Wild Blue Yonder

Doctor Who: The 60th Anniversary Specials n.2

Second round, here we go! Despite being disappointed that it wasn't a Multi Doctor story, it technically was one. All of it had a strong "Midnight" vibe, which is really lovely.

Also, this Special made me rethink the Timeless Child twist, RTD made me see that it was after all a cool concept...Not executed that well. And then, the final surprise...Wilf is back (For the last time, unfortunately).

I was so invested in this story, it never happened before, maybe because it was new or something, but it was fun. There are moments here that made me...

Giggle.

Doctor Who (2023 – 20XX)

Wild Blue Yonder ~ 10/10

---

◆ An Introduction

The second 60th Anniversary special was the one that drew the most attention from the moment the titles got revealed. Russell T Davies was keeping unusually quiet, which of course got the Twitter mob talking: “Oh I guarantee Capaldi and Smith will return and play evil versions of themselves”, was the main bit of speculation I encountered.

Other people rightly assumed that this would be a character piece designed to push the Doctor and his companion to their absolute limits; much like Robert Shearman did when he wrote the fantastic ‘Scherzo’.

The countdown to destruction has begun, and you cannot understand the mavity of the situation.

---

◆ Publisher’s Summary

The Tardis takes the Doctor and Donna to the furthest edge of adventure. To escape, they must face the most desperate fight of their lives, with the fate of the universe at stake.

---

◆ The Fourteenth Doctor

‘Wild Blue Yonder’ is a character piece, first and foremost. It pushes the Doctor to his absolute limits and very nearly breaks him. I also appreciate that this episode showcases the guilt he feels over the Flux: it wasn’t technically his fault, but there are clearly a lot of emotions still left to unpack there.

David Tennant gets to play double duty in this episode. Not only does he deliver his finest performance as any incarnation of the Doctor, he also does an excellent job at portraying his twisted Not-Thing double.

The Doctor agrees with Donna – and about ninety percent of the audience – that Isaac Newton was so hot. He questions if that’s who he is now (nice of the show to explore the character’s bisexuality). He turned the HADS off years ago, otherwise he’d never land anywhere: once spent three years in orbit. He knows 57 billion, 205 languages. But not the one used on this ship. He misses Gallifrey but claims that things got complicated there. The Flux destroyed over half the universe and he blames himself. The Doctor keeps running, because how are you supposed to look back on creation when you devastated it?

---

◆ Donna Noble

RTD has gotten his most successful pairing back for three more adventures. It was inevitable that one of those adventures would be deeply character focused. Donna is excellently written in this episode. The moment where she spoke about how long her family would wait for her really tugged at the old heart strings.

Catherine Tate is also doing double duty in ‘Wild Blue Yonder’. Her performance as our favourite Chiswick temp is magnificent, but she was astounding as her Not-Thing doppelgänger. She can play villainous incredibly well.

Donna just dropped some coffee into the Tardis console. But don’t worry, her friend’s got a time machine, which means he can blame her for all eternity. She used to sing Wild Blue Yonder in the choir in primary school. They’d have a little concert every Christmas. But her Gramps complained. He said, “You shouldn’t be teaching children that. It sounds all jaunty and fun but it’s not. It’s the military going to war.”

---

◆ Fenslaw, Colliss, Brate…

The secrets of this episode have been tightly guarded from the moment it was announced, leading many to speculate that we would get a Multi-Doctor story. They were partially right… but probably not in the way they were expecting.

The Not-Things are shrouded in mystery throughout the adventure. All we’re told is that they originate from beyond our universe, and that they have little grasp on the notion of shape. I honestly hope that this will be their sole appearance in canon, because the secrets behind their true motives are what make them truly frightening.

Speaking of fear, this is the first Doctor Who story in years to genuinely have me scared whilst watching it. The ominous countdown that keeps reconfiguring the spaceship, the pin-prick silence in some scenes, and the monsters who imitate the heroes. This is atmospheric horror at its best!

---

◆ Set Design & Visuals

I find it incredibly amusing that the production team will have spent at least a grand on costumes and location filming… all to do a funny skit with Isaac Newton in the cold open. Though I agree with the Doctor and Donna: he was pretty fit!

I love that the Tardis doesn’t just fade into view anymore. The beginning of the episode has it crash onto the ship with such force that it dents the wall behind it! Then it attempts to roast its occupants by spewing a plume of fire out of the doors (all this from a single latte!)

I’ve heard some people criticise the green screen and VFX work in this episode, but those people are quite frankly wrong! The main corridor of the spaceship is vast and gleaming silver. I also love that it ripples and reconfigures as the countdown progresses, almost like the entire ship is alive.

The Not-Things are visually unsettling. These entities from beyond the universe are imitating the Doctor and Donna, but never quite getting the details right. The very notion of shape is strange to them, so their arms will be bulbous and enlarged, or they’ll have two knees on one leg. It’s unsettling in the uncanny valley sense.

---

◆ Music

I absolutely adore the piece that plays when the Doctor and Donna emerge into the main corridor; all twinkling and electronic. It’s incredibly futuristic, and brilliant at showcasing how vast this new location is.

---

◆ Conclusion

“My arms are too long...”

Doppelgängers from beyond our universe, and a spaceship that has been slowly reconfiguring itself to be a bomb. Our heroes have landed in the midst of hostile action… causing the Tardis to do a runner!

This episode is a character piece, first and foremost. It pushes the Doctor to his absolute limits and very nearly breaks him. It also goes some way to unpack the emotional trauma caused by the Flux, which is greatly appreciated.

The Not-Things are the personification of the uncanny valley; mimics that can’t quite get the details right, causing bulbous hands or two knees in one leg. They are barely given any backstory, but that makes them all the more unsettling.

‘Wild Blue Yonder’ has been shrouded in speculation and mystery from the moment its title got revealed, and I believe it’ll be remembered as a classic of this new era. Russell T Davies has proven to us, for the second time in his career, that he can create a truly masterful slice of atmospheric horror.

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...)