Howling:What would you like to see for the 50th anniversary show?

I see that November 23, 2013 is a Saturday. I believe we all expect a spectacular episode that evening. Who or what would you like to see? Me, I'd like to see Carole Ann Ford. Boblipton talk to me 22:10, November 10, 2011 (UTC)

I'd like to see something like what Star Trek Deep Space 9 did, by inserting their characters into an old series episode. They could put Matt Smith and companion(s) digitally into scenes with each previous Doctor. He wouldn't have to interact with them, just observe them, but it would be a great way to include all the other Doctors. Oh and bring back Jamie too. Shambala108 talk to me 06:57, November 11, 2011 (UTC)

The Trials and Tribbleations approach might not work for Doctor Who as well as it did for DS9. Keep in mind, DS9 was celebrating the anniversary of what was technically a different show than their own. DS9 could honor TOS by having their characters travel back to an old episode, but since Doctor Who is still technically the same show I'm not sure that it would work as well. They probably already came as close to doing that as they're going to with Rememberance of the Daleks. Anyway, I'd definetly like to see Carole Ann Ford return, as well as William Russell (Sarah Jane could have been wrong about him not having aged), as they were both there from the beginning. I would also love to see Jamie return at some point, although since they would need to deal with his memory wipe it might make more sense to do that in an episode centered around him (like School Reunion was for Sarah) instead of bringing him back for what I'm sure will already be a big episode. They should also stick to the formula of their previous anniversaries and bring back any past Doctor who would be willing to come(and is still alive). They could use a bit of technobabble to explain why the ones who are way older than they were when they were on the show look different(like in Time Crash) or they can just ignore it and hope nobody notices(like in The Two Doctors). It should also have Daleks, Cybermen, Time Lords, the Master, Sontarans, Autons, or all of the above. Also, as long as Moffat is doing a story arc involving the Doctor's name, it might be interesting if we learned either his name or the mystery behind it on the shows 50th anniversary, although it might be best if he keeps it seperate from his main story arcs. Anyway, I'm starting to wish that the BBC had started the show about 2 years earlier.Icecreamdif talk to me 16:50, November 11, 2011 (UTC)

But, if it had, you'd have said exactly the same thing about 2 years ago! You're just impatient. (Mind you, you're not the only one.)

On the subject of Ian Chesterton's age: In the release of the surviving episodes of The Crusade (1965), William Russell played him as considerably older in the narration that replaces the missing episodes. As the "Releases" section of the TARDIS Index File article on that story points out, that seems to contradict Sarah Jane's reported rumour but there's nothing in the narration to indicate when it is set, so it could conceivably be well into the future.

"Inserting" characters into an old episode would be difficult to pull off technically, as well as dramatically. The aspect ratio has changed (from 4:3 to 16:9), so using old footage means either not filling the full width or (alternatively) lopping off the top and bottom of the frame. There would also be a problem with image quality, since the resolution has improved greatly. That's not to say nothing of the kind could be done, however. One way -- and there must be others -- would be to set an entirely new story in the same place and time as an old one. One of the hazards the Doctor and perhaps one/more of his companions would have to deal with would be the risk of meeting their earlier selves. They'd be trying to avoid that, so footage from the old episodes could be confined to longer shots, where there's room to crop the frame. An obvious candidate for the setting would be Shoreditch in late 1963. Not only did the first episode, An Unearthly Child, take place there but so (slightly later) did Remembrance of the Daleks. There'd be scope for "near misses" with the First Doctor and/or the Seventh. If they brought Sophie Aldred back as Ace (which would be quite possible), she too would have to contend with there being a younger version of herself around the place. Mind you, letting two Aces loose would be quite dangerous -- Shoreditch could get blasted out of existence even without a contribution from the Daleks.

One thing is extremely obvious, however: Trying to put everything into a single anniversary episode or even a two-parter would be foolish. Too many people have too many disparate hopes for who and what will reappear and the story would get badly overcrowded. Because the golden anniversary is such an important one, spreading the celebrations, and therefore the reappearances, over most of a series would make much more sense. --89.241.69.17 06:37, November 12, 2011 (UTC)

i like that idea 89, and it would make a lot of sense to have an aniversary year versus a single aniversary episode. just want to say, that if there was a multi-doctor episode, i hope it would start something like this: 11 and his companion at the time land the tardis in an empty meadow on earth or something and 11 starts complaining that that wasn't where he wanted to be. then 10 arrives with donna (i think she would work better for this type of episode compared to martha) and starts complaining similarly to 11 before donna points out 11 behind him. then 9 arrives with rose and a simmilar thing happens again. they mingle for a bit before hearing another tardis land and one of the doctors already there speculates that it might be 12 or 13 and then they are all surprised when it turns out to be a pre time war doctor. i just think that would be a cool opening if they did that. but i really don't care much what they do, as long as it is awesome (although i do hope they will continue their tradition of multi doctor episodes) 121.216.142.176 07:57, November 12, 2011 (UTC)

arg. i've got to remember to log in before posting! that was me, btw. Imamadmad talk to me 07:59, November 12, 2011 (UTC)

If they really wanted to do an episode where the Doctor runs into past versions of himself through archive footage, they probably could technically pull it off. A 90s episode of Star Trek was able to be set in a 60s episode, and they could just film those parts of the anniversary special in 4:3 if they wanted to. I'm just not sure if they could come up with a very good story to make that work. For the Star Trek episode, they didn't do an episode where a hundred Jem'hadar ships travelled back in time to destroy the Enterprise so that Kirk wouldn't be able to save the Federation in the future. Instead, they had a relatively useless Klingon travel to one of the silliest episodes of the Original Series, where he tried to kill Kirk by putting a bomb in a Tribble, forcing the DS9 crew to where the 60s uniforms and hang out on the Enterprise. For the Doctor Who anniversary though, I think people are expecting something a bit more epic than that though. People are expecting different versions of the Doctor to team up to fight old enemies and old companions to come back. That just wouldn't really work with that format. An anniversary year would be awesome, but unless Moffat finishes up his Silence arc in the next season, he may not want to spend an entire year focusing on the show's past. As for your idea about the different Doctors all landing in the same place-I hope you mean that some force brought them there and it wasn't just a funny coincidence. Back in the Classic Series, the multi-Doctor episodes were usually brought about by the Time Lords, although that is obviously impossible. They'll have to find some other way to bring different Doctors together. They could do an episode like The Five Doctors (but better) and find an excuse to make most of the reccuring enemies (Daleks, Cybermen, Autons etc.) minor enemies who are working for or being manipulated by one major enemy (like the Master, Omega, or the Silence). Or he could bring a bunch of old enemies back the way he did in The Pandorica Opens, but give them all more to do.Icecreamdif talk to me 18:34, November 12, 2011 (UTC)

Icecreamdif, "unless Moffat finishes up his Silence arc in the next season, he may not want to spend an entire year focusing on the show's past": Are you sure about that? The Silence arc is already pointing straight at the show's past with the question "Doctor Who?" and the golden anniversary isn't going to have taken Moffat by surprise. It wouldn't totally surprise me if the question/answer/silence stuff is the buildup to the anniversary. -- 2.96.24.170 (formerly 89.241.69.17) 21:54, November 12, 2011 (UTC)