Written by Steven Moffat
“Gallifrey Falls No
More.”
It is finally here.
Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary special has finally aired and
we finally get to see what John Hurt’s Doctor is all about. All the speculation and hypothesis that have
been going on since “The Name of The Doctor” have been at a fever pitch and the
debates and discussions have heated up on social media over the course of the
summer and fall can now end. We have our
answers at last. “The Day of The Doctor” has happened and we have all seen it
but was it what we expected? Was it worthy of the hype? Will it go down in anniversary fame as “The
Three Doctors” and “The Five Doctors” before it or did it crash and burn and
disappoint like the 25th anniversary story “The Silver Nemesis” and
nothing for the 30th and 40th? Well it sure did not disappoint as “The Day
of The Doctor” turned out to be my favorite anniversary story ever.
I usually write my reviews right after I watch the
episode. Except if it is a two part
story then I wait till the whole story airs and review it at one time. “The Day of The Doctor” was the exception as
I’m writing this after I have watched it for a second time. After watching it there was a lot of discussion
with my friends at the party and I knew that I would need some time to recover
from the euphoria of watching it. I was
pretty jazzed up and really excited for what I had just seen and my emotions
were all over the place that it would be better to write this later when I was
thinking normally. Or in my case as
normal as I think most of the time, well, some of the time I guess.
I really enjoyed the overall story for “The Day of The
Doctor.” It was really good and pretty
interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat. What made it so enticing was trying to
predict what would happen next. What
would the three Doctors come up with to first stop the Zygons and then what
would the two Doctors do to stop the War Doctor from destroying Gallifrey? The solutions Steven Moffat came up with was
pretty good and it showed us a part of the story from The War Doctor’s eyes as
he was learning who he becomes and what his actions do to his future
incarnations.
Seeing Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth wasn’t as bad as I
was expecting. I deduced that they would
be tying up the loose end that was mentioned in “The End of Time” and why she
hated him in “The Shakespeare Code”. It
was just funny to see what led to all of that in the 10th Doctor’s
era. Finding out that it was a mistake
just made it pretty funny and at least now we know. Joanna Page was pretty good also even if I’m
not familiar with her as I never watched Gavin and Stacy. But she did pretty well and was pretty funny
as Elizabeth the First.
I really liked the interaction between David Tennant and
Matt Smith. The chemistry was really good
and in typical Doctor action they tried to one up the other. It was good seeing the two Doctors picking on
each other and it was really good to see the tradition made famous by Patrick
Troughton and Jon Pertwee continue on in the new series. That was always a highlight of past multi
Doctor stories and seeing the two compare sonic screwdrivers was pretty funny
and classic.
I enjoyed seeing the Zygons back. First time we have seen them on TV since the
Tom Baker story “The Terror of the Zygons” back in 1975. At first when I heard they were going to be
in “The Day of The Doctor” I thought they would only have a token
appearance. Glad my theory was wrong as
it was good to see them have a part in the story and are important to the final
solution in a small way. I really
liked how they were used and seeing them again after so many years was itself a
treat as they have been constantly being near the top of favorite villains fan
polls for a long time and they do have a pretty good fan following so it was good
to see them return. Plus the Zygons are
David Tennant’s favorite creatures so maybe that factored into it but I doubt
it.
The Time War scenes were spectacular. For a long time I’ve been wondering and
speculating about this period in the Doctor’s time line and now we get to see a
small part of it. Even though it was the
end of the war it was good to see the Daleks who are also celebrating a 50th
Anniversary this year. What we see is a
Doctor who is tired and sick of the war who leaves a message for both
participants. It is interesting to see
The Doctor grab a weapon that would destroy his planet. It is very unlike The Doctor to resort to
this type of solution. This where the
story really gets good as the Moment is a weapon that has a conscious. Played perfectly by Billie Piper the weapon
acted like a ghost of Christmas future showing The Doctor what his consequences
would do to him. I really liked this
part of the story as it gave us a new dimension to watch when they were
battling the Zygons. All this led to the
Three Doctor’s going back to the time where the War Doctor presses the button
on the Moment which will result in the destruction of Gallifrey. This was a pretty powerful scene as we see
Clara really comes into her own. She is
the one who convinces The Doctor’s or more specifically the 11th
Doctor. She was able to make them change
their minds and come up with a new solution.
It was a solution where The Doctor is not a mass murderer but a saver. The Doctor saves Gallifrey instead of
destroying it by putting it in a pocket universe.
Now I don’t believe this is a reset switch as we have
seen Gallifrey before trying to break free from that pocket dimension. If you
remember we see a Gallifrey with Time Lords still alive trying to come back and
destroying Earth in the process back in “The End of Time.” Now if Gallifrey had been destroyed by the
Doctor’s then that moment would not have happened. Steven Moffat gave a way for The Doctor to
remember them and to search for the Time Lords to bring his planet back to the
new series but in their proper space and time.
John Hurt was really good as The Doctor. He gave us a sense of experience and to a
point was the straight guy to the comedic styles of David Tennant and Matt
Smith’s Doctors. It kind of reminded me
of William Hartnell a little bit from “The Three Doctor” but just a
little. John Hurt had really good
chemistry with David Tennant and Matt Smith that you wish they had longer
together. His performance was
magnificent and it made me wishing we had a series for his Doctor. I
really ended up liking The War Doctor as he had a certain aspect to him that
just made him likeable. Probably the
hurt on his face and in his eyes of what he has seen during the war. Plus he did have that Doctor quirkiness and
personality to go with all that and it was something different.
Now for the fanboy moments. There were a lot of them that
just made me emotional and happy to be a Doctor Who fan. Now I have been a
Doctor who fan since 1981 and for most of my life I have watched the show and I
love it. Now I had a feeling the Classic
Doctor’s would not be in the show.
Realistically they are a lot older and well that would be too much for
one story. But what they did when they
went to save Gallifrey by using old clips of the older Doctor’s was such a
classy move and I totally loved it. All
The Doctors uniting at the end to save Gallifrey including the new Doctor Peter
Capaldi for a brief cameo. That sequence
of events was really amazing and awesome and the fanboy in me screamed with
delight. It made this older Doctor Who
fan happy.
What really got me though was the inclusion of Tom
Baker. Seeing him as the curator and
talking to Matt Smith as the 4th Doctor really made the Anniversary
Special for me. It was such a special
moment seeing the oldest and longest serving Doctor, who at the time of the 20th
declined to be in The Five Doctors, in the show again. It was a great moment and he sure has not
lost any of that charm that has made him the best Doctor ever. I was grinning with delight and was extremely
happy that Tom Baker was in it. To me it felt like a nod to the fans of both
series and it was just a special moment that we will be able to watch forever.
Then there was the end when Matt Smith goes out of the
TARDIS and stands with his former selves.
That was truly spectacular even if the other Doctors faces were
paintings. I just loved that moment and it was a great way to end a wonderful
anniversary special. Steven Moffat
delivered an amazing story that will go down as his masterpiece. “The Day of The Doctor” was a wonderful story
for the 50th and one that was worth the wait of a year for.
Grade A+
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