The Doctor at 50

I chose to stay at home to watch Saturday's episode of Doctor Who; I'll choose pizza over popcorn any day. But many others elected to sit in a cinema full of other fans, and pay to watch something they could have watched at home for free. I imagine there were moments when cinemas across the country erupted in cheers as they saw their old favourites grace the big screen.

Over 10 million UK people tuned in to watch the 50th Doctor Who episode, Day of the Doctor. However, you would be forgiven for not bothering to watching it, after the overkill lead up that we have been exposed to over the past few weeks. I enjoy Doctor Who, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad that the hype is finally over; at least until they want to celebrate the 75th anniversary.

We have spent six months waiting, after being teased at the end of series 7 with the words 'Introducing John Hurt as The Doctor'. As a result, Doctor Who fans have been suffering from a half-year-long headache, as we all tried to figure out what Stephen Moffat was up to. However, it has certainly been worth the wait.

We have been treated with two prequel mini-episodes. The first, a few weeks ago, to Paul McGann regenerating into John Hurt - The War Doctor. All this done though, was make everyone wish Paul McGann had done more than just the one film. The other was the start the Great Time War from the point of view of a Time Lord solider, which was actually quite provoking.

It was somewhat of a complicated plot to keep up with, with twists and turns making up the first half of the story. It has always being referred to as a 'children's show', but this episode would have surely proved a challenge for the average child. In which case, this was an episode created for the fans, as the show doffs its fez to the past 50 years.

We saw the iconic opening scene of the first episode recreated, with a policeman walking past the scrap yard where the TARDIS once stood, and the inclusion of Coal Hill school. As well as that, and the return of David Tennant, fans were treated to a reincarnation of Rose Tyler as the interface of the Moment weapon, and the return of the words 'BAD WOLF'. We also had the booming, unmistakable bellows of Tom Baker in the dubious role of Curator, as either the fourth Doctor, or a future Doctor.

The storyline itself was very interesting, but with a few holes remaining; something expected when there are three Doctor, all with their own storylines. The Zygons returned, in their half-arsed attempt to conquer and adopt Earth as their planet. They were great aliens, I'll commend them on that, but I'm confused on the fate of Earth. That storyline ended with the Zygons and Humans creating a treaty; but what was the outcome? Do Zygons now walk amongst us?

They might as well have not bothered incorporating the Zygons in the episode. The focus much more on the inclusion of complicated and hardly-explained, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff which made for brilliant pieces of dialogue between the Doctors. The interaction between the three Doctors, while they were 'locked' in the Tower of London, was beautiful. Their great acting ability shines through. "Did you ever count how many children there were on Gallifrey that day?" Then Tennant and Smith's reaction. Brilliant.

On top of fighting the Zygons, the Doctor married Elizabeth I, Gallifrey is destroyed, and then undestroyed thanks to 'Rose Tyler', and all thirteen Doctors helped. We were even treated to the furrowed brow of Peter Capaldi, which sparked a cheer from me. However, one can't help but reflect on how it could have been improved, even marginally, by the inclusion of Christopher Eccleston. We see John Hurt enter his miss-matched TARDIS and begin to sporadically regenerate, but, into who? It would have been lovely to see Eccleston's regeneration, and I think out of his pig-headedness, he has forever taken that opportunity away from the fans.

I don't know why, but I could look at these eyes all day...

And that has been evident throughout the celebrations, with all the other alive Doctors participating in extensive interviews, as well as creating their own spin-off episode (The 5(ish) Doctors). Eccleston has been non-existent, and he's not exactly got the most successful career ever…

Regardless though, I am thrilled that the Time Lord's have been saved. The opportunity for them to come back and play a role in Doctor Who, will allow for a return to the old episodes. It also means the Doctor can now be less of a tortured soul as he travels the Universe.

On top of The Day of the Doctor, we had many talking-head shows, the unsurprising reveal that the Daleks are the scariest monsters, an awful live after-party on BBC 3, and repeats of the first four ever episodes. Best of all was the dramatisation of the beginning of Doctor Who, and its first few years of existence on TV, which was highly entertaining, and certainly a highlight of the past week. I would also highly recommend The 5(ish) Doctors Reboot on iPlayer, which is a very funny and very silly 30-minute satirical drama of the other Doctors trying to get involved in Moffat's celebration.

However, the final scene of the main event, with the twelve doctors standing in a row, was a great TV moment too.

So, we go into the Christmas special, the 800th episode, with lots of questions. Will we ever know the Doctor's real name? Now the Time Lords have been saved, how will they come back? How will silence fall? Will we see Tom Baker return? How will the regeneration happen? How will the Doctor overcome the issue of his 13 regenerations? Something to do with the Time Lords perhaps? What will happen at Trenzalore?