 |
| Doctors United |
|
 This season consists of two special stories that were broadcast in the latter half of 2013. Both follow on from "The Name of The Doctor", the last story of Season Thirty Three (New Series 7). This was, in addition to the traditional Christmas story which has been a feature of the revived series since 2005, a special story celebrating the 50th anniversary of the show.
The 50th anniversary special "The Day of The Doctor" covers the final events of the Last Great Time War. "The Time of The Doctor", the 2013 Christmas special, focuses on the Eleventh Doctor's life on Trenzalore and his subsequent regeneration into the Twelfth Doctor.
"The Time of The Doctor" became the last story for the Eleventh Doctor when it was announced, on the 1st June2013, that Matt Smith had decided to leave Doctor Who after the completion of the 2013 Christmas special.
Both specials were written by Executive Producer Steven Moffat with "The Day of The Doctor" following on from the final moments of "The Name of The Doctor", in which Clara Oswald discovered The Doctor's greatest secret, a previously unknown incarnation - The War Doctor as played by John Hurt.
"The Day of The Doctor" was directed by Nick Hurran (who previously directed "The Girl Who Waited", "The God Complex", "Asylum of The Daleks" and "The Angels Take Manhattan") while "The Time of The Doctor" was directed by was directed by Jamie Payne who previously directed "Hide".
With the announcement on the 13th March 2013 that Executive Producer Caroline Skinner would be leaving Doctor Who with the completion of Season Thirty Three (New Series 7). her replacement, all-be-it on an interim basis, would be by Faith Penhale, BBC Wales Head of Drama. Faith Penhale was the co-Executive Producer for "The Day of The Doctor" before Brian Minchin joined the Doctor Who team for "The Time of The Doctor".
Both stories star Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as his travelling companion Clara Oswald. "The Day of The Doctor" saw the guest return of David Tennant and Billie Piper. While "The Time of The Doctor", as well as seeing the departure of Matt Smith, includes the introduction of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.
While David Tennant reprises his role, as the Tenth Doctor, Billie Piper, although credited as playing Rose Tyler, in fact portrays a manifestation of "The Moment", a Gallifreyan super-weapon, that has taken on Rose Tyler's form.
This anniversary special also features previous actors who have portrayed The Doctor. Paul McGann portrayed the Eighth Doctor on-screen for the first time since his initial portrayal in the 1996 Eighth Doctor film "Doctor Who: The Movie", David Tennant returned as the Tenth Doctor, and all other former actors were seen through the use of archive footage. That is except for Tom Baker who also played the part of The Curator, an enigmatic character who may or may not be a future incarnation of The Doctor.
Other guest stars during this story includes Jemma Redgrave, as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver, as Osgood, and Joanna Page, as Queen Elizabeth I. "The Day of The Doctor" also features the return of the Zygons for the first time since they first appeared in the show in the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Terror of the Zygons".
The casting of David Tennant and Billie Piper was announced by the BBC on the 30th March 2013. On the 8th April 2013 it was announced that Jemma Redgrave would reprise her role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter Kate Stewart from "The Power of Three".
During the anniversary year rumours had also circulated that Christopher Eccleston, who played the Ninth Doctor, would have some involvement in the 50th anniversary special. However, even though Christopher Eccleston had some discussions with Steven Moffat it was reported that he eventually declined to return as the Ninth Doctor. In addition Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor, claimed that none of the surviving actors who portrayed The Doctor prior to the shows return in 2005 had been contacted regarding the special. However, the online release of "The Night of The Doctor", on the 14th November 2013, revealed that Paul McGann had returned to portray the Eighth Doctor.
It was reported that Executive Producer Steven Moffat began writing the script for "The Day of The Doctor" in late 2012, announcing that, as a security precaution, he had not produced any copies, instead keeping it on his computer until it was needed.
Being the centrepiece of BBC's celebrations "The Day of The Doctor" was broadcast on the actual anniversary itself. This special was broadcast simultaneously around the world, on television and in cinemas, in at least 94 countries including the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Panama and Peru. This was in both 2D and, where available, in 3D.
After the broadcast of "The Day of The Doctor" there was only a few weeks before the broadcast of the 2013 Christmas special. This story is the fourth and final Christmas special to feature Matt Smith's incarnation of The Doctor, and the second to feature Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald.
