back to article BBC releases MYSTERY RIDDLE poster for Doctor Who anniversary episode

The BBC has released a teaser image for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, which will be a feature-length episode called The Day of the Doctor. Doctor Who 50th Anniversary episode poster. Credit: BBC (click to enlarge) The pic is full of clues about the episode, showing two damaged Daleks, the Tenth, Eleventh and "X" …

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        1. Anonymous Coward
          Coffee/keyboard

          Re: Big earner

          > It's been like this for my whole life and it's never going to be anything more than right-wing Adam Smith-style whinging by self-interested nobodies.

          That is absolutely brilliant.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Big earner

        I was checking out the Play Store, to see what "player" apps are available. I stumbled across the ITV Player app and duly installed it. And then uninstalled it a couple of minutes later when I looked at the utter crap that is available on there. If that is the best ITV can produce, then you are welcome to it.

        Just about every decent comedy of the last 40 years has BBC at the end of it. Likewise quiz programmes, virtually all dramas, wildlife and nature programmes. There is some crap on the Beeb, true, but there is also some brilliant TV.

        If the alternative to the licence fee is adverts every 10 minutes and programmes of the standard broadcast on ITV, 5 and any number of Sky channels, you can keep it and I'll pay my money to the BBC, thanks.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Big earner

      "we have a tradition of good TV sci-if" ...

      OK, let's make a list:

      Quatermass.

      Stingray/Thunderbirds/Captain Scarlet/UFO (presuming by 'us' you mean Britain).

      About 3 episodes of 'The Tomorrow People'.

      The Flipside of Dominick Hide.

      VERY early Dr Who (Hartnell era, some later but very rare after that).

      A couple of Star-Cops episodes.

      Cold Lazarus.

      Some of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide.

      ermmm ...

      I'm specifically excluding:

      Blake's bloody 7.

      (and everything else).

      The British are as likely to win the world cup as make a decent stab at a science fiction story on TV!

      Whereas the Americans know exactly how to do it and make us look VERY stupid.

      99% of Dr Who (badly written childish fantasy)

      1. Eguro
        Meh

        Re: Big earner

        Can't argue that Americans are unable to make great sci-fi.

        It seems to me that it's somewhat of a bygone era though. The last great Sci-fi I've seen from America was Firefly, which was sadly cancelled (now why didn't the BBC pick that up!)

        If I am wrong - which I sure as hell might be - then by all means point me to the new interesting and well made. thoroughly consistent sci-fi of America that I've missed!

      2. Gritzwally Philbin

        Re: Big earner

        @PhilW.. Hmm. American sci-fi is good?

        Really? Stick around long enough at it all looks the same. Guys with blazing lasers, hot babes in tight spandex, flaming rockets and a handful of rinse and repeat storylines involving lost explorers, brave adventurers or alien visitors with a hidden, sinister agenda.

        And then there's Dr. Who.. you've got living plastic shop dummies, deadly Christmas trees, Spitfires in outer space, flying sharks, Toclafane, werewolves and the Royals, Weeping Angels.. New New New New New New New New New New York, Cassandra (now THAT was a real stab at the vanity of cosmetic surgery seekers!) Witches.. it is at least COMPLETELY and utterly off its tits and way more interesting.

        (I won't even get into Red Dwarf which rates as some of the funniest comedy - the third and fourth seasons esp. so - I've seen..)

        The hard sci-fi like Star Trek (Of which the only ones worth a shit were ToS, ST:TNG and DS9) just has run it's ground for lack of *unique* ideas because it has to stay 'serious'.. It's also pure boredom at this point so it falls back on the explosions, spandex and all the other shit that makes the 16 Y.O. boys go 'schwing!!'

  1. ukgnome

    Professor Brian Cox would be hosting a show with celebrity guests and members of the public on the science behind Doctor Who.

    I predict he mentions the TOMTIT

  2. Code Monkey
    Alien

    Auntie: happy birthday Dr Who! We've got you this

    Dr Who: [unwraps] oh, overkill. You shouldn't have. No, really you shouldn't have.

