Even hundreds of vocal fans on Tumblr and Blogger is still a small segment of fandom. There just isn't any massive grassroot movement, or really, any kind of momentum towards including a classic Doctor in the 50th anniversary special.
Got to say, I don't get the outrage over Day of the Doctor "ignoring" classic Who, and I say that as someone who would have liked a classic Doctor brought back. But, it seems to me that we have An Adventure in Time and Space to celebrate the classic era while Day of the Doctor is focusing on the current era. Sure, it might not be the same as seeing Matt Smith interacting with an elderly Tom Baker and a digitally inserted William Hartnell, but it's better than nothing.
Wow, you've got your head in the sand I see! We may very well end up with a great story without classic Doctors, that's what I'm hoping for. But, there are many who do want a classic Doctor in the story. Mr Awe
Sure, there's alot of folks who would have liked to see Classic Doctors (I'm also one, in fact I would've liked to see a whole Series or Half Series with Classic Guest stars in each episode, building up to a massive Anniversary Special Cumination), but, the folks "insulted" by the lack of Classic Doctors or saying it'll suck or have their mind set on hating it is indeed small
I'm not so much annoyed at the lack of classic Doctors, but that we've been given a big celebrity name fake Doctor instead. It's really cynical and shallow.
Its a great idea adding a previously unknown incarnation to the Doctors past but it really all hinges on whether the episode ends with a reset button i.e. Gallifrey in the End of Time.
Yeah, I'd agree with that. No point going into it expecting it to suck! Try to enjoy it folks! I would've prefered a classic Doctor be included but hopefully it's so good I won't mind. The funny thing is that I'm sure 50 years from now for the 100th anniversary, fans will be insulted that David Tennant wasn't asked to return! Mr Awe
What we call it now is totally irrelevant. The only important thing is the quality of the execution and what we think of it after we see it in just over a month. So, let's not pre-label it. It might be a bold and unexpected idea, but if the story is no good it's all for nothing. However, I generally trust Moffat's storytelling abilities so I think it'll be good. Mr Awe
I have two words for Stephen Moffat. I hope he takes them with the intent of where they come from. They are: Rick Berman. You all saw how we thanked him for his "valentine gift to the fans".
This. Those fans may have kept the show alive in their hearts, and opened the possibility to a revival, but it's the shows massive success with the mainstream audience that it a successful revival. If it was only the "fans who kept it alive" who were watching, there wouldn't be enough to keep it going. So, it SHOULD be a big thank you to the mainstream audience who have discovered it and actually keep it on the air. It's not fair, I know, but that's the reality. The show isn't made for those who are buying the comics, buying all of the figures, making their own costumes--yes, they might be the soul of the audience, but, without the rest, there would be no show. The show is made for a big broad family audience.
I'm not sure how to take your intent myself so unsure if Moffat would either, because Berman and 'these are the voyages' could probably be taken two ways in the context of the 50th. either it was too much fan service at the expense of the current show, or not enough thought given to the fans?
I liked the idea of Riker and Troi interacting with the NX-01 crew via the holodeck; I just wish they'd had a better reason in-story to do so.
TATV certainly showed that bringing back former actors doesn't necessarily make for a good or well-received episode. Not an exact analogy to what we're discussing, I know, but like anything else, it shows that execution is key in how you celebrate a show or franchise's past.
From comments Moffat is making, it really looks like he's planning on looking forward to another 50 years as opposed to the past. I think that's a very legitimate approach.
I guess the best interpretation is that, like Berman, Moffatt believes he knows what the fans want. A worse case scenario is that he just doesn't care what they want.
Well, if this board is anything to go by, there is no one thing that 'the fans' want and he's never going to please everyone by giving them what 'they' want. So all he can do is write the best story that he feels he can write and hope at least a majority of viewers enjoy it.
That's pretty optimistic, considering he'll probably be dead in 50 years. The world is becoming an increasingly ephemeral place (kinda like how the aliens saw Tegan, Turlough, and the Doctor in Enlightenment - an excellent Fifth Doctor story, btw, that wraps up the Black Guardian story arc that began in The Ribos Operation), and while some people honor the past, others have the idea that if it happened more than 10 years ago, it's old and irrelevant.