny but also unsettling at the same time which I was happy about. And they got even more creepier as the episode progressed. One of the standout moments for me was definitely when The Doctor and Donna encountered the not things a second time when they were separate. Fake Donna telling The Doctor about his origin being unknown and the Flux was a really good scene. The Doctor was finally in a corner where he could open up and let his emotions out. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Timeless Child or the Flux series but it feels refreshing to see The Doctor properly react and reflect on it. Because of 13 being a very closed off incarnation, she never got time to properly react to it as a whole which didn't satisfy me at all but this incarnation of The Doctor is more in touch with his emotions which I appreciate. It also clarified the state of the universe after the flux (another thing that didn't get clarity in the previous era) so I have to commend RTD for trying to put emotional weight to it even though I didn't fully vibe with the Flux series. It made me wonder whether it could be used as emotional baggage similar to how the time war was with the 9th and 10th Doctors. The way fake Donna turned into a puddle in front of The Doctor was like a punch in the gut. I felt bad for The Doctor thinking that he was opening up to the real Donna for a moment. That small rage moment he had made me really feel for him. And the fake Doctor doing the crab walk towards Donna was quite creepy. I really like the direction and wonkiness of it all. So much praise for David and Catherine playing the doppelgangers really well with the way emote, move and talk to showcase them slowly adapting and perfecting their forms of The Doctor and Donna. They really played the villainous parts well. The Not Things share some similarities to the Midnight creature with the way they can copy people but with the only difference being through physical form and not just voice wise. The backstory with the captain having to sacrifice herself to stop these creatures also provided a nice emotional weight to the story. And the ending was very climatic and intense. My heart was pounding for Donna when The Doctor took the wrong Donna. You could really feel her dread and the way the scene slowed down to the point where you could hear Donna heavily breathing and bracing herself for death was very very jaw dropping. I was so scared for her. That moment where The Doctor and Donna are just holding each other in silence while he kisses her forehead was very touching. I liked how 14 reassured Donna at the start of the episode too and both of them agreeing about Issac being hot and attractive fun too. I also love that Tardis scene near the end where Donna tries to get The Doctor to open up more. And of course, I can't go without mentioning the ending with Wilf. It's so brilliant and emotional to see him one last time, especially knowing that Bernard is no longer alive. As previous comments have already mentioned, this was unfortunately the only scene that they could do with him. Obviously he would have gotten more scenes in the next episode but his health was declining which is heart-breaking. RTD had confirmed this after this episode aired. Seeing you get emotional in seeing him made me tear up too. It's really lovely that they made a dedication to him at the end of this episode's credits. RIP Bernard Cribbins. I think the recent DW Magazine confirmed that Bernard was looking forward to seeing himself in the specials which makes this even more sad. Really enjoyed your reaction and I'm looking forward to your reaction to the last special of the 60th. That cliffhanger with the people going crazy and the plane crashing as The Doctor, Donna and Wilf brace for cover is so shocking but effective too.
JY
2023-12-12 04:51:40 +0000 UTCThe actress that plays Rose was 18 at the time of filming. This was a really creepy episode especially as for the most part it's just Tennant and Tate.
Jade Ellis
2023-12-10 22:47:29 +0000 UTCCyberdog is actually a genuine retail store in Camden, London, which is where they shot that scene! Don't worry, it made fans go "hmm, could it be..?" when filming pictures first emerged, too. 😹 Few people have mentioned this (I haven't finished listening to your post-episode thoughts yet, so maybe you'll bring it up) but the creature concept is also kind of similar to the Gangers in 'The Rebel Flesh'/'The Almost People' two-parter, as well as the Boneless in 'Flatline'. The long corridor also gave me 'The Waters of Mars' vibes. Undoubtedly an infusion of 'Midnight' in there as well.
Toby Harmon
2023-12-10 19:38:47 +0000 UTCSomething you might find interesting, 1666 is the year of the great fire of London which is why the doctor says to avoid the city, and something i love is the entities are called by fans and officially as "Not-things" or "no-things" with the edge of the universe being called "no-place". They even said "no-time" at one point. Also roses actress, Yasmin Finney is currently 20 years old. Something we have to force ourselves to get used to, adults cast as children because of labour laws having stricter hours on those underage XD My assumption regarding the dog stuffed toy is that the doctor and donna encountered that species, the Lupar, off screen. They had lots of extra adventures we never saw. This isn't a spoiler, but if you haven't seen it yet, just to control expectations, unfortunately, Bernard Cribbins was too unwell to film any more scenes. So this is all there is of him as Wilf; no full appearance in the next episode. He passed away soon after, still during filming. So this episode was dedicated to him.
Jake Beaumont
2023-12-10 01:51:59 +0000 UTC
