The Day of the Doctor has come!

After 50 Years does Doctor Who still have what it takes?

 Not since David Tennant hung up his Doctor's trademark coat in 2010's The End of Time have I seen such hype surrounding a Doctor Who episode. Hardly surprising really when one considers that the Day of the Doctor is the celebration of the show's 50th anniversary, a milestone which has cemented its place as the longest running sci-fi show in television history. After several weeks of teasers, hints and a handful of fantastic 'minisodes', with specific mention being given to the Night of the Doctor, which finally shows us the fate of the Eight Doctor, played only once on screen by Paul Mcgann in the unfortunate 1996 movie, the time finally came to celebrate the anniversary in style. One question remains however, did the episode live up to the hype? Was the return of fan favourite Tenth Doctor (Eleventh) played by David Tennant, as well as finally getting an in depth look at the legendary Time War, an event which has resonated in the Doctor's personality and the Universe as a whole, but had yet to be shown on screen, through the eyes of the enigmatic War Doctor, played by John Hurt, enough to ensure that this momentous episode will endure through space and time?

Obviously this review will contain a few spoilers, I have tried not to go overboard  but if you haven't seen it (unlikely considering the delay in me posting this) then consider yourself warned!

The answer, in my own humble opinion, is a resounding yes! The episode, at a little under eighty minutes, had enough in it to please old fans as well as the new. Cameos from all Thirteen incarnations, from first Doctor William Hartnell to future Twelfth (Thirteenth) Doctor Peter Capaldi, in one of my favourite cameos on the
screen yet, are able to appear through intercut footage from previous episodes to ensure that everyone who has seen the show since in began in 1963 can say that they were able to spot 'their' Doctor. It serves to make it an event for fans of the show past and present. In addition the return of the Zygons, who have seemingly not been seen on screen in their monstrous form since 1975 where they battled Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, incidentally it transpires that they are actually the favourite of David Tennant. Speaking of Tom Baker, who else lost it when you heard his resonant voice blaring through your television as he introduces himself as the curator of the National Gallery? Was he the Fourth Doctor aged? Was he a future incarnation? Or was he just a knowledgeable, albeit slightly eccentric old man? I don't know and quite frankly I don't care, it was fantastic to see him in Doctor Who canon once more, all that was missing was his trademark offer of a jelly baby.

Before it sounds like I am gushing, let me just say that the episode was not without flaws, the aforementioned Zygon threat kind of felt as though it served only as a means to an end to allow the three on screen Doctors to reach the narrative conclusion that they did. One can forgive this though as, after all, this is the Doctor's show, fans have waited a long time to see how John Hurt's mysterious incarnation fit into the overall narrative since he was introduced in the Season 7 finale The Name of the Doctor and now the time has come for us to find out.

The three on screen Doctors were each fantastic in their own right, they were able to share the screen without stealing it from one another which I must admit was something I was worried about. The fact that each of them were characterised differently ensured that they stood out from one another as "The Warrior, The Hero and the Doctor". The chemistry between the three was remarkable, you could really believe they were different iterations of the same person, it resulted in some rather pleasant humour into the decidedly dark proceedings the best example being where all three are imprisoned in the Tower of London, and after devised an elaborately complex method of escaping it transpired that the door was unlocked all along, with not one of them thinking to check.

John Hurt was everything I had hoped he would be, having always been one of my ideal choices for the Doctor, I loved that he played his 'age' increasingly irritated at some of the more childish quality of the latter two Doctors i.e. Their choice of hipsterish attire, or using phrases like "Timey Wimey" and even brandishing their sonic screwdrivers as weapons. Out of the three Doctors who appear on the screen it is Hurt's who goes through the most significant personality change as his arc progresses. While initially presented to us in a rather unsympathetic light, we realise instead that he has made the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the Universe, which is something his future selves come to understand in the films emotional third act when they choose to put aside their contempt for him and help him do what they now know what must be done so he does not have to bear the weight of the decision on his own (kind of odd considering they are the same man) I would have liked to have seen him regenerate fully into Christopher Eccelestone, perhaps just to confirm that he actually does as opposed to us finding out that there was another one all along come Christmas next year.

It was a joy to see Tennant back. In my own opinion, he just beats out Matt Smith as my personal favourite incarnation, and it was very refreshing to see his fluctuating personality explained as being that of "The Man who runs". Stated before by Davros in Journey's End it shows him as a being who is trying to regain his former love of life by running from, and refusing to face, what his conscience will not allow him to forget. Resulting in moods which range from ecstatic to melancholic. In fact it was nice to see this personal story arc completed once it was established the role he played in saving Gallifrey, though it was heartbreaking to know that both he and the War Doctor who soon forget the events of this episode leaving Eleven the only one to remember. This effectively means that The War Doctor, Ninth Doctor and Tenth Doctor would always believe that they were ultimately responsible for Gallifrey's destruction. The only question I had would be at what point in the Tenth Doctor's tenure would this have taken place? Obviously it was post Rose hence his look of familiarity when John Hurt mentions the "Bad Wolf Girl", since he was companion-less I would hazard a guess that this took place not long before the End of Time and thus at the end of the episode he was off to meet the call of Ood Sigma that would signal his final adventure, if this was the case it would have been nice to see something to indicate what had made him decide to stop running and accept his fate.

