The Day of the Doctor: Why the 50th Anniversary is Peak Doctor Who

When Doctor Who returned in 2005, it came with some massive changes from its Classic counterpart. The tone was darker, the presentation modernized (for the time) and the lore met with some dramatic changes. One in particular stood out from all the rest: the Time War. The great battle between Time Lords and Daleks that left both sides on the brink of extinction. Gallifrey and Skaro alike were gone. The culprit: our hero, the Doctor.

As a kid, I’d never seen the Classic series. But the Time War still intrigued me in a way few stories ever have, even to this day. How could the Doctor, one of the most gentle and kind characters in fictional history, commit genocide on such a cosmic scale? The contrast of it gripped me so powerfully that even the briefest mention of the War left me giddy with excitement!

This story arc was built up across nearly ten years and three iterations of the Doctor. It was central to the 9th Doctor’s arc, which is still one of the best in the show’s history. We saw how its after effects drove the 10th Doctor onto a dark path. Then, finally, with the 11th Doctor, we saw the character try to put the war behind him, only to be faced with more pain that brought him right back to it. It became the central through line of 2005 Who, the thread weaving every narrative of every Doctor together.

Until, finally, in 2013, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, this nearly ten-year long story arc was brought to its climax. The result: one of the best episodes in Doctor Who history. ‘The Day of the Doctor’, written by then-showrunner Steven Moffat.

This special was more than just a slightly longer episode of the show. This was a god damn event in my household! It dropped at the height of the show’s popularity, as well as the height of my cringe hyper-obsessive middle-school years. My family held a watch party in which we had snacks themed for the show, and some of the kids – myself included – dressed up as the various Doctors. It was like the Super Bowl for dorks and we loved it!

The fact that the episode even exists is a miracle in it of itself. For a while during its development, Moffat wasn’t even sure if he’d have a Doctor to put in it; Christopher Eccleston had declined to return as the 9th, David Tennant had yet to agree to reprise his role as the 10th, and Matt Smith‘s contract as the 11th had just ended with the conclusion of season seven. Even once David and Matt agreed to participate, without the 9th, Moffat had to adapt and come up with a worthy substitute.

So he gave us the late Sir John Hurt himself as the War Doctor. One of the greatest versions of the character to date, played by one of the most talented actors to ever live. Safe to say Moffat’s substitute was more than worthy.

Before we get into the episode proper, I’d like to briefly talk about a six minute short that released beforehand. ‘The Night of the Doctor,’ an online mini-episode revealing how the War Doctor came to be. Why do I bring this up? Because Paul McGann got to reprise his role as the 8th Doctor and finally film a proper farewell and regeneration scene! After so many years of McGann being rejected by the fanbase due to one awful movie, it’s gratifying to see him finally get the recognition he deserves. You can watch the short here if you’re curious.

Seriously, listen to some of his Big Finish stories. You can find most of them on Spotify. They’re so god damn good! McGann’s Doctor is absolutely incredible, when put in the hands of better writers than the movie had.

I’ll need to talk about said film one of these days. But not today. Get back to me come the 70th.

Enough with the preamble. Let’s finally dive into the episode itself. Travel back in time with me, friends, as we revisit ‘The Day of the Doctor.’

We open on the original title sequence from 1963 in all its black-and-white glory. A simple but loving reminder of just how far the story has come. Fading out, we transition to another reminder of the show’s beginning: Coal Hill, the high school in which the adventure began all those years ago.

Clara works here now. You’d think the Doctor might have something to say about that, but I guess not. That’s not important, though. What is important is the opening line:

Waste no more time arguing over what a good man should be. Be one.

Marcus Aurelius

Gee, I wonder who that could be meant for.

One phone call and a bike ride later, and we’re back in the TARDIS with the 11th Doctor. Before they can vanish into time and space, however, a UNIT helicopter picks them up and carts them back to London. Kate Lethbridge Stewart, played once again by Jemma Redgrave, has orders from Queen Elizabeth the 1st to bring him in to tackle a crisis. First, however, she must present the queen’s credentials.

