50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Review (Part 1)
Guest contributor Sam Glover gives his verdict on the 50th anniversary box set (Part 1).
Given the excellent debut series of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor some may deem it a bit unfair to suddenly review a boxset with only a fleeting (though memorable) glimpse of those “attack eyebrows”. Yet the release of this collector’s edition didn’t take place until September – over 9 months since the 50th Anniversary itself and mere weeks before Capaldi took his first (Deep) breath of TARDIS air. Understandably, perhaps, its release was somewhat swallowed in Twelfth Doctor excitement.
So, one year on from The Day of The Doctor, how does this celebration shape up? Physically: not well. As with some previous DW releases (basically any from the Smith-era) the BBC has elected to release the boxsets in a pretty but flimsy cardboard shell, housing four normal DVD/Blu-ray cases within. These cases are only accessible from a flap on the top that is awkward to open and results in creasing of the boxset itself. Regular users will find their hard-bought set more crinkled than an Ood in a bath before long, and it is a pain the backside sat alongside other DVDs on the shelf. Given how easily this could be rectified it is rather annoying.
It is, however, comprehensively compensated for by the contents of the set. From the squeal-inducing reveal of Gallifrey at the beginning of The Name of The Doctor we are immersed in a riotous series of beautiful, thrilling adventures with our favourite Time Lord and the many strays who have joined him, as well as a plethora of extras, documentaries and other celebrations to mark the occasion. The audio and visual quality is fantastic on all of the main features (though understandably less so on some of the bonus features), and the presentation – whilst simplistic – is also lovely. As with previous releases each menu is backed by the time vortex, but is easy to navigate and looks pretty. Let’s take it disc-by-disc, shall we?
Disc 1
Disc 1’s main feature episode is The Name of The Doctor. Its place in canon may be up for debate following the events of The Time of The Doctor (which I’ll get to in a follow up article), but what cannot be denied is the scale and ambition of the finale of Matt Smith’s last full series as The Doctor. With glances at all of the Doctor’s past selves, a dying TARDIS, the return of the Great Intelligence and the small matter of John Hurt and those final six printed words the episode is stuffed with memorable moments, and (until Death In Heaven at least), answers to the enigma that was Clara Oswald. Outside of the Whoniverse (a word I have no intention of using again) the reasoning behind Clara’s appearances in the Doctor’s past is insane, but within it? It makes sense. Credit to Steven Moffat for making her journey up to that point one that made sense, even if it did (compared with Series 8 at the very least) sacrifice a bit of character development to achieve it. For a more in depth and intelligent look at this episode, see Luke Gwalchmai’s excellent analysis.
Whilst there’s a rather good 2 hour documentary called “Doctor Who – The Ultimate Guide” (featuring past Doctors, companions and, err, McFly) the most important bonus feature is, of course, The Night of The Doctor. The lovely return of prematurely-discarded eighth Doctor Paul McGann and his long awaited regeneration scene was a wonderful surprise in the week before The Day of The Doctor, (though slightly spoiled by a rather revealing thumbnail on BBC iPlayer). From his opening line (“I’m a Doctor… but probably not the one you’re expecting”) it’s as if McGann never left the TARDIS. With his ageless face (seriously, what cream does he use?) and many Big Finish productions there is utterly no doubt about who this man is. On paper the reason for his regeneration – crashing in a spaceship – may seem a bit anticlimactic, but it absolutely fits his character. This Doctor wouldn’t dream of leaving a complete stranger to her death even when she refuses his help, and his regeneration into John Hurt’s War Doctor is triggered by a combination of pure sacrifice and “elevated Time Lord science”. It’s fantastic.
Main feature – 8/10
Bonus features – 9/10
Disc 2
Disc 2 houses the 50th Anniversary episode itself, The Day of The Doctor. With the return of the Tenth Doctor, the Zygons, Elizabeth I, Billie Piper and those pesky Daleks, Doctor Who took to the cinema screens in spectacular fashion. The episode itself hinges on the hitherto unknown War Doctor’s decision to end the Time War by destroying Time Lords and Daleks-alike with a MacGuffin of enormous power portrayed by Billie Piper. Utilising the National Gallery and the tower of London (twice) era Britain alongside the TARDIS and Gallifrey itself, the 50th is littered with moments of hilarity, solemnity, gravitas (usually from John Hurt) and fan-pleasing fodder that made many (in the cinema I went to at least) literally whoop and cheer aloud.
The positive feedback wasn’t limited to a cinema in Dorset. Not long after the episode aired, the official Doctor Who Magazine conducted a poll that resulted in The Day of The Doctor being crowned as the best episode EVER. The Telegraph accompanied its 5 star rating with the assertion that “on the strength of this episode, there is no reason why we won’t be celebrating the Doctor’s umpteenth regeneration in 2063.” 5 stars too from The Mirror and SFX. IGN gave it 93% and ended their review describing it as “all gold.” “Terrific” said Den of Geek. This very website picked out John Hurt, the epic scale and the level of reliance on Who history as particularly praiseworthy. Even better, perhaps, one of The Daily Mail reviews hated it.
Its ratings reflected the acclaim the episode was met with. Cinema takings in the UK of £1.7m made The Day of The Doctor the third highest grossing “film” of that week, behind only box-office juggernauts Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Gravity, and cinematic success was felt in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, as well as many European countries. This is before factoring the millions who tuned in from home. According to one social media analysing company, The Day of The Doctor generated nearly half a million tweets in its runtime; with over 12,000 tweets per minute in the opening sequences. Doctor Who has come a long way.
The extras on disc 2 are more numerous than disc one and more varied for it. Alongside trailers for the 50th Anniversary and the marvellous cinema introductions (“remember, popcorn can feel pain!”) there is a shorter mini-sode entitled The Last Day. This proves a brief but horrifically memorable detour into Time Lord warfare from the perspective of a new recruit. It shows the beginning of the fall of Arcadia, the violent setting for some of the massive moments in The Day of The Doctor, and introduces the concept of sky-trenches; a lovely sci-fi idea for explaining why the Daleks hadn’t just gone ahead and landed on Gallifrey.
From Script To Screen sadly is not a full table read as many of us would’ve hoped. The snippets we do get to see are fantastic, with Matt and David clearly having a ball and Steven Moffat warning the cast and crew not to tell even their families anything as “they will betray you”. It would’ve been nice to see more, but it is always nice hearing David Tennant describing John Hurt’s voice as “like chocolate, treacle… and sex.”
Tales From The TARDIS is a joy. Lovely anecdotes abound of Tom Baker doing The Times crossword with K-9 in front of some enchanted and bewildered fans, Nicola Bryant winning the role of Peri by pretending to be an American throughout her entire audition, William Hartnell labelling the buttons on the TARDIS to ensure he was consistent when operating it, Colin Baker’s comments on how his views on how the Sixth Doctor should look ended up describing what Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor wore… and so on. It’s as much a celebration as the two hour documentary on disc 1 and while some parts are undoubtedly covered in both features, each offers up enough unique content to be worth viewing. Indeed, disc 2’s feature benefits substantially by removing the views of celebrity fans. As much as I like Al Murray espousing the scientific genius of Doctor Who, I’d much rather hear Sylvester McCoy claim he got the role because the panel he was auditioning for wanted to use the hat he was wearing on the day.
Main feature – 10/10
Bonus features – 9/10
Come back soon for a look at discs 3 and 4…
