Greetings from Key Largo! Here for Thanksgiving; heading back tomorrow.
On Monday I saw the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special in 3D in a theatre in South Miami. Unfortunately they didn’t get the 3D working until a few minutes into the movie.
The showing was sold out (no worries, I had advanced tickets), with a second showing added afterward. It was a great episode. I imagine it would be somewhat baffling for newbies, as nearly every line was some sort of fan reference or injoke. But judging from audience reaction, there weren’t many newbies present.
Incidentally, the ending means that Moffat has now arranged things plotwise so that any of the older Doctors can come back any time with no need to explain their looking older….
Wait, what is it that allows them to explain past-Doctors looking older? I know Tom Baker had a cameo, but I thought that was supposed to be a bit of fun, rather than the actual fourth Doctor. (Maybe I’m missing something or maybe you’re joking.)
The suggestion is that it’s a future Doctor reusing the 4th Doctor’s face, and that in the future he will reuse more than one old face (which is why the older actors can come back — but playing future rather than past Doctors, to be precise). The relevant dialogue:
DOCTOR: I could retire and be the curator of this place.
CURATOR: You know, I really think you might.
DOCTOR: I never forget a face.
CURATOR: I know you don’t. And in years to come, you might find yourself revisiting a few. But just the old favourites, eh? …
DOCTOR: Is that what I’m supposed to do now? Go looking for Gallifrey?
CURATOR: Oh, it’s entirely up to you. Your choice, eh? I can only tell you what I would do if I were you. Oh, if I were you. Oh, perhaps I was you, of course. …