Spoilers abound in this Storytime with That’s Normal about the 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who.
Saturday night at the Barbican in London, a couple weeks before David Tennant is there to perform Richard II with RSC, but he’s on my screen at the moment in all his wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey glory. It’s weird and refreshing to see him as the Doctor again, to have him mocking Matt Smith’s chin, which is his own character’s chin in reality. The introduction video cuts back to Matt Smith’s Doctor and he sonics the screen to cause it to become 3D. If there had been kids in my theatre, they probably would’ve gotten excited and scared during this video, especially since we’ve discovered we’re all in a theatre full of zygons! Alas, I’m nearly in Shoreditch here and it’s all trend and no families in this borough on a Saturday night. The original 1963 opening sequence rolls on screen, Delia Derbyshire’s eerie theme tune included, and we’re off to Totters Lane for the global simulcast of the 50th Anniversary episode of the world’s longest running sci-fi show Doctor Who, “The Day of the Doctor.”
I’ve been in the UK for a week at this point, and the WHO hoopla over here is ceaseless. TV and radio shows daily about the history, the characters, the special effects, the science fiction aspect. Shows that talk to the cast, to the fans, to the cast and the fans at the same time! An original drama written by Mark Gatiss about the origin story of the show itself (starring David Bradley and that chick from Call the Midwife; also, it’s really excellently done if you can get it where you are). And to cap it all off, Fri-Sun has seen likely the largest Doctor Who convention ever at the ExCel center in London for the Doctor Who 50th Celebration. (I didn’t get tickets in time, so, no, I didn’t go.)
But isn’t anyone going to ask what it is about the glasses? Because they showed this in global simulcast 3D for a reason…
If you, like me, are a massive Doctor Who fan, then this whole episode is just an epic reference to everything you care about. It’s an eighty minute love letter to you. I’m all smiles as the Impossible Girl, Clara’s theme, fills the cinema’s air with it’s sweet ivory melody. Clara rides her motorcycle into the TARDIS and the Doctor offers her cocktails on the moon. Which moon? Does it matter…
But let’s leave the joking aside, because what happens next is a step back in time to the fourth doctor giving Brigadier his scarf. Yes, the scarf that the Brigadier’s granddaughter now sports as trendy attire! The plot begins as Kate (daughter of Brigadier) kidnaps the Doctor and Clara to the National Portrait Gallery with a message from Queen Elizabeth I (yes, the first). But when we finally see the message, it’s a 3D painting?! What the what? After having viewed the episode in both 3D and 2D, I can tell you the painting was only slightly cooler in actual 3D. The painting is entitled “No More” or “Gallifrey Falls” and it depicts the final days of the Time War, which is the war that we’ve come to learn the Doctor ended by committing mass genocide against his own species, the Time Lords.
We’re transported into the painting for a little storytelling about John Hurt’s character, who is the Doctor that is meant to end the Time War. The one who doesn’t bear the name the Doctor. We learn that he has stolen The Moment, which is the only remaining weapon from the Weapons Vault on Gallifrey, and is planning to use it to wipe out the Time Lords and Daleks alike in an effort to end the war. But… the weapon is sentient, so it has a conscience. How do you use a weapon of mass destruction with a conscience? Especially when it looks like Rose Tyler?!!
Rose’s character, who is actually Bad Wolf in this episode (aka time vortex energy; see S1 finale for details), opens a portal of time to show the Doctor what will become of him after he kills everyone with The Moment and out pops… a fez!
Rewind (fast forward?) to present day Doctor and Clara in the National Portrait Gallery… now they are about to see what really is going on as they’re led to the secret vault that holds Queen Elizabeth I’s artwork, of which she’s just entrusted the Doctor in the role of curator. Here they learn that there are more 3D paintings and something has escaped out of these paintings! But nothing has come or gone, according to museum records, so what really happened? Conveniently that’s when a time portal opens to another Doctor…
After proposing to Queen Elizabeth I, the tenth Doctor realizes that she isn’t in fact a zygon and that it was his sweet horse all this time! Disappointing, since the horse was from 18th century France, but what can you do?
The link between them is made via the portals and soon all three Doctors are united, just in time for them to be arrested and thrown in prison. Luckily the prison is the Tower of London, which is where present-day Clara and Kate head to quickly. Comparisons of glasses and TARDISes, bigger on the outside (ahem) jokes are made about sonics, and John Hurt’s Doctor is embarrassed to know that he becomes these two kids. And then, the three Doctors bond to solve the puzzle and escape the prison. The chemistry between the three actors is fantastic. No fan could ask for better. It’s as if they were meant to be together in this, playing these roles. It’s truly beautiful.
The zygon plot quickly gives way to the true plot at hand, which is the terrible choice that the 12th (9th?) Doctor faces… does he use the Moment or not? The role of the companion kicks in, and I finally felt emotionally connected to Clara as a character (I know, right?!). She leads her Doctors back to the spot of peril, where the Moment awaits them… a big red button this time. All they have to do is press it, and this time they won’t be doing it alone.
But Clara can’t stop crying.
So minds are changed and new choices are made. Choices that involve the most intense eyes of any Doctor ever… THIRTEEN!
And yes, my entire theatre did collectively gasp and squeal at this moment.
Once they’ve all safely landed their TARDISes and possibly saved an entire species and planet, it’s time for the Doctors to say farewell. In a rather touching way, each Doctor heads back to his own time stream not to remember the events that have occurred during the course of the episode. Clara goes into the TARDIS to let Eleven have a moment with the painting. Its title still unknown. Then it happens… Tom Baker shows up.
He’s playing the Curator, he says, but really, who knows? Who nose. All we do know is that he informs Eleven to the true title of the painting, which is “Gallifrey Falls No More”. As in it still is out there waiting for many, many more seasons of Doctors to go and find it!
The episode ended to thunderous applause, all present Whovians properly pleased with its shenanigans, sentiments, and outcome. So now we just have to wait until the Christmas Special, a mere week away! And then… and then… yeah, we have to wait for S8 to come out in the fall 🙁 But still, we can rewatch the 50th anniversary episode over and over to catch all the good references we missed in the meantime!
Thank you, Steven, for everything.
So what did you think? Did you love the 50th or hate it or just meh? What was your favorite bit? Who do you think has a bigger, uh, sonic? Any predictions for the Christmas Special? Are you excited for Capaldi to start? Do you think there will be any sneaky things by Moffat in the Christmas Special? I’m still wondering that myself…
