The Day of the Doctor: 50th Anniversary special *spoilers*

[Si Hunt]

I bet the Doctor's bathed in River more than once though.

Si.

[Dino]

Wasn't that RTD?

Has Chris decided to quote RTD? I thought it was a weird phrase I'd never heard. But it's what he said in that interview.

I bet the Doctor's bathed in River more than once though.

Si.

Or the Doctor WILL bathe in River in the future? And-oh no! Not this again!
*Runs screaming from thread as the Moff strikes again...

[Dino]

I knew we had a thread about this sort of thing!

http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/dr...ant-tom/227588

"Doctor Who star Matt Smith has revealed he'd love previous incarnations of the character to come back for the show's 50th anniversary in 2013. The actor, who is the 13th regeneration of the Time Lord, hinted that "five or six" previous versions of Doctor could return and mentioned Tom Baker, Paul McCann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant as people he'd like to see.

Speaking to The Sun , Smith said:

How amazing would it be to see Tom Baker? Can you imagine just seeing him back in the scarf, man? That would be amazing. Paul McGann is a great actor and a great Doctor. I say bring back Chris and Dave, too.



Earlier this month, Tennant told Total Film that he would be interested in returning to the show but said that there are "no plans" for any future appearances.

Eccleston has been less complementary about his time on the show, recently telling the Daily Mirror that he left after one series in 2005 as he "didn't agree with the way things were being run".

The other living actors who have played the doctor are Peter Davidson, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.

The second half of the current series of Doctor Who is due to return to BBC One later this year."

Yeah, basically, the NME is nicking stories from The Sun which are probably made up anyway. Or maybe they hacked Matt's phone and got this from his messages?

[Perry Vale]

Paul McCann and Peter Davidson....I'm surprised they managed to spell Eccleston correctly.

[Larry]

read this to interesting thing about the article is it also said Paul Mcgann, has already ondicated that he wouldn't want to return.. which I thought a bit strange because I'm sure he has said in the past he wouldn't mind coming back/.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

Since when was Matt Smith the 13th Regeneration anyway?

[SiHart]

The words "50th anniversary Special" have been uttered by Matt Smith on BBC One this morning

[Jon Masters]

Reading David's post about Tommy B at Big Finish Day, it occurs to me that one way to get all the previous Doctors involved could be.....

... to have an animated section of the story !! Not the whole thing, but just a section (like they did on Farscape, or the muppet bit in Angel) - maybe the Doctor ends up in the Land of Fiction, or the Matrix, or goes inside his own head a la Timewyrm: Revelation.

This would mean Doctors still alive could record their vocals at any place and any time, and completely separately. It also opens up the possibility of using old lines from previous stories for Doctors 1, 2, and 3, or even voice artist replacements like David Troughton.

They've also got a whole 18 mponths to get it done - plenty of time !

[Darren]

I really hope not. It sounds awful.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

They have to do a "Trials and Tribble-ations". Absolutely nothing else will cut it.

[Larry]

I really hope not. It sounds awful.

agreed - I just want a good anniversary story and no cheap fan pleasing gimmicks .

[JohnMan]

Concerning the 50th anniversary...

It does have to be SOMETHING that ties the whole series together. From the early 60's, to present, there has to be SOMETHING that ties the old and the new together. Appearances by former Doctors? Maybe... I think the main point to look at will be the two things that have been present since the beginning...

The Tardis and the title. (Doctor Who?)

I believe we already know that everything is pointing to this... So, will older Doctors NEED to be in the 50th anniversary? Not if a good story is present.

I would LOVE to see 8,9, and 10 revisit the role in some capacity... but they don't really connect the old with the new. So, I don't believe they are a necessity.

[Rob McCow]

Further to what JohnMan says, what if the TARDIS simply revisited old locations? You could go to Totter's Yard, Skaro, UNIT HQ (wherever that may be!), Gallifrey (Somehow), plus ooo - a hundered other random ones.

Although they've revisited Totter's Yard before.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Either do a Trials and Tribble-ations (yes sorry to keep going on about it) to get the old Doctors in (because let's face it, all the "proper" ones are either too old or dead) or rebuild the original TARDIS set or something like that. OR BOTH. Going back and mixing in with old footage would need some rebuilding of old sets anyway which would be a treat in itself.

Anything that just gets Doctors 8, 9 and 10 back (and I'm sure 9 is never going to come back anyway) would be a rather weak anniversary celebration.

[Larry]

Anything that just gets Doctors 8, 9 and 10 back (and I'm sure 9 is never going to come back anyway) would be a rather weak anniversary celebration.

well I still maintain a multi Doctor story should have no more than the current Doctor and one past Doctor in it as I feel the more more Doctor's you have the more pleasing it is for the fans but you will end up with a story lacking in any real quality or plot.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

well I still maintain a multi Doctor story should have no more than the current Doctor and one past Doctor in it as I feel the more more Doctor's you have the more pleasing it is for the fans but you will end up with a story lacking in any real quality or plot.

