The Day of the Doctor (2013)

[Quizziard]

Ok, so if Lizzy's orders were sealed, the ones naming the doctor the curator.....how did UNIT know to call him?

They could have been inside a second, outer envelope, which appointed him Curator.

[The Flyattractor]

So you missed out on the black & white opening sequence, just like in 1963, and you missed the policeman walking past the I M Foreman sign like in An Unearthly Child... and the theme tune that was first used in the opening episode... and Coal Hill School is the one that Susan Foreman attended in AEC and was also in Remembrance of the Daleks... and that according to the school sign the the Chairman of the school governors is now a certain Ian Chesterton... and that the headmaster is W. Coburn, a nod to Waris Hussein and Anthony Coburn, who respectively directed and wrote An Unearthly Child... and that Clara rides out on the motorbike at 5:16, the time An Unearthly Child originally aired on BBC1... or that when the TARDIS is picked up by UNIT, the call sign used by the helicopter to refer to UNIT is "Greyhound leader".... and that lot is just in the first 5 minutes.

The whole episode is stuffed with such references if you care to look for them. There is everything from "reversing the polarity", to a reference to Cromer where the Brigadier thought he was in The Three Doctors.

In fact there is so much attention to detail, people and events are referenced that can't even be seen on screen. In the last issue of DWM, Benjamin Cook was on set and says he "catches a glimpse of a top-secret, highly classified UNIT document pinned to the board, 'Romana', it reads, 'was a member of the House of Heartshaven on Gallifrey'. 'Romana II', it goes on, 'became Lady President of the Time Lords.'" (Making Big Finish canon yet again.)

Yes. I caught all that, but IMO back ground clutter and tossing references out in passing IS NOT a celebration of the Classic series. This was really a celebration of the NuWho with some slight homage to the old. This was decent episode but not really something that should have been a 50th celebration.

And NO. Putting the Zygons in it wasn't anything special especially seeing as how they got defeated by the waving of the magic screwdriver, and how their continuity was all Timey Wimey'ed up!

The Adventure in Time and Space was the true 50th Celebration of the show for me. Not this ep.

[cosmichobo]

I would have loved to see the Great Intelligence build-up to have been resolved in the Anniversary story, properly, instead of the quite disappointing ending we had in Name of the Doctor...

Just would have needed to be done without the Anni story itself needing too much pre knowledge...

[GodAtum]

not sure if this has been answered, but how did Clara get rescued from the previous episode "The Name of the Doctor"?

[Coco Pops]

Or "The Curator" rather than "a curator" ..The Under Gallery had round things on the wall, could it be The Curator's TARDIS?

I haven't read back through the whole thread so I assume the link back to The Shakespeare Code has already been mentioned

If the underground thingy is a TARDIS what happens to the upper structure if it travels? Wouldn't it collapse?

[Coco Pops]

[color=limegreen][b]Ohh I could blame at least 2.

And who would they be?

Wasn't "Timey Wimey" all Moffat's idea?

[cosmichobo]

not sure if this has been answered, but how did Clara get rescued from the previous episode "The Name of the Doctor"?

Name of... ends with 11 carrying Clara in his arms, having entered his own splintered timestream to save her. We don't actually see 11/Clara leave after 11 sees The War Doctor... but it's implied by the start of Day off... when we see that Clara is now teaching at Coal Hill...

[rushy]

This may sound like heresy, but I was dissatisfied with John Hurt's performance. It was like he was more Second Doctor than Time War, if you catch my drift.
It didn't feel appropriate whatsoever and some of his over-the-top deliveries really made my twitch.

"Ooh, what is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread." and "Must you act like children? What makes you so ashamed of being a grown-up?" being the worst offenders.

[cosmichobo]

I hold Mr Hurt in no particular esteem... And likewise, totally not happy before or after his inclusion as a once-off Doctor in the Anniversary, that should have celebrated the Doctors of Doctor Who, instead of bringing in an outsider because he had star appeal for the box office.

Nothing Doctory in his performance; he just phoned it in; he's said he'll never reprise the role - complete waste of space.

[rushy]

I hold Mr Hurt in no particular esteem... And likewise, totally not happy before or after his inclusion as a once-off Doctor in the Anniversary, that should have celebrated the Doctors of Doctor Who, instead of bringing in an outsider because he had star appeal for the box office.

Nothing Doctory in his performance; he just phoned it in; he's said he'll never reprise the role - complete waste of space.

I don't think he phoned it in, it's just that what he did was wrong. He was supposed to be playing a war-ravaged person, someone who's become either colder than space or hotter than the sun. This would've been the perfect time to explore the origins of the "madman" nickname... a Doctor who is truly mad, who's purpose in life is comparable to the One Ring and Gollum.

Instead, we get confused grandpa who, never mind if Gallifrey was saved or not, doesn't feel like fitting in the progression from Eighth to Ninth.

[Alex Edward]

It was undoubtedly one of the best special episode of Doctor Who, but i don't know i don't wanna see Peter Capaldi as Doctor. In my opinion he has done his best to sustain the character of Doctor but he's not look comfortable i don't really want to see him more as Doctor!

[rushy]

I dunno, might have something to do with him being a heavily experienced and talented actor and reciting a 14-year old's fan fiction.

[Coco Pops]

So those events are fixed. We know that the Doctor will retire on Earth and regen into one of his old faces........

[rushy]

So those events are fixed. We know that the Doctor will retire on Earth and regen into one of his old faces........

Thus pretty much rendering the show pointless.
We know he'll find Gallifrey, because the Curator seemed pretty satisfied and we'll know he's never in danger - oh, wait, this is Moffat, he'll just wave it away like he did the Time War.

[P-90_177]

So those events are fixed. We know that the Doctor will retire on Earth and regen into one of his old faces........

Thus pretty much rendering the show pointless.
We know he'll find Gallifrey, because the Curator seemed pretty satisfied and we'll know he's never in danger - oh, wait, this is Moffat, he'll just wave it away like he did the Time War.

Who says the Doctor's own timeline is fixed? It might be fixed from his own perspective but that doesn't discount someone meddling in his own timeline.

The Valeyard was supposed to have been in The Doctor's future by now but hasn't.