“Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink”
Of the three specials starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate for the sixtieth anniversary, Wild Blue Yonder was the one that generated the most feverish speculation.
It is easy to understand why this was the case. Wild Blue Yonder was the middle of the three installments, and so lacked both the burden and the import of being either the opener or the finale. It also, in contrast to The Star Beast and The Giggle, filmed largely on sets and greenscreens allowing for the teaser and the coda. The production team had been very secretive about the content of Wild Blue Yonder. While publicity for The Star Beast included the Meep and promotion for The Giggle included the Toymaker, very little of Wild Blue Yonder made it into promotional material.
The issue was compounded by the fact that there had been surprisingly little nostalgic fanservice in the other announcements around the specials. Sure, Tennant and Tate were returning, which was an obvious invocation of the revival’s fourth season. On top of that, both The Star Beast and The Giggle include villains that are recognisable to hardcore fans. However, there were precious few easter eggs tailored to other fans of the revival. There was no announcement of Billie Piper, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi or anyone else. If the specials were going to include those cameos, Wild Blue Yonder was the place for them.
This makes Wild Blue Yonder all the more surprising. In the end, Wild Blue Yonder is not a collection of returning actors and familiar references. It is something more interesting. It is a solid high-concept episode of Doctor Who, in the tradition of Davies era episodes like The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Midnight and The Waters of Mars. It is an episode that marks the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who with more than just allusions to things that audiences recognise. It celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who by simply being Doctor Who.
Corridors of powered.
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