Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (2023 Special 2)

Well, that was about as perfect an episode of this TV show I've ever seen, if I'm being super honest!

Cons:

Hmm. Difficult to say. There were maybe a few things where I would have wished for more, like just an extra dash of something we already got. Like, the clues that the words were a countdown, and the robot was moving to initiate something? I guess the evidence was right there, but I think the counting down bit would have been more satisfying if there had been some way that it was possible for me to suss that out on my own before the Doctor realized it. Like what if there were numbers on a door somewhere and the Doctor does say one of the numbers out loud at some point because he figured out the translation, and it's the number six or something, and then later when we hear it, you might be able to grasp that you've heard that word before? Just a few more breadcrumbs to make the moment when the truth comes out feel really satisfying.

Pros:

But that really is the nitpickiest of nitpicks, like I said, this was... an astonishingly good episode of Doctor Who. I'm sure if you go back and read some of my other reviews, you'll be able to tell that for a long time now, like, a really long time now, this show has been something of a habit I'm keeping up, rather than something that sparks a ton of joy. I've enjoyed plenty of individual episodes, I've felt some measure of connection to various characters, but... it's nostalgia, for me. It's something I'm doing because, I don't know, it's Doctor Who and I've been watching for so long!

But this? Now, I don't want to speak too soon, but this might just be an Episode of All Time for me. It really was so very, very good.

First you've got the great mix of tones. There were ridiculous silly humor bits, like the thing at the beginning with Isaac Newton, and "mavity" that kept recurring throughout. There was the body horror with the "nothings" that took on Donna and the Doctor's shapes, there was the standard horror-movie-esque potential for jump scares as our heroes are running around in the tunnels in the bowels of this ship. There's the relationship drama, the building stress between the Doctor and Donna, and their deep affection underneath that all. There's the extremely fun and also terrifying horror trope of not being able to tell an imposter from the real item, and I thought it was done SO well here. There was the mystery to solve, there were emotional character beats... and it was all there, balanced together so, so well.

I feel like the thing I most want to talk about is how well the Doctor and Donna know each other, but to list examples of that would be just to read off the whole script. I was astonished, heartbroken, moved beyond imagining, by the moment when one of the two Doctors says "you think you're stupid?" to Donna, and both Donnas say that of course they do, and the Doctor says "well, that's very Donna." There's so much there, so much history, unspoken and unknown and unknowable, it's not something they need to discuss. The fact that the Doctor and Donna have just the slightest edge on their imposters because they understand the inherent contradictions of human nature is such a cool idea, and paired with how well they really know each other, it makes for compelling TV!

And the scene I know everybody is going to be talking about, I have to talk about it too: the Doctor opening up about his guilt and grief over what he's learned about his origins and the universe, and then saying, in that shaky little voice, "Donna is that you?" The imposter says "yeah," and the Doctor takes a step forward: "all these years, I've missed you..." Later, when we see the Doctor having a breakdown and screaming and kicking at the wall of the tunnel, it's such a beautifully heartbreaking moment because you know what he's screaming about is that he actually did it, he actually managed to open up to someone, and then it wasn't even real. OUCH!

The scene at the end in the TARDIS carries this on too. It's so brave of the Doctor to broach the subject, and to admit, albeit obliquely, that he's been through some really horrible things and he is very much not okay. Donna doesn't have the knowledge in her head anymore to force him to confront things more directly, but the Doctor does still do the work of reaching out to a friend, however slightly.

The friendship between these two, the chemistry between them as performers, is really something special. I like how in these first two of the three specials, we have a couple of moments lamp-shading the fact that the Doctor is a different guy than he was the last time he and Donna had seen each other. He's more demonstrative, more open about expressing his feelings. He even cops to finding Isaac Newton hot, and then seems a bit surprised at himself for being so open about feeling attraction.

And the fact that we get the Doctor grasping Donna's hand, placing a kiss to it, or their big, demonstrative hugs, or the Doctor kissing Donna on top of her head in relief at having her back... it was so beautiful, and so simple, the way they could play in the comedy space but also so well in the utterly sincere.

I also want to compliment the set design of this episode. It was simple in some ways, it looks like plenty of other sci-fi-y, spaceship type sets I've seen before, but I loved the way we got to see into the bowels of the ship, explore all those little tunnels, and then also the way the walls moved around, the reconfiguration of the ship into a bomb as time passed. Such a cool concept!

And, suffice to say, the lead in to next week's episode was adorable as well, with the Doctor reuniting with Wilf. Another moment where the Doctor is more demonstrative and emotional than we remember him being in the past. Something is going terribly wrong, but we'll have to wait until the third and final David Tennant special to find out what! I heard that this was the last filmed performance for the actor playing Wilf, who has since died, and I just want to say that he did a wonderful job and gave me all the feelings of nostalgia thinking about his time on the show previously. I hope he's happy knowing how much joy he brought to so many Doctor Who fans.

I could really go on. This is the first episode of Doctor Who I have seen in literal years, probably over half a decade, that I actually see myself wanting to revisit again and again.

9.5/10