The Day of the Doctor

As the show's 50th anniversary special, the episode contains a multitude of references to previous episodes. It opens with the title sequence and theme arrangement used at the series' debut in 1963. Echoing the opening of "An Unearthly Child", the first episode of the first Doctor Who serial, a policeman is shown walking past the sign for I.M. Foreman, the scrap merchant in whose yard the TARDIS was located, and its first few seconds are in monochrome (as had been the case in The Two Doctors (1985), the last time more than one Doctor had featured in an official story). Coal Hill School, which the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman attended when they were on Earth in 1963 in the very first story, also featured in the 1988 serial Remembrance of the Daleks. According to the school sign, the chairman of the school governors is now Ian Chesterton, one of the First Doctor's original three companions and a science teacher at the school, and the headmaster is W. Coburn, a reference to Waris Hussein and Anthony Coburn, who respectively directed and wrote An Unearthly Child.[17] Clara rides out of Coal Hill School on the Eleventh Doctor's anti-gravity motorcycle from "The Bells of Saint John" at 5:16, the time An Unearthly Child originally aired on BBC TV (the first broadcast began 1 minute 20 seconds after its scheduled time of 17:15 GMT on 23 November 1963).[18][19]

When the TARDIS is picked up by UNIT, the call sign used by the helicopter to refer to UNIT is "Greyhound leader", reflecting that of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart,[20] whose daughter Kate is now portrayed as having his role as commander of UNIT. Lethbridge-Stewart was a central character in the Third Doctor's era and also several of his successors', originally appearing in the Second Doctor serial The Web of Fear (1968) and making his last appearance in Doctor Who in Seventh Doctor serial Battlefield (1989), which is also referenced. An image of the Brigadier is seen alongside images of various companions of the Doctor. The UNIT dating controversy, regarding whether the Third Doctor era stories took place in the 1970s or 1980s, is alluded to in dialogue by Kate Stewart, when she mentions that events occurred in "the '70s or '80s depending on the dating protocol used".[20]

The Tenth Doctor's era is also heavily revisited. His marriage to Queen Elizabeth I, mentioned in "The Shakespeare Code" and "The End of Time", is finally depicted.[21] The Tenth Doctor mentioned the Fall of Arcadia in "Doomsday" (2006). When the Eleventh Doctor tells Clara that the situation is "timey-wimey stuff," and the War Doctor ridicules him for it, the Tenth Doctor remarks, "I have no idea where he picks that stuff up"; the Tenth originally used the phrase in "Blink" (2007).[21] When he leaves after learning of Trenzalore, the Tenth Doctor remarks, "I don't want to go…", his incarnation's final words from "The End of Time"; the Eleventh Doctor tells Clara that "he always says that" after his TARDIS leaves.[17] The Moment device was originally mentioned in "The End of Time",[22] but had not been explored in depth until now, where it takes the form of "Bad Wolf", a seemingly omnipotent being and personalisation of the Time Vortex itself, which manifested in Rose Tyler when she absorbed the Time Vortex in the first series finale, "The Parting of the Ways" (2005).[17] During the negotiations with the Zygons Kate mentions the Sycorax from "The Christmas Invasion" (2005).

The Tower of London's Black Archive, containing alien artefacts collected by UNIT, has photographs of the Doctor's many companions. Additionally, River Song's high heels from "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" (2010), the mass canceler from second series finale "Doomsday",[23] a Supreme Dalek head from fourth series finale, "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (2008), a Dalek tommy gun from "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks" (2007), the restraining chair which held both the Master and the Doctor in "The End of Time", and a Cyberman head are contained within the Archive. The vortex manipulator in the Archive was donated to UNIT by Captain Jack Harkness, a companion of the Ninth Doctor who was reunited with the Tenth Doctor on multiple occasions. The Black Archive was also seen in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Enemy of the Bane (2008).

