The Day of the Doctor Reaction

[tardis_stowaway]

I'm somewhat late to the reaction party due to traveling and now staying with family, but I want to post my thoughts about The Day of the Doctor.

[Spoilers for the Day of the Doctor. There is squeeing here, but also some critiques and grouchiness]The quick version is that while I really enjoyed the episode, finding it funny, moving, and well acted, I still really wish Moffat had found a different story to tell

Comments

[ladymercury_10]

How did she and the Doctor get out of the time stream cave or wherever they were at the end of The Name of the Doctor?
I was confused about that, too.

I was amused at all three Doctors placed in a room, coming up with all sorts of intricate technical solutions to get out instead of just trying the door.
That was really clever, and it was hilarious when Clara just pushed the door open as they figured it out.

The End of Time already made things weirder, but at least there the bottom line was that even if Gallifrey wasn't actually blown to bits it was irretrievably gone.
I never understood how Gallifrey was simultaneously time-locked/blow up/inside the Master's head, and why being pretend-blown up and frozen somehow makes it savable now confuses me too.

[tardis_stowaway]

"The End of Time" never made much sense. "The Day of the Doctor" has apparently decided to entirely ignore it (aside from a dig at Ten's "I don't want to go.") TEoT made such a big deal of eeeevil Time Lords, but if TDotD made any acknowledgment that the leaders of Gallifrey were crazypants, I missed it. The Night of the Doctor mentioned Time Lords gone bad, but now all of a sudden it's a good thing if Gallifrey is apparently retrievable?

I don't expect Doctor Who to maintain perfect continuity, but I find it slightly perplexing and frustrating when major points of canon from just a few years ago apparently get chucked out. But of all the episodes to ignore, I suppose TEoT was pretty stupid in its Time Lord plot. Oh well. Maybe more will be explained later.

[ladymercury_10]

Haha your icon is great.

Yeah, it's hard to tell if they're retconning or ignoring or handwaving it or what, which is a bit frustrating.

[reverendjmg]

Dude! The fact that they ignored The End of Time (with its interesting development of the mysterious character of Rassilon) took away all my old-who-fangirl joy at Gallifrey being restored. I had this whole backstory built up in my head where the Time War had driven the Time Lords to be so desperate that they resurrected one of the shadiest--but most powerful--historical figures from their past in order to help lead them out. I mean, how bad do things have to be before you bring someone back from the grave to be your totalitarian dictator? I'm guessing pretty bad, and I'm guessing at that point you're fighting back pretty viciously yourself, even if the Daleks started out as the aggressors. But this episode completely bypassed any of the moral questions of who's the bad guy here, choosing instead to make the Time Lords out to be bumbling and innocent, and ignoring the fact that genocide, even of an evil race like the Daleks, isn't something to wholeheartedly celebrate--a lesson the Doctor has come face to face with TWICE before

[iwouldbegood]

I cackled when Ten sees Eleven's sonic and says "Compensating?" My thoughts too, Ten!
Haha, yes! Definitely one of the best parts of the episode. Two such brilliant actors and so much charisma and chemistry!

I agree about Osgood and Moffat's stereotypical way of writing. Not that we aren't used to it by now, but still quite infuriating.

The plot was much less of a hot mess than a lot of Moffat's episodes for the past two series.
I thought so too. Some things about how Gallifrey was saved made no sense, but sometimes I just choose to ignore logic and trying to figure things out and focus on the parts I liked :p

I am looking forward to and dreading Christmas in equal measure...

[tardis_stowaway]

I agree about Osgood and Moffat's stereotypical way of writing. Not that we aren't used to it by now, but still quite infuriating.

Yeah. I'm not surprised by it, but I am still mad.

. Some things about how Gallifrey was saved made no sense, but sometimes I just choose to ignore logic and trying to figure things out and focus on the parts I liked :p

This is true. Doctor Who often falls apart under really strict logical scrutiny. Still, there's a difference between episodes where there's a lot of hand-waving or you realize later that something doesn't quite work, and episodes where the plot holes are actively distracting. Luckily, this special more or less made it into the former category.

I am looking forward to Peter Capaldi, but trying to keep my expectations low for the Christmas special itself.

[reverendjmg]

I was kind of amused by how neatly they sidestepped the 12-regeneration-rule. "All 12 of him!" "No, all 13!" And thus the series is saved for another 50 years.

On the other hand, they missed a great opportunity for a great storyline. The episode where the Master breaches the 12-regeneration-limit is one of my favorites. Though maybe they'll still do something like that.

[skalja]

Wait, but doesn't 12 regenerations mean 13 Doctors? So presumably the "oh no how will the Doctor survive his regeneration limit?!" storyline comes when Peter Capaldi's Doctor leaves.

[reverendjmg]

I was thinking about this snippet of dialogue from an old Who episode:

"I am nearing the end of my 12th regeneration." "And that is the end for a Time Lord."

[reverendjmg]

I guess I always interpreted "regeneration" in that quote as referring to a life--as in, Doctor One = the first regeneration. But now that I think about it that's sloppy thinking on my part. The first "regeneration" in the sense of life would be just generation.

[joking]

Also part of the reason I wish Gallifrey stayed lost is that the Time Lords aren't interesting. I've watched enough of Classic Who to know this. There's not much point having them around.

[tardis_stowaway]

Yeah. I hope the future show won't spend too much time dealing with Time Lord society.