“Geronimo!”

Doctor Who, a BBC production, holds the record for the longest running science fiction television show. The plot centers on a time traveling alien who happens to be the last of his kind, a species Time Lords.

As if fans weren’t excited enough about that, and about the fact that the show is still running today, this past weekend, Doctor Who celebrated its 50^th birthday.

With much anticipation, the Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary Special was broadcast simultaneously in 94 countries across the world this past Saturday.

This episode brought three regenerations of the Doctor into the same time stream. A regeneration is a trick of the Time Lords, used to cheat death. Occurring once the body of a Time Lord becomes too injured, old or beat up, the Time Lord can receive an entirely new, healthy body.

Matt Smith starred as the 11^th and current Doctor, with his faithful companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) alongside him. Also returning was David Tennant, starring as the 10^th Doctor.

This particular episode had two plots. Like many episodes, the Doctor must save the planet Earth from invading species. The 10^th Doctor was attempting to find a Zygon, a red, rubbery, shape-shifting creature, whom he suspected was disguised as Queen Elizabeth I. In attempting to trap the Zygon, who in reality was posed as a horse, the Doctor agrees and marries the Queen, then leaves. This explains why the Queen was so angry with the Doctor at the end of the season three episode “The Shakespeare Code.”

However, writer Steven Moffat did a fantastic job tying into a previously mentioned, never fully shown plot: the Doctor and the Last Great Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks.

The Daleks, a race whose people strongly resemble a trashcan with a flashlight sticking out of the front as well as a toilet plunger and a whisk for weapons, are the Doctor’s greatest enemy.

The Time Lords fell, along with their planet Gallifrey, in the Last Great Time War, a war fought against the Daleks. The Doctor mentions on several occasions the reason he is the last of his kind is due to his actions during the war, in which he destroyed his own planet in order to stop the war from spreading and destroying the universe as a whole.

Through this plot, another Doctor emerges: The War Doctor who ended Gallifrey played by John Hurt. Previously, this incarnation was kept as a secret of the Doctor, therefore fans were not aware of his existence.

The day the Doctor ended the war and destroyed his home was a day he many times spoke of regretting. However, in this episode, all three incarnations of the Doctor – Smith, Tennant and Hurt – get thrown into the same place and time stream. In working together to save the planet from the Zygons, they end up traveling back in time to Gallifrey, to the moment the Doctor had committed his crime, and found another solution to the Time War.

All 13 incarnations of the Doctor flew in and assisted with the plot, thus debuting Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor, who will be officially introduced in this year’s Christmas Special.

Fans found out Gallifrey wasn’t truly destroyed, but was hidden away in a pocket dimension of the universe, due to the actions of the Doctor. It certainly put a twist on the show.

Getting to see the Time War was incredible. The scenes seemed so realistic based on the previous descriptions given in flashback moments of the Doctor. The horror and terror of the War has often come up in past episodes, and the screaming and constant explosions, in addition to the mechanical voices of the Daleks’ ordering “Exterminate!” did wonders in depicting the Doctor’s living nightmare. There was a dark glow to the scene, reflecting the hopelessness and doom felt by the Doctor and the other Time Lords. As a Whovian, the Time War has always been something I had wanted to see, seeing as it is a significant event in the Doctor’s life. I was very impressed.

Tennant’s return to the show, after his leave in 2010, was a wonder to see. I had missed his brilliance as the character, and to see him working alongside Smith was phenomenal. Both men are incredible actors and played the part beautifully. The last line Tennant spoke in the episode, “I don’t want to go,” brought out some emotions as those were the exact lines he spoke 3 years ago when he regenerated into the 11^th Doctor.

I found it entertaining to see the reactions take place between the difference incarnations of the Doctor. At first there seemed to be a competition going on between the 10^th and 11^th, as they compared their sonic screwdrivers (a scientific instrument of the Doctor’s; one of his prized possessions) and their TARDIS’s (standing for Time and Relative Dimension in Space, and is the Doctor’s space ship/time machine which exhibits Time Lord science, as it is bigger on the inside.)

One thing about the show that did disappoint me was that of Billie Piper’s character. It wasn’t Piper’s acting that was disappointing, but the character was much different than what I was expecting. Piper, who portrayed Rose Tyler, and the first of the 9^th and 10^th Doctor’s companions, was once again cast as Rose.

However, this time, Rose was not actually herself, but a conscience developed by The Moment (the weapon the Doctor was going to use to destroy Gallifrey.) The conscience of the weapon showed the Doctor his future, were he to destroy the planet, thus creating the meeting of the different Doctors, and leading to the actions which caused Gallifrey to be saved.

While this is a good plot, I was hoping for Rose to return as herself. Personally, I wish The Moment had taken the shape of a different companion and allowed Rose to return as Rose. There was an amazing friendship between Rose and the 10^th Doctor that I would have loved to have seen more of.

All in all, the 50^th Anniversary special was an amazing episode. I was incredibly impressed with both the writing and the acting, and given the time I will gladly watch it a second, and possibly third, time. For the first time, there is a spark of hope and true happiness when the Doctor speaks. Any Whovian knows all the pain he has gone through, as well as all the terrible things he has witnessed. To see him glow with optimism and joy is a wonderful sight.

Smith is set to depart the show in the Christmas Special and introduce Capaldi as the Doctor. If that episode is anything like the 50^th Anniversary, we are in for a major treat.

14awalters@usd489.com