In this day and age a show is lucky to be on the air for a few years. This month, a show that had troubled beginnings will have been on the air since 1963. To endure that long and have legions of fans around the world is unprecedented. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, shame on you, but there’s time to rectify. I put together an introduction to the good Doctor and his adventures here on Cinapse.
Doctor Who is quite simply an institution. In this, its 50th Anniversary year, there are a number of special events planned. The centerpiece is a 90 minute special episode reuniting the Eleventh Doctor with his previous incarnation to the glee of many fans. This is a tactic undertaken by the show previously on its 10th Anniversary (The Three Doctors) and again on its 20th (The Five Doctors). Yes, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) will return alongside classic villains, the shapeshifting Zygons (last seen in 1975), and the Doctor’s greatest nemesis, the Daleks. John Hurt, yes, THE John Hurt, he of The Elephant Man, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Alien, Midnight Express, V for Vendetta and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy amongst others, will also star as a previously unknown past incarnation of the Doctor as introduced at the end of the Series 7 (series 33?) finale The Name of the Doctor.
The BBC has just released this synopsis of the episode:
The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th Anniversary Special: in 2013, 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.
The Anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor will be screened in 3D in cinemas across the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Germany and Russia on November 23. The cinema screenings will take place the same time as the UK TV broadcast on BBC One on 23rd November 2013. Internationally, German, Russian, American* and Canadian* fans will be able to gather in cinemas to enjoy the simulcast release with approximately 30 cinemas in Germany and up to 50 theaters debuting the episode in Russia. The celebrations will cross time (and space) zones traveling over the equator to New Zealand and Australia where fans will have a choice of 106 cinemas across both countries to view the episode in 3D on the big screen on the 24th November, following the simulcast TV broadcast earlier in the morning.
The BBC has released these images from the upcoming special as well as a trailer that features some wonderful nod to Doctors and storylines past.
Another special event is the screening of An Adventure in Time and Space. Penned by Mark Gatiss (writer of episodes such as The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot’s Lantern and Cold War), this BBC drama will show the inception of Doctor Who, how it was put together, and eventually made. It features David Bradley (The Harry Potter series, Hot Fuzz and Game of Thrones) as William Hartnell, who portrayed the First Doctor. It will also highlight the important contributions of Verity Lambert who in 1963 was not only the youngest producer, but the only female drama producer working at the BBC, and how she was critical to the success of the show. The casting has been pretty outstanding in this and I have high hopes for a fascinating reveal as to how the longest running science-fiction show came to be. The BBC has released several images showing the cast and some shots from the show.
William Hartnell, the First Doctor, and David Bradley who will be portraying Hartnell in the drama.
David Bradley as William Hartnell, the First Doctor.
Jemma Powell as Jacqueline Hill (who played Barbara Wright) and Jamie Glover as William Russell (who played Ian Chesterton). The first companions of the Doctor.
David Bradley as the First Doctor William Hartnell and Claudia Grant as Carole Ann Ford (who played Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s Granddaughter, on Doctor Who)
Sacha Dhawan as ‘An Unearthly Child’ (the first episode) director Waris Hussein and Jessica Raine as ‘Doctor Who’ producer Verity Lambert
Brian Cox as ‘Doctor Who’ co-creator Sydney Newman
Expect writeups on both these TV events on Cinapse after they air. Whovians rejoice!