60th Anniversary Specials #2:
--- "Wild Blue Yonder" by Russell T. Davies

Following the relatively safe mediocrity of The Star Beast, the bar was significantly low for Wild Blue Yonder. My main complaints surrounding The Star Beast resided in its plotting, characters and dialogue and I am so happy to say that those are all the strong points of the second special. Following the generic "I will destroy the world!" plot of the previous episode, you had no idea how much I wanted a small scale, character focused episode and by the gods did this deliver spectacularly. I didn't want a cameo fest or some niche reference like people were theorising, I wanted exactly what was delivered.

Thrown through time and space in a damaged TARDIS, the Doctor and Donna find themselves abandoned on a colossal and empty ship at the edge of the universe. Or at least, empty for the time being.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The creatures in this episode (though the CGI can fluctuate between horrifying and a snapchat filter) are genuinely terrifying foes. I find that, for me, monsters we know nothing about are always the best antagonists: The Midnight Entity, the Fisher King's ghosts, whatever the hell was in Listen are all things the Doctor is clueless on and it always makes for amazing tension and great moments of realisation. The only other doppelganger episode I can think of is the Also People, which is commonly thought of as the worst of Series 6, so that concept is long overdue and the body horror they use that idea for here is astounding and honestly brilliant for modern Doctor Who, adding a sense of otherworldliness and experimentation. There are so many good, creepy moments here: the other Doctor and Donna's introduction, the slow build up to the reveal of what "my arms are too long" means, Donna f**king melting. Easily going to end up being one of my favourites in this new era.

As for other positives, the setting of an entirely alien ship completely abandoned is such a cool idea executed fantastically with the added Disney budget, I love every second exploring it, which is good because that's nearly the entire episode. Another moment I love is when the Doctor's smarts and problem solving skills come back to bite him; he can't stop working things out and that's playing right into the creatures hands, which is an idea that I'm shocked hasn't been done before. Also, I'm shocked to say that this episode made me care somewhat about the Timeless Child, even if that was mostly just because David Tennant is a tour de force. I will never not think that it the worst thing to ever happen to Doctor Who but goddamn, Russell's character writing and Tennant's stellar acting actually made me invested in the characters and their internal conflicts, which I don't think has happened since 2017.

But, the first twenty minutes or so don't seem to know what to do with Donna: She goes from being angry, to panicking, to confident within about sixty seconds and it is incredibly jarring. One thing I did notice was the step down in effects quality, there were a number of moments - with the creatures especially - when I could just tell that it was digital effects, however the exterior shots of the ship were absolutely beautiful. The climax, though not the insulting mess that was the Star Beast's ending, did feel a little too easy and the TARDIS appearing at the perfect moment in the perfect place did feel like a classic RTD Deus ex Machina. Plus, a lot of the explanation is done behind glass (again) in an exposition heavy monologue.

I am so, so glad that we got Wild Blue Yonder. A tense, scary series of what the f**ks and oh my gods that keep you captivated all the way through. If Tennant and Tate didn't shine as much as they did, this episode wouldn't have been nearly as good but thankfully, they are amazing. This is the bandage I needed not just after the Star Beast let me down, but also following the Chibnall era. Fingers crossed The Giggle keeps the quality going.

8/10

Pros:
+ Fascinating and scary antagonists that harken back to episodes like Midnight
+ Fantastically realised and beautiful setting
+ Stellar performances from our main cast
+ Great exterior shots of the ship
+ Amazing use of the Doctor's quick wits, actually using them against him and putting the character at fault (something the Chibnall era would never dare to do)
+ Terrific use of the doppelganger concept
+ Somehow managed to get me even a little interested in the Timeless Child (though I was mostly just invested in David Tennant)
+ Actually addressed the flux, which Chibnall forgot to do
+ Just some lovely, quiet and raw moments between Ten and Donna that the melodramatic previous episode was lacking in
+ Brilliant, atmospheric score from Murray Gold that helps build the tension
+ Wilf

Cons:
- A story too ambitious for the CGI given to it
- Conclusion was a little too fast and a little too easy, it felt like it was faking tension at that point
- Mysteries revealed in an exposition dump rather than naturally
- A couple bits where the dialogue felt cringey and unrealistic
- Donna switches between moods way too quickly in the opening and it feels weird and jarring
- Has a Deus ex Machina mixed in there, which is only expected from RTD now
- Weird opening with Isaac Newton that felt out of place (also is gravity just going to be mavity from now on or...)