The Day of the Doctor (TV story)

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The Day of the Doctor was the 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran and featured Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, Billie Piper as the Moment and John Hurt as the War Doctor.

For the occasion, it the first full-length multi-Doctor story of the BBC Wales era, the first Doctor Who adventure shot in stereoscopic 3D, and the first adventure to be broadly available in cinemas in a number of different countries.

It aired at the same time around the globe, on 23 and 24 November 2013 on television, setting a record for the largest ever simulcast of a television drama. In all, it was viewable in some 94 countries and 1,500 theatres worldwide.[1] Domestically, the British Broadcasting Corporation's 2013/14 Annual Report cited it as the most watched drama on the BBC in 2013, with 12.8 million television viewers, and an additional 3.2 million iPlayer requests.[2] It also broke, or neared, viewing records in a number of other regions around the world. Because of its theatrical run and subsequently strong home media sales, it is the single adventure with the highest gross worldwide sales in the history of Doctor Who. The success of this release led to the series 8 premiere, Deep Breath, receiving a similar theatrical simulcast as it aired on television on 23 August 2014.

The episode featured the return of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and the appearance of John Hurt as a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor: the War Doctor, in what was the final chronological adventure for his portrayal of the Doctor. His only full-length adventure on screen introduced a new iteration of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and a unique TARDIS control room predating those seen in Series 1.

Furthermore, the special depicted the War Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth Doctor, completing a missing link in the chain of incarnations that started when Christopher Eccleston debuted in the 2005 relaunch of the series, Rose. The process of resolving the regenerations issue was being enforced by executive producer Steven Moffat, as he wished to have a "complete set" in time for Matt Smith's upcoming final episode.[source needed] Moffat also chose to requisition actor Paul McGann for one more outing as the Eighth Doctor in a mini-episode production, The Night of the Doctor one week after production wrapped on the anniversary special, resulting in a second former Doctor returning to the screen as part of the festivities. McGann filmed his own regeneration into Hurt's version of the Doctor, cementing the lineage of all Doctors up to Smith's incarnation onward.

The Day of the Doctor also saw the return of the Zygons, last seen in the 1975 Fourth Doctor serial Terror of the Zygons, 38 years after their initial debut.

The Day of the Doctor provided a chance to reveal a missing element of the Last Great Time War that dramatically altered the outcome as viewers were previously led to believe. Instead of allowing Gallifrey to be destroyed, the Doctors were able to save it, giving the Eleventh Doctor a chance to shed his guilt from the outcome and begin a new mission to find his way home. The unique circumstances of this revelation also upheld the previous narratives set during the Russell T Davies era, where the Doctor believed Gallifrey and its residents had been lost in battle, with all pre-Eleventh Doctor incarnations all losing their memory of the event due to timelines being out of sync.

Amongst fans, the story was exceedingly popular. In a 2014 poll by Doctor Who Magazine,[3] which ranked all of the Doctor Who television stories aired to date, The Day of the Doctor ranked as "DWM readers' favourite adventure of the first 50 years". (DWM 474)

Due to worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus in the year 2020, Emily Cook from Doctor Who Magazine proposed an idea to fans of a simulcast watch-along of the story worldwide on 21 March 2020 as a way to pass the time in self-isolation, adding that if this "Who at Home" concept gained enough popularity, she would arrange more in the following weeks. This watch-along would reignite #SaveTheDay.[4] For this special occasion, Steven Moffat returned to the writing stool to create a brand new "introduction" to the story, entitled Strax Saves the Day.[5]

Synopsis

The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th-anniversary special. In the 21st century, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space, an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor's own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.

Plot

The Day of the Doctor begins with the classic opening titles from An Unearthly Child, and slowly starts in black and white, and then fades into colour. The shadow of a policeman can be seen, as he walks past Totter’s Lane Junkyard, and turns a corner, onto Coal Hill School. The name, I. Chesterton, is seen as Chair of Governors. Clara Oswald is teaching English in her classroom, before the lesson ends and she receives a phone call, saying ‘it’s her Doctor’. She receives some coordinates, and drives her motorbike into the TARDIS, snapping her fingers to shut the door. The Doctor, reading Quantum Advanced Mechanics, leaps up and hugs his companion. However, shortly after, the TARDIS is hoisted off the ground by a helicopter, and the Doctor receives a phone call from the TARDIS telephone. It is Kate Stewart, Head of UNIT, who has lifted the TARDIS off the ground with the helicopter, to bring it in, but was unaware that the Doctor was inside. Clara watches the Doctor fall out of the helicopter and shouts, but he hangs on to the bottom, as the helicopter lands in Trafalgar Square, outside the National Gallery. The Doctor salutes Kate Stewart and Osgood, who is wearing a replica of the Fourth Doctor’s famous scarf. Kate Stewart leads the Doctor and Clara into the National Gallery, showing him a painting depicting the Fall of Arcadia, Gallifrey’s second city. The Doctor, scarred by events of the day, remembers the day ‘he’ did it.