Other references are made to previous multi-Doctor anniversary stories, The Three Doctors (1973) and The Five Doctors (1983).[20] The Eleventh Doctor's dismissal of the Tenth Doctor and War Doctor as "Sandshoes and Grandad" to mock their respective footwear and age echo the First Doctor's description of his two successors in The Three Doctors as "a dandy and a clown".[20] (The War Doctor's initial incredulous reaction upon seeing his future selves also reflects this moment.) Likewise, a Time Lord says, "I didn't know when I was well-off. All twelve of them." which recalls the Brigadier's line from The Three Doctors: "Three of them, eh? I didn't know when I was well off."[24] More of the Brigadier's dialogue from the latter serial is alluded to when Kate asks for an incident report code-named "Cromer";[25] in the earlier story, upon being transported to another universe, the Brigadier initially believes himself to be near the coastal Norfolk town. A line from the First Doctor from The Five Doctors is also reused near the end as the Tenth Doctor tells the Eleventh, "It's good to know my future is in safe hands" (which the First told the Fifth in the earlier story).[26] When the War Doctor appears, Clara remarks, "I think there's three of them," to which Kate responds, "There's a precedent for that," in reference to The Three Doctors.[20]

Lines from past serials reappear in the special. The Eleventh Doctor resurrects the phrase "reversing the polarity" associated with the Third Doctor, to comical effect. In trying to compensate for the presence of three Doctors who utilise different console rooms, the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS console briefly changes to the War Doctor's console room, seen again later in the episode, before settling on the Eleventh's.[26] The Tenth Doctor comments upon the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS console, "Oh you've redecorated! I don't like it", a line originally used by the Second Doctor speaking to the Third in The Three Doctors and later reused by the Second and Eleventh Doctors respectively in The Five Doctors and "Closing Time" (2011).[17] One of the War Doctor's final lines of dialogue prior to regenerating is "....wearing a bit thin", echoing some of the First Doctor's final words prior to regenerating at the end of The Tenth Planet (1966), "this old body of mine is wearing a bit thin".[17]

The Moment’s description of the TARDIS's sound as a "wheezing, groaning sound" is a reference to its frequent description in the Target novelisations.[27]

• Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.
• David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Archival footage notwithstanding, Tennant had not appeared in Doctor Who since his final regular appearance in "The End of Time" (2009–10).
• John Hurt as the War Doctor, the Doctor's forgotten warrior-like incarnation. Within the series' narrative, the War Doctor existed between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and renounced the title of "The Doctor".
• Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell as the Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, Sixth, Fifth, Fourth, Third, Second and First Doctors respectively. Archive footage of all the actors was used. Collectively credited as "The Doctor".
• John Guilor provided some voice-over work for the First Doctor, imitating William Hartnell's voice.[28]
• Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor is seen in a fleeting and uncredited appearance (eyes and forehead only); he took over the lead role from Smith in the 2013 Christmas special, "The Time of the Doctor".[29][30]
• Tom Baker also makes an uncredited appearance as the Curator, a mysterious character who informs the Eleventh Doctor of Gallifrey's survival at the end of the episode. His resemblance to the Fourth Doctor is alluded to, but left unexplained.[29][30]

The Zygon costume and makeup, as shown at the Doctor Who Experience.

• Jenna Coleman as companion Clara Oswald. The special was the first time the actress was credited on the show simply as Jenna Coleman, dropping the Louise part of her name seen in previous episodes.[31]
• Billie Piper as the likeness of Rose Tyler,[32] which is used as the interface of The Moment, a sentient Gallifreyan weapon of mass destruction.[12]
• Jemma Redgrave as the Brigadier's daughter Kate Stewart, who previously appeared in "The Power of Three", having been originated by actress Beverley Cressman in the direct-to-video spin-offs, Downtime and Dæmos Rising.[13] Redgrave also portrays the Zygon impersonating Stewart.
• Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I and her Zygon duplicate.[33][34][35] Page is the third actress to portray Elizabeth I on Doctor Who, following Vivienne Bennet (The Chase) and Angela Pleasence ("The Shakespeare Code").
• Ingrid Oliver as Osgood and her Zygon duplicate.[36] Throughout the special, Osgood is seen wearing a copy of the Fourth Doctor's iconic scarf.[37]
• Peter de Jersey as Androgar, a Time Lord.[38]
• Ken Bones as the General of Gallifrey.[39]
• Jonjo O'Neill as McGilliop.
• Aidan Cook and Paul Kasey as the Zygons.
• Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Daleks and the Zygons.
• Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Pegg as Daleks.

