"The Giggle" is the third and final of the 2023 60th anniversary specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, written by Russell T Davies, directed by Chanya Button and broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC ONE on 9 December 2023.
Synopsis[]
In 1925 Soho, an assistant to John Logie Baird purchases a Stooky Bill doll from an eccentric German toymaker to test out a new invention called the "television".
In the present day, the Doctor and Donna are taken by UNIT to its headquarters. The Doctor is reunited with Shirley Bingham, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and Melanie Bush. With the help of an alien named the Vlinx, members of UNIT are immune to the signals being transmitted and making people go mad over their beliefs, while Donna, Melanie and Wilfred Mott are immune due to their extensive travels with the Doctor. The Doctor determines the signals have been playing for years and discovers the Stooky Bill video from 1925. He and Donna travel via TARDIS to 1925 to locate the video's source.
The Doctor and Donna find the toy store and the Doctor deduces the German man is the Toymaker, whom he defeated in a game many years ago. The Toymaker traps the two in his labyrinth and conjures horrifying illusions for them; taunting the Doctor by using a puppet show to tell Donna of the Doctor's companions' (Amy, Clara and Bill) unfortunate fates and the destructive impact of the Flux, and also reveals he transmitted the signal to make humanity play a never-ending game of debates by making all of their opinions supreme and get violent if they're proven wrong. He also reveals he faced numerous pains of his own, such as trapping the Master within his gold tooth and encountering a being called "The One Who Waits", which he fearfully refused to challenge. The Doctor and the Toymaker play a game of cards, with the latter winning. However, the Doctor states that since he won the last game, they are tied. The Toymaker resolves to have one final game with him and transports himself to the present day, with the Doctor and Donna in pursuit.
The Toymaker attacks UNIT before taking control of its galvanic beam. He reasons that since he faced separate incarnations of the Doctor for each game, he must face another, and mortally injures the Doctor with the beam, triggering his regeneration. However, to everyone's surprise, the Doctor instead splits into two incarnations via "bi-generation". Both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor challenge the Toymaker to a basic game of catch. The Doctors emerge victorious and the Toymaker is sealed away in a box, though he warns the two of his legions' arrival. UNIT then has the box locked in their vault. As everyone leaves, the Toymaker's gold tooth is left behind and is collected by an unidentified woman.
Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctors remember past loved ones — Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, River Song — and their shared experiences. The Fifteenth Doctor advises his counterpart to rest and heal from the extensive traumas that his past incarnations have accumulated across their lives. Donna suggests to the Fourteenth Doctor that his old face returned because, subconsciously, he needs to return 'home' to deal with these traumas: she invites him to consider retiring from travelling and stay with her and her family, but the Doctor signals his intention to not leave the TARDIS behind. The Fifteenth Doctor realises the Toymaker's rules of play still apply uses a mallet within the TARDIS to create a second identical TARDIS, which he departs in. The Fourteenth Doctor settles down with Donna, her family, and Melanie, while the Fifteenth Doctor travels the universe in their name, seeking new adventures.
Why It Is A Fauxnale[]
The Giggle ties up the remaining loose ends from the Centenary special The Power of the Doctor, explaining what became of Melanie after she attended the companion support group, and revealing why the regenerative process selected a previous face for the fourteenth Doctor. It also resolves a loose end from the original era of the entire programme, with The Doctor's old rival The Celestial Toymaker returning to play games with the universe and all who dwell in it. His involvement in bringing about the bi-regeneration also brings the show full circle as the original plan was to write out William Hartnell in the role during the original Toymaker serial.
The Giggle concludes with The Doctor finally being persuaded by Donna and his fifteenth incarnation to settle down and spend his days with the Noble family on Earth, mending himself mentally after countless years of running from the devastations he has seen, as well as the loss of loved ones. His TARDIS is also replicated by his successor so that he will always have a ship on standby when he is ready to explore the universe again. Spending time with Donna's family, The Doctor admits all his battles have led him to something he's long desired, a quiet life with his best friends, he declares he's never been happier in his life than he is now. The Doctor has found his ideal present, and his adventures are behind him, while for a new version of The Doctor, they are just beginning.
The special closes the book on the original version of the character and on the 2005-2023 era of the programme as a whole. From 2024 onwards, the series would restart it's number of seasons at 'one' with Ncuti Gatwa in the role.