The Daleks lay siege to Arcadia, as the Gallifreyan troops attempt to hold off the army. The Doctor arrives in the TARDIS, and asks a soldier if he can use his gun. By firing the gun into a solid wall, the Doctor writes the word, ‘NO MORE’, into the wall. The Daleks, about to exterminate a group of civilians, locate the Doctor and begin to pursue him. The Doctor pilots the TARDIS into them, destroying them all, apart from one, which, before it dies, stares at the wall and notices the words, ‘NO MORE’. The Gallifreyan War Council realises that the Moment, a highly powerful and dangerous weapon, is missing from the Time Vault. Calling it the Galaxy Eater, the General is worried of its disappearance. As the Doctor is led out of the room, The Doctor is shown another painting by Kate Stewart, McGillop receives a phone call, although it is unknown who the call is from, or what the caller said. McGillop simply responds,’Ok sir, but why would I take it there?’. The Doctor is shown another painting by Stewart, which depicts his previous incarnation with Queen Elizabeth I. In 1562, the 10th Doctor rode a horse out of the TARDIS, with Elizabeth. Eating a picnic on the grass, the Doctor unknowingly proposes to Elizabeth, before realising that she could be a Zygon. However, it becomes apparent that the Zygon is actually the horse. The Doctor and Elizabeth seek shelter in a small hut, and then split up. The Doctor believes a rabbit is the zygon, before realising it is actually just a rabbit. In the present, the 11th Doctor is taken into the Under Gallery, and notices a strange sand-like substance on the floor, asking Osgood to have it analysed. As he walks through the Under-Gallery, he walks past a fez and puts it on. 


The War Doctor arrives at a small barn in the middle of a desert, and tries to work out how to use the Moment. However, the Moment’s interface comes into reality, in the form of Rose Tyler (someone from his future). The War Doctor asks Rose to not sit on the Moment, and throws her out of the barn, but she appears back in the barn, sitting on the Moment. In the present, the 11th Doctor is shown another painting, this one depicting a wasteland, and there are shards of broken glass on the floor surrounding it. However, the Doctor is given a scanner, and, when passing it over the painting, notices that there was once a figure on the painting, and theorises it must have broken out, explaining the shards of broken glass on the floor. Suddenly, a wormhole appears in the air. In 1562, the 10th Doctor reunites with Elizabeth, but then another Elizabeth appears. The Zygon has taken the form of Elizabeth. Suddenly, the wormhole opens in their time as well, and the 10th Doctor tells the two Elizabeths to stand back. On Gallifrey, the wormhole opens as well. The 11th Doctor throws the fez through, which lands in 1562. The 10th Doctor throws the fez back through, and it lands on Gallifrey. Shouting,’Geronimo!’, the 11th Doctor jumps through the wormhole, and lands in 1652, with the 10th Doctor. After comparing sonic screwdrivers, the War Doctor also jumps through, and asks if anyone has lost a fez! After realising that the two other men are the Doctor, the War Doctor is startled by their use of their sonic screwdrivers, once a small army of soldiers appears to take the three Doctors hostage. However, the 11th Doctor asks Clara to utter spells through the wormhole, pretending to be a witch, but Elizabth appears and takes them hostage and throws them into the Tower of London. 


