The Official Doctor Who Convention

The Day of the Doctor written by Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran

This story in a nutshell: The Doctor comes face to face with his haunting past…a past that he has tried so hard to forget about.

Nutty Professor: He feels weirdly as if he is waiting to leave but determined to go out in style, showing off all aspect of his Doctor. What’s lovely about his interpretation in The Day of the Doctor is that it seems to have been picked up straight from the weightiness of the last episode (which, after all, dealt with his death) and highlights what is my favourite part of Matt Smith’s interpretation of the role – the old man in the young mans body. We saw very little of that last year (he was too busy waving his arms about and brandishing the sonic screwdriver like a sword, both of which are criticised beautifully in this story) but on the eve of his departure it would seem that Moffat is capitalising on what made this Doctor so attention grabbing in his first season, all those centuries of adventures and horrors trapped inside a twenty-something actor. He’s the Doctor that decides to save Gallifrey rather than destroy it, he’s had 400 years to think through that decision. It’s a triumphant moment for the character in general (hence the title, which I wondered how it would come to fruition) but more specifically a moment to treasure for the Eleventh Doctor in particular. He’s saved Gallifrey but this is the eve of his death and the gutting thing about this Doctor’s epiphany is that he doesn’t have the time to go looking for the planet now. That is his gift to his successor. 

Mockney Dude: Charismatic, funny, commanding and great fun to be around, Tennant has still got it and (as much as it’s churlish to take sides) he’s still my favourite Doctor since it returned in 2005. It pleases me so much that he was the one who got to introduce the Zygons back to the show. If any Doctor was going to indulge in a bromance with Matt Smith’s Eleventh it was going to have to be Tennant and they light up the screen whenever they are together. Of course they do, they are characterised and played in very similar ways and this only serves to highlight that this was one time when the Doctor regenerated and it wasn’t such a departure from what had gone before. Eleven calls Ten ‘Dick Van Dyke’ and Ten calls Eleven ‘Chinny.’ Hehehe. He cannot believe that when he regenerated that he tried to forget the terrible things he (apparently) did in the past  but regeneration has always felt like a rebirth, shirking off your old responsibilities and starting anew. It certainly worked for seven into eight. The Tenth Doctor’s wedding was much more enjoyable than the Eleventh’s. Just saying. He doesn’t want to go to Trenzalore, instead he’s off to meet his destiny. 

War Doctor: In some ways far more than I ever expected and in other ways not quite what I was hoping for, John Hurt blazed onto our screens in fantastic style and gave the performance of a lifetime. I supposed I had better explain myself. I genuinely thought (and understandably so given his ominous introduction in The Name of the Doctor) that the War Doctor (as he is otherwise known to avoid any numbering issues that would send fanboys into apoplexy) was going to be a terrifying figure, a shadow of the man that we recognise and the sort that was capable of making the kind of choices that the Time War required. One who could kill without compunction, without remorse. I was looking forward to watching a version of the Doctor that could never go on to have further adventures because he was practically the sort of person who our Doctor usually battles. What we got instead was something quite different, something much more interesting and as a result of the humour and the consequences of his meeting with his future selves, a version of the Time Lord that I am yearning to spend more time and go and have further adventures with. In 70 minutes he is as fulsomely realised as Paul McGann was in the TV Movie and then some, he skips from this story as a recognisably Doctorish Doctor and one that it is a joy to go on an emotional journey that both judges and redeems his character entirely. That is a real ask of any actor but John Hurt is more than up to the task. Fill in the gaps yourself, the War Doctor that we were introduced to in Night of the Doctor was a young man and when we catch up with him here he is old and frayed – a wealth of stories exists in between to cause such a transformation that we can ponder over for the next 50 years of Doctor Who. Clearly a great deal of time has passed and he has seen sufficient horrors to come to the conclusion that enough is enough – it’s time to bring the Time War to a close by any means necessary, even at the cost of his own people. A man alone on a dead world with the weight of the future in his hands and a terrible decision to make – talk about making the War Doctor an iconic figure. I loved the conceit that he didn’t want the TARDIS to see him committing such a horrific act, he didn’t want the old girls last memory of him to be one of homicide on such a scale. Brilliantly, Hurt’s Doctor can look at what his future holds and be wonderfully critical about his future quirks (‘Are you capable of talking without flapping your hands about?’ he says to the Eleventh Doctor!). It has a much more dramatic purpose than simply taking than him taking the mickey out of himself though, this is the chance for the War Doctor to see what he becomes if he destroys his home planet to save the universe from the conflict with the Daleks. Battle scarred and psychologically tortured, compared to one incarnation wallowing in self hate and the other trying desperately to forget. It is acknowledged that he was the Doctor on the day it wasn’t possible to get it right, his past selves come to terms with who they were and allow this soldier to claim the name that has always rightfully been his. The name of the Doctor. I found the idea of the two Doctors holding his hand to help him make the decision, even for a moment, profoundly moving. Although I am pleased that they never went through with it. Despite the conflict it throws up in my mind with the continuity that has been set in stone for the past seven years, I’ve gone off the idea of the Doctor wiping out so many people for the greater good. It reminds me very strongly of what Lance Parkin achieved in The Gallifrey Chronicles, saving the Time Lords even when he couldn’t save the planet (and again it occurred after a wealth of adventures where the Doctor was sufficiently tortured about something that occurred in his past). Ultimately the Doctor always wins and that is a fine statement to make about the show. The years have been weighing on him for some time, he’s an old man now and he’s just been handed the ultimate moment of victory. Could you think of a better tome to regenerate? For Hurt’s Doctor it is a conquering exit but for Eccleston’s Doctor (who is briefly glimpsed as he regenerates in the TARDIS) it brings memory loss and a whole world of hurt. Time to pull out the series one DVD again.

Impossible Girl: Probably the most responsible interpretation of Clara since The Snowmen, but I still find her something of a non-entity despite some very good moments. Moffat can give the character plenty to do (which he always does) but he seems determined to do so without giving her a personality (again true here). I kind of want to have my cake and eat it because I like my companions to have a sense of independence and a career (Sarah Jane) but I also want them to be tied to the Doctor and have continuous adventures with him rather than popping back into the TARDIS whenever the Doctor happens to be in town (Sarah Jane very quickly sacrificed her career after being established as a professional woman to join the Doctor on his travels). When they wrote Amy as having to walk between two worlds in season 7b it was because she was leaving and it was fresh to see a companion have to face the difficult decision of which life to choose. With Clara, it feels like she simply hasn’t embraced her life with the Doctor yet and wants to constantly keep one foot in the door, so to speak. Bizarrely, Clara does have her own life but it is one that feels entirely manufactured for whatever the story requires – a nanny for two children who will get caught up in the works of a story (The Snowmen/Nightmare in Silver) or a teacher who works at a school that first introduced us to the world of Doctor Who. It’s doesn’t feel like an authentic life but a manufactured one. When Donna walked into her house in Partners in Crime and her mum slagged her off for what feels like hours you got a greater sense of her life in those few seconds than we have of Clara’s in almost a season. Proving that she isn’t as vital to the show as you might imagine, she vanishes several times for quite a length. I can’t say I even noticed. Moffat is determined to make her the most vital of companions whilst also being the most vacuous and like The Name of the Doctor she is given a hugely important role in this story that has a profound impact on the shows mythology. Clara doesn’t care if it has a profound effect on the Doctor, she wants him to know that the murder of billions is something that she never thought her Doctor would be capable of. She lets him know with a look that she could never forgive him if he pushes that button. It is what sparks of that feeling of hope. For a moment there, I really felt something between these two characters. Take that moment, Moffat, and use it in Smith’s departure tale.

Bad Wolf: Billie Piper returns to Doctor Who. That was expected, but not in the role that anybody was imagining she was going to play. That was a terrific surprise (except for the Ten/Rose Shippers who probably took to the internet in droves as soon as they realised) and Piper gives a formidable performance as the conscience of the Moment, the interface that questions the War Doctor’s decision to bring the Time War to a destructive conclusion.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘What’s out cover story for this?’ ‘Derren Brown’ ‘Again?’

‘How do you use a weapon of mass destruction when it can stand in judgement of you?’

‘How can you forget this?’

‘We’re confusing the polarity.’

‘Do you have to talk like children? What makes you both so ashamed of being a grown up?’

‘I might have the body of a weak and feeble woman…but at the time so did the Zygon.’

‘Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.’

‘Never cruel or cowardly’ ‘Never give up’ ‘Never give in.’

‘Home. The long way round.’

