Doctor Who: The Giggle Review - 8 Ups And 4 Downs
6. UP - References Galore
This is the episode, of the three specials, which felt like the true celebration of the show’s sixtieth. It took the unconventional approach of looking forwards rather than backwards, which made for a refreshing change, whilst still giving us a companion and villain from Classic Who. What it lacked in past Doctors, it made up for by being sure to pay homage to the show’s history through references. There were a smorgasbord of little nods this week, and our nerdy little brains loved it.
Most prominent was The Toymaker’s little recap for viewers who skipped the last 15 years, which doubled up as an effective taunt to get The Doctor to play his game. We got another mention of the Flux, but even more excitingly, we got references to Amy, Clara and Bill, and how their lives were ruined by The Doctor - The Toymaker even got into the spirit of the show by partaking in the age old tradition of forgetting Rory existed (#JusticeForOurBoy). We get to see the guilt he carried over these three, with The Toymaker calling out the Doctor’s copium with his ‘WELL THAT’S ALRIGHT THEN!’, which may or may not have also been a cheeky poke at Moffat from his old pal - a bit rich, considering this whole run is evidence that RTD can’t let go of characters either.
We also got tonnes of tiny references throughout the episode, and we couldn’t possible list them all, but a few of our favourites included finally acknowledging the passing of Elisabeth Sladen on the show, acknowledging how important River Song was to them, Donna pointing out how weird the adipose were, and Fifteen rattling off the past adventures that stuck with him, straddling as many eras as possible.
Hell, they even briefly bought back the American newsreader who appeared throughout the RTD era - now that’s a deep cut…