In the present, McGillop and Osgood are examining the strange dust, wondering where it came from, but then the ‘statues’ throw off their sheets and reveal themselves to be Zygons. Osgood is chased out of the Under Gallery and backs against a wall, but the Zygon takes her form, and asks to use her inhaler. Osgood gives her her inhaler, and because the Zygon has her foot on her scarf, she pulls it and trips the Zygon up, and escapes, Kate and Clara take a car to the Black Archive. Kate reveals that every time the workers leave the Black Archive, they have their memories wiped. Clara has been to the Black Archive before, but doesn’t remember because she has had her memory wiped. In 1562, the 11th Doctor is scratching a code to Captain Jack Harkness’s Vortex Manipulator into the wall of their prison cell, so that in the present, UNIT can find it, and use the Vortex Manipulator to travel back in time and rescue the three Doctors. However, Zygon duplicates of Osgood and McGillop enter the Black Archive, and Kate reveals herself to be a Zygon. Clara uses the Vortex Manipulator and travels back in time. 


In 1562, the War Doctor is scanning the door, trying to scan the resonant frequency, so that, in theory, the door will dissolve into atoms. He predicts that it will take a few centuries, but he says they may as well get started, it will pass the time. The 10th Doctor asks the 11th if he ever counted how many children were on Gallifrey on the day that he used the Moment. The 11th says he never counted, but the 10th knows he did. There were 2.47 billion children on Gallifrey the day that the Doctor used the Moment. Rose tells the War Doctor that because their sonic screwdrivers are the same, just a different model, the calculation that the War Doctor has been doing will be ongoing. Just as they are about to complete the calculation, Clara bursts open the door, and tells them that it wasn’t locked. Elizabeth then enters, and tells them that she didn’t lock the door because she wanted to see if they would notice.


In the present, Osgood hears groaning in the Under Gallery, and discovers Kate. In 1562, Elizabeth reveals the Zygon’s plan, in which they will freeze themselves in paintings with the use of stasis cubes, and then break out in the present and claim the planet. Elizabeth then reveals she isn’t a zygon, but pretended to be so that she could learn their plan, and killed the Zygon leader with a dagger. She then declares to the 10th Doctor that he must marry her, which he does, and then they use the 10th Doctor’s TARDIS, which, because of the presence of the three Doctors in the TARDIS at the same time, it changes design to suit each Doctor, before settling on the 11th Doctor’s design, which the 10th Doctor declares he doesn’t like. However, in the present, in the Black Archive, UNIT, and the Zygons, are arguing about the fate of the planet. Kate sets a detonation time for a nuclear warhead 20 feet beneath them, and claims she would destroy all of London to save the rest of the world. The Doctor tries to force Kate to let him into the Black Archive so that he can find a solution but she refuses. However, the Doctors have a plan. Using the TARDIS phone, the 11th Doctor calls McGillop, and tells him to take the Gallifrey Falls painting to the Black Archive (which explains the mysterious phone call earlier in the episode). Osgood, clearly afraid of the nuclear warhead, asks the Doctor to save her. In the Gallifrey Falls painting, all three Doctors are now there, and by using their three sonic screwdrivers, they push a Dalek through the glass and into the Black Archive. The three Doctors walk through, using a similar tactic to the Zygons. Using the technology that the Black Archive uses to wipe people’s memory, the Doctors use it to wipe the memory of everyone in the room, so they won’t be able to remember if they are human or Zygon. The countdown is cancelled, and the humans and Zygons negotiate a plan to live in harmony with one another. One version of Osgood gives the other the inhaler, revealing herself as the Zygon. She puts a finger to her lips, asking her not to tell anyone.


While talking to Clara, the War Doctor disappears and goes back to Gallifrey. He thinks he is ready to use the Moment. Using their TARDISes, the 10th and 11th Doctors travel to Gallifrey, which the 10th Doctor believes they shouldn’t do, as the events are time-locked. As the three Doctors prepare to use the Moment, Clara reveals that she never pictured ‘her’ Doctor doing it. Rose shows the three Doctors the terror that will be caused by their use of the Moment. Realising what they are about to do, the three Doctors devise a new plan, in which Gallifrey will simply disappear, and the Daleks will fire onto themselves, destroying themselves.


In the War Council, the Daleks are laying siege to the Capitol. The Doctor has sent a message to the Capitol, reading ‘GALLIFREY STANDS’. The three Doctors are flying their TARDISes at equidistant intervals around the globe, ready to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time, in a Stasis cube. Declaring this as delusional, the General believes that it will never work. When he realises it may be possible, the General believes it would take years to solve the calculations. The 10th Doctor says he has had a very long time. All 12 incarnations of the Doctor use their TARDISes, which becomes 13 when the 12th Doctor arrives, much to the dismay of the General. When the Daleks start to increase their firepower, the General tells the Doctor to ‘just do it’. The 11th Doctor shouts ‘Geronimo!, the 10th ‘Allons-y!’ and the War Doctor ‘Oh for God’s sake, Gallifrey Stands!’. The Doctors freeze Gallifrey and the Daleks destroy themselves. 


