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

[Si Hunt]

Shouldn't they have already decided all this by now??

Si.

[Stuart Wallis]

Why do the words "Dark Dimension" suddenly come to mind...?

[Stuart Wallis]

I agree with Stuart

First time for everything!

[Dirk Gently]

I agree with Stuart...

First time for everything!

I agree with Stuart here.

[Stuart Wallis]

Second time for everything!

[Simon R]

I think a multi part documentary series maybe an hour's episode for each of the 5 decades would do it. The 90s can be padded put with books, audios and unsuccessful attempts to make a film version. Or another Doctor Who night on the actual anniversary date and on BBC1.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Well the possibility of a docu-drama is taking another step closer to reality...

DWNP - Docudrama on the way?

[Nyder]

They should have a Big Brother DW special. That would get me watching the programme again!

[Anthony Williams]

This isn't speculation, but more of a fantasy. Here's what I think would be a fitting tribute.

A season, like the forthcoming Series 7, split into two halves. In between the two halves, there would be two anniversary specials (1 hour each in length), forming one multi-Doctor story. There would also be a Christmas special. Each story would be entitled in a way that would recall past adventures - a play on words, in the way that Moffat is apparently having much of Series 7 playing off of Hollywood movies. So, while I wouldn't want to see outright sequels, a series of titular tributes wouldn't go amiss - we could have things like "The Tomb of the Silence", "The Androids of Death" or even something like "First of the Time Lords". Of course, these are only my ideas with 5 minutes of thinking - I'm sure the professionals would do it a lot beter!

But, I think that that'd be a lovely way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary season in general

[Stuart Wallis]

They should have a Big Brother DW special. That would get me watching the programme again!

"Day 4 in the Big Brother TARDIS..."

[brandynigma]

Anniversary specials?

http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/multiple-50th-specials-no-full-series-until-2014-36555.htm

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Well DWM definitely also features the first official mention of the 2014 series which seems to imply that Moffat isn't planning to kill off the current incarnation quite yet.
I am intrigued by the quote "Are you ready to cry?" but coming from Moffat that can mean almost anything...

[brandynigma]

I am intrigued by the quote "Are you ready to cry?" but coming from Moffat that can mean almost anything...

"Because I'm going to drop this tin of tomatoes on your foot!"
"Why?"
"I told the fans I was going to make you cry. They'll never see this coming!"

[Si Hunt]

"Amy and Rory are back"? That would make me cry.

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

Frankly, with it looking less and less likely that we might get a full series for the anniversary, I'm getting an increasing feeling of disappointment.

I wouldn't mind, but I can't help but get the feeling that we're being misdirected (if not entirely misled) by the Moff. He yabbers on about how 2013 will be "the best year to be a Doctor Who fan" and how they're going to be "filming for longer than ever". We've been told that we'll "never be more than a few months away" from having Doctor Who on TV. And it certainly feels more and more like empty rhetoric.

I wouldn't mind if we got less Doctor Who next year. But I do wish that they'd turn around and say "well, Matt needs a break" or "Steven's too busy with the other projects he's doing" or even "frankly, we're in austere times, and the BBC doesn't have enough money to make as much Doctor Who as it did in 2005-2008". Instead, we get excuses.

Sure, the BBC doesn't owe me anything. But with SO many loyal fans out there, I would love to hear the truth, rather than the production team's propaganda.

[Si Hunt]

There's a reason why we don't hear the truth.

Can you imagine the moaning and abuse if "Steven's too busy" was given as the reason? The fans would be winging away, why is Sherlock given priority, disloyal etc. etc.

The fact is probably that they are making what they can afford, but they have to subtly slip in these breaks "hidden in plain sight". Look at the fuss fans made about the "year Off" (when we got specials). Ian Levine was campaigning worried the show was over etc. It's no wonder this break (which has been the longest yet) was done sneakily.

Anyway, if we get lots of specials with former Doctors next year, I'm more than happy to sacrifice half a year of Matt Smith to get them!

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

If what we get in 2013 is something truly special and amazing, then I will happily eat my words.

But, for now, I really get the feeling that we're being lied to. And I really don't appreciate that. What's worse is that they're not even consistent about it - you get the BBC1 controller saying one thing, Moffat saying something else, Matt Smith leaking us bits of info. They should at least make sure that they're all "on message".

[J.R. Southall]

Yes, as Si says, it's all very well saying things like "there isn't enough money to make 14 episodes of Doctor Who a year every year" retrospectively, but anyone and everyone will speak in "production hype" terms contemporaneously. It's just not the done thing to apologise publicly for shortcomings when you're trying to sell something that hasn't arrived on the screens yet.

Can you imagine if they were to advertise the 50th Anniversary celebrations with a "It's not what you wanted and it's less than we'd have liked, but it's the best we could do in the circumstances"...?

[Si Hunt]

Again Ant, it's the nature of the world today. Matt Smith accidentally mentions the "FIRST" Special instead of "The Special", a one-word slip and it's all over the news pages. People are lapping at his every word, ready to analyse, predict, criticise. Now, if there's only one, people will be dissapointed!

I still think the way fans are and the way the Internet is, they do the best they can. It's hard when people are reading something into your every word and slagging you off on-line WHATEVER you do. Maybe we should all just wait and see.

Incidentally, it's worth remembering that the only reason things slip out is because the production team and the stars are asked about it every five minutes.

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

Yes, things will slip out. But they shouldn't have turned around and said things that are now appearing to be untrue. If there's going to be less Doctor Who, don't say that there's going to be more. There are ways of saying things so that they don't sound bad, but aren't untrue at the same time.

For example, they could've said "We're going to do something different and exciting with Doctor Who to celebrate the anniversary year in a way to remember" rather than "We're going to do less Doctor Who in 2012 so that you can have more in 2013" (something that now appears like it's not going to be true)

[Si Hunt]

I forgot, why do we think there will be less Who in 2013 again?

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I'm pretty sure the supposed confirmation of a series of specials has been taken out of context. The quote seems to imply there will be more than one episode leading up to the anniversary but there seems to be an assumption that these will be "specials" without anything to back this up.

That said it was a throwaway remark in the middle of an interview and shouldn't be taken as confirmation of anything. No plans for the 2013 anniversary have yet been officially confirmed in any way, shape or form.

[Anthony Williams]

I forgot, why do we think there will be less Who in 2013 again?

Because we're Doctor Who fans, and went for 16 years with constant anticipointment.

[SiHart]

Christopher Eccleston has more to do as the Doctor...

[Dirk Gently]

It was the BBC that got rid of him, he never left voluntarily. So it's not surprising to me that there is a feeling that the role was left half done.