# The Day of the Doctor Watch-along Thread (Open Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636 "2013-11-23T19:37:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [November 25, 2013, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/101 "2013-11-25T07:42:08Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have a feeling that the whole reason John Hurt’s Doctor was created was because Eccleston did not want to be involved. I’m guessing the plot line was started with Nine in mind and then changed to be the new War Doctor (8.5?) because they couldn’t get Nine. Yes, that’s the feeling I got, too; the three TARDISes at the end should have been nine’s, ten’s, and eleven’s. I’m really not sure what the motivation for Eccleston was not to get in on this, I can’t see how it would have hurt him any (on the other hand, I can see his rejection of a series he was formally associated with hurting him; anybody out to hire him must think twice now about whether he really has any commitment to the things he does). That said, I did enjoy the special, though it was hyped up to a point where it was almost impossible to meet the expectations. Regarding the ‘B’ story, we didn’t actually ever get a conclusion of that, did we? I mean, what agreement did the humans and zygons come to? And I think that the handing over of the inhaler from one scarf girl to the other signified that they would know which one was real, but decided to keep quiet, no? Also, I’m not at all sure about effectively striking out the destruction of Gallifrey; the guilt about this was such a defining trait of the (modern) Doctor that I don’t know how this will affect the character. However, I’m perfectly willing to buy the ‘the high council has its own plans’ fib to reconcile these events with The End of Time. However, is there a conclusion to the whole ‘Clara and the Doctor enter the Doctor’s timestream’ forthcoming, or was that meant to be resolved? If so, I don’t think I got it… ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/102 "2013-11-25T07:57:19Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > That said, I did enjoy the special, though it was hyped up to a point where it was almost impossible to meet the expectations. Regarding the ‘B’ story, we didn’t actually ever get a conclusion of that, did we? I mean, what agreement did the humans and zygons come to? And I think that the handing over of the inhaler from one scarf girl to the other signified that they would know which one was real, but decided to keep quiet, no? That they did, to let the two bosses continue negotiating. We don’t know the fine points of the treaty, but we do know that neither boss knew who was human and who was Zygon so they will both have been arguing with all their might for the objectively fairest solution. It’s satisfactory enough for now if we let our imaginations fill in the fine details of that IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/103 "2013-11-25T08:03:36Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I really hope this works outside the UK. It’s directed by Peter Davison, and it’s about the 50th anniversary > > [BBC One - Doctor Who (2005–2022), The Day of the Doctor, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01m3kfy) That was fecking brilliant in, a completely bizarre manner. When it comes to the quirky online fanservice like that, the BBC Doctor Who team really do eat everyone else’s lunch. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/104 "2013-11-25T11:39:18Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I about go nuts wanting to grab the powers that be and shake them while informing them that they can have any of the last 3 or 4 doctors, and any of their companions back because if you ignore the annoying liking for story arc programming and go back to monster of the week programming YOU CAN DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THEY TIME TRAVEL. When did _Doctor Who_ do “monster of the week programming”? > [@](#): > > You are not locked into the next episode being Trendalore [or wherever and whenever] because you just pick up a quick visit by Rose and #9 [if you could lure him back] to Moscow in time for Napolean’s attempted visit. Or a family outing with River, the Ponds and the Doctor to one of London’s frozen Thames River Fairs. … and …? What happens? It can’t be anything very significant to the main characters, because we’ve already seen their futures. This is what Big Finish is for. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/105 "2013-11-25T12:15:30Z")
Lots of fan service going on right from the get-go, with the old opening and references to “An Unearthly Child” on the school sign (“Coal Hill School”, “I Chesterton”, “W Coburn”). We also got an answer to why QE1 was so pissed at Tennant’s Doctor, which was nice (and old Liz herself had a plethora of excellent lines). > [@PaulParkhead](#): > > It was the face of Ecclestone. You could make it out, though it was only for a second or so. Did you catch the line about the “prominent” ears? A nice jab at Ecclestone (although Smith continues to get chin jokes so I suppose it’s only fair). > [@Sherrerd](#): > > I’m glad to learn that McGann has participated to the extent he has, acting in some of the 50th anniversary films (the one you mention, and Peter Davison’s film). But from the evidence of the documentaries, he doesn’t seem much interested in talking about his participation in the franchise. There was a highly risible exchange on Twitter Saturday evening you might enjoy: > [@Paul McGann (@pauljmcgann)](#): > > Bit bored. Anything good on the telly? > [@Colin Baker (@SawbonesHex)](#): > > no nothing much I’m off to the pub Cheeky buggers. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/106 "2013-11-25T13:56:55Z")
