My Review of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special

By Nathan Young on November 24, 2013

Today was an epic day in the geek/nerd world! First, we had the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 4 premiere. (click here to read my thoughts on the first two season 4 episodes) And later in the day, we had the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special! And wow, was this special just excellent! I am going to talk about my feelings about this special episode below. So if you have not seen it yet, SPOILER ALERT!

The episode began with Matt Smith as the doctor who was flying in style over the city of London. The doctor landed in the middle of Trafalgar Square having been called to the National Gallery. I would imagine anyone would love to fly in a private helicopter over London, the scenes were great! Matt Smith meets Clara Oswald and while inside the gallery he was handed a letter from Queen Elizabeth I from 1562 England and was shown a painting that made him have a flash back. The paintings in that gallery were all 3D like. I wish all paintings in art galleries were that cool!

We then get to see a flashback referencing to the Time War. Sure, some of this stuff can get confusing. But there was some great fighting action in this part! There is a lost doctor in that war where the War Doctor played by John Hurt watches Gallifrey falling to a Dalek invasion, he decides to trigger a weapon of mass destruction called the “Moment”, which is described as a “galaxy eater” and will destroy both races completely. Yes, it was almost the end for everyone when John Hurt is shown the consequences of what happens if he pulls the trigger. Thankfully he pulls back. After some great scenes in the English Countryside, we then see something epic, three doctors working together!

David Tennant (10th Doctor) and Matt Smith (11th Doctor), along with the War Doctor John Hurt, gets arrested and locked in the Tower of London. There were also several Queen Elizabeth I as well. We see the zygons again and someone in the group was a Zygon which was not good. The Doctor communicates to his present-day companions and uses a code to activate a time transporter at UNIT, allowing them to escape the Zygons. They enter UNIT by entering a picture in the same way as the Zygons. The Doctor then triggers a memory eraser, causing humans and Zygons to forget which of them is human and which merely shape-shifting human appearance, forcing them to discuss peace rather than extreme solutions. Great stuff!

The two doctors avoided one catastrophe when they managed to stop a timer going off with seconds to spare. The doctors do know their stuff when trying to prevent disasters! The next part was pure genius! The Doctors found a way of stopping another disaster on Gallifrey and saving the residents of the planet by freezing it and allowing the Daleks to inadvertently kill each other over the residents of the planet which was home to the Time Lord. What we then see is something that left many people’s mouths wide open! All 11 past doctors plus Peter Capaldi working together in their own TARDIS’s to save the day and stop the Daleks. Wow! What a great scene!

At the end, the Eleventh Doctor meets the mysterious Custodian of the museum, played by the Fourth Doctor Tom Baker. He is told that the painting’s actual name was neither “No More” nor “Gallifrey Falls,” but the singular “Gallifrey Falls No More”, and ‘”Who” knows’, hinting that the plan to save Gallifrey had worked, and the Doctor’s future involves finding it. A lot of people loved seeing the fourth doctor on the TV screen again! The episode ends with a nod to the series history when the Doctor describes a dream he’s had, one where the entire range of Doctor incarnations are seen together and the Doctor determines he will seek out Gallifrey once more. The last scene was just excellent seeing all past 11 doctors standing together! Great job BBC!

This, ladies and gentlemen, was amazing! #DoctorWho50th pic.twitter.com/sapHWw3jDF

— Nathan Young ❄️☮️💜💙🧡 (@nvyoung) November 23, 2013

I thought the episode was brilliant! The first part was slow but you see plenty of that great British humor the BBC is known for. The 10th and 11th doctors were giving all of us some good laughs. But the last 30 minutes is worth watching over and over again! Seeing all 11 doctors plus Peter Capaldi in their TARDIS’s to save Gallifrey by having the Dalek invaders destroy themselves was great to see! Seriously, seeing all 11 doctors in those holograms saving the day was as epic as it sounds! Yes, all 11 doctors worked together to save Gallifrey, many people on social media just said “Wow!” Glad to see 2.47 billion Gallifrey lives being saved!

#DoctorWho Introducing… pic.twitter.com/j8TiDxa1as

— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) November 23, 2013

Sadly, Matt Smith will soon be killed off and the eleventh Doctor will regenerate as Peter Capaldi. Matt Smith has left his mark in this great series. I loved seeing the first clips of Peter Capaldi as the doctor in the TARDIS, those eyes look serious! Just judging by those eyes, I think Peter will be a great doctor! This production by the BBC is something many more people are going to enjoy seeing for years to come! Too bad I had to watch the special on an online livestream, because our cable company (Cable One) will not get BBC America, even though many people request it. And I live too far away to see the special in theaters.

Great job to writer Steven Moffat for writing this episode! You left many people in ah! This towering achievement of an episode is one designed to please fans and newcomers alike. A special episode like this one shows why the Doctor is finding his way into ever more homes and hearts. Thank you BBC for simulcasting this special around the world at the same time! Social media can spoil things, ask those who live on the west coast and who does not want spoilers of The Walking Dead on Sunday nights while the East coast feed is showing. If you have not seen Doctor Who yet, what’s stopping you? You need to watch!

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