I'm a little all over the place on The Giggle. On the one hand, there is an awful lot to like.

The cast is pretty wonderful here. Mel and Kate were great as returning talent, while Neil Patrick Harris was pretty excellent as the Toymaker. Very Count Olaf from his Lemony Snickett days, which largely worked for me. There are a lot of fun ideas and set pieces throughout the episode. A particular highlight for me was the Spice Girls bit. Sure it was a bit tacky and even some of the acting around it was a little stiff, but overall I just loved how the Toymaker was clearly having a blast being silly while also murdering guards and turning bullets into rose petals. It felt very appropriate for a villain we've only really ever gotten brief tastes of over the years across the franchise. In a lot of ways, The Giggle is a pure representation of the power often alluded to, but rarely seen in past appearances of the Toymaker.

On the other hand, as well as he is built up and used in scenes like the Spice Girls bit, his actual games with the Doctor feel really weak. I've seen some reviews liked the game of catch, but it seemed so awkward to me. Not once do we ever see Gatwa, Tennant, or Harris actually throwing a ball to each other, it is entirely done through these obvious cuts and shots where clearly a producer is just throwing a ball at each of the actors individually. It was not very impressive or engaging, and if the whole thing with the Toymaker is that he is playing games with the Doctor, well, these games were awfully anti-climactic and underwhelming.

The bi-regeneration is certainly something people will complain about for all time, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Having back-to-back years where two consecutive incarnations of the Doctor are blasted by a space laser and forced to regenerate at the hands of a quirky but musical madman would have been unnecessary and repetitive. Especially from an emotional standpoint, I think it was very good of RTD to aim for a different, more celebratory ending, otherwise it would have felt just like the Power of the Doctor. Let Ten heal a bit and have some unburdening of all his baggage - it certainly felt like good payoff to some of the trauma we saw in Wild Blue Yonder. Leave some space for Big Finish. Why not? The franchise has done a lot worse, and as others have pointed out, it leaves interesting room for other bits of continuity in the future or as RTD has stated, room for the other incarnations to have further adventures free of continuity sticklers.

Gatwa was pretty great as the new doctor here and that is only firmed up more in The Church on Ruby Road. Overall, it sure feels to me like Doctor Who is in good hands, even if the Giggle was far from perfect.