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Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Day of the Doctor Review

Updated: 5 days ago

What did you think of this episode?

  • Sonic!

  • Good!

  • Bumpy-wumpy!

  • Exterminate!


Of course I loved The Day of the Doctor, who wouldn't? I can ignore everything I would normally take note of, just because.


First off, I have some questions to ask:


What the fuck are sand shoes?

Why couldn't older Doctor's have popped up when they all flew towards Gallifrey instead of old recordings?

Why was David's hair, for want of a better word, flat?

Does Clara have to be quite so important?

Was this the point Doctor Who became slightly less relevant?


Perhaps I shall answer these as I go along. Before I get into Day of the Doctor though, can we just take a moment to appreciate this awesome trailer. I remember watching this on repeat at work in the lead up.

The Day of the Doctor and the 50th anniversary celebrations were so much fun. Doctor Who was everywhere! Everything in the world of TV, and in a much wider sense, has changed so much in the twelve or so years since this. We were still in the EU, Trump wasn't a thing, I had never heard of Elon fucking Musty. Ah, simpler times!


John Hurt is great, but I did feel we were being built up to meet this dark Doctor who had done unimaginable things, and I felt he was more jovial than that. This Doctor’s personality seemed to be that he didn’t say silly words like timey-wimey, and that was what he was as opposed to the man about to kill 2.47 billion children. In a way, he was played much the same as the First Doctor was in Twice Upon a Time. The more I think about it, the more I think that is the case.


With that all said, it was thrilling to see a new version of the Doctor, and yes, it would have been amazing to see Eccleston or McGann, but only if they were handled right? As I have said a few times, and especially with UNIT, Doctor Who doesn’t always handle returning characters all that well. Give me series 1 Rose over Series 4 Rose, give me series 3 Martha over series 4 Martha. Don’t get me started on Donna’s return in the 60th specials!


So perhaps, just perhaps, this wasn’t a bad thing. However, a couple of lines by living Doctor’s near the end, when the most glorious scene is happening wouldn’t have gone amiss. Heck, they could have just said them and not even be on screen.


These are minor gripes though, as this was an episode that could have gone horribly wrong, and it didn’t, and that was because it was such good fun. We also got what we wanted with lots of throwbacks to times gone by, companion pictures, references, old faces showing up, new faces showing up, ultimately leading to hearing that wonderful voice of Tom Baker.


"You know I really think you might."


Straight from the off this episode was a delight. The original theme tune and titles, the police officer walking past the junkyard, Coal Hill School. We were only a minute in, if that!


This must have been a very hard juggling act, how much fan service can you give? Other people were going to watch this, people who didn’t always watch Doctor Who, some people probably watched it who had never seen Doctor Who. How do you make an anniversary special that can cater for both. Well I guess the answer to that question is, be Steven Moffat and write Day of the Doctor.


This obviously cancels out most of my original gripes. As always I am proving myself wrong as I go.


This is one episode where I don’t mind UNIT, and Osgood is the best thing that has come out of that wretched organisation since it came back to our screens. When did it come back to our screens? Was it the Sontaran two parter with Donna and Martha? I think it was.

Anyway, Osgood is great.


You know something else that is great? Billie Piper that’s what! She was brilliant as The Moment in this, and it was amazing seeing her back in the Whoniverse. Bad Wolf girl I could actually kiss you. It was a very clever way of bringing her back, without touching on RTD’s character.


"You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning? That sound brings hope wherever it goes."


I loved seeing David back, although it still bugs me that he was slightly different to how I remembered him. It wasn't the flat hair, it was just something I couldn't quite put my finger on. He didn't fully feel like the Tenth Doctor. Did anyone else feel that?


It was fun seeing him and Matt Smith together though, and some of there moments, particularily when they sort shit out at UNIT, left me buzzing. Every little moment that happened I wondered how thrilling it must have been to watch in the cinema with a bunch of Whovians, it must have been such a brilliant experience! I watched Empire of Death in the cinema, and I loved every second of it, but the 50th would have been on a whole different level.


I imagine the moment where David Tennant first appears, when Tom Baker turns up, when every TARDIS is flying towards Gallifrey, oh man, so many moments.


The Zygons were handy villains, although weren't all that important, the Daleks had to be in it of course, but again, they didn't play as much a part as I thought they would. This was a story about the Doctor, and if Clara hadn't been the main catalyst for the change of mind it would have been perfect for me. Nothing against Clara, but this was the Doctor's day, it is right there on the tin.


"Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."


One of my questions at the start was about the importance of Clara. We saw it in The Name of the Doctor and we saw it again here. She has been in Doctor Who for eleven episodes, nine as a fulltime companion, and she has already made the Doctor choose the TARDIS, stopped him from ending the Time War, and in the next episode she is going to give him a whole new regeneration cycle. Is this just a trifle too much? Can the Doctor not make any decision for themselves?


Jenna Coleman is amazing, I like a lot of Clara, but this all seemed too much, and it certainly seemed too soon. It is portrayed like she has been with the Doctor for centuries not nine weeks. I know time doesn't work like that in the show, but it is nine weeks to us, the viewers.


So is this the point Doctor Who declined? Did Doctor Who decline? Is it not that the world has changed? Netflix was just getting going, the last series of Breaking Bad was out, and TV was being changed forever.


I miss the old days. The choice is too overwhelming and I miss event TV. It is one of my bug bears of the current series that they release Doctor Who on iPlayer first, at midnight or 8am. It baffles me. The 8am time is even worse than the midnight time in my opinion. It is no surprise viewing figures are lower, Doctor Who should be broadcast in Autumn when the nights are shorter, and it should be broadcast first, on BBC One! That is a discussion for another time, my point is, I am old, and I don't like change.


That wasn't my point either, Doctor Who has slowly slipped down the TV pecking order, it shot up for a very short while when Jodie came on board, but I feel that chance was squandered, I haven't got around to reviewing series 11 yet, I will discuss that all in good time. Why has it slipped down the pecking order though? Well everything has highs and lows. Life is full of highs and lows. TV is full of highs and lows. The world is currently in a huge low at the moment, but, with the younger generation coming through, surely things will pick up again at some point?


Doctor Who is still the magical, amazing show it always was, but for various reasons, not as many people watch it. Do I think that means the show is dying a death? No, last series produced some pure theatre. Disney might fuck off, but that will be their loss. What they should do, is make the show bingeable, they should get the rights to the show, if possible, the whole lot, if not, 2005 onwards. Slap it on their streaming service and watch it sore.


"That’s not true. Not anymore. I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone’s. It’s taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I’m going. Where I’ve always been going. Home. The long way around."


The Day of the Doctor would be front and centre of any binge watch as well, and deservedly so. It is a fun, emotional, brilliant episode, full of nods to the long ago and not so distant. We were even treated to a very little sneak peak at the Twelfth Doctor, and that moment was so good. Did I loved Matt's speech at the end, although like the moment they save Gallifrey, any living Doctor could have popped up there. I cannot go on about it though, because it was fabulous.


Oh and I googled it, a sand shoe is a sports or walking shoe with canvas upper and rubber sole. I know it is the BBC so they can’t say Converse, but sand shoe?! Anyway, you learn something new every day.


Do you remember everything else Doctor Who related in 2013? Check out this blog, where I remember everything that happened for the celebration of our favourite shows very special birthday celebration.



What did you think of Day of the Doctor? Was it a fitting celebration of Doctor Who? Did you watch it in a cinema? How did you celebrate the iconic Time Lord? Let me know in the comments below.


RATING: Sonic!

BEST LINE: "No sir. All thirteen!"


LEGO TARDIS

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