Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of the Doctor (Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD Combo)

Based on his writing for television, one imagines that Steven Moffat's enjoys puzzles in whatever spare time his professional commitments allow. On the sitcom Coupling, Moffat showed a great affinity for making seemingly disparate pieces come together into a satisfying whole, often by playing around with time. Not surprisingly, this approach has been even more thoroughly explored in his writing for Doctor Who.Following his relatively straightforward first story* with the "empty child", Moffat has taken the time travel aspect of the show and run with it like no other writer in Doctor Who's 50 year history. From his first script for David Tennant's Doctor to the overarching story-lines of his time as the show's lead writer, time has been a key element of the narrative puzzles he's assembled. This was true even of the 2007 mini-episode "Time Crash", produced for the BBC's Children in Need charity event, which presented a brief meeting between David Tennant's Doctor and his 1980s predecessor, Peter Davison.In some ways that brief interlude was good practice for yesterday's special episode for the show's 50th anniversary, "Day of the Doctor". Having the current Doctor meet his former selves was done to mark both the 10th and 20th anniversaries of the show and, despite the show not being on TV at the time, the 30th and 40th as well^. This precedent of celebrating the past in a way virtually no other show can added a particularly tricky piece to the puzzle, because while these stories had their moments none could be classified as one of Doctor Who's finest hours.After an uneven run of stories that culminated in "The Name of the Doctor", I had my doubts as to how well Moffat would succeed at crafting a puzzle whose pieces included…-celebrating Doctor Who's past in a way longtime fans would appreciate but didn't require decades worth of background knowledge for everyone else to enjoy.-displaying the fun parts of multi-Doctor stories without succumbing to the pitfalls that made previous ones less than great.-fostering optimism about a 60th anniversary (and beyond).My doubts gave way to anticipation a little over a week before "Day of the Doctor" aired, thanks to one of two prequels that had been announced for the story. What made "Night of the Doctor" so good was not that it gave longtime fans like myself what we wanted, particularly a return appearance as the Doctor by Paul McGann, but rather that it did so in unexpected ways. In a little under seven minutes, Moffat managed to subvert our assumptions about some key elements of the show's mythology while also telling a sharply written story about gut-wrenching choices. It also helped explain how John Hurt as the mysterious "War Doctor" fits into the larger story.The idea of a missing incarnation seemed to annoy a lot of hardcore fans, especially when it was announced that none of the show's pre-2005 Doctors would be in the anniversary episode. Despite three of those actors being dead and none of the others except McGann and (to a lesser extent) Davison looking much like they did when they were the current Doctor, an awful lot of these "fans" prejudged the story as a disappointment solely based on Tennant being the only established past Doctor in it. This attitude is amusing in retrospect because it was having John Hurt as this newly revealed Doctor that made the multi-Doctor element work in a way that I can't envision any of Tennant's and Smith's predecessors doing.Because he represented a shadowy period in the Doctor's story before the one that started with Christopher Eccleston's Doctor in "Rose", Hurt was able to embody the Doctor's entire past. On the one hand, his jabs at Tennant and Smith harkened back to William Hartnell putting his successors in line in "The Three Doctors", but he also personified the tension between who the Doctor was, who he's become and who he should be. More to the point, having an actor of Hurt's calibre seemed to push Tennant and especially Smith out of their comfort zones. The end result is that a story that could have been a shallow and incoherent mess feels believable on a character level, which enabled me to enjoy the icing on the cake all the more.Admittedly, not all of the icing was to my taste. The war scenes on Gallifrey felt a bit too "Star Wars" for my liking, presumably intended to give more 3-D bang for the buck (or rather quid), but the return of the Zygons and seeing UNIT led by Kate Lethbridge-Stewart was great fun. Needless to say, it was also fantastic to see that the line about no pre-2005 Doctors appearing wasn't quite true either, and seeing a glimpse of incoming Doctor Peter Capaldi was a terrific touch.And then there's an element that's simply beyond objective assessment for a fan of my generation, Tom Baker.Baker declined to appear in the 20th anniversary story "The Five Doctors", in which he was only seen in footage from "Shada". Coming just two years after the end of his 7 year run as the Doctor, that decision wasn't surprising, though, Baker later said he regretted it and in recent years seems to have re-embraced Doctor Who. Seeing him as the museum curator who may or may not be another version of the Doctor may not have made total sense but here again on the level of character it worked, providing that elusive piece of the puzzle whose final form looks even cooler than you imagined.-----*Technically, Moffat's first script for Doctor Who was a 1999 charity sketch called "The Curse of the Fatal Death" starring Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor and Jonathan Pryce as the Master. Like all the best parodies, it also worked as a good example of the thing it was spoofing.^There a lot I could write quite a bit about both the 1993 Doctor Who/Eastenders crossover "Dimensions in Time" and the audio drama "Zagreus", but I'll leave it at saying that both were done in good spirit but neither is especially good.

