10 Things Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special Can Learn from The Avengers

€˜The Avengers€™ was the most fun I€™ve had at the cinema so far this year, and the second-best blockbuster of the summer. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more! Like another superhero film this season, it was something I had waited a long time, and my patience paid off! It was exciting, funny, well-acted, well-written and looked damn pretty (Not enough people have said it, but I think Joss Whedon€™s masterstroke was hiring Seamus McGarvey as his DoP off the back of his work on €˜Atonement€™). But 4 years is nothing compared to, say, 50 years. Yes, my favourite TV show of all time, Doctor Who, is about to reach half-a-century, and something we are all expecting (and if it doesn€™t come to fruition, it will be a massive disappointment) is a multi-doctor special for the fiftieth anniversary. However many there are, we fans, and even the general public who have been keyed in to the older chaps and who they are by now, expect more than one Doctor in a spectacular episode. There is a lot of pressure- 11 Doctors, probably thousands of monsters, so many companions across every imaginable medium all leading up to this. But fear not, production team, you can learn from what some have dubbed €˜the team-up of a lifetime€™. Read on€

1. Make It A Threat Worth Bringing Everyone Together For

OK, it might seem obvious, but an alien invasion on Earth was virgin territory for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, Thor was from another planet, and the cosmic cube was a nice build-up, but it was epic and in reality, a threat like that to our planet would require extreme measures. Now, €˜Doctor Who€™ has done epic- the end of time itself, the end of all creation, the end of the universe, the end of the Earth€ what can it do now The Doctor has faced the end of everything? Make it an intimate and deeply personal threat. Make it something heartbreaking- Earth, and specifically Humanity is what he loves above all else, and to threaten all human life on Earth is enough to bring one Doctor calling, but imagine if Earth found a way to call The Doctor- all of them. Then his very existence is at stake. That is a serious threat to every Doctor. Enough for them to team-up to save themselves. And speaking of threats€