Oh....this one. I REALLY bet against this in my previous article. It has several things working against it, what with three doctors being beyond casting's mortal reach, several aged beyond their last appearance substantially, and one.... Well, Christopher Eccleston really isn't going to make this an easy prediction, is he? More than ANY other participants though, these are the ones people will want to see in some capacity. And to cover things up and keep it a huge surprise, it's also fair to suspect that they've been asked to lie or cover it up. However, there's the matter of Colin Baker. Who's blatantly said via his Twitter he's not been asked, and then countered that he simply wouldn't respond to anything if he wasn't inclined to be truthful. Geez, Colin, of all the things to be Doctor-ish about, does it have to be something this fan-heartbreaking? There IS a counter-rumour or two. One claimed that Clara will hallucinate the Doctor in his old outfits - Seeing Smith in Troughton or either Baker's getup would be fun, I'll admit. Another said that someone was spotted filming dressed as the Second Doctor. Now granted, this is someone who'd HAVE to be recast or digitally inserted anyway. BUT, the theory was that each Doctor would appear in the background in passing throughout the year's episodes. Which means, if seen at a distance or from behind, the original actors aren't needed. This seems plausible....until you realize we only have 8 episodes and one special. So, this only works if Tennant and Eccleston get shoehorned into the special together. Which....now that I've typed that, it seems more reasonable than it did a minute ago. Except of course, this needs Christopher Eccleston on board. I already went over Tennant - I'm going to be shocked if he doesn't show. But based on the fact that NO ONE seems to be owning up to this happening then it's either a crafty plot...or we'd just better get used to the fact that other than Smith (and likely Tennant) other Doctors will probably get tributes.....but perhaps not full blown APPEARANCES. I'm more surprised that people aren't complaining that the special is only 60 minutes. THAT is confirmed. The 20th anniversary got a 90 minute Doctor/companion-fest. The 10th Anniversary got a full serial Doctor-fest. The 30th Anniversary got.... "Dimensions in Time." After you're done bowing your head in shame, let's be happy with what we've got. If you haven't seen "Dimensions in Time".....well, you can Youtube it, if you're feeling brave. As to its quality, imagine if you asked the BBC to do a tribute to "Torchwood". That's about as much love as "Doctor Who" got then. There are flash mobs with better plots and execution than ""Dimensions in Time". WILL IT BE ANY GOOD? Well......maybe. The question is almost more "Can it overcome the disappointment that it'll undeniably provoke?" Given the fact that "The Three Doctors" and "The Five Doctors" are better celebrations than they are stories, maybe it's better. We have a lifelong fan with a production team full of fans. If they don't give us eleven Doctors, then they're probably aware that whatever's there instead HAS to be damn good. OVERALL LIKELIHOOD: Of the "Eleven Doctors"? I'm going to say 4 out of 10 at this point. Of the Anniversary Special still being up to expectations? 7 out of 10. You know what? I'd love to be wrong about some of these, and I'm curious to know if I missed anything too.....Comment away.....
In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.