In the National Gallery, the War Doctor believes that even if they failed doing the right thing, at least they didn’t succeed in doing the wrong. The War Doctor departs in his TARDIS, believes he is ‘wearing a bit thin’, and begins to regenerate into the Ninth. The 10th Doctor also departs, and, with news that he is going to go to Trenzalore, declares that ‘I don’t want to go’, to which the 11th Doctor responds with,’he always says that’. Clara thinks that the Doctor wants a moment alone with his painting, and tells him that the Curator wants to see him. The Curator, a later, but not entirely canon, incarnation of the Doctor arrives. The Curator reveals that the title of the painting is ‘Gallifrey Falls No More’, which means that Gallifrey is still out there, and that the Doctors succeeded. The Doctor believes he has a new destination: Gallifrey. Home, the long way round.

Cast

Uncredited cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Stereo 3D

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.


Uncredited crew

References

  • The Tenth Doctor says that there was 2470000000 children on Gallifrey when the planet was supposedly destroyed.
  • The War Doctor claims the Dalek army numbers 1000000000000000.

Individuals

The Doctor

  • While confronting a rabbit which he briefly believes to be a Zygon in disguise, the Tenth Doctor says that he is 904-years-old. The Eleventh Doctor believes he is about 1200-years-old, which the War Doctor states is 400 years older than himself.
  • The Doctor is mentioned to still be on the UNIT payroll.
  • The War Doctor regenerates into the Ninth Doctor.

Zygons

Planets

Technology

References to the real world

  • The Eleventh Doctor calls the Tenth Doctor "Dick Van Dyke" in a sly reference to his accent.
  • The Tenth Doctor wears sandshoes.

Story notes

Ratings

  • UK: 12.8 million, 3.2 million iPlayer requests[2]
  • US: 2.8 million (the highest for the channel at the time)
  • Canada: 1.7 million

Specific to theatrical presentation

Main article: Cinema Introduction (The Day of the Doctor)

Specific to the 3D version

  • The episode was shot, broadcast and screened in cinemas in stereoscopic 3D. Despite confessing that he was not a big fan of 3D movies, writer and show runner Steven Moffat came up with the idea of shooting the episode in 3D and, despite his initial worries, found the 3D version to be "better" and "more satisfying" than the 2D version. Knowing that the vast majority of viewers would have watched it in 2D, director Nick Hurran made sure that his shooting style wasn't influenced "too much" by the episode's use of 3D. Nonetheless, Hurran meticulously researched the back-catalogue of 3D films in order to see what worked and what didn't. Steven Moffat believed that Hurran's research had led the director to view "every 3D film ever made". (DWM 468)
  • The original Doctor Who logo was not only modified to appear in black and white; a 3D effect was added to suggest the logo moving towards the viewer.
  • The 3D paintings are obviously more three-dimensional in the 3D version.
  • As the Eleventh Doctor walks out of the TARDIS onto the cloud bearing his other selves at the very end of the story, the effect is considerably "more 3D" than viewing the 2D version would suggest.
  • Mistika was used for the finishing of the stereo 3D work.

