Doctor Who 50th
Written By: Shawn “Fangirl S”
Spoiler free!!
I have waited for so long and with so much build up to see the very special 50th Doctor Who. Did the Day of the Doctor live up to my expectations? Of course it did! Am I shaking my fists angrily at Steven Moffat? Well, yes but that’s because he always gives viewers more questions than answers.
Putting all of that aside, the episode was great. The use of multiple timelines to bring the doctors together helped tie the seasons together. We finally get a glimpse of the time war between the Time Lords and the Daleks, a little bit of Gallifrey, the “war doctor” (John Hurt), the tenth doctor (David Tennant), the current doctor (Matt Smith), his companion Clara, and a tiny glimpse of the next doctor (Peter Capaldi). Billie Piper returns for her role as Rose Tyler, but in a slightly different fashion than you may think. I personally was not a fan of Rose, but I really liked the way she was portrayed in Day of the Doctor.
As you may have guessed, with three doctors there were three timelines and stories that managed to merge into one. The interaction among the three doctors was perfect. They played off each other with such ease (both a testament to these incredible actors and the writing of the episode), that it felt as though they had been acting together for years. Tennant and Smith even mirrored each other’s movements, which had me wondering how much time they spent watching the other in their roles as the doctor.
As much as I want to “spill the beans” about everything that happened in the episode, I shall refrain, with one tiny exception: we do get a classic doctor–if just for a moment—who points our current doctor in the direction for the future. We now have a new chapter for the doctor to enter and plenty of storylines to come.
Let me say this: BBC had a herculean task of keeping 50 years of a show’s continuity correct and did it flawlessly. Viewers were given small moments of each doctor throughout the episode, if you knew what to look for, and the final scene made me squee with delight.
Since the Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic Con, I had been waiting and wondering what we were going to get. I was not disappointed in the show. My only regret was not having the ninth doctor (Christopher Eccleston) in the episode to bring all of “new Who” together. I look forward to the Christmas episode with great anticipation and sadness, knowing that episode is when we will say good-bye to Matt Smith and hello to Peter Capaldi. I cannot wait for the next season of Doctor Who to begin and the new adventures our doctor will take us on.