# ...the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485 "2013-02-16T08:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**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, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/201 "2013-11-25T14:00:52Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > The problem with this type of time travel snowball is it’s a bit too linear. For instance, if somebody attacked you yesterday, and you’re both time travellers and can recognize that Time Travel was involved, the other option is to send a strike team to take out their time travel force before they time travelled (“before” in their personal timelines). > > So you don’t get a nice linear regression back in time, you get a bunch of time travel spaghetti where people are going back to destroy your ancestor’s ancestors while you go to the future and try and kill their archaeologists who are mapping out your long defunct military installations. And in turn they send a covert agent back to when you discovered Time Travel and have them present fake research which sets the discovery back 100 years and so on. > > It can get really silly when history and paradoxes get involved. You can cause a hell of a paradox by, say, going to the future in order to read their history books to find out the identities of their time travelling heroes that defeated your civilization, then go back in time and prevent their heroism from occuring. So you’re saying it would get all timey-wimey, then? ---
**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, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/202 "2013-11-25T15:35:03Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > My WAG: any post-Smith Doctors would _remember_ that the conflict was resolved with only the up-to-Smith doctors, so no need for them to get involved. I note that this is yet another “the timestream synchronization doohickey yadda yadda means that we won’t remember this” multi-doctor storyline. Can anyone with a better memory of the old series recall if any of those ended with the various Doctors actually remembering what happened? I mean, it saves a lot of retconning if the older Doctors get memory-wiped at the end of these things but I’m wondering if there’s any precedent for them remembering that they’d met the other Doctors and had gone through the various events before. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/203 "2013-11-25T15:39:31Z")
At the end of _The Five Doctors_ they all remembered the events, and no one was memory-wiped, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/204 "2013-11-25T15:46:07Z")
I only just started watching Doctor Who about a month ago and am very much a newbie. I started with the first episode with Christopher Eccleston and just finished the second season last weekend. To show how much of a newbie I am I’d never even heard the word Dalek until I saw it on the show. I’m digging the whole 50th anniversary stuff because it seems to be a good introduction into the shows mythology. I loved all of the special episodes featuring each individual doctor and the other special episode talking about the companions. At the end of the episode with all of the companions they showed them filming a scene with many different companions all standing around the console flying the tardis together. I expected to see that in “The Day of the Doctor” but it wasn’t there. What episode does that scene occur in? ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/205 "2013-11-25T16:11:19Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > I only just started watching Doctor Who about a month ago and am very much a newbie. I started with the first episode with Christopher Eccleston and just finished the second season last weekend. To show how much of a newbie I am I’d never even heard the word Dalek until I saw it on the show. > > I’m digging the whole 50th anniversary stuff because it seems to be a good introduction into the shows mythology. I loved all of the special episodes featuring each individual doctor and the other special episode talking about the companions. > > At the end of the episode with all of the companions they showed them filming a scene with many different companions all standing around the console flying the tardis together. I expected to see that in “The Day of the Doctor” but it wasn’t there. What episode does that scene occur in? The story was the end of series 4 - [Journey’s End](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Journey's_End_(TV_story)) ---
**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, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/206 "2013-11-25T16:12:43Z")
I haven’t seen the special you’re talking about but it it was NuWho, then I expect it was Journey’s End which is S04E13. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/207 "2013-11-26T04:49:25Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > I enjoyed _Day of the Doctor_ as a story, but I’m not entirely sure it was adequate as a good episode for the 50th anniversary. It was focussed on post-2005 stuff and the final 10 minutes had past Doctors show up purely as past footage on tiny images. I’m not sure how much I expected old stuff – at least not without it becoming fanservice for the sake of fanservice. I agree it wasn’t really 50th anniversary material, though. Since we’re on the topic, I kind of felt like Journey’s End is a good template for what a 50th special should be. That or the whole attack on Demon’s Run. I liked the excuse for the Doctor to call in all his favors (or have all his past friends try and call him). I felt like for a celebration of the history of the series it was oddly focused on three doctors with a pseudo-cameo from Bad Wolf. I’m not expecting them to name drop every companion nor do I want them to get their best Hartnell impersonator on set, but I do agree that it was a bit light on anniversary-ness. It just felt like an episode that could have been in the middle of Season 8 somewhere. It would have been nice to see a little bit of Jack. Elisabeth Sladen is dead, so no Sarah Jane Smith, and Eccelston obviously doesn’t want to be involved, but come on. At the very least they could have brought in Doctor-Donna, maybe Martha and Mickey, Jenny, Vastra and Strax, find an excuse to visit Amy and Rory, and so on. The Season 7 finale had more continuity porn than the special. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/208 "2013-11-26T05:32:38Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m not sure how much I expected old stuff - Up until a couple weeks before it aired, I was expecting a \*lot \*of old stuff - I’d heard about actors being cast to play Hartnell and Troughton, but hadn’t realized it was for _Adventures in Time and Space_, and was really looking forward to seeing those Doctors show up in the fiftieth. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/209 "2013-11-26T06:48:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Up until a couple weeks before it aired, I was expecting a \*lot \*of old stuff - I’d heard about actors being cast to play Hartnell and Troughton, but hadn’t realized it was for _Adventures in Time and Space_, and was really looking forward to seeing those Doctors show up in the fiftieth. ☹ …did you guys see [the Five(ish) Doctors Reboot?](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lv3mj) For me it was the perfect companion piece to the 50th. I think Moffatt felt (quite rightly) that the 50th needed to be about the story. Everything that was missing in the 50th turned up in the Reboot. Barrowman coming out of the closet (married to a woman with kids) was one of many highlights for me. Simply brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/210 "2013-11-26T08:36:40Z")