Both David Tennant and Billie Piper returned to appear in the 50th anniversary special.

On 30 March 2013, a distribution error occurred, and many subscribers to Doctor Who Magazine received the issue five days before the official release date.[12] The issue of the magazine included the official announcement that David Tennant and Billie Piper, who previously played the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler in Doctor Who respectively, were lined up to appear in the special, along with actor John Hurt.[12] Moffat did not want to bring Rose the character back because he felt her story was wrapped up and did not feel comfortable adding to his predecessor Russell T Davies' arc. However, he liked the concept of bringing back her Bad Wolf persona and felt that Piper needed to be in the special as she symbolised the rebirth of Doctor Who.[32]

John Hurt did not actually audition for the part, but had been asked by the production team and "said yes with remarkable speed".[40] His costume was meant to signify that he was "rougher, tougher", and had been around for a while; the audience had missed a lot. Hurt's request to keep his beard adds to this effect.[40]

Christopher Eccleston discussed plans for the anniversary episode with Moffat, but eventually declined to return as the Ninth Doctor.[41] Eccleston would later state that he declined due to a combination of not doing "justice to the Ninth Doctor", as well as still being hurt by BBC's actions during his tenure.[42]

Then-head writer and showrunner Steven Moffat (pictured) wrote "The Day of the Doctor", which he stated would "change the narrative" of Doctor Who.[43]

"The Day of the Doctor" was written by Steven Moffat,[5] the then head writer of Doctor Who, and produced by Marcus Wilson with Nick Hurran directing.[44] Moffat was developing ideas for the 50th anniversary episode as early as late 2011, when he stated that the team "knew what [they] want[ed] to do" and were "revving up" for the episode in an interview discussing his work on the 2011 film The Adventures of Tintin,[45] and began writing the script for "The Day of the Doctor" in late 2012, announcing that, as a security precaution, he had not produced any copies, instead keeping it on his computer "under lock and key" until it was needed.[46] Moffat stated prior to the episode's release, "Most things that have been said about the 50th are not true... Normally I am responsible for the disinformation and the rubbish rumors—I usually put them out myself, but I haven't needed to for this one."[47] On the importance of the episode, Moffat has stated that it will "change the narrative" of Doctor Who.[43]

Moffat stated in an interview with Doctor Who Magazine that he initially began the story process with the idea that it would be the Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, that would have been the incarnation that ended the Time War, in spite of misgivings in his own mind regarding it:

Yes, but do you know, I was always nervous of that one, because it doesn't fit with "Rose" at all. He is a brand new Doctor in "Rose", he's absolutely, definitely new. It couldn't have been is [sic] who pushed the button in the Time War, cos that's a new man, very explicitly, in that episode. I also had trouble, I have to be honest, imagining it being Paul McGann's Doctor.[48]

Once it became clear that Eccleston would decline to appear, Moffat turned to an alternative concept he had been formulating, featuring a "mayfly Doctor" who appears for a single episode, asking, "Would it be weird in the run of the series to have the 45th Doctor turn up and be played by Johnny Depp or someone? Would that be a cool thing to do?".[48] He also indicated that the "classic Doctor" he would most like to feature in a new story was William Hartnell's First Doctor, stating, "You'd want him to come and say 'What in the name of God have I turned into?' That's the confrontation that you most want to see, to celebrate 50 years. Going round and round in circles on it I just thought, 'What about a Doctor that he never talks about?' And what if it is a Doctor who's done something terrible, who's much deadlier and more serious, who represents that thing that is the undertow in both David and Matt. You know there's a terrible old man inside them. Well, here he is, facing the children he becomes, as it were."[49] Due in part to the stress surrounding planning the episode, Moffat has gone on record as stating that Series 7 was his least favorite to work on.[50]

