^ Good writing doesn't have to be expensive. And, actor availability is just something to work with. If one actor isn't available, you go with another. It's a fallacy to assume all classic Doctors have to be present.
Really? I bet if McGann were in it people would be moaning that, strictly speaking, he isn't a classic Doctor.
As for actor availability, given the man I was specifically talking about was Matt Smith because he jetted off soon after filming wrapped to work on Gosling's film I think his absense would have been noted!
Do you think I wouldn't love to see one or all of the classic Doctors in the special? I would, but this is the real world and we don't always get what we want, so if all we get are their voices so be it, it's not like they're being airbrushed out of existance, both RTD and Moffat have referenced all the classic docs many times.
As for the length of the bloody thing, this still bugs me, because length is no guarentee of quality. Heck I'll take Time Crash over the Two Doctors any day of the week!
The BBC allocated a budget for the special, and it seems likely that they allocated a time/length, because, you know, they have other shows to fit in, even on the 23rd November.