Donna’s Doctor Who Return Was A Tragic Mirror Of David Tennant’s FIRST Regeneration

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary special, episode 1, “The Star Beast.”

When Donna Noble returns to Doctor Who in the 60th anniversary special, the show mirrors the events leading up to David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor’s regeneration. Between Beep the Meep — a character from a Doctor Who comic book — and Rose Noble’s stuffed animals, Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary special pays homage to the beautiful stories and characters in the TV show. The show continues an old storyline that hasn’t been touched for 15 years. Doctor Who’s fan-favorite pairing, the Doctor and Donna, gets another chance to shine. The show even brought back Doctor Who’s best showrunner, Russell T Davies, who initially revived the series in 2005.

By taking these actions, the writers and producers show a deep reverence for the TV show. However, rather than just being fan service, every callback, character, and storyline serves a bigger purpose within the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary special narrative. The most significant example is the tragic mirror between Donna’s Doctor Who return and David Tennant’s first regeneration.

The Doctor & Donna’s “Glass Screen” Moment Copied The Tenth Doctor’s Wilf Scene

The Doctor Who specials “The End of Time” and “The Star Beast”

The ending of Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary special, episode 1, “The Star Beast,” shows Donna and the Doctor standing on opposite sides of a glass wall as they attempt to save the world from Beep the Meep. This dramatic scene is replicated from Doctor Who’s 2009 two-part Christmas special, “The End of Time: Part 2”, where Wilf is stuck in a glass box that is about to be flooded by radiation. Both scenes involve the Nobles trying to save the people they love from harm, even at their own expense. This leads them to their own possible death, which gets prevented at the last minute.

The most notable similarity between these two episodes is David Tennant’s dramatic dialogue. In both cases, the Doctor is angry and distraught at the universe. His feelings return to the same core question: why do bad things happen to good people? In both Doctor Who specials, Tennant cries out a line in all-encompassing anguish. In Doctor Who, “The End of Time: Part 2”, the tenth doctor screams, “This is what I get. My reward. Well, it’s not fair!”

This matches the sentiment of his quotation in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary special, episode one, “The Star Beast.” Here, the fourteenth doctor screams, “Why does it have to be like this?” David Tennant does a masterful job of replicating his vocal inflection and even his body movements from “The End of Time: Part 2.” When watched back to back, it feels like an extension of the same scene.

The most significant divergence between these two Doctor Who specials is what the Doctor does about the scenario. In “The End of Time: Part 2,” the Doctor takes the danger away from Wilf, resulting in radiation poisoning that causes the Tenth Doctor’s violent regeneration in Doctor Who. In Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary special, episode one, “The Star Beast,” the Doctor cannot save Donna from death. It’s only through a stroke of luck that the metacrisis split between her and Rose, saving her life. The Doctor truly believed Donna would die after activating her Time Lord side, though, creating a heartbreaking emotional arc.

The Similarity Between These Doctor Who Scenes May Be A Big Story Hint

The Toymaker’s Possible Involvement In The Doctor Who Parallel

Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary special will feature one of the classic Doctor Who villains, the Toymaker. The Toymaker famously plays games with his victims, which could be one of his cruelest games yet. If so, there’s a good chance the parallels between these two scenes aren’t an accident. He might be forcing the Doctor to relive traumatic events, like the situation with Wilf that led to the the Doctor’s regeneration. This replication would cause even more emotional harm because the Tenth Doctor has already gone through pain when taking away Donna’s memories and leaving her the first time. The Doctor would get her back only to lose her immediately afterward.

The Toymaker probably believed this incident would kill Donna, and he could continue to torture the Doctor in this way. If this is the case, the next episode of Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary special, episode 2, “Wild Blue Yonder,” could incorporate more scenes pulled from older story arcs of Doctor Who. Prime options would be devastating moments like the weeping angels sending Amy back in time and Pete Tyler dying. Both of these incidents impacted the Doctor mentally, though the latter was secondhand. The Toymaker might also pivot his plans, though, due to the fact that Donna remains alive.