Kisses to the Past: This is the Doctor Who 50^th anniversary after all and Moffat was never going to see it in without writing something of a love letter to the past of Doctor Who. I knew we were in for a story with an ache of nostalgia when the story opened with the glorious Hartnell theme tune and titles and cut to that atmospheric shot of a policeman walking along a London street and (apparently) past IM Foreman scrapyard before turning the corner to reveal Coal Hill School. Recreating the feeling of the very first scene in Doctor Who but bringing it bang up to date – exactly what this story is trying to do. Clara screaming into the TARDIS on a motorbike without breaking a sweat recalls one of the smarter moments of the TV Movie. A Tom Baker scarf was a nod to the most famous of Doctors before he makes an appearance himself, keeping him fresh in the viewers mind. Past or present, it would seem that UNIT is very much a part of the DNA of the show now. The Day of the Doctor salutes all the producers of the past by tackling a fresh and exciting method of telling a story visually, keeping it at the cutting edge of the market. Just like Barry Letts and his CSO and JNT and his scene-sync, Moffat blazes a trail with the use of 3D to tell this anniversary tale. The Omega arsenal – Moffat’s inner fanboy keeps popping out to say hi. Rose Tyler/Bad Wolf, Moffat is sufficiently in debt and humbled to include plenty of nods to the Russell T Davies era of the show. Is that the horse from The Girl in the Fireplace? How lovely to finally explain away why the Queen was so appalled to see the Doctor in The Shakespeare Code. The Black Archive was introduced in the Sarah Jane Adventures, a nice acknowledgement of the supplementary continuity the spin off created. The roundels in the TARDIS gave me chills. A shame it was only for a second. ‘Oh you’ve redecorated…I don’t like it.’ Kate Lethbridge-Stewart has got some real balls, just like her father. The Cybermen get a (very brief) look in. The sound of the TARDIS brings hope to anyone who hears it…and it has been doing so for over 50 years now. I’m glad that that is finally acknowledged. All the Doctor’s turn up at the conclusion to take part in the greatest moment in the Doctor’s life…and for those of you who are having a whinge that this is what the whole story should have been like (how would that even be possible?), that is precisely what The Name of the Doctor was for. Dealing with the nostalgic element of the anniversary to The Day of the Doctor could look to the future. Tom Baker’s little cameo gave me chills.

The Good:

• Whilst there were plenty of nods to the past, The Day of the Doctor also did a whole host of things that have never been done before proving that even after 50 years of adventuring, Doctor Who still have the ability to shock and surprise. The sight of the TARDIS being craned over London by a helicopter was the first sign that a lot of money had been poured into this production and it was glorious to see such an iconic design that has been tied into essentially British storytelling flying unaided across the country’s Capitol. More than that, it is essentially such a fun idea.
• The cinematic titles were a great idea, if you are watching in the cinema (the very idea!) and a quirky, never done before touch if you weren’t. It made it feel special. Different.
• Gallifrey Falls/No More. Very cleverly how Steven Moffat reveals the twist in the tale right at the beginning of the story but manages to disguise it by giving these four words two very different spins.
• Visually we have never seen anything quite like The Day of the Doctor before and that is taking into consideration the massive injection of budget the show has enjoyed in the past seven seasons and the entire resources of the BBC at its disposal. The fact that this story was shot in 3D is a pioneering move and even if you are watching it in bog standard 2D (hello) it has moments of visual excellence that quite surpass anything that has gone before. Especially the quick pan inside the three dimensional painting – what an incredible rush that kind of avant-garde visual effects is to see on the small screen. If we were ever going to see the Time War (and I know people who think that that is a terrible idea because it can never quite be realised in a way that matches build up of seven seasons of it brewing away in your imagination) it had to be in a story with a cinematic budget. In my opinion I thought they did a spectacular job considering this was a TV production, I felt dragged into the action and it was certainly furious and exciting enough to whip me into a frenzy. Explosions ripping through Arcadia, rubble falling from monuments, Daleks tracking into the city en masse and blasting away at anything that moves (and anything that doesn’t), soldiers and children alike silhouetted by flames, ash flying through the air and clinging to the action, panoramic views of the Capitol under fire…it’s so fulsomely realised that you will forget for a moment that you are watching television. The three Doctors standing in the wreckage of Arcadia and fighting back is a formidable image, not one to be forgotten in a hurry.
• Moffat can’t resist a little (deep breath) timey wimey-ness. It is something that is inherent in his writing and always will be (I have yet to see him script a story that doesn’t resist a linear narrative yet) and it is worth remembering that before it became the norm and we got a little complacent about such things (for me it was around the time of A Christmas Carol) that many of us were celebrating his scatterbrained (but well thought through) plotting in stories such as The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink. It seems only right in a story that is written by Moffat and sees in the 50^th that he should pepper it with his own unique take on the narrative structure of the show. The very idea of bringing together three Doctors is timey wimey (Gah! It’s becoming almost easy to write!) and we have the past affecting the future, the Doctor setting up the conclusion long before he gets around to doing it (having the painting moved from the gallery) and all manner of the same Fez flying about the Doctor’s time stream. ‘I’ve been thinking about it for centuries!’ – ideas streaming down the years from one Doctor to the next, having been first provoked by the latest incarnation and going round in a perpetual loop might just be the most glorious timey wimey thing Moffat has ever done, at the Doctor’s most triumphant moment in all three of his lives. How is it that the Eleventh Doctor knew about Trenzalore and that that would be where he would be buried? Because he told his Tenth incarnation.
  
• The Zygons finally get the comeback they deserve. Fans have been crying out for a return of this once seen but never forgotten race of creatures and it seems fitting that they finally get their wish on the most celebratory of the occasions. Talk about making an impact for a second time. Moffat drives both comedy (Queen Elizabeth) and drama (Kate Stewart) from the idea of doppelgangers and it feels like this is just a taster for more Zygon action to come. I certainly hope so because their design is still hugely impressive (somehow they manage to look both ridiculously b-movie and astonishingly frightening and memorable for all the right reasons) and this comeback is successful enough to warrant further exposure. If you found the resolution to the Zygon plotline a little pat then that is because it isn’t where the dramatic meat of the story lies and you should be fairly certain that they will be back for an even more impressive showdown in the future. And one where they are centre stage. I rather liked it, by the way. A clever device (forcing them to lose their memories so they don’t know whether they are enemy or ally and forcing them to work together) and a re-run of the negotiation theme of Cold Blood, only without a disappointing resolution.  There’s far more things to be getting on with so Moffat leaves the ending to this negotiation in the hands of the audience.
• Moffat has great fun taking the piss out of some of the more tiresome tropes of NuWho in a way that had me howling. It was acknowledging that some things have gotten a little out of hand and were worth addressing in an amusing way. How post-modern. The tenth Doctor’s fanfare speeches (the bunny isn’t impressed), the Doctor finally remembering something of his previous experiences of a multi-Doctor adventure (‘Oh no, not now!’), the youthful nature of Tennant and Smith is highlighted hilariously by John Hurt (‘…if you boys could point me in the general direction…’), ‘Why are you pointing your sonic screwdrivers like that? They’re scientific instruments, not water pistols!’, ‘Timey what? Timey Wimey?’, the War Doctor asks if there is a lot of kissing in the future…but not as if he is averse to the idea, Hurt’s reaction to ‘Geronimo!’ and ‘Allonsy!’ is ‘Oh for God’s sakes!’
• It wouldn’t be Moffat Who without a little sex and this really isn’t the time or place to question whether that is a good thing or not because there is simply too much going on. It’s part of the shows DNA now whether I like it or not (I hated it in Nightmare of Silver)…but what I will say is that I laughed like a loony when the Doctor’s had their erection-off with their sonic screwdrivers. Fortunately I don’t have any children to have to explain that gag too and it is probably the rudest (and one of the funniest) moments ever to be seen in the show. ‘I’m not judging you…’ when it comes to Ten and a Zygon getting it on made me chuckle too.
• Joanna Page is fantastic fun as the Queen. I have never rated her very much as an actress before (only having seen her in Gavin & Stacey and do voiceover work) but she acquits herself very well in this part. She’s funny and engaging and brings enough gravitas and spunk to the part to make Liz I a delight.
  
