Ivan Radford | On 03, Dec 2023

“Oh, is that who I am now?” gasps the Doctor a short way into The Wild Blue Yonder, as he and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) talk about how hot Isaac Newton was when they met him. It’s a throwaway joke but, true to form for Russell T Davies, it’s also a lighthearted way to delve into the purpose of these three 60th anniversary specials. Bringing back David Tennant to play the 14th Doctor – and not simply as a way to reprise the 10th Doctor – was perhaps met with expectations of more of the same timey-wimey shenanigans. But the more time we spend with this tartan-clothed incarnation of the Time Lord, the more we begin to notice the differences since the last time we saw him.

We pick up just after Donna dropped coffee all over the console of the newly refurbished TARDIS, sending it into a fiery meltdown as it spirals across the universe out of control. When it finally stops, they find themselves in a remote spaceship floating in the middle of nowhere – and, when the TARDIS takes off to avoid what it senses is danger, the Doctor and Donna have no choice but to go exploring to work out how to get back home.

The fact that Donna now has family (including Rose and let’s not forget Wilf) waiting for her, and the fact that we’ve met them all and grown attached to them, is just one of the many changes that have happened in the 15 years since we last were away from Earth with this duo. They’re still dynamite together, tossing back and forth quips and sharing in genuine joy at unearthing the unknown. But now, where Donna once thought that she was perhaps a little on the slow side, she steps into situations that would terrify others with a fiery confidence and sense of self – and an added determination to make sure she survives and gets back to look after her husband and daughter. Tate’s performance is as funny as ever but comes with added layers to her comic relief that get gradually peeled back here.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has grown and evolved in ways that are both addressed and unspoken. David Tennant steps back into his shoes with a gorgeously nuanced ability to shift from the 10th Doctor’s ego and aloofness to a personality that’s built from the best bits of the Time Lords in between – the brains and loss of the 11th Doctor, the maturity and melancholy of the 12th Doctor and the compassion and vulnerability of the 12th. Tennant’s 14th Doctor is more vocal about his feelings and more caring in the way he reassures and thinks about his companion.

All this would be a treat to observe in any adventure, but Davies smartly ties it into the narrative of this survival thriller. What begins with unsettling camera angles, an expansive yet claustrophobic and spine-tingling sound design gradually escalates into a heartfelt and high-stakes story of being able to recognise yourself – and your loved ones – through the minutest of details and the most intimate of knowledge.

Director Tom Kingsley (Ghosts, This Is Going to Hurt and Pls Like) has proven himself a master of juggling practical effects and VFX, and also of juggling light and serious tones. He’s a perfect fit for Doctor Who, whisking us through a gripping and often disturbing series of set pieces – while balancing the horror notes with grotesque flourishes that tip it almost into farce, repeatedly mining weird humour from the void of the uncanny.

The result is a romp that could be enjoyed by any newcomer to the TARDIS, but one that brings added richness for anyone familiar with any of Doctor Who in the past 15 years. In other words, it’s an ideal anniversary birthday present: a celebration of the Doctor’s past and present, and what makes them who they are, delivered in a masterfully tense 54 minutes. The only sad thought is that there’s just one more hour left of this brief detour before David Tennant’s Doctor and Donna step out of the TARDIS once more – but it’s wrapped up in the understanding that everything we’re seeing here will, like the Doctors before and after Tennant, will feed into the excitement of the future and what’s to come. Looking forward impatiently to the next Saturday teatime instalment? Once again, that’s what Doctor Who is now.

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