Surely the one thing that
every Doctor Who fan will want this Christmas, “The Day of the Doctor” on DVD
or Blu-ray is the perfect stocking stuffer for fans of all things Time Lord,
TARDIS, and Tennant. On the weekend of the 50th, I only had a night
and a morning to collect and figure out my thoughts in order to craft a recap for Vulture, but I’ve had plenty of time to ponder it since. Further, I saw it
theatrically in 3D (as transcendent and religious an experience as an atheist
Whovian can have, I imagine), and numerous times on the DVR and now this disc. I
can’t recall the last time I wanted to watch an episode of new Who so many
times, which must surely speak to the quality of the anniversary episode.
What gets me about this
anniversary story is how it’s so much better by leaps and bounds than its predecessors. It’s often said that new Who isn’t as good as old Who, but
then even back when the classic series was still on, people were saying “it
isn’t as a good as it used to be.” But “The Day of the Doctor” is such a vastly
superior anniversary offering than either of its multi-Doc predecessors (I’m
not bringing “The Two Doctors” into the equation since it was a slightly
different animal), that it’s a clear instance of an area where the new series blows
away the classic – how the complexities of today’s storytelling trumps the days
of old. No, new Who isn’t always better than classic, but nor is it always
inferior, and here we have a sterling example of new trumping old. “The Day of
the Doctor” is proof of how much life is left in this beast called Doctor Who,
and it appears to be vast quantities.
I can’t recall if I shared
this with Morgue readers before, but it’s a lengthy quote from Steven Moffat
that I got from a conference call I was on with him. This was from back before
the second half of season seven had kicked off, and someone asked a question
about the upcoming anniversary special. Moffat's reply?
“The show must never feel
old. It must always feel brand new, and a 50th anniversary can play against
that. The show must be seen to be going forward. It's all about the next 50
years, not about the last 50 years. If you start putting a full stop on it, if
you start thinking it's all about nostalgia, then you're finished. It's about
moving forward. So, you know, the Doctor is moving forward as he always does…he's
not thinking about all his previous incarnations and his previous adventures,
he's thinking about the future. And that, for me, is important.”
And it was so refreshing to
see that philosophy he espoused so many months ago finally play out onscreen,
almost to the letter. The show that is seemingly more ancient than any other,
once again feels fresh, and the load the Doctor has carried since the start of
the new series has been lifted. It will hopefully be fascinating to see how
this all plays out in the coming years.
As far as the Blu-ray goes,
it’s difficult to imagine anyone being disappointed with the DTS-HD 5.1 sound
or the 1080p video, though I don’t have a 3D capable TV, so I wasn’t able to explore
that avenue of the disc; there’s so much more to this story than its 3D draw
anyway. It seems unlikely that “The Day of the Doctor” will end up on any sort
of season box set anytime soon, so whereas I might normally suggest that you
could always wait a few months for the eventual season box set release, that
seems less of an option for this title. Who knows? It may not even end up on
the eventual season eight box set (which likely won’t even be released until
2015). So this is an easy recommendation: Your collection craves this set.
Blu-ray/DVD Extras: Normally
minisodes are fun but ultimately a little forgettable. With this disc, however,
we get one that’s downright imperative
viewing, and that’s “The Night of the Doctor,” which was released a week
and a half prior to “Day.” Featuring the return of Paul McGann as the Eighth
Doctor, and showing his regeneration into John Hurt’s War Doctor, “Night” is
the sort of thing Who dreams are made of, and it’s a brilliant prequel to
“Day,” and its inclusion on this set, while not necessary, is surely the most
welcome extra. I imagine some people will buy this disc especially for it, in
fact. The other minisode, “The Last Day,” got sort of lost in much of the
celebratory shuffle, but it’s set on Gallifrey in the midst of the Time War,
and provides a bit of extra shading for the main feature. Indeed, watching both
of these minis in order prior to the special proper is the way to do it.
Additionally, there’s the
45-minute “Doctor Who Explained” talking heads documentary produced by and
shown on BBC America, and the 14-minute “Behind the Scenes” [of “The Day of the
Doctor”] narrated by Colin Baker, which was shown theatrically, after the
anniversary special (though the disc has neither of the pre-show featurette
bits with Strax and Smith & Tennant). Lastly, there’s the “Day” trailer that
was first screened at Comic-Con this summer, as well as that awesome collage
teaser trailer that seemingly dragged us all the way through the Doctors many
lives in just one minute, and ended with Smith pointing his screwdriver at the
heavens.
Finally, this early edition
contains a deck of twelve trading cards – one for each Doctor, including Hurt - that assemble together to make one large collage.
The only thing this set is
missing – and its inclusion would’ve taken it right up over the top - is “The
Five(ish) Doctors Reboot,” written and directed by Peter Davison. Let's hope that makes its way onto home video in some form or fashion, as it was integral to the anniversary celebrations.
Note: All of the above
extras are included on both the Blu-ray and the DVD inside the set.