  3. Kubla Cant

    Stairs and manhole covers

    Following the disappointing revelation that daleks actually can climb stairs, the new strategy is to trick them into falling down manholes.

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: Stairs and manhole covers

      > falling down manholes.

      Didn't they already do that in Shad Thames, a few decades ago?

    2. Super Meerkat
      FAIL

      Re: Stairs and manhole covers

      If they can fly, how can they fall down manholes?

      1. Killraven

        Re: Stairs and manhole covers

        Their "flying" is actually simple hovering, accompanied by their standard propulsion. So with "hover mode" set to X distance above the floor/ground, sliding over a manhole causes them an immediate decrease in elevation.

        You buying that?

  4. Jack Project

    A better picture celebration would have been Sylvester McCoy on water skis jumping a large shark.

  5. lee harvey osmond

    not Bad Wolf...

    ... but Bad Wilf; Bernard Cribbins's character returns, having turned evil, in league with Davros, the Emperor Dalek, The Master, and the Caravan Club.

    Or some other improbable nonsense.

    1. MrT

      How about...

      ...Bernard Cribbins returns at the head of an army of android Wombles who quickly defeat the Daleks and recycle them into a new professional-grade kitchen range for Madame Cholet...

  6. Rob

    The big push

    Ah they really are giving it a big push. They want to change the direction of Doctor Who and get rid of some the slightly, what some folk would call, naff stuff. Hence the big promo.

    Moffitt's in charge now and they need to bring in a new feel, presumably because they have realised that the current fans are a generation that won't last much longer and they need to start picking up the younger generation if they want this franchise to last.

    I'm assuming they will add more action and get a bit darker in their storylines.

    1. Michael Habel

      Re: The big push

      Shame that JNT is no longer with us...

    2. Charles 9

      Re: The geek in me is compelled to mention...

      I think Moffat's been doing that since Matt Smith became Eleven. There's already a lot of edgy stuff and looks into the Doctor's sordid past.

      1. Rob

        Re: The geek in me is compelled to mention...

        I agree, but the younger generation expect even darker story lines and more action nowadays.

        1. Charles 9

          Re: The geek in me is compelled to mention...

          But he also got flak from the old school at the same time, so there's pressure in both directions.

          It'll be curious to see how things are steered once Peter Capaidi becomes Twelve. After a rash of young Doctors, I have to wonder how an older one will be handled these days.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Old who

    Great to hear they are reshowing the first story, I can still remember being excited to read in the Radio Times the BBC were making a sci-fi program. Avidly awaited the first episode as an 8 year old.

    However. For the younger viewers, the anniversary would be incomplete without rebroadcasts of a selection of earlier stories featuring doctors from the pre-Ecclestone era. Anyone know if the BBC are planning this?

    1. Velv

      Re: Old who

      Perhaps they should broadcast *EVERY* episode.

      OK, maybe it's not prime time, but why not three episodes a night during the night - most people can record it to watch. Or every afternoon on BBC4 (i.e. before 7pm).

      Give it back to the nation

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Old who

        Give it back to the nation

        Apart from Sylvester McCoy, him they can keep.

        1. Snow Hill Island

          Re: Old who

          I quite liked Sylvester McCoy as Dr Who and Sophie Aldridge as "Ace". First assistant I actually liked after Adric.

          1. James Hughes 1

            Re: Old who

            Adric? Whiny little toad more like. I was young(ish) when he met his end, and I still thought - thank God for that.

      2. KjetilS

        Re: Old who

        Perhaps they should broadcast *EVERY* episode.

        I think I remember reading somewhere that a few of the earlier episodes are actually lost.

        1. Stephen Blake

          Re: Old who

          Someone at the BBC actually burned the tapes on a bonfire. They were going to destroy the lot, but some were saved at the last minute

          1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

            Re: Old who

            burned the tapes on a bonfire.

