Hi all Whovians! It has been around a month in between my first and second viewings of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special and as some of you may remember, the first viewing left me a little unhinged or baffled as to my response to the whole thing. Well, I received the 3D Blu-Ray in the mail the first mailing day after Christmas so I set myself up and watched it again. I thought I would let you know how my opinion has changed.
Well, I am pleased to say that I believe this is an episode (mini-movie, whatever) that requires a second viewing. I got so much out of it this time, so many things that I picked up on that I had not picked up on before. The way the dialogue was structured and the scenes edited has me anticipating watching it again as I discovered so much more that is hidden within the movie!
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| Second watching followed quickly after this picture was taken |
After this watching it became so much clearer to me about the whole thing. For those that have been following me for an even longer time you will realise the disdain that I held the Time Wars in due to me believing it to be a horrid invention just to spice the series up. The Whovians I had spoken too cursed my name for this stating that it was canon and how dare I speak out against it. Well they will be happy to know now that I actually support it. Seeing this vision of the Time Wars and the execution of it has allayed my concerns and I really find it an excellent development.
As to the actual movie, it should have been longer. There are many stories streamed into too small a space and each of these stories (UNIT, Queen Elizabeth, Zygons, Clara, Time Wars) could do with fleshing out and a little more of the limelight.
That is my only criticism of the movie now though. I even particularly like now (I was really upset about it in the first viewing) that Tom Baker was right at the end as the curator. On second viewing I actually got what he was saying. He could be the Doctor in the future retired as the curator. He lead it beautifully and I have gone from being shell shocked that he was trundled out, no longer his vibrant self, to being in awe of him with the way that he closed the movie.
So there you have it. I am now a big fan of this movie after the second viewing. I am wholly comfortable with the Time Wars and Tom Baker’s role in the movie. In fact, to sign off I will just repeat his last two lines of the show.
“Who knows?”
“Who knows.”