It's a big anniversary knees up though, so plot should be secondary. Celebrating the history and being an event should come first. And look at how many people are happy to put "contains scenes of snow" as a higher priority than plot for the Christmas specials

[J.R. Southall]

This was my idea of a way in which you could get the first nine Doctors involved, in which the changing of their appearance (or the fact that they had to be played by a substitute) wouldn't be an issue. It would form a special one-off episode as a sidestep from the main series: http://watchingdoctorwho.weebly.com/...-of-eight.html



Oh, but you'll have to wait a while to find out what it is... ;-)

[Jon Masters]

Further to what JohnMan says, what if the TARDIS simply revisited old locations? You could go to Totter's Yard, Skaro, UNIT HQ (wherever that may be!), Gallifrey (Somehow), plus ooo - a hundered other random ones.

Although they've revisited Totter's Yard before.

Stepping outside the programme, I've always thought it would be nice if some of the locations used in DW were acknowledged in some way. For instance, what about a numbered Blue TARDIS plaque, giving brief details on when filming took place and for what story. You could ask locations to apply for one, pick 50 spread over the country and then issue a map so that people to go and visit them.

(of course you'd have to really fix them in well or high up to stop some muppet trying to nick them for their ubersecret collection, but I bet some visitors spots would be keen to have them inside to make money out of people who want to come and see them e.g. Athelhampton House, Arundel Castle , Pottery museum etc.)

[Simon R]

I want an episode featuring each old Doctor (that wants to do it) plus one old companion meeting Matt Smith. He can be companionless so there's less characters to write for and each episode should feature an old monster. Then all the Doctors appear together in the 90 minute speical along with cameos by as many old companions as possible. There can be some flabdoodle as to why everyone looks old and there can be poignant scenes where Peri/Tegan/Ace realise this is what they'll look like in 20 years and life is short and all that shit.

[Dirk Gently]

I like the ideas of past Doctors appearing in a long special, but I can't see it happening. The Tribble-type story couldn't really be done without colouring some Black & White stuff. Expensive & a non starter realistically.

Could CGI create good enough likenesses? I doubt it. So long past Doctor's & companions are pretty much done for. Which is a shame as I'd love to see them all.

So we are left with a potential 8th, 9th, 10th meeting the 11th...but what if they also met the 12th!
Yes, that's right, I'm talking about a pre-introduction of the future Doctor. If 2013 is to be Matt's last season then how about a real glimpse in to the future?

[Rob McCow]

Johnny Depp playing a parallel Universe Doctor.

With new parallel Universe Daleks!!!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

So we are left with a potential 8th, 9th, 10th meeting the 11th...but what if they also met the 12th!
Yes, that's right, I'm talking about a pre-introduction of the future Doctor. If 2013 is to be Matt's last season then how about a real glimpse in to the future?

I still want to see a pre-regen story in which the next Doctor appears under a different name (they could then get around publicity leaks by saying Nigel Harman will be guest starring as Johnny Alpha*) and then have the truth be revealed on broadcast as initially only the present Doctor realises who the mysterious newcomer really is before eventually the truth finally dawns on his unsuspecting companion. It would such a great reveal.

*obviously I imagine they'll use a more imaginative name rather than suggesting a 2000AD crossover.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

I still want to see a pre-regen story in which the next Doctor appears under a different name (they could then get around publicity leaks by saying Nigel Harman will be guest starring as Johnny Alpha*) and then have the truth be revealed on broadcast as initially only the present Doctor realises who the mysterious newcomer really is before eventually the truth finally dawns on his unsuspecting companion. It would such a great reveal.

*obviously I imagine they'll use a more imaginative name rather than suggesting a 2000AD crossover.

It's a good idea....well apart from the Nigel Harman bit, that is!

[Stuart Wallis]

I still want to see a pre-regen story in which the next Doctor appears under a different name (they could then get around publicity leaks by saying Nigel Harman will be guest starring as Johnny Alpha*) and then have the truth be revealed on broadcast as initially only the present Doctor realises who the mysterious newcomer really is before eventually the truth finally dawns on his unsuspecting companion. It would such a great reveal.

"Grief, it's the vilest, most evil opponent I've ever faced - BORIS JOHNSON!"

Ebenezer Wallis is too nasty to appear on Saturday teatime TV, you understand...

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I like the ideas of past Doctors appearing in a long special, but I can't see it happening. The Tribble-type story couldn't really be done without colouring some Black & White stuff. Expensive & a non starter realistically.

Just do those bits in black and white then Or start your journey with a trip back to The Three Doctors.