Review: Doctor Who, “Wild Blue Yonder” | 60th Anniversary Special #2
A creepy two-hander showcases the highs and lows of the show’s new Disney+ partnership
One thing I didn’t expect about these big, buzzy 60th anniversary specials is how much they’d feel like regular episodes of Doctor Who—as if Russell T. Davies took a year off after “The End of Time” but then jumped right into a fifth season of the show. Cut a few references to the Flux (the Flux!) and the ongoing mystery about why the Doctor got his old face back, and this could easily be a months-later adventure with the Doctor and Donna circa 2010. Indeed, when dear old Wilf (Wilf!) pops up to reassure the Doctor that he never lost faith in his ability to fix Donna and save the world, it feels right; as if Davies always meant to tie up that loose end in some theoretical next season of the show.
That’s a comforting feeling in a lot of ways, as it remains an absolute joy to watch David Tennant, Catherine Tate, and now Bernard Cribbins inhabit these old roles so seamlessly. But the more low-key nature of these specials is also incongruous with a.) their very existence as big, buzzy specials and b.) the show’s clear desire to expand into an expensive, CGI-heavy sci-fi spectacle series, which one has to imagine is at least somewhat mandated by the new partnership with Disney. It’s a tension you could feel bubbling under the surface in last week’s installment, although the Doctor/Donna reunion at least gave “The Star Beast” a sense of pomp and circumstance. Here, however, the incongruity is harder to hide.