And here we are. After fifty years of humour, heart but above all adventure, Doctor Who this month reaches its half-centenary - and it looks like its going to celebrate it with a blast! There's programmes on BBC Three, Watch, Channel Five - far too much to list here but, rest assured, Doctor Who is taking over television. Let's see what we've got in store..
DOCTOR WHO AT 50
First of all, a few weeks ago, we were treated to a 60 second trailer encompassing the whole history of the series. Fans who were after footage from the special episode were ready to complain about getting a half-baked teaser, but no one was complaining after they saw it. A glorious, gorgeous feast for the eyes (of a Doctor Who fan, at least), it manages to excite and entertain without giving us a single tidbit of information about the special. But who cares when it's this good? Let's have another watch, shall we?
THE SCIENCE OF DOCTOR WHO
One of the great things about this month is that there are a number of programmes being broadcast about the show as well the special itself. One of these is The Science of Doctor Who, hosted by Professor Brian Cox (who had a cameo in last year's 'The Power of Three'), which will look at real theories on time travel and other science fiction concepts raised in the show - for instance, whether you could really build a TARDIS!
Have a butcher's at the trailer below for more - featuring a guest spot from the Doctor himself...
AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND TIME
Now here's the one fans are waiting for the most - some, I've heard, more than the special itself. Written by Mark Gatiss, An Adventure in Space and Time (based on the original sub-title for the series) is a one-off biopic focussing on the creation of Doctor Who and the people behind it. Brian Cox (nope, a different one this time) is Sydney Newman, the BBC head of drama who came up with the original concept as an educational children's series and Jessica Raine (Emma in Hide, earlier this year) plays Verity Lambert, Doctor Who's first producer who made the show the all-ages entertainment machine we all know and love. However, the star of the show is 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship''s David Bradley as William Hartnell, the first actor to take on television's greatest role. The whole thing sounds like a wonderful nostalgia fest (several scenes from early story are being recreated) as well as a dedication to the people we have to thank for making the show what it is. So far a trailer hasn't materialised but we do have these great retro posters!
THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR
And now for the big one; 'The Day of the Doctor', the feature-length special that will bring together Matt Smith's and David Tennant's beloved incarnations of the character alongside John Hurt's never-before-seen mystery Doctor. You can't help but know about it as the BBC has been plugging like mad - and rightly so. As you will have noticed in the trailer at the beginning of this post, an official hashtag has been created to get people talking about the show online - #SaveTheDay. And if that wasn't enough, recently, a cool spin-off website has been released in which sneak peaks of the special will be unlocked the more people tweet, facebook, tumblr ad infinitum about Doctor Who, using the hashtag. It's a nice idea and things are already starting to appear over the internet...
Like a trailer...?
Whoah, hold back. First, let's look at a few of the photos released so far...
Not much, plot-wise, has been released as of yet but we do have this juicy synopsis:
The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor's own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.
Oh, and, of course, there's this...
I know! Three Doctors! The Time War! Rose! A Fez! I need to sit down. Oh, I am sitting down. Good.
Going by this trailer, 'The Day of the Doctor' looks set to be a grand spacey-wacey adventure set in a ton of locations and with quite a big budget it must be said, by the looks of things. You could easily mistake this trailer for a new Star Wars film or something. The most striking things for me were David Tennant and Matt Smith together - I didn't expect to be so excited to see Tennant back as the Doctor - and the biggest question the trailer raises - how, why and what the hell is Rose doing in the Time War? Well, as she says, the Moment is coming... And I wouldn't miss it for the world.
*Fangirls wildly* I'm getting pretty excited for this 50th anniversary malarky! (I have been saying for what seems like years that if they ever cover the Time War, it will be now, and all the evidence, what there is of it, seems to back me up, I think.) I didn't realise I'd be so excited to see David Tennant back as the Doctor - I liked him a lot and took weeks to get used to Matt Smith in the role, but I thought that was all in the past. But seeing the two together is just a lot of fun! The main thing I'm wondering about is that if 10 and Rose *do* go back to the Time War, how will that effect them in the episodes *after* this in their timeline. Like, if it takes place for them, say, halfway through season 2, would they be changed in the later episodes? No one could get through that unchanged. But this is all speculation, and who knows? John Hurt's big dark secret could be that he pulled a kitten's tail one time.
ReplyDeleteWibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, I guess.
I know what you mean about Tennant - the teenager in me rose to the surface when he said 'well, you've certainly come to the right place' in that very Tenth Doctor-y way. I'm really excited to see his and Smith's dynamic - my two favourite Doctors. And it's got to be the Time War.
DeleteInteresting point. I'm definitely expecting something catastrophic to happen in the episode so it would surely, as you say, affect them. I'm guessing, though, in a super special Doctor Who-y way, they will be taken out their time streams which somehow means they don't retain the memories of what they've experienced. Or, knowing Moffat, he would probably mess around with their timelines so who knows!
And I would really love it if that was the Doctor's greatest secret:
'I pulled that kitten's tail without choice. In the name of peace and sanity...' :)