Doctor Who: A Retrospective Of The 50th Anniversary Year (Part 1)
On the 23rd of this month, Doctor Who is half a century old. It's a tremendous achievement and it's in no small part to the show's ability to constantly reinvent itself. You'll find many great articles on WhatCulture discussing what makes Doctor Who such a success (a few of my own articles included) so fans of the show won't need me to discuss them here. No, this article is a bit different. For a start, its part one or three articles I have planned, looking specifically at the 50th anniversary year. I'll start with some of the big events from the last year, before writing my own thoughts on the 50th anniversary special itself, 'The Day Of The Doctor' in part two. (As well as some of the other events, specials happening on Doctor Who's big birthday celebrations) I'm fortunate enough to have tickets for the special in 3D in the cinema, here in Cardiff where the show has been filmed since its massive return in 2005. And I'm tremendously looking forward to Mark Gatiss's An Adventure In Space In Time too, so I'll write my thoughts on that. Finally, I'll finish up in part 3 with Matt Smith's regeneration at Christmas, summing up the 50th year and looking ahead to the next. But first, a retrospective of the 50th anniversary year - part 1. What kind of a year has it been? There's no denying that it has been something of a mixed bag. We've had big news stories, a new companion and a legendary cliff-hanger but there's been A LOT of waiting. Perhaps the 50th anniversary year was never going to live up to people's expectations. In fact, I'm sure 'The Day Of The Doctor' is going to disappoint a lot of people, not because it won't be good, but because it could never live up to the kind of special us fans have in our heads. As a big fan of classic and Nu Who, I'm also going to share some of my experiences as the 50th year unfolded. It's a year where I've continued to introduce myself to classic episodes on DVD and where I got the opportunity to start writing for WhatCulture and share my thoughts on the show. A mix of news recaps, reviews and personal experiences...let me take you through the 50th anniversary year of Doctor Who!