The Day of the Doctore Review Thread (Spoilers?)

Do you know what I want? I want that final image of all 12 Doctors standing in formation as my wallpaper.

 

It's nice that there's now a way for The Master to appear again, though what are the chances he's now Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords by now?

 

Thought it was pretty damn fantastic... although I admit on first viewing I did grow a bit antsy over all the time devoted to the Zygon/Queen Elizabeth/UNIT storylines. It was decent stuff, but somehow felt a bit too routine for a 50th special, and didn't really grab me as much as the main Doctor storyline.

But the scenes between the Doctors were so damn good (with so many hilarious lines), and the resolution so damn thrilling, that it more than made for anything else. And I suspect knowing better how it all fits together, I'll be able to enjoy the story as a whole much more on repeat viewings.

 

Dear Mr. Moffat,

In light of the events of the last 24 hours you are hereby forgiven for the past four years.

Warmest regards,
The Fans

 

Funny. I'd thought that was all actually the Moment, and that the Bad Wolf thing was just a pointless namedrop. Rewatching her first scene, with the eyelash, I think I've come around to your interpretation.

 

All I know is its going to take me a few days and several re-viewings in order to wrap my brain around all that.

I admit I am feeling a dose of dissapointment. But I put that down to the fact that after all these months of anticipation, its over.

I do know my friend Cindy will be pleased. She was always raqther annoyed by Tens swaggering around, going on about how he bonked the Queen. Now at least we know it was the usual unintentional mess.

 

When I think about it, I realize its a lot more than that. From Eccelston through to Smith, The Doctor has been stumbling into, learning and picking up pieces of the puzzle that all combined to make saving Galifrey possible.

Eccelston's accidental creation of Rose/Bad Wolf is just one part of it. Another part is Tennant's Doctor learning that time can be re-written for the first time in in The Water of Mars. Smith's Doctor eventually extended that and figured out how to rewrite fixed points by retaining the fixed point but subtly altering the perceived outcome in The Wedding of River Song.

All these factors combined to create the solution that allowed the universe to think that Time Lords and Daleks were both destroyed but secretly kept Time Lords Time-Locked in a pocket universe.

 

So, what happened to The Moment? It's still out there, and that Bad Wolf is coming back. Again.

 

I think the most interesting bit was when Tom Baker essentially told the audience to expect more classic Doctors in the upcoming seasons. I bet that Capaldi rounds the up in the next season to recruit them for the freezing of Gallifrey. We could get an episode with each of the surviving Doctors.

 

Hey, that's a great idea! I'd love to see the same events from Capaldi's Doctor's perspective, and I can totally see how he'd be the one to rally himself. Ten and Eleven didn't do it, that's certain.

 

So, I had the pleasure of watching this today live simulcast, straight from the BBC America (no commercials) at Wizard World's Comic Con in Austin, TX. A shoutout to everyone who was in Ballroom D for the screening. What an awesome experience watching it live with all the other thousands of Doctor Who fans in one big ballroom, it was bloody fantastic! That made the whole experience that much better

 

That was... utterly fantastic! So many smiles, so much wonderfulness in that special!

I have to disagree that this was just a reveal about the true last days of the Time War though, I think it legitimately was a rewrite - after all, time can be rewritten!

I like the theory from upthread that the Moment was Bad Wolf, that when she scattered across time and space she became the inexplicable consciousness that an ultimate doomsday weapon somehow developed.

 

Yes, I think it's a rewrite. Certainly seemed to be what Eleven considered it to be. They "remembered" doing it one way - actually using the Moment - and now they didn't, but the event looks the same in both histories, so the consequences don't "hit" until Eleven finally gets past this knot in his timeline.

 

I want to know who the hand is that's coming out of the picture. It can't be Clara unless she's amazingly double jointed, the Kates are over by the table and the science girls are not wearing black. So who is it?



It looks like Clara's right hand, so...?

 

And I don't think Tennant or Smith have ever seen Terminator, Terminator 2, Planet of the Apes or The Wrath of Khan.

