Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Special – “The Day of the Doctor” (2013)

 

Aaaaand, it’s the big moment!  I’ll start with my overall impressions, nothing beyond light spoilers, and save my comments on the major stuff for the end.

 

I’ll admit – I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.  Granted, it was mostly on par for other multi-Doctor specials.  Goodness knows that “The Two Doctors” is no narrative prize, but I’ll forgive it everything because Two and Jamie and yay!!  In a way, “The Day of the Doctor” is the same. 

 

So let’s look at what I did love first.  Naturally, the interactions between Ten and Eleven are fantastic (and yes, I am sad that we didn’t get Nine; why do you ask?)  I especially like Ten pretending that Eleven coined “timey-wimey.”  David Tennant slips seamlessly back into the Doctor role.  Billie Piper, likewise, is awesome here.  I always loved the Bad Wolf, and this episode gives us a nice twist on that.  (Side note – she looks incredible.  Billie rocks.)  Beyond that, all the continuity moments make me clap and grin from ear to ear:  the big bulletin board o’ companion photos, the vortex manipulator, the lovely surprise at the end… So much to adore.

 

On the flip side, it’s mainly story stuff that bugs.  My chief concern is that it’s somehow too wide-reaching and too small at the same time.  The plot feels like Time War!  Queen Elizabeth!  Zygons!  Doctors ragging on each other!  Whee!  And it makes everything feel scattered.  It seems weird that the Doctors spend so much time on the Earth stuff (spanning two different eras) when there are such massive goings-on with the Time War.  And while the Time War plot is obviously a big-ticket item here, the Earth-in-peril plot feels a bit thin as the A-story for the 50^th. 

 

And now, for the specific squeals and scowls.  Take care, folks – there be spoilers ahead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t quite figured out how I feel about undoing the destruction of Gallifrey.  I’m not opposed to it in theory – I mean, the Daleks have returned from their total annihilation 50 billion times – but that guilt and loneliness is so crucial to both Nine and Ten.  I worry that their episodes will feel diminished upon rewatch.  Though they won’t remember that Gallifrey was saved, they’ll still be gnashing their teeth over something that didn’t actually happen.

 

Plus, it seems like a punk move on Moffat’s part.  In the last two episodes of Who, he’s 1) inserted his current companion into the Doctor’s entire history, saving him in every incarnation and even telling One which TARDIS to steal, 2) added a previously-unknown Doctor to the lineup, shifting the order and potentially making PC’s upcoming Doctor the last in the cycle – not that we won’t get around the regeneration limit anyway, but still, and now 3) erased the character-defining plot established by his predecessor.    Ayiyi.  (Although I suppose people who watched classic Who first were mad at Davies for killing off the Time Lords in the first place?)

 

But enough of that:  the Twelfth Doctor’s eyes made a cameo!  Christmas is coming, and it’s gonna be amazing.  Also, Tom friggin’ Baker!  That was the epitome of a “this doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t even care because TOM BAKER!  Love!!” moment.  I grinned like a loon the second I heard his voice.  And lastly, I love the Moment!Rose observing that the John Hurt Doctor carried the Moment so far away because he didn’t want the TARDIS to see what he had to do; I’m always, always, always a sucker for the Doctor-TARDIS relationship.