Moffat felt that it was important to bring something different to the return of Billie Piper, as she had returned as Rose Tyler in various cameo appearances throughout series 4, most prominently in "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End", in which she had a central role, and "The End of Time". This led to the development of the Moment, which had previously been referenced in "The End of Time". Piper agreed with Moffat's sentiments, despite loving the character of Rose.[51]

Although Smith and Tennant ended up co-starring in the episode, neither actor was under contract for the series at the time, and at one point Moffat devised a plotline featuring Coleman as the sole regular cast member in case either declined.[52] Knowing that Matt Smith was planning to leave, Moffat wrote the special specifically with the brief appearance of the Twelfth Doctor during the sequence of all of the Doctors uniting to save Gallifrey, prior to casting anyone in the role. Moffat later stated that it was his "plan from the start" that all the Doctors would fly in to save Gallifrey, and he knew there would be a new one at that time. He wrote it before knowing who would be cast.[53]

Moffat explained his choice of title to SFX magazine, commenting that "... it's very rare in Doctor Who that the story happens to the Doctor. It happens to people around him, and he helps out – he's the hero figure who rides in and saves everybody from the story of the week. He is not the story of the week. In this, he is the story of the week. This is the day of the Doctor. This is his most important day. His most important moment. This is the one he'll remember, whereas I often think the Doctor wanders back to his TARDIS and forgets all about it."[54]

Because "The Day of the Doctor" was filmed in 3D, the episode took longer than usual to shoot, and every CGI shot had to be rendered twice.[55]

"The Day of the Doctor" took approximately five weeks in 2013 to film; regular filming began on 28 March 2013 and ended on 4 May. The first three days of shooting—28 March, 29 March, and 1 April—took place entirely at the show's Roath Lock studios in Porth Teigr, Cardiff Bay; some of the scenes set in the National Gallery and the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS were filmed in the period.[location 1]

Filming for the episode's outdoor scenes began on 2 April 2013.[34] The first outdoor scene was filmed at the Ivy Tower in Tonna, Neath.[location 2] The outdoor section of the scene involving Clara driving her motorcycle into the TARDIS, as well as the beginning of the sequence in which UNIT airlifts the TARDIS via helicopter, was filmed on Gelligaer Common Road in Bedlinog.[location 3] The remainder of the latter scene was later filmed on 6 April at MOD St Athan,[location 4] and on 9 April in Trafalgar Square, London.[56][location 5]

On 17 April 2013 Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Billie Piper and David Tennant filmed scenes in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, and some scenes were shot in Chepstow Castle. On 2 May 2013, filming took place in Cardiff for scenes that take place at Totter's Lane and Coal Hill School, locations which had previously featured in the first 1963 serial An Unearthly Child, the 1985 serial Attack of the Cybermen, and the 1988 serial Remembrance of the Daleks.[57] Filming for the special was completed on Sunday 5 May 2013, with the final two days taken with the production of the special mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", which saw Paul McGann return as the Eighth Doctor on television for the first time since 1996.[58] The final piece of filming for the special took place on 3 October, five months after principal photography wrapped, with Peter Capaldi filming his cameo, concurrent with filming his official first appearance for "The Time of the Doctor" (2013).[59]

Miniatures constructed by Mike Tucker and his company The Model Unit were used in filming for the Time War sequences, including a model of a Time Lord staser cannon and the War Doctor flying his TARDIS into and subsequently destroying several Daleks. The Dalek models used were 18-inch voice interactive toys produced by Character Options. The technique of using Dalek toys as models for filming was a common method of presenting entire armies in the classic series.[60]