• Simon has been banging on for ages about Gallifrey being brought back into existence because he firmly believes there is a wealth of storytelling possibilities in doing so. I have rather smugly been telling him that the whole idea is ridiculous and not even worthy of consideration considering the direction that show has been taken in. He was literally dancing around the front room during the last ten minutes of The Day of the Doctor – one of the most enjoyable Doctor Who experiences I have ever had. My husband, a man who didn’t even know what Doctor Who was when I first met him, so delighted at a development on the show that he had to leap from his seat and celebrate the moment. That’s my anniversary moment right there. It is a massive plot development and one that leaves me with all kinds of feelings but they mostly fall in the positive category. It opens up a potential new ‘where is Gallifrey?’ arc for the show and if Moffat doesn’t want to follow up on that it means the status quo can be resumed for the next producer for the show in a heartbeat should he want to put the last seven years behind him and do something completely different with Gallifrey restored and then never getting another mention. Does this gut the moments of angst surrounding the Time War and the end of Gallifrey from the wealth of adventures since the show returned in 2005? I have no idea. I’d like to think not. I’m going to go back and watch the lot again (I haven’t done a new series run for ages) and see if this changes my opinion on any of the stories. It’ll be an interesting experiment if nothing else. For the time being it is a moment of pure triumph, a moment when thirteen Doctors come together and save their home from being destroyed. It is the Day of the Doctor.
• Capaldi’s eyes, man. He looks positively evil. I like. Brilliant that in a story that is looking back, the ultimate moment of excitement is looking forwards. Moffat’s still got it.
• Tom Baker’s appearance as the Curator is spellbinding. Absolutely spellbinding. Wouldn’t it be great if he could turn up again. There is absolutely no reason why not. Imagine Capaldi and Baker together? The mind reels…
• I cannot believe that a single Doctor Who fan would moan about the unrealistic nature of that blissful final shot that brings together all of the screen Doctors to look to celebrate the last 50 years and look to the future. For once drop all of your critical faculties and just revel in a moment of celebration.

The Bad:

• As strong as The Day of the Doctor is visually there were a few moments that didn’t come off quite as well as they should. In the midst of the impressive pyrotechnics depicting the Time War there was a sequence where the War Doctor pilots the TARDIS through a wall and takes out a handful of Daleks with him. A neat idea but it feels as though this should have been created digitally rather than somewhat awkward physical effect that turned up on screen. The Zygons under the sheets is one of those Moffat horror moments that should be far more chilling than it is. Remember that feeling you had when the tape ran out in The Empty Child and you realised the gas masked child was standing in the room? Or the secret door that was squirreled away in Amy Pond’s house? That’s how spine tingling this reveal should be. Conceptually it was a fantastic and it was given appropriate build up but there was something off in the direction (I think it was the timing of the sheets being whipped off) that rendered the moment far less effective than it had the right to be.
• Where was Rassilon? Try hard as they might but without Timothy Dalton, the Gallifrey war room scenes don’t quite have the same amount of gravitas.
• The Zygon body print technology is nowhere near as impressive looking as it was in their debut. Their technology in general fails to capture that biological horror.
• Cup-a-soup? Really?
• Daleks destroying each other in their own crossfire? Didn’t Red Dwarf do something similar recently?
• The time streams are out of sync and both Hurt and Tennant’s Doctor’s wont retain any knowledge of this adventure. Because Gallifrey is gone he will think he was responsible. The Doctor is about to undergo 400 years of torture because of a quirk of temporal jiggery pokery. That doesn’t seem fair somehow.

The Shallow Bit: David Tennant. Somehow looks more hot with each appearance. I never thought I would ever fancy the Doctor…but here we are.

Result: John Hurt. David Tennant. Matt Smith. Billie Piper. The Time War. Impossible decisions. Zygons. History. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT. Tom Baker. There are so many wonderful reasons to embrace The Day of the Doctor. A busy, busy story having to live up to so much expectation. What we have is a gripping first twenty minutes, plenty of running about and larks for the next half an hour, some impressive innovation for the shows mythology and a shove into the future for the last twenty minutes and a massive love-in for the series at the conclusion.  It’s a story that doesn’t just want to be a heavy drama but wants to include sequences of levity and relish Doctor Who’s adventurous roots too. It doesn’t just want to celebrate the shows past (although there is plenty of that going on) but it wants to hand the show a potential future too. It wants to revel in the joy of a multi-Doctor story whilst yearning at the loss of so many of the classic Doctors. It wants to do pretty much everything it possibly can to see the anniversary in and it is to the credit of Steven Moffat that he almost, almost pulls it off. There is so much richness and joy and horror and drama in here. As an anniversary story is feels a little too ‘normal’ in places (albeit very, very good normal) but as a regular episode it is a cut above anything we have seen for a long, long time on this show. The Day of the Doctor is very, very good, but it isn’t quite perfection. Like the War Doctor it is a bit rough around the edges but it is still a compelling piece of television that more than justifies its status: 9/10

What does Doctor Who Mean to Me?

Unedited, personal accounts of what Doctor Who means to contributors to the show and fans alike...

By Joe Ford 

I was nine years old when I first met the Doctor. I was too young to understand what was going on except that the TV seemed to be alive with the most exciting adventures ever. The Doctor’s best friend was a girl called Ace and she nearly drowned inside a spaceship and not being able to know that she was all right I was in floods of tears of hours. That’s my first abiding memory of the show. Being traumatised by it.

I had a neighbour at the time called Paul who was far more knowledgeable about the show than I was. He was a few years older and had all manner of books and videos and I can remember him taking me through the entire timeline of the show, highlighting the really exciting bits like the birth of the Daleks and the death of Peri. It felt so exciting that there was this entire universe of storytelling opening up for me and I could explore it all. Clearly a TV show that had run this long was going to go on forever and ever…

Oh wait.

It’s cancellation didn’t hit me that badly because I had only just found the series and I felt as if I had so much to catch up on. For me it was a relief to know I had a finite number of stories to explore, that I could catch up.

In the next ten years I absorbed as much as I possibly could, collecting the videos, books and magazine. It was thanks to Doctor Who books (or specifically the eighth Doctor range) that I began reading in a big way. Thanks to the adventures of the Doctor and Fitz I developed a hunger for fiction and discovered the works of Austen, Adams, Christie, Doyle and more.

When my Dad was arrested and my world fell apart, Doctor Who was always there as a safe place to hide in when the world became too much. I can remember Trial of a Time Lord being a particular comfort during this period – fourteen whole episodes of Doctor Who to devour and take my mind away from my woes.

Over time I started to realise there was a whole new world of Doctor Who on the Internet and began writing reviews for the Doctor Who Ratings Guide. They were the enthusiastic ramblings of a teenager in love with the show but I did become one of the sites most prolific contributors, even if some of the pieces I posted make me cringe now (isn’t that always the way!). I discovered the Big Finish audios and the comic strips and they were both another stash of terrific adventures to indulge in whilst real life chugged on.

The Big Finish audio Death in Blackpool means far more to me than many other Doctor Who stories. Four years ago, I suffered a breakdown – not something that everybody would care to admit and certainly not something I could admit at the time. I had all those feelings bottled up tight inside and was suffering with panic attacks, paranoia and all sorts of horrid emotions that were making day-to-day life impossible. Going to work was frightening and coming home was a chore. I couldn’t tell anybody, not even my husband. One morning on the way to work I decided to listen to Death in Blackpool for the first time to try and calm me down on the way to work. I loved the story but I was still all churned up inside. As I listened to the last scene something snapped inside me, I adore Lucie as a character and her tears at the end of the tale released a flood of emotion in me. I cried and I cried and I cried and couldn’t stop. Simon stopped the car and tried to calm me down but couldn’t. I told him what I had been keeping from him for months, everything that I had been going through. It was that day that I started to feel better, the day I got help from my Doctor, my friends and family. I sometimes wonder if I hadn’t stuck this story on that day if I would ever had finally let it all out. A spin off CD of this crazy show allowed me to find some strength in myself that day to tell the world I was hurting.

On the back of that I took a couple of years off work to pull myself together…and that is when I started my review blog, that is the review blog you are reading from right now. It started out as a little thing to fill my time and as the years pressed became a massive undertaking that has allowed me to get I touch with an army of friends who have read and commented and some wonderful dialogue with the contributors of the spin off material. I put my life back together (and better than ever some would say) but suddenly the blog had taken on a life of its own and was to continue regardless of how busy I was.

This crazy, magical, creative television show has been there for me at all the weakest moments of my life, and all the best ones too. It has taken me to the most extraordinary places, allowed me to share the journey with some wonderful characters, taught me a lot about history and science, made me laugh and cry, given me a hunger for reading and listening to audio to a point where I wanted to discuss the work critically, handed me awesome friends and held my hand at every single point of my life. And it is still giving more and more to this day.

Happy birthday Doctor Who. I cannot imagine my life without you.

By Simon Guerrier

What a question! I've spent days puzzling it over. There's the cosy glow of how I first watched it, with my family. There's the raw emotional connection - the terror and excitement of the show. There's all the happy hours spent lost in books and CDs, and creating worlds of my own. Doctor Who taught me to love reading, and to love taking stories apart, and it made me want to write. Through being a Doctor Who fan I've met most of my closest friends and - indirectly - my wife. What it means to me is bound up in so many personal moments and feelings and memories. But most of all, Doctor Who means joy. Terrifying joy.

