50 Glorious Years: Episode 51 - 2013
The 50th Anniversary year was a fitting celebration for the Golden Anniversary of the greatest television series of all time. It is debatable what the biggest highlight of the year was. In might have been:
- the colour footage of William Hartnell and the other Doctor’s integrated into The Name of the Doctor.
- the introduction of John Hurt as a Doctor from the past we never knew about.
- the live announcement of Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor.
- the announcement of the recovery of the 5 missing episodes of The Enemy of the World and 4 of the 5 missing episodes from The Web of Fear, with pretty strong rumours for more missing episodes to come.
- the surprise return of Paul McGann to the role, allowing us to see his regeneration at last in The Night of the Doctor.
- the 50th Anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor generally.
- the surprise appearance of Peter Capaldi’s eyes in The Day of the Doctor.
- the appearance of all of the Doctors in The Day of the Doctor.
- the surprise return of Tom Baker, on screen with another Doctor at the same time for the first time ever
- The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
- the regeneration of Matt Smith into Peter Capaldi in The Time of the Doctor;
or, something else entirely. Maybe the entire year. What dear reader, do you think?
Posted by Luca on Sunday, March 2 at 9:54 am
8 Comments...
After that incredible list of anniversary goodies it seems almost petty to point out one omission: that love-letter to the origins of the series in _An Adventure in Space and Time_.
That said, I’d rate my three favourites, in no particular order, as _The Night of the Doctor_, _The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, and the cameo by my Doctor, Tom Baker. Then again, that’s like taking me to a buffet restaurant and telling me I can only have three things.
Posted by David H Olivier on 03/02 at 12:38 PM
Aah!! How could I forget An Adventure in Space and Time? Then again, because the list was so long already from such an awesome year, it makes it a little more understandable. File it under “Something else entirely”
Posted by Luca on 03/02 at 05:38 PM
Thank you for putting together this wonderful tour through the history of the Doctor. It’s been fun to reminisce over the years that I have followed and to get caught up on things I didn’t know from the earliest years.
Posted by Ken Cameron on 03/08 at 04:09 PM
This episode was awesome .
Posted by Joseph on 03/09 at 04:10 PM
Great work Luca on completing your project. Thank you for putting all this together…
2013 was a wonderful year in Who. Here’s to 2014, a new doctor and to the next 50 (or 49) years of adventures.
Posted by Andrew B on 03/09 at 04:15 PM
Well done Luca, particularly with the installments for the early years!!
Some of the earlier installments feature enough Canada-specific history/trivia (relating to Doctor Who’s transmissions on TVO and WNED TV) that it reads like an engrossing history book.
Indeed, perhaps the publication of DOCTOR WHO: THE CANADIAN CONNECTION would not be out of order (featuring the text you’ve already written about the 70s and 80s telecasts of DW). After all, DW’s origins lie right here on Canadian soil: with Sydney Newman being born and raised in Toronto before he moved to the UK to work.
Umm, then there was the filming of the 1996 movie in Vancouver… would that count?
The Canadian Goose is mentioned in The Mysterious Planet (Trial of a Timelord). And Dinosaurs on a Spaceship references the size of Canada…. hmmm. LOL Okay, perhaps those last two points don’t really qualify as Can Con. Still, Canada has its fair share of connections to that madman in a box.
~ steve
Posted by steven on 03/13 at 09:57 PM
My (or one of my) fav Doctors is Tom Baker too! Awesome!
Posted by sybil saalfrank on 05/02 at 08:49 AM
I first started watching Doctor Who in 2005. I stumbled upon it by accident. It turned out to be one of the greatest accidents in my life. The acting is entertaining, the visuals are amazing, and the stories couldn’t be more surprising. Every Doctor had something new, and interesting to offer. Though, my favorite was David Tennant. With him the show really came to life. That said Matt Smith wasn’t bad either. He was always fun, a little odd, often clever and generally well-cast. His associates, new and old are definitely among the legends of this epic series. He’ll be greatly missed. I look forward to Peter Capaldi. It was surprising to hear that he was going to be the next Doctor. Perhaps it is time we had someone a little older and hopefully darker to play the role. Peter Capaldi certainly has big shoes to fill.
Posted by Andriy on 05/18 at 06:16 PM
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