Ratings were very good in UK. Still waiting to see how it did on BBC America. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/107 "2013-11-25T14:01:54Z")
also doing hugely well indeed in torrent world, so I’m led to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/108 "2013-11-25T15:11:34Z")
I really liked it. Not ‘Blink’ or anything, but a good balance of humor, plot, not too much hand-waving about timey-wimey, but also not worrying about resolving every possible inconsistency. And moved the character of the Doctor forward significantly. By the way, was I the only one who started thinking “look, Head Six is back!” whenever Billie Piper was on screen? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/109 "2013-11-25T15:12:12Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > But this was the very last day of the war after all had already been lost. The nightmare child, the could’ve-been-king and his army of neverweres, the degradations of skaros, etc. All that stuff already happened, it’s down to the last defenders of gallifrey shooting machine guns at flying saucers. Should be better that way. I don’t think you could really film what we each conjured up in our minds from Ten’s speech about the world turned into Hell. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/110 "2013-11-25T15:18:30Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > By the way, was I the only one who started thinking “look, Head Six is back!” whenever Billie Piper was on screen? What is Head Six? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/111 "2013-11-25T15:22:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What is Head Six? I’m assuming that’s a Battlestar Galactica reference. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/112 "2013-11-25T15:31:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I’m assuming that’s a Battlestar Galactica reference. Oh, I wonder what it means? Was she acting like a character on BSG? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/113 "2013-11-25T16:01:10Z")
I, too, really enjoyed it. 🙂 I didn’t get into Doctor Who until the reboot, so Eccleston is my doctor: I loved him, and loved Tennant even more. I didn’t watch Matt Smith’s run – I started to, but found the first couple of episodes annoying (I might also have been mourning for Tennant) – but now I almost feel like giving him another try. And I still want/need to go back and watch some older Doctors. Did anyone else… – Think that Piper’s character was going to be revealed as a liar/fake once Tennant caught the “bad wolf” reference? And how did Smith _not_ get that? Were there no “bad wolf” moments in his episodes? I was kind of surprised nothing further happened with that. – Partially expect that it would be weeping angel statues under the sheets, even though you _knew_ it would be Zygons? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/114 "2013-11-25T16:08:29Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Did anyone else… > – Partially expect that it would be weeping angel statues under the sheets, even though you _knew_ it would be Zygons? 🙂 Yeah, especially when she said she knew why the statues were smashed… I was groaning inside thinking, “please let the angels go, Moffat, please let them go…” and was pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong. BTW, anyone else notice that the “sciency” girl with the 4th Doctor’s scarf was named Osgood? Oswin, (Clara) Oswald, and now Osgood? Anything there other than coincidence? Clara didn’t seem to recognize her, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/115 "2013-11-25T16:09:52Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Oh, I wonder what it means? Was she acting like a character on BSG? Head Six was the version of Six (one of the human-type Cylons) who lived entirely in Gaius Baltar’s head. Pretty weak similarity, really. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/116 "2013-11-25T16:14:24Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > That was fecking brilliant in, a completely bizarre manner. When it comes to the quirky online fanservice like that, the BBC Doctor Who team really do eat everyone else’s lunch. And if 5-7 had been in the special they probably would have had far less screen time than they got in their own little adventure! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/117 "2013-11-25T16:15:15Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > Yeah, especially when she said she knew why the statues were smashed… I was groaning inside thinking, “please let the angels go, Moffat, please let them go…” and was pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong. That part made me annoyed at the officious blonde lady who apparently didn’t notice all the new stone dust or didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/118 "2013-11-25T16:40:46Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > And the one-on-one between Hurt and Piper were just excruciatingly out of balance. I think that was deliberate and worked really well. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/119 "2013-11-25T16:52:42Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > That part made me annoyed at the officious blonde lady who apparently didn’t notice all the new stone dust or didn’t care. Kate was a Zygon, so she would have dismissed it, to better distract The Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636/120 "2013-11-25T16:57:02Z")
I thought she got copied after that point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-of-the-doctor-watch-along-thread-open-spoilers/674636.md?page=7)