By Michael Wilberforce

Some might write Doctor Who off as a genre piece, but for me it's about the endless journey. A story that is constantly renewing itself, always delivering new ideas, new characters and new places. When you embrace not just the TV series but the audio universe as well, years can go by before you see or hear the same story again. One day you can be spanning the stars in an epic tale of empires at war, while the next day you can be lost on a misty moor, haunted by spectres in the fog, or fighting off an alien invasion in the sprawling suburbs of London. And, in the midst of all this, you can suddenly be surprised by moments of tender humanity. Doctor Who is also a safe place to escape to. In a universe where terrible things can happen, the Doctor stands as an emblem of hope, a man whose only motivation is to do the right thing, unfettered by the trials and tribulations of a normal everyday life or the puzzling questions of identity that a young person experiences as they grow up. For those reasons, Doctor Who was important to me as a teenager and it remains just as important to me now.

By Dave Hastings

When Doctor Who means to me...? Hmm that's a tough one. There are many avenues that are a consequence of this wonderful and very special show that came into my life for the first time back in the late 80s when I was discovering the creative world of Films & TV around me with my still impressionable mind.

But of them all, few stuck with me like the good Doctor, the 7th in my case. The many tales of the 'little man' with his question mark brolly enthralled me week after week, and I have fond memories of sitting between both my folks on the sofa on an evening watching Dalek explosions and Ice World's, all the way to the shattering of Fenric's chains, and if I could revisit those points now (where is a TARDIS when you need it eh?), I would simply smile, and ultimately realise that this was one of the most defining moments of my life, because it was there, that my personality was ultimately formed, (my inner geek so to speak), which I have carried in my heart ever since (not only by exploring other doctors but other franchise worlds).

Doctor Who helped me deal not only with my own identity, stamping it in the process, but also inspired my own aspirations for the future. It gave me ideas and taught me to remember not to care about what others think, to be happy, to live life to the fullest. Even today, when I'm either lecturing in media or working on a shoot, that same energy, passion and feeling of complete awe I encountered as a nervous 5 year old come hurtling back, reminding me to continue being as creative as possible, as well as to laugh, cry and love in the process.

So, I guess I have the Doctor to thank for that. Happy 50th my old friend and heres to the next adventure.

By Daniel Milco

What does Doctor Who mean to me? It means random, intriguing clips on Blue Peter that became false memories of early stories. It means Bonnie Langford bouncing about in a bubble, which is not a false memory. And it means, more than anything else, the fans. Many of the best people I have met in my life are people I met through Doctor Who fandom. (and tell truth, a few of the absolute worst too - but this holds true for any group, community, or large gathering of people. Everyone can't be perfect.) And yes, if you've been paying attention, that means my first story was Time and the Rani. McCoy is my doctor, but I don't play favourites, and love all the Doctors for different reasons. The stranger in a blue box who takes you away from everything, and shows you the unimaginable. The amazing worlds beyond the door. As far as imagination can go, and then beyond that. A petrified forest of words in a library of flesh-eating shadows in a reality show in space with metal men and clockwork courtesans and Edwardian mummies and underwater vampires and vaguely lewd plant creatures. And that is simply the stories on film. There are the stories on paper, and the ones on tape, and the ones lost to history that live on in memories and old scripts. Fifty years of a man who has been everything at some point, good, bad, ideal, imperfect, superb, inimitable, shaggable, sexless, angry, manic, enraged... but at the end of the day, he's wonderful.

 By David Ewan

What does Dr Who mean to me? Well, it’s impossible to express what it means to me in just one piece of prose, but I will have a stab at explaining some of the reasons why I love it. First, some background. I became a fan at around 6 years of age (I am now 31) in 1988 watching the McCoy era. I have strong memories of the closing scene of part 4 of the Happiness Patrol (guess you are all feeling sorry for me now!), and much of seasons 25 and 26. I remember going to my local Blockbuster in the early 90’s and drooling over the wall of Dr Who videos they had. My father would take me to Woolworths and buy me the latest releases. I recollect my first video being the edited Day of the Daleks and then I had Curse of Fenric (an extended version no less) and Death to the Daleks etc etc etc!!!

In a nutshell, what I love about the show is the way it was much of my childhood. Instead of playing football and following all the drones doing what was expected of them, I played the Doctor, my best mate was my companion and the side window of the school nursery was the Tardis console. In the 90s, Dr Who was seen as a cheap and dead product. In that sense, I felt it was all mine. It was just me and another lad at school who bought DWM, the videos and the books etc. I felt I owned it. I thought it helped give me my identity. It was the world’s best kept secret.

I have wonderful memories of my amazing Dad taking me to the South Bank to see the MOMI Dr Who exhibition and Panoptican 93 and many visits to East Sussex to Burton Books (paperbacks 75P!!!) and the Who shop in East Ham. I sat in Bessie, had a photo with Jon Pertwee, won a copy of the five doctors on VHS at my local library when David Howe visited to host a dr who day there, and I went inside a Dalek. So many great times, so many great experiences. Doctor Who is an old friend.

Why do I love the show? Well, its still the freshest and best idea in TV. The Doctor is a flawed hero, kind and full of wonder. Its magic to a child (and adult). He can be warm and funny, but sinister and distant too. We still don’t know his real name or his background, but we trust him implicitly. What other show has a hero who can be old and wrinkled but is just as credible as a young man. 11 men have played him, but he is definitely the same man. His ship moves through time and space and is a police box that is bigger on the inside that outside. What an amazing idea, even 50 years on. It is so English, so homely and so ours. The spin off media is amazing and I have made so many friends through fandom.

The master casually revealing the valeyard is the doctor mid-sentence, the daleks surrounding Ace in an old London school, the look on tom bakers face when he realizes he has locked the evil inside in the horror of fang rock, the discovery of ancient black and white episodes, the cover of the latest dr who magazine or that trailer for the latest big finish audio. These are just a tiny representation of my doctor who magic moments. So much pleasure. Is there any other TV show which can divide opinion and provoke such venom online. I doubt it. I haven’t the time to say anymore, but this piece represents just a few reasons why I love this show so much.

I hope I have got the point across though!

Here is to another 50 years!

By Bob Furnell

I think why Doctor Who means a lot to me is because it’s like a friend. It’s been there for a long time and been there when I’m feeling happy and when I blue. It’s been there in the good times and in bad. It’s been there to bring me comfort in a world that isn’t always nice. But most of all, it has been because it has always brought a smile to my face when I watch, even when the story in question might not be the greatest. It has been a part of my life for over 30 years now and if I am honest, I can imagine my life without it in it. And isn’t that amazing for one little TV show.

By Gary Prudhoe

Way back in the misty dawn of time (sometime around 1981!) a programme that had been hovering on the peripheries of my life (the theme music amazingly scared the life outta me when I was younger!) and it entered my life quietly and wove it's way into my DNA almost unnoticed. Like many fans I find that the show crops up in my everyday life in unexpected and surprising ways that mean nothing to the not-we out there - one example that springs to mind for me is during my History O Level - the unseen source material we were meant to use our skills and analyse turned out to be based on The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve.... Which brings me to what the programme means to me or more importantly what the show has given me which is a worldwide family that shares my crazed passion for the time traveller from Gallifrey. Sure we may not always see eye to eye and argue over the trivial things but that happens in the greatest of families and I feel amazed to be a part of the best family in the whole Universe.... Here's to the next 50 - Geronimo!!!

By Lisa Bowerman

Back in 1989 - they thought it was all over. The programme was scheduled against Corrie, and put on midweek. But... if I'd thought better of doing a two week job as a furry animal on horseback, back then... I'm really not sure I would have a career today - or met so many of my best friends. And now - here we are celebrating his 50th! The Doctor has simply been running through so many years of my working life, I owe him more than I can say. Happy Anniversary Sir!

By Chris Cane

Doctor Who and Chris Cane have become synonymous to my friends. Whenever they hear the theme, see a Dalek or TARDIS they immediately think of me. For me that's the ultimate compliment (next to being called handsome!!) But where did it all start?

Every Saturday I would go and visit my nan as a very young child. She didn't have a television but her daughter next door did so got to see some of the early stories but the Hartnell memories are vague so it was my nan that introduced me to the show. My earliest memory of Doctor Who was the Dalek Masterplan where these 'Aztec' type people were attempting to immobilise a Dalek by placing rocks around its base.

