Who

Okay, so maybe a few spoilers but they are way at the bottom, and marked with a warning

Wow! 50 years of Doctor Who! I feel  I am in the minority of those among my generation (I’m 32) that can say that they’ve been there for 25 of those years. I was turned on to Doctor Who at a very early age, obviously. Some re-runs of it were on BBC, and my mom decided I should watch it. I’ll never forget it. It was The Key to Time series with Tom Baker as The Doctor, and I was immediately hooked. It swiftly became a Saturday ritual for me and my mom. Dinner and The Doctor. What made it even more exciting was the format of the seasons back then. Now, The Doctor shows up, the big bad rears it’s head, The Doctor saves the day in the nick of time. Then, each episode was about 180 minutes long, and it was broadcast in 4 weekly parts of about 45 minutes each with each episode ending in a cliff hanger, usually ending with some wonderfully melodramatic dialogue like “Oh, Doctor! What should we do?! Are we going to die?!” and the camera zooms into Tom Bakers shocked face as he deadpans “Oh terribly, I shouldn’t wonder…”. THEN LITTLE SEVEN YEAR OLD ME HAD TO WAIT ONE AGONIZING WEEK TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED!

Sadly, Doctor Who helped me crank my imagination up to 11 since no one my age cared. At school everyone wanted to make-believe G.I. Joe or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was no room for a hero who saved the day with logic and smarts over ninjitsu and  laser machine guns. So I had to make-believe by myself. The field outside school became my Gallifrey, the swings became my Tardis. I would battle The Master atop the jungle gym, and race through time with Teagan, Ace, and Romana. I shudder to think how many Daleks remain time-locked under the monkey bars at Lowden Elementary.

I think that’s enough flashing of my old school Who credentials.

Doctor Who went off the air in 1989 with Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. 1996 saw a failed attempt to revive it via a direct to TV movie with McCoy regenerating into Paul McGann. The movie was not well received, and nothing came of it. The rumor mill she doth churn, and rumblings of a new series began to surface in 2003. Finally, in 2005 The Doctor made his triumphant return, albeit a changed man. Russell T. Davies was at the helm, and he created an event called The Last Great Time War which was always referred to but never explained. Before this Time War, the Doctor was mischievous, heroic, brilliant, adventurous, crazy, and kind. He always seen as kind of a nuisance to his fellow Time Lords. Almost like the loose cannon cop. “DAMMIT, DOCTOR! Did you destroy another moon?! I got the mayor up my ass screaming for your badge!”. The doctor would just toss his scarf over his shoulder or adjust the celery on his lapel and saunter out with a wink and a smile. Not Russell’s Doctor. He starts these new episodes as a man lost and broken. There is a huge gap in his timeline that we only learn in scraps and half whispers. The Doctor did something he regrets immensely, and we never learn what it was exactly, but we know it led to the destruction of his people. Even though Russell changed the Doctor, he understood the essence of the show and the characters, and led them back into the spotlight. With David Tennant securely in the role following Chris Eccleston, Davies began to let us witness how the Doctor healed and moved on from his great tragic something.

Both Davies and Tennant moved on, bringing Steven Moffat to the writers desk and Matt Smith stepping into the starring role. This begins where the show loses me. I hate Matt Smith. I hate him more than Indiana Jones hates snakes. I hate him more than Pearl Harbor sucked. Under this new regime death was not permanent and dire consequences could always be undone… so there was no real danger in the first place. All the rules were broken, timelines were changed, and previous events were undone with seemingly no impact to the fabric of time that the Doctor is so worried about unraveling. When it was announced that Smith was leaving, I shouted with joy. As the 50th Anniversary episode approached, my excitement grew.

The Day Of The Doctor finally shows us what happened during The Last Great Time War. We know it was between The Daleks and The Timelords, and that whatever The Doctor did caused Gallifrey to burn killing both warring factions… but that’s it. Finally… FINALLY we learn what happened. This is, of course, interspersed with Matt Smith being annoying and vague, Jenna Coleman being gorgeous, and David Tennant snogging Queen Elisabeth the first. Yes, Tennant reprises his role as 10 (or is it 11 now?). As the Doctor is about to do whatever it is he does to end the war, a powerful force brings the three different doctors into one time line and makes them work together.

I’m being purposely vague here, as I know a lot of people who haven’t seen it yet. But I need to point out that the ending is wickedly satisfying. At one point I jumped up with joy and watched the remainder of it standing. A moment at the very end made me a little misty. Happy tears though. If you were expecting for Matt Smith to regenerate this episode, you’ll be let down (much like me). That’s not until the Christmas Episode. We DO get a glimpse of Peter Capaldi, but it’s fleeting and meaningful.

Goodbye, Matt Smith. I always hated you. I always hated you the most.

**BEWARE – HERE THERE BE SPOILERS**

Seriously, you’ve been warned

Low Point

It’s not even a low point, but when the War Doctor creates a pocket universe for Gallifrey, doesn’t that change, like, EVERYTHING?! But maybe they’ll cover that this season.

High Point

This was the highest of the highs. Tom Baker. My Doctor.

 Fun Fact

There are little nods to Doctors past hidden throughout this episode. I had fun looking for them all. Also I learned that Jenna Coleman (Clara) is engaged to Richard Madden (Robb Stark). DAMN that is one good looking couple.