Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
Nov. 24th, 2013 06:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWatching this in the (sold out) cinema with a fannish audience was glorious. A lot of people wore costumes (this despite the fact yesterday night was a rainy November evening, there were several Daleks ad TARDIS-es!) or T-Shirts/Sweaters) , everyone was in a great mood, and during watching, the collective intake of breaths, laughter and cheers at various places was something to be behold. Incidentally, when you watched this at the cinema, you go first Strax the Sontaran giving us a hilarious speech about not texting, phoning or recording during performance and then Doctors Smith and Tennant making fun o the 3 D and each other as well before the proper episode started.
Yes, yes, I know there were lots of plotholes big enough to drive a TARDIS through (to name but several, whatever became of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and the Zygons? The National Gallery was built in the 19th century! Ten's sonic screwdriver had been destroyed in Smith & Jones, and the replacement bit the dust in The Eleventh Hour, so there was no way it could be "same software, different casing" for all three Doctors, despite the obvious symbolism, etc., etc.) , but you frankly, it's been a night of sleep since the celebration and I still don't care. I certainly didn't during watching. Maybe I will later on, after plugging through other reviews, but as of this morning, I'm still on a fannish high. No, I didn't mind that Elizabeth I. was essentially Queenie from Blackadder, either, despite her being one of my favourite historical people. This show has essentially two modes when using characters who are supposed to be actual historical figures, one dimensional iconic and there as comic relief (Nero, Churchill, and Elizabeth already in her cameo in The Shakespeare Code), or three dimensional and bonding with the Doctor and the Companion(s) (Agatha Christie and Vincent Van Gogh come to mind), but even in the later case historical accuracy is hardly the point. (I loved the Van Gogh episode, which together with Amy's Choice is one of my favourites of the entire Moffat era. But I don't even try to think of the chronology of Van Gogh's actual life when watching it.
What any multi-Doctor-special needs to deliver is good interaction between the Doctors in question, and that, it did. (More about that in a second.) It should also, especially with being the 50th anniversary special, contain affection and respect for the show's history, and again, that was there aplenty, from the opening mirroring An Unearthly Child to the photos of past Companions and Doctors in the Tower to the final two scenes; I also thought giving Billie Piper, who did as much as Christopher Ecclestone did to anchor Doctor Who for a new audience in 2005 during the critical first New Who season, an important part without her playing Rose Tyler was well done; Rose's repeated returns had been, to put it mildly, controversial in fandom (and increasingly hard to justify plot wise), but what Moffat did here was using the Bad Wolf precedent without bringing Rose back, and as the "weapon of mass destruction with a conscience", Billie Piper's interplay with John Hurt, whom she had her scenes with, was lovely.
Speaking of whom: he had to create his version of the Doctor and make it equal to the other two whom the audience already knew so well, and came out victorious, which is what you get when you hire John Hurt. Seriously, he was great, both with the gravitas early on and the exasparation towards his future selves later ("am I having a midlife crisis?" will never stop being funny, ditto for "it's an instrument of science, not a waterpistol" re: the later Doctors' habit of pointing the screwdriver). As mentioned, the interplay between him and Ultimate Weapon Played By Billie Piper was sensitive and great, and his one scene with Clara, too. And of course now it makes emotional sense that the next regeneration of the Doctor will be in the shape of an older man, not a younger one. Since I doubt fannish naming habits will change to renumbering the last three Doctors, I shall call the man Hurt!Doctor henceforth, borrowing the naming convention for the various Master regenerations.
Ever since Two bickered with Three in the The Three Doctors, successive Doctors are practically expected to make fun of each other, and Smith & Tennant certainly delivered, without, however, this feeling like actual denigration of one particular regeneration - and they plus Hurt did manage to come across as the same man in three different variations, which I can't say worked that way for me all the way back in The Three Doctors (or, much as I love it, The Five Doctors later). You could tell the actors must have had a blast on the set (and click with each other really well), and yet script and performance also sold you, well, me, on the serious moments (Ten still knowing the exact number of children who must have died on Gallifrey and Eleven refusing to remember said number, for example).