We also meet a then-new character here: Osgood, played by Ingrid Oliver. She’s… fine. A fun stand-in for the audience, what with her massive scarf, with some scientific know-how and a tendency to babble, she’s a likable enough character who fills her role in the plot well. Still, you can tell Moffat didn’t quite know where he wanted to go with her yet.

Unfortunately, when he did, her character went downhill real fast. But that’s a season eight problem, not a 50th anniversary one. Let’s get back on topic.

Elizabeth’s credentials turn out to be an oil-painting. In 3D. A piece of Time Lord art, a slice of time frozen in place. This particular painting depicts the fall of Arcadia on final day of the Time War. A battle in which the Doctor himself participated, shortly before he brought the war to an end.

The Doctor’s reaction to the painting is as intriguing as it is bizarre. The editing feels disjointed, cutting to several bizarre shots, sometimes with John Hurt’s features, sometimes with Matt Smith’s. It’s a strange but creative way of demonstrating the character’s mental state. He’s being torn between memories of two separate lives, both the same yet so very different. An interesting way to demonstrate what a Time Lord panic attack might look like.

Finally, after eight years of build-up, we get to see the Time War in action. And being completely honest: it’s kind of disappointing. All the hints we got up to this point made the war out to be a mind-bending, reality-shattering conflict, in which the very fabric of time and space unraveled to catastrophic results. What we get is a basic sci-fi military conflict where Time Lords and Daleks shoot lasers at each other. Sure, it looks cool, but it doesn’t quite live up to the stories.

At the very least, the Daleks are allowed to be menacing again. Albeit for this one scene.

In this scene, we see the War Doctor prepare to silence the Time War once and for all. After leaving a message for both the Time Lords and the Daleks, he steals the Moment, a weapon so powerful it developed sentience. With it slung in a sack over his shoulder, our hero marches through the desert, leaving the TARDIS behind to carry out his grim task.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: John Hurt is one of the best actors to ever play the Doctor. And all he got was one episode and some Big Finish audio dramas! He perfectly captured the old, tired, and grizzled soldier side, giving the character a powerful air of sorrow and regret. Yet at the same time, beneath it all, he still has the same whimsical energy that makes the Doctor so lovable to begin with. His arc in this episode, learning to love himself and be a true Doctor again, is honestly incredible. Plus, he makes for a perfect straight man to David and Matt’s high-octane nonsense.

In his attempts to activate the Moment, the Doctor is met with a not-yet familiar face: the Bad Wolf, played by none other than Billie Piper. This is an incredible way to work Rose into the script without having to force the character back into the fold, as well as a great way to bring back the Bad Wolf plotline from season one without ruining it. Besides, the Moment is a fantastic character; in her judgement of the Doctor, she deems not to punish him, but to save him from himself.

By introducing him to himself. Manipulating time and space, she opens a doorway into the War Doctor’s future. A gate to see what his actions will make of him.

Through which falls a fez.

Okay, I need to talk about the fez. It isn’t just a funny bit of gag apparel or a callback to the season five finale. The fez, like the story itself, is a paradox. A bootstrap paradox, to be specific. It was held in the Under Gallery because it was brought back in time by the 11th Doctor, but it was only in the gallery because he brought it back to begin with. A clever little detail consistent between both its appearances in the show.

I say both because I don’t count the time Chibnall tried to use a fez for nostalgia pandering. But here I am, getting distracted again.

Back in the gallery, Kate brings the 11th Doctor and Clara down to reveal the threat Earth now faces. They descend into the Under Gallery, where works of art too dangerous for the public are hidden. Such as the one depicting Queen Elizabeth the First with her husband. Another familiar face from the Doctor’s past.

Cut back to England 1562, and the 10th Doctor enters the fold. He woos the queen, believing her to be a Zygon in disguise. Alas for him, it was not the queen, but his horse that was the alien. They run away, get separated, and oh no! The Zygon copies the queen! Oh no! A hole has opened in the fabric of time and space!

Depositing a fez onto the ground.

