The Night of the Doctor
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2013) |
| The Night of the Doctor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who special | |||
| File:8regen.jpg The Eighth Doctor regenerates | |||
| Cast | |||
Guest
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| Production | |||
| Directed by | John Hayes | ||
| Written by | Steven Moffat | ||
| Produced by | Denise Paul | ||
| Executive producer(s) | Steven Moffat | ||
| Music by | Murray Gold | ||
| Series | Specials (2013) | ||
| Running time | 6 minutes 49 seconds | ||
| First broadcast | 14 November 2013 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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"The Night of the Doctor" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was made available on BBC iPlayer on 14 November 2013, as part of the BBC One lead-up to the show's 50th anniversary special. Written by Steven Moffat, it starred Paul McGann and John Hurt as the Doctor.
The episode, set during the Time War, shows the previously-unseen last moments of the Eighth Doctor (McGann), and his artificially-controlled regeneration into the War Doctor (Hurt). It is notable for featuring McGann's second onscreen appearance as the Doctor, following his debut in the TV movie seventeen years earlier in 1996. The broadcast date, 14 November, also coincides with McGann's 54th birthday.
Synopsis
The episode takes place within the Time War. The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) attempts to rescue a female pilot, Cass, who is crashing into the surface of Karn. However, once she realises that he is a Time Lord, she refuses to go with him, instead opting to die. The Doctor insists that he is 'one of the nice ones', and that he is not part of the War, and 'never was', but the ship crashes and both are killed.
Upon Karn, the Doctor is taken in by 'The Sisterhood' and revived for four minutes. They convince him that there is no way to avoid being a part of the War, and so he subsequently utters his last words ("physician, heal thyself", a reference to the Biblical proverb) and consumes a potion which will ensure his incarnation into 'a warrior'; he then regenerates into the War Doctor (John Hurt), who declares "Doctor no more". Hurt's appearance on screen is realised via a mirror reflecting an image of a young John Hurt.[1]
Broadcast and reception
The episode came as a surprise to viewers - it was announced via Twitter[2] less than an hour before its release. The appearance of Paul McGann was similarly unexpected, due to Colin Baker's comments earlier in the month that Baker's Sixth Doctor would not be appearing in the 50th anniversary special or its tie-in media, and "Peter (Davison) isn't because I've seen him recently. And I can tell you that Sylvester (McCoy) isn't, and neither is Paul."[3]
Continuity
- The Eighth Doctor, before he regenerates, mentions Charley Pollard, C'rizz, Lucie Miller, Tamsin Drew, and Molly O'Sullivan. These are the Doctor's companions in various audio dramas for Big Finish Productions produced since 2001 and marks a rare instance of characters created for licensed productions being referenced in the TV series proper.
- The Fourth Doctor previously visited Karn in The Brain of Morbius. The Sisterhood also recurred in Eighth Doctor Big Finish stories.
References
- ^ Dowell, Ben. "Doctor Who: Paul McGann regenerates into John Hurt in The Night of the Doctor, a new 6 minute 49 second prequel film". Radiotimes.com. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Twitter / bbcdoctorwho: Surprise! The 50th starts NOW!". Twitter.com. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Colin Baker On 'Doctor Who' 50th Anniversary Absence: 'We're Not Deemed Worthy Of Inclusion'". Huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2013.