Doctor Who (2005): The Night of the Doctor

Writer:

Steven Moffat

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Director:

John Hayes

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Date:

14-Nov-2013

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm finally writing about The Night of the Doctor, the surprise seven-minute minisode prequel to The Day of the Doctor that just appeared on the internet out of nowhere a week before the 50th Anniversary.

2013 was a while ago now, and it's maybe hard to imagine what it was like to be a Doctor Who fan back then. It was the end of a Doctor's era, whose final run had been marred by long gaps between poorly received stories. But it was also an anniversary year and people were hyped for the return of familiar faces in a big anniversary special written by one of the series' most beloved writers. So it was basically nothing like 2023...

No one was hyped for The Night of the Doctor however, in fact they didn't know it was coming at all. But then a few people watched it and afterwards they told their friends to drop everything, stay off Twitter, and watch it themselves. Even knowing what it was about would be too much of a spoiler, all that fans needed to know is that they had to see it.

So I'll warn you now that there will be SPOILERS here, both for the episode and relevant stories leading up to it. I won't spoil anything that happens after this story however, even things that fans at the time would've already known.

Doctor Who (1963) 25-10: Silver Nemesis, Part Three

Episode:

677

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Serial:

150

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Writer:

Kevin Clarke

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Director:

Chris Clough

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Air Date:

07-Dec-1988

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about the final part of the infamous Silver Nemesis. It's only a three-parter this one. You can click these links to go to PART ONE or PART TWO.

There had been other three-parter episodes earlier in the show's run, even a couple of two-parters, and a one-parter, but the Seventh Doctor era was when they really became a regular thing. It's a little surprising to me that it took them so long, as splitting up a story into a beginning, a middle, and an end seems very natural, and people love their trilogies. Three-parters also have the advantage, theoretically, of not being padded out with irrelevant scenes and dragging on too long. I'll let you know how well that worked out in this case.

This is going to be full of SPOILERS, at least up to this point in the series.

Doctor Who (1963) 25-09: Silver Nemesis, Part Two

Episode:

676

|

Serial:

150

|

Writer:

Kevin Clarke

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Director:

Chris Clough

|

Air Date:

30-Nov-1988

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've got more Silver Nemesis for you, whether you want it or not. However you can CLICK HERE if you'd rather go back to to part one.

Silver Nemesis was writer Kevin Clarke's first serial for Doctor Who and, coincidentally, also his last. Though to be fair, at this point every serial was someone's last, as there were only five more stories left before the classic series got cancelled. Doctor Who did eventually come back, but the writers didn't (except for Rona Munro, who returned to write one of Peter Capaldi's final episodes).

There will be SPOILERS here for this episode and earlier stories. You don't have to worry about me spoiling anything that happens later though.

Doctor Who (1963) 25-08: Silver Nemesis, Part One

Episode:

675

|

Serial:

150

|

Writer:

Kevin Clarke

|

Director:

Chris Clough

|

Air Date:

23-Nov-1988

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching Silver Nemesis, Part One, the first episode of Doctor Who's silver anniversary story. In fact, it's not just the show's 25th anniversary celebration, but it's also its 150th serial. The latest Doctor Who story to air, The Power of the Doctor, was the 300th story, so this is exactly halfway through!

Plus it's the 675th episode, which isn't actually significant, except for being a bloody huge number. To put that into some perspective, the 675th episode of Star Trek was the 3rd season Enterprise episode Impulse. (And the 150th Trek story was the second season TNG episode Manhunt.)

It's a bit weird though that this is the anniversary story and not Remembrance of the Daleks, which... has certain connections to a past serial. Also, this is the first anniversary story to not list the number of Doctors it contains in the title. We're up to seven now, so it's probably for the best that they don't all show up.

There will be SPOILERS here for the episode and presumably earlier stories too if it really is an anniversary special like it claims. I won't give away anything that comes later though.

Doctor Who (1963): The Five Doctors - Part 4

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about the final chapter of The Five Doctors. If you want to go back and read an earlier part, click PART ONE, PART TWO or PART THREE.

This special features a ton of returning Doctor Who characters, but far from all of them. Counting only the absolutely unambiguous and indisputable companions, it's missing 13 people, and this goes up to 19 if you count the more debatable ones. I won't start listing them all, however, so you'll just have to imagine who I'm counting as ambiguous (*cough* Kamelion *cough*).

Funny thing is, if you were to look at this from a more non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint and count the number of companions from the series' future that are missing, that number would also be 19. Well, depending on who you decide to include.

You probably know this already, seeing as this is the fourth part of this review, but there will be SPOILERS beyond this point. Not for anything new though, and by 'new' I mean 'it aired during the last 40 years'.

Doctor Who (1963): The Five Doctors - Part 3

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm still writing about The Five Doctors, the epic crossover event that pulls together heroes from 1 TV series. If you want to return to an earlier part click PART ONE or PART TWO.

This special didn't quite manage to bring the full five Doctors together, but I'm struggling to think of another sci-fi TV series that managed to pack so many main protagonists into one story. I can't remember any Star Trek story that brings more than two lead captains together, and Stargate and Babylon 5 didn't do any better. One of the Star Wars shows must have done it by now though...or maybe not? Oh duh, the Arrowverse did Crisis on Infinite Earths. Still, this was the Avengers of 1983.

This review will be full of SPOILERS, but I'll not give away anything that happens later in the series.

Doctor Who (1963): The Five Doctors - Part 2

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm continuing with Doctor Who's 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors! This is going to drag on for four parts, and if you want to jump back to part 1, CLICK HERE.

The Five Doctors was the final story by the legendary Terrance Dicks, who'd been writing Doctor Who episodes since the Second Doctor's era. His contributions to the series spanned 14 years, which is a long time... though not quite as long as Russell T Davies' incredible 18 years on the show (with a 12 year break in the middle).

It was hoped that they could get Waris Hussein to direct, as he'd directed the very first serial, An Unearthly Child, 20 years earlier. Unfortunately, he was in America, so the job ultimately went to Peter Moffatt, who'd already directed Peter Davison in a few episodes of All Creatures Great and Small.

Past this point you'll be flooded with SPOILERS for the episode and maybe a few earlier stories as well. I'll not spoil anything that comes later however.