The weight of expectation for the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who was always going to be massive! Beyond the simple fact that 2023 marks the show’s diamond jubilee year and celebratory backslaps are naturally required to ring in the occasion, there’s also a whole new era of the show to kick off – an era that may well be the most anticipated in over a decade. The return of David Tennant as an entirely new incarnation of the Doctor was always going to be tricky to navigate, as was the dangling plot thread of his former companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). And in and among all this is a new Doctor waiting to be unveiled. That the trilogy of stories that make up this Blu-ray set succeed in all those aforementioned regards is frankly nothing short of a miracle and very much down to the talents of one man – the legendary writer Russell T Davies!

Back on the show he helped reinvigorate way back in 2005, Davies puts together a version of the show that feels more refreshed and daring than ever. Under his stewardship, Davies wisely opts to avoid the usual celebratory, continuity obsessed multi-Doctor stories that have become almost synonymous with anniversary years, and instead uses a simple concept to reunite former stars and aspects of the series in a trio of standalone stories that best represent Who‘s diverse brand of storytelling – in essence, celebrating the show by simply letting it do what it does best week-to-week.

Kicking things off is The Star Beast, which takes a fan favourite Doctor Who comic book adventure, tears it off the page and reimagines it in glorious three-dimensions. Akin to one of Davies’ famously breezy season openers, this tale of a cute and furry extra-terrestrial on the run from alien bounty hunters in modern day suburbia is funny, exciting and zips along at such a pace, its almost glides.

The titular beast, the cuddly Meep (Miriam Margoyles) is a masterful fusion of great writing, vocal work, practical creature effects and CGI, and gives us one of the best Doctor Who monsters we’ve seen in years. Alone, this creature could easily suck up all the attention and plaudits, but like all the best Doctor Who episodes from RTD, there are beautiful moments of pure emotion and engaging human drama mixed in with the nuttier sci-fi aspects, as well as a consistent tone that ensures proceedings remain fun and energetic in even the quieter, more reflective moments. The resolution of Donna’s meta-crisis is a clever conceit hidden in plain sight, the mystery of the Doctor’s old face is beautifully teased, and the climactic scenes between David Tennant‘s Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate‘s Donna are pitched to perfection. With every element of production firing on all cylinders, The Star Beast is a solid opener and a thrilling return to form for the show.

Special Two – Wild Blue Yonder – is the definitive highlight of the three episodes though, one that sets itself apart as one of the all-time great Doctor Who classics with relative ease. Part haunted house, part body-horror tinged sci-fi nightmare, the episode is incredibly atmospheric and unsettling, unravelling at a mood-laden pace and piling on the creepiness factor in inventive and shocking ways. That it only features Tennant and Tate for the majority of the runtime is further testament to the skill and chemistry of the two leads, and the episode delivers multiple shocks and scares in even the most basic and primal ways. The direction from Tom Kingsley (Ghosts), the moody score from Murray Gold and the superb practical effects all combine with a brilliant script and amazing performances to create what is arguably the best Doctor Who episode in years!

As for the final special, The Giggle, things slip ever so slightly, but never enough to completely spoil the party. The story slightly buckles under the sheer weight of the many ideas and returning characters contained within, but it remains a gloriously insane descent into the fantastical, reimagining both a memorable classic series foe and the concept of regeneration itself in just over 60 minutes. Juggling multiple plot threads and concepts, it’s a tad overstuffed and a lot of the new additions to the show’s mythology are left largely unexplained. And yet its heart remains firmly in the right place, resulting in an uplifting and bonkers story imbued with the right amount of camp and menace (much of which practically radiates from Neil Patrick Harris‘ glorious Toymaker).

Where the story ultimately succeeds is how it successfully engineers itself as a series finale whilst simultaneously setting the stage for many new adventures to come. Serving as both a fond farewell and glorious introduction for David Tennant‘s Fourteenth Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa‘s Fifteenth respectively, the story posits a sort of de-facto ending for the show, whilst simultaneously ensuring that the series goes on, now free of emotional heft and past baggage in the form of Gatwa’s glorious new incarnation.

Ultimately, this could well be the best birthday present of all!

Blu-ray Extras

At first glance, there’s almost 3 hours of bonus content spread across the set, but on further inspection, the only exclusive material to this release are three Scene Breakdown featurettes hosted by the directors (one per episode, ranging from 4-6 mins each). Despite the length, these are extremely insightful, as each director discusses the making of a key scene from their respective episode and showcases behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes and concept art to illustrate their explanation of the creative process. The breakdown for The Giggle is especially interesting in this regard, as Chanya Button reveals how the bi-generation split scene was achieved and the challenges involved in putting two Doctors together.

The rest of the extras consist of previously released online material, which varies from set tours and character introductions to behind the scenes clips and short featurettes. Even the more substantial extras are available to view on iPlayer, including the video commentaries and the first three episodes of Doctor Who: Unleashed (30 mins each)! Their inclusion here is no complaint (completists will be especially happy) but its a shame more value-added material couldn’t have been made exclusively for this Blu-ray release.

There are also some annoying omissions – the Children in Need mini-episode Destination: Skaro (as well as its accompanying Unleashed instalment) isn’t here, nor is the epic 60th Anniversary Concert or David Tennant‘s lovely Talking Doctor Who documentary. The mini-episode’s absence is especially frustrating, since it served as a key part of the Fourteenth Doctor’s brief onscreen tenure. Alas, there seem to be no plans to release this anywhere else, so for now, fans will have to stick to iPlayer if they want to see it again (which can be pretty much be said of all the other bonus material contained here).

The Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials are available to order from Amazon on Blu-ray or DVD, or Rarewaves, HMV, and Zavvi