It's the last day of the Time War, though nobody knows that yet. The great war between the Daleks and the Time Lords crescendos towards doom. In the Gallifreyan city of Arcadia, all is lost. But as the Daleks advance, chasing down each last soldier, they are met with a message shot out on a wall, "NO MORE".In the Gallifrey capital, the General is told there has been a breach of the Time Vaults, "where all the forbidden weapons are hidden away." A Lord corrects him, "They aren't forbidden any more. We've used them all against the Daleks."General: "No. No, we haven't. The Moment is come.... The Galaxy Eater. The final work of the ancients of Gallifrey. A weapon so powerful the operating system became sentient. According to legend, it developed a conscience. How do you use a weapon of mass destruction when it can stand in judgement of you? There is only one man who will even try."In a Gallifrey desert of gold sand, an old man, his face etched with too much knowing, trudges with a sack over his shoulder. It is the Doctor (The War Doctor, we can call him #8 1/2?) and he's going to set off the Moment. But the weapon projects a reasoner, to make sure the Doctor understands the horrible deed he plans.The Doctor: "I have no desire to survive this."Reasoner: "Then that's your punishment. If you do this. If you kill them all, then that's the consequence. You. Live....Do you want to see what it will turn you into? I'm opening windows to the future."And suddenly we're in 1569 Elizabethan England, where the Tenth Doctor is romancing the Queen.At the same time, the Eleventh Doctor has been summoned by U.N.I.T. in 2013.And the fun begins, three Doctors together. This is an epic tale of great seriousness and loony comedy. "We're being attacked by shape-shifting aliens from outer space formerly disguised as my horse.""You might say, I've been doing this all my lives."There is only the briefest glimpse of the 12th Doctor, We'll have to wait for the 2013 Christmas Special to meet him formally.Special Features:1. Mini-Episodes. Two prequels to "The Day of the Doctor":.....A. "The Last Day" (4 minutes) A new soldier is outfitted for the important work of monitoring the space trenches over Arcadia. Check out every spot that appears in the sky, every bird, every shadow where there shouldn't be a shadow. And then, NO!, it's a shadow with an eye-stalk......B. "The Night of the Doctor" (7 minutes) The Eighth Doctor tries to rescue the pilot from a crashing spaceship. When she realizes he's a Time Lord, she is repulsed. "Go back to your battlefield. You've not finished yet. Some of the universe is still standing."He crashes with her, and is rescued by the Sisterhood of Karn (1st seen in "The Brain of Morbius" 1979).They offer him a forced regeneration. Pick what you become.2. "The Day of the Doctor: Behind the Scenes" (15 minutes) This making-off featurette is narrated by Colin Baker, the 6th Doctor. He says, "Steven [Moffat] really had his work cut out. Not only create a work that celebrates the past, but also takes Doctor Who into a brand new era." The next 50 years start here!3. "Doctor Who Explained" (50 minutes) This has a long list of commentators, as befits a special explaining 50 years of Doctor Who: Matt Smith (11th Doctor), Steven Moffat (showrunner), Colin Baker, Tom Baker, Peter Davison (4th Doctor), Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor), Neil Gaiman (writer "Nightmare in Silver"), Marcus Wilson (producer), Julie Gardner (executive producer), Nicola Bryant (plays Peri), Jee Jee Tso (plays Chang Lee), Daphne Ashbrook (plays Grace Holloway), David Morrisey (plays Jackson Lake), Carole Ann Ford (plays Susan), William Russell (plays Ian), Freema Agyman (plays Martha), Mark Sheppard (plays Canton Delaware), John Barrowman (plays Captain Jack), Karen Gillan (plays Amy), Frazer Hines (plays Jamie), Mark Stickson (plays Vislor), Arthur Darvill (plays Rory), Jenna Coleman (plays Clara), Matthew Waterhouse (plays Adric), Hugh Bonneville (plays Captain Avery), Nocholas Briggs (voice of the Daleks), Noel Clarke (plays Mickey) and Sophie Aldred (plays Ace).Strickson: "If I can imagine myself, I'm now a TV producer, going into an office and trying to sell Doctor Who. 'It's about this guy who travels around the universe in a telephone box and he has these ever-changing companions with him, and when he dies he comes back as another actor.' Well, that's not going to work, is it? Because where's the loyalty for the audience?"This is a very basic introduction to the world of Doctor Who. As a fan who's collected the classic Doctor Who DVD's, I don't think there was anything new. But then, I don't think a long-time fan like me is who they are shooting for on this.4. Comic Con Trailer for "The Day of the Doctor"."There's one life I've tried very hard to forget."5. Teaser Trailer for "The Day of the Doctor".At first I figured, well, the Season 8 story-arc must have, in the background, a search for Gallifrey. But then I realized, if he has forgotten it all, how will he know he's supposed to search?Happy Reader