 

I felt like I got my "anniversary gift" when I saw Night of the Doctor last week. Those 6 minutes were everything I wanted, and I found that I couldn't care less what happened in Day of the Doctor. Based on the last series, I wasn't expecting much more than some big set pieces and slapdash dialogue, because Moffat-as-showrunner seemed to lose the heart and soul of the writer of "The Doctor Dances," "The Girl In the Fireplace," "Blink," "Silence In the Library" and "The Eleventh Hour."

But I loved it. It's popcorn. It's set pieces. It's just an excuse to get multiple Doctors together without much of a plot. But guess what? So's "The Five Doctors." Hope all you want, but anyone expecting something with a substantial story was probably going into this with the wrong idea in mind.

I assiduously avoided the trailers and as many spoilers as possible. Knew the basics -- Tennant, Piper, Zygons, etc -- and that's fine, but I'm glad I avoided everything else. I went into this expecting nothing much, honestly, of what I really wanted, so I was extremely surprised as the special rolled along and it became clear how much a celebration of the show's history it really was, and not just an end to the Time War.

The point is still seeing Smith and Tennant interact (with Hurt's running commentary). And that's fine. I'm very gratified that we didn't actually get Rose Tyler, who remains (thanks to series two) my most despised companion of the last fifty years. Whether it was just the "Moment Interface" or an actual appearance of the Bad Wolf entity, doesn't actually matter to me. It wasn't the "real" Rose, and she wasn't being whiny and annoying.

I wasn't expecting Kate Stewart. Very nice addition, even if it does through a monkey wrench into Clara's timeline. We know Clara was from 2013, and so we've gone at least five years beyond that in her personal timeline, unless the Doctor dropped her off a few years late after "The Name of the Doctor" (which could happen, like Rose's missing year between "Rose" and "Aliens of London").

And while yes, it didn't really have anything to do with "the main story," I'm very glad Moffat took the opportunity to tie up the loose ends with Elizabeth I. To my mind, that's the only "significant" unanswered question from Tennant's era that remained. As for where in Ten's timeline this falls, I see people assuming that it's between The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, but I'd place it between The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead. That seems to fit better with the characterization.

And then the bait & switch plan to save Gallifrey. Nicely done, and no it doesn't actually change anything that came before. For me, the fact that Nine, Ten and (until now) Eleven have been carrying guilt for something they didn't do only adds to the pathos and the sacrifice for the character, especially Hurt's incarnation.

All twelve. No, all thirteen. Did not see that last bit coming. The eyes. I think my brain exploded a little. Geronimo. Alons-y. Oh for God's sake!

And The Curator. My hearts stopped. Both of them, and I actually only have one. It was that momentous.

Flawed plot? Wonky pacing? Yes. But I expected those from an anniversary special. It's in keeping with tradition.

But in the ways that matter as an anniversary special? It was so good that I'm regenerating.

 

But in the beginning of "The End of Time", doesn't Ten meet with Ood Sigma, wearing a lai and sunglasses, bragging about marrying Good Queen Bess (I've not watched it recently). Seems like it would fit better between WoM and EoT, but, yeah, he could've had this adventure anytime between "Journey's End" and "The End of Time".

I like that. Feeling guilty, whether it happened one way or the other, says something about the Doctor's character, and he believed he had done something heinous. Now, though, maybe he'll stop with all the self-loathing.

Loved it! I did not expect the Capaldi cameo, but am so glad they included him!

 

Dear JRoss,

"The Fans" don't think Mr. Moffat has done anything that would require us to forgive him, thank you very much.

Not much of a plot, that's true, but the story was substantial, in my opinion. While The Five Doctors was just an excuse to get all the Doctors to participate in a crazy adventure, The Day of the Doctor was mostly a character piece, with a dramatic arc and genuine character development.

 

So... I guess we're supposed to assume that once the Doctor found Clara in his time stream at the end of the season finale, they found a way back out immediately after?

The finale kind of made it seem like it would be more of a challenge than that, but apparently not so much. I mean, I certainly love the opening that Moffat went with for the special, but it does leave a pretty big loose end I think (much more than, say, the destruction of the TARDIS in Season 5, which frankly never bugged me that much).