Story: The Day of the Doctor
Written By: Steven Moffat
Length: 75 Minutes
Year: 2013
There will be spoilers, so turn back if you want no part.
Think about long running TV shows. Now remove all that are non-fiction, comedy variety shows, and news/current event programs. How many fiction shows (dramas, comedy, sci-fi/fantasy, or otherwise) hit that 10 year mark? Then think how many get to celebrate 20 years. Doctor Who has soldiered on, sure it wasn't always on TV, but in the 16 years it was off regular TV the show was kept alive via books, comics, and audios...which most certainly helped pave the way for series big return. The fact that This show has made it all the way to 50 years, and is currently at the height of popularity, so much so that it can broadcast this special simultaneously around the world in 94 countries. I've been rolling my eyes lately with how often we are marking the 50th anniversaries of every little thing that happened in the 60s...but quite frankly this is something to celebrate. How many fiction shows get a chance to celebrate 50 years!
So the special itself? I loved it. I think if you find faulty with plot holes and that nonsense with something like this...then you are just being a stick in the mud. This was about celebrating the show, both in where it's been and where it can still go...all the while giving us a nice twist of what we had previously thought we'd known about our hero and giving us a taste of the Time War.
Essentially the plot revolves around the War Doctor, a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor who was the one who fought in the Time War and had been the one to actually cause the destruction of Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the Daleks, making him the very thing the Doctor has hated and run from since the series returned in 2005. This new incarnation, by the way, does not screw up any of the numbering or anything, as the character does not refer to himself as The Doctor (despite any resolutions that might suggest otherwise). So essentially the War Doctor has stolen a powerful weapon called "The Moment" and takes it to do the destruction we all know about. But the interface of this sentient weapon turns out to be The Bad Wolf, in the image of Rose Tyler. The Bad Wolf pretty much opens up a time stream to let the War Doctor see his future, and why he is doing what he is doing. So before everyone gets together, the Eleventh Doctor is being called in by UNIT to deal with paintings in which the figures within them seem to have escaped. Meanwhile the Tenth Doctor is with Queen Elizabeth I trying to track down some Zygons. All these plots sort of converge and become the same story.
Essentially the whole thing leads to the these three Doctors coming up with a new plan on how to end the Time War. The Zygon plot has Kate Stewart of UNIT attempting to destroy London in order to save the rest of the world from the Zygons, which the Doctors know is a decision that cannot be taken lightly. They make everyone in the room forget whether they are actually Human or Zygon in order to force some peace talks. The Tenth and Eleventh join the War Doctor in destroying Gallifrey so he doesn't go it alone. But Clara talks the Doctor into realizing he has to find a better way.
And they do. They realize together that if they get every incarnation of the Doctor together with each TARDIS, they can send the planet to a pocket universe, saving it within a single moment...the Daleks blast themselves out of the sky and everything seems like they destroyed each other as everyone always thought...but the Doctor could have hope. Granted, this hope would have to wait until he is the Eleventh Doctor, for both the War Doctor, Ninth Doctor, and Tenth Doctors would not remember this encounter, being a little out of sync with their timeline and all.
I love that this was a huge celebration of past events, yet it set up much for future events. Sure what leads to the end of the Eleventh Doctor will be wrapped up in the next episode at Christmas before he regenerates, but clearly the path to finding Gallifrey is the next big arc for the series. This was made quite clear by a mysterious character known as the Curator, who may or may not be a future version of the Doctor (who knows, I'd rather we never do)...played by Tom Baker! Oh yeah and Peter Capaldi's eyes make a cameo! Yay!
I really enjoyed this, I really did. We get moments of all the Doctors, lots of other references, a minor glimpse of the Twelfth Doctor, a whole lot of meat added to the backstory Russell T. Davies gave the show upon it's 2005 return, and a brand new hopeful future storyline of possibly finding the planet again someday. And that last shot was perfect. Let's enjoy it again now!
There will be spoilers, so turn back if you want no part.
Think about long running TV shows. Now remove all that are non-fiction, comedy variety shows, and news/current event programs. How many fiction shows (dramas, comedy, sci-fi/fantasy, or otherwise) hit that 10 year mark? Then think how many get to celebrate 20 years. Doctor Who has soldiered on, sure it wasn't always on TV, but in the 16 years it was off regular TV the show was kept alive via books, comics, and audios...which most certainly helped pave the way for series big return. The fact that This show has made it all the way to 50 years, and is currently at the height of popularity, so much so that it can broadcast this special simultaneously around the world in 94 countries. I've been rolling my eyes lately with how often we are marking the 50th anniversaries of every little thing that happened in the 60s...but quite frankly this is something to celebrate. How many fiction shows get a chance to celebrate 50 years!
Essentially the plot revolves around the War Doctor, a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor who was the one who fought in the Time War and had been the one to actually cause the destruction of Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the Daleks, making him the very thing the Doctor has hated and run from since the series returned in 2005. This new incarnation, by the way, does not screw up any of the numbering or anything, as the character does not refer to himself as The Doctor (despite any resolutions that might suggest otherwise). So essentially the War Doctor has stolen a powerful weapon called "The Moment" and takes it to do the destruction we all know about. But the interface of this sentient weapon turns out to be The Bad Wolf, in the image of Rose Tyler. The Bad Wolf pretty much opens up a time stream to let the War Doctor see his future, and why he is doing what he is doing. So before everyone gets together, the Eleventh Doctor is being called in by UNIT to deal with paintings in which the figures within them seem to have escaped. Meanwhile the Tenth Doctor is with Queen Elizabeth I trying to track down some Zygons. All these plots sort of converge and become the same story.
Essentially the whole thing leads to the these three Doctors coming up with a new plan on how to end the Time War. The Zygon plot has Kate Stewart of UNIT attempting to destroy London in order to save the rest of the world from the Zygons, which the Doctors know is a decision that cannot be taken lightly. They make everyone in the room forget whether they are actually Human or Zygon in order to force some peace talks. The Tenth and Eleventh join the War Doctor in destroying Gallifrey so he doesn't go it alone. But Clara talks the Doctor into realizing he has to find a better way.
And they do. They realize together that if they get every incarnation of the Doctor together with each TARDIS, they can send the planet to a pocket universe, saving it within a single moment...the Daleks blast themselves out of the sky and everything seems like they destroyed each other as everyone always thought...but the Doctor could have hope. Granted, this hope would have to wait until he is the Eleventh Doctor, for both the War Doctor, Ninth Doctor, and Tenth Doctors would not remember this encounter, being a little out of sync with their timeline and all.
I love that this was a huge celebration of past events, yet it set up much for future events. Sure what leads to the end of the Eleventh Doctor will be wrapped up in the next episode at Christmas before he regenerates, but clearly the path to finding Gallifrey is the next big arc for the series. This was made quite clear by a mysterious character known as the Curator, who may or may not be a future version of the Doctor (who knows, I'd rather we never do)...played by Tom Baker! Oh yeah and Peter Capaldi's eyes make a cameo! Yay!
I really enjoyed this, I really did. We get moments of all the Doctors, lots of other references, a minor glimpse of the Twelfth Doctor, a whole lot of meat added to the backstory Russell T. Davies gave the show upon it's 2005 return, and a brand new hopeful future storyline of possibly finding the planet again someday. And that last shot was perfect. Let's enjoy it again now!
NEXT TIME: Are you gonna be in the 50th?
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