This weekend was of course the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Who, with The Day of the Doctor being seen in something like 94 countries and umpty-ump number of cinemas around the globe. I wrote about what I thought of the episode here. This is me now writing about the experience of watching Dr. Who for the rest of the weekend.
We were sucked into watching the after show party that interviewed the actors and had loads of the old companions in attendance. It was mindless fun. A mere bagatelle of fluffy cotton candy, but we were in the mood for it. Following that we watched an introduction to the monsters, Doctors and their companions, which was also light and fluff, but triggered waves of nostalgia. So that was Saturday night gone.
Sunday we tracked down the documentary on iPlayer, of An Adventure in Space and Time having missed the Thursday night transmission. It was wonderful and the ending was an emotional kick that made me cry. I can't recommend this too highly, well worth watching. After that we watched The Five (ish) Doctors, which was a wonderful spoof documentary about the previous actors who have played the Doctor wanting to be in the fiftieth anniversary show. Very tongue in cheek and funny. Then we rewatched The Day of the Doctor and both agreed it stood up to being watched a second time.
I'm not a fanatic of Dr. Who, for definitions of fanatic that mean I probably look like one to most non SF fans, in that I talk like one, can be a bit obsessive about the Daleks, and I have a deep fondness for the show, with many happy memories of watching it on TV. So my favourite Doctor is usually the current one until I get fed up with them, but there are several I never became fed up watching. William Hartnell, Patrick Toughton, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Chistopher Eccleston and John Hurt. My favourite companions start with Jo Grant, Sarah Jane, Leela and Ace, Rose, Donna and Amy. These are my favourites for the things they brought to the screen that I admired. Monsters, well the Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors and the Silurians.
Favourite episode, far too many to mention, but pretty much multiple stories from every incarnation of the Doctor. So I say I'm not a fanatic, but as I said that very much depends on one's definition.
I have to agree, I thought all the coverage over the weekend was top notch. I had half feared it would be a disapointment but I was very pleasently suprised and thoroughly enjoyed it all.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly cheered up my weekend and took my mind off how sick I had been Saturday morning with some sort of stomach bug that meant I was eating much on the day.
DeleteVery much enjoyed the programme. Although I have watched off and on since the days of the second Doctor I have never been obsessive so many of the references went over my head - I just enjoyed it for what it was. I have enjoyed the other programmes in the build up but was not so keen on the party. Looking forward to the Christmas show already!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely looking forward to seeing the regeneration from Matt Smith into Peter Capaldi. John Hurt I think made it clear that age beats youth when it comes to being the Doctor.
DeleteWe fitted most of our Who into Sunday, as that was when the 50th anniversary episode was broadcast in Oz (at 6:45am - yes, we got up to watch it ;) )
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday we watched The Five Doctors and I played a Doctor Who related HOTT game.
Sunday we watched the episode in the morning, then went to see it at the cinema in the afternoon. Later on we watched The Three Doctors (thus giving us the 10th, 20th and 50th specials in one weekend), then watched An Adventure In Space And Time in the evening. We didn't catch up on the two-hour essential guide until last night, which was when my wife and daughter also caught up with the prequel Night Of The Doctor episode.
When we watch Who, we don't do it by halves in our house :)
Our next plan is to work our way through teh whole Key To Time saga, as the children have never seen that.
I stand in awe, or in this case sit typing, but you get my drift.
DeleteThe missus and I spent the weekend in London and attended the ExCel event on Sunday. Bloody marvelous. Got to see panedl discussions with Doc 5,6, 7 and 11 plus various other actors and I now own an audio adventure signed by David Warner. I have been a fan since Cross of Iron and to me, it was the ultimate fanboy trip.
ReplyDeleteWe also got to watch both Adventure and Day of in live transmission instead of the usual .mkv torrents.
I doubt I could've coped physically with the demands of the day, but I know my godson and sister plus parents, had a great time.
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