Last week BBC’s famous science-fiction show, Doctor Who, celebrated its 50th anniversary since its premier on November 23, 1963, quite exuberantly too.
From the beginning it throws you straight into the action of the last Time War, with the Doctor in his ninth incarnation, the “war doctor,” who is shown stealing the device which “will stop it all, Timelord and Dalek alike.” From there the story kicks off and soon three of the Doctor’s incarnations, Ten (David Tennant), Eleven (Matt Smith), and the war doctor (John Hurt), gang up and fly around in their TARDIS’s saving the Earth, yet again, from Zygons.
Not only do they save the world from monsters, who’ve been hiding in 15th century England, they also go back to the choice where the doctor destroys his own race, ending the special with a sense of excitement and pizzazz. With two surprise cameos from older (Peter Capaldi) and younger (Tom Baker) incarnations of the doctor, as well as Billie Piper’s reappearance, the mid-century celebration was surprisingly satisfying and left you with a feeling of wanting more. With Matt Smith leaving this Christmas, this special is one of his last appearances.
“I was disappointed when I realized that Billie Piper wasn’t really playing Rose and also by the fact that the interaction between Rose and Ten, Eleven, and Clara did not happen at all. Right after it was over, I felt like the special was a bit pretentious and the hype around it was in vain. But in retrospect, I feel like it was a pretty good tribute to the 50 years of Doctor Who and that it was to set the story for the episodes to come. Certain scenes were very funny and nostalgic and now I’m just really excited about the secret that was revealed at the end. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched it!” said Melanie Chiurliza, a student in the I.T academy of MLEC.
“Steven Moffat did a great job of making a light-hearted 50th anniversary special for Doctor Who. For just this once, as Christopher Eccleston’s 9th Doctor put it, “Everybody lives!” I enjoyed the introduction of the dubbed ‘Time War Doctor’; although, their number changes made things a bit confusing.” says Iprep tenth grader Kayla Davis.
Towards the end of the special almost all of the Doctor’s previous incarnations were line up together and smile, at this point most fans were thrilled to see some of their favorite doctors on screen.
“My favorite doctor, Nine, popped up for all of two seconds, but he had a line and nothing hurts and that’s all that mattered that night. Also, Peter Capaldi’s glowing blue eyes appeared onscreen for a millisecond, and I nearly fainted,” said Kayla Davis.
Premiering world-wide, the 50th anniversary was definitely a hit home-run and fans cannot wait until Christmas, when the last special of the year and we will finally hang up our bowties and the eleventh Doctor for good.
