# Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary special {Available on Disney+ outside of UK} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, disney-hulu\ **Created:** [June 13, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132 "2022-06-13T22:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/81 "2023-12-03T20:34:19Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > So, is gravity now just going to be mavity in the Whoniverse…? (And is there precedent for this sort of thing, changing something in the past and having it affect the present?). Probably just a joke for a bit, then forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/82 "2023-12-03T20:57:17Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I liked this episode quite a bit, felt like a proper stand alone Doctor Who episode. I actually preferred this one to the first one. I like the episodes with a small cast. The Doctor has a single problem to solve. The problem itself was pretty complex. There was a lot of running up and down corridors which harkens back to Classic Doctor Who. The green screen FX gave it a updated feel for todays viewers. Russell has been thinking about Doctor Who for years. I think he has several very good stories already planned. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/83 "2023-12-03T21:40:33Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > And is there precedent for this sort of thing, changing something in the past and having it affect the present? Yes. [https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Vase\_with\_Twelve\_Sunflowers](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Vase_with_Twelve_Sunflowers) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/84 "2023-12-04T08:55:37Z")
Thanks, but to be a bit nitpicky, this doesn’t really change the present as bring about the present as it is—it’s one of those cases where the time travel is instrumental in brining about the present the traveler hails from, whereas the gravity/mavity thing is sort of a ‘step on a butterfly’-type of deal, a change in the past changing something in the time traveler’s present… For some reason, I always thought things didn’t work that way on Doctor Who, but I’m not sure I really had any reason to think so (and of course, the show hasn’t necessarily been consistent on this any more than on anything else). There was that episode with Nine where Rose tries to save her father, which then creates a paradox that summoned some strange winged beasts to try and erase… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/85 "2023-12-04T10:25:05Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Thanks, but to be a bit nitpicky, this doesn’t really change the present as bring about the present as it is In the real present, that is a real painting–that doesn’t have “For Amy” written on it. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/86 "2023-12-04T10:56:33Z")
There have been a few alternate realities in Doctor Who, the first one being Inferno where UNIT was an evil fascist military organisation. In the alternate universe where John Lumic creates the Cybermen, Rose’s father is still alive. That parallel universe still exists and is home to Rose and a bunch of other people from the Doctor’s timeline. However this ‘gravity/mavity’ change is a new development; in some SF such an event is known as a [Jonbar Hinge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonbar_hinge), the precise event upon which the creation of a new timeline hinges. We nearly saw one in the Waters of Mars, where the Doctor saved someone who should have died; that person promptly killed themself, eliminating the ‘hinge’ moment. I think that Mavity will become a plot point, and the Doctor will need to nip it in the bud before the universe changes too much. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/87 "2023-12-10T18:00:03Z")
I really enjoyed the 60th anniversary episodes. Nice surprise in Giggle. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132/88 "2023-12-16T15:19:30Z")
I really like this explanation: [https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-timeless-child-russell-t-davies-explain-better-whittaker/#:~:text=Doctor%20Who’s%2060th%20Anniversary%20Confirms,to%20the%20Doctor’s%20own%20past](https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-timeless-child-russell-t-davies-explain-better-whittaker/#:~:text=Doctor%20Who's%2060th%20Anniversary%20Confirms,to%20the%20Doctor's%20own%20past). A neat way to tie up the stuff from Chibnall and dealing with it in a way that works in canon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-special-available-on-disney-outside-of-uk/966132.md?page=4)