When I reviewed the first Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special, The Star Beast, I described it as “a welcome return to form for the classic science fiction series.” The second special, Wild Blue Yonder, is similarly familiar. Unfortunately, this is largely because of Russell T Davies repeating his old ideas, while playing with that oldest of Doctor Who cliches – the chase down the corridor.

The episode finds the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) on an alien spaceship. Stranded after the TARDIS leaves them to repair itself in private, the two friends discover that the ship is abandoned, with no indication of why. They soon find out, however, and are locked into a battle of wits with their own doppelgangers, who seek to replace them and escape in the TARDIS.

Large stretches of this episode may seem familiar to those Doctor Who fans who remember the episode Midnight. Regarded by some as perhaps the best thing Russell T Davies ever wrote for Doctor Who, it also dealt with the theme of being trapped and a cosmic terror replacing someone. The setting is far larger, of course, but the theme is essentially the same.

Thankfully, everything else more than makes up for the story seeming redundant. Devoting most of an episode to David Tennant and Catherine Tate playing off each other is never a bad idea. The direction by Tom Kingsley is solid and the set is simply spectacular.

Ultimately, Wild Blue Yonder is a mediocre idea well executed. It is not unwelcome, despite seemingly like it was made to fill space between the return of Tate and Tennant and the long awaited return of The Celestial Toymaker. Still, for what it is, it is fantastic.