The 50th anniversary has finally come and gone and Steven Moffat has delivered on his promise of "more Doctor Who than ever before." With that in mind, I'm curious to know what is everyone's favorite celebration of the anniversary. Note: I've included the discoveries of The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World because having them back this year makes the celebration all the more special, even if it wasn't intentional (and some people are still convinced it was).
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, for the sheer comedic value. The Day of the Doctor, for the War Doctor (it IS his story, after all), the 10-11 interaction, and the overall celebratory feeling of the Doctor finally overcoming his greatest grief. Also, Tom Baker. The Night of the Doctor, for the triumphant return of Paul McGann. In just 7 minutes, he alone encapsulated his entire audio drama era. Wish it was longer, but what we got was good nonetheless. The Light at the End, again for Doctors interacting (specially 4 and 8), and the decent usage of the Master for a change. Adventure in Space and Time, for being a dramatic retelling of the making of the First Doctor's era. Although I think it was too short, and some of the plots were not adequately explored, David Bradley holds the whole thing together, and provides with a truly amazing performance. The film's cameo is absolutely lovely. The Beginning for being, well, the Beginning of the story. Really wish they'd have cast John Guilor to act it, full cast audio and all that. Haven't seen/read/heard the rest, except for The Science of Doctor Who, and as a science geek I somehow found it dreadfully dull. I really don't get the Cox craze (no pun intended). EDIT: Added AISAT, which I forgot the first time. Didn't vote for it, mistakenly.
I chose Adventure in Space and Time and Night of the Doctor. Both felt like "Tributes" while Day of the Doctor, while excellent, just felt like an episode for me.
While not perfect, Day of the Doctor still had so many great moments (the hilarious dialogue, the Ten/Eleven interaction, the cameos, the thrilling conclusion) that I have a hard time not putting it in first place. Night of the Doctor would probably be a close second, and then Adventure in Space and Time.
An Adventure in Space and Time. Followed distantly by Day and Night of the Doctor. Haven't seen/heard/heard of the others, though I hear this Five(ish) Doctors thing is quite funny...?
Combine the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctors, lots of cameos from other cast members past and present, Peter Davison's wonderful sense of humor, and it's absolutely wonderful!
"The Day of the Doctor" was far better than I ever could have hoped. As for "Night of the Doctor," it boils down to three words: Paul fucking McGann!!!!!!
An Adventure in Space and Time was my favourite tribute to the show's 50th anniversary this year. Wonderful Day of The Doctor was also great, especially Hurt's performance, and Capaldi and Baker's cameos. Night Of The Doctor was also grand. So good to see McGann again The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot was hilarious. Splendid stuff
I sat through the BBC after party last night. Oh god, oh my god I can still see it in my mind. It was truly horrible.
The Day of the Doctor was epic and funny and just generally great. Night of the Doctor was utterly compelling given it's short run time, and provided one hell of a surprise. An Adventure in space and Time was just lovely, probaby lnowhere near accurate but an affectionate love letter to the series nontheless and when Matt turned up I'm not ashamed to say I teared up a bit. The Five-ish Doctors though was utterly hilarious
An Adventure in Space and Time was my favorite tribute to the series even if it wasn't completely accurate. A drama that perfectly captures the emotional journey of creating the series, particularly for William Hartnell. The Light at the End captured all of the zany madness of multi-Doctor stories and gave the brilliant combination of The Fourth and Eighth Doctors. A little light on story but it was still a lot of fun to listen to. The Day of the Doctor was a very enjoyable story about the Time War and The War Doctor with the ultimate 13-Doctor team-up and a very sublime cameo from Tom Baker. The Night of the Doctor was an incredible surprise, and within 7 quick minutes, completely captured the magic and charm of Paul McGann's run as The Eighth Doctor on Big Finish. The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot is easily the best Doctor Who satire since The Curse of the Fatal Death, perhaps even better simply because of the willingness of Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and their respective families willing to poke fun at themselves. The Strax cinema etiquette lecture and The Tenth/Eleventh Doctor 3-D introduction were both great unexpected shorts with lots of charm and humor. Same for the Strax Field Reports. The Whodle was not only a great little game but shows just how far Doctor Who has gone in it's cultural impact. Easily one of Google's best doodle. As I said in my opening post, the discoveries of The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World, while may have been just coincidental with the anniversary, have made this year all the more special. Both wonderful stories and I can only hope more stories will be found. I haven't gotten to the rest of Big Finish's stories for the anniversary, but I'm planning on ordering The Beginning soon and I'm waiting for the boxset to be released for Destiny of the Doctor (which might be a long wait considering the situation with AudioGo). Not sure when I'll get to the 1963 trilogy. Despite the reviews, I'm also planning on getting the hardback release of Prisoners of Time at the end of the year. I watched it for all of five seconds before I quickly changed the channel. The horror...the horror...
An Adventure in Space and Time: I cried. I thought it was wonderful. The Five(ish) Doctors: Hilarious. The cameos and contributions by the cast were splendid. I've watched it 3x already. The Day of The Doctor: A great episode with a lot of sharp acting. Some of the subplots took away from the final product with their lack of resolution. However it was FAR superior to The Name of the Doctor. The Night of The Doctor: All the Eigth Doctor feels I had exploded when I saw this. Such a pleasant surprise.
An adventure in Space and Time followed by Who Made Who which was a special bringing together some shows that had been broadcast previous but which I'd missed: * On the Outside it Looked Like An Old Fashioned Police Box Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who writer and fanatic, explores the hugely popular Doctor Who novelisations of the 1970s and 80s, published by Target books. Featuring some of the best excerpts from the books and interviews with publishers, house writers, illustrators and the actors whose adventures the books tirelessly depicted. The Reunion – Doctor Who Sue MacGregor reunites five people who created and starred in the first series of a television landmark, Doctor Who. Fifty years later, those who crammed nervously into the BBC's Lime Grove Studios in 1963 recount the triumphs and disasters that ushered in the longest running science-fiction series in the world. Joining Sue MacGregor is Waris Hussein, the director of the episode, Carole Ann Ford who played the Doctor's granddaughter and companion Susan, William Russell who played the Doctor's right hand man Ian Chesterton, actor Jeremy Young who was the first Doctor Who enemy Caveman Kal, and television presenter Peter Purves who travelled with William Hartnell in the mid 60's as companion Steven Taylor. Dance of the Daleks How do you make a sink-plunger seem scary? Matthew Sweet, who spent the Saturday tea-times of his youth peering at the television from behind the sofa, time-travels through Doctor Who's 47-year history to investigate the weird and wonderful soundworld of its incidental music. He talks with some of the composers who have contributed, in very different musical styles, to the enduring success of the programme over the decades. Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? A mockumentary starring Jane Asher and Andrew Sachs. It examines the life of a Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s granddaughter through the realistic lens of a researcher conducting an interview with a subject. Last seen in decimated London after a Dalek invasion, where is the Time Lord's relative now?
I didn't even know about half of these! The night, the day, the five-ish, an adventure and the science were all excellent for different reasons and it's hard to compare them (a comedy, three drama's and a science documentary). I voted for them all!