I’m about halfway through Tennant’s first series but I know enough that I could guess that John Hurt was the War Doctor. I can’t really comment on Moffett’s writing for the TV show but the movie seemed a little too fan-fiction to me. Too much of a Matt Smith and Clara movie and not enough of what drove The War Doctor to destroy both sides. Perhaps if we saw his granddaughter Susan killed as a sacrifice by the Gallifreyans or something his motivation would have made sense and his ongoing irrational anger at Daleks as Eccelston have a backstory. Or something; as it was it left a little lacking to me. ---
**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 26, 2013, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/211 "2013-11-26T10:17:36Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I’m about halfway through Tennant’s first series but I know enough that I could guess that John Hurt was the War Doctor. I can’t really comment on Moffett’s writing for the TV show but the movie seemed a little too fan-fiction to me. Too much of a Matt Smith and Clara movie and not enough of what drove The War Doctor to destroy both sides. Perhaps if we saw his granddaughter Susan killed as a sacrifice by the Gallifreyans or something his motivation would have made sense and his ongoing irrational anger at Daleks as Eccelston have a backstory. Or something; as it was it left a little lacking to me. There were some references in the mini-episode with Paul McGann to former companions that may have met an unpleasant end in the Time War, but it’s not specifically stated. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/212 "2013-11-26T17:10:11Z")
Saw it last night. I took a passel of small screaming girls, drove 250 miles round trip, and saw it in 3D at a theater in Columbia, SC. Man, was that a blast. And prior to the show there was an intro with Smith and Tennant. Smith… …disappointed that it wasn’t in 12D and figuring that 3D was due to budget cuts and Tennant warning us about how Smith’s chin would appear in 3D, “Be careful!” were both hilarious. And the featurette at the end was also great. Including the narrator reveal. It was a great, cos-play raucus crowd and a great event to introduce my proto-fen children to their first fannish-event. Woot! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/213 "2013-11-26T19:35:21Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …did you guys see [the Five(ish) Doctors Reboot?](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lv3mj) Yeah, it was linked to earlier in one of these threads. Great fun - the look of horror on their faces when they see what was in Barrowman’s car was priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/214 "2013-11-26T20:14:54Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …did you guys see [the Five(ish) Doctors Reboot?](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lv3mj) Just finished it, comedy gold 🙂 Did you know Sylvester McCoy was in the Hobbit? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/215 "2013-11-26T20:29:25Z")
Pity that poor McGann only seems to be able to get television work. > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > At the end of _The Five Doctors_ they all remembered the events, and no one was memory-wiped, IIRC. No one was mind-wiped in _The Three Doctors_. I don’t remember _The Two Doctors_ that well, but I don’t think anyone forgot. ---
**Author:** ![twhitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@twhitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twhitt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/216 "2013-11-26T21:04:11Z")
There’s a point left unsettled, which it would soothe me greatly to have even a half coherent fanon explanation for. Why would all the previous Doctors, through eight at least, be there for that final maneuver? Sure, if you involve them from the first regeneration on you get about 7 more centuries to run whatever calculations on the sonic, but how were they called into action for an event that was still in their futures? Did the Moment just pull everyone the same way? ---
**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 26, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/217 "2013-11-26T21:21:26Z")
Sounds about as reasonable as anything else I’ve seen suggested. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/218 "2013-11-26T22:27:06Z")
Steven Moffat - Big on grand ideas and story arcs; Small on coherent explanations and proper conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/219 "2013-11-26T22:27:22Z")
> [@twhitt](#): > > … but how were they called into action for an event that was still in their futures? Did the Moment just pull everyone the same way? Uh, Time Lord? TARDIS? It seems to me the three standing in the room making up the new decision called up _all_ the Doctor’s incarnations for this adventure. But none of them will remember, just like these three didn’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485/220 "2013-11-26T22:45:43Z")
> [@twhitt](#): > > There’s a point left unsettled, which it would soothe me greatly to have even a half coherent fanon explanation for. > > Why would all the previous Doctors, through eight at least, be there for that final maneuver? Sure, if you involve them from the first regeneration on you get about 7 more centuries to run whatever calculations on the sonic, but how were they called into action for an event that was still in their futures? Did the Moment just pull everyone the same way? “Hello! I’m the Doctor. A future Doctor! I’m number eleven! Or twelve! Its hard to keep track, but I wear a Fez now! I don’t have time to answer any questions but here are some calculations I need you to start on right now. And I need to see you around Gallifrey at this date at this exact time! Right! See you in a thousand years!” …don’t forget the Doctor is a time traveller. Literally anything is possible. Remember when the Doctor saw the time vortex and threw his fez through it? He did that because he remembered his time as Ten, and one time a time vortex opened up and a fez came through it. Timey Whimey, in simpler words: don’t overthink it too much or your head might explode! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-thread/650485.md?page=12)