The Zygon plotline is classic Doctor Who through and through. Cheesy monster suits? Check. Running down hallways? Check. Silly sets and flashing lights? Check and check. A make-peace-not-war conflict? Check! I love it! Plus, it’s always nice to see a Classic monster enter the modern era.

Returning to 11, Clara, and Kate, we finally learn the reason for UNIT bringing them to the Under Gallery. Mysterious figures seem to have broken out of the paintings. But who, and where did they go? Before we can ponder these questions, a third doorway through time opens. Tossing his fez in ahead, the 11th Doctor leaps in just behind, soon finding himself back in 1562 with himself. Some chest-puffing and unnecessary competing later, and the War Doctor leaps through to join them.

With that, our plot is made clear. Zygons are invading the Earth, and it’s up to our three bickering Doctors and Clara to stop an all-out war. Unbeknownst to them, their actions in this simple adventure will shape not only the Doctor’s past, but his future as well. For this battle for Earth will decide the final fate of the Time War.

Moffat’s writing was on-point here! At his peak, the man was an expert at weaving time travel into the narrative, and few episodes showed that off as well as this one! He masterfully sneaks in tiny clues and details that brings everything together, sometimes so subtly you might not even notice on your first viewing. On top of that, he managed to bring out the absolute best from his characters in this particular outing.

And nowhere is that more clear than in our title characters.

The dynamic between the three Doctors is the strongest aspect of this special by far. All three actors bounce off of each other to wonderous effect. They’re all playing the same character, but each one is so different that conflict almost instantly arises between them, so bitter and intense that you may even forget they’re all technically the same guy. It’s a brilliant marriage of acting and writing that could only occur in a show like Doctor Who.

In no scene is this more clear than the Tower scene. All three Doctors are trapped in a room together. With one being the living incarnation of their darkest days, it’s only natural the three end up discussing the war. It gives us a frighteningly personal glimpse into exactly how the Doctor has dealt with his grief and regret, and how much he’s come to loath himself because of them. It’s a gut-wrenching scene, more so thanks to the excellent-as-always score by Murray Gold.

This comes to a head in the episode’s climax. With the Zygons peacefully defeated, the Doctors return to that terrible moment at the end of the Time War. Yet in spite of all their growth, across both this episode and the 2005 series as a whole, all three still come to the same conclusion. Gallifrey has to burn; there is no other way.

Until the Moment confronts him, and therefor us, with the truth. For the first time, we see those that our hero would destroy. The helpless children of Galifrey, burned by the Doctor so that others like them elsewhere in the universe might live. Sure, the green screen is about as subtle as your average high school film project, but it doesn’t detract from the impact of the scene.

With that, we reach the climax nearly ten years in the making. For years, we saw the Doctor punish himself for his actions on the final day of the Time War. Now, we see him do what this character does best: break all the rules, do the impossible, and save the day. Working together with every incarnation of the character up to that point with the power of stock footage, the Doctors fix their greatest mistake and save Gallifrey!

Or at least, they try. In the end, they’re not sure if they succeeded or not. But as they sit around with a cup of tea, you can tell that all three Doctors have finally found peace with themselves. With their heads held high, each one departs in their TARDIS, until only the 11th Doctor remains.

Him and the Curator, played by the legend himself: Tom Baker. After decades of refusing to return, the 4th Doctor finally returns to the show! It’s a wonderful celebration of the past, as well as the staging ground for the future. The 4th hints to the 11th that Gallifrey was, in fact, saved!

Until Chibnall decided to ctrl+z all of that into oblivion… Though to be fair, Moffat fucked it up first with ‘Hell Bent.’

‘The Day of the Doctor’ is a near perfect episode of Doctor Who. It’s a fantastic celebration of the show’s history, a masterful character drama, and a fantastic conclusion to the Time War saga. The biggest problems it has come not because of the episode itself, but because of the direction the show went after it came out. Even with that, this episode is still one of the show’s best, even ten years later.

Now it’s time to stop looking back. We’ve got to turn our eyes to the future. A new season of the show begins this coming Saturday. The start of a brand new era.

Here’s hoping it can be as exciting as it was nineteen years ago.