Day of the Doctor

[llywela]

So, on the day of the Doctor, I went to the Doctor Who Experience (again), because what better way to celebrate, right? I went, I saw, I experienced…and I got chased by a Silent. And when I say chased, I mean really, seriously, it followed me all around the exhibition, and I was hiding behind people and everything and still it came at me!


Oh, and a scarecrow tried to get me, as well. Dangerous place, the Doctor Who Experience!


Also, there were Weeping Angels hanging around the Bay – it simply wasn't safe to blink!


But it's okay, the TARDIS was just coming in to land, so we were all saved!


So, safe in the knowledge that the Doctor was busily saving the day, I went for a ride around the Bay on the dinky little open boat Daffodil, wrapped up in a blanket because it was freezing, and the boatman played Doctor Who music and sound effects for the entire ride, which was awesome, and it was a glorious winter day and the Bay looked like this and it was gorgeous.


And then, of course, there was the Day of the Doctor, the anniversary episode. I watched it in company, which I knew was a mistake, but I'm kinda sorta seeing someone and he wanted to see it with me so I said yes, but company while watching shows I'm invested in is always a mistake because it's distracting. And there were a lot of 'huh?' moments that I needed to process alone (such as the cliffhanger from the season finale, left completely unresolved). So I came out of it feeling a bit dissatisfied (which Peter Davison's brilliant 'The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot soon put right – if you haven't seen it, go and watch immediately, it's hilarious and I love it, they got so, so many people to take part, from Peter Jackson and Sir Ian McKellen to their own families (basically everyone except Eccleston), and they all just had an absolute blast sending themselves up, playing spoof versions of themselves, and it is fantastic). Then I went away and wrote down all the details that bothered me, and then I watched it again and that did the trick because the second time around I absolutely loved it.

Which is not to say that there aren't still details that bother me, because there are, but all television is made by flawed individuals and all things are flawed, what matters is whether or not the pros outweigh the cons – what matters is the enjoyment.

And this was fun. Moffat's style of storytelling is never going to be my favourite, but that's okay, it doesn't need to be. This was fun. It was a romp and it had heart. And that's really all I'd ask of it. I'd have preferred more of a celebration of the last 50 years (a few nods here and there just don't cut it) and less of a Time War special, but we can't have it all.

Also, I really loved John Hurt's Doctor and would have swapped him for both Tennant and Smith in a heartbeat, even though I like them both.

Although I do have to cry foul at Moffat there because he said that inserting Hurt into the Doctor's past timeline wouldn't alter the numerical sequence, but it totally does. Whether the character calls himself the Doctor or not, he's still a full regeneration, which means that the numerical sequence is now up the spout (and I know the Doctor doesn't call himself by number, which is why I hate going online and seeing so many people calling him One, Five, Nine, etc, but the point is that we know him by number and now those numbers from nine onward don't match his actual regeneration numbers, which is an added layer of complication that the show really didn't need) , and I'm afraid I still don't see why the exact same story couldn't have been told with McGann's Doctor, thus avoiding the complication.

But I loved Hurt's Doctor enough not to care too much about all that. Plus, Tom Baker, whose appearance made very little sense, but what the hell, the man's acting style hasn't changed a bit and just the sound of his voice sent a chill down my spine, the mad old darling.

There's loads more I could say, but that would mean dwelling on bad stuff as well as good stuff, which I'm not going to, so I'll just leave it there!

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I was very dissatisfied with the episode on first viewing (for many reasons, one of which was that it felt more like a Time War special than a celebration of 50 years of the show, there were nods to the classic period, but the focus was intensely on the new). But after I'd written out all that dissatisfaction (which I'm not going to post) I watched it again and felt at peace with the choices that had been made and was able to enjoy it for what it is rather than longing for what I'd hoped for. I mean, I already knew going in that I don't much like Moffat's showrunning style, so none of the flaws and plot holes came as a surprise, at least.

I adore The Five Doctors, but that's far from perfect, as well. So I've decided to focus on the good and just live with the bad!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I loved it! And, as seems to be usual, for various reasons that you seem to have disliked it for... *g* I never want to niggle about things in DW either (I've just read comments over at the Grauniad, and oh, just shut up!) cos I tend to watch it for the adventure and the heart of it, as you said at the top. I seem to like Moffat's stories, so I didn't mind this one at all, and I've never paid much attention to their numbers, so if they'd suddenly started justifying them when they've never been an issue in the show it would have thrown me, I think.

Wasn't the point of this, and the prequel bit that you posted, that an ordinary incarnation of the Doctor couldn't actually have ended the Time War as the Warrior Doctor was going to do? McGann's Doctor was allowed to choose the aspects of personality/humanity that he needed to put an end to the Time War, because McGann himself couldn't find another way to do it - or that was how I read it...

I do agree that Tom Baker's Doctor at the end didn't make much sense - but then he gave a nod to the nonsense of it himself, and I'll take the heart of something like that over the scientific justification (which I always manage to make up in my head if I need to *g*) anyday.

So from me - a big yeay! And oh, I wish I could have been in Cardiff that day too, it sounds gorgeous! *vbg*

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Moffat's era is never going to be my favourite era of Doctor Who because there's something about his style of storytelling that just doesn't work for me, but that's a subjective thing - can't love 'em all, and for all its flaws this was a hugely entertaining piece of television that sets up exciting dramatic possibilities for the future, which I'm all for.

Wasn't the point of this, and the prequel bit that you posted, that an ordinary incarnation of the Doctor couldn't actually have ended the Time War as the Warrior Doctor was going to do? McGann's Doctor was allowed to choose the aspects of personality/humanity that he needed to put an end to the Time War, because McGann himself couldn't find another way to do it - or that was how I read it...
Yeah, that's absolutely how it was intended, and that's fine and in character for the 8th Doctor and works at a character level. It does make for real world confusion, though, and I have absolutely no doubt that it could have been written in a way that would work for the 8th Doctor as well, if Moffat hadn't been so set on the idea of a 'mayfly' Doctor that no one knew about.

Still, not going to niggle too much because I loved Night of the Doctor, loved the War Doctor, and the numerical complication doesn't bother me the way it seems to bother some people, because it's not as if he introduces himself by number anyway, so we'll just run with it!