The Giggle

303 – "The Giggle"
Doctor Who episode
Promotional poster
Cast
Doctor David Tennant – Fourteenth Doctor
Companion Catherine Tate – Donna Noble
Others Charlie De Melo – Charles Banerjee Neil Patrick Harris – The Toymaker John Mackay – John Logie Baird Ross Gurney-Randall – Middle Aged Man Alexander Devrient – Colonel Ibrahim Ruth Madeley – Shirley Bingham Jemma Redgrave – Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Bonnie Langford – Melanie Bush Glen Fox – Pilot Tim Hudson – Edward Lawn Bridges Aidan Cook – The Vlinx Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Vlinx Lachele Carl – Trinity Wells Leigh Lothian – Voice of Stooky Sue Luke Featherston – The Toymaker Dance Double Karl Collins – Shaun Temple Jacqueline King – Sylvia Noble Yasmin Finney – Rose Noble Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor
Production
Directed by	Chanya Button
Written by	Russell T Davies
Script editor	Scott Handcock
Produced by	Vicki Delow
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Jane Tranter Joel Collins Phil Collinson
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	2023 specials
Running time	62 minutes
First broadcast	9 December 2023 (2023-12-09)
Chronology
← Preceded by "Wild Blue Yonder" Followed by → "The Church on Ruby Road"
List of episodes (2005–present)

"The Giggle" is the third and final of the 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. It features the final regular appearances of David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, introduces Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and guest stars Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, a character last seen in The Celestial Toymaker (1966). The episode also features the return of Jemma Redgrave and Bonnie Langford as UNIT commander Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Mel Bush, respectively.

Set directly after the events of "Wild Blue Yonder", the episode sees the Doctor, Donna and UNIT confronting the return of the Doctor's old enemy, the Toymaker, who is behind a series of signals in a form of a "giggle" being transmitted, causing the human race to go insane over their opinions.

The episode was watched by 6.85 million viewers and received positive reviews from critics, who praised Harris’s performance and the writing, though the episode's "bi-generation" was met with a polarized response.