‘Why did this face come back? To say goodbye?’ It’s tea-time in 2008 all over again, as the most Big Finish of Doctor Who series (they even made this one as an audio) hits the screen. Everything about this screams 2008 (albeit with more cash), and by and large that’s a good thing. This is, after all, the first of the 60^th Anniversary Specials and nostalgia is called for. I could probably have done without the pre-credits recap with the Doctor and Donna addressing the audience, but it hasn’t been 15 years since I saw Journey’s End.

The fact it’s based on a 1979 Doctor Who Weekly strip but absolutely feels like something that would have aired during RTD’s first run reaffirms the inspiration he took from the comics. An alien ship crashing in London; the Doctor heading off to investigate and bumping into UNIT, and the deceptive nature of the occupant are all very reminiscent of Aliens of London, which is fitting given those were the first episodes produced for the 2005 series. The domestic setting; sequences of battles and explosions in London streets, and mentions of Rose and the Shadow Proclamation all reinforce that sense. Even the Doctor seems like he’s from 2005, complete with brainy specs: on first impression there’s not much separating him from Tennant’s later, “one who regrets” performance. He still flinches away from intimate connection and the idea of family.

But it’s not a straightforward follow-up to the first Tennant era. This is a Doctor who’s been the one with the bow tie, the Scotsman and the woman – this is mentioned not just for a laugh (the Grand Master/Grand Mistress psychic paper mix-up, doubling as a Missy joke), but because some of the traumas that haunted him through Trenzalore and “Am I a good man” and the Flux are all in the mix, a replacement for the “Last of the Time Lords” angst. The opening titles reflect this, playing like a synthesis of the 2005-12 time tunnel with the shifting clouds and colours of the Whitaker sequence, and the new TARDIS is like Matt Smith’s first version with a classic series desktop theme.

Plus, a new Doctor with an old face gives this a different flavour from most post-regeneration episodes where the new guy is initially treated with suspicion. This time, everyone thinks they know him, even the new UNIT scientific advisor – everyone except Donna and the Doctor himself. Tennant plays this as a Doctor with nagging self-doubt, less certain than his first spin of the wheel. The point of the episode is to unsettle the assumption that this is business as usual, and it’s just more adventures for “Ten”. “The tenth Doctor is dead and you look like him,” as Joan Redfern might have said.

There’s tonnes to enjoy about this. The Meep has always been one of the most delightful Doctor Who villains, and the realisation voiced by Miriam Margoyles is genuinely impressive. The Wrarth Warriors may look slightly plasticky, but they’re straight from the pages of the comic strip. This may be Jacqueline King’s best performance as Sylvia, switching from the motherly concern and affection for Donna not often evident in 2008, to the furious mother of the dragon striding towards the Doctor knocking at her front door. Even the incidental touches show director Rachel Talalay’s attention to detail: the Meep carried on a makeshift Iron Throne, and a nice Red Dawn Big Finish reference in the sleeping man’s hall.

I’m less convinced by the climax. Separating the Doctor and Donna by a glass wall for their final tete-a-Tate is obviously a call-back to Doomsday and The End of Time, and the contrivance isn’t too distracting given the emotional heft in their conversation. But I’m uncomfortable with the inadvertent “my mother made me a gay” style implications of the resolution (Donna passed on the meta-crisis, which has resulted in her child identifying as Rose and being non-binary,). I’m definitely not a fan of ‘We’ve got all that power, but there is a way to get rid of it. Something a male-presenting Time Lord will never understand’, which strikes me as something that sounds modish but is meaningless (it’s not like the female-presenting Queen Elizabeth and Liz Truss were delighted to relinquish their power) – ‘You’re just saying things,’ as the old Donna might have said.

For the most part, it’s good, with some cute call-backs (the barrister’s wig from The Stones of Blood), and, despite being the direct sequel to an episode broadcast 15 years previously is never as impenetrable as something like Attack of the Cybermen. By the end, anyone who watched it before has probably fallen back in love with the Doctor/Donna, and anyone who’s watching for the first time can enjoy the adorable rapport Tennant and Tate reestablish. It’s as good a first story as any Doctor’s had since 2010.

Next Time: Wild Blue Yonder