"The Night of the Doctor", an additional 7-minute special, was released on 14 November 2013, and featured the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann)'s regeneration into the War Doctor (John Hurt).[61] Another 4-minute special, entitled "The Last Day", was released on 20 November 2013 and saw the start of the Fall of Arcadia.[62]

The first trailer for the special was shown to attendees of San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013.[63] The BBC's decision not to release the trailer online to international fans was met with controversy.[64][65][66] On 26 July, the BBC responded to criticisms by saying the trailer was intended to be exclusive to Comic-Con attendees and that content for all other audiences would be forthcoming at a later date.[67]

On 28 September, the BBC revealed that the trailer for the special had been shot and was in post-production.[68] On 19 October 2013, a specially made teaser trailer, directed by Matt Losasso, was shown on BBC One, and was then subsequently posted online. It contained icons from the history of the show and had a monologue by Matt Smith, as well as body doubles and CGI to create shots of previous Doctors.[69][70]

A clip from "The Day of the Doctor" was shown during the BBC's Children in Need telethon on Friday 15 November.[71] The official trailer for the episode aired in the United Kingdom at 8 pm GMT on 9 November. Due to the leak of a trailer earlier on 9 November on BBC Latin America's Facebook page, the BBC officially released it ahead of schedule. A second official trailer was released shortly thereafter.[72]

Furthermore, before the release of the main trailers, a short clip previewed the Eleventh Doctor and Clara examining a seemingly impossible painting. On 10 November 2013, a short clip of the Eleventh Doctor announcing "The clock is ticking" interrupted a BBC One ident.[73] This was followed on Monday 11 November by another ident interruption, with the Eleventh Doctor stating "It's all been leading to this..."[74]

On 28 September, the BBC unveiled a Twitter hashtag (#SaveTheDay) and an ident that was used to promote the special.[75] Respectively, the hashtag and the ident were shown before and after the premiere of Atlantis on BBC One. The hashtag was used to reveal all subsequent promotional material. On 7 November 2013, a video starring Smith in character as the Doctor was released promoting the hashtag, promising exclusive content. A website was launched to reveal the content.[76]

The episode originally aired on BBC One, BBC One HD, and in 3D on BBC One HD Red Button. It aired on Prime in New Zealand, BBC America in the United States, ABC1 in Australia, and on Space in Canada. In English speaking Asia and Africa, it was released by BBC Entertainment.

The episode was originally released in Cineworld, Vue, Odeon, and independent cinemas. It was released in Hoyts, Event, Village and limited independent cinemas in Australia. It aired in Cineplex cinemas in Canada and in Event Cinemas in New Zealand. In the United States it was released only at AMC, Century, Cinemark and Regal cinemas. In Mexico, the episode was released exclusively in 20 select Cinemark 3D theatres.[86]

The cinema version played with an introduction featuring Dan Starkey as Strax and John Hurt, David Tennant and Matt Smith as the Doctors, respectively.[87]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	9.41[88]
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	100%[88]
Review scores
Source	Rating
IGN	9.3[89]
New York Magazine	[90]
PopMatters	[91]
Radio Times	[92]
The A.V. Club	A−[93]
The Daily Telegraph	[94]
TV Fanatic	[95]

"The Day of the Doctor" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the special has 100% approval rating based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 9.41/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor is a joyous marker in the series, uniting two of the most beloved Time Lords and setting them together on a rousing adventure full of crowd-pleasing nods and winks."[88] Ben Lawrence of The Daily Telegraph gave the special five stars, calling it "charming, eccentric and very, very British."[94] Den of Geek's Simon Brew praised the special, calling it "terrific", and stating that it was "pulsating with comedy, ambition, and top to bottom entertainment." However, he comments negatively on the handling of the Zygon subplot, stating their part “just fizzled out a little, after a strong build up”, and commented that the viewer may have mixed feelings on the revelation that the Doctor saved Gailfrey, rather than destroy it, stating it felt “like years of darkness was sort-of sorted out in 20 minutes (albeit with no little gravitas)”.[96] Jon Cooper of The Mirror gave the episode five stars, stating that it "not only gives hardcore fans a beautiful reinvention of their favourite show but also gives casual viewers a stonking story and a reminder why we all love this show so much."[97] SFX gave the episode five out of five stars, noting that it was not perfect but those were "churlish niggles". The magazine praised the three Doctors and commented on how it linked the past, present, and future of the show.[98]