Common among all versions

File:GRAHAM NORTON Regenerates into DAVID TENNANT & MATT SMITH Doctor Who on The Graham Norton Show
In the marketing for the anniversary special, David Tennant and Matt Smith helped Graham Norton break the usual format of The Graham Norton Show's opening sequence.
  • When pre-production on this special began, Jenna Coleman was the only cast member who was under contract to appear. As a result, Steven Moffat began working on a story which would have only her and tentatively named it The No Doctors, just in case no other Doctors were available.[19]
  • In the partial draft Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Time War, the Ninth Doctor played the role of the War Doctor. Following Christopher Eccleston declining to reprise the role, Moffat suggested another past Doctor instead, but was vetoed by the BBC, prompting him to create a new secret incarnation for the occasion.[20]
  • In a complete Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special draft, the War Doctor calls himself "the Renegade."
  • Radio Times credits David Tennant as "The Tenth Doctor", John Hurt as "The Other Doctor" (matching marketing materials and merchandise for the incarnation prior to the episode's broadcast) and Billie Piper as "Rose Tyler". This is also reflected in the closing credits where Piper is credited as Rose, despite her playing the Moment in Rose's form.
  • Jonjo O'Neill, who played McGillop, is erroneously credited as "McGuillop" in Radio Times.
  • The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of the Eleventh Doctor and the Tenth Doctor in the wood, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 7.50 p.m. / Matt Smith and David Tennant join forces in a tale celebrating 50 years of the show".
  • The story is fronted by the version of the title sequence used on the original episode An Unearthly Child, modified to include a BBC logo, and slightly shortened. This marks the sequence's first use since Episode 4 of The Moonbase in 1967, approximately 47 years prior; as such, The Day of the Doctor is the only episode to use a previously retired title sequence, rather than use the current one or introduce a new one.
  • Similar to The Two Doctors, the opening shot is in black and white, but quickly fades into colour.
  • The TARDIS interior set floor was raised from its normal height during the filming of the special to help Jenna Coleman's stunt double ride Clara's motorbike into the TARDIS.
  • The soundtrack playing while the Eleventh Doctor is hanging out of the TARDIS over London was first used in Aliens of London and World War Three. This is an orchestral re-recording of the piece, first heard on the series 1 and 2 soundtrack.
  • This is the first episode since The Eleventh Hour to feature the theme tune's middle eight section in the closing titles.
  • This is the final televised story to feature the Eleventh Doctor in a fez.
  • The promise that the Doctors state is based on a passage from the Terrance Dicks reference book The Making of Doctor Who. Different parts of the passage have been quoted through different Doctor Who products. One of these is the 1999 Comic Relief special The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Moffat himself.
  • The archived footage and recordings used during the "Save Gallifrey" scene for the different Doctors are as follows:
  • The scene featuring the War Doctor's regeneration does not conclude with the emergence of the Ninth Doctor. It only shows hints of his face beginning to form, due to the absence of Christopher Eccleston after his decision not to reprise the role for the anniversary special. Steven Moffat later explained his reasons for cutting the scene short in an interview published in DWM 473;

It was one thing to include him among all the other archive Doctors, as they flew in to save the day — in fact, it would have been disgraceful to have left anyone out — but placing him in that scene might have given the impression he'd actually turned up for filming, which would have been crossing the line. Not taking part in the 50th was a difficult decision for Chris, taken after a lot of thought and with great courtesy, and not respecting his wishes would have been grossly unprofessional and disrespectful to a good man and a great Doctor. Number 9 may not have turned up for the celebrations, but there would have been no party without him.Steven Moffat [src]

  • Similarly to The Five Doctors, the end credits list all the actors who have played the Doctor in the reverse order of their incarnations (with the exception of Peter Capaldi, who remained uncredited for his brief appearance). As a result, Matt Smith and David Tennant are listed first and second respectively, but Christopher Eccleston is credited above John Hurt. This marks the first time Eccleston is credited as playing "The Doctor" as during his season he was credited as "Doctor Who" (Hartnell had previously been credited as "The Doctor" at the end of TV: The Five Doctors after being credited as "Dr. Who" during his era).
  • At some point, the script had posters of Peter Cushing movies and revealed that they were American adaptations based on the Doctor's companions accounts, but it was cancelled for budget reasons. (DWM 469, DWMSE 38)
  • Actor John Guilor is credited as "Voice Over Artist" in the credits, although they do not say which role he voiced. Castingcallpro.com, DWM 520 and DWMSE 38 credit him as the voice of the First Doctor.
  • The close-up of the Twelfth Doctor's face was shot on the same day Peter Capaldi shot his scene from TV: The Time of the Doctor, meaning that he was using Matt Smith's costume and TARDIS set. (DWMSE 38)
  • Much more music was composed and recorded for the episode than was actually used, including original pieces for the scene where the Eleventh Doctor hangs from the TARDIS, and a theme for the Curator called "Song for Four". The production team elected instead to use legacy music from previous episodes of the revived series. Much of the unused music is included on the soundtrack release. The aforementioned "Song for Four" would go on to be reworked for use in The Time of the Doctor, retitled to "Snow over Trenzalore". The original unaltered piece was finally used in Deep Breath for the scene in which the Eleventh Doctor calls Clara.
  • Writer Steven Moffat stated that he believed that the Doctor did not change his past about destroying Gallifrey, since it is "the story of what really happened that he's forgotten" and that "of course he never did that."[21]