I have more lucid memories of the first Troughton story, Power of the Daleks as I recall it being bonfire night but I wouldn't go and enjoy the fireworks until I had watched the first episode and was mesmerised by the Daleks at that point and have been ever since. I even have a full sized Dalek in my kitchen!

As I grew older and into my teens I was able to identify with the Doctor more and more. His 'loner' lifestyle and thirst for knowledge and adventure appealed to me and I felt I was able to identify with the character, particularly as I became aware of my sexuality and the struggle I had coming to terms with being gay. Absorbing myself in Doctor Who helped me to come to terms with this and realise that being 'different' was okay.

The TARDIS police box was, for me, a sight of beauty, a place of safety and a passport to excitement and fantasy. I remember living in West London as a kid and seeing Police Boxes scattered about in Hayes and Uxbridge and whenever my dad used to take my nan home from when she then visited us I would always want to go with him just so I could glimpse a TARDIS. To this day, I never know why my dad never stopped by a police box so I could get out and experience its awesomeness close up!

As I enter my fifties, Doctor Who is as important to me now as it was when I was a child. Watching the classic episodes just brings back such happy memories and I never tire of watching my favourite stories, particularly the Hartnell to Tom Baker era. I'm hoping that the rumours regarding the Troughton Dalek missing episodes being found are true as this would be a dream come true!

What is most exciting and what I am most proud of is the revamp the show got in 2005 as it is now 'cool' to be a Doctor Who fan and I love being a part of, and associated with, a show that I have literally grown up with.

What I loved about the Eccleston/Tennant stories was the drama and emotion that Russell T Davies was able to convey and seeing Sarah Jane Smith return was one of the most emotional moments of Doctor Who I have ever watched and I felt like I was seeing an old friend again. I'm also humbled that I was able to meet Elisabeth Sladen and other members of the show.

Do I consider myself a true fan? Yes I do, but if you were to ask me to name every episode in chronological order then I couldn't, or if you were to ask me who wrote what story, then I couldn't but I can tell you that I've never missed an episode and Doctor Who has, and always will be, a part of my life and it heartens me that my family and close friends always think of me when there is a reference to the show.

Here's to the 50th Anniversary Special and to the Doctor Who friends I've made over the past few years.

By Jonathan Morris

Doctor Who makes me happy. The television show, the books, the audios, the magazine, the annuals, all of it. It’s made me laugh, it’s made me cry, it’s broadened my horizons, sparked my imagination and expanded my mind. It made me a reader, it made me a writer. It has led to me meeting the most amazing people, and has enriched my life in innumerable and unexpected ways. Even when Doctor Who isn’t very good it still makes me happier than any other television show, book, film or piece of music. It’s all about being 6 years old and sitting so close to the television set I might fall inside (and secretly hoping that could actually happen). That feeling of excitement is still there. And as I get older and jaded and grown-up and responsible, it’s lovely to have something to get stupidly, run-around-the-sitting-room excited about.

By Nathan Mullins

I remember back when I was four years old crawling down the stairs to my home, slowly pushing the door forward and finding my older brothers sat in front of the television set watching a show I would grow up to adore. They were the first to introduce me to the show, because of course you look up to your brothers from an early age. And from then on, repeats on UK Gold when the show was off air, VHS Video cassettes, and even today - I make my own Doctor Who Fan Films with those who, maybe one day will, as is my dream, go on to make the show itself.

By Paul Greaves

I’m 7 years old. K9 has just had his head knocked off and a large furry spider with Pant-Wettingly-Scary-Glowing-Eyes™ has landed on Romana’s face! From this moment I stopped simply watching Doctor Who with my dad, and became a committed fan. That was the Saturday. On the Monday I pleaded with Mum to check the local second-hand book stalls on the market for Doctor Who books and decided that the following weekend Dad would take me to the local library so I could borrow every Doctor Who book I could get my hands on. I was already getting the Weekly, as my aunt ran a newsagent, but it had just become Doctor Who Magazine so my weekly fix had (frustratingly) turned monthly. Christmas involved the Genesis of the Daleks LP and the following year The Pescatons record and State of Decay cassette were consumed with relish - and then, almost a year on from that spider, I sat transfixed to The Five Faces of Doctor Who. I recorded as much as I could onto cassette to listen to before bed on my little tape player - could there be anything better than this? Little did I know that very soon that wonder of modern technology, the video recorder, would change my TV viewing forever!

Sitting on the stairs, in the living room or in my bedroom, taking every opportunity to immerse myself in Doctor Who, the possibility that a familiar blue box might materialize on my street at any moment and I might be whisked away through time and space was THE most exciting thing I could possibly imagine.

Now I’m 40 and that thrill still hasn’t left me. Every time I get a Target Book off the shelf or watch a Classic Who DVD, my spine tingles as the 7 year old me remembers just how much it meant, how important it was and how completely it changed my life.

Happy Birthday Doctor, with all my love to long ago…

By Daniel Tessier

Just why do I love Doctor Who so much? It's hard to say. There's no one thing about the series that explains it. I discovered it slowly, in pieces over the years, from the barely remembered viewings of the final few seasons of the original run, through the Dalek movie repeats that showed up on the telly, until the movie turned up. Finally, Doctor Who Night in 1999 arrived at just the right time, as a sci-fi hungry fifteen-year-old. Suddenly, I became aware of the sheer enormity of this great, barely glimpsed universe that had existed alongside me all my life. "I through myself into it, discovering as much as I could. Maybe that was what got me - the depth of it all. Years of television episodes, novels, comics, audios... Or maybe it was the monsters. Maybe it was the costumes. Maybe it was the stories. Maybe it was the jokes. Maybe it was the sense of adventure. Or maybe it was the Doctor, never standing still, always moving forward, and never, ever giving up. For the Doctor makes things better, and he never gives up.

By Richard Orr

I find it strange that I adore Doctor Who so much now given that the first episode I ever watched prompted me to declare (at a young age) that I would never watch it again. The episode in question was The Green Death, which was being repeated on BBC2. Me and insects have never and will never see eye to eye but giant maggots on my TV screen was not on.

I was 7 when the death knell rang for The Doctor so until I started buying the DVDs of the 'classic' stories, I didn't really recall many of the stories at all. However I must have caught a glimpse of the 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) as this duo would be the cast I remembered growing up when Doctor Who coming back was as likely as Katie Price hitting a note in tune.

These days Doctor Who means an incredible amount to me. I have met some of the nicest cast members from the show, lots of lovely fans (and obviously some not so nice - but the good ones far outweigh the bad), some who I hope will be lifelong friends. The show has given me some incredible experiences and moments I will remember forever (not many people can say they have been inside two working sets for the TARDIS). Doctor Who is a large chunk of my life. No show can make me laugh and cry in equal measure quite as much (a life lesson is to not watch The Angels in Manhattan after a few too many cheeky Vimtos).

I don't like my life would be half as fun as it is if it wasn't for a Doctor Who.

By Steve Cole

Why does Doctor Who mean so much to me? I ask myself this a lot. What went wrong that meant I never grew out of it as all of my friends did? Why did I grow more devoted instead of less, keeping my love for it a secret while learning far more than could possibly be useful...? What made me, in my student years, blow more precious cash on BBC videos than on food? What made me watch days' worth of bleary 15th-generation copies of cheap telly made 20 years ago? What magic was there in the stories, the leads, the direction that fascinated and held the attention even through the middling or downright dire stories? How do you explain the deep down thrill you get from watching Tom Baker smile as he pronounces terrible danger ahead... or from watching rubber monsters advancing on the unwary...

For me, partly it's the connection with the child I used to be - the part that will always be an excited child looking for wonder in the world. But it speaks also to the fond and forgiving adult - that warm smile as you recognise Terry Walsh's wig, or a bad CSO model pass... Perhaps it speaks to the best of us in different ways. We may have to look harder at times for the bits we love, but the fondness remains... At the end of the day, I don't really care why I love Doctor Who - I just do, in all its silly, shabby wonder. I refused to grow out of it, and it helps me refuse to grow old.

Happy Anniversary Doctor

By Scott Handcock

It was a friend of mine - Tim Jones - who brought me into the Doctor Who fold. It was twenty years ago, just as Doctor Who was beginning its thirtieth anniversary celebrations, and a whole flurry of episodes were being repeated on BBC2. I can't remember what it was about the series that appealed to me as a child - it was scheduled alongside arguably more spangly series such as Thunderbirds and Stingray - but somehow, it was Doctor Who that struck a chord with me. Something about the format didn't quite conform, and maybe that resonated? In any case, I was immediately hooked!

I actively embraced the series, and encouraged all those around me that they should watch it. The playground generally disagreed, but that never deterred me. In a way, their disinterest made Doctor Who all the more exclusive. I tried again to involve them when the TV movie came around… then again with Big Finish's audio adventures. And I never, ever gave up on the series, even when it seemed like it might never return.

