Doctor Who (2013 specials)

Episodes

"The Day of the Doctor" features the return of the Zygons for the first time since Terror of the Zygons in 1975. "The Time of the Doctor" draws together a number of plot threads that have run through the series since the Eleventh Doctor's first episode in 2010.

Casting

In "The Day of the Doctor", Smith and Coleman star alongside David Tennant and Billie Piper; Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor, while Piper, although credited as playing Rose Tyler, in fact portrays a manifestation of "The Moment", a Gallifreyan super-weapon, that has taken on Rose's form. The casting of Tennant and Piper was announced by the BBC on 30 March 2013. Photographs of Smith, Tennant and Coleman at the first read-through were published, which also confirmed the casting of Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page. On 8 April 2013, the BBC announced that Jemma Redgrave would reprise her role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter Kate Stewart from "The Power of Three". Rumours had also circulated that Christopher Eccleston would have some involvement; Eccleston had some discussions with Steven Moffat, but eventually declined to return as the Ninth Doctor. Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor, claimed that none of the surviving actors who portrayed the Doctor prior to Eccleston had been contacted regarding the special. Despite claiming that it would be "a travesty" if his character did not feature in the special, John Barrowman did not feature as Captain Jack Harkness. The release of "The Night of the Doctor" on the 14th November revealed that Paul McGann had returned to portray the Eighth Doctor.

On 1 June 2013, Matt Smith announced that he would be leaving Doctor Who, with his final episode being the 2013 Christmas Special, with that episode set to feature the Doctor's latest regeneration. Speculation about the identity of the actor set to take over began immediately, with a number of names suggested. The official announcement of the actor of the Twelfth Doctor was made in a special live simulcast on 4 August 2013 in Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, and saw confirmation of Peter Capaldi in the role. The 2013 special is the fourth and final Christmas episode to feature Matt Smith's incarnation of the Doctor, and the second to feature Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald.

Writing and development

Showrunner Steven Moffat 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 until it was needed.

Moffat has stated that the Christmas episode is intended to tie together the remaining story strands from the Eleventh Doctor era, some of which were introduced as far back as "The Eleventh Hour".

The (Christmas) special ties up stuff from all corners of Matt's tenure – there are things I set in motion in Matt's very first episode that I'm paying off now. It's been a long game, but most of the questions that people ask will be answered...

In September 2013, it was revealed that the Cybermen would feature in the Christmas episode, when one of the show's regular stunt artists tweeted that she would be playing a Cyberman.

Filming

Filming of "The Day of the Doctor" began on 2 April 2013, with David Tennant, Billie Piper, John Hurt and Joanna Page seen at a location outside Neath in South Wales. On 9 April filming took place involving Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman in Trafalgar Square in London. Various other locations included Chepstow (with some filming done inside the castle), and Cardiff – scenes shot in Cardiff are intended to represent both Totter's Lane and Coal Hill School. Shooting wrapped on 5 May 2013. The final two days of production were taken with shooting the special mini-episode, "The Night of the Doctor", which featured Paul McGann returning to the role of the Eighth Doctor for the first time since 1996.

At the 2013 Comic-Con, Matt Smith confirmed that production of the Christmas episode would begin in September, once his work on How to Catch a Monster was complete. Filming for "The Time of the Doctor" began on 8 September. On 10 September, Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were seen filming on location at Lydstep Flats in Cardiff, which have previously been used in Series 1 and 2 as the Powell Estate where Rose Tyler lived with her mother Jackie. On 19 September 2013, scenes were filmed in the evening at Puzzlewood with fake snow being scattered over certain areas. On 5 October 2013, Doctor Who producer Marcus Wilson revealed via Twitter that filming was complete.

An Adventure in Space and Time

In addition to the 50th anniversary episode featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant, a further special was produced to celebrate Doctor Who's half-century. An Adventure in Space and Time, written by Mark Gatiss, was a feature-length docudrama detailing the conception and initial production of Doctor Who. It featured David Bradley as William Hartnell and Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton; Matt Smith has a cameo as himself in his Eleventh Doctor costume.

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

As a complement to "The Day of the Doctor", Peter Davison wrote and directed a 30-minute spoof entitled The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot featuring himself, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy attempting to gain parts in the 50th anniversary episode. Produced in mid 2013, the film first became apparent when images of the three staging a "protest" outside BBC Television Centre came out. In addition to Davison, Baker and McCoy, the film featured cameos from a host of people connected with Doctor Who, including Paul McGann, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, Russell T. Davies and John Barrowman, with David Tennant's wife Georgia Moffet and their children also guest starring.

Other television productions

"The Day of the Doctor" formed the centerpiece of the celebrations, which encompassed programmes across all of the BBC's platforms, including An Adventure in Space and Time, a Culture Show special entitled "Me, You and Doctor Who" presented by Matthew Sweet that explores the wider cultural significance of the show. CBBC broadcast a show called "12 Again" in which past and present stars of the show recounted their memories, Professor Brian Cox delivered a televised lecture on the science of Doctor Who, and BBC Three had a weekend devoted to Monsters and Villains, as well as showing "Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide". The BBC also announced plans to show a newly restored print of the first serial An Unearthly Child. The announcement of the title was also followed by the release of the first official poster for the special.

UKTV's Watch showed a story from each doctor to celebrate the 50th anniversary, based around the broadcast of the eleven part BBC America series, The Doctors Revisited. This series has one episode dedicated to each incarnation of the Doctor, and was broadcast monthly alongside an omnibus edition of a serial of each Doctor. Watch is broadcasting two episodes per weekend, starting on 12 October.

The British Film Institute ran a year long celebration of the 50th anniversary with monthly screenings of stories from each Doctor, culminating in November with screenings of both "The Day of the Doctor" and An Adventure in Space and Time.

Radio

BBC Radio 2 broadcast a number of new programmes commemorating the show, including a 90-minute documentary called "Who is the Doctor?"; "The Blagger's Guide to Doctor Who" hosted by David Quantick and Graham Norton's live Saturday show was broadcast from the Doctor Who Celebration event at the ExCel. BBC Radio 1 looked at the phenomenon of "Time Lord Rock", a musical style derived from the music of the show, while BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a three-hour special called "Who Made Who", which discussed the world that inspired the show.

In October, Big Finish Productions released a 50th anniversary special audio drama featuring the Fourth through Eighth Doctors entitled The Light at the End.

DVD and Blu-ray releases

"The Day of the Doctor" was released as a standalone DVD and Blu-ray on 2 December 2013 in the United Kingdom, 4 December in Australia, and 10 December in the United States. An Adventure in Space and Time was released on DVD on 2 December in the United Kingdom and 11 December in Australia, and as a DVD/Blu-ray combo in the United States on 27 May 2014. "The Time of the Doctor" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 20 January 2014 in the United Kingdom, 22 January in Australia and 4 March in the United States. A complete box set was released on 8 September 2014 in the United Kingdom and 10 September in Australia on DVD and Blu-ray.

Soundtrack

Selected pieces of score from "The Day of the Doctor" and "The Time of the Doctor", as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 24 November 2014 by Silva Screen Records.