Easter eggs

  • The opening scenes mimic the original open to An Unearthly Child: the first shot shows a police officer going by a sign for 76 Totter's Lane, and the second shot is set at Coal Hill School as class dismisses. Clara is now a teacher at Coal Hill School. A sign shows that I. Chesterton is chairman of the school's Board of Governors, also showing that a W. Coburn is headmaster — an in-joke reference to Anthony Coburn, who wrote An Unearthly Child, and Waris Hussein, Doctor Who's original director.
  • As Clara leaves the school, a clock can be seen to display the time as 5:16pm, the broadcast time of "An Unearthly Child".
  • When Kate realises there are multiple Doctors, she asks for one of her father's files code-named Cromer, which is a reference to her father at first believing the anti-matter universe from The Three Doctors to be Cromer.
  • The access code for Jack Harkness' vortex manipulator is "1716231163". This is a reference to the time (17:16) and date (23.11.63) that the episode An Unearthly Child first aired.
  • Although not readable in the episode, the companion wallboard contains details about companions from multiple media sources, as could be seen on the prop at the Doctor Who Experience: Ace's full name is "Dorothy Gale McShane", Romana is from the House of Heartshaven, Romana II became Lady President, Barbara wrote a GCSE textbook called Journeys Through History: A Sourcebook for GCSE for the Associated Exam Board in 1985, and Harry Sullivan was a commissioned surgeon-lieutenant, who later worked for NATO and MI5.
  • One Dalek fighter pod can be seen knocked away from the destruction of the Dalek fleet, alluding to the Dalek survivors of the Time War.

Myths

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • There is a basic hair continuity error in the scene where Elizabeth and her duplicate catch up with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in the forest. As the two Elizabeths each kiss the Tenth Doctor, the Eleventh's quiff inexplicably escapes from underneath the fez — mostly when he is out of focus — and then is magically back under the fez when he's in tighter shots.
    • A similar hair error occurs with the Tenth Doctor when the War Doctor is exclaiming about the "Bad Wolf". After having his hair slicked down for the whole story, his hair suddenly stands on end in one shot with the Moment in the background, which inadvertently resembles the spiky hairstyle the Tenth Doctor wore in his final years.
  • When the Tenth Doctor has been kissed by Elizabeth at their wedding, his collar is up in one shot, and down in the next.
  • When the Tenth Doctor says "This is not a decision you will ever be able to live with!", as he walks away from the console, the floor is clearly misplaced. One section is above the other.
  • A close-up of the screen of the Space-Time Telegraph shows that it refers to the Brigadier's last name as "Left-Bridge" Stewart.
  • When all thirteen incarnations of the Doctor arrive to hide Gallifrey in a pocket universe, the Seventh Doctor first appears in his yellow pullover with question marks. When he appears again, his costume changes to the one he wore in the TV Movie and he is now in the Victorian parlour console room. When he appears for the third time, he goes back to wearing the pullover he originally wore in the television series. This emphasises that the archive footage used to generate his presence among the other Doctors has been pulled from asynchronous moments of his life, the early and late periods to be exact.
  • It is clearly visible that all the archive-footage Doctors that talk (except the Ninth Doctor) are not speaking when their voices are heard. This is obviously because the audio (except for the First Doctor's) and the clips are not taken from the same episodes, every Doctor having to be shown controlling the TARDIS. At one point the First Doctor's dialogue (newly recorded by an impersonator for this story) is heard as we see an image of William Hartnell, but his lips are not moving at all.
  • At the end of the special, when the three Doctors are in the museum, the Tenth Doctor asks what the painting is actually called. In that shot, the door to his TARDIS is open. In every shot after that, the door is closed.
    • When Clara enters the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS and shuts the door, as the Eleventh Doctor starts thinking aloud he could retire and be "the great curator", Jenna Coleman can still be seen moving around inside the police box prop through a gap between the doors for about a second.
  • In the last scene of the special, where the Eleventh Doctor is walking out of the TARDIS onto the cloud with his other incarnations, the TARDIS door handle has been obviously removed.
  • After the War Doctor's TARDIS ploughs down a group of Daleks in Arcadia and takes flight, the SFX incorrectly show it as the untarnished Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS complete with the St. John's Ambulance logo, when the practical War Doctor's TARDIS prop has been heavily battle-damaged.
    • In addition to this, a later shot of the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS flying through space is clearly a reuse of the same footage.
  • Right after the three Doctors point their sonic screwdrivers towards the air in the Black Archive-scene, the War Doctor's arm is pointing straight upwards. In the very next shot, his arm is bending approximately 90 degrees.
  • When the Eleventh Doctor says "we're going to freeze Gallifrey" to the War Council, Matt Smith's script can be seen on the TARDIS console. When asked about it, Moffat humorously explained that it is the recollections of the events by previous Doctors, written down to help their future self because of their memories getting out of sync. (DWM 489)
  • As the Eleventh Doctor is about to drop down from the bottom of his TARDIS, the metal harnesses used to hold Matt Smith to the bottom of the police box prop are visible.
  • Billie Piper's screen credit at the end identifies her as playing Rose, not the Moment, despite dialogue in her introductory scene directly indicating that Piper is not playing Rose.