But then - spoilers - it did, and did so spectacularly. And the most exciting thing in the world was being able to share this series that I had loved in isolation with the masses. I never had time for this notion of 'classic fans' being more legitimate than 'new series' fans. What matters is that suddenly a whole new generation discovered just how incredible the series could be, and why I'd fallen in love with it all those years ago. (I vividly recall the evening World War Two aired, the credits rolled, and my mother tracking me down to tell me 'Doctor Who's really rather great, isn't it?' Yes, mum, you're right. It is…)

So I'm glad it came back, and that I was able to share this magical programme with so many others. I'm also hugely thrilled to have been a part of its production in Cardiff. It was my first job out of university, working on series three of Confidential, where I stayed until the specials. I then helped out Sarah Jane on Bannerman Road, had brief flirtations with Torchwood, and joined the series proper once the Eleventh Doctor was at the helm. I've learned so much because of that programme professionally, I've met so many incredible people, and made so many brilliant friends. Doctor Who was a programme I loved so much as a child, and in a way, it's loved me back. I owe it so, so much, personally and professionally… and I can't wait until the 100th anniversary.

By Jimmy Carrington-Colby

To me, I always wonder if as a child Doctor Who was a curse or a blessing. Being extremely socially maladjusted and in and out of hospital with heart problems as a child liking a long-dead seriously uncool tv show was just another reason for other children to treat me like a leper. Still, I've no idea why, but something utterly fascinated me about Dr Who, the 'indefinable magic' as it's so often called. As I grew into my teens I officially stopped liking Dr Who, I became cooler, made friends. But it was still at the back of my brain almost screaming at me to stop pretending being someone I'm not and embrace being the demented nerd I really was.

As I grew into aldulthood, for whatever reason I lost contact with most of my teenage friends. I started getting socially involved with other Dr Who fans, which again may have been a curse or a blessing... It was eye-opening to discover that a lot of Dr Who fans were not anoraks but rather hard-drinking sex-mad nutjobs. Some of the people I met are now no longer friends but of all the people I still have some of my closest friends and my other half thanks to Who-dom.

Nowadays I still watch the new series, but the chances of me watching any of the older episodes are lower than at any earlier point in my life, save for some stories that are still immensely entertaing to watch whilst drunk with friends. And it's surreal to see my nephews running around pretending to be Daleks in such an unashamed way... Dr Who is suddenly 'cool'.

In short, to me, being a Dr Who fan now probably means being out with friends and making a comment that someone's got an arse like Zoe Herriot, Knickers like Jo Grant or hair like a Drahvin, everyone laughing in an understanding manner, and then getting on with another conversation. It's a shared history that brings us together.

By Andrew Cartmel

There was this odd British import, which appeared erratically in the schedules of CJAY-TV, Channel 7, broadcasting out of Winnipeg, in the frozen wilds of Canada. It was called Doctor Who and starred a sinister gentlemen called William Hartnell and some extraordinary robots called Daleks. The eerie keening of its music and the menacing swirling of its titles must have both terrified and captivated me. But, to tell the truth, all I really remember of that handful of black and white episodes was that indelible moment when they manage to get one of the Daleks open and this squishy black thing crawled out... Memories to treasure.

By Murray Nance

My first memory of Doctor Who was seeing The Ark in Space sometime in the 80’s as a rerun when I was about 5 or 6 years old. For years after, I had recurring nightmares about enormous green Wirrn larvae crawling up the hall to get me. From that moment on, it was with a mixture of terror and fascination that I watched Doctor Who, and I loved every minute of it. When I was 7 in 1987, I started watching the Sylvester McCoy years as they were broadcast and, naturally, I have a real soft spot for all his stories. Ok, I know Paradise Towers is almost universally ridiculed but those cleaners were damn creepy when I was 8!

Now I’m 33 and a primary school teacher and it’s so nice seeing kids interested in a program I loved growing up. The kids in my class even seek out and love watching the old black and white episodes - how cool is that?! Last year for a school performance (ok, and totally more for myself) I built a full scale Dalek out of cardboard. I don’t know another job where I could get away with building something as indulgent as that and keeping it in my workplace (his name is Boris and he keeps a watchful eye on the students while they work (great for behaviour management!)).

Doctor Who is one of those shows that reminds me of being a kid - getting lost in my imagination, the smell of the Target books I’d borrow from my dad’s school library, the opening credits to Sylvester McCoy’s era, the summer sun lighting up my parents’ loungeroom when I first watched Remembrance of the Daleks. It’s a chance for me to get lost in nostalgia that’s warm and familiar.

By Paolo

I have followed your blogged reviews for a year now. I cannot help but want to feed back if only by telling my Doctor Who story and thanking you for your posts.

The oldest or youngest me was there with the 3rd Doctor driving Sarah Jane through Dinosaur haunted London. I remember the Planet of the Spiders, and now in later life the mystery of the tulpa which goes back to the Great Intelligence in the Abominable Snowman, the London Underground and forward to the Great Intelligence in "The Snowmen" last Christmas. Next memories were the the Deadly Assassin and from there everything. I have joined every journey since then and caught the previous journeys on DVD. Ecstatically haunted by rumors of the bulk of lost stories returning I live in hope of an awesome announcement.

The Doctor has always represented the ultimate freedom to me. Fighting the bad guys and just freely traveling it would be the perfect life. I dont want to travel with the Doctor, I want to be the Doctor.

Cheers and best wishes. Lets hope for a brilliant 50th and a magic 90ish

By Agathe Deheurles (whose love for the show is so great she has made a stab at writing this in he second language)

The show mean to much for me because it's all the time different. This difference is that I always take pleasure in watching this show. It's not one like the others. This is one that always leaves us in doubt, in uncertainly. It's this show that I like and mean to much for me because this is show that sometimes makes me afraid, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, that moves me, which makes me shudder, which makes me tremble , turn pale, blush ! Sometimes I say:'' No! It's impossible! '' Or sometimes I participate in this show: "Go ahead my friend !!! Run!!" Or I imagine to be in this show and be in the place of these characters. And I wonder what I would do in their place ! It's this show I all the time I wonder all the time what is going to happen. I never know what will happen. The best or the worst. I think that something will happen and it will happen otherwise! And indeed, that is what is important to me because I love being surprised. It's for that I really love this TV serie because it's all the time this show.

By Dave Hastings

When Doctor Who means to me...? Hmm that's a tough one. There are many avenues that are a consequence of this wonderful and very special show that came into my life for the first time back in the late 80s when I was discovering the creative world of Films & TV around me with my still impressionable mind.
But of them all, few stuck with me like the good Doctor, the 7th in my case. The many tales of the 'little man' with his question mark brolly enthralled me week after week, and I have fond memories of sitting between both my folks on the sofa on an evening watching Dalek explosions and Ice World's, all the way to the shattering of Fenric's chains, and if I could revisit those points now (where is a TARDIS when you need it eh?), I would simply smile, and ultimately realise that this was one of the most defining moments of my life, because it was there, that my personality was ultimately formed, (my inner geek so to speak), which I have carried in my heart ever since (not only by exploring other doctors but other franchise worlds).

Doctor Who helped me deal not only with my own identity, stamping it in the process, but also inspired my own aspirations for the future. It gave me ideas and taught me to remember not to care about what others think, to be happy, to live life to the fullest. Even today, when I'm either lecturing in media or working on a shoot, that same energy, passion and feeling of complete awe I encountered as a nervous 5 year old come hurtling back, reminding me to continue being as creative as possible, as well as to laugh, cry and love in the process.

So, I guess I have the Doctor to thank for that. Happy 50th my old friend and heres to the next adventure.

By David Cole

I was 3 years old when Doctor Who began its long holiday in 1989. While it sent us a postcard in 1996, it would be another nine years before the series' triumphant return in March 2005. By then I was a month shy of 19, so the programme skipped my childhood almost precisely.

I had been an avid follower of Big Finish Productions' magnificent audio productions, and had become fairly well-versed in the series' lore through video and DVD releases and the odd repeat, but during my childhood I had sadly been deprived of the time-honoured tradition of sitting down on a Saturday evening and watching the current Doctor in action. Now that the show is back and is a mainstream BAFTA-winning hit, it's almost as if those Wilderness Years didn't happen; we're very pointedly celebrating 50 years of one programme – the recent return of Paul McGann to the screen and the lovely nod to his Big Finish 'era' tying the whole thing together into one epic narrative.