Which brings me to the grand plot twist of the later Doctors, after Clara does the essential Companion thing of reminding Eleven he's the man who never stops looking for alternatives, changing the outcome of the Time War so that Gallifrey, instead of being destroyed, is being frozen in one moment in time, time-locked, and thus eventually retrievable. Which, um, already happened? Because that is compatible with the state of affairs in End of Time, and it's Moffat-like to provide a belated explanation for that. Mind you, the Night of the Doctor minisode did a better job of conveying how horrible the Time War for the galaxy at large was via Cass' reactions throughout, but as I said, I'm not in a nitpicking mode, and leaving the option to future showrunners for eventually retrieving Gallifrey and its very flawed population certainly is a "back to the beginning" Anniversary Special thing to do. Does the "all the Doctors come to help?" thing (mirroring earlier anniversary specials) make logical sense? Nope, but it makes an emotional one, and the audience I was with cheered every Doctor during the brief glimpse, and collectively drew its breath at the sight of the Capaldi eyebrows after the general said "all thirteen!" I thought that was a great moment of pointing towards the future of the show without Capaldi having to create his version of the Doctor in two seconds.
And then, of course, we got bonus Tom Baker as the Curator. You know, I'm in the minority of not loving Four best of all the Old School Doctors-, - in fact, I always have trouble connecting with him -, but I still thought this was a wonderful thing to pull off. (And keep secret among all the fannish bitching about the fact none of the surviving Old Who Doctors were listed among the cast of the Anniversary in advance.) Tom Baker has played the Doctor longer than any other actor, is more associated with the part in the public consciousness than any other actor, and when Four regenerated, the show gave him that never before and never after introduced other self in the form of "the Watcher" to be haunted by and interact with, so to present Eleven-really-Twelve , whose regeneration most of the audience knows to be impending, with the Baker-played-Curator worked on several levels for me.
In conclusion: I loved the special. Happy anniversary, show! Am now bracing myself for other reviews.
Yes, yes, I know there were lots of plotholes big enough to drive a TARDIS through (to name but several, whatever became of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and the Zygons? The National Gallery was built in the 19th century! Ten's sonic screwdriver had been destroyed in Smith & Jones, and the replacement bit the dust in The Eleventh Hour, so there was no way it could be "same software, different casing" for all three Doctors, despite the obvious symbolism, etc., etc.) , but you frankly, it's been a night of sleep since the celebration and I still don't care. I certainly didn't during watching. Maybe I will later on, after plugging through other reviews, but as of this morning, I'm still on a fannish high. No, I didn't mind that Elizabeth I. was essentially Queenie from Blackadder, either, despite her being one of my favourite historical people. This show has essentially two modes when using characters who are supposed to be actual historical figures, one dimensional iconic and there as comic relief (Nero, Churchill, and Elizabeth already in her cameo in The Shakespeare Code), or three dimensional and bonding with the Doctor and the Companion(s) (Agatha Christie and Vincent Van Gogh come to mind), but even in the later case historical accuracy is hardly the point. (I loved the Van Gogh episode, which together with Amy's Choice is one of my favourites of the entire Moffat era. But I don't even try to think of the chronology of Van Gogh's actual life when watching it.
What any multi-Doctor-special needs to deliver is good interaction between the Doctors in question, and that, it did. (More about that in a second.) It should also, especially with being the 50th anniversary special, contain affection and respect for the show's history, and again, that was there aplenty, from the opening mirroring An Unearthly Child to the photos of past Companions and Doctors in the Tower to the final two scenes; I also thought giving Billie Piper, who did as much as Christopher Ecclestone did to anchor Doctor Who for a new audience in 2005 during the critical first New Who season, an important part without her playing Rose Tyler was well done; Rose's repeated returns had been, to put it mildly, controversial in fandom (and increasingly hard to justify plot wise), but what Moffat did here was using the Bad Wolf precedent without bringing Rose back, and as the "weapon of mass destruction with a conscience", Billie Piper's interplay with John Hurt, whom she had her scenes with, was lovely.