Continuity

Home release

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dassanayake Dion. Doctor Who anniversary special sets world record as millions tune in to Day of The Doctor. Sunday Express. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved on 27 November 3013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14. BBC. July 2014. 60.
  3. ↑ Polls by DWM are statistically invalid, as they do not feature a random sample of people. Respondents choose to participate on their own initiative, and are made aware of the poll because they subscribe to or at least frequently buy DWM. Thus, the poll is clearly weighted towards Doctor Who fans who are also residents of the United Kingdom. The views reflected almost certainly do not represent the "casual" viewer of Doctor Who, non-English speaking fans, or other groups of fans who simply don't read or have access to DWM.
  4. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-03-18/doctor-who-rewatch-50th-anniversary/?fbclid=IwAR2px8zuMfmC39ima3S1U00igAvR1lLcw6N1H1EinZCcP7itqC3i3ZMN0aI
  5. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-03-21/doctor-who-new-moffat-scene/?fbclid=IwAR0fwWcp-5Mb1GIwrsdcpb50cGsKTKCCNUmojMQUaAbzpaQHaPgIEOJjBvw
  6. ↑ The BBC iPlayer notes credit John Hurt's character as "the Other Doctor"
  7. ↑ Besides appearing as the Fourth Doctor in flashback footage, Baker also appears towards the end of the episode as an enigmatic character implied to be the Doctor but known as "the Curator". However, the credits only credit Baker as "the Doctor".
  8. ↑ Although Billie Piper is credited as playing "Rose", her character is in fact the Moment's projection of Bad Wolf.
  9. ↑ Redgrave also plays a Zygon impersonating Kate Stewart.
  10. ↑ Oliver also plays a Zygon impersonating Osgood.
  11. ↑ Page also plays a Zygon impersonating Elizabeth I.
  12. ↑ O'Neill also plays a Zygon impersonating McGillop.
  13. ↑ Darren Scott (24 November 2013). Steven Moffat celebrates a 'new chapter' for Doctor Who. doctorwho.tv. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. “Speaking about the brief appearance of the next actor to play the Doctor, Peter Capaldi, in the anniversary special, Moffat said: 'I love that he's getting so much credit for less than half his face for less than a second. Well done Capaldi.'”
  14. ↑ Doran, Sarah (3 June 2017). Bill's birth mother previously played a Time Lord in Doctor Who. Radio Times. Retrieved on 11 June 2017.
  15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 15.20 15.21 15.22 15.23 15.24 15.25 15.26 15.27 15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 15.32 15.33 15.34 15.35 15.36 15.37 15.38 15.39 15.40 15.41 15.42 15.43 15.44 15.45 15.46 15.47 15.48 DWMSE 38
  16. ↑ Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Episode: The Day of the Doctor. Milk VFX. Retrieved on 18 October 2018.
  17. ↑ Cameron K McEwan (5 September 2016). Doctor Who Experience Unveils Classic Fan-Favourite Monsters. Retrieved on 2 January 2019.
  18. ↑ Obverse Books: A Second Target for Tommy. Obverse Books (8 February 2018). Retrieved on 9 February 2018.
  19. ↑ The Doctor's Finest - A Look Back at 'The Day of the Doctor' - BBC America
  20. ↑ The Fan Show, Steven Moffat On Matt Smith's Era, Writing The 50th Anniversary & MORE!
  21. ↑ Steven Moffat interview
v • e
Doctor Who television stories
 
