50th Anniversary Specials

The 50th Anniversary Specials were a number of stories released in 2013 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. Like the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"], these specials are not considered to be part of a numbered season.

The two main stories were The Day of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"] and The Time of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Time of the Doctor (TV story)"], principally starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald.

Overview[[edit] | [edit source]]

The 50th Anniversary Specials followed on from the final moments of The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"], in which Clara Oswald discovered the Doctor's greatest secret, a previously unknown incarnation known as the War Doctor. Because of this narrative connection, The Name of the Doctor was subsequently included in the 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition box set.

The anniversary stories revolved around the War Doctor and the final events of the Last Great Time War. The Christmas special also followed on from Name by focusing on the Doctor's life on Trenzalore and resolving a great deal of conflicts and mysteries surrounding his lifetime, and the coming end of his life.

The specials featured a number of the Doctor's regenerations, specifically those of the Eighth, War, and Eleventh Doctors. As such, the regenerations of all but the Second Doctor have now been depicted on-screen.

During the specials, the regeneration cycle introduced in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin was addressed. Before the specials aired, discussions and rumours about the War Doctor's true nature made it unclear whether or not the Doctor had truly undergone just ten regenerations up to Matt Smith's incarnation.

Furthermore, the specials answered the long-standing fan speculation that had arisen since the events of the two-part Series 4 finale in 2008, The Stolen Earth ^[+]Loading...["The Stolen Earth (TV story)"] and Journey's End ^[+]Loading...["Journey's End (TV story)"], where the Tenth Doctor circumvented a regeneration and whether or not that had counted in the cycle.

The formal introduction of the War Doctor and the eventual depiction of his own regeneration into the Ninth Doctor meant the Doctor actually had regenerated more times than previously suggested. When the birth of the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor was also proven to have used up a regeneration, it signified all twelve regenerations in the cycle were exhausted. The Doctor was then bestowed a second regeneration cycle to bypass this limit.

The 2013 specials saw the end of Matt Smith's tenure as the Eleventh Doctor, and ended with his regeneration into the Twelfth, played by Peter Capaldi.

Celebrating the shows 50th anniversary, several of the specials also featured previous actors who had portrayed the Doctor. Paul McGann portrayed the Eighth Doctor on-screen for the first time since his initial portrayal in TV: Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)"], David Tennant returned as the Tenth Doctor, and all other former actors were seen through the use of archive footage. Tom Baker also returned but instead playing the role of the Curator, an enigmatic character who is a future incarnation of the Doctor. The War Doctor was also played by John Hurt.

Although Jenna Coleman returned as sole companion Clara Oswald, Billie Piper returned to the series, but portraying a representation of the Bad Wolf, rather than her regular character of companion Rose Tyler.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
• Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman
• War Doctor - John Hurt
• Eighth Doctor - Paul McGann
• Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
• The Moment - Billie Piper

and introducing Peter Capaldi as the Doctor

Recurring[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Ohila - Clare Higgins
• Time Lord soldier - Chris Finch
• Ninth Doctor - Christopher Eccleston
• Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
• Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
• Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
• Third Doctor - Jon Pertwee
• Second Doctor - Patrick Troughton
• First Doctor - William Hartnell and additionally voiced by John Guilor
• Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave
• Osgood - Ingrid Oliver
• The General - Ken Bones
• Elizabeth I - Joanna Page
• Zygons - Aidan Cook, Paul Kasey and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
• Daleks - operated by Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
• Dave Oswald - James Buller
• Clara's gran - Sheila Reid
• Cybermen - Aidan Cook and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
• Silents - Ross Mullan
• Sontaran - Dan Starkey
• Weeping Angel - Sarah Madison
• Amy Pond - Karen Gillan

Guest[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Cass - Emma Campbell-Jones
• Curator - Tom Baker
• Androgar - Peter De Jersey
• Tasha Lem - Orla Brady
• Handles - Kayvan Novak

Television stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

Special episodes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Director	Notes
50th Anniversary	The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Nick Hurran	First full appearance of the War Doctor. Guest appearances by the Tenth Doctor and Elizabeth I. Reintroduction of the Zygons. First appearance of the Twelfth Doctor, Petronella Osgood, the General, and the Curator. Regeneration of the War Doctor into the Ninth Doctor. Gallifrey saved from destruction.
Christmas	The Time of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Time of the Doctor (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Jamie Payne	Final regular appearance of the Eleventh Doctor. Origin of the Silence and fate of Gallifrey revealed. The Siege of Trenzalore is depicted. The Doctor's regeneration cycle is extended. Conclusion of the "Trenzalore" arc. Official debut of the Twelfth Doctor.

Mini-episodes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title	Writer	Director	Notes
The Night of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Night of the Doctor (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	John Hayes	Reintroduction of the Sisterhood of Karn. Guest appearance by the Eighth Doctor, and depicts his regeneration into the War Doctor.
The Last Day		Jamie Stone	The Doctors do not appear.
Cinema Intros: Strax & The Doctor			Features Strax and the Doctors addressing the cinema audience.

Related specials[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alongside the continuation of Doctor Who itself, a number of specials were also made relating to the real world production of the Doctor Who universe.

Title	Writer	Director	Notes
An Adventure in Space and Time	Mark Gatiss	Terry McDonough	Docudrama of William Hartnell's tenure as The Doctor.
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot	Peter Davison		Parody episode starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy.

Aliens and enemies[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Gallifreyans
  • Sisterhood of Karn
    • Ohila
• Zygons
• Time Lords
  • Soldier 1
  • Soldier 2
  • The General
  • Androgar
• The Moment (Sentient weapon)
• Daleks
• Handles
• The Church of the Silence
  • Tasha Lem
  • Colonel Meme
  • Silents
• Weeping Angels
• Sontarans
• Cybermen
  • Wooden Cyberman

Adaptations and merchandising[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home media[[edit] | [edit source]]

DVD / Blu-ray[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Collector's edition also featured the Series 7 finale The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"].

Title	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"] The Night of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Night of the Doctor (TV story)"] The Last Day [+]Loading...["The Last Day (TV story)"]	1 × 77 min. 1 × 8 min. 1 × 3 min.	2 December 2013	4 December 2013	10 December 2013
Doctor Who: An Adventure in Space and Time An Adventure in Space and Time [+]Loading...["An Adventure in Space and Time (TV story)"]	1 × 90 min.	2 December 2013	4 December 2013	27 May 2014
Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor The Time of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Time of the Doctor (TV story)"]	1 × 60 min.	20 January 2014	22 January 2014	4 March 2014
Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition The Name of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"] The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"] The Night of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Night of the Doctor (TV story)"] The Last Day [+]Loading...["The Last Day (TV story)"] The Time of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Time of the Doctor (TV story)"] An Adventure in Space and Time [+]Loading...["An Adventure in Space and Time (TV story)"] The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot [+]Loading...["The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (TV story)","The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot"]	1 x 45 min. 1 × 77 min. 1 × 8 min. 1 × 3 min. 1 × 60 min. 1 × 90 min. 1 × 30 min.	8 September 2014	10 September 2014	TBA

The 50th Anniversary Specials released on 21 November 2023 in a limited edition Blu-ray box set containing every "New Who" series up to Series 13.^[1]

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  New Who Limited Edition (front)

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  New Who Limited Edition (back)

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  New Who Limited Edition (front)

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  New Who Limited Edition (back)

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  New Who Limited Edition promo

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  New Who Limited Edition promo

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