When I watch Doctor Who now, I'm transported back to my early childhood, almost regressing to that childlike level of excitement and anticipation. The fact that I missed out on the TV show during those years doesn't matter; I'm making up for lost time. Doctor Who has been called “the children's own programme which adults adore,” and it's true. The adventures of the Time Lord appeal to the inner child and when I enjoy them now, I get to be a kid again. In the words of Doctor #9, that's fantastic!

By Nicholas Hollands

I've been a fan of the show for as long as I can remember, and I still have clear memories of watching Destiny of the Daleks through the glass bit of our living room door, to keep the Daleks away. I didn't really get into 'fandom' until David Tennant got into his stride, and it's through the internet forums that I met my husband-to-be, as well as a bunch of new, great friends. For me the show has a huge pull, bringing together people of all ages and from all walks of life, and it thoroughly deserves its iconic place in British culture.

By David Richardson

Why does Doctor Who mean so much to me? It's 50, I'm 50... it's been there all my life, and we're grown up together. As a child it stimulated my imagination and encouraged my creative side. As an adult it did the same thing in different ways - got me interested in television, actors, audio... It led me on a path to doing the job I do, and it's a job I love, and I love it in turn because I love the series. And with it comes a whole host of wonderful friends and acquaintances... I can imagine what my life would be without Doctor Who, but I don't think I'd like it.

By Archibald Paasuke

I have started to watch Doctor Who only a year ago, but it was a love from the first sight (I mean from the first episode). Of course I was very unoriginal making my steps into Whoniverse with Ninth Doctor and Rose, but later I managed to watch together in a chronological order Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures as well. I’m feeling guilty because I have also watched a terrible season of K-9. But now I’m going deeper in the classical episodes and BF audios. That’s a journey I would like to take forever, because of the many reasons and one of them is that Doctor Who is a wonderful story about dynamics and changes in life, a story about a character with many faces, gifts and abilities. It is very individualistic. We may not regenerate and get new faces, but the message is quite realistic and can appeal even to humans, not only timelords: be who you are, be proud of yourself and be keen in developing (discovering) yourself. Preserve your face among those who haven’t done it. Be original, do not imitate the crowds. But be kind and helpful. Do dream: the best episodes of the show do encourage our imagination to go wild and brains to be critical. The magic of Doctor Who is that is opened to everybody and at the same time every approach to it is individual and special.

Usually I don’t like long TV-series and hate soaps. Plots tend to lose focus and characters become simplified puppets. Long-lasting shows are doomed to be commercial long living zombies and pointlessly kill a lot of hours in life. Doctor Who is one lucky exception. Like its protagonist, it can renew itself from being an educational program to James Bond-like adventure series, from being eccentric and steampunky to melodramatic and overcrowded Tardis-family saga, from being very socially critical and often very serious to something very jovial in almost a children’s fairly tale sense. You will never know where that show is going to take you. It is a dangerous trip to go with the series, but that’s worth it.

Doctor Who is an astonishingly hard show for newer audience. Many are terrified by classical episodes (which are mostly pure gold if we leave couple of battlefields behind), plus even with the new series you have to know about Christmas specials, miniepisodes, prequels, tardisodes and so on. But at another point the vivid dedication of different writers to the show is just magnificent: Whoniverse is huge and that’s something overwhelming. Create your own canon, battle your own continuity problems, meet new who-addicted friends – Whoniverse isn’t a show anymore, it is a way of living. And you don’t need to wear bow tie to feel it.

Everyone dreamt in his or her childhood to roam different fictional realities, past and future, space and time. I’m not exception. Doctor Who gives as a chance to be in some way like a kid again, to feel that sense of adventure, to try out the romantic cloak of lonely travelling figure and think out of daily routine borders. It is a good door to discover your inner magic. That’s why I love Doctor Who.

By James Gent

I’ve been asked to contribute a few words on what Doctor Who means to me. As commissions go, this is a knotty one. Aside from a spell during the 1990s when my interest in the then-rested show tailed off into more profitable areas, like rock music, comedy shows and the (fruitless) pursuit of girls, I can’t think of a time when Doctor Who hasn’t been part of my cultural life. Yet, what Doctor Who means to me now is different to what it meant to me aged 7, or aged 21, or even seven years ago, before the Glorious Return. But here we are – like childhood buddies who grew apart only to find our relationship rekindled, evolved into something a bit less self-conscious and more self-aware, and able to chuckle indulgently at our ups, downs, growing pains and occasional judgments of error (for me, mullets, stone wash jeans and an inexplicable obsession with third rate indie bands, for Who, take your pick – Bonnie Langford, Dimensions In Time, glam rock minotaurs…).

As far as I can recall, my fascination with and passion for the world of Doctor Who was intense and immediate. It was the most dominant of many crazes I nursed in my formative years, but far from the only one. When you’re a wide eyed youth, your obsessions are as intense as they are transient – at various times in my first decade, homespun, poky and unhip Doctor Who was competing with more commercial, flashy fare, from the androgynous popstars who graced Top of the Pops every Thursday, to the then-seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that was the ‘80s toy boom (Action Force, Transformers, MASK) and the slick cinematic thrills of Zemeckis, Lucas, Spielberg et al.

I still have a fondness for all those fads that fired my youthful imagination but that fondness is based almost entirely on nostalgia, residual warmth from the afterglow of a less complex time in one’s life. Doctor Who stands apart from this as it continues to exude a fascination and appeal that really is like a form of time travel. The shows I enjoyed unconditionally during the early ‘80s I now appreciate on multiple levels thanks to the way the show’s history and themes have been tirelessly documented, dissected and analysed between the pages of countless books and magazines, not to mention the eye-opening commentaries and special features that grace the dazzling DVD range. The series in its current incarnation is a special marriage of the essential elements that made the original series so unique and eccentric and the cinematic vocabulary of modern, film-style TV drama that when it’s on form, it can’t be beat. When it takes risks, with something offbeat like Love & Monsters, you realise what a gift the show’s unique format is for creative storytelling. When it falls short of its own standards or seems to be treading water, I still keep watching – critically but affectionately, the way you stick around for a good friend or beloved family member who’s let themselves go – you get frustrated but you’re always ready to pick up the pieces as they get their act together – or the way you ‘keep the faith’ as your favourite group goes through an ill advised change of musical direction, always holding hope that your faith will be rewarded with that glorious comeback, that “Yes, they’ve still got it” moment. Doctor Who has had more than its share of those dizzy peaks and moribund troughs.

Before the internet, you had to wear your faithful endurance like a badge of honour, in the face of your not-we friends’ uncomprehending head-shakes... and then you discover that being a fan isn’t a solitary activity. There are forums and fanzines, and behind these are real people, who you find a commonality with, a shared bond, they share your pain at sitting through dross like Timelash and Time and the Rani like a faithful hound. And these people are proactive, not the lazy stereotype of the socially challenged ‘anorak’. Well, not all of them. They make things, write things, organise events and pub quizzes, and travel around the country to hang out at conventions, where the guest list of Doctors, companions, extras and producers suddenly, imperceptibly, becomes secondary to strong, rewarding friendships, spanning sexualities, age groups, continents even. It’s enriched my personal life to such an extent that I can genuinely describe the effect as life-changing, life-enhancing certainly. There’s a culture, a commonality and a community – too broad and too deep for the small screen.

This is what Doctor Who means to me. Many years of pleasure, man and boy, thanks to not only the assorted talents who created the programme over the years, but also the equally diverse mix of people it can bring into your social orbit. To steal a phrase – not so much a programme, more a way of life.

By Matt Fitton 

It's an anniversary! So let's have a list. Here is my own personal Top 5 of perfect Doctor Whos. In fact, it's not even a top 5, just the first of many that spring to mind...

City of Death: 'Absolutely exquisite.' Tom & Lalla & Douglas Adams working in perfect unison. As timey-wimey as a Moffat story, with a great villain, great guest cast and great location. I can watch this again and again.

Kinda: 'You can't mend people!' After the certainty of Tom, this, for me, is where Peter Davison really nailed it. A more adult, cerebral and downright spooky Who. Christopher Bailey's brilliant script coupled with Simon Rouse's excellent performance. And the Part Two cliffhanger is possibly my all-time favourite.

Chimes of Midnight: 'Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without my plum pudding...' I admit it: I have a festive relisten every year. The Eighth Doctor & Charley relationship at its peak, some very clever and funny writing from Rob Shearman, with performances to match. (Though it's hard to single out just one Eighth Doctor audio: Neverland, Human Resources, Lucie Miller/To the Death & Dark Eyes all get honourable mentions as well.)

Human Nature: 'Smith and Joan.' I can have this one twice over! First, as one of the pinnacles of the Virgin New Adventures, and then again to showcase what a brilliant actor we had in the lead role with David Tennant. All courtesy of Paul Cornell's excellent writing.