Speaking of whom: he had to create his version of the Doctor and make it equal to the other two whom the audience already knew so well, and came out victorious, which is what you get when you hire John Hurt. Seriously, he was great, both with the gravitas early on and the exasparation towards his future selves later ("am I having a midlife crisis?" will never stop being funny, ditto for "it's an instrument of science, not a waterpistol" re: the later Doctors' habit of pointing the screwdriver). As mentioned, the interplay between him and Ultimate Weapon Played By Billie Piper was sensitive and great, and his one scene with Clara, too. And of course now it makes emotional sense that the next regeneration of the Doctor will be in the shape of an older man, not a younger one. Since I doubt fannish naming habits will change to renumbering the last three Doctors, I shall call the man Hurt!Doctor henceforth, borrowing the naming convention for the various Master regenerations.
Ever since Two bickered with Three in the The Three Doctors, successive Doctors are practically expected to make fun of each other, and Smith & Tennant certainly delivered, without, however, this feeling like actual denigration of one particular regeneration - and they plus Hurt did manage to come across as the same man in three different variations, which I can't say worked that way for me all the way back in The Three Doctors (or, much as I love it, The Five Doctors later). You could tell the actors must have had a blast on the set (and click with each other really well), and yet script and performance also sold you, well, me, on the serious moments (Ten still knowing the exact number of children who must have died on Gallifrey and Eleven refusing to remember said number, for example).
Which brings me to the grand plot twist of the later Doctors, after Clara does the essential Companion thing of reminding Eleven he's the man who never stops looking for alternatives, changing the outcome of the Time War so that Gallifrey, instead of being destroyed, is being frozen in one moment in time, time-locked, and thus eventually retrievable. Which, um, already happened? Because that is compatible with the state of affairs in End of Time, and it's Moffat-like to provide a belated explanation for that. Mind you, the Night of the Doctor minisode did a better job of conveying how horrible the Time War for the galaxy at large was via Cass' reactions throughout, but as I said, I'm not in a nitpicking mode, and leaving the option to future showrunners for eventually retrieving Gallifrey and its very flawed population certainly is a "back to the beginning" Anniversary Special thing to do. Does the "all the Doctors come to help?" thing (mirroring earlier anniversary specials) make logical sense? Nope, but it makes an emotional one, and the audience I was with cheered every Doctor during the brief glimpse, and collectively drew its breath at the sight of the Capaldi eyebrows after the general said "all thirteen!" I thought that was a great moment of pointing towards the future of the show without Capaldi having to create his version of the Doctor in two seconds.
And then, of course, we got bonus Tom Baker as the Curator. You know, I'm in the minority of not loving Four best of all the Old School Doctors-, - in fact, I always have trouble connecting with him -, but I still thought this was a wonderful thing to pull off. (And keep secret among all the fannish bitching about the fact none of the surviving Old Who Doctors were listed among the cast of the Anniversary in advance.) Tom Baker has played the Doctor longer than any other actor, is more associated with the part in the public consciousness than any other actor, and when Four regenerated, the show gave him that never before and never after introduced other self in the form of "the Watcher" to be haunted by and interact with, so to present Eleven-really-Twelve , whose regeneration most of the audience knows to be impending, with the Baker-played-Curator worked on several levels for me.
In conclusion: I loved the special. Happy anniversary, show! Am now bracing myself for other reviews.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-24 05:57 am (UTC)YES YES YES! Baker is my least favorite of all the Doctors and yet I cried seeing him on screen again after so long. It was SO BEAUTIFUL and regardless of my feelings about Four, it was so emotionally powerful. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous moment.
Ugh. The whole thing had me crying with joy. Such love for everything this show has been and will be.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-24 06:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-24 07:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-24 02:14 pm (UTC)(In fact, I'm tempted to call him the Fellini Doctor, but I don't think it would catch on...)
no subject
Date: 2013-11-25 07:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-24 04:54 pm (UTC)And if a personality as powerful as Elizabeth Tudor had been allowed three dimensions, she would have taken over the episode, which wouldn't have been a good idea in a special anniversary story supposed to be focused on the Doctor(s). You can only do a Van Gogh episode by giving the historical personality equal weight with the Doctor and Companion.
(Using Elizabeth's mother as I don't have an icon for the lady herself.)
no subject
Date: 2013-11-25 07:19 am (UTC)