            Nothing so dramatic. Early video tapes were extremely expensive, and union rules limited the number of times a show could be repeated before a whole new set of repeat fees had to be negotiated, so once the BBC felt that the programmes weren't useful, they wiped the tapes for re-use.

            Because of the cost, it was commonplace to make basic 16mm film copies to send to foreign TV companies who were considering buying the series. Those copies were often black & white even if the original material was colour, and were supposed to be returned but often weren't.

            When, years later, people realised that old programmes were of interest, they started digging around in archives worldwide to see what turned up. There are some fascinating stories about how they managed to recolour old programmes, sometimes by taking NTSC colour off poor US videos, and combining it with the BW film, and even some experiments to recover colour info that was inadvertently recorded on the film due to the way it captured PAL artifacts.

            1. Mr Flibble

              Re: Old who

              Recolouring from NTSC – that was done to a few episodes of one story, “The Dæmons”, at least.

              I doubt that all of the missing episodes will turn up, but one can hope…

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Old who

            Unlikely as the reason for tape recycling was reusage due to cost!

            Correct me if I'm wrong.

        2. Rob

          Re: Old who

          Some episodes have been scattered to the four corners of the globe. When I was working in the industry, one chap who was working on the restoration of the footage said that they found 4 episode reels in a transmission building in the middle of a desert somewhere, hence why some have gone missing permanently.

      3. Mr Flibble

        Re: Old who

        Well… every story for which they actually have all of the audio and either video or replacement animation. Otherwise they'll have to make use of photographs taken during filming…

        As for BBC4, good luck with watching it during the afternoon and not seeing either “programmes start at 7pm” or CBeebies…

      4. DiViDeD

        Re: Old who

        Oi'm afraid they've decided to give it back to the colonies first old lad.

        Down 'ere where the seasons are the wrong way round and they wouldn't know snow if it bit em, UKTV (HD yet!) has been running complete stories a couple of nights a week (so all of 'Robot' in a single evening, for example). At the moment they are at the tail end of the Tom Baker/Sarah Jane Smith/Harry wossname episodes.

        There are few advantages to living so far off the shipping lanes, but right now Dr Who is one of them.

    2. Andrew Moore

      Re: Old who

      They are doing it stateside- one series per Doctor

    3. David 105

      Re: Old who

      Yes, I believe BBC4 is re showing pre Ecclestone episodes

    4. GerryMC

      Re: Old who

      SKY TV in New Zealand have been showing old episodes since January this year - one Doctor per month, except for #8 of course - they filled in with a documentary series. It was usually one storyline per week, starting with "The Unearthly Child", then "The Aztecs" Currently up to Ecclestone

  8. Steve Crook

    Yawn.

    There's nothing like the BBC going all self congratulatory to make me want to run in the other direction. Dr Who was good once, briefly, many years ago.

    In recent years there's been too much sonic screwdriver based deus ex machina for my liking. To the extent that I'd not be surprised to find that the Time Lord was actually based in the screwdriver and was remotely piloting the fleshy holding it....

    1. The Indomitable Gall

      Deus ex machina? Nope...

      Actually, the sonic screwdriver doesn't classify as deus ex machina, but rather deus in machina. This is because the "god" is not introduced at the point of crisis from outside the universe, but is in fact an established part of the story mythos - in Dr Who, we already know that the sonic screwdriver can do pretty much anything.

      Deus in machina is the driving force in (eg) the Odyssey and many of the most memorable Greek epics, and in particular their Holywood adaptations, which tended to include scenes from Mount Olympus.

      More modern deus in machina would include early Superman stories, where he'd suddenly have just the right power to defeat the latest threat, or Adam West era Batman's utility belt, which could always br relied on to contain just the right gadget to save his skin.

      Note that James Bond and Knight Rider don't classify as deus in machina, because the previously-unheard-of gadget would be introduced by Q or Devon well in advance of the moment of crisis.