Steven Moffat has stated that "The Time of The Doctor" was intended to tie together the remaining story strands from the Eleventh Doctor era, some of which were introduced as far back as the Eleventh Doctor's first story "The Eleventh Hour". 'There are things I set in motion in Matt's very first episode that I'm paying off now. It's been a long game, but most of the questions that people ask will be answered'.
In September 2013 it was revealed that the Cybermen would also feature in this story, when one of the show's regular stunt artists, Darrelle 'Daz' Parker, tweeted that she would playing a Cyberman. This made it the third time that the Cybermen have appeared in a regeneration story, following the 1966 First Doctor story "The Tenth Planet" and a brief appearance in the 1969 Second Doctor story "The War Games".
With the announcement on the 1st June 2013 that Matt Smith would be leaving Doctor Who at the end of 2013, with his final story being the 2013 Christmas Special, this sparked media and fan speculation as to who the next Doctor might be with a number of names being suggested. The official announcement of who would play the part of the Twelfth Doctor was made in a special live simulcast, on the 4th August 2013 in a show called Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, which saw confirmation that this would be Peter Capaldi.
Although it was originally announced that Peter Capaldi would debut as the new Doctor at some point during the Christmas special, he actually debuted in a cameo appearance in "The Day of The Doctor", in which only his hand and his eyes are visible.
In addition to the 50th anniversary story featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant, a further special was produced to celebrate Doctor Who's half-century. Written by Mark Gatiss An Adventure in Space and Time was a feature-length docudrama detailing the conception and initial production of Doctor Who. It featured David Bradley as William Hartnell, Brian Cox as BBC executive Sydney Newman, Jessica Raine as producer Verity Lambert, Sacha Dhawan as director Waris Hussein and Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton. Matt Smith also appears as a cameo of himself in his Eleventh Doctor costume.
As a complement to "The Day of The Doctor", Peter Davison wrote and directed a 30 minute spoof entitled The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot featuring himself, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy attempting to gain parts in the 50th anniversary special. Produced in mid 2013, the film first became apparent when images of the three staging a 'protest' outside BBC Television Centre was revealed. In addition to Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, the film featured cameos from a host of other people connected with Doctor Who, including Paul McGann, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Steven Moffat and Russell T. Davies and special guest John Barrowman with David Tennant's wife Georgia Moffet and their son and daughter Ty Tennant and Olive Tennant also guest starring.
While "The Day of The Doctor" and An Adventure in Space and Time formed the centrepieces of the celebrations a large number of documentaries, and other programmes to celebrate this milestone in the shows history were broadcast, across all of the BBC's platforms, both on television and radio. These included: a Culture Show special entitled Me, You and Doctor Who presented by Matthew Sweet that explored the wider cultural significance of the show. CBBC broadcasted a show called 12 Again in which past and present stars of the show recounted their memories, Professor Brian Cox delivered a televised lecture on the Science of Doctor Who, and BBC Three had a weekend devoted to Monsters and Villains, as well as showing Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide. The BBC also announced plans that it was to broadcast a newly restored print of the first story "An Unearthly Child".
UKTV's Watch showed a story from each Doctor based around the broadcast of the eleven part BBC America series, The Doctors Revisited. This series had one episode dedicated to each incarnation of The Doctor, and was broadcast monthly alongside an omnibus edition of a story of each Doctor.
The British Film Institute ran a year long celebration of the 50th anniversary with monthly screenings of stories from each era of The Doctor, culminating in November 2013 with screenings of both "The Day of The Doctor" and An Adventure in Space and Time.
BBC Radio 2 broadcasted a number of new programmes commemorating the show. This included: a 90-minute documentary called Who is The Doctor?; The Blagger's Guide to Doctor Who, hosted by David Quantick, and Graham Norton's live Saturday show was broadcast from the Doctor Who Celebration event at the ExCel. BBC Radio 1 looked at the phenomenon of Time Lord Rock, a musical style derived from the music of the show, while BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a three-hour special called Who Made Who, which discussed the world that inspired the show.
In October 2013, Big Finish Productions also released a 50th anniversary special audio drama featuring the Fourth through to the Eighth Doctors entitled "The Light at the End".
|
|
|
 |
| The Eleventh Doctor Regenerating |
|
Key moments during this season include:
The Day of The Doctor:
The Time of The Doctor:
|
|
|