Mashable's Chris Taylor stated that the episode is "one designed to please fans and newcomers alike," and that it "shows why the Doctor is finding his way into ever more homes and hearts."[99] The Guardian's Viv Grospok criticised various elements of the episode, commenting that she was not certain what was intended by the comedic dialogue and the episode's shifting points of view and disliked the revelation Piper wasn't playing her original character, Rose Tyler, although she eventually concluded that "it was all worth it."[100]

Overnight figures revealed that the episode had a total of 10.18 million viewers for the live broadcast in the United Kingdom.[101] When time-shifted viewers were taken into account, the figure rose to a total of 12.8 million viewers, which makes it the highest rating since "The Next Doctor" (2008), which had a total of 13.1 million viewers.[102] For the week, it was the number one most-watched series on British television, a feat only two other Doctor Who episodes had ever achieved.[103] The box office takings for the cinema screenings totalled £1.7m, which placed it at number three in the UK film chart for the week, behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Gravity.[104] In addition, "The Day of the Doctor" became the most requested show within 24 hours on BBC iPlayer with 1.27 million requests, which rose to 2.9 million by 3 December 2013.[105] It was named the most-watched drama of 2013 based on the final viewing figures.[105] It received an Appreciation Index of 88.[106]

The live simulcast on BBC America had a total audience of 2.4 million viewers, briefly becoming the largest audience in the channel's history,[107] until the broadcast of "The Time of the Doctor" just over a month later.[108]

Worldwide, cinema screenings brought $10.2 million at the box office.[109] The cinema screenings in the USA, on a total of 660 screens nationwide, took a total of US$4.8m (approx £3m) at the box office.[110] The special had a total of 1.95 million viewers for its two broadcasts in Australia, with 590,000 watching the live broadcast on ABC1, and another 1.36 million watching the repeat at 7:30pm, while the cinema box office takings totalled AU$1.54m, putting it at number three in the Australian film chart.[111][112][113] In addition, the episode received 51,000 plays on the online ABC iview in a single day.[113][114] A total of 42,000 viewers watched the simultaneous screening in New Zealand, with a total of 177,510 viewers watching the 8.30pm repeat, which was Prime's highest rating show for the day. The figure includes live[115] and timeshifted viewers.[116] This means there was a total of 219,510 viewers for all screenings. A total of 1.7 million viewers watched the two broadcasts on Canadian channel Space, making it the most watched entertainment programme in Canada on the day, with the 1.1m watching the live broadcast at 2.50pm EST being the channel's largest ever audience.[117]

Social analytics website SecondSync revealed that Doctor Who generated almost 500,000 tweets on Twitter during its broadcast, with the peak number of tweets occurring at the beginning of the broadcast, at 12,939 tweets per minute.[118][119]

"The Day of the Doctor" won the publicly voted Radio Times Audience Award at the BAFTA Awards in May 2014.[11] "The Day of the Doctor" was also nominated for the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).[120]

In a poll conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, "The Day of the Doctor" was voted as the most popular story in the 50 years of the show.[121]

Selected pieces of score from "The Day of the Doctor", as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 24 November 2014 by Silva Screen Records. The album includes material not used in the final episode.[126]

A novelisation of this story written by Steven Moffat including "The Night of the Doctor" storyline was released in paperback and digital formats on 5 April 2018 as part of the Target Collection.[127][128]