It was odd to see Billie Piper playing the personification of weapon of mass destruction 'The Moment' in her Bad Wolf persona, she mentions that she chose that form because of its connection to the Doctor, but that connection won't be made until the War Doctor regenerates so he has no idea who this blonde cockney girl is supposed to be, but in retrospect it was probably the easiest way to get her involved, and lets face it of all the past companions since 2005, she was the one that HAD to appear. Of all the returning characters throughout the episode she was necessary but also was she the most overtly underwhelming...It's not her fault she wasn't bad, but it has always been the case that the Doctor dominates the show, and when there are three of them on screen no one else can really get a look in.

Well that is unless you are Clara, without a doubt the most proactive of all the Doctor's companions (well the ones that I have seen anyway) she again remains the real hero of the day, as current muse of the Eleventh Doctor, it is her that manages to convince him to find another way to end the Time War other than destroying both participating races, and doing so proves once again what we have known all along that the Doctor is nothing without his companions, he needs them to keep him morally grounded, to stop his power from going to his head in the same way it did in the Waters of Mars, a being with that much power is something to be feared, not admired. Jenna Louise Coleman once again managed to imbue Clara with the witty humour for which she is associated which plays well against Smith's manic energy. Having suitable interactions with all three Doctors it now firmly cements her in Doctor Who history. Though her story line as the 'Impossible Girl' may be concluded since the Name of the Doctor I feel that, so long as her chemistry with the soon to be regenerated Doctor is as good as it is with the current incumbent, then she still has a bright future ahead of her in Doctor Who.

Performances aside, from the refreshing use of the traditional opening credits to the glorious closing shot of all known twelve incarnations stood together as on, I felt the narrative never sagged, the action was on a mighty scale, the war ravaged plains of Gallifrey were particularly exciting, and it was both a shock and a fantastic insight into Hurt's character to see him slam his TARDIS right into a squad of Daleks, destroying them all, incidentally the first time I have ever seen him purposefully kill them. Perhaps inevitably some side plots were concluding rather abruptly leaving them slightly muddled, but it never took away from the real story of this episode, the Doctor's redemption, not only does he now know he was innocent of the crimes he believes he committed but has given him hope for a future where he is no longer alone. (Although by storing Gallifrey in a pocket universe within a painting, while clever, has some interesting ramifications in the form of both the Master and Rassilon, whom I hope to be used to their full potential in the near future) Some elements of the story felt as though it was merely box ticking, for example: the mention of the now deceased Brigadier or the inclusion of his age old foe the Daleks, or even a look inside U.N.I.T.S headquarters. It does bear thinking about that the narrative was so fast paced that they could be forgiven for not finding the time to develop everything to its fullest potential, with all the time travel, paradox's and sci-fi jargon further development may have only convoluted the already complicated story line.

When it came to the visuals I found that this show actually eclipsed many films, it made for the best 3D showing that I have seen since I saw Avatar in 2009 and it was evident that the budget had been elevated based on the beauty of the war torn Gallifrey, I found myself thinking of the introduction of the Man of Steel, but in this case I think it succeeded where the super hero film failed, by making it more colourful (albeit in muted form) it made for a more eye appealing visual treat. Furthermore the costumes worn by the monsters seemed much more authentic, as I learned recently Visual Effects are only truly effective when they are combined with the genuine article and that was very much the case here. The combination of the two means that the eye has less time to cotton onto the fact that something is created by computers.

The episode was not without a few minor flaws of course, no show is perfect. Many of these issues were not even brought to my attention immediately, rather I read them in a separate article (the link for which will be provided at the end) the two most prominent being the under-use of the Zygons to bring about some wonderful cameos from former stars. Imagine, as the Doctor runs across the grassy plains of England chased by Martha, then Jack Harkness, then Jackie Tyler and so on. Not only would it have been good to see these fan favourites again but it would have provided a nice bit of comic relief. Secondly, during the film's climactic sequence where all Thirteen Doctors come together to save Gallifrey, I believe it would have been a good idea to have used the archive footage they did, but perhaps combine it with new dialogue. The clips were not long enough to notice any discrepancy in the audio sync but it would have been a nice way to have included all living Doctors who wished to participate. But these are quite minor issues and ones which did not affect the overall story in any significant way.

Overall I consider this the best Doctor Who episode I have seen, it had everything I could want, my two favourite incarnations on screen together, some insight into the area of the Doctor's life that I was most interested in but for which scare information exists, the Daleks (of course) and the set up for a new story line which will ensure Doctor Who is never left wandering in the wilderness. Bring on the Christmas Special!