Whovians will enjoy this DVD, which stars David Tennant, Matt Smith, and John Hurt. Clara, the Impossible Girl, and Rose Tyler are there, as well as other familiar faces. This is one of my favorite DVDs and highly recommend to all Whovians.

I absolutely love Doctor Who

I enjoyed it and hope the series continues

Súper entretenido

国内のプレイヤーのリージョンが日本指定のものだと再生できません。我が家はPS4経由で再生できてますが、再生環境確認してから購入した方が良いと思われます。ちなみに現在本作品Huluで配信されてますので、リージョン2対応の国内対応だけのプレイヤーの方はそちらのほうがよろしいと思われます

Dans la mesure où on est fan de cette série, il n'y a pas de déception. Excellent épisode, mais pour cette version il faut maîtriser l'anglais ou l'italien car il n'y a pas de version française.

Ebbene si, in questo speciale per i cinquanta anni della serie Tv sono presenti contemporaneamente tre dottori:il Decimo, l'Undicesimo ed un "non numerato" Dottore che però sappiamo che si colloca cronologicamente tra l'ottavo ed il nono dottore.Questa "rigenerazione" del nostro protagonista non veniva contata dato che per le altre non meritava l'appellativo di "Dottore"!In questo speciale vivremo le vicende proprio di questa "rigenerazione" nel giorno più difficile per il Dottore: costretto a sacrificare il suo stesso popolo pur di salvare l'intero universo dalle conseguenze della guerra del tempo (contro i Dalek).Ma vedremo soprattutto il Decimo e l'Undicesimo dottore insieme... un sogno per gli appassionati della serie moderna.---Questo è la storia (senza spoiler) contenuta in questo speciale.Il Blueray ha una qualità buona ed un doppiaggio che è migliore rispetto a quello proposto da Rai 4 nella prima messa in onda (non so però se si tratta del doppiaggio definitivo).Gli EXTRA sono molto carini ed una "chicca" per i Whovians che comunque li avranno già visti tutti a suo tempo (gli EXTRA pre-speciale sono stati mandati in onda SOLO dalla BBC, ma si trovavano online sottotitolati).Consigliatissimo!!!Le attese sul prodotto non sono deluse ed il prezzo Amazon è una garanzia.