The Eleventh Hour: 'Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically... run.' Simply the best debut of any Doctor (bar An Unearthly Child!). I rewatched this recently with my son, and he was riveted throughout. The Eleventh Doctor arrived with a bang, and carried the torch brilliantly to the show's 50th year.

This is of course just the tip of the iceberg. Quite simply, Doctor Who is the best sci-fi-fantasy-tragi-comedy-(pseudo)historical-(melo)dramatical-farcical-serio-family-kids programme there has ever been or ever will be. And it thrives on change, which means it will be around in some form or other much longer than any of us. It's a legend that's been formed in modern times, something new that will last forever - which is a very rare thing indeed. Happy birthday Doctor!

By Andy Lane

For those of us of a certain age (I Was born in April 1963, six months before the first episode was transmitted) ‘Doctor Who’ has always been there, running alongside our lives. For me in particular the show provided moral guidance as I was growing up, giving me an example of how a good adult acted (apparently conquering or destroying entire races is wrong). Most of my best friends are friends I made through fandom. I met the woman who later became my wife through Doctor Who’. At the funeral of my best friend (also the Best Man at my wedding) the 'Doctor Who' theme tune was playing as we entered for the service (his family said ‘Oh, that’s nice, he would have liked it’, while his friends said ‘Oh, it’s the original Delia Derbyshire version, not the later Peter Howell rearrangement, he would have liked that’). I sat with my five year old son watching the 9th to 10th Doctor regeneration in my parents’ house – the same house in which I had watched every previous regeneration, but it was his first one. And, to cap it all, I probably wouldn’t be a professional writer now if Virgin Books had not taken a risk and hired me to write one of their tie-in New Adventures. Literally, ‘Doctor Who’ means everything to me.

By Robert Smith?

I recently had to figure out exactly when I became a Doctor Who fan. (It was for "Who's 50: The 50 Doctor Who Stories to Watch Before You Die." You should check it out!) I knew it was sometime in the seventies and had guessed that I was around six. My father had been watching The Green Death because he'd been a William Hartnell fan back in the day, so was watching Doctor Who for old times' sake. (He was a fan of Hartnell in general, not just his Who work.)

This sort of thing seems commonplace nowadays, but back then it just didn't happen. I like to think I was one of the earliest second-generation fans. I grew up in Australia, where they repeated Doctor Who all the time, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to figure out when this momentous event occurred. But when I was reviewing The Green Death for "Who's 50" (yes, it made the list!), I wanted to nail down the dates, so I wondered if I might be able to find out if I did some searching online for transmission dates.
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It took me about ten minutes to nail down the date: June 12, 1978. I was five years old.

How did I find out so quickly? Jon Preddle runs a website called BroaDWcast.org and you can find it at http://broadwcast.org. The website aims to catalogue all the times Doctor Who was ever shown around the world, on any TV station. That's right, all of them.

This is a monumental task. Luckily, he has fans helping out, so that he can tie down dates and TV stations. But I know he's also visited remote libraries in Africa to read through their microfiche listings of what was shown when. It's a stupendous idea - and one that non-fans simply wouldn't be able to comprehend.

Why would anyone care, I imagine them asking. But I cared greatly. It turned out that The Green Death was only shown the once during this period as the original version, in black and white, had been rated A for adult content; later, the colour version was reclassified G and thus aired in May-June 1978.

 I find this stuff absolutely fascinating. I'm an academic in my day job, so I'm drawn to research. But I might have it backwards: possibly my academic life stems from the fact that I was so into Doctor Who that I studied it intensely, hungry for facts and figures.

As a result, my journey into the past didn't stop there. I keep rigorous diaries, dating back to the mid-eighties, so I was pretty familiar with everything that was shown in Australia in the mid to late eighties. Consequently, I went through table upon table of data, cross-checking the numbers and dates against my own records.

And I found several errors.

 For example, The Seeds of Doom Episode 4 lost the last five minutes of its episode, but the ABC kindly showed them at the beginning of Episode 5 the next day. I was so disappointed and then ecstatic about this that I'd recorded it in my diary. The website was almost right, but it had transposed the events by an episode. I knew that wasn't right, as I'd missed Episode 6 (my grandmother died that day), whereas I'd definitely seen the recap. So I emailed Jon Preddle and he was very grateful. He told me that much of the information came from people's memories. Which is pretty impressive: whoever had remembered that particular incident was very close indeed, only off by a day.

 I could justify all my other changes, based on two written records: my diaries and my calendar. (I wrote down what I saw and when I saw it, and I also had a little recap of the episode in my diary.) You can imagine how pleased he was for this kind of concrete evidence.

Then he asked me if I could solve the mystery of December 1989. Could I?!? This was the moment I was born for!

Of course I could: The Pirate Planet 3 was delayed for several days and then they never showed Episode 4, despite it appearing in the listings. I also found a miscounted number of episodes in 1990. The website had a note saying that at some point during a three-month period an episode wasn't shown, but they couldn't figure out when that was. I had perfect records: not only could I tell them which episode (Invasion of Time 4), I could tell them why (it was pre-empted by parliament).

So now the website is nicely up to date. Of all the many things I've achieved in my life (and there have been many), this may have been the geekiest thing I've ever done. And I love it!

What all this indicates is the sheer hold that Doctor Who has had - and continues to have - on my life. I can track most of the major events of my childhood (and beyond) around what Doctor Who story I was watching (or reading or listening to). Doctor Who is something ever-present. It helped me decide to be a scientist, it introduced me to lifelong friends and lovers, and it even gave me a second career, as an award-winning writer. (The precursor to "Who's 50", "Who is the Doctor", our guide to the New Series, won the 2013 Silver Independent Book Publishers award in pop culture.) My research into mathematical modelling of infectious diseases - something that was directly inspired by Logopolis - has saved countless lives. I've been pretty lucky.

But, as I say in "Who's 50", no experience in my life - before or since - was as profound as watching Jon Pertwee fight off a giant fly with his cape as maggots swarmed all around the countryside. Upon seeing that, I was absolutely hooked and I never looked back. I was five years old and I'd just lost my Doctor Who virginity. I went in as a boy and came out a fan.

And as a special treat...

By Paul Magrs 

What I learned from the Dr Who Annual… (Excerpt from The Annual Years by Paul Magrs, Obverse Books, 2014.)

What I learned from the Dr Who Annual 1976. 

When he tells you he’s taking you to a beautiful world inhabited by friendly pacifists: watch out. Even the most innocuous worlds can be terrifying, especially if you materialize on the wrong scale and fall in a pond. Also, it isn’t just the monsters and stuff marauding about that can do you harm. Some planets are alive and telepathic and can bring your worst fears to life before you. Sponges can be sentient but not necessarily evil. Watch out for noisy feminists. Cabbage tea can do wonders for hormonal imbalances. The Neuronic Zone is a very strange and scary place. Watch out for being zapped into a human farm and receiving the excess psychic energy of flame-headed skeleton people.

What I learned from the Dr Who Annual 1977 

The deeper you get into outer space, the stranger the alien species become, and still Dr Who is pretty blase about everything he sees.

What’s more dangerous than evil space lizards who hate you? Evil space lizards with a wind machine who hate you.

Beware of return visits from your old friend Dr Who. He doesn’t ever have quiet weekends away. If he turns up on your doorstep again, something hideous is about to happen.

It really isn’t worth getting into a battle of mind-power with Dr Who. He will most definitely kick your mental arse.

What I learned from the Dr Who Annual 1978 

When you go looking up old friends? Prepare to be disappointed. People change. They forget you. They move on. They can go to the bad. When you travel with human beings, they soon get tired of very dusty hot planets with three suns. They quite like going back to Earth every now and then, no matter how much they tease about wanting to be somewhere exotic. Just because someone says they’re a peaceful scientist, don’t believe them. They might be psychotic killers, even if they’re not ugly on the outside. In fact, don’t listen to anyone. Do your own thing. We can’t ever be sure whether the world we’re in and the further adventures we’re heading into are actually real, or whether they’re just a heroic dream that Dr Who is having.

Never mind!

What I learned from the Dr Who Annual 1979 

Persecution and sacrifice are both are waste of time, and not at all nice. It’s necessary to cultivate your own garden. And, if you do, you might get help at just the right moment from the unlikeliest of sources. Watch out for gigantic space cows in ermine robes. Anyone too smiley and happy and perfect is bound to turn out to be a vampiric fiend. Always buy Princesses anti-grav belts as presents. If all your clothes and flesh are made to disappear by a crazy mystic in a castle, run straight to Dr Who, who understands how M-Rays work. And never, ever get into a mind duel with him – but you already know that, don’t you?