You seem to spend an impressive amount of energy actively hating on something you haven't seen. Any particular reason why?
A story of a previously unknown Doctor played by John Hurt plus Tennant's return. That has my blood pumping.
I have no doubt that Moffat cares a lot about Doctor Who. And, for the most part, I've enjoyed his tenure. I hope he doesn't stay a whole lot longer, but that's not because I've disliked what he's done. It's just time for a change. As for the Anniversary special. If it's a good story, I'll be happy. I also don't think we know that much about what will be in it. Just a few details from the location shooting but virtually nothing else. However, I'm dissappointed by the lack of a classic Doctor. Don't be thrown off by the oft mentioned red-herring of a room filled with bickering Doctors. Nah, even just one would be nice. Who knows, it might still happen in the studio shooting. But, I also figure that if the classic series could get the 2nd Doctor and Jamie in for The Two Doctors, which wasn't an anniversary special, shoot certainly the current series with a much larger budget could have done the same idea within a non-anniversary story? In the previous season, they could've incorporated a classic Doctor and a companion into an episode. Mr Awe
^ I just rewatched it and enjoyed it much more than I remembered! Although, it's true that they don't interact much. But, that's the execution of the idea. It doesn't have to be terrible and, in a new story, 2 Doctors could interact. Just saying that seems to be a plausible solution for getting a classic Doctor in a story near the anniversary, not increasing the budget, yet still making the anniversary about looking forward. Mr Awe
Straightforward proof of that is that he was a regular at the first Thursday fan get together at the Fitzroy Tavern from the mid-1990s, and when the rest of the fans who were working on the new series stopped going around 2005, he carried on (memorable quote, when people were discussing The Girl in the Fireplace a week before its transmission: "Good god, is there anyone in this pub who hasn't already seen a preview disc?"), right up until the moment he got the showrunner's job (despite people virtually pinning him to a wall and pointing a desklamp in his eyes to demand that he tell them if he was getting the job: "If I was asked I'd have to think about it."). Even since then he's turned up a few times (last November, most recently). You don't do that unless you love the show...
Personally, I think Moffatt is showing respect by NOT including all those previous Doctors. They are the show's past, not its future. He's arguably shown more respect to what's come before than any previous producer, and I think he wants to preserve that legacy by leaving those great Doctors to be remembered the way they were, rather than shoehorning them into an episode for the sake of doing so - even if a servicable story could be written for it, and we know he's plenty capable of that too. Still, he's been known to surprise us, and I think he still will here - even if there's SOME way to work past characters in. The utter disappointment of the "stings" this weekend (and man, did it sting) just makes the wait all the more unbearable, and with an impending regeneration also coming in mere months, being nice and comfortable with all sorts of fanwank like old Doctors and a current one with no hint of leaving is the last thing we need. Mark
The Two Doctors isn't bad, but it isn't spectacular either - and as a follow-up of Holmes after The Caves of Androzani, its pretty underwhelming. Plus, a lot of it is really, really boring. Its incredible, but it is. I like to think that if those three episodes were edited down to 25 minutes, they'd be more entertaining. The 45 minute format hurt the show back then. Of course, the biggest plus about it was Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, who had substantially more to do than he did in The Five Doctors (still not a lot, though). AND, with Frazier Hines as Jamie, no less. The first half of the first episode is really neat.
I caught it on UK Gold or one of those channels a few years ago. Enjoyed the moments with Troughton and Hines and it's always nice to see two Doctors interacting (even if only briefly) but it wasn't an especially good story, by any means.
The best parts of the Two Doctors were the first 2 episodes, adding the third part made it feel padded. The beginning was exceptional. I suspect that they kept Baker and Troughton separated so much was because Colin couldn't act his way out of a paper bag (nice guy that he is) and Troughton was phenomenal. But, the concept of just taking a regular episode of the season and getting a classic Doctor and companion is one that is totally doable today, even more so. And, of course, they'd need a good story. No premise, no matter how good, can survive a poor story and a poor execution. I'd also add that just being a regular episode of a season, rather than a special story, reduces the stakes and expectations. Mr Awe