Seasons 1-4: William Hartnell
Season 1: 1963-1964
Season 2: 1964-1965
Season 3: 1965-1966
Season 4: 1966
 
Seasons 4-6: Patrick Troughton
Season 4: 1966-1967
Season 5: 1967-1968
Season 6: 1968-1969
 
Seasons 7-11: Jon Pertwee
Season 7: 1970
Season 8: 1971
Season 9: 1972
Season 10: 1972-1973
Season 11: 1973-1974
 
Seasons 12-18: Tom Baker
Season 12: 1974-1975
Season 13: 1975-1976
Season 14: 1976-1977
Season 15: 1977-1978
Season 16: 1978-1979
Season 17: 1979-1980
Season 18: 1980-1981
 
Seasons 19-21: Peter Davison
Season 19: 1982
Season 20: 1983
Children in Need 1983
Season 21: 1984
 
Seasons 21-23: Colin Baker
Season 21: 1984
Season 22: 1985
Season 23: 1986
 
Seasons 24-26: Sylvester McCoy
Season 24: 1987
Season 25: 1988-1989
Season 26: 1989
 
TV Movie & 2013 specials: Paul McGann
TV Movie: 1996
Specials: 2013
Minisodes
 
Series 1: Christopher Eccleston
Series 1: 2005
Regular episodes
 
Series 2-4: David Tennant
Series 2: 2005-2006
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Series 3: 2006-2007
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Animated special
Series 4: 2007-2010
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Minisodes
Animated special
Seasonal specials
 
Series 5-2013 specials: Matt Smith
Series 5: 2010
Regular episodes
Series 6: 2010-2011
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: Apr 2011)
Regular episodes
(Part 2: Aug 2011)
Minisode
Series 7: 2011-2013
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: 2012)
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
(Part 2: 2013)
Specials: 2013
The Day of the Doctor • The Time of the Doctor
 
Series 8-10: Peter Capaldi
Series 8: 2014
Regular episodes
Series 9: 2014-2015
Christmas Special
Minisode
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
Series 10: 2016-2017
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
 
Series 11-13: Jodie Whittaker
Series 11: 2018-2019
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 12: 2020-2021
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 13: 2021
Minisodes
Regular episodes
Seasonal specials
 
60th Anniversary Specials: David Tennant
Specials: 2023
Minisodes
60th Anniversary Specials
 
Series 14-present: Ncuti Gatwa
Season 1: 2023-2024
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
v • e
Regeneration stories
The Doctor
TV series
Comic Relief
Comics
Prose
Audio
Home video
Webcast
The Master
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
Alternate universe
Romana
Television
Prose
Audio
Other
Time Lords
Television
Prose
Audio
Comics
Non-Time Lord Gallifreyans
Prose
Shobogans
Television
Proto-
Time Lords
Television
Audio
Others
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
For the purposes of this list, a "regeneration story" is one in which a regeneration is actually and initially depicted. For this reason The War Games is not included below, even though it is commonly thought of as a "regeneration story". It doesn't actually include a clear scene of regeneration, and the preponderance of stories in other media confirms that the Second Doctor did not regenerate at the end of it.
Additionally, immediate post-regeneration stories, like the 2005 Children in Need Special Born Again — and ones like Castrovalva, where the regeneration sequence was replayed — are not included.
v • e
Dalek television stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
First Doctor era
Dr. Who films
Second Doctor era
Third Doctor era
Fourth Doctor era
Fifth Doctor era
Sixth Doctor era
Seventh Doctor era
The "Wilderness Years"
Ninth Doctor era
Tenth Doctor era
Eleventh Doctor era
Twelfth Doctor era
Thirteenth Doctor era
Fourteenth Doctor era
Fifteenth Doctor era
Because of the ubiquity of this race, no attempt will be made here to list every appearance in every medium. Instead, we focus on televised appearances here, and invite you to explore a complete list of appearances elsewhere.
v • e
Zygon stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Zygon story" is one in which one living, authentic Zygon plays a confirmed part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, Death in Heaven is absent due to the ambiguity of a Zygons' presence.
Television
Broadcast
Home video
Audio
Prose
Comics
Video games
Complete list of appearances
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