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.
Next: The Time of the Doctor