  9. Clockworkseer
    Coat

    The geek in me is compelled to mention...

    ... that should be 10th, 11th and X Doctors, if you want to go with naming him as an X rather than a specific number... (current bets is 8.5)

    Mines the one that regenerated into a leather jacket.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: The geek in me is compelled to mention...

      My money's on 0, as in Hurt's the Other: the Doctor before he was the Doctor.

      1. admiraljkb

        Re: The geek in me is compelled to mention...

        @charles 9

        Having just read Lungbarrow (hard book to get now), I'd say that the Other wasn't evil, or even close to it like Rassilon and Omega who skated on the other side of the moral line. I think it likely that Hurt is the old McGann, particularly with that poster. The other option was the Valeyard, but I'd pretty much dismissed the possibility of him being the Valeyard after Capaldi was cast as the 12th Doctor. I'm thinking Capaldi should make a excellent darker Doctor leading into the Valeyard story arc.

        1. Charles 9

          Re: The geek in me is compelled to mention...

          Never thought of it in those terms. My thought was that the Other, like Eight during the Great Time War, was probably forced into some bad but necesary things. He couldn't have done them "in the name of the Doctor" because this was before he became the Doctor (and that's why I don't think it's Eight; at least Ten acknowledged what Eight did--regrettably, yes, but it didn't seem like Eight abandoned the title during the Time War and resumed it when becoming Nine). I think of it like ultimate motive: why did the Doctor become (and assume the title of) the Doctor in the first place? It's not as if this has been discussed in significant detail, has it?

  10. Lunatik
    Trollface

    What is it about Doctor Who?

    Grown men of a certain type seem obsessed with Doctor Who, but in the fervour of their reverential wankfest seem to overlook that it's a programme for kiddies.

    No point moaning about plots, story arcs or retconning arbitrary Macguffins, you might as well debate the same things for Tommy Zoom or Scooby Doo.

    Flame away, Whotards...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      What it actually is about Doctor Who

      seem to overlook that it's a programme for kiddies

      The complaint is not that it's a kids' program. The complaint is that it's gone from a kids' sci-fi drama set in a universe ruled by cold hard science to a kids' fantasy drama set in a universe ruled by magic, god-like beings and the power of love.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What it actually is about Doctor Who

        in a universe ruled by magic, god-like beings and the power of love.

        We can blame Russell T Davies for that bit, but at least with Moffat in charge there's some hope.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What it actually is about Doctor Who

          "in a universe ruled by magic, god-like beings and the power of love.

          We can blame Russell T Davies for that bit, but at least with Moffat in charge there's some hope."

          You didn't see "Angels take Manhattan", then? Worst...episode...ever. And that includes the Zarbi.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What is it about Doctor Who?

      I take you don't get "The Treacle People" either then?

      Chill a little, and don't fret so much about being a fecking adult...

  11. CmdrX3

    I think I'll give the culture show a miss, apart from having to endure Brian Cox's endless droning monotone voice for god knows how long, it sounds decidedly like some artsy fartsy nonsense they stick on the graveyard slot on BBC2 as time filler.

    1. Franchesca

      But Brian is so CUTE!

    2. jelabarre59

      ST 30th

      *NOTHING* the BBC does for the DW 50th can be anywhere near as bad as the gawd-awful, pretensious bullcrap that was the StarTrek 30th Anniversary "Special". Of course, that was produced at the height of their artsy-fartsy self-important touchy-feely stage, but as soon as I saw KennyG show up to play his typically nerve-grating so-called "music", I turned it off. I mean, really, "Kenny G"???? Just *how* was that at all relevant to the topic at hand? He must have been slotted in by one of the 5 people in the world that believe his playing is any good. And the rest of the show (up until I became completely disgusted with it) was pretty bad as well.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Lunatik

    Agree entirely.

    On the whole people like it because they did when they were young. They then watch it as adults and demand it not be "childish".

    Either switch off for a bit and just enjoy, or leave memories in the childhood and don't revisit things like this.

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