Finally, the BBC has released some details about their Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebrations, the biggest news of which is that the 50th Anniversary Special will be 75 minutes (hey, longer than an hour!) and subtitled The Day of the Doctor. Meanwhile, why are three old Doctors protesting outside the BBC?


First, here's the BBC list of 50th anniversary plans, although they were quick to point out there will be more:

Other highlights include a BBC Two lecture by Professor Brian Cox on the science behind the hit show and the drama An Adventure In Space and Time, written by Mark Gatiss. The one-off programme stars David Bradley, of the Harry Potter films, as William Hartnell – who was the first Doctor in 1963. BBC Four will introduce new audiences to Hartnell, with a re-run of the first ever story. The four episodes are being shown in a restored format, not previously broadcast in the UK. BBC Two’s flagship arts programme The Culture Show is to present Me, You and Doctor Who, with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC’s longest running TV drama. A 90-minute documentary on BBC Radio 2 will ask “Who Is The Doctor?” – using newly-recorded interviews and exclusive archive material to find an answer – while BBC Three will be home to several commissions.


And now back to that "protest". It seems that former Doctors Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy were spotted outside BBC headquarters, carrying signs that read “No Classics? No 50th!” and “Have a heart, Classic Doctors want a part!”

I imagine the chance of this being a real protest is about 1 -in-i (not a typo; I mean the nonexistent square root of -1) so the question is whether this is just a silly publicity stunt, almost assuredly orchestrated by showrunner Steven Moffat, or if they were filming some kind of funny short for TV broadcast or as a DVD extra.

I will say this, though: If Moffat and the BBC can get three classic Doctors together for a short, why was it so prohibitively difficult for them to make an appearance in the 50th anniversary special? Hmm...


[Via Doctor Who TV]