C+Q - The Day of the Doctor (2013)

To celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who, we were treated to our version of The Avengers: a multi-Doctor story. Every once in a blue moon, on special days where the planets align and the laws of physics bend briefly out of shape, we get to see multiple versions of our favourite character on screen. With the exception of a few sequences, the Doctors who team up for the 50th are the Eleventh, Tenth, and War incarnations, all of whom work off each other brilliantly.

Matt Smith's version of the Doctor has changed subtly over the years, moving from childish to childlike, from young to old. By this late in his tenure it's obvious he's found his balance and manages to nail every scene he's in, making it such a shame that we didn't get another series with this more mature Eleventh Doctor. Although it's been hinted at but never explicitly stated before, we now know that Eleven outright regrets what he did during the war and is in denial, even going so far as to lie about knowing how many children he'd killed by activating the Moment. It makes a lot of sense given how little he's actually mentioned the Time Lords (the main occasion being in The Doctor's Wife, when he thought he'd found a group of survivors he could beg forgiveness from) and also given that, unlike Ten, he isn't so much of a pacifist any more. Moffat has done a great job of either planning his arc out ahead of time or, even more likely and impressively, retconing an arc into existence, showing us how the passage of time has affected the Doctor's character, regeneration to regeneration.

This special saw the return of David Tennant to the role which he played from 2005 to 2010. Bringing back previous Doctors is always an imprecise science. With time travel you have to be able to imagine that this is the actual character lifted straight out of a point in the show's past despite the fact that time has passed for both the way the actor plays the role and for the way current audiences perceive a character. Patrick Troughton for instance returned to the show three times and become more and more of a caricature with each appearance. Thankfully, with the exception of his iconic hairdo (which I initially ignored believing this to be Ten circa 2006 but it's actually him circa 2009 so he really should have the hair), David Tennant's Doctor has been faithfully recreated. The characterisation, the costume, the screwdriver, the TARDIS, everything about the Tenth Doctor is consistent with what we've seen of him before.

One of the main plot threads in The Day of the Doctor focuses on Ten fighting the Zygons. I seem to remember that Tennant once said in an interview that his only regret from his time as the Doctor was that he never encountered the Zygons (though I can't seem to find this interview now). Elizabeth the 1st fills the roll of Ten's companion, as this is the Tenth Doctor during the 2009 specials when he had a different companion for every adventure, and we at last have a resolution to the ending of 2007's The Shakespeare Code, in which it's hinted that the Doctor would one day do something to annoy the Queen. This became a running gag, mentioned in stories like The End of Time and The Beast Below, so it's very satisfying to see the story finally being told. Because it filled in that little continuity gap and had him fighting a monster he'd never fought on screen before, I feel the return of the Tenth Doctor is a lot more justified than just wanting all the Doctors together for a party, despite that obviously being a perfectly valid reason. It's great to see David Tennant back and he has great chemistry with his fellow cast members.

The character that most will remember however is the War Doctor, played by the brilliant John Hurt. Despite all of the stupid Doctor numbering debates that have sprung up online (he's the War Doctor, people. Get over it), I love the concept behind this secret incarnation who's the physical embodiment of the Doctor's struggles during the Time War. He is the Doctor's guilt with a face. He forms a perfect bridge between the classic series and the new series by representing the unknown period in the wilderness years. John Hurt's costume, TARDIS, and sonic screwdriver are all mash-ups of classic and new designs which seamlessly connect the Eighth Doctor and the Ninth Doctor, while his personality seems to be based a lot more on the first three. Some of the best lines in the special are when the War Doctor is critiquing the modern show, pointing out how pointless it is that Eleven and Ten aim their screwdrivers like weapons, their childish language, and the ridiculous amount of kissing that goes on. He's the voice of classic series purists.

The interaction between the Doctors not only allowed for some funny moments, but also some of the best writing I've seen in a while. The idea of the three Doctors using their sonic screwdrivers to perform a calculation that would take 400 years in only a few seconds is a genuinely clever plot device, only to be thrown away by the fact that the door they were trying to open wasn't actually locked. Not only is this a well-executed gag, but the idea of using time travel to solve complex calculations in such a short time later becomes relevant when the first thirteen incarnations of the Doctor unite to seal Gallifrey away with their TARDISes. This episode is proof if ever it were needed that Steven Moffat is one of the most skilled writers to work on the show. The Day of the Doctor is a very intelligent script. Like The Five Doctors, it's a rollercoaster of an adventure that I'm always in the mood to watch. The pacing is perfect and it's clear that a lot of work has been put into this episode to please the fans.

Unfortunately, The Day of the Doctor isn't quite without flaws. The sequence of the TARDIS being lifted up by UNIT and brought to the National Gallery, despite featuring some stunning imagery, makes little to no sense. How did UNIT not know that the Doctor would be in the TARDIS? If they thought he wasn't in the TARDIS, why would they have bothered picking it up? Were they taking his TARDIS away from him so that he wouldn't be able to leave without helping UNIT with their investigation? I suppose that makes sense, but how then did they expect him to know there was an investigation he should be helping with? By taking away his TARDIS, you're depriving him of both transportation and a phone.

Production-wise, The Day of the Doctor is one of the best looking episodes of Doctor Who there's ever been. With the exception of a few basic continuity issues from shot to shot, Nick Hurran did a fantastic job in the director's chair and made this special truly feel special. These are many great visual touches, like when the War Doctor is talking to the Moment in the barn you can actually see tiny dust particles floating through the air which in the cinema screening were in 3D and appeared to fill the air during the scene. We've certainly come a long way since 1963. The musical score is also superb, as to be expected from Murray Gold. Old themes from the RTD era are used to great effect here and the music always perfectly complements the situation.

The Day of the Doctor is essentially just one big birthday party, but it's so much more than Doctor Who congratulating itself for the last five decades. This special takes a huge leap in progressing the overall story of the show by opening the door for Gallifrey to one day return. I predict in the future we'll be looking back at The Day of the Doctor quite a bit. Not only does it celebrate the first 50 years of the show, but it also provides us with the foundation for the next 50. It even features a cameo from the Twelfth Doctor, an incarnation we haven't met yet. What better way is there to throw a party for a show about time travel than to look to both the past and the future? Happy birthday, Doctor Who.