The Flickering Myth writing team discuss the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special ‘The Day of the Doctor’…
This past weekend saw the BBC, the UK and the rest of the world celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic British sci-fi series Doctor Who as Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt teamed up for ‘The Day of the Doctor’; we’ve already posted Villordsutch’s glowing review, but what did some of our other writers here at Flickering Myth make of the half-century celebration for the iconic Time Lord?
J-P Wooding: Steven Moffat delivered. A superb blend of celebration, story, fun and potential. A nice teaser at the end too for….the end?
Oliver Davis: I liked the bit with the guy’s forehead.
Chris Cooper: The Tennant / Smith interaction was very funny, with Hurt’s confusion (at his older selves’ attitudes) and gravitas doing the trick. Billie Piper had a good role and it was good to see Peter Capaldi briefly. Though I’m not sure how him or Tom Baker later being there made sense. It does seem to have hit the retcon button though. Can see why some might be annoyed. But as a newbie (having only seen a few episodes) who just jumped in I enjoyed it. I think I need to start watching properly with Capaldi.
Villordsutch: A pure piece of fantastical British science fiction. The whole family stopped and watched the special without uttering a word, as the Doctors pulled us along on their extra special journey. This birthday episode is a gleaming, jewel-encrusted credit to all those involved in bringing this to our screens and Moffat and Co. have risen highly in my mind due to this achievement.
Thomas Harris: As ‘The Day of the Doctor’ came to a close, I briefly questioned what it all meant. I chose to ignore the flaws, the faults and the audacity of it all – instead blaming it on “wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey stuff.” Moffat captures what makes Doctor Who so brilliant, absurd and gloriously over-the-top. Bring on 2063.
Oliver Davis: I also loved the cicle thingys.
Luke Owen: As someone who isn’t a “Whovian” or remotely interested in Doctor Who, I watched the show a couple of days later – and actually quite enjoyed it. Matt Smith is incredibly irksome, but David Tennant and John Hurt were pretty excellent. The climax made all of the silly Elizabeth the 1st stuff worthwhile and it actually did a good job of making me want to watch more. So, in that way, I guess it was a huge success.
Simon Columb: I haven’t seen it yet. I have the entire 50yrs worth of episodes to watch.
Gary Collinson: I used to love classic Doctor Who when I was a kid, but I’ve only ever watched about five or six full episodes of NuWho, which done a fine job of putting me off – Matt Smith especially. But I enjoyed the special once it got going. The John Hurt / Gallifrey stuff was excellent, and the VFX on the fall of Arcadia was impressive and much better than I’d expected (the Dalek ships and the Zygons, pretty much what I’d expected). Liked seeing all the Doctors working together at the end too. With Peter Calapdi taking over I’ll probably give it another go, although I doubt I could say that if Matt Smith was continuing in the role.
What were your thoughts on The Day of the Doctor? Let us know in the comments below…
Originally published November 25, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
