Megan Gotch !!!
Congrats Megan! Please email me so that I know where to send all of your goodies.
Now let's discuss the big sha-bang. I got ready and in the mood by making a nice lunch of fish and a tangy 'custard' sauce. So there I sat, sonic screwdriver in hand and anticipation!!
Warning:
The Doctor (11th) and Clara are called to the tower of London to investigate some mysterious 3-D Gallifreyan paintings. Meanwhile, in a different time of course, this is where we meet the 10th Doctor romancing on Queen Elizabeth. When a mysterious time fissure appears it brings both Doctor's together. Eventually they are joined by the Doctor's biggest secret and regret, this doctor incarnation (played amazingly by John Hurt) that is known as the War doctor. Together they band together to help Queen Elizabeth and her little issue with some nasty creatures called Zygons. However this entire story is just a catalyst to get to the real story, the Time War. Since Doctor Who's re-brith in 2005, every Whovian knows about the time war! The 9th Doctor we first meet is fresh off the time war and is battling some serious issues. The three Doctors paths cross just when the time war is about to end, meaning this is around when the War Doctor ends the lives of millions to save billions by destroying Gallifrey making him the last of the Time Lords. Its a choice he has struggles throughout the new Who series. However, thanks to the doomsday device 'the moment' and its sentient, bad wolf inspired operating system and Clara's tears the Doctor's realize they can do what the Doctor does best... SAVE THE DAY! They figure out that they can end the time war while hiding away the planet Gallifrey. And its not just three Doctors there helping..oh no it is all of them! After saving the day the Doctor's go their separate ways and because of the laws of time, the younger Doctors know they are going to forget what they have done. This leaves the 11th looking at the Gallifreyan painting named, "Gallifrey Falls No More." The curator, who is quite a familiar face, tells him that it still exists and of course its up to him to find it and go home!
To be perfectly honest, I was really worried about this special. The last season of Who was not my favorite. This epic special made up for it! I loved every single second of it! When 10 and 11 first cross paths I was doing some serious fan girl-ing! Their banter was perfect and it was so funny seeing the Doctors play off of each other. Then when the War Doctor shows up, because of their youthful appearance, mistakes them for companions. I love that from seeing all of these Doctors together, we learn more about him, for example, the War Doctor asks "what horrible thing has happened, that you feel the need to act so childish?" This explains the quirkiness of the younger Doctors, he is a 9 year old in a 900 year olds body.
Through out the episode I was ecstatic but there were two big moments that were gasp worthy! The first one came when all the Doctors converged on Gallifery to help save it... thirteen of them! This included the yet to come Peter Capadli Doctor!
The other audible gasping moment was when the 11th Doctor has a little conversation with the Currator. We see what it is none other than Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor)!!!! I wasn't sure if he was reprising his role or just making a cameo, then he tells the Doctor that he might just be revisiting familiar faces. Which was just so epically mind blowing! Does this mean he is going to run into other past/future selves or reincarnated Doctors?!
Just the fact that these two cameos were in this special demonstrate that this was all about paying tribute to the past as well as the future. Although I would have liked to have seen more of the former Doctors.
One thing I really got out of this special, which lays a lot of ground work for the future of who, it made me want to relive its past. I jumped onto Who when the show was rebooted and completely fell in love. I've always wanted to watch the older classic episodes, but now I am more determined.
The night before the special, BBC America aired the movie about Doctor Who's creation, An Adventure in Time and Space. It was really interesting to see how it all started from humble beginnings and how it came so close to not happening! Towards the end of the movie, the first Doctor, William Hartnell is about to film his last scene and he looks over the TARDIS console and sees his future self, the 11th Doctor. Its a little slice of magic realism that I thought worked so perfectly. Its as if the 1st Doctor runs into his older self and at the same time its William Hartnell prepared to pass the torch and he knows its going to go on.
The genius of this show is that I can be anything at anytime and go anywhere. There are no limits! I believe that clever premise and the great storytelling is what has kept the show around for fifty years and I hope it stays around for fifty more.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that loves this show so much! What did you Whovians think of the Day of the Doctor?
