Doctor Who overview: The 60th anniversary specials one year on
By James Aggas
Mini-season
This is one of my favorite aspects of the specials - how it's a clear example of Russell T Davies’s style as showrunner, but in microcosm. Each episode is not only clear and distinct in terms of style, but they also fit the pattern of Davies’s previous seasons.
Like Smith & Jones or Partners in Crime, The Star Beast is the fun, light-hearted opening that brings the Doctor and the companion together (again). Wild Blue Yonder is closer to the darker, more horrific episodes that you’d usually find in the latter half of the season, like Midnight. And of course, it ends with an extremely high-stakes finale that brings back an old enemy in The Giggle. (The only difference to other Davies finales is that it isn’t a multi-part story this time.)
Formatting the specials this way feels like a great reminder of what made Davies’s original run as showrunner work. The formula of fun beginning, darker middle, and epic ending is a simple one, but it’s still effective, even when you only have three episodes.