KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Paul Evans The Doctor and Clara are carried of in the TARDIS to the Tower of London, UNIT's headquarters, where Kate Lethbridge Stewart lays in wait. The Doctor is shown a painting left by Queen Elizabeth 1st, 'Gallifrey falls,' showing the last days of Gallifrean City 'Arcadia,' On Gallifrey we see the devastating effects of the Time War, and how the War Doctor sets off the end the war, using a forbidden weapon. Fortunately the weapon has a conscience, in the guise of Rose Tyler it challenges him. The Doctor has more then just the time war to deal with, as the Zygons have also infiltrated UNIT. The Doctors seek to change their own time line, and look to sorting the Time war one and for all.The story of the Time War has run for many years, how fitting for the fiftieth that it gets explained. A clever concept, hopefully one that's over now. The childlike elements of both Smith and Tennant contrast really well with the bleakness and soured maturity of the War Doctor. The interplay between the two of them is just glorious. Both also work extremely well with John Hurt too, must have been daunting he is literally a living legend.It really pleased me that Billie was brought back, love or hate Rose, she played a hugely important role in helping the show get back on track. It's wonderful seeing her.In all honesty my favourite part was the appearance of Tom, it literally had me in tears with a lump in my throat, what better possible celebration to the show then to have the longest running Doctor appearing. He's just magic.The updated Zygons are amazing, among the most successful monster returns, they just look amazing, and the effect of them transforming into human copies fantastic. Talk about a long overdue return.10/10 so many elements make up a truly wonderful special, like an updated Five Doctors. Utterly wonderful.

WeeClaude I enjoy "Day of the Doctor," and I understand why it has such high ratings. It's got a lot to love: multiple Doctors, a superb guest cast, decent special effects and a nice feel-good vibe. But is it the best episode of Doctor Who ever made? I don't think so.First, I'll accentuate the positive. John Hurt is fantastic as a "guest Doctor," and gives a very warm, funny performance with plenty of gravitas at the right moments. Billie Piper is also good in her guest role as The Moment; I'm not surprised that she's enjoyed some major acting successes since moving on from Who. And let's not forgot Tom Baker, who gives his usual wacky and lovable performance in a random-but-awesome scene near the end.These actors bring a lot of emotional punch to a story that is compelling but sappy at the same time. Basically, the plot revolves around the Doctors teaming up to change history and avert the tragic end of the Time War, a conflict that wiped out the Doctor's species. The story is well constructed, and there's a nice buildup to the moment when our heroes figure out how to save the day.However, I have a problem with the overly cheerful notion - often advanced by the new Doctor Who - that death and destruction can be "cured" as if by the wave of a magic wand. By undoing the tragic end of the Time War in this episode, Steven Moffat lifted a huge burden off the Doctor's shoulders and made the overall tone of the new series much more optimistic. But he also, y'know, used a magic button solution to wipe away a major tragedy, for about the 15th time.This notion that death and tragedy can be overcome, as if by magic, is a direct contrast to the much more cynical and realistic worldview of the original Doctor Who. For example, compare "Day of the Doctor" to "Caves of Androzani." The former is a fairy tale about war that ends happily; the latter is a gritty war story that ends tragically. Sue me, but I think Androzani is a lot better, and more reflective of how life actually works.And "Day of the Doctor" has other problems, apart from the usual magic-hokum solution. The Zygons are under-used, the UNIT characters are dull, the Elizabeth I material is silly, and the Tenth Doctor gets nothing to do (which I suppose fits his super-bland character). Also, most of the exciting action is front loaded. The episode opens with a generic but quite cool battle between the Daleks and the Time Lords, but ends with grainy stock footage of the old Doctors and some CGI renditions of the TARDIS whizzing around. In other words, the ending is...kinda flat, isn't it?One last complaint. The Doctor does not, himself, come up with the solution to his dilemma. The Moment takes him by the hand and walks him through the entire solution, from step 1 to step 100. This fits with the trend in the new series that the Doctor is much dumber than he used to be, and he rarely saves the day without considerable help. Would it be asking too much for the writers to just make the Doctor a super-capable genius again, instead of a mildly clever blunderer?OK, I've complained enough. Each of these nitpicks drags the episode down for me, but on the other hand, I can't deny that it's super-fun and cleverly scripted. Besides, it's got John Hurt! And Daleks, and explosions, and Tom Baker going "oohaaah!" It's hard not to get swept up in the excitement of it all; but whenever I pause and switch on the critical part of my brain, I do find several things to fault here.

laura-bonaventura1 Science fiction is not about cool spaceships, aliens, 3D and special effects. If any of those things was enough to make science fiction "Armageddon" would be a masterpiece while, of course, it is not.You can write terrific science fiction even with none of the above elements: if you have read "Farenheit 451" or saw "Brazil" you might know what I mean. And I am just speaking about some of the most famous stories, but there is plenty of even better although unknown out there.Science fiction is actually rather simple, definitely a lot more than writing an accurate historical novel. The writer is the god of its own world: he makes the rules, he creates the universe. But once a god states some rules, the universe has no other way to develop besides following them: that's why we call it SCIENCE fiction and not just fiction.The funny thing about it, is that in Doctor Who aliens can fart, like it or not. On the contrary in this show there is no place for "The day of the Doctor": you can film it in 4D or 5D and have Robert De Niro as the Doctor for what it matters.Moffat is an extremely talented writer, he is just not able to write science fiction, or at least not anymore. The time has come for his fans to accept it. He is obsessed with the time paradox and everything I saw in the last 3 seasons (and after this episode for the whole time) was a huge paradox, but not for real science (where the whole idea of the show is obviously a paradox), for the Doctor's universe. In a little more than one hour of a tedious and overly indulgent episode, he changed completely the main character, his history and his future. Everything you have seen so far is a lie: his struggle, his morality, his pain, his dark side, allt hos things that among everything created the need of a companion in the first place. The Doctor is now the purest hero you can imagine. He will always save the day and he always did, he never made mistakes and he never will and you know why? Because this show ceased to be one of the best science fiction long term story ever created with this episode. And I am really really sorry, but I hate to be fooled.

Dione Howe As a proud Whovian and a dedicated fan of the programme, the build up to The Day of The Doctor was one of the most exciting times of my life; there was the guarantee of my favourite Doctor returning, the Tenth Doctor played by David Tennant as well as the return of companion Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. These two characters are still my favourites and marked an important part of my childhood. The Day of The Doctor definitely did not disappoint! Written by Steven Moffat, there was some hesitancy over the story itself as I am more of a fan of Russell T Davies' writing for the show. Despite this, I loved every second of the special 50th anniversary episode, which may just be because I am a loyal fan to Doctor Who anyway but nonetheless it impressed in every aspect. The casting was outstanding for the 75 minute long episode: John Hurt playing the Timelord tired of war and heartache was on point, right down to Ingrid Oliver playing an exaggerated fangirl called Osgood. There was no limit to the level of special effects and CGI which is so typical of the longest running sci-fi programme and why it is so popular. Overall, I loved the whole episode from start to end and would highly recommend it, along with the series that build up to such an event!