How do you celebrate the 50th birthday of your most eccentric uncle? Especially when he's been several different people and millions of people worldwide are coming to the party? The pressure and expectation could have ended badly for the BBC, but in an hour crammed with multiple Doctors, stunning special effects, insider jokes and a strong central story, they pulled it off.
Even if you weren't one of the 10.8 million people who watched the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who live on TV or the further millions who watched it at cinemas or later, it would have been hard to avoid the hype. Even the Google Doodle was given over to Doctor Who on both Friday and Saturday. Spoilers ahead...
Even if you weren't one of the 10.8 million people who watched the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who live on TV or the further millions who watched it at cinemas or later, it would have been hard to avoid the hype. Even the Google Doodle was given over to Doctor Who on both Friday and Saturday. Spoilers ahead...
It was always going to be a multi-Doctor story. Anyone who didn't see that coming years ago should get their eyes tested. Those haven't always worked well in the past, but Smith and Tennant played off each other wonderfully. They shared gestures and looks of recognition highlighted how much of his interpretation Smith owes to Tennant - while also showing how much the Doctor has changed and how different Smith's take is. Both actors are tremendous at moving from joking to dark and brooding in an instant, at capturing The Doctor's age and torment, and it was a joy to see them play off one another.
John Hurt's Doctor fitted into the show seamlessly. Of course he's the Doctor. There was no doubt at all. His very different, war-weary take allowed for some jokes about the youthfulness of the recent regenerations and also about some of their sillier phrases ("timey-wimey" tormenting Hurt's Doctor somewhat), while showing just why The Doctor has been a bit silly and childish - adulthood and responsibility to him, to them, means a return to John Hurt's Doctor and the terrible to decision to destroy their own home planet and the people on it, in order to save the universe and billions of other lives.
John Hurt's Doctor fitted into the show seamlessly. Of course he's the Doctor. There was no doubt at all. His very different, war-weary take allowed for some jokes about the youthfulness of the recent regenerations and also about some of their sillier phrases ("timey-wimey" tormenting Hurt's Doctor somewhat), while showing just why The Doctor has been a bit silly and childish - adulthood and responsibility to him, to them, means a return to John Hurt's Doctor and the terrible to decision to destroy their own home planet and the people on it, in order to save the universe and billions of other lives.
| This is where we join Hurt, as he steals the Timelords most powerful weapon and takes it to destroy Gallifrey. But this weapon is so advanced it has developed a conscience, played here by Billie Piper. | Rose - sorry, Bad Wolf - didn't even interact with Eleven and Twelve, she could only be seen by John Hurt's Doctor. |
It's a good way of getting her into the episode - I was excited to see her in the trailers, but worried about how Rose could be part of the story. When the writers overwrite their own 'final' endings, it strips out the emotional power. Why care that a companion has been abandoned, or killed, or had her memory wiped, when you know it can all be undone at the stroke of a pen? But no, Rose - sorry, Bad Wolf - didn't even interact with Eleven and Twelve, she could only be seen by John Hurt's Doctor.
But the role she takes on is interesting in that it says something else about how the more recent companions have been seen as well. Piper is the conscience of the Moment, an embodiment who can speak to and reason with The Doctor to guide him and show him the consequences of his actions. Ultimately, it is Clara who halts the destruction of Gallifrey. How? By appealing to Twelve's better side - by being, essentially, his conscience. It's a role all of the recent companions have taken on to a greater or lesser degree. Amy restrained or redirected The Doctor on multiple occasions. Maybe this says something about the way The Doctor needs humans - as much as he saves humanity, humanity is what stops him from becoming a monster. But it also points to a weakness in the way the companions have been written: they don't get their own moral dilemmas and story arcs so much as they are always a prop for The Doctor.
And while that seems almost fitting in this episode - of course it centres on the Doctor, this story is about him - it happens again and again.
So what of the Doctor? Spurred on by Clara, he comes up with a plan to save the day without destroying Gallifrey, by preserving it in a moment of time. It's almost impossible, but luckily he's had hundreds of years to think about and plan it. And there are 13 of him to pull it off. The moment Gallifrey's high command spot the 13th Doctor and we see Peter Capaldi's eyes was obviously intended as the reveal, but it loses none of the excitement factor. This isn't the first time we've seen past Doctors used, but how fantastic to have all of them instrumental in the defining moment of the Doctor's fate (and the story that sets up the story arc for the next series, at least). In a show filled with fan-pleasing moments (that scarf! The photos of the Brigadier and past companions! References to the changing nature of the show - “that does start to happen, yeah†about kissing humans), this is the ultimate one. Well, that and Tom Baker showing up at the end.
This story is largely about who the Doctor is and how he became that - the decisions he makes, the things he hides from, and the dilemmas he has to resolve. There's no real bad guy.
So what next? Capaldi will become the 13th Doctor and generally Timelords have only 13 regenerations. But the Master was given a new cycle, so the Doctor could be, too. By bringing in Hurt as the 9th Doctor Steven Moffat has cleverly ensured this question will need to be answered during his tenure as show-runner.
It's a certainty that the show will continue - Moffat has said he saw this episode as being the first step towards a 100th anniversary episode, and the BBC aren't going to let a little thing like a regeneration limit get in the way of one of its most popular shows.
What will The Doctor look like in 50 years? Very different, probably. In both The Doctor's wife (Neil Gaiman's episode), and the mini-episode prequel to the anniversary special, we've been told that The Doctor can regenerate as either a man or a woman. So let's see what happens next.
Squeamish Louise and Gareth
But the role she takes on is interesting in that it says something else about how the more recent companions have been seen as well. Piper is the conscience of the Moment, an embodiment who can speak to and reason with The Doctor to guide him and show him the consequences of his actions. Ultimately, it is Clara who halts the destruction of Gallifrey. How? By appealing to Twelve's better side - by being, essentially, his conscience. It's a role all of the recent companions have taken on to a greater or lesser degree. Amy restrained or redirected The Doctor on multiple occasions. Maybe this says something about the way The Doctor needs humans - as much as he saves humanity, humanity is what stops him from becoming a monster. But it also points to a weakness in the way the companions have been written: they don't get their own moral dilemmas and story arcs so much as they are always a prop for The Doctor.
And while that seems almost fitting in this episode - of course it centres on the Doctor, this story is about him - it happens again and again.
So what of the Doctor? Spurred on by Clara, he comes up with a plan to save the day without destroying Gallifrey, by preserving it in a moment of time. It's almost impossible, but luckily he's had hundreds of years to think about and plan it. And there are 13 of him to pull it off. The moment Gallifrey's high command spot the 13th Doctor and we see Peter Capaldi's eyes was obviously intended as the reveal, but it loses none of the excitement factor. This isn't the first time we've seen past Doctors used, but how fantastic to have all of them instrumental in the defining moment of the Doctor's fate (and the story that sets up the story arc for the next series, at least). In a show filled with fan-pleasing moments (that scarf! The photos of the Brigadier and past companions! References to the changing nature of the show - “that does start to happen, yeah†about kissing humans), this is the ultimate one. Well, that and Tom Baker showing up at the end.
This story is largely about who the Doctor is and how he became that - the decisions he makes, the things he hides from, and the dilemmas he has to resolve. There's no real bad guy.
So what next? Capaldi will become the 13th Doctor and generally Timelords have only 13 regenerations. But the Master was given a new cycle, so the Doctor could be, too. By bringing in Hurt as the 9th Doctor Steven Moffat has cleverly ensured this question will need to be answered during his tenure as show-runner.
It's a certainty that the show will continue - Moffat has said he saw this episode as being the first step towards a 100th anniversary episode, and the BBC aren't going to let a little thing like a regeneration limit get in the way of one of its most popular shows.
What will The Doctor look like in 50 years? Very different, probably. In both The Doctor's wife (Neil Gaiman's episode), and the mini-episode prequel to the anniversary special, we've been told that The Doctor can regenerate as either a man or a woman. So let's see what happens next.
Squeamish Louise and Gareth
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