Doctor Who: The Giggle
What I thought that these specials were going to do when they were announcing was have the <PERSON> and what eventually became the Not-Things to be entities under the control of <PERSON>, and he is the reason why the Fourteenth Doctor regenerated, clad with face and costume and all. But then the specials began, and it quickly became apparent that this wasn't the case, with each episode instead establishing something that will presumably have a purpose in the Fifteenth Doctor's run, i.e. the <PERSON>'s boss, "<PERSON>", and "The One Who Waits". And this leaves the specials feeling... vapid. Just a three-episode long season of Doctor Who that falls to all of the pitfalls that anything of this length would without an overarching story.
I dislike how the Tenth Doctor and <PERSON> had their fantastic endings unwound and rewrapped tighter and happier than ever, and the ways in which it does it in The Star Beast and The Giggle respectively feel like they undermine the ever-present theme of change and the acceptance of it that flows through the veins of the show. The concept of The Doctor going to "rehab" is a fun one, and I suppose has been slightly touched on with <PERSON> The Curator in The Day of the Doctor, but here? I'm just not keen on the possibility of <PERSON> return so soon. 282
I don't want him to have a mini-series, I don't want him to cameo in <PERSON>'s seasons. Give him all the Big Finish work he wants, all the novels, all the comics, but please let the old faces and companions off for a moment.
As for the episode then, I like <PERSON> a lot, albeit I feel he's cut off really short following the bi-generation, but his presence while he's there is truly fab. Spice Girls scene rocks. The puppets rock. Generally a fun time. But yeah, kind of leaves all of these specials at the end as a little bit pointless for